Mental Popcorn: FreeRice.com
Improve your vocab or get stumped by words when you play FreeRice.com. I found this almost as amusing and addictive as the cute Sushi Samurai game at CBC Kids.
Everyone’s a Graphic Designer
You know you have one in your department. If you’re truly unfortunate, you might have 3 or 4. Those keeners who, with creative downloading of MS Publisher or PageMaker or some Adobe product and a healthy dose of self-conceit, think that they have the talent to:
1. Create promotional posters or print materials for public consumption
2. Violate all rules around logo usage and font usage.
I don’t know what’s more tiring – being the Visual Guidelines Police or creating a plethora of documents outlining what is acceptable and what isn’t … and then hauling out the Guideline Bible whenever a line is crossed.
Yes, I understand that …
- Dear Joe font is fun and informal.
- Yes, I agree that the using Tahoma font in PowerPoint slides is clearer than using Arial.
- And, yes, I get that you want to express your creative freedom by using a speckled-colour email background with your email signature in cursive script so it’s less “corporate”.
But no, it’s not going to happen.
Please, have the sense to give professional graphic designers the credit they deserve. And, now, get back to your real job. Please.
Disclaimer: If your communication vehicle is featured in one of my Cringe-worthy Moments, I apologize in advance and hope that boomerang karma leads you to unearth some of my old communication samples to return the favour.
Media Buying at a Glance
For the last two weeks on my commute home from work, I’ve been passing by the same transit billboard. The billboard ad is for Ad Bargains, which works as a consolidated website to provide PR and advertising folks with advertising rates for print, radio, and web from the major media players. This is a god-send for people who don’t have access to a media buyer and need to call around for rates if they are given an advertising budget to play with.I can’t believe it’s taken this long for something like this to be online. I suspect it will be best used and served by small boutique agencies and consultants who will no doubt be grateful for this time saver.
Guaranteed Publicity Results? Really?
As a contractor and employee, it’s always good to monitor and assess market value. During one of my recent enviro scans, I came across Publicity Guaranteed, a Florida-based PR company that guarantees PR results and news pick-up of your releases and product placements. Intrigued, I delved deeper into the website to understand how they can guarantee their services. Those w/media relations experience know that getting your story to air or to print is a quagmire of luck, persistence, novelty, and timing. So, communicators – what do you think of their claims? Did it leave you with the same uncomfortable feeling that I had?
