The Roundpeg crew enjoyed a team building trip to the Super Bowl festivities last Friday. Have you had a chance to check out the fun?

Although it’s easy to get distracted this week we continue to publish at least one blog post daily. If you’ve been visiting Super Bowl Village on a daily basis you may have missed out. Now’s your chance to catch up.

Saturday - Faces of Roundpeg: New Characters – Jenna and Peter
We are a bit more polished, more professional and more grown up thanks to our newest cast members.

Sunday – What’s In a Theme?
Peter explains (to Romeo?) the basics behind WordPress themes.

Monday - Knowing When to Walk Away: Dealing with Anger Online
Always good to think before you respond whether in person or online.

Tuesday – Sometimes What’s Old is New Again
Sharing the love for WordPress plug in Tweet Old Post.

MTFW: Unfunded with Nick Carter
Listen to our talk with Nick Carter about his experiences growing his firm, AddressTwo as an “unfunded” venture.

Wednesday – Your New Truck is a Website
The inspiration for a client’s rebranding came from their original truck sign.

Thursday – Use FAQs as Blog Post Starters
FAQs and answers to questions make great content for blog posts.

Friday – Why Playing Hooky Can Help Your Business

Reflecting on our Adventure in the SuperBowl Village, Allison talks about why these types of outing are good for your business

At Roundpeg, we love to play hooky. It’s not that we don’t love our jobs or aren’t passionate about marketing and web design and all that other good stuff. But sometimes, you have to take a step back from your work and take a day for other things. That’s why last Friday we cancelled work. Oh, sure, a few of us did a couple of hours of work in the morning or a smidgen in the afternoon, but most of our day was focused purely on having fun and enjoying the crazy carnival atmosphere that is the Super Bowl in Indianapolis. We even got paid for our time.

It’s a pretty radical thing to do, for an employer to pay their employees for not working. But we’ve found that taking time away from work as a team can be just as valuable as anything we do from 9-5 in our office. First, it refreshes us. Because all of us are creatives of one stripe of another, it can be critical to avoid burnout by becoming inspired by the work of others. That’s why the TURF art exhibit presented by the Indianapolis Downtown Artists and Dealers Association was such a godsend. It’s like a giant playground for grownups (okay, some kids too) where you can interact with art, view it from all different angles, crawl around on the ground and manipulate lights with your body. It’s important to step away from our own art sometimes and to look at what others are doing, how their viewpoints and perspectives differ radically from ours, and to see how we can incorporate that inspiration into our work in fresh, new ways.

The other important thing that our hooky day did was to help us form a stronger team. In our office, there are very few projects that we complete solo. Sure, I might do most of the work on a social media account, Peter shepherds website projects from start to finish and Jenna rules the roost with logos, but there are very few projects any of us complete alone. Whether we’re coordinating work together or just turning to the others for advice and moral support, we’re a team. So when we can get a chance to bond about things other than difficult customers or tricky WordPress themes, it adds a different dimension to our office relationships. It helps us learn to trust each other, and to view each other as whole people instead of just coworkers.

And finally, it’s fun. Fun is a critical part of our culture–an aspect of business that experts are agreeing is becoming more and more important. Culture is the motivation, cohesion, connection, spirit and focus that drive all great businesses. It’s about what makes you go to work besides money and why you deliver the best service day after day. And a little fun never hurt anyone.

Just take a look at some of the fun we had:

Another week where if we waited an hour here in Indianapolis, the weather changed. We’ve had ice, snow and on the rare side for January, thunderstorms.

Our blogs this week seem to have followed the pattern of one of our favorite interview questions…so weather you favor words, pictures or numbers, we’ve covered it in at least one of our blogs during the past week. If you’ve missed one or several, here’s a quick recap:

Saturday – Faces of Roundpeg: The Boy Band
Lorraine’s ode to Taylor & Jay and the way things used to be.

Sunday – Make Pictures Part of Your Web Design Strategy
Pictures are cropping up more often on blog posts, this article explains why.

Monday – Taking Stock of Your Image
In the “old” days, designers cringed at the thought of using stock photos, Jenna explains how to modify those photos to have a bigger impact and save money.

Tuesday - I Don’t Like Football, But I Love the Super Bowl
Most of us don’t realize all that hosting a Super Bowl brings to a local community as part of the Super 46, Lorraine explains what makes the Super Bowl special for the hosting city.

Marketing in Handcuffs with Muhammad Yasin:  More than a Few Words
For this week’s podcast we’ll be joined by Muhammad Yasin, social media strategist for HCCMIS, a travel health insurance company. The topic is learning how you can make regulations work in your favor.

