Son of Erik Mixtape Release: Synthesized Society

Is the world fundamentally a better place because of science and technology? We shop at home, we surf the web, but at the same time we feel emptier, lonelier, and more cut off from each other than at any other time in human history. Is this a synthesized society? Listen and tell me.

I have provided a link for you (at the bottom of this post) to download the mixtape. (If you would like it split into tracks, let me know, and I’ll provide.)

Download Synthesized Society Here

These mixes are not intended for sale or reproduction. Son of Erik does not and will not receive any proceeds from the production of these mixes. Please respect the copyright of the original artists that have been listed.

Include Social Media in your Brand Strategy

Branding your company is a big, arduous task. It’s not just a logo, it’s not your business cards, letterheads and advertising. What a lot of people and companies don’t understand about branding, is that your brand is not what you say it is, it’s what the consumers believe it is. It’s what the consumer feels about your brand. How do you communicate with your consumers to understand what they’re thinking, and how do to align their beliefs with your own brand strategy? Enter social media.

The term social media gets thrown about a lot, and social media strategy equally so. However, where does a social media strategy actually fit within your brand strategy? How do you leverage social media channels to effectively communicate with your consumers and how do you use social media to affect change within your brand strategy?

For starters, social media is a tool to reinforce your marketing communications pillar. It is not a separate entity; social media should enhance your marketing objectives and then your business strategy. Your business strategy aligns with the perception of your brand. This process is ever changing only because your consumers’ opinions are ever changing. What social can bring to the table is immediate, effective understanding and communications with your consumer base. Social is where you will find the most up-to-date brand opinion. This is important, vastly important to your brand, because you can decipher what your consumer believes, understand their concerns and with quick process, adjust the marketing communications to align your brand communications with the consumer’s perception.

Large words, I know. What is important to know is, consumer brand perception can and will change faster than marketing or brand channels can keep up with. Social offers a unique point of view of what’s happening in the eyes of the consumer and allows for rapid modification to marketing communications.

Picture this: Your brand launches a new product to market. This product is supposed to change the way people look at your brand. It’s meant to instill faith in your brand and some sort of positive, hopeful emotion. Now, let’s say there is a backlash against the product. Your product is either too expensive, insulting or just downright lame. Your consumers have an obvious opinion about this. Where do they go? They go where they spend the most of their time, Facebook and Twitter. Their opinion about your product is posted online, for their network, the network’s network, and the world to see. And with 90% of consumers trusting recommendations from people they know*, more consumers gravitate to the opinion and now you have a mess on your hands.

You have a Facebook fan page. The consumers post their discontent on your fan page’s wall. What do you do? Delete them? No! You respond respectfully and send the consumers’ opinions up the ladder to the marketing communications department. The marcom department, after dealing with problem at hand, should send it up to the business strategy arm. If you don’t have a business strategy arm, you should. Immediately, decisions should be made as to what to do with the information. It’s not a matter of how to stop this consumer belief from impacting your brand, because it IS your brand now. The matter is, how do you change it. Brand perception is no longer a top-down activity, it’s a bottom-up enterprise and social is your inroad to the perception. What you do, what you say, how your brand reacts on social will have an immediate effect, positive or negative to your brand. This process requires a new model of communication similar to that, which was introduced in the book, “The Brand Gap” by Marty Neumeier.

New Messaging Platform

*From “The Brand Gap,” Marty Neumeier

One item of note, the brand and social “strategy” are not solid, concrete action plans. Think of them as an organic, living system that’s ever changing. People’s beliefs change and your brand will have to evolve along with.

Your social communication should have a clear, precise path to the decision makers in your company. If your decision makers can’t hear what your consumers are saying about your brand, then you have lost what little control over brand perception you had. Your consumers are speaking about your brand through your social channels to, what they perceive as, people who can change things. Why not send that message fast and direct? The longer you avoid a clear, established, path from social media to the brand decision makers, the longer it will take to recover, redefine, or reinforce your brand perception and ultimately, your bottom line.

*Econsultancy, July 2009

My Inspiration Lately, Prose Supersedes Imagery

Lately, I’ve been increasingly inspired by writings much more so than imagery. This is peculiar to me as I’m normally a very visual person. Anyway, I wanted to share some prose that has inspired me in the last week. These works have, for some reason or another, really struck a “chord” inside.

