3foldComm

When I began my career in marketing seven years ago, I seemed to successfully stumble into the account services side of the business. I was organized, detail oriented, a “people person” and not afraid to speak up with our clients – a natural fit, right? The picture I had in my mind of what being an account manager meant was essentially an outgoing project manager. Little did I know, our job on the account side of the house serves a much greater purpose than information gatherer, planner and communicator.

As account managers we are responsible for guiding our clients, helping them understand their goals, and find out who they are trying to reach. When trying to communicate the goals, deliverables and other pieces of information to our internal team, I soon found out I had no idea how important one little word would be – “Why?” Over the years I started not only asking myself that question, but asking it of my clients and more-and-more to my team…

• Why are we talking to this demographic?
• Why do you think you need a brochure?
• Why are you rebranding?
• Why should your customers choose you over your competitors?
• Why are you on Twitter and not LinkedIn?
• And the list goes on…

Here at 3fold the importance of proper planning and fact-finding is at the core of what we do. We often find out our clients may not always ask themselves this important question enough. And that is just fine.

Ask any account manager on our team, I’ve told every one of them, if a client is asking you for a product (“I need a brochure” or “we want to do a newsletter” or “we need a press release”) or other deliverable, you must first ask them why they think they need it.

Perhaps they are asking for a brochure to fulfill their need to share information. But, what if that isn’t the best tool to reach the right audience. Instead maybe a website overhaul may work better, or a simple reminder card may be more effective. This may not always be the case. Sometimes our clients are right on with their requests, but part of our job is to ensure that what we deliver will not only solve the problem at hand but be the most effective and efficient.

To make a long story short, three little letters rule our process here at 3fold. If you can’t answer the question “why?” with precision, it’s time to go back to the drawing board to find the answer. Admittedly, it’s my favorite part of this job.

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In case you haven’t heard, the Super Bowl is this Sunday and besides the championship NFL game, we get our annual fix of groundbreaking television commercials. Sure there have been duds making us wonder why they spent that much money but usually there are a few that get some big laughs or an OMG out of even the most finicky of viewers. We’ve already been teased and spoiled with a Ferris Bueller spot for Honda and a genius barking dog Star Wars commercial from Volkswagen, so there might not be too many awesome surprises come Sunday. In any case, we’ve dusted off some of the gems of the past and in typical 3fold fashion — added our own touch! We asked our team here to select their favorite Super Bowl TV commercial and then share their own three-word reaction. We’ve censored compiled all the entries and present the 3fold top Super Bowl ads ever!

Pepsi, “Forever Young” — 2009

“Vintage meets contemporary” — Elise Crispen, Account Coordinator

 

Budweiser, “Respect” — 2002

“Important to remember” — Andi Justice, Account Manager

 

Old Spice, “The Man Your Man Could Smell Like” — 2010

“On a Horse” — Alicia Allen, Social Media Coordinator

 

E*Trade, “Girlfriend” — 2010

“No she didn’t!” — Curtis Ebo, Account Coordinator

 

Levis, “Flyweight” — 1997

“It’s not CGI!” – Steve Alfano, Creative Director

 

Bud Light, “Fergus, Bud Light!” — 2004:

“Winning Paws Down” — Phyllis Marker, Office Manager

 

Volkswagen, “The Force” — 2011

“Use the Force!” – Scott Moak, Director, Nonprofit Services

 

EDS, “Herding Cats” — 2000

“Good luck, buddy!” — Amanda Chaffee, Graphic Designer

 

Miller Lite “Evil Beaver” — 1998

“Holy Chompers Batman!” – Brian Blank, PR & Social Media Manager

 

Monster.com “When I Grow Up” — 1999

“Start 3foldcomm now!” — Gordon Fowler, Founder and CEO

 

Volkswagen “New Beetle” — 2011

“Oh heck yes!” — Allison Yee-Garcia, Director of Account Services

 

Career Builder “Board Meeting” — 2006

“Sales are Up” — Ross Villegas, Nonprofit Division Coordinator

 

Apple “1984″ — 1984

“Who needs humble?” — Angela Criser, Director of Digital Strategy

 

Doritos “Dog Gets Revenge”– 2010

“Feel the Bark!” — Kim Tucker, Vice President, Nonprofit Services

 

Pets.com “Deliveries” — 2000

“Pets. Dot. Bust.” — Clay Nutting, Account Executive

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Fundraising events often burn out volunteers and “cost” more than they’re worth – whether in real dollars, human energy, or both.  It’s one reason community participation events can be so popular:  we talk others into fundraising for our cause.

Blackbaud’s 2011 Peer-to-Peer Event Fundraising survey reveals the top five reasons that motivated an individual to fund raise for an organization:

• 69% felt a personal or emotional connection
• 50% responded to a request by friend or family
• 37% were drawn to the physical challenge
• 35% wanted to benefit the local community
• 32% wanted to be part of a company or group team

3fold has formed a team for the 2012 Fight for the Air Climb presented by the American Lung Association.  Can’t you just see it, “The 3fold Sherpas – Born to Climb!”  And we fit right in to this matrix:

• Some of us have lost family or friends to lung cancer and other breathing related illnesses.
• We were invited by our good friend, Kimberly Weich Reusché, VP for Programs at the American Lung Assoc of California.
• Even a couple of us (not me) are excited about the physical challenge of climbing 34 floors of stairs for this good cause (go ahead, call it a vertical road race – still sounds painful).
• 3fold is all about our community.
• And others will join with us because we 3folders have such a good time together!

