my local dream client June 12, 2008

 

I spent the morning thinking about all of the Philly businesses (my local dream clients) that I would love, love, love to write for, but sometimes it can be hard to pitch a really cool business/idea alone. Wouldn’t it be great if we could find others with similar client interests or at least similar hobbies and passions in our creative community? Imagine if you wanted to pitch a tea company, and you had a list with the names and emails of a web designer, writer, developer that loved tea? Just think of the passionate work that would flow from that team. 

 

So here is my idea: writers, developers, designers, project managers, programmers, etc interested in “my local dream client” would send me a list of his or her local dream clients, whether it’s the Philadelphia Museum of Art or the bakery down the street. I would then match up any exact clients or similar interests and send the list out to everyone. Sure, it’s not a groundbreaking idea, but just another way to connect the Philly creative community and support our local businesses.

 

So until my local dream clients start calling me up, I’m going to take some steps to get closer to them. Some call it stalking, but I call it creative perseverance.

 

If you’re interested, just send your local dream clients my way.

alexis.siemons@gmail.com

 

lend a little. change a lot. January 31, 2008

Last week I visited the Philadelphia Free Library-Central Branch to hear an amazing person speak-Dr. Muhammad Yunus.

Brief info about Dr. Yunus:
“One of the ”Greatest Entrepreneurs of All Time” (BusinessWeek), economist Muhammad Yunus received the 2006 Nobel Peace Prize with Grameen Bank, which he founded to provide microloans to poor entrepreneurs otherwise unable to qualify for traditional bank loans. Contrary to the assertions of skeptical critics, 98% of these microloans are repaid, higher than any other banking system, and similar projects now operate in much of the world, including the United States.”

I had read articles about the work of Dr. Yunus and was truly amazed and excited to actually hear what he had to say in person. After arriving almost an hour early for the lecture, I headed downstairs to the auditorium and claimed a seat three rows from the stage. Slowly the room began to fill up and everyone was buzzing.

When Dr. Yunus finally made his way onto the stage he was greeted with a hearty anticipatory applause that would be well deserved. He spoke about how he started Grameen Bank and the journey he took to get it where it is. He made simple statements that were so powerful and inspirational, that they seemed to be hitting everyone in the soul.

His initial desire to help others came about when he saw poverty around him and felt “useless as a human being”, which pushed him to lend money to help others change their lives. This concept of “lending” is so important. If we lend time and money we are essentially investing in a better future.

Yunus also proposed that we have Social MBAs to teach prospective business owners how lead businesses that are socially conscious. He also spoke of a social stock market, where we would invest in companies that we knew were doing something good for the world. It’s about having “social business dollars [that] have an endless life and can recycle.” As he neared the end of his lecture, he asked us to imagine the day that we would need a poverty museum to show the horrors and injustices that we evolved from. Think about that for a second.

I left feeling enlightened and invigorated. During my walk home I started thinking about how important it is to transform the world from the inside out. It all comes down to our souls, hearts and our genuine care for the people in our world. We need to stop worrying about the exterior–the landscapes, the plastic surgery, and the clothes–and start looking inward. Dr. Yunus has created a bank that will change the world-he has done the hard work-now all we need to do is invest in mankind.

I could write pages about my experience-but instead I’ll just recommend that you listen the mp3 of his lecture. Huge thanks to the Free Library for the mp3 and for bringing life changing speakers like Dr. Yunus to Philadelphia!

share well with strangers… August 14, 2007

I’m the kind of person who smiles at strangers and starts up conversations with them. I like people who hold doors, smile back, and make friendly conversation. But, there’s not enough of that. There’s not enough of community love. I’m not saying that we should all hold hands and sing Kumbaya–but just be warm, decent, helpful humans to one another. So when I first heard about Dutch Umbrella I was pleasantly surprised to say the least.

If you haven’t heard about Dutch Umbrella (new to Philadelphia)…then please check it out. It’s worth the look.
Here’s a brief overview:

Dutch Umbrella (duch um-brel’e)

1. A system for the free public use of umbrellas comprised of pick-up and drop-off locations within a defined urban area.

2. A community supported effort to encourage citywide sharing, enabling the convenience of any-time umbrellas.

Local stores, restaurants, and other businesses in Philadelphia can sign up to be a Dutch umbrella location. What do they get out of it other than good karma and PR? They get mobile advertising—by having their logo printed on umbrellas.

I’m all for the logos on the umbrellas because it’s putting advertising to good use. It’s supporting community togetherness and doing what advertising should do, build their brand through positive acts.

So the next time it rains, I might actually be smiling under my Dutch Umbrella, waiting to pass it along to the next person ducking for cover.

phone book fairies leave unwanted presents… July 31, 2007

There’s the tooth fairy-who leaves some cash under our pillow. Santa leaves presents under the tree. The Easter bunny drops off candy-eaten in under 10 minutes flat. Then there are the Verizon phone book fairies–leaving stacks of phone books on our doorsteps. But no one seems to be devouring their gifts. The books are just sitting there like packages that need to be retuned to sender. I’ve seen then line a wall, serve as a massive doorstop, maybe a growth chart, a small ladder, sponges to the recent rains…

My question is, who still uses phone books? Just from looking at the stacks left outside—it doesn’t seem like many. Fine, fine-I hear screaming elderly people in the background who have yet grasped the concept of the internet and google maps-I’m not saying we have a Fahrenheit 451 burning of the books and stop printing-but maybe-just maybe-have a way for those who need the 411 bibles to opt in to get a phonebook. Imagine the amount of paper we’d save…..and the decrease in phone book fairy hernias.

So in the mean time—I decided to think about how we could use the phone books for now. Here are some thoughts:
• Large jenga blocks for huge jenga game
• Step stools
• Cut out fun ads and use them for décor
• Cut out crazy ads and make a collage and laminate it to make our own diner mats

Any more ideas?