    Me I’m just a waitress she said.
    I went and bought a new head she said.
    I look at you and I believe in you she said.
    Screaming into the eye of the lens.

*Karl Hyde, Rick Smith

    Remember when I caught your eye?
    You gave me rainbows and butterflies.
    We did enjoy a happiness.
    When our love was over, I was such a mess.

    I smiled at you and you smiled back.
    That’s when I knew, there’s no turning back.

    You said you loved me and I did too.
    Now though it’s over, I still love you.

    You’re in my mind, you’re in my heart.
    I wish I knew right from the start.
    All my friends said you’d break my heart.
    A heartbreaker right from the start.

    I tried to fight it, I tried so hard.
    And everyday, I prayed to God.
    That you and me, were meant to be
    But you had another, you had a lover.

    And now it’s dark, I don’t know why.
    I feel like crying, just want to die.
    I can’t look at you and you know why.
    Though I tried so hard, to catch your eye.

*Jesse F. Keeler, Alex Puodziukas, John Legend

I Will Be Attending @SXSW Interactive

Big news! I’m heading to SXSWi next Friday and yes, I can barely contain my excitement. I will be there from the 11th-15th learning some new practices, introduced to new start-ups, engaging with technology, and hopefully meeting some amazing people. This will be my first time going to SXSW and my first time visiting Austin, TX.

I will be traveling with some coworkers from Critical Mass and we’re going to paint the town, intellectually speaking of course. Some of the sessions that I’m going to be focusing on are “Branding/Marketing” and “Social Graph.” It fits, right? I mean, I work in social media with a secondary passion in branding. (It’s going to be awesome!)

This event requires a lot of prep work. For starters, the schedule of sessions and events is large and full of, what sounds like, amazing content and lecturers. As I complied my schedule for the 5 days that will be down there, I came to realize that there is no possible way I can attend all the sessions. I had to be selective with the sessions I wanted, weigh the pros and cons, realize I can’t be in two places at once, so I had to choose the best session of the time. And it’s because of that, I believe this will be an extraordinary experience.

Another aspect of prep work that is requiring a lot of diligence is the travel. Yes, my flight and hotel are all taken care of, but when it comes to traveling in the Austin area, that may prove to be a bit more difficult. I found a shuttle service that runs from my hotel to the convention center. I think that might be the winner there. If that falls through, there are always cabs, right?

A while ago, I wrote a blog post about how I love working with and being around smart people. Here we go again and I can’t be more psyched! Not only am I heading down with some of the most talented and intelligent coworkers I’ve had the pleasure to work with, but we’re all going down to meet and learn from some of the most engaging and intelligent people from the nation and around the world.

So, what do I hope to take away from SXSWi? Well, I hope to learn more about social media and branding so I can bring that back that knowledge back to the team here in Chicago. I also hope to make industry connections, share my experiences, learn from others’ experiences, and overload my brain with knowledge and insights. The way I look at it, the more I learn and the more people I meet at SXSWi, the more I can offer my clients and Critical Mass. Professional development is something I don’t take lightly and it’s an ongoing process.

And then, there is the “fun” part of SXSW; the parties. I think I have triple booked myself for all of the evening parties. I don’t think that’s going to be a big deal. After all, my first priority is to learn down there and my last one is to rage it up all night. I’m thinking that I’m going to take the parties as they come and call an “audible” on the ground as they are not high priority in my book. However, I really want to attend the Mashable House — I heard that’s a killer party.

I depart for Austin on Friday and as I said before, I’ll be there until the following Wednesday. You can follow my travels and learnings by reading my tweets: @ebreakdown, following this hashtag: #cmsxsw, or by reading the blog: ebreakdown. Honestly, I probably will be tweeting more than blogging down there just because of time constraints. If you have any suggestions for enhancing my SXSW experience, I’m welcome to them! Also, if you are going to be down there and want to meet up, shoot me a tweet — we’ll make it happen.

Recap: The Chicago Auto Show

Saturday, I had the opportunity to check out the 2011 Chicago Auto Show with my brother Eric. Now, I for one absolutely love auto shows. Perhaps I love them because I grew up liking automobiles, maybe it’s because I’m a guy and guys “like that sort of thing,” or maybe it’s because auto shows are just plain cool. Regardless, auto shows are fun and this year’s show illustrated how integrated our culture is becoming with technology and communications. I noticed two activities the auto manufacturers were investing in, they were social media interaction and interactive, on-site engagement.

