Well, instead of cramming more insight into your brain about why these programs work, or what they are about (be it “I’m Pimpin’ my Mom”, “Angry Women Smackdown!”, the classic “Jerry’s Thanksgiving Special”, or otherwise), instead I have decided to tell you about a show you may not have heard of (and perhaps even give you reason to stop forcing yourself to watch summer re-runs during prime-time). I would like to tell you about a show that in my opinion is probably the greatest drama to ever hit Television. In fact this show was deemed so prolific that CBS even bought the rights to show the first full season (although edited into a much tamer version) from Showtime. This is the first time that a deal like this has ever taken place, the five Emmy nominations didn’t hurt things either….

Well folks, if you haven’t guessed it by now, I am talking about Dexter. Originally adapted for Television from Jeff Lindsay’s novel Darkly Dreaming Dexter (which is just one in the series of books), this series is centered around the character Dexter Morgan. Dexter works for the Miami-Metro PD as a forensic blood spatter analyst. At least that’s what he does to pay the rent.

Dexter, you see, is in all actuality a serial killer. He however is not just a crazed sociopath that goes on random sprees and preying on the innocent. No, far from it. He is more-so a very calculating, thorough, and precise killing machine - but there is a catch. Dexter only kills those deemed as “deserving”. Be it a mass murderer, or someone who brings harm to children, Dexter feeds his desire to feed his insatiable drive to kill by ridding what most of society could consider terrible individuals. Dexter derived his planning (and victim selection) from his adoptive father, Officer Harry Morgan, who noticed Dexter’s dark desires at a young age.

All apologies to those reading this who find the topic somewhat grotesque, but I will leave the remainder of the details (including all of the twists and turns) for the rest of you to see on your own. Dexter season 3 begins this September on Showtime, and the first season is currently for sale via a variety of outlets (season 2 will be available very soon).

Too bad Showtime is not a great place to reach our client’s demographic.

- John Carmichael

Even though we’re not directly an internet based company, the internet does account for the majority of the work that we do. So it can be very easy to get caught up in thinking what’s best for the websites rather than keeping the company first. And as a developer, I used to find myself in this situation often. But as time goes, you learn.

It will come to realization for you, that no matter how well a site is designed, how many clients you have or how stable the framework is that the site is built on, marketing is still the key. With all of those key factors, and no visitors, a website can still amount to nothing. But, with a company such as our Plattform Advertising and a team like the Internal Site Managers, I have realized much of what it takes to ensure the business succeeds as a whole. What I hope to take with me in the future, is this knowledge that I feel is very valuable to anyone who decides to get into marketing. And if you do decide to do so, PlattForm Advertising would not be a bad place to start.

Aptly titled “Operation Back-To-School,” the idea was to get nearly 50 backpacks filled with a wide assortment of school supplies to help low-income kids sponsored by Della Lamb charities.

“All of these items PlattForm donated are critical to starting each little kiddo off for a successful year of learning,” said Judy McGonigle Akers, Executive Vice President at Della Lamb. “These economic times are really hard right now for the working-poor … parents trying to stretch meager incomes against the rising cost of simple items. Your giving is exceptional!”

For the third year in a row, PlattForm organized the in-house school supply drive to help the nearly 800 kids sponsored by Della Lamb. PlattFormers from every department helped purchase a wide assortment of school items. According to Della Lamb, with PlattForm’s help, 2006 was the first year Della Lamb could provide every item on their back-to-school list to each of their clients. Items not only included school supplies, but new pairs of socks and underwear and personal grooming items as well. Subsequent years have been just as successful.

“These kids are going to start school much better prepared because of your generosity. They’re going to know that someone cared enough to include them,” said McGonigle Akers. “Once you’re on the receiving end of grace, you never forget it, and it affects everything you do from that day on.”

From crayons to compasses to Kleenex, PlattFormers were determined to make this the biggest and best school supply drive yet!

