Ah, the comfort zone. So warm, inviting and comfortable. It’s always there, ready to embrace us with a big hug while it whispers, “Stay a while” in our ear. But cozy as it is, there’s typically not a lot of opportunity in that same familiar place. 2019 is the year to bust out of that comfort zone! ODEA President, Patty Rioux, is sharing why she thinks we learn best when we’re uncomfortable. Learn why you should push yourself out of the comfort zone in this week’s episode of Brain Lava. READ MORE >>
For thirteen episodes you’ve heard us give our spiels on topics ranging from being BOLD to user experience to how to give a great presentation. In this episode of Brain Lava, we’re changing it up! Welcome to the first edition of Brain Lava Trivia, a podcast that tests your graphic design knowledge while sharing insight into what our designers do here at ODEA. Cailyn, one of ODEA’s graphic designers, puts Patty and Sue on the spot with a little design trivia. Listen to this week’s episode of Brain Lava to find out how they did and test your own design READ MORE >>
Are you playing offense or defense when it comes to your marketing? Maybe it’s because we’re in the heart of football season or because we’ve had this topic come up a few times recently, but we feel like you should be thinking about it. Offense marketing means focusing on your company’s strengths as opposed to worrying about what the competition is doing (aka defense marketing). This week on Brain Lava, Patty shares a few examples of why you should be offense-minded when it comes to your marketing. Do you have thoughts about offense versus defense marketing? We would love to READ MORE >>
As a marketing agency, you may think that creativity is oozing from our minds at all times. While we wish that was so, it’s not always the case. So, what do you do when you feel like the creativity is going through a dry spell? We like to think of creativity as a muscle. The more you exercise that muscle, the stronger it becomes. Our storyteller, Amelia Dellos, had the opportunity to attend Camp Wandawega in Elkhorn, Wisconsin this year where she participated in some amazing lectures. In this week’s episode of Brain Lava, she’s sharing what she learned and READ MORE >>
Social media is changing every single day. It feels like every morning we’re waking up to a new feature, a new layout, or a new platform altogether. You’re probably thinking that because social media is always evolving, your strategy for tackling it should too. Not so fast! In 2011, a book by Charlene Li and Josh Bernoff titled “Groundswell” hit the shelves to try and teach companies how to take advantage of the emerging social technologies. One method that “Groundswell” brought us that we still love today is something called POST. POST is an acronym that stands for people, opportunity, READ MORE >>
A few weeks ago, we held our first official post-mortem at ODEA. Following the meeting, we discussed what we felt worked great for our team and the things that were not-so-great. A post post-mortem, if you will. Here’s what we learned: Make a list of questions We have a vocal group at ODEA but we still wanted to make sure we had a short list (about five) of questions to open up the discussion. We started the conversation with those questions but allowed the discussion to stray from the list at times, which is okay! The questions are a great READ MORE >>
We know that presenting is not always at the top of everyone’s “favorite things to-do” list but when the opportunity to present at a great conference or event falls into your lap, it’s hard to say no. As lovers of learning, we’ve attended as many conferences as we can to keep the wheels in our brains turning. As we’ve watched a variety of presentations (and even given some ourselves,) we’ve picked up a few tips on giving a great presentation. Check out episode 9 of Brain Lava for four quick presentation tips! READ MORE >>
WordPress is currently powering 30% of all websites. Yeah, we’re picking our jaws up off the floor too! This 30% is a melting pot made up of small business websites, personal blogs and larger business websites like Sony and Vogue. At ODEA, WordPress is our go-to choice for content management system (CMS) when developing a website for a client. So, what makes WordPress one of the coolest kids on the block? Versatility. In this week’s episode of Brain Lava, Stephanie Cosgrove, graphic designer at ODEA, discusses stats and the future of WordPress with our resident CMS guru, Emil Wisch. Check READ MORE >>
Personal opinions: we all have them but they’re not always helpful when it comes to giving creative feedback. When reviewing an ad layout, web mock-up or logo design, it’s easy to throw out comments based on personal preference such as “I don’t like that font” or “yellow is my least favorite color”. To be honest (and we mean this in the nicest way possible), it doesn’t matter if you like it or not. Before you draft a colorful email telling us to take a hike, let us explain. We love, appreciate and need client input and feedback. But as your READ MORE >>