Social
Social was a very large component in the majority of the large auto manufacturers’ displays. Here is a rundown of how some the auto companies engaged socially.

• Volkswagon: Upon arrival to the Auto Show, I checked into the Chicago Auto Show via Foursquare. Very soon after, I received a tweet from @VWConnect stating, “Stop by the VW booth to see the all-new Jetta GLI & find out how to get a free T-shirt,” with a TwitPic of a VW GLI. Yes, it was a bot Twitter account, but it served its purpose. I was immediately intrigued by what they had going on and that they were engaging me based upon my location. I headed over to the VW booth to find out more.

I came up to the new model year Passat and noticed it had a CTA image on the vehicle. The image directed me to take a listen to the stereo, tweet about it, and find a Product Specialist. Well, I bypassed those directions and went to the Product Specialist. She was there with T-Shirts in hand, standing right next to the vehicle. She informed me that had I tweeted about the vehicle, she would have taken down some information (for direct mail purposes) and given me a VW t-shirt to take home.

    Pros: VW was highly engaged both online and off. The incentive was adequate for the promotional needs. It was a great way of directing online, to a socially engaged, real-life specialist.
    Cons: Twitter bots are sometimes overwhelming and people don’t respond to them that well. Taking down my information after I did all those steps for VW, was a big of a large ask.

• Audi: Audi used location based services to generate awareness and engagement. Audi featured a couple of signs that directed the public to check into the Audi booth via both Foursquare and Facebook Places. As far as I could tell, there wasn’t much of an incentive to do so. However, I have to say this: I didn’t check in. So, with that said, who knows what was on the other side of the check-in. Either way, it wasn’t mentioned on the signage what would happen if you did check in.

    Pros: Promoting the use of location based services through signage.
    Cons: No real or clear incentive to check-in to the services.

• Chrysler: Chrysler had a simple black-and-white flyer they handed out to attendees of the show. One side featured all of their social accounts with a CTA that asked the attendees to become a fan of their pages and upload images, video and editorial from their experience at the show.

The second side was a CTA to engage the brand through text messaging. Text “Chrysler” to a number, explore the booths, answer questions that were texted back, and get a reward at the information desk. The rewards varied from an eco-friendly bag to a 3-for-1 oil change. A good use of texting, however, it seemed to be a bit of an arduous task.

    Pros: Using texting instead of social to interact with the attendees was different from most OEMs. The 3-for-1 oil change reward was pretty good.
    Cons: Attendees have to pay for the texts. Who knows when else Chrylser will text the attendees. And the photocopied flyers were a very passive approach to social media.

• Chevrolet: Chevrolet had a “bullet-time” photo booth in conjunction with Hot Wheels. Attendees waited in line to get their photo taken in front a Chevy vehicle, were offered a physical copy of the photography, and had the option to post that photo on Facebook or other social media platform.

I didn’t participate in this one; the line was way too long. However, I can only assume Chevy got a great turn out, a lot of social information on attendees, and the offer for participation was pretty innovative. I mean really, where else can you get a photo of yourself in bullet time?

    Pros: Innovate and interactive booth with a social component on the backend.
    Cons: Very long line to wait.

• AutoTrader: AutoTrader, much like VW, had a Twitter bot engage the attendees after an Auto Show Foursquare check-in. Their tweet read, “Thanks for joining us at the Chicago Auto Show! Fly by AutoTrader.com’s booth with this tweet for a prize” offered a clear call to action with a plus up incentive. If it was anything like the LA Auto Show, you get a picture with someone you’ve never heard of, a pencil and a small carrying case. I admit, I didn’t try this one either; I already have a pencil.

    Pros: A quick social response with an incentive back end.
    Cons: Again, a Twitter bot engagement tactic. However, with that said, how else would we know to go over to the booth?

Interactive
The second major piece of the Chicago Auto Show were interactive displays. The auto manufacturers really stepped up their game this year. Let me quickly go through some of the more memorable displays.

Overall: QR Codes were in heavy use with every sort of CTA ranging from vehicle information, to connecting on Facebook, to engaging dealerships. It seems as though QR codes are becoming more prevalent in the industry and used more by the public.