“We’re excited about the working relationship we’ve built with Della Lamb over the years,” said Team Phil Co-Chair Michael Mackie. “Since we’re in the career college marketing industry, we know how important the education process is. A school supply drive was a natural fit and a terrific win-win. We look forward to working with Della Lamb again in late 2008 for our annual holiday toy drive, ‘Operation Santa Claus’.”

For more information on Della Lamb or to volunteer, visit www.dellalamb.org

About PlattForm Advertising
PlattForm Advertising is a full-service agency specializing in interactive marketing and advertising for higher education. Boasting an internal creative staff of nearly 200 individuals, the Kansas City-based agency provides a number of student acquisition services including interactive lead generation; online marketing; search engine marketing; media placement; creative, print and video production; direct mail; and print media services. PlattForm Advertising is a division of Ad Venture Interactive.

Internet Explorer has been around far longer than Internet standards have been popular. Microsoft was used to making up their own rules and figuring out how to best display websites. In their defense, they actually did a pretty good job—they had one of the best browsers around, pre-standards, and they’re still the most popular browser. But once standards caught on, those proprietary rules made Web design a nightmare. This was due to other popular browsers—namely Mozilla Firefox—being almost completely standards-compliant. Internet Explorer 6 was mostly standards-compliant, but still missed the mark considerably. Those little quirks in Internet Explorer 6 often made us re-code perfectly coded websites, and, in some cases, provide entirely separate code for Internet Explorer.

Internet Explorer 7 was a mixed blessing when it came out (for us, anyway). It was much more standards-compliant, and Microsoft actually saw the error of their IE6 ways and made Internet Explorer 7 a priority Windows update for all Windows users. So why a mixed blessing? Websites that had separate code for IE6 were suddenly “broken” in IE7. This was mostly due to websites not being built properly in the first place, but that didn’t stop the flood of hate-mail that Microsoft probably received on their new baby.

(I should also point out that IE7 had its own quirks that did cause standards-compliant Web designers some headaches. But the problems solved by IE7 greatly outweighed the problems caused.)

“Don’t break the Web.” That became Microsoft’s mantra during the initial development of IE8. In early 2008, they announced something called Version Targeting that would be implemented in IE8. Although IE8 was being developed for further adherence to standards, IE8 would interpret websites exactly like IE7 unless the website specifically asked to be interpreted by updated rules. This would also apply to IE9, IE10, and IE32—they would all interpret websites just the same as IE7 unless asked not to.

While this may have seemed like a good idea to the development team, which likely received a plethora of negative content about the latest incarnation of their browser, and to Web designers who built to browser standards rather than Web standards, it angered standards-compliant designers who wanted to see even more adherence to standards on the Web. Some of us came to see why Microsoft made the decision; others (like myself) remained angry about it, seeing it as a hindrance to progress toward a standards-compliant Web.

On March 3, Microsoft announced that they have reversed this decision. IE8 will now, by default, interpret pages in the most standard compliant way it can. The good news for designers worried about IE8 “breaking the Web” is that they can actually set their pages to request to be interpreted using IE7 standards. So version targeting is still around—only now, it’s the opt-in rather than the default. This is good news for the industry, and even better news for “standardistas” like myself.

So what does this mean for you, the non-Web-designer? Make sure your websites are being built to standards. Ask that your websites be built in XHTML 1.0 rather than HTML 4.01, and ask to make sure your code validates against the rules set forth by the W3C. As browsers move in that direction, compliance to Web standards is going to be more and more important, and early work will reduce the amount of adjustment needed whenever a new browser comes out. As an added bonus, it also gives you bragging rights in Web designer circles.

Way back in the early ‘80’s, Phyllis Howard was duly influencing young and impressionable minds. She was nurturing, considerate and kind. She helped countless tweens get through the day-to-day grind of 4th and 5th grade and mentally prepared for the horrors of middle school. And 20 years later at a class reunion, I got to thank her for that.

