Tag Archives: Business & Marketing

Imaging USA 2011

By Chris | Published February 19, 2011

I’m a little late in my posts and I truly appologize. As soon as we returned from Imaging USA in San Antonio we took our youth group to south Houston for Teen Mania’s Acquire the Fire Conference (ATF). Then as soon as we got back from ATF Bill and I both got type A flu. I’m told type A is the worst you can have, and from personal experience I can testify to the fact that it is quite awful. We’re still working through some of the symptoms and trying to catch up on the week of work we missed.

And now, here we are. Over the next few days I’ll be posting about some of my favorite things at Imaging USA, as well as some great vendors I got to meet while I was there. We’ve got new products coming out and a whole new look (check out the water marks on the photos for a preview of the new logo).

A birds eye view preview of the show.

The Show…Full Force.

Leaving the Luxe Lounge (more to come on that in a later post).

My vendor map. I went through ahead of time and marked all the booths I knew I wanted to visit. I was surprised to see Apple listed, as they don’t even attend the MacWorld Conference anymore.

Meet Apple’s booth. I have no idea what this was all about. Where they planning on attending and then pulled out last minute. Did Imaging USA hold a booth for them in hopes that they’d attend? Curious right?

Stay tuned for more photos, awesome booths, and vendors in upcoming posts this week!

 

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Martha Stewart…PETS…WHAAAA?

By Chris | Published July 14, 2010

Today, while flipping through Martha Stewart Magazine I saw an ad…Martha Stewart Pets. Then I went here.

And its true, the mighty Martha has now developed a pet line. I don’t know why I didn’t see it coming. I checked out all of the items, most of them are for small dogs, which only furthers my desire to make a line of pet stuff for larger dogs 75lbs and up. The colors and designs are nice, very Martha-ie. Not a lot to choose from yet, I’d assume this is the trial line. I do like some of the clothes (yes I put clothes on my 85lb black lab, don’t judge me), but I’m pretty sure they are all too small. Either way, kudos Martha, you’ve inserted yourself into yet another market. My love for you only grows.

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Burger King has Changed

By Chris | Published May 19, 2010

To be completely honest and horribly truthful I really enjoy fast food, but I am a fast food snob. I really only enjoy Jack in the Box, Chick-Fil-A, and Taco Cabana. I also am a fan of Taco Bell, less snobby, more thrifty, still you can’t beat their cheesy bean and rice burritos. Your typical fast food, Mc Donalds, Burger King, etc. I’m not so much a fan. If I’ve eaten there it was because it was not up to me.

The last time I remember entering a Burger King I think I was probably ten years old, everything was sticky and had a slight layer of grease. I remember the bathrooms being wet all over, for no real reason and there was never any toilet paper or soap. The play areas always smelled like diapers. Burger King was a scary place. But I do remember as a child, I enjoyed their chicken sandwiches that were long, on a sesame seed roll and served with nothing but lettuce and mayo. My husband swore that Burger King no longer carried them and so, I had no reason to go into one until last weekend.

After youth Bill, and several of the youth leaders and students decided Burger King was the place to go for a late night dinner. I did not object because usually I’m pretty easy going and even if I don’t particularly care for a place I’ll still go the company is way more important of a factor to me. To my surprise, wonder, and amazement this Burger King looked like no other I had ever seen. The youth students were a little confused as to why I was taking pictures, I just said that I had to blog about it.

The counter was my first wow moment. Ok so first of all, sweet flooring, can I please use this in my house? The menus were TV screens that showed moving pictures of the burgers all juicy and steamy. I loved the 3D piece of Iron Man breaking through a ceiling tile. Not an inch of feel of weird greasy covering. Insert major awe.

To the right of the counter is this very cool mural, “my BK spring cypress”. Man they’ve got themselves some fantastic designers. This is Emma, the awesome model in the shot.


The wall says “Forged in the whopper flame” is there anything more epic?

The seating is also mega fantastic. I could stay in that place for hours. AND they have wifi?

Coolest chairs ever. Period. I want them in my house. Adam is pretty fierce here.

And what to my wondering eyes should appear? ORIGINAL CHICKEN SANDWICH! My husband was wrong! Double you, are, oh, en, gee! Wrong.

And I’m pretty sure it was better than I remember it being.

So high five to Burger King they not only have stepped up their ads, funniest things ever, but their restaurants look awesome too. Thanks, and I’ll be back.

NOTE: If you are reading this post on facebook, you may not be seeing all of the images. Please visit the blog at diliberto.wordpress.com. Thanks, you’re awesome!

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Friday Flights~Vol 4

By Chris | Published April 24, 2010

I know I’ve missed a few Fridays, but this one is kinda different. Its not particularly on the list, but its something I want for others. I Want A New Marriage. Not for me, not that my marriage is all butterflies and rainbows but we’ve got it somewhat together. Its just lately, I’ve been over come with grief for the large number of close friends who have come to me about separations from their significant others. I’m in shock honestly. And my heart aches for them.

These are amazing people, and I’m just shocked (I know I said this already, but I’m so shocked I had to say it twice for emphasis). Coming from divorced parents I hate the thing, luckily my parents are good friends, and their significant others are good friends, and I got two brothers out of the deal and an amazing step father I wouldn’t trade for anything. Plus my dad’s girlfriend is pretty awesome too. Even with all these things, it still sucks that my parents couldn’t make it work. I don’t often think, “what if?” because I do have all those amazing by products of my parents’ divorce, but when I do the thing I think most is “what if someone could have helped them.”  Which brings me to my next point, a shameless (no sarcasm there, seriously) plug for a little series called, I Want A New Marriage.