Honda: Honda had an “X-Ray” like display. Basically, there was an image on a wall of a Honda minivan. There was a screen on rails affixed above the image. The attendee would move the screen back and forth over the image to give a detailed, x-ray like, look at the vehicle. The display didn’t work all that well, but the public didn’t seem to mind as they enjoyed just playing around with it.

Fiat: Fiat used an X-Box Kinect interface. An attendee would stand behind the kiosk, waive their hands and interact with a large television screen filled with images and information. The attendee would select one of the images, an informative piece, or video would display and the attendee selected another one. This display had a very high level of interaction and a clear description on how to use it. However, the screen was pretty distant and made it difficult to read the information.

Scion: Scion used 3D video to engage the attendees. The Product Specialists gave out the glasses and all you had to do, as an attendee, was sit down and watch a 3D Scion movie. It was pretty simple, however, offered little interaction.

Chevrolet Volt: The booth for the Volt alone, was larger than some of the other auto manufacturer’s booths overall. The Volt offered a serene test track that allowed the attendees to ride in the car through a beautifully landscaped roadway. Once you walk up to the track, you are inundated with the smell of fresh plants, trees and grass. The attendee didn’t get to drive the Volt around the track, which was about the size of a large go-kart track, they were chauffeured. The line to get in the Volt wrapped around the track. It was a site to see and a calming booth to visit with all the foliage.

Toyota: Toyota’s Prius display was pretty large, bright, and spoke to the “Prius Goes Plural” campaign. At the base of the booth, was a station to charge your mobile phone. Toyota offered, from what it seemed, every type of mobile phone chargers. I think Toyota understood perfectly what type of world we live in right now. Also, when the attendee charged their phones, a Product Specialist would sit with them to chat. I’m not one to be suckered into this sort of conversation, but when you need your phone charged, you will do just about anything.

So, that was just a part of my experience at the auto show. I truly do enjoy auto shows; the designs of the cars, the booth displays, and the unique approaches auto manufacturers use to get our attention. However, one major downside to the show was the shear amount of people in attendance. I think the flow of the show needs to be reevaluated from a perspective of the volume of people. That was just about the only downside, and looking at it from a marketing perspective, it’s certainly an upside.

Shout Out: Thank you Lindsay for the tickets!

Son of Erik Mixtape Release: Hi-Res

Son of Erik Mixtape: Hi Res
Intense and in High Resolution. We’re not talking about “high-definition” here, we’re talking about RESOLUTION. Strap on your safety belts and get ready for a ride.

I have provided a link for you (at the bottom of this post) to download the mixtape. (If you would like it split into tracks, let me know, and I’ll provide.)

Download Hi-Res Here

These mixes are not intended for sale or reproduction. Son of Erik does not and will not receive any proceeds from the production of these mixes. Please respect the copyright of the original artists that have been listed.

A Shift in Culture

I remember writing something on Twitter a few weeks ago regarding the idea that people no longer to go coffee shops for coffee, as we did in the last decade or even the one before, but to go now for WIFI. This statement has made me wonder, what is different now from years before? How has our culture evolved? How has our day-to-day lives changed?

One example would be how we search for things. Remember back in the day when we would have to use the Yellow Pages to find business or people? Or even more recently when we would use search engines through the computer? No longer do we have to open a book or even turn our computer on, we can search in the palm of our hands with portable devices. Various applications allow us on our phones, to find what we are looking for almost immediately. I mean, even the mere idea of having applications on a phone is a relatively new concept. Ten years ago, I had a phone that could only send/receive calls and, what was at the time something new, text messages. We use our phones not to call anymore, but as a mobile computer.

Speaking of mobile computers, we are now in a time when you no longer have to wait to get to the office or go home, we simply pull our computer out of our bag, hop on to some WIFI and go. I’m not saying that laptops were not around 10 years ago, but they definitely weren’t as prevalent and certainly were not the primary computer that people used. We even use them to give presentations and pitches to clients. Our very nature is now becoming mobile.

Facebook.com

Twitter and Facebook were not the first, by a long shot, social networking platforms around. However, their ability to adapt to the ever-changing online environment, has kept them around. It used to be that we would ask someone for their number, call them or even text them. Now, we “Facebook” them or follow them on Twitter. Even businesses are adopting the social media trend. Promoting themselves through social media sites, advertising their services or products by “tweeting,” and interacting with their demographic in the first person. Social media is changing the way we buy things, learn about things and even meet people. I’ll even go as far as to say that psychologically, we believe that the online presence of a person and/or business is actually who they are. We don’t think of their page as a page, but as the person themselves.

