Parade of Lights

After waiting in storage for a whole year, Insight's Little Red Stocking campaign window became a Parade of Lights float for this year's parade.

This year's project didn't take nearly as long as last year, but we did have to re-think the entire display. It's one thing to figure out how to make 8' pieces of cardboard stand in an enclosed window...quite a different thing to figure out how to keep them from being blown over on a moving trailer.

There were some great floats out there and we were just thankful we made it through the entire parade without a problem.  We tip our hats to the other float builders with whom we now share a common bond of float construction and all its labors.

For me it was my first time a.) attending the Parade of Lights and b.) building a float. I was amazed by not only the number and scale of the entries but also by the awesome creative and engineering thought that went into them. I may have found a new calling. Who needs a float built next year? I'm ready to begin construction.

It was also the largest crowd that I have ever seen in Sioux Falls. People filling the sidewalks, looking from the tops of parking garages, and from the 6th floor balcony at the Holiday Inn. I definitely plan on attending next year.

Online Music Management

From time to time I come across interesting websites and apps in my searches for new trends and ideas.

Lately I've discovered a number of items related to music, so I thought I'd share them with you.

First, my old standards.  I've used Pandora and Blip.fm for quite awhile now and really like both.

Pandora works like so: you enter the name of a song or band, and based on the information about that item, Pandora suggests other songs that sound similar. You give songs thumbs up or down, perfecting your "station." You can also add additional tracks or artists to your station to broaden your station's range.

Blip.fm is what I use when I have a particular song in mind. If I need to hear Piano Man I can go and "blip" that song, meaning that I get to listen to that particular track right now. My blips are collected in my "station" and others can choose to follow my station and if they so choose give me props (I'm not really sure what I do with them, but really, who doesn't want props?).

Recently I discovered Last.fm, and was impressed. Last allowed me to sync my entire iTunes library and play count numbers to the service. It then created a station with my entire music library, meaning I can now remotely listen to my tracks. It also provides feedback and statistics on my listening history and suggests new music I may enjoy. Other features include iPhone apps for listening on the go and notifications of when bands you enjoy are performing in your area. I've only begun to uncover what this site can do, but I'm sold. Check out my music profile.

TidySongs is an amazing little app. It costs $30 but is totally worth it. The app goes through your iTunes library and updates all of your tracks with the proper titles, artists, albums, artwork, track number, date, etc. You can use its automated system or go through your tracks one by one. The best part is that for each track the service checks it gives you a percentage telling you how confident the service is in its answer. For example, common tracks typically have a score of 90% or above. But that bootlegged copy of Swedish techno may only score a 5% because the app struggles to find info about it on the web. I think it's great and I'll definitely be investing in the app.

Go try these out for yourselves!  Tell us what you thought of each in the comments!

Summertime Popsicle Stick Blues

One day I went to throw away my fudge bar stick, thinking I should save all of these so that my daughter and I could make a fun craft project together.

But they are sooooo boring. Why haven’t they made some fun popsicle sticks?

Not only could they look cool, they could have fun messages or even advertise. Check out how Colgate effectively reminded consumers to brush.

Granted you aren’t going to able to make too many craft projects from these Popsicle sticks, but the idea is pretty clever.

SculptureWalk

If you haven't had a chance to check out the SculptureWalk around Downtown Sioux Falls, you owe it to yourself to take the time over a lunch and take a stroll.

Here's the link my shots from today's excursion.

It's Wedding Season!

Congratulations to Matthew and Ashley on their wedding this Saturday!

Facebook 101: Lesson 3 - Importing Your Flickr Account

My younger brother Grant posted the following question to my wall last night:

Well, Grant, your answer is the subject of Facebook 101: Lesson 3 - Importing Your Flickr Account.

