Just stuff I see that I like: 2.8.13

File approved, release to printer.

My 5 favorite words this week. 1 client has said them to me--waiting on 1 more!

Seen + noted this week:

From the "This Person Has Too Much Time on Their Hands" department: Gangnam Style, drawn by hand.

Last week was the final episode of 30 Rock--and while I haven't watched the show in a while, I did enjoy it in it's prime. Here's a fun list of infographics based on 30 Rock jokes ("It's after 6. What am I, a farmer?" gets me every time. If there was one role Alec Baldwin was born to play, it was Jack Donaghy).

Last week was also a pretty big, fancy football game. During the game, the lights went out. And people tweeted about it. Some of those tweets were funny.

People: pay your graphic designers. Well, really, pay anyone who does any sort of work for you. But seriously, when you don't pay the person who has access to your web server, this happens.

Memos from the 80s (30 YEARS AGO, if you're into feeling old) are funny, especially this one from the New York Times, citing their computer policy.

It's getting real in the Whole Foods parking lot. Funny.

Instagram of the week:

This past weekend, we traveled to Philadelphia... basically for lunch. We had a crazy night Saturday night, and our kids all had to be in different places at different times, but the teenager's photography was going to be on display at Drexel University, and the opening day was Saturday, so how could we not go? Logistics wouldn't allow for us to make a weekend out of it, so Saturday morning we dropped the other 2 kids off with helpful friends and family, and we drove 3 hours to Philly, ate lunch at Drexel Pizza, saw Ashlee's artwork, and drove the 3 hours back home. We might've been in Philly for an hour and a half--but very worth it to see the teenager's work up on a gallery wall. And, quite frankly, the talent on those walls was amazing. So the Instagram of the week is the teenager's gallery debut--hopefully the first of many.

The weather forecast here is snow, snow, snow--and I for one, can't wait! We are hunkering down Saturday, and saving our energy for Sunday when we'll hopefully be skiing on fresh powder. I hope you guys all have a great weekend, no matter what the weather brings you!

Shop:

Well I guess now I HAVE to shop at Saks to get one of these fun bags:



Designed by Pentagram, the new bags encourage shoppers to follow Saks on Twitter. The custom @ symbol has been integrated into their print campaign, and will be seen in an upcoming catalog. Read and see more here.

Brushes with fame (and 2 degrees from Simon LeBon!)

You guys, sit down: I had a total brush with fame this weekend.

See, there's this band that I'm starting to love, love, love--the Limousines. Their first release, Very Busy People--love it. It's totally catchy and what I thought was a good song to work out to. Well, hold the phone, because their next release? Might just be my favorite song EVER right now: Internet Killed the Video Star. It's catchy, jumpy, totally makes me want to dance. So naturally I downloaded it off the ole' iTunes, and proceeded to jump around my kitchen whilst doing the dishes (which makes the doing the dishes WAY more fun. Also, note to self: get some sort of curtain for kitchen window. Hello, embarrassing). I love this song so much, that I tweeted about it.

And you guys, the guy from the Limousines tweeted back.



Since it's a 2-man band, technically half the band tweeted me back. SQUEAL!

Of course, at first I'm like, this is a total robot response--so I check out his twitter feed. Um, no--this guy is tweeting all over the place. He actually responded to my tweet!

So, of course that makes me super way happy, and since I love, love, love their music anyway, I went and bought their album.

Oh, and hello? According to Wikipedia (and when are they not right? Oh--nevermind...), the Limousines opened for DURAN DURAN.

You guys, that is like, TWO DEGREES from Simon LeBon.

New work (plus a small Twitter story)

So this past summer, I went to my first Tweet Up--that's a Twitter Meet Up for those not in the know--in New Haven (they're actually held all around the state; since then I've been to Tweet Ups in Fairfield and Hartford as well). While I was there, I met Ed Kuryluk, who just happens to live up the road from me. Ed runs Hey Fairfield, a site where users can discuss issues that pertain to Fairfield. I thought the idea was great (I had been on the site prior to meeting Ed), however it was really lacking in the brand department. Enter traciedesigns.

