Tomorrow Is A School Day

I never even considered getting an MBA - Courtney of course did (considered it and earned her degree). None the less, we're both getting a refresher course tomorrow on business accounting. What does a P&L really tell us? How does that differ from a spreadsheet? And really what is EBIDTA?

Steve Lux who has been our business consultant for the last 5 years (and who's a CPA by training, among many other great things) is going to spend several hours with us so we'll be braindead around 2:00. However, you can call us on Thursday and we'll be able to sound really smart!

And speaking of smart and school, do you read Frazz? It's one of the best comic strips out there today - Bloom County lives in an elementary school!

What's Your Friday Afternoon Like?

With Courtney working from home on Fridays to take care of Jacob, we're short a team mate for our weekly Catch Phrase games. I can tell you Megan has a wide range of knowledge, Kelly is amazingly creative with her descriptions, and me? Well, if you're over 30 then you'll get more of my references.

So, give us a call, drop us an email, come by and be our 4th - you can pick your team mate! Hope to see you at MBM soon.

What have you accomplished in the last 30 days?

This week marks the completion of a Privacy Policy mailing for a local banking client - just 30 days after the initial client meeting about the project. It was a tight deadline to get everything designed, approved, printed and mailed, especially over the holidays, but we completed it on time, without a hiccup.

So I got to thinking about what else has been accomplished at MBM over the past 30 days. Other than 2 long holiday weekends in a row: Tacky Light Limo Tour (MBM Q4 Outing), 5 year champagne celebration for Courtney, blizzard of '09, client survey release and compilation, annual report concepting and approval for banking client, development and printing collateral for senior living client, and completion of many other projects - brochure reprints, ad development, press releases, you name it! What have you accomplished in the last 30 days?



With my Privacy Policy mailing in the wrap-up stages, I've been able to spend some of my time on new business proposals. Our business development guru Maggi, has recently been riding the wave of potential new clients, so our outlook on 2010 is positive!



I typed in "accomplishments" to Google images, and this came up. Cool tuna (I think), and yes quite an accomplishment!

Holiday Greens

Our MBM gift this year was a donation to charity, coupled with a small desktop plant. Given that it's been a challenging year for all, we thought our clients, vendors, and friends would feel good about a donation in their honor and a little greenery on their desks.

The plant is a cool contraption in and of itself. A little brick of dirt, chock full of wheatgrass seeds, is nestled in this little silver container.



All you do is add a little water and keep the plant near some sun, and bam! Easy office plant.

The best thing about this gift has been receiving photos of the plants in action.

Jason, one of our designers, planted the seeds with his son, Sam. Below is Sam shortly after planting...

And here is Farmer Sam after the plant had grown some (also, I think just after waking up from a nap)...


Marcus, one of our programmers, sent in this beautiful shot of his plant...


And even I have been monitoring a plant here in the office. Well, trying to monitor. These thirsty little suckers need a fair amount of water!

Age Matters

As the oldest person in the office, I occasionally find myself explaining quirky phrases or social references. Sometimes this leads to a link to great Saturday Night Live skit, sometimes it's a "you had to be there" moment. It's fun to think back on the iconic images and behaviors from when I was growing up, and to hear from the 30-something and the 20-somethings in the office about what they remember.

I write this thinking about the title of a presentation I'm giving with Mark Faircloth for the Virginia Bankers Association in March. We wanted something a little catchy and creative. As we came up with titles, we had to think about our audience - would they get it or just be confused? Would some get it and those who don't still understand what the topic is about? Or are we just trying to be too creative when it's more important to communicate clearly?

These are issues we struggle with every day for our clients. We want first and foremost to communicate clearly. Then we move to the mindset of the audience - is there some iconic thing or phrase that would help get the message across and remembered? It's a fine line to walk, but we sure love doing it!

Peace (OR) Peace Out (depending on your age)

Tacky Has Its Place

After our original plans were snowed under (literally), we had our MBM holiday outing tour of the Richmond Tacky Holiday Lights last week. It's a must-do if you live in Richmond, and worth the trip to town if you don't. We had a great time and were amazed at the effort homeowners put into their decorations. You can see a slide show here, but it's way better in person: http://www2.richmond.com/content/2009/dec/21/tacky-lights-slideshow-2009/

To juxtapose the grandeur of the Tacky Lights (and our grand fun), we continue to edit and simplify a "scrapbook" version of a brochure for a new client. We think the concept is dead-on for the audience, but are working to make sure visuals don't take over the message, and that the font size and color are distinct and easily read by an older audience.

We're presenting tomorrow - fingers crossed! And cheers for a great 2010!

Well, hello 2010!

The holidays are finally over and 2010 is here. Was it just me or did the holidays last a long time? I'll be glad to get my house cleaned up and my refrigerator thinned out. Now if we could just hurry spring along to get rid of this cold weather!

It's "back to school" week and we're all trying to get back in the swing of things. We'll be presenting some new design concepts that we have been diligently working on during all the holiday cheer. Let's hope we've hit a home run!

Maybe I'm just an optimist but I think this is going to be a really great year!