Back in the day, things moved pretty slowly at Grandview Park Baptist School in Des Moines, Iowa. It was a simpler, gentler time – a time when you’d be banished to hell for even THINKING about listening to the “Xanadu” soundtrack. Unfortunately, I always had a thing for Olivia Newton-John (uh, and I still do). I remember asking Mrs. Howard if I was going to forever burn in eternal damnation for listening to ONJ. Anyone else would have said yes … and included a bible verse specifically linking Olivia to hellfire and brimstone. But Mrs. Howard said, “If it makes you happy … then do it. Just don’t do it in my class or I’ll get smited.” I can’t be sure those were her exact words – but the gist of it was that I could be free to be me … and I had her blessing.

Look back at your favorite teacher/instructor/professor. What made them infinitely cooler than others? Was it something they did? The things they said? I distinctly remember Mrs. Howard had cordoned off part of her room and filled it with books and magazines she thought we would enjoy. It wasn’t nearly as stuffy as the regular library upstairs run by the militant Mrs. Peneger. If I wanted to read about how Blair achieved her perfectly feathered-hair on “The Facts of Life”, I’d go to Mrs. H’s Reading Room. If I wanted to read up on why I was the harbinger of Satan for listening to New Wave music, I’d go upstairs to be chastised by Mrs. P.

Mrs. Howard would allow our artistic capabilities to flow with wild abandon. My doodling skills were sharpened within days. She would encourage random banter and inspire chitchat when warranted. Once in ’79, Pope John Paul came to Des Moines … and the earth stood still in Iowa. Grandview Park Baptist even canceled classes that day – so we could spend time praying for those damn Catholics. In Mrs. Howard’s class, we discussed differences in religion … odd because, up to that point, I thought everyone was a religious zealot like me.

She’d take the class fishing or camping or off for shopping or cooking expeditions. She was a Renaissance-woman-meets-Martha-Stewart. Now Mrs. Howard would have to have released forms signed in triplicate plus insurance waivers lest anyone end up with a fish hook in their head. Good Lord!

A few weeks ago, I had the chance to fawn over Mrs. Howard like no other. I told her she was unequivocally my favorite teacher and that she deserved all the accolades and kudos that go along with that. Or canonization … whichever.

We still got along swimmingly. Some things never change. And the best part of our reunion, you ask? Mere seconds before she and I walked in to Grandview’s chapel, I swear I heard a clap of thunder. Chances are without her next to me, I would have been struck down like the hedonistic, narcissistic Olivia Newton-John-worshipping Satanist that I turned out to be. And I’m a better person for it … and I owe it all to Mrs. Howard.
And so do you.

Little did I know how much fun I was going to have earlier this week while in the mind-blowingly gorgeous city of Solana Beach, California. I was working on an upcoming cover story for Career College Central Magazine and our interviewee, Michael Clifford, lives just outside of San Diego. So off we went to visit him in his native environment.
An environment where I stood out like a sore thumb because I was not eating vegan, covered in sand or wearing a wet suit.

Solana Beach is a sleepy little surfing town nestled in between other little sleepy little surfing towns. Everyone moves at their own speed … which is somewhere between napping and serious R.E.M. It’s delightful and if I robbed banks for a living, I’d move there in a second.

Michael thought it would be keen to have a surfboard in the shot … but not just any surfboard … he wanted an Evolution surfboard. Fortunately, he’s good friends with blondiful, bronzed surfer-god & Evolution CEO Clark Riedel. In surfer world, he’s like the Dalai Lama of surfboards. Celebrities come from far and wide to ride the waves with Clark’s boards under the nimble feet. I had no idea what a big deal he was. Of course, I live in a land-locked state devoid of surf and/or celebs.

His mantra? “Surf for life.”

When Clark showed up, I figured the paparazzi would soon be in tow. Surfers gawked. They preened. A few tried to rappel down from the cliffs to get a better look. Oh sure, they tried to act cool and aloof, but were reduced to drooling when Clark broke out one of his impossible-to-find, if-you-have-to-ask-you-can’t-afford-it surfboards.

Mercifully, I had done enough homework to not feel like a moron around Clark. I mentioned breezily that my doppelganger Mick Mackie made the famous Mackie Surfboards in Australia. Color Clark unimpressed. You could tell he was being pleasant, but was trying to get me to wrap things up so he could dive head first in to the rolling ocean.

