Crocktoberfest – Chili, Anyone?

As you can probably tell from some of our previous blog posts, we’re a competitive bunch here at SpeakerBox. We may be team players in terms of getting our work done, but it’s survival of the fittest when it comes to extra curricular activities. I could reference our fantasy football league right now, in which I’m currently leading, but we’ll leave that topic for a future post. Instead, I’ll tell you about a recent cooking competition we held in our office – Crocktoberfest. A competition that required the use a crockpot, we brought in our own chili recipes and brewed them here in the office. I’m impressed to say that there were a variety of entries - no two chilies tasted the same. Although everyone put forth a great effort and provided the staff with a hearty lunch, someone was bound to be declared the winner.

What’s the next cooking competition on the horizon? It’s hard to say, but I guarantee it will be a tasty one. Stay tuned for updates…

- Mary Evans

Event Recap: "The Intersection of Marketing and Technology"

The recent Women in Technology event on “The Intersection of Marketing and Technology” generated standing room only crowds at host Viget Labs. Panelists Matt Goddard (R2integrated), Jen Krupey (Viget Labs), Brian Reed (Boxtone) and Susan Kearney (former CMO at Voxant) energized crowds with their thoughts around the digital ecosystem, customer engagement strategies and tactics such as search, database-building, community and social media. If you couldn’t make it, take a look at the event slides.

Some of the most interesting conversations revolved around:
• The Motrin Moms commercial: Motrin ultimately took down the controversial video and apologized on their Web site -- but is all publicity good publicity? As one attendee pointed out in the evaluation, “Never underestimate the power of a mad mother.”
• Buyer Personas: Brian discussed strategies for developing buyer personas and how to map your Web content to different audiences.
• Web Sites: Matt described how to position your Web site as a buying engine rather than a selling engine.
• Metrics: Matt and Brian sung the praises of tools like Eloqua and FirstReef to provide marketing automation and measurement, but both agree that it’s difficult to measure a social media program. It’s possible to measure the spread of a message online but it’s much harder to measure its impact on your business.

Thanks to the other event bloggers, Jen Krupey and Larissa Fair for sharing their insights on the event.

The event attendees have requested more programs on social media, metrics and community building. We’ll keep you posted as additional events are scheduled.

-- Katie Hanusik

Julie Gets Animated

Our own Julie Buckley of Grape Stomp fame was immortalized on Family Guy this
weekend. While the cartoon doesn’t look much like her at all she is thrilled
to be on the hit show.

- Ali Smith

(Video courtesy of Hulu)

Congratulations, Elizabeth!

SpeakerBox would like to congratulate our humble leader, Elizabeth Shea, for being named a 2008 Woman Who Means Business by the Washington Business Journal. This annual awards competition celebrates the best and brightest businesswomen in the D.C.-metro area who have made a difference in their communities and blazed a clear trail for other women. Elizabeth and the other winners will be honored this week at a cocktail reception in Washington, D.C.

In the past year, Elizabeth has led our team in the creation of a new Web site and implementation of expanded services; rolled out an upgraded, generous employee benefits package; introduced a Web-based infrastructure to create efficiency and collaboration; and migrated our technology applications to a more mobile, efficient, and collaborative platform. And if this wasn’t enough, she also led the agency through a complete rebranding from its prior identity as SheaHedges Group to the new SpeakerBox Communications.

There simply isn’t enough space here to express the gratitude and pride we have for Elizabeth’s accomplishments and leadership at SpeakerBox. If anyone should know, we do—she is definitely a woman who means business!

--Jamie Nolan

Find us on Twitter

We've had a strong contingency of individual SBXers on Twitter for some time now, but we've decided to break out a Twitter account solely for updates on SpeakerBox Communications. Here you'll find updates from both of our blogs (Plugged-In and The Sounding Board), news on events (both events that we're hosting and attending), and general updates on life at SpeakerBox and our staff.

You can find us at twitter.com/speakerbox. If you're already on Twitter, join us!

-Stephanie Stadler

Mobile Video Intelligence and Award Winning Innovation

Yesterday, our long-term client and business partner Cernium received a remarkable and noteworthy achievement. In a press conference held in New York, Archerfish™ by Cernium was announced as an International CES 2009 Innovations Design and Engineering Award honoree. A winner in the Integrated Home Systems product category, Archerfish is the first and only mobile video intelligence (MVI) solution. Its advanced technology (the Archerfish Smartbox loaded with intelligent software, plus the combo of video cameras, a Web portal and mobile devices) allows users to keep an eye on their business and home locations no matter where they are physically located. The outcome? The ultimate place-shifting experience.

