http://www.mlcreative.com/Welcome to MLCreative RSS feed, please subscribe for our daily blog updates.en-usCopyright (C) 20011 mlcreative.comLiving in a small, quaint, historical town, in a time very much akin to the present (okay, the present), MLC is witness to a pretty much constant battle between the forces of progress and the forces that would prefer not to. Given the state of reality, the forces against progress fight at best a slowly losing battle. However, they work hard, mobilize, are vocal, and give ground more grudgingly than the Fellowship at Helm�s Deep. Recently, for example, the ways of the future rolled into town (link to localocracy), in the shape of a �solar farm� and offered to set up long-term residence on the site of an old (long capped) town landfill. http://mlcreative.com/blog_detail/40Thu, 28 Feb 2013 00:00:00 -0500MLC recently made a field trip to Mass MoCA to check out the Sol Lewitt retrospective arrayed on nearly an acre of specially built interior walls, covering three full floors of one of the old abandoned mill buildings that comprise this stunning museum. The Sol Lewitt paintings and wall-drawings were compelling, in their own way, and certainly it�s not for us to critique the recently deceased and accomplished artist, however, we found ourselves distracted (ambushed?), en-route, by the sculpture and (especially!) photography of Petah Coyne. There were several galleries devoted to her installations which have garnered quite a bit of critical accolades and attention. Sebastian Snee in The Globe said: http://mlcreative.com/blog_detail/37Tue, 08 Jan 2013 00:00:00 -0500How do YOU prepare for the day? Lately I've tried walking meditation, and I find it incredibly difficult and only mildly rewarding. How does it work? The basic idea is to empty one�s mind of all the complicated, difficult, exciting, stressful details of the coming day and keep it that way for as long as physically (mentally?) possible. I�ve found my limit to be approximately 3 seconds. Walking makes it easier, but also more difficulthttp://mlcreative.com/blog_detail/33Mon, 18 Jun 2012 00:00:00 -0400I received a lot of feedback on my rock-star/corporate-identity post of a while back (okay, no actual �comments� per se, but a clamor of attention from my imaginary audience) which brought me to think a bit more deeply about what defines a company and what does (can) a company do to define itself.http://mlcreative.com/blog_detail/32Wed, 04 May 2011 00:00:00 -0400As an agency, a �third-party vendor�, we hold a unique position to the companies we support: embedded and engaged enough to have a comprehensive understanding of company policy, mechanics, ethos and culture, but not actually sharing the same halls, cubicles and water-cooler discussions as the bona fide, health-insured, employees. There are advantages to this arrangement, for both sides, just as there are disadvantages. One tricky phenomenon for the external vender to be aware of is that, since we are not actually in the room, it�s easier to be fingered as the source of discrepancy when problems arise. Sometimes, of course (although never for MLC) it�s accurate, but sometimes it�s just an easy, tempting way for someone else to avoid taking the heat. Either way it�s a challenge. How to know when it has happened and how to know how to respond.http://mlcreative.com/blog_detail/31Sun, 01 May 2011 00:00:00 -0400Do you hear my best Roger Daltrey coming through that title? If so, it dates you. And me. But this is not about the rock stars we never were. This is about the rock star of corporate America: Apple. Although if I had to further anthropomorphize that particular company, I�d say it�s probably more of a Dave Matthews then an aging (ageless?) classic rocker. And I don�t mean in appearance (although there is something iPod-esque about D.M.�s features) � I mean in personality. I mean in the use of clever, subtle subversion, rather than overt, bare-chested peacock style subversion. Better, in the case of D.M. and Apple, giving the necessary impression of being subversive (a degree of subversion is critical to maintaining rock star status) while at the same time being pretty clean cut and non-offensive to the American parents and the status quo. What do you think � am I being unfair to Dave Matthews, to Apple, or to both? What rock star best embodies your favored corporations, or vice versa?http://mlcreative.com/blog_detail/30Tue, 26 Apr 2011 00:00:00 -0400A blog of ten thousand posts begins with a single word. And as anyone knows who has undertaken a significant task, whether it�s training for a marathon, or learning an instrument, or digging a ditch � whether it�s something you aspire to do or feel compelled to do, or are instructed to do � it often ain�t easy to start. Maybe it�s the daunting thought of so much work to do, so much gold to unearth (to continuing the mining metaphor), clean off, polish and present. Or maybe it�s the opposite, the fear that there�s nothing down there and all you�ll be digging is dirt. More likely, the truth likes somewhere in between, the hard work is mostly digging dirt, true, but some shiny nuggets will appear in the process and, who knows, maybe some fascinating wriggly bugs that nobody has seen before.http://mlcreative.com/blog_detail/29Sat, 23 Apr 2011 00:00:00 -0400