Whatever your cause, and whatever your event’s theme, success can depend on how well you engage the community.  We want to feel a part of something in order to support it; and if you’re a fundraiser, it’s your job to help us feel a part of your mission.

Meanwhile, want to join the 3fold Sherpas – Born to Climb team?  We’d love to have you help us raise $10,000 and have some fun on 24 March.  To sign up or donate to our team, go to http://bit.ly/A3thza.

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Having recently embarked on my professional career, I must say work life is very little of what I expected – in a positive way. Landing the job I had always envisioned was exhilarating, but I have to say my preconceived expectations of the cut-throat business world would keep me awake at night.

I soon realized though, the dog-eat-dog environment I was expected to reluctantly assimilate into is actually a lifestyle choice and not the only way to make a successful living. Don’t get me wrong, as a former NCAA Division I athlete, competitive spirit runs through my veins and “better, faster, stronger” is always the mantra, but an intense corporate culture is not a universal standard. It is possible to feed off the energy of your co-workers, to support and be supported, and to foster the healthy optimism essential to happiness and productivity. Phew! Huge relief!

Aristotle had it right when he said “the more you know, the more you know you don’t know” and this became apparent rather quickly. There is a confidence and momentum that comes from mastering college — academically, socially and athletically — and this energy and drive you feel as a college student ready to graduate and take the world by storm, can be hard to uphold in the next stage of professional life.

Our imaginations and passions to succeed have been cultivated for years by inspiring professors, other ambitious students and supportive parents who themselves make climbing the corporate ladder look easy (if this doesn’t sound like you in your college years, it’s okay, it’s a millennial thing).

But the reality is the workforce, or “real world,” is a different breed of motivation, knowledge and experience. You realize you’ve barely scratched the surface of what it means to be well-informed and ultimately your academic experience and accomplishments are overshadowed by the portfolios and brain-trusts of your professional co-workers. The reality of being a rookie in the workforce is a very humbling experience.

But, amongst feeling new and inferior, don’t let yourself fade into the background. Use this opportunity to remember as a young professional, we are far from unnecessary or useless in the work place. We are self-expressive and very well-connected (most likely due to growing alongside our social media culture). We believe there must be a solution to every challenge and with some direction we will self-start and use our resources to find the answer. We are eager to learn and not afraid to ask questions when we don’t understand. We are technologically savvy and justifiably skeptical. We bring a fresh perspective, a clean slate and an enthusiastic attitude — we get after it. We may not know it all, but we catch on quickly. Besides, we live in a digital world where nearly every answer can be found at a touch, swipe or click.

Each young professional’s experience varies, but the thing we can all agree upon is the future of professionalism currently lies in the hands of myself and millions of others like me. Keep an eye out for our growing presence and influence because, ready or not, we are here.

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It’s nearly “go” time … the adrenalin is peaking as you try to arrange slides, rewrite bullets, tweak transitions, and decide whether or not to use music as a cue for your upcoming PowerPoint presentation. Sound familiar? Let’s face it: PowerPoint isn’t the easiest — or most advanced — presentation app on the market, but it is arguably the most popular. In any case, as one of the pillar programs of the Microsoft Office Suite, PowerPoint has built a somewhat undeserved reputation as slideshow snoozer.

Recently, we were working with the Center for Community Health and Well-Being helping to create a powerful and impactful PowerPoint presentation to serve as a backdrop to their “fund-a-need” at a local crab feed. By applying a few simple rules, we helped them turn the slide show into a compelling way to connect to people’s hearts, and guess what — they answered with their wallets, committing to more than twice the expected goal from the evening.

“We raised the second highest amount in the history of the event!” said Wendy Petko, the executive director of the Center for Community Health and Well-Being. “I had a woman come up to me and say that her husband was crying during the slide show. It shows you just how powerful this tool can be.”

Regardless of your presentation platform and whether it is a business pitch or nonprofit presentation, edit and use restraint for a powerful and memorable (for the right reasons) presentation.

Here are 10 easy steps to energize your next presentation to maximum effectiveness:

1. Pick (and stick to) one goal for the presentation.
2. Prepare an outline of the support points you will need to communicate to the audience to reach that goal.
3. Don’t make it longer than necessary; if it can be said in 10 minutes keep it there.
4. With text, less is more. Use headlines and bullets with a maximum of six bullets per slide. Keep your fonts simple, don’t use too many different styles and no smaller than 24 point font.
5. When speaking, practice and prepare! Don’t read off your slides.
6. Use appropriate photos or graphics to stir emotions.
7. Keep transitions simple and hyperlinks to a minimum.
8. Open and close with a goal message and a clear next step (call to action).
9. Use the Q&A after the show to clarify your points.
10. Put charts, footnotes and citations into the handout version distributed during the Q&A after slideshow.

Next time you have a PowerPoint presentation to give, take a few moments to put these tips to use to turn a mediocre PowerPoint into a powerful tool that captivates your audience – we are sure they will appreciate it!

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