And while we’re on the topic of online environments, who goes to a record store anymore? Do you know of any around still? Who uses CD players? It’s all iPods, mobile phones, laptops and streaming. The advent of the digital medium and the unlimited access to any song anywhere on the web has changed the way we buy and listen to music. I’m even thinking of ripping all my old CD’s to MP3 and selling them off.

So, what’s next? What are we as a culture going to shift to? We already see it happening. Augmented Reality is creeping into our culture slowly, but surely. Google has released a statement saying they’re going to customize billboard advertisements in their Street Map application and change the way we advertise. Ford is unveiling a car with applications on the dash. We have a vague idea of what is around the corner, however, all that we can really plan for is that we don’t know how society is going to change, but it is an exciting time to be alive.

Where do you see us heading next?

Smart People

Recently, I had the opportunity to take part in a large branding workshop. I have to say, it was a truly amazing experience. What made it amazing? It wasn’t really the workshop itself, it was the people that took part in it. It was the people who surrounded me.

These “people” were smart people, very smart people. It was a refreshing experience and, at the same time, a humbling one. I’m not saying that I haven’t been in rooms with smart people before, I have. What I am saying is, I haven’t been in a room with this MANY smart people before. I really am not at liberty to disclose what was actually said, or what the brand workshop was focused on. I can disclose, however, the experiences that I took away.

I am a young man when it comes to the professional world. I know, I am nearly 30 years old and some people consider that old, but in the grand scheme of things, that is very young. I understand that I have a lot to learn and I very much welcome that challenge and this workshop provided that challenge. I was in a room with the playmakers and the decision makers for the majority of a day. We all sat down and pondered the why, the what, the how and what the next steps were in branding. The “where we are,” to the “where we should be.” We had brand planners, designers, marketers, copywriters, web designers. We had executives and creatives. We had all the people that contribute to the brand in one room. And more importantly, we all were listening.

It wasn’t a matter that no idea was a bad idea, it was a matter that all the ideas were heard and discussed. That is the true meaning of collaboration, every idea gets heard and its time in the light. These ideas came from very, very smart people. Those who not only know what a good idea is, but know why it’s a good idea because they’ve been there. The smart people know when to listen and when to speak. They know the results because they’ve been there. They aren’t just the playmakers, they are makers of the game.

When I say I was humbled, I truly was. I’ve been in rooms with smart people before, really smart people. But this wasn’t college football, this was the NFL. I had to bring my “A” game at be “on” all the time. There was no room for error in this hall. Now, when I say smart people, I don’t mean people who were smarter than people that I have met, I mean people who are smarter than me. These types of professionals bring the best out of you, if you are open to it. Being immersed in “A” game thinking, elevates your creative thinking and the logical side of your brain at the same time. This is the type of experience that I long for. I may come out the room with an understanding that I don’t know a whole lot or at least, as much as they do. However, it makes me strive for more. More knowledge, more experiences, and more talent.

What did I takeaway from this experience? I learned that there is a process to these types of idea-sessions. Here’s the breakdown:

Listen
Someone once said that you never learn anything by talking. Listening is probably the best activity to master. No multitasking is allowed, close your computers and turn off your phones. Listen, take notes, assimilate the information heading your way. There is a reason why someone is speaking, because they have something to say. You can learn from people. They can assist you in thinking in a different box. They can spark ideas in your head.

Engage
When I say it was a humbling experience, it was. I was a little nervous in engaging with some people and having my ideas heard. But what I realized was, that I was there for a reason. Nothing comes out of passivity. If you feel that something needs to be said, say it. Offer up a critique of someone’s idea. Engage, question, articulate, and argue. Discourse and dialog bring about amazing ideas and change. They also allow us to explore other ideas and take ourselves down different creative paths. Also, meet new people. Introduce yourself. After people meet you, they become more open to the idea of discussing ideas with you.

Takeaway
Always come out of the room with an idea or something to move yourself forward. I came out of that room with a ton of ideas that I want to move forward. I came out of that room with many new contacts and connections. I also came out knowing that I need to know more than what I know now. I decided to buy some books, catch up on reading. If you come out without any sort of takeaway, you’ve wasted your time and sadly, theirs too.

