http://www.stokefire.com/blog/ Thingnamer, The Blog en-us Copyright 2009 Mon, 22 Jun 2009 11:30:31 -0500 http://www.sixapart.com/movabletype/ http://www.rssboard.org/rss-specification 38.778243-77.18562http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0/http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0/http://creativecommons.org/images/public/somerights20.gifThingnamerhttp://feedburner.google.com Things aren't good out there, are they?  No, they're not.This has become abundantly clear in recent weeks as our email boxes have overflowed with offers and/or pleas for us to attend various conferences and events both in person and online.  Gone are the days of "Only Three Spots Left" a ... http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Thingnamer/~3/DFK648mxQb4/lets-be-honest-really-really-r.php http://www.stokefire.com/blog/2009/06/lets-be-honest-really-really-r.php albert einstein branding definition of insanity design economy how marketing webinar Mon, 22 Jun 2009 11:30:31 -0500 http://www.stokefire.com/blog/2009/06/lets-be-honest-really-really-r.php We get lots of great comments and feedback about our brand when people encounter it.  Sometimes it's a reference to how cool or unique it is, sometimes it's a comment about the fact that a brand like ours would never get through the approvals process at a company such as ... http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Thingnamer/~3/_nbZUrgJ8aM/a-branding-firm-with-no-taglin.php http://www.stokefire.com/blog/2009/06/a-branding-firm-with-no-taglin.php Branding Taglines branding stokefire tagline Thu, 18 Jun 2009 12:57:08 -0500 http://www.stokefire.com/blog/2009/06/a-branding-firm-with-no-taglin.php Really.  I mean it.After being prodded by a few of my peers I've got to make a quick appeal - if only just to see what happens.crowdSPRING is pretty awesome, but isn't quite right for the level of brand development that professional organizations need.  That's one of the reasons why ... http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Thingnamer/~3/noMN2dF7bdI/who-wants-to-build-crowdsourci.php http://www.stokefire.com/blog/2009/06/who-wants-to-build-crowdsourci.php angel investor crowdsourcing project stokefire vc venture capital Thu, 11 Jun 2009 10:10:35 -0500 http://www.stokefire.com/blog/2009/06/who-wants-to-build-crowdsourci.php So I'm sitting at my desk and a tweet comes across telling me that a "Company Slogan needs a name."  Not sure how to interpret that... So I check it out.  Apparently one of the crowdsourcing companies out there has an automated broadcast that just says "[Fill in the blank] ... http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Thingnamer/~3/IVQ2j5o0GyA/sometimes-crowdsourcing-sucks.php http://www.stokefire.com/blog/2009/06/sometimes-crowdsourcing-sucks.php branding crowdsourcing marketing marketingprofs namethis naming price quality service tagline Tue, 09 Jun 2009 13:38:28 -0500 http://www.stokefire.com/blog/2009/06/sometimes-crowdsourcing-sucks.php Let's hear it for home pages.A while back we were reviewing the existing home page for a prospective client and I asked what the purpose of the page was.  His response was that it had to make all the points necessary to attract the interest of anyone who could possibly ... http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Thingnamer/~3/yFKa8fG5aKU/it-has-to-do-this-and-this-and.php http://www.stokefire.com/blog/2009/06/it-has-to-do-this-and-this-and.php a point in every direction branding harry nilsson quote the point Thu, 04 Jun 2009 15:13:56 -0500 http://www.stokefire.com/blog/2009/06/it-has-to-do-this-and-this-and.php Hey gang.  About three weeks worth of updates to make and about five minutes to