Wednesday - Indianapolis Social Media: Way More than 46
Allison shares her thoughts on how the Super 46 could have been handled more effectively. What are your thoughts?

Thursday - It’s In the Numbers: 4 Strategies for Blog Success
Lorraine explains why paying attention to numbers in blog posts makes a difference.

Friday – You Can’t Save Everyone
This is the marketing version of you can lead a horse to water, but you can’t make him drink.

If you noticed that the weekly summary was published late this week, that is because the Roundpeg crew took the day off to head downtown to experience the pre Superbowl activities.  If you are in Indy, be sure to check it out before it is gone.

No matter what business you’re in, from dentistry to landscaping to marketing, there’s one fact you have to confront: you can’t save everyone from making their own mistakes. No matter how much you want people to succeed, some people will insist on ignoring your good, well-intentioned advice, and they will fail as a result. Hopefully it’s only a minor stumbling block in their path, but sometimes the consequences can be catastrophic: a patient who didn’t heed doctor’s orders and died, or a company that wouldn’t listen to sound marketing advice and had to shut its doors.

Accepting the idea that a certain percentage of the population will ignore your advice is one of the hardest things about being in marketing. We can beg our clients and propsects to blog, implore them to use social media responsibly, steer them in the right direction on event promotion and pour our  hearts and souls into giving them the best advice we can based on years of experience and blood and sweat and mistakes, and some will always smile, nod and ignore every word we’ve just said.

Watching people fail is hard. There is never any joy in seeing a client who walked away fall on their faces, when a simple shift in strategy could have made all the difference. It all falls back to the fact not everyone is  your customer. Some people may look like your customer and sound like your customer, but at the end of the day, if they don’t put action behind their words, it’s all for nothing. Ultimately, as small business owners or employees, we all have to accept the reality that people have to be free to fail. Even if seeing their failure, breaks our hearts.

Help people whenever you can. Offer them the advice you’ve learned from making your own mistakes. And then ultimately,  stand back, wish them well and offer them a hand up when they stumble. It’s something I’m still working on every day.

How do you deal with people who just won’t listen?

My husband loves football. He is from Texas, a die hard Cowboy’s fan, he has also learned to love the Colts.  Great, twice as much football on Sunday afternoons.

For him, Super Bowl Sunday is a national holiday.  For me, it’s an advertising event, time to watch the best Madison Avenue has to offer.  It is also a day to test my creative cooking skills.  Can I match the food to the teams competing?

So when Super Bowl fever began to catch hold in Indy, I didn’t get it.  I thought, it’s just a game.  But I was wrong.

Hosting a Super Bowl is about economic and community development, legacy projects and community spirit.   Here is just a small sample of what the Superbowl has done for Indy and the surrounding communities.

• The Super Bowl has provided a deadline for much needed infrastructure projects ranging from road work and neighborhood improvement projects, to the new Airport terminal, expanded convention center and Lucas Oil Stadium.  Each of which will improve the quality of life for Indy residents for years to come.
•  The Super Bowl host committee has been working on this project for years involving football fans and non fans like me to be part of the event.  From students to grandmothers,  people have come from all corners of the community, and around the world to be a part of Super Bowl 2012.  You can find just a few of their stories here http://www.xlvifaces.com/  This is truly a community event.
• More than $1 million dollars was raised for the Super Cure project, the nation’s only breast cancer tissue bank. More important then the money, the events and connection to the Super Bowl has facilitated the collection of more than 1,865 tissue samples.  These samples are distributed to labs  throughout the world working on a cure for breast cancer.
• One goal was to  plant 2,012 trees in the Indianapolis area.  To date, more than 2,876 trees have actually been planted.
• Our guests will be welcomed as they check into their hotel room, with a handwritten note or drawing by an Indiana student.  More than 18,000 students from every county in Indiana contributed these welcome greetings.
• With ten days of concerts and art exhibits this event is for the community as much as it is for the fans and visitors.
• You will be able to identify the thousands of  community volunteers by their blue and white scarves which were hand knitted by volunteers from around the world. More than  13,000 blue and white scarves have been created to be worn during the event.  ( And yes I have one too).
• The impact will reach well beyond our community.  On game day, 7,000 gift baskets will be delivered to hospitalized children in each of the 32 NFL cities .  This was a collaborative project between the Riley’s Children Foundation, The Basket of Hope Program and former Colt’s coach Tony Dungy
• With our Super Bowl smart phone application, social media command center and Social 46 volunteers ( I am excited to be one)  we have a shot at claiming the title of the most tech-connected Super Bowl ever.