Learn
This aligns with “Listen” and “Takeaways.” Take the information that you’ve listened to and the takeaways and assimilate that. Learn from your counterparts and learn from the ideas that were shared, even the ideas that don’t work. Ask yourself the “why” and if you don’t have an answer, seek it out.

Who did I listen to? I listened to everyone.

Who did I engage with? I tried my best to offer up and idea or opinion to anyone. It was scary from the start, but I rallied.

What takeaways did I leave with? A ton! I need to read up, I need to follow up, I need to take ideas that were solid and implement them.

What did I learn? Try not to be scared to interact with people. All ideas are welcome. I need to learn more. I want more dialog. I have many, many pages of ideas I need to implement.

Update: I’ve Relocated to Chicago

I know I’ve been a bit remiss in the updating of this blog, but it was for good reason. The reason being, in the last two weeks, my life got turned right-side up. Allow me to update you on the happenings in my life.

Job Offer
A couple of weeks ago, as you may have read before, I accepted a job offer at a digital marketing agency in Chicago. Two things to point out here:

    1) I love digital marketing. I always have felt when working in print design that there was something else that I needed to incorporate into my professional life; that “something else” was marketing and/or strategy. Basically, I wanted to know the “why” and the “meaning” behind my work. I wanted to be apart of the strategy behind the campaigns. I wanted to develop the strategy and campaign for the assets I was designing. In the last couple of years, client demands and my own passion catapulted me into the world of social. Social media marketing was exactly what I was desiring and Critical Mass recognized that and gave me an offer.

    2) I love Chicago; I always have. Ever since I was a little boy, I had dreamt of living in Chicago. Chicago always had a connection with my family and myself. It’s not just the “tall” buildings, it’s the culture, the lifestyle, the movement of the city. It’s not that Milwaukee imprisoned me for 11 years, it’s more that I was a bit complacent for 11 years. Now, I had the means and opportunity coupled with the desire to move to the best city in the United States.

With all that said, I accepted the offer and as a result, things and events started to move really, really fast.

Moving
Moving is no easy task and most certainly, moving to another city isn’t either. Within two weeks, I needed to find a place to stay, pack my bags and head down to start work. At the time of me accepting the position, I was, for all intents and purposes, upwardly mobile. I didn’t have a lease that I was tied into, no girlfriend and no pets. Most of my things were already packed up and I was ready to go.

However, finding a place to stay was the inherent difficulty. Originally, it was planned that I would stay with a friend for a month until I located a more permanent residence from which I could launch my campaign to take on Chicago. Well, for reasons I won’t go into here, things fell through with my friend. I know you’re asking yourself why. Well, let’s just say, it was a conflict of interest.

Moving on, I had two contingency plans:

    Plan B: Locate an apartment and tap into savings to get it. Relocate the most minimal amount of personal belongings and set up shop until I can make the full-up move down.

    Plan C: Commute via Amtrak to and from Chicago everyday.

Obviously, I chose to tackle Plan B. With only 5 days left until I start my kick-ass position at CM; I took the train down to Chicago to locate my new digs. Since I was under a time constraint, my options were a bit limited. I decided to go with a pretty rad studio apartment. I signed the letters of intent and headed back to Milwaukee. The following day, I realized that I may have made a mistake. I called up the broker and informed them that I wanted a larger place. They gave me options, and I signed on a place a few hours later, without even stepping foot into it.

I had my place, I had my bags packed and I had an amazing friend ready to drive me down to Chicago with 4 days left before I start.

Saying Goodbye
Another reason why I haven’t been on top of the blog, was that I had to say goodbye to my close friends in Milwaukee. I realized that for the close friends, I wanted to say goodbye in person. This plan really took up a lot of my time; and I wouldn’t have it any other way. For some, the goodbyes were bittersweet, for others it was a celebration of moving forward. Cries and smiles seemed to be the specials of the day.

I also had a going away party at my favorite night spot, Hi Hat. Hi Hat always had a special place in my heart. For the last 11 years, so many great things and people came out of that business. With having that party, I knew that what I thought was the ideal was turning to the real. I AM moving to Chicago. I was amazed by the amount and diversity of people who came out to send me on my way; that was a bittersweet moment.