Disclaimer: Today's lesson focuses on Flickr, with whom you may or may not have an account.  You will also find this information helpful if you have any of the following accounts:

• Digg
• Picasa
• Delicious
• Yelp
• Google Reader
• YouTube
• StumbleUpon
• Last.fm
• Pandora
• Photobucket
• hulu
• Blog/RSS

If you do not have an account with any of these services you'll still want to follow this lesson as I'll quickly cover where you can adjust some of the privacy settings for your profile wall.

---

Step 1:
When logged-in to Facebook, navigate to your profile.  By either clicking the Profile button or your name.

---

Step 2:
Just below the share button in your status update area is a Settings button.  Yep, click that.

---

You will have a list of options pull up for you. Let's quickly roll through some of your options here.

The Available Sites are sites that Facebook can be set up to monitor for activity.  For example if you have YouTube set up, Facebook will post an update to your profile every time you upload a new video.

Imported Sites are sites that you already have set up to receive updates from.

There is an option for Profile Story Comments. Checking this box means that if someone comments on one of your updates it will be visible on your wall.  If you would like to turn this off, un-check the box.

The last area is Stories Posted by Friends. Here you can decide if friends can post messages on your wall and also who can see those messages.  I leave my settings as networks and friends being able able to see posts made by friends, just because I wouldn't want someone to post something to my wall (even if they were a friend) that some potential employer or client may be turned off by (safety first).  The final check box allows you to determine if posts from friends will automatically be shown on your wall, or if a visitor to your profile would have to turn them on in order to view.

Ok, back to the lesson.

---

Step 3:
Click on Flickr, enter your User Name and then click Import.  That's it!  Click on the wall tab to view your latest Flickr update.

---

As always, I want to drop a bit of experience knowledge on you about the topic covered in this lesson.  I've found that the import tool of Facebook tends to be a bit on the slow side.  Don't expect that it will immediately update after every upload or action you take on any of these services.  Usually the update happens within one day, but I have had multiple times when updates will never show up.

So my advice would be that if there is something really important/cool that you want to share with your friends use your status update, link, video, or photo share option and run the risk of something showing up twice.

There are also applications available for Fickr that can display your latest photos on your profile, but to my knowledge they will not post updates for you when you upload new photos, so I prefer the import method.

Again, if you have more questions we'd be happy to provide answers. Check back soon for our next Facebook 101 lesson.

In case you missed them, here are links to our other lessons:
Facebook 101: Lesson 2 - Integrating Twitter
Facebook 101: Lesson 1 - The News Feed

Facebook 101: Lesson 2 - Integrating Twitter

Clara (@clarafied) joined Twitter a couple of weeks ago and requested a lesson on how to make her "tweets" update her status on Facebook.

Note if you have never heard of Twitter, or don't have a Twitter account, this information probably won't make a lot of sense. Sorry, Clara was the first to ask. 

But the steps used to add this feature are similar to those used to add any Facebook Application, so who knows, you may learn something new.

If you have a question about Facebook (or Twitter, Linkedin, YouTube, etc) that you would like answered leave us a comment or drop us an email (info@insightmarketingdesign.com).

To answer Clara's question:

Step one:
While logged in to Facebook type "Twitter" into the search field and click Search Facebook.

---

Step 2:
You will be brought to a Search results page.  Click on Applications.

Then click on the first listing called Twitter.

---

Step 3:
Click the Go to Application button, then Allow Twitter access.

---

Step 4:
Login to your Twitter account.  You will be brought to a screen that shows your "Twitter Stream."  If you would like, this is where you could send updates to Twitter from Facebook.  But Clara wants her "Tweets" to be sent to Facebook from Twitter.  That's easy from here, just click the Allow Twitter to Update Your Facebook Status button.  Which will bring you to one more screen where you again Allow Updates.  That's it, you're all set.

---

FYI - All of your Twitter updates will now become Facebook status updates except Tweets that start with the @ symbol (meaning you are responding or directing a Tweet towards someone in particular).  This is actually handy and good to know (because a reply may not make sense as a status update).

