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By now, you should have either read about it in the Podium, heard a brief, yet funny, informative speech while feverishly snagging your favorite sugary snacks from the candy cart, or perhaps even attended a class - be it health and wellness, business, or even the book club.   If this doesn’t describe you in some form, then you are in luck - as you will get to read all about PFU right this instant!

PlattForm University, PFU for short, is the training arm of our company.  Items included under the PFU umbrella range from cross-trainings and departmental training, to business classes and health and wellness classes, all the way to the book club (which by the way will include much more than just business related topics).  They even have a handy user-friendly website where one could research upcoming class dates and descriptions, take a personality test, or even play rock - paper - scissors (or farkle if you prefer).   The PFU faculty is even going so far as to create a mission statement to help make sure that all of this is kept on track and that the end result is a both a great experience and wonderful learning opportunity for those who partake in any of the various events.

So what are you waiting for?  Click this link, and check out PFU!  http://pfuonline/index.html

Around the Holidays, a little bit of kindness can go a long way.

Although this should most likely need to go unsaid, it never hurts to send friendly reminders during the year end holiday frenzy - so here goes.

As we near Turkey Day, it can be a very good idea to take a few minutes out of your busy schedule and thank those around you, not to mention the people you work with across the nation.  This holiday does after all revolve around giving thanks.  One of the easiest (and quickest) ways to do this can be to send E-Cards.  There is a cornucopia (if you will) of sites on the internet that allow you to send free greeting cards via e-mail, ranging in topics anywhere from humor (for those that are fond of Hoops and Yoyo) to professional gratitude. Depending on how many you are sending, the entire process can be completed in 5-10 minutes, and the outcome can go as far as making someone’s day.

Some of the better sites IMO are hallmark.com and 123greetings.com, but any site offering these types of salutations should get the job done.

Aside from that, Gobble Gobble and thanks for reading my blog!

Yes, it’s already that time of year again.  The best part is that this year it falls on a Friday, making it the perfect time for costume parties. 

This however can pose a few problems. Perhaps you have invites to more than one All-Hallows-Eve bash, or maybe you are just tired of the same old costume you wore last year and you are wanting to find something more with the times then a vampire.  Well, if you don’t want to be stuck tangled in fabric along with your date posing as the back end of a horse, or if you just haven’t had time to be creative and need something last minute, here are a few quick ideas:

Refrigerator Magnet - Get a black shoebox, or cover a shoe box in black paper and attach it to the middle of your back. wear whatever else you like with it.

Static Cling - This one is an old one, but just use safety pins to attach socks etc. to your shirt.

Ceiling Fan - Using a marker, write or attach a sign saying ”Go Ceilings!!!!” on your shirt. Wear a giant foam finger, and cheer at random.

Gods Gift to Women/Men - This one is easy, just get a bow and a gift tag.  Place bow on your shoulder and the gift tag on your chest saying To: Women/Men From: God.

Myspace - This one takes a little more work.  Attach a picture of yourself on the front of either shoulder, and below that attach pictures of at least 8 of your friends. Carry around a small stereo playing your favorite song on repeat.  When someone asks you what you are or comments on your costume, ask them to leave a note on the space provided on your back (hand them a marker, or pin one to the back of your shirt using string).  Feel free to tell them whether or not their comment was approved, and be sure to randomly tell people your mood, or start ranting about any given thing.  Make sure to include your zodiac sign somewhere, and perhaps a note saying which 80’s movie or superhero you would be.

These are just a few ideas, hopefully they will either suit your needs or at least help you find a direction to start in.

What exactly does one think of when discussing out of the box advertising? Perhaps its the recent anti-smoking commercials where song, dance, and mythical cartoon animals are used to help spread a message. Or, it could possibly be talking urinal cake advertising (don’t believe me? check out - http://www.wizmark.com/). Maybe its even the little messages that you can find on Taco Bell sauce packets - “At night the sporks pick on me” or “You had me at Taco”. And, I guess I should at least mention rickshaw advertising.

While these are all pretty out of the box ideas for getting attention, it is important to remember that when it comes to advertising for our clients, the OOTB ideas don’t always have to be flashy. Sometimes its best to use the simplest of ideas to help mine leads for our clientele. For instance, one could look into designing a print ad with the same look and feel that you might find on a movie poster, and run it in the FYI/Movies section of the major daily for any given market.

A really effective way to find some of these “hidden” OOTB opportunities is to ask the vendors you work with if there is something available that isn’t the norm, and could possibly be used as added value. You never know what you may find, be it banner ads on the publication’s seasonal Fantasy Football website, or perhaps some sort of grassroots style mention on flyers for an upcoming concert - even at the concert.

Its amazing what even the smallest of these ideas can do. Keep in mind that running :60 spots during daytime rotators on TV was considered out of the box at some point, and this has been a very effective lead generator in several of the markets we work in across the nation.

I know that I have written this speaking mainly to the media placement side of things, but I hope that any non-media peeps still reading this far have taken away at least one thing from my little rant - and really, you should check out the talking urinal cakes. “Stop peeing your life away, call the Career University Training Academy. Classes starting now!”