I wanted to get my hands on this project because A) it seemed really cool. B) Ed seemed like a pretty cool guy. And C) There was no logo--I could start from scratch.

And start from scratch is just what I did. Ladies and gentlemen, meet the new Hey Fairfield:



And, I know I'm all pro-Twitter, but come on, people! This is what Twitter is doing: it's bringing together people who otherwise might not ever meet, and creating relationships. Ed and I converse fairly regularly on Twitter now, we've been to other Tweet Ups, and met even more people, and are building those relationships as well.

Yay, Twitter! And yay, Hey Fairfield!

Public speaking? Maybe I'll just tweet, instead

Last week I was fortunate enough to present to the FINE Networking Group about branding your business, traditionally and through social media.

First, let me say that public speaking is not something I do. I get completely nervous, stumble over words, forget things, and in general, just suck at it. So I kind of surprised myself a little when volunteering to do this. Actually, I believe my exact words to my husband, 2 days before the event, went something like this: What on earth is wrong with me??! Why would I volunteer to speak publicly??!

I practiced. A lot. And then some more. And you know what? It wasn't so bad. Actually, it was kind of fun.

The social media topic--specifically Twitter--got the most response. I think people were interested in the branding aspect, but they really wanted to talk Twitter. And since I love Twitter, I had no problem with that whatsoever.

So would I do it again? Sure, why not? Who knows, maybe this is the beginning of my public speaking career? Or maybe I should just stick to Twitter.

Twitter madness

Last week I was approached by my pal Dave of ConnCreatives, and asked if I wanted my Twitter feeds to appear on the site. Uhhh.... yes? Problem is, some of my tweets were kind of personal; ya know, stuff about the kids (what? I can't help it that they say and do totally adorable and funny things!), life, ski weekends... stuff like that. Since this site is a creative one, Dave suggested opening a different twitter account and keeping it more business related.

So I did. Problem is, my old Twitter handle was traciedesigns; which is the name of my business. Of course I want that name to be associated with my business. So here's what I did: I changed my old, "personal" account to tracietoo. My shiny new "business" account is traciedesigns.

So we'll see how it goes... I really like Twitter, a lot, so I don't foresee a problem with having 2 accounts... for now (See? This is what happens when I attend social media events... I become a social media monster!). The site is now up and running, check it out here. I think it'll be pretty cool. In the meantime, feel free to follow both accounts... I'm interesting like that.

Twitter is good, too

Twitter, the status-updating website, is most awesome.

It's nice to see what my pals (and my husband!) are up to, or thinking during the day (or cooking, as in the case of one of my friends. From her tweets I have decided that I so want to eat at her house all. the. time. She makes fun things for dinner like pumpkin risotto. I make boring things for dinner like grilled chicken. Again. She also bakes a lot. I learned a lot of this just via her Twitter updates--see how fun?).

I also follow Barack Obama, who is always busy with Change We Need rallies. He's also unveiling tax plans and urging folks to watch the debates. I don't follow John McCain, but judging from his Twitter home page, he does an awful lot of whining.

The most recent person--well, person might exactly not be the right word here... maybe whale. Whale would be a good word in this instance. Anyway, the most recent whale I just started following via Twitter is the Natural History Museum Whale.

Wait, what?

Yes, the whale that hangs from the ceiling of the Natural History Museum twitters. And it's full of fun, insightful wisdom that one can only imagine that a whale hanging from a ceiling could spew:

I hope none of you find out what it's like to hover over a 5 year old while he spins in circles for 5 minutes then pukes up cotton candy.

Things I have in common with the US economy-- stock traders look scared when they see me too.

Some mornings, I just don't feel like entertaining groups of children-- the yelling, the carrying on, the thrown balls of paper. Ugh

Call me cynical, but I won't be surprised when they completely ignore whales' rights in tonight's VP debate.

I'm a meme! I can totally hang with that. After all, hanging is basically all I do. That and tweeting.

This is awesome. I am so looking forward to getting whale tweets.