Saying Hello
With a goodbye, comes a hello. Sunday, the day before I started, I packed up my buddy’s car and we drove down to Chicago. I picked up the keys to my place and headed over to unwrap my new apartment. To my surprise, it was a pretty sweet place in a killer neighborhood. Also, my job turns out be even more amazing than what I had envisioned. I’m working with people of extreme passion and knowledge. They are all very welcoming to boot. I have a feeling I have a lot to offer and am exited for this opportunity to learn so many more things.

I have been living in Chicago for about a week now and already there are somethings that I have learned beyond what I knew already.

    1) Express busses are the way to go when commuting to the loop. Forget the train; it’s way too packed during rush and not to mention, it takes forever.

    2) The cost of living is comparable to Milwaukee minus the cost of consumables. What do I mean by consumables? I mean food, household goods, luxury items and overall anything you need to live day-to-day. It’s only about 30% more, but it’s still within reason.

    3) People in the morning are not happy. I’m not expecting people to be walking on sunshine at 7am, but come on, you don’t have to be a dick about it. (Maybe that will be one thing I can help change. Yeah right. Leif makes 3 million people happy in the morning.)

    4) Overall, once you get passed the 7am grumpy stage, people are very genuine and helpful. I am stunned by the generosity and gratuity of people here. All you have to do is ask.

    5) I thought people like the nightlife in Milwaukee, but man, I wasn’t prepared for Chicago night owls. I’m sorry Milwaukee, these people are pros down here; you have a run for your money.

    6) Despite what people say, Chicago is very clean, very clean.

    7) You never have to worry about being too far away from a CVS/Walgreens, Chase Bank, Starbucks/Dunkin Donuts.

    8) I think I’m going to like it here.

Well, there you have it, the last two weeks of my life. I’m sure, as things progress and become a bit more normal, I will be writing more on this blog. And not to worry, I will be writing more content about social media, art and music soon.

Announcement: I’m relocating to Chicago

Yes, I accepted a job and yes, it’s in Chicago.

So, you want the details? Well, I just signed the offer letter and I will be off to Chicago August 1st. I will be a Community Moderator at a pretty sweet, dare I say, rad digital/marketing agency in Chicago. What is a Community Moderator? Well, if you haven’t been reading my blog and need an explanation, in short, I will be a social media moderator for a brand represented by the agency; the wizard behind the curtain if you will.

I have lived in Milwaukee for over 10 years now. Milwaukee has been very good to me over the years and yes, I am a little sad to leave it. I have had many great experiences in Milwaukee and hope to have many more in Chicago. I went to school in Milwaukee, made some kick-ass friends, worked with some amazing people at some killer places. I have lived in different parts of town and experienced the most I could living in Milwaukee. It was, an excellent life experience, one that I’ll never forget.

However, Chicago offers a new chapter to my life. Many of you who know me know that I’m interested in trying new things. Well, with the exception of certain foods. (Those who know me, know what I’m talking about.) Chicago is a city that I have long since wanted to be in. The size, culture, family history, artist community, neighborhoods are all rolled into one massive desire to relocate and experience.

Like I said before, this is another volume I have to write. It’s something that I have to do and try out. And with this new, radical position, I’m able to do just that. I am excited to see what I can do in this new position and am excited, and I’m not going to lie, a little scared (but in a good way) to relocate to the city that I have always wanted to be in. And for those of you asking, no, I will not be living downtown. Come on, I’m not that rich.

Of course, this transformation and evolution in my life would not have been possible without all the help from my family, friends and coworkers. I would like to take this time to point out a few key players who helped me in this life changing event.

First and foremost, I must thank family. My parents have been a great help in being supportive in my decision to open up a new book. My sister has and always will be my rock. And let’s not forget Eric. Wow, this guy has been the idealistic older brother, and all the things he has done for me, I will never forget.

Also, I would like to send a special shout-out to Al and Mike. These guys helped me discover another talent and opportunity that has been most beneficial to me. My references I would also like to thank. Mike and John, you guys must have said some great things and I hope that I can continue to live up to what you said.

Oh man, this is starting to sound like an Oscar speech–terribly sorry about that. I’ll wrap things up.

My friends have been supremely excellent over the years, and I thank all of you for that. I would also like to thank my friends in Chicago for putting up with my non-stop visits and overnighters. You guys have really went above-and-beyond.

So, that is it. I’m moving to Chicago next month. If you’d like to meet up before I take off, you know how to get a hold of me. Also, if you want to help me move, I’m not going to say no. Ha Ha.

Thank you all! Now, I gotta pack!