I’m constantly amazed at the people I get to meet at this job. And I’m even more amazed at how cool this gig is. I wouldn’t trade it for anything in the world. Well – check that. If the shoot involved a neon-infused Evolution board and a shirtless Mario Lopez … all bets are off after that offer.

In the meantime, hang loose, as they say, for the upcoming story … it’ll be coming out before the end of the year … say, around winter … when I’m desperate to be back in Solana Beach.

Other Team Phil events are of a much smaller-scale, but still wildly important. A few weeks ago, there was a local story in the KC Star about Jana Mackey, a young woman from Lawrence, KS who was brutally murdered by her boyfriend. Even more tragic was that she had been a well-known advocate for women and assisted victims of rape and domestic violence.

There’s a Public Advocacy fund being set up in her name right now. One of PlattForm’s team members was friends with the victim. Our co-worker was so incensed at this senseless crime; she quickly rallied Team Phil to help raise awareness about domestic violence.

Typically, PFormers aren’t usually wan to just shell out miscellaneous dough for any ol’ cause. So Team Phil decided to make a day of it … an upcoming bake sale, BBQ, winner-take-all trivia contest and pool tournament. And I’ll guarantee it’ll be a successful event.

Why?

1) It’s for a good cause.

2) It’s for a good cause AND there’s food involved.

According to a recent Fort Hays University study, more than 100,000 Kansas women are the victims of domestic violence every year. And while a bake sale might seem trivial or old school … hopefully, the money we raise will help raise awareness. And, more importantly, keep Jana Mackey’s legacy alive.

This is not the first time Team Phil has helped combat domestic violence against women and children. Last year, PlattForm’s Video Production Department produced a powerful pro-bono video for the YWCA of Wichita. Some of the women’s stories and some of the statistics in the piece are both heartbreaking and woefully disconcerting. You can see it below.

But in the end … the more the word gets out, the more we can do to stop this on-going cycle of abuse.

For example, if you’re looking for a massage therapy school in Kansas City, you might begin your search by entering the keyterm phrase, “massage therapy schools.” However, your search engine results probably would not show results in Kansas City within the first few pages, if at all, because your search is not specific enough. But, if you search for “massage therapy schools in kansas city,” you will find what you are looking for.

In SEO, when I perform keyterm research for my clients, I geo-target keyterm phrases by adding specific geographic locations, such as city names, to my phrases, so that searchers in that particular area can find the schools, and find them on the first or second page.

I recently took on an SEO client that’s a beauty school in Ludlow, Massachusetts. Where is Ludlow? It’s in Southern Massachusetts, about 90 miles southwest of Boston, or a more specific geo-target, about 12 miles northeast of Springfield. Ludlow is considered part of the Springfield metro area, just like Lenexa is part of the Kansas City metro area.

Why is this geography lesson relevant? Well, Springfield has about seven times the population of Ludlow. A person looking to find a beauty school in the Springfield metro area probably won’t enter the keyterm phrase, “beauty schools in ludlow,” especially if they are not in Ludlow. They are more likely to search for “beauty schools in springfield” or geo-target their search even more by searching for “beauty school in springfield massachusetts,” because of the number of states that have a Springfield.
Geo-targeting on this local of a level will draw more qualified visitors to my site, because they are seeking out that school in that specified geographic region.

On a personal, local level, when I did a search for “paddy o’quigleys in kansas city,” I received search results for the Leawood location, in addition to the North Kansas City one. This location worked better for me, since I live in Overland Park.

Geo-targeting locally helps visitors find my site quickly and easily, even if they are not in Ludlow, MA – or Lenexa, KS.

My preclusion to avoid little, preemptive tasks here and there when I was younger always snowballed into last minute stress, late-night study sessions and pushing deadlines to the breaking point. Knowing this, you may ask yourself, “How does this woman make it a day, let alone three plus years in the highly competitive, ‘answers now!’ advertising arena?” Believe me, sometimes I wonder the same thing.

