Earlier this month, our friends at MarketingProfs hosted a virtual conference. We’re big fans of all things ‘Profs - and admittedly a little intrigued when the word ‘avatar’ gets thrown around - so we decided to participate as a vendor and set up our own virtual booth. On the day of the conference, visitors could come by the booth to download tips for improving their email marketing efforts, chat with someone from Emma (Sara, the one from Nebraska, volunteered), and learn more about what we do. We also had the option of including a 60-second video greeting to welcome visitors to the booth. And what says “welcome to our virtual booth” like a video of an old-school conference booth? Go on, think felt tablecloth, fishbowl, and a big bowl of Werthers. You know what, don’t imagine it.
Just watch it here.

Technorati Tags: myemma.com, marketingprofs, virtual conference, virtual booth, myemma.com, emma, email marketing, email newsletters, enewsletters

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I just got back to Nashville from Podcasters Across Borders (PAB). A side project from Emma is my gig as producer and co-host of Two Boobs and a Baby +, a comedy parenting Internet radio show.

Last year I attended the first PAB conference in Kingston, Ontario. Each year members of the Canadian podcasting community and beyond meet to share stories, watch presentations, learn and drink. This year was no different than last year, only the group doubled in size.

If you’re a podcaster I definitely recommend you attend PAB2008. You can find out more from the link above. Also, if you are interested in listening to some of the sessions check out the Canadian Podcast Buffet. Hosts Mark Blevis and Bob Goyetche also present the conference, so they podcast the presentations after the conference for those who couldn’t make it.

I also suggest you check out Neil Gorman’s presentation about podcaster burnout. I should note, this was his first time presenting (and definitely not his last - he rocked!).

Finally, I want to thank Emma for offering to allow me to buy my PAB friends drinks!

Cheers.

Technorati Tags: PAB2007, Podcasters Across Borders, podcasting, two boobs and a baby, neil gorman, bob goyetche, mark blevis myemma.com

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I just got back from design nirvana - but you might know it as the National AIGA Leadership Retreat. This year, 500+ designers convened in South Beach for three days to talk about everything design-related in our world. Since this was both my first year as co-president of the Nashville chapter and my first national retreat, I had no idea what to expect. I assumed there’d be a slew of designers in stylish glasses talking about the new new mint green shade that’s all the rage and frolicking in paper samples. Nope.

Starting bright and early at 7:30am (obviously the work of a non-designer) and going until 10pm (now we’re talkin’), each day was filled with presentations, workshops, breakout sessions and group lunches, all intended to get people out of their shell and away from their own chapter to trade stories and ideas about cool programming, governance challenges and growing membership.

The highlight for me was co-moderating one of these breakout sessions on “communications and Emma.” Shel Perkins and Katie English from the National board sat in with about twenty other members as Jessica Gore, my co-moderator from AIGA San Francisco, and I spoke about how our chapters use Emma to reach out to our members and design community at-large. Other members jumped in as well to add their own experiences to the mix and brainstorm more creative ideas. Among the great suggestions were things like spotlighting an outstanding volunteer, gathering programming feedback using surveys and getting the word out about member discounts and benefits. We also covered hot topics like designing HTML email, optimizing for mobile devices, using CSS the right way and how to conquer your fear of Outlook 2007 (don’t cry). Everyone, including people who had no previous web or email experience, walked out of this session like champs ready to get their chapters talking.

2008 retreat, here I come.

Technorati Tags: AIGA, design, CSS, Outlook 2007, AIGA National Leadership Retreat, myemma.com

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