Also, if you have a Tweet that you would prefer did not end up on Facebook, you will need to remove those updates manually. It's easy to do by navigating to your Profile page, locating the Update, and selecting Delete.

Again, if you have more questions we'd be happy to provide answers. Check back soon for our next Facebook 101 lesson.

In case you missed it here's a link to the last lesson:
Facebook 101: Lesson 1 - The News Feed

Why does Mother Nature tease us so?

It’s a beautiful day in the Midwest, meaning 51 degrees on the 6th of March.  That’s pretty darn awesome!

As a true Midwesterner, I take advantage of the warm weather as a chance to expose my skin to any sort of sunlight. With my t-shirt and sandals on I know all too well that everything could turn on me at any given moment. The skies will darken, the waters will suddenly re-freeze and white flecks of snow will begin to fly from the heavens. 

Until Mother Nature forsakes me yet again, I will sit in my unnecessarily air conditioned office and turn my face towards the sun.

Easy to do... fun to grow?

I was so excited to receive a Chia Christmas Tree for Christmas. I opened the box, read the instructions and I was off and planting.

I followed the "Easy to Grow" instructions, soaking the clay tree, spreading the moist seeds all over the Chia Tree, filling it full of water, and waiting for it grow. Only one to two weeks for a full coat. I was so excited.

Well, "Easy to Grow" was not exactly what happened.

I started on Dec. 23rd. Being that it was Christmas season I didn't want to wait until after the holiday to get started. I was going to be out of the office and wanted to made sure my Chia Christmas Tree would be taken care of. So I had co-workers take care of the tree in my absence. I gave them the easy instructions to keep the tree full of water. Maybe talk to it a little. I'm thinking they did something to the Chia Tree.  I'm not sure, but we are going on Week Four and my Chia Christmas Tree is being called the Charlie Brown Christmas Tree.

It requires constant watering to keep the seed moist. I can't seem to keep it full of water. It is leaking water out of the bottom, which in turn is not letting any of the top seed sprout. I'm still waiting for the "Easy to Do...Fun to Grow" promise on the package.

According to the instructions the plant is only supposed to take four weeks to have full growth and I'm almost there. See for yourself. Any suggestions from Chia gardeners out there would be appreciated!

Say Hi to Matthew

Meet our new broadcast producer, Matthew Muldoon. Most recently senior editor at another Sioux Falls ad agency, Matthew brings hardcore video editing capabilities to Insight.

He'll also oversee production of radio, TV and video at Insight.

Here's an excerpt from my interview with him.

Q: What’s your favorite band? Or top 3?
A: Right now it would have to be Flobots, Hollywood Undead, and Rise Against.

Q: What’s your favorite song? Or top 3? And why?
A: Goddamn Electric Bill - Lost in the Zoo. Because I've never heard another song that relaxes me more.

Q: If you could be a rock star, who would you be and why?
A: Ringo Starr, cause he's super rich, and he told all his fans he was to busy to sign autographs anymore.

Q: If you could have dinner with anyone in the world, who would it be?
A: Banksy, cause then I would be the only person to know his true identity, and would become famous by association. Plus he's a killer artist.

Q: If you could redo one thing in your life, what would it be?
A: I would have partied less in college so I could have graduated with honors.

Q: Where is the love?
A: In Mom's homemade cooking, of course.

Q: Who plays you in the movie made about Insight?
A: Norman Reedus

Q: What is your favorite beverage?
A: Based on pure volume consumed, Diet Pepsi.

Q: What are three things you want to achieve during your lifetime?
A: Create a short film. See Greece. Have an art piece of mine published.

Q: Where does the time go?
A: It's wasted away thinking about the things you want to do, instead of doing them.

Q: When you hear the little voices, what are they saying?
A: REALLY.... WOW!

Q: What comes after infinity?
A: Hopefully a nice, tasty beverage.