Since there is not a 12-step program for us habitual avoiders to “unlearn” our procrastination issues, as all our potential sponsors are putting off booking a lecture room at the local Y, I’ve learned that facing your postponement demons head-on is the best and only way to keep them a bay.

The first step in my recovery came when I was hired at PlattForm right out of procrastination-prone college life. PlattForm asks every person in every department to answer client’s questions even before they ask them. This does not mean giving the client an all-you-can-eat buffet of meaningless information that they’ll never use. It means that we as marketers need to be dedicated and committed enough to learn our market’s/client’s needs inside out. This way, when a useful bit of information or a new lead opportunity pops up, we can deliver that information quickly, concisely and complete with all courses of action recommended.

Another step on my way to procrastination recovery is realizing that the harder we work, the better our work will be. In the Media department, it pays to study lead flow and continuously report our results. “If you see something, say something” is a motto that’s key to life at PlattForm. For example, if you see lead flow for a certain market tank over a few days, taking the time to study the causes on the front-end before things get even worse will only make your job easier on the back-end. No one, especially clients, like to hear that a market is struggling - but if we’re doing our job correctly, you won’t have to wait too long for things to improve if you’re taking time on the front-end to fix the problem.

I’ve learned that bad news is unavoidable in the advertising world. No matter how hard and efficiently you work to prevent all problems, something will and does pop-up. However, striving to proactively avoid problems is always the best course to take. Over the years, PlattForm has made our clients raving fans of our work, which goes to show how much we all care about doing all we can to complete the job right the first time – and early enough to avoid late-night email chains.

Proactivity is still something I have to work on every day, knowing that in the long run, if I continue to work on tasks ahead of time, I’ll be a less harried person. The good news is that working at PlattForm has put me light years ahead of where I was a few short years ago. Maybe someday I’ll be completely cured, but seriously, what’s the rush? I’ve got at least a few more years before I have to start on that, right? Right?

It’s borderline mandatory.

We are a company that lives for Happy Hour. We thrive on streamers. Our lives are not complete unless there’s confetti.

So it’s really no big surprise that PlattForm has branched out to hosting a benefit concert to raise funds for our upcoming American Diabetes Association walk. Best of all, YOU’RE invited!

On Saturday, August 16th, I’d highly suggest traipsing down to Jerry’s Bait Shop to eat, drink and make merry. (Jerry’s is conveniently located within stumbling distance of PlattForm’s new digs. Specifically, 13412 Santa Fe Drive Trail in Lenexa.) A $10 donation gets you in the door for a free pizza buffet from 4pm- 8pm … and the opportunity to listen to some of KC’s finest local musicians.

You like acoustic? Check! We’ve got the one and only Jason Kayne keeping it unplugged for you. Blues rock more your speed? Check! BB Miller Band will keep you rockin’ in the free world! And if you’re ready to kick up your spurs, you won’t want to miss the one and only Billy Doores Band’s country-fried country music. Of course, Billy’s band features PlattForm’s own Trey Bland on drums. (Yes, a shameless plug — I know. But it’s still for a good cause.)

In case you didn’t know – diabetes has gone from being rampant in America to becoming a national epidemic. Nearly 8% of the population suffers from diabetes. That’s a whopping 23.6 million people! Five million of whom are undiagnosed. And diabetes does not discriminate. It is the seventh leading cause of death in the United States.

So stop on out to Jerry’s Bait Shop on Saturday, August 16th. Drink some beer. Listen to some rockin’ tunes. Eat some pizza. All for only $10 … with proceeds going to benefit the American Diabetes Association! (Visit www.jerrysbaitshop.net for more info!)

Can’t make the concert? Never fear – you can help sponsor one of PlattForm’s employees in our upcoming ADA Walk on September 27th. Or, even better, feel free to join us. We always say the more, the merrier.

Speaking of merry, I gotta go … I’m late for another Baby Shower. Mercifully, NOT mine. At least not that I know of! Must be something in the water around here.