What the firk?

If you’re in the Southeast, pick up the May/June Southern Brew News. My article on Brewer’s Brewing Company in Beaufort, S.C., is one of the features.

Back in March, we took part in the Special Firkin Night, the brew pub’s Friday Night tradition of serving cask-conditioned ale. One of their beers is set aside in a firkin and cask conditioned, which makes the beer velvety smooth and delicious. We even got a taste of Brewmaster Josh Brewer’s most recent creation, the Skull Creek Stout, which I couldn’t write about earlier because it was top secret. I couldn’t break the Circle of Trust. Since the Brew News doesn’t post its articles online, read up on the excursion at Untamed Beer.

One of the many cool things about Brewer’s is that they truly follow green business practices. While green is all the rage and everyone likes to think they’re being green and are promoting it like crazy, Brewer’s is keeping it real.

They aren’t selling those little tote bags for a dollar either.

Big news.

One of our designers, Cheryl, had her first baby yesterday afternoon. Congrats on your little bundle o’ joy!

Cheryl and her husband kept their baby’s name a secret, divulging only that they were going to name her after one of the streets they take on their way to church.

We were really excited about little Route 62 coming into our lives, but it turns out they went with “Erin.”

Naming Erin became something of a national effort over the past few months, culminating into a spot on April 23rd’s “Talkin’ Funny.”

Got brass?

I started this post in January to follow up after the Super Bowl commercials. And then forgot about it. Originally entitled “The stain takes gold,” I wanted to applaud the Tide-to-Go commercial, “The Talking Stain.”

I also wanted to comment on the use of the Rocky soundtrack in commercials. It will not automatically make it a good commercial. (Who was the advertiser? All I remember is Rocky. Don’t get me wrong, the Rocky soundtrack is sweet.)

Anyway, finally St. Pat’s Day rolled around and I wanted to share this Guinness commercial that was coming on at least twice during PTI on ESPN. So quick, funny. I wanted to post it for St. Pat’s Day, but the commercial wasn’t online yet. Finally, it is. Enjoy.

Creepy

It’s been a relatively quiet and productive day…until now. Thanks to Miagi, my unofficial clipping service rep from Fox News online, for sharing this story about a little gnome that is “terrorizing” a town in Argentina. View footage, courtesy of The Sun.

Digital billboards: peeve, peril or perfect?

Among road trip games, one of our favorites is “spot the worst billboard.” Quick judgments abound on the use (usually overuse) of space, the message, the image, type size, everything. Scrutinizing bad billboards while driving can be hazardous. Now we face another possible danger: the digital billboard.

When I saw my first digital billboard, I thought, “Hmm…innovative and profitable.” I also thought, “Crap, I have to pass this everyday….tacky…distracting.” The Island Packet covered it today. The article raises the issue that these changing ads are a digital danger on the road, increasing risk of accidents. The billboard companies counter that the billboards can aid in emergencies: they’re an additional way to communicate to the public, for example, during hurricane evacuations.

So what’s my quick judgment on the digital billboard? I think it poses a danger to people’s lives. They take your eyes from where they need to be: on the road. When a client wants a billboard designed by us, it won’t go digital.

Hot off the press

Before the holidays, Big Gnome worked with General Recreation, a company specializing in the design and installation of parks, playgrounds, skate parks, and other outdoor leisure areas, to create its first quarterly newsletter, The Recreation Landscape, for its South Carolina market.

The production experience was amazing, with the client so well-engaged in the process that we finished ahead of schedule. During this time, the client upped the quantity and decided to have us create a second version for its Pennsylvania/ Delaware/New Jersey market for Spring 2008.

A special thanks to General Recreation for simply being enjoyable to work with. And congrats on the meeting you guys landed with Charleston County Schools after they received the newsletter a few weeks ago.

Tapping the Coast

Check your local watering hole for the January/February issue of the Southern Brew News, a laid back, candid regional newspaper that covers beer-related news and events throughout the South. More importantly, demand that your bar serve Coast Brewing Company’s beer.

Unfortunately, the paper’s South Carolina section is usually slim on content. So when I found out that Coast was opening in North Charleston (and heck, I wanted to write about beer and local business), I got in touch with both parties, and viola: free PR for Coast and a cover story for the Brew News.

Graffiti: cheaper than spray paint and a jd record

From The Atlantic to Wired, everyone’s been writing about Facebook. Regardless of praise or criticism, it is a useful social networking tool. You can reunite with your old friends, or land new clients.

This, however, is not an article on how Facebook is changing how we do business or re-weaving the social fabric of our lives. This post is to celebrate Graffiti, a simple, effective application on Facebook that challenges our inner artist and reminds us of why we loved (and hated) Microsoft Paint.

Glad tidings

We’ll be closed this afternoon through next Wednesday. Many thanks to Cheryl for her Christmas card design!

PR secrets…shhhh, don’t tell…

Public relations secret number one: do pr. Ok, ok it’s not that simple. Often, the results are not immediate. But, when they are, holy smokes, clients are pleased.

Earlier this fall, I set up an interview for Period Three, a sweet web development firm in Columbia, SC, on the South Carolina Business Review radio show. Here’s what happened…

“I’ve gotten probably 20 phone calls and we’ve landed at least 3 clients from that interview. You rock for that idea and I owe your entire family dinner…”

- Gene Crawford
Owner, Period Three

We only eat filet mignon, Gene.
Ok, so they did an interview. If the firm didn’t get positive feedback or responses, then, that’s no help. But, here’s a comment they received via email:

“Just wanted to drop an email and say how refreshing it was to hear about you on NPR last week. Your CEO (can’t remember his name) was very on point about everything that’s good about web design, and it was awesome to listen to. I’m on board with anyone who thinks flash intros should go away forever and never ever come back.

Anyway, thanks for restoring my faith that even here in little Columbia, SC we have people that know how to use something else besides tables and a scrolling marquee.

- Mike”

I’m sure Gene doesn’t mind the dude forgot his name. They have three new clients now.