My church (please non church goers, don’t get lost at the word church, keep reading) is beginning a series on marriage on May 9th. I know, I said the big “C” word, but really, I think, “is your marriage worth saving?” I’m not claiming that this series will save your marriage, but I’d like to think that you may learn something, even if its one thing, that may help your marriage. We can all learn right? And I promise Jesus will not be thrown down your throat, scouts honor. Below are the topics.

May 9 Marriage Myths & Misconceptions
May 16 His Needs / Her Needs
May 23 Doing Conflict Right!
May 30 Better Sex…Way Better!
June 6 Affair-Proofing Your Marriage (Guest Ted & Gayle Haggard)
June 13 Renewing Your Vows

You’re welcome to come hear the series live on Sundays at 10am at Schindewolf Intermediate School in Spring, Texas, we have free coffee and donuts! =) But if you’re not in the Houston area, or if you kinda get a little freaked out by the idea of stepping foot in a church (technically you wouldn’t be, seeing as how we meet in a school *insert sneaky smile*) just listen to the podcast online from the comfort of your own home, car, or office. You can listen to them at http://northwoodag.com/location/Podcast/Podcast.html, which gets updated faster than on iTunes.

I must also note that I had the privilege of helping with the graphics for this series, not my ideas but I’ve helped adapt them to other things. Much love for awesome church graphics. High five.

But seriously, listen to the series.

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Cha-Cha-Cha Changes :: Facebook

By Chris | Published April 21, 2010

I do a great deal of marketing through Facebook Pages for both my work and my church, some Facebook changes don’t affect what I do so much, others do, and others…well you can’t quite tell until you do a little research. Here’s what I’ve found out about the most recent changes, as per the request of some Facebook friends of mine. =)

Facebook is changing becoming a “Fan” of a Page to “Liking” a Page. Facebook thinks people would rather “Like” a Page than become a “Fan”. Their research has shown that people will “Like” a photo, status update, etc. twice as much as they actually type a comment. So Facebook is banking on the idea that changing the terminology of becoming a “Fan” to “Liking” a Page will make it feel like less of a commitment to users and susequently more people will “Become Fans” of branded Pages. The function of “Becoming a Fan” or what will soon become “Liking a Page” remains unchanged. It is simply a change in terminology.

Another new addition is Community Pages, which we will see added as we go. Currently users list their activities that they enjoy: biking, cooking, chocolate chip cookies, swimming, reading the newspaper, etc. Soon, instead of listing these activities/things, people will “Like” these activities/things. Each activity/thing will have a Community Page, which will look similar to a wikipedia page (it will actually start out showing information gathered from wikipedia). For example if one of my interests is cooking, I will be able to “Like” cooking in my interests, which will actually be “Liking” the Cooking Community Page. Eventually Facebook will begin to ask people “who are passionate about any of these topics” to register as a contributor, essentially creating a Facebook version of Wikipedia. This part of Community Pages is still in Beta testing. With favorite books, music, tv shows, and movies, or anything that has a brand, you will Like those Pages (what used to be becoming a Fan).

There are also some updates to Facebook’s privacy controls as well. Facebook has added things like controlling who can view your friends, etc. There is also a PROPOSED major change to Facebook’s Privacy Policy and Statement of Rights and Responsibilities among many other changes. Below is part of what they are proposing as a change to their Privacy Policy. There are MANY changes and I encourage you to take a look at what else is changing. This section is an important change you may want to be aware of.

“Pre‐Approved Third‐Party Websites and Applications. In order to provide you with useful social experiences off of Facebook, we occasionally need to provide General Information about you to pre‐approved third party websites and applications that use Platform at the time you visit them (if you are still logged in to Facebook). Similarly, when one of your friends visits a pre‐approved website, it will receive General Information about you so you and your friend can be connected on that website as well (if you also have an account with that website). In these cases we require these websites and applications to go through an approval process, and to enter into separate agreements designed to protect your privacy. For example, these agreements include provisions relating to the access and deletion of your General Information, along with your ability to opt‐out of the experience being offered. You can also remove any pre‐approved website or application you have visited here, or block all pre‐approved websites and applications from getting your General Information when you visit them here. In addition, if you log out of Facebook before visiting a pre‐approved application or website, it will not be able to access your information. You can see a complete list of pre‐approved websites on our About Platform page.”

Again, before you get all angry and create a I hate Facebook group, or delete your account all together, I strongly encourage you to take a moment to read all the proposed changes. Visit http://www.facebook.com/fbsitegovernance?v=app_4949752878 to view all the changes. The “Redline” version shows the old privacy statement with deletions in strikethrough text and additions underlined. Facebook does hold true to their open source/open information policy, at the above address you are also welcome to make comments and cristisisms about the new changes. You have until 12 a.m. pacific on Friday to comment with suggestions for these changes. If you do not like the changes this is the effective way to voice your opinion in hopes of change (or not change, which ever you may be for). =)

So thats about it, I know its a lot to digest but several people requested that I share this info.


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