THAT'S SYBRIS NOT SYBARIS-DRAFT #1

WOXY.COM is promoting this show, chances are it's going to be good. I haven't heard of Sybris before, but they have a $100 fine if you misspell their name on any printed materials. I'm going through the first draft stages. My original idea was a knife and have it reflected so that there will be be two versions cut to size and when placed next to each other there will be a mirror reflection. Now I'm not sure where I'm going with it. Sometimes lightning strikes and sometimes it doesn't, which means I'm not completely happy with this version.

In the meantime, keep your calendars open for Sept. 30 at Birdy's Live. The speed talent of The Coke Dares will also be there, so it promises to be a good night.

I'll post my final draft later this week after I "finesse" the creative process a little more. And I'm still waiting on a hi-res logo from Woxy.

SAVE THE ARTS IN INDIANAPOLIS: AUG. 21st MEETING

Please come and support the Indy Arts Council today at the city county building. The more supporters that show up and voice their opinions, the harder it will be for the city and Mayor Ballard to cut the arts budget.

Thursday, Aug. 21 at 5 p.m.
Location: Room 260 at the City County Building
200 E. Washington Street

If you want to stay on top of the outcome and can't make it to the meeting today-subscribe to the Save Public Funding for the Arts blog.

CROWDSOURCING: DESIGNER KICKS

Another example of community driven design.
Just like Threadless, designers can now design their own sneakers on RYZ. The start up began as a project with two heavy weights from Adidas and Nike.

I had heard about it on WFYI/NPR this during my morning commute downtown to Carmel. The sneakers pictured above were designed specifically for NPR.

Designers Download a template for the shoe dimensions/layout and post the designs on the site. Then the consumer votes on the winning design. For the winning sneakers, Oregon based RYZ is offering a purse of $1000 for the design (plus 1% royalties). Not to mention the retail pricing is good- $90.00 compared to the designer Nike shoe which is around $200.

When companies utilize "crowdsourcing" there's constantly a conversation, or a VOC (voice of the customer or consumer). This is good news for those of us that are tired of being told by "the man" what we should like in our products and services. You design your own high-top sneakers or atleast you get to choose what designs you want to wear.

My only suggestion is that they will open the "high top sneaker design" to other types of shoe designs-I'm a slipper shoe/high-heeled shoe type of gal. It would rock my world if Urban Outfitters took the same model as RYZ.

BLOGGERS BANQUET

This past weekend was exhausting but informative. Blogging has come a long way-beyond the guerrila reporting from remote locations or exposing big business, or just as a means to post your vacation pics. Now blogs are the gateways to making/breaking the latest products/services, allowing the masses immediate access to reviews of food, wine, entertainment, and celebrating the connections of socio-political networking in cultural/lifestyle communities.

Overall it was a really good experience.

Only three downfalls:
1. I was surprised that the panels focused on Google Analytics as the main measuring tool out there. I guess since Google owns the the US internet market, that's the most accessible one. I would have like to learn of others as well.

2. Monetization on blogs. None of the speakers addressed exactly how to strategize partnerships, product sponsorships, or anything other than where to place a banner ad and join my advertising community and you can find out how it works. I think the info emphasised the realistic world of "not everyone will make money on blogs." Which I was already aware of, but I hoped it would go a little farther.

3. My only other downer was how little was put on design for mutliple reader/web/mobile devices-but I'm biased and I only have myself to blame for going to another presentation over the blog visual critique session. I would be too focused on the web appearance and not on function/organization of content. I'd prolly sound like an a-hole anyway.

As for the upside:

My favorite topic/speaker: corporate blogs. The golden rule learned is that corporate blogs to be TRANSPARENT.

Let your commentors have a discussion with you on whatever you have posted on your blog. Don't shy away from negative feedback. Acknowledge when your company has made a major mistake. A great example of this was brought up by Doug Karr's discussion on what makes a great corporate blog. The company blog Karr exemplified was a West Coast server host company that had a major malfunction with it's switching over of several data centers. I'm not a system's administrator or a server/hosting guru, so some of the jargon mentioned is over my head.

Dreamhost's Anatomy of an Ongoing Disaster, explains how DreamHost eff'ed up and what they did to fix it. If you check out the comments you will find there's more positive feedback on the situation for the company being "transparent." The companies I've worked for in the past, would never compare themselves to the exploding Hindenberg or peering into the eye of a hurricane, while announcing that they have lost their clients data.

The rest of the experience was fantastic since I met some kewl bloggers out there. Check out intellagirl, indy theatre habit, moosh in indy , or photrade when you get a chance.

I have a feeling next year the conference will double in participation. It has a great foundation to start with. And if you have a Indiana based blog sign up for the blog Indiana census.

BAND AIDS ARE HAWT

When did accessorizing your wardrobe to your wounds become the "must have" of the fashionistas? I could understand if you actually hurt yourself/like having a mild flesh wound, that the less conspicuous and camouflaging of the bandage the better-but these people don't even have a single papercut.

It's a little weird.

Whats next? Amputee fashion?
But you will have to cut your leg off first-sans cancer or any other physical reason. Only so you could hop around on some SWAROVSKI crystals and use your VERSACE leg kick stand.

THEY SAY THIS CAT SHAFT IS A BAD MOTHER-SHUT YOUR MOUTH

Isaac Hayes died today. First Tim Russert-now one of the beloved sons of Stax. 2008 really bites right now on the bucket list.

I don't care if Hayes was a Scientologist-he lived the biggest gangsta/pimp life, complete with a peacock blue/solid gold trim caddy that you can see at the Rock and Soul Museum which is located at the original site of Stax Records in Memphis. It's a crying shame, so much of soul music that was recorded in the sixties and seventies was nurtured from the great gift that was Isaac Hayes.

Snoop Dog, Lil'jon, Jay-Z, P-Diddy (or whatever your name is now) and Ludicrus-step aside, because one of the real souls of RB/hip hop just took a solid gold private jet into the sky.

I'M REALLY DIGGING BRAINSTORM

These cats have some great ideas and have done their homework on industrial design and consumer messaging. Check out their XM packaging post. I love finding an agency that bring intelligence and innovation to branding. And well, I'm a sucker for beautiful package design.

THIS MAGIC MOMENT

Another poster-and another night of music "magic". Sam's Saloon will be hosting a great night of rock on Aug. 22nd. The likes of Chicago's Detholz, with a mix of out of town and local (Shelby Kelly, The Wisebloods and Scotty Lust--great name) will be rocking the rafters of the saloon on Prospect Street/Fountain Square.

Hopefully I'll see ya round the hood.

OBABMA-VISION

Looks like there's a new political poster contest in the works. You can now enter the Obama poster design contest. Deadline and details are here.

May the best political draw win.