I didn’t want to come to my interview at Roundpeg. I wanted to go to the zoo.

It was late January, 2010. I had been un- or underemployed for the eight months since my college graduation. I’d worked retail, I’d done some contract writing work for a local university and most recently, I’d been laid off from a part-time job that I hated but wished would go full-time because it paid well and I wanted a job–any job.

I was down-in-the-dumps on that January day when Roundpeg called and told me they didn’t have any jobs available, but they’d talk to me about an unpaid internship. I didn’t want an unpaid internship, I wanted a job. I was tired of being poor and depressed. But I knew that I needed to keep moving and learning if I was ever going to find that elusive full-time gig.

“Can you come in Monday?” My heart sank. Monday was going to be a rare day for myself. You see, Monday was Martin Luther King Day, which meant free admission at the Indianapolis Zoo. It was going to be my treat to myself: a free trip to the zoo on a frigid winter’s day.

“Of course I can.”

So I went. We interviewed, but I don’t really remember it. I was full of resentment and hurt, going through the motions. But Roundpeg and I looked at each other and saw the same thing: potential. They saw a girl who was a little surly, a little battered, but who might just have some chops. And I saw a company that was a little rough around the edges, a little scrappy, but which might just have the makings of something great.

“When can you start? How about today?” Lorraine asked.

Goodbye, shark petting tank. Goodbye, red pandas. “Sure, why not?”

I worked the whole day, and then never left. Two months later, I was brought on full time.

So much has changed since that day I first walked into the little white house. For one thing, we don’t hire interns on the spot anymore. The company is also more confident, more focused and more profitable. The cast of characters has changed, revolving around the constants of Lorraine, Rebecca and Clyde. The brand and the company have grown up tremendously, and it’s been incredible to watch the change.

And for me? I’m more confident, focused and profitable, too. I’ve honed my writing skills, discovered the wild and wonderful world of social media, built a tight network in the Indianapolis community, gotten comfortable enough with myself and with my boss to help steer the direction of the company. I’ve learned to manage people–sort of. I’ve executed great campaigns with clients I loved that reaped big results, and I’ve face planted on a few projects that left me with valuable, if painful lessons.

But most importantly in my two years at the ‘Peg, I’ve rediscovered my self worth. I’ve grown up. And I’ve had a lot of fun along the way, with Taylor and Jay and Peter and Jenna  and Rebecca and the parade of interns.

Lorraine still owes me a trip to the zoo, though.

As snow gently floats down from the steely gray sky, I find myself once again writing a final blog post.  About three months have passed since I wrote my last post.  Although in my last post I promised that you would see more of me in the future I had not expected the opportunity so soon.

Almost immediately upon my return I realized that things were different.  Around the end of the year things usually slow down but this year was an exception.  A good amount of work had accumulated and that made for a busy winter break for me.

Among all the work there were a few shining Roundpeg moments.  Around Christmas we had a Roundpeg holiday party.  Abandoning the work setting and talking to my coworkers at an informal dinner was a fun experience.  As always, drives to get lunch provided entertaining chats.  A personal fun moment was when I soccer momed everyone else to get lunch in a minivan and to get out of the parking lot we had to drive over the lawn.

As an intern at Roundpeg I recognize that not everything is fun and games but forgive me for not boring you with all the work related stories.  Already I am slipping back into school mode and I hope that the fun times had at Roundpeg and everything that I’ve learned here will carry me safely back into the learning arena so I can advance in my studies.

Adios,

-Scott

P.S.  Anyone notice that every sentence started with the letter A?

Things move faster today than they did 50 years ago. Letters which took several days to arrive were replaced by fax, overnight mail, email and text.  Today we expect immediate responses to questions, inquires and requests.  We want our news as it happens. Everything is now, now, now! But it doesn’t need to be.

Recently I have noticed a subtle shift as I take back control of my time by unplugging occasionally. Reading an article by Louis Gray, I realize it isn’t just me. The same technology which allows us to be connected 24/7 allows us to determine when we want to be connected. I don’t sit and watch TV shows when the networks think I should. I record them and watch when it is convenient for me. I turn off my cell phone when I don’t want to be interrupted, and only check email and Twitter a few times a day.

This proactive approach to time management has allowed me to get more done, giving me a chance to focus on one thing at a time (As an adult with severe ADD, this is not easy to do).  But acknowledging that not every question needs an immediate answer has allowed me to redefine my time. My customers still get quick responses because when I carve out time to answer email, I answer all of it, and don’t close the application till I am at Inbox Zero.

What about you? Are you a slave to real time or are you creating “you” time?