Stay On Top of Your Business



After working with Cernium for more than two years, SBX is intimately familiar with its intelligent, intuitive and cost-efficient products for video content distribution, business intelligence and physical security. When Archerfish premieres at CES in January 2009 (Booth #26519 at the Las Vegas Convention Center South Hall Two), it will also mark the introduction of Mobile Video Intelligence. MVI is a brand new market category characterized by intelligent and accurate visual info as well as mobility, and should manifest itself via a trustworthy system – built on patented technology – such as Archerfish.

We are most proud of our friend and partner for this noteworthy achievement and recognition by the Consumer Electronics Association. We wish Archerfish the best of luck for a strong showing at CES this winter.

- Julie Buckley

Mark Your Calendars – Two Technology and Marketing Events

I wanted to share a couple of events that might be of interest to the DC marketing crowd. I’m moderating an event on the “Intersection of Marketing and Technology” sponsored by Women in Technology. Also, SpeakerBox partner, Erickson Barnett, is hosting an event on “Tips on Building Communities.” Details are provided below:

The Intersection of Marketing and Technology
November 18, 2008
Time: 11:30 am - 1:30 pm
Place: Viget Labs, 400 S. Maple Avenue, Suite 200, Falls Church
Directions

Speakers:
• Matt Goddard, Principal, R2integrated
• Susan Kearney, Former CMO, Voxant
• Jen Krupey, Director, Marketing Services, Viget Labs
• Brian Reed, CMO, Boxtone
• Katie Hanusik (moderator), Vice President, SpeakerBox

This session brings together experts in Web design, social media, search and measurement to discuss how marketers are using technology to better reach their target buyer.

Cost: $35 for members; $45 for non-members (including lunch)
To Register visit the WIT website. Please note, you must login as a member or guest to register for this event.


Tips on Building Communities
November 12, 2008
Time: 8:30 am – 10:00 am
Place: The Tower Club, Vienna, VA

Speakers:
• Margie Agin, Director Online Markting, TANDBERG
• Bob Smith, Chairman, iBelong
• Justin Thorp, Developer Community Manager, Clearspring
• Michele Perry, CMO, Sourcefire

Four local experts will discuss how a community of evangelists can help build brand loyalty, provide valuable feedback and increase sales.

Cost: FREE
Registration


Hope to see you there.

- Katie Hanusik

SpeakerBox and StackSafe Honored with MarCom Award

We are proud to announce that we are the recipients of the Gold MarCom Award from the Association of Marketing and Communications Professionals for our work on the launch of StackSafe Test Center the flagship product for B2B software company StackSafe. This is the second award for the StackSafe/SpeakerBox marketing team. In May, we were honored as a finalist for the Stevie Awards.

The MarCom Awards are an international competition that recognizes outstanding creative achievement by marketing and communications professionals. The organization received over 5,000 entries from the United States and several other countries.

The success of the StackSafe marketing campaign is based in large part on the strategy of focusing on the problem your product solves rather than the product itself. In the months leading up to the product launch, SpeakerBox reached out to influencers with proprietary research around the problem and causes of downtime. This set the stage for the launch of a product that directly addressed these very real issues and pain points of IT professionals.

Since their successful launch, StackSafe has continued generating buzz in the media and analyst community as well as the IT operations blogosphere. We’re proud to be part of the innovative and savvy StackSafe team.

- Piper Conrad

Entrepreneurs' Organization in the News

Now that the U.S. has decided on its new President, what will he do to improve our current economic situation? That's the topic on the minds of many American businesspeople, especially SpeakerBox client the Entrepreneurs' Organization, which represents 7,000 entrepreneurs from throughout the world.

Recently, Dave Galbenski, Chairman of the Entrepreneur Organization's Global Board of Directors, sat down with BusinessWeek Small Business to talk about what President-Elect Obama can do to support entrepreneurs.

-Jamie Nolan

Post-Election Buzz

Not a huge surprise, but all of the buzz in Washington, D.C. this past week has been focused on the election. Newspapers sold out, and the presidential inauguration ceremony is already on everyone's minds.

If you follow the ins and outs of Capitol Hill, you've also likely seen lots of buzz about how the lobbyists on K Street will be impacted under a new administration. Our client Dow Lohnes Government Strategies has been one of the firms at the center of the media coverage on these anticipated changes. Check out the stories below to see where they've been quoted this week!

- The Hill, "Obama win means change for K Street"
- Politico, "Obama to set limits on lobby hires"
- Washington Times, "Anti-lobbyist Obama to spur lobbying"

(11/10 Update: Check them out in today's LegalBisnow as well.)

- Stephanie Stadler