On January 2,  I gave you an assignment. I challenged you to write a letter to yourself about the year ahead. You were supposed to give it to a friend, and have them hold it till now. Did you do it? What did you write about, and how did the year turn out?

In my letter, I wrote about big plans for 2011. I expected us to grow our sales by 50%, add two members to our team and launch an updated website by mid year. I planned to take another vacation out of the country and finally retire the Volvo, exchanging it for a newer car (but still a convertible!).

So how did  I do?

The Team: Hello, Goodbye, Hello, Goodbye

We have a number of new staff members, but not all of them came to us the way I expected.

We lost our “boy band” when Jay and Taylor both left to chase new dreams this summer. And with their departure,  a piece of my heart. They were hard to replace, and we still haven’t found the right person for our business development role. Fortunately we found Jenna, who has definitely added her own spice to the mix at Roundpeg. Her experience at Angie’s List has brought a sense of order to our team and a fresh feel to our designs.

We gave two of our interns slots at Roundpeg — Sharayah joined the team as a production artist in June. She helped us make the transition from Taylor to Jenna. Still a full time student, the pressure of trying to work and finish her degree finally caught up with her. She left as the fall semester was wrapping up. And then we were lucky that Peter dropped into our life with a mix of writing and design skills. He is truly our secret weapon with the ability to switch from writing to design and back again.

So when you are done tallying the score card, we are the same size  we were a year ago, but we are interviewing candidates for a web coordinator role and expect to have it  filled by the end of January.

Our Website:  All Grown Up

We launched the new design as planned this summer, and I love it. The new look is exactly what I wanted: sophisticated, but still fun. The grown-up design has allowed us to present a favorable impression to companies who might not have given us a second look in the past, but it still features photos of the animals and the occasional odd event. I have held back from making any major design changes since launch, but I am sure to start tweaking again after the first of the year.

Vacation and Travel

Lots of travel this fall as I gave presentations on social media to groups around the country. I was tired of airplanes as the year wound down, but not too tired to spend Thanksgiving in Hawaii. Officially still the US, but definitely another world. My son came from Tokyo and my daughter joined us as well. I came back tan and relaxed. Exactly what I hoped for in my vacation.

Sales up 25%, but Revenue up 75%

What I learned this year, was that I didn’t have to sell more, I just needed to sell more profitable projects!  With that foundation in place, in 2012, I plan to sell more too.

And the Car

My eleven year old Volvo has been sent to its resting place. And though it took me several months to figure out what I wanted, I finally made up my mind. On nice days, even in January, you will see me cruising around town, with the top down  in my Volkswagen Eos.

And now, 2012

Did writing the goals down make a difference in the year’s outcome? I believe it did. On a regular basis I reflected back on what I had written and adjusted my activities to move me closer to that goal. Later today I will be writing another letter with plans for 2012. What will it contain? You will have to wait till next year to find out!

Last week we talked about the most popular posts of 2011. Those superstars got retweeted, shared and reaped loads of traffic. But there are other posts. Good posts, full of interesting information and terrible jokes, that for whatever reason never got much attention.

So we’re going to give them a second chance. Here are the Roundpeg staff’s favorite blog posts from 2011 which you may have missed:

Peter: Would You Jump Off the Roof for Social Media?
Heidi Cohen’s strategic questions offer a key to satisfying and successful social media engagement. Many people don’t think they have anything to write or talk about. That’s just not true. The rewards of reaching out with social media are worth a quick brainstorm to figure out what’s interesting about you. The tips in this post are a great primer for anyone looking to get started with social media.

Allison: Don’t Be Good at Social Media
When you spend all day mired in the echo chamber that is social media, it can be easy to get caught up in being “good” at social media. But that’s not the point at all: the point is to build loyalty, brand awareness and sales. It’s an important reminder for everyone.

 Jenna: Pick Your Palette
Color theory is undeniably one of the most important aspects of design.  The colors we choose when creating a logo, web design etc. can evoke so many different emotions, it is important to choose them wisely.

Lorraine: How to Discipline Your Boss
I love this post because it gives you some insight into the very strange and very special relationship I have with Allison.   It is also a great how-to for other young employees on how to sell their ideas to supervisors.

Rebecca – Whatever Happens, Happens for the Best & Moments
As the “mom” of the Roundpeg crew, I overlook our little family. Our little white house is filled with such positive energy it is usually a refreshing change from my legal address which is too often these days filled with hormonal teenage angst. So, when “my” boys decided to spread their wings and fly, it left us all reeling. Their final blog posts still move me to tears but they are also happy tears as we hear back from both Taylor and Jay and follow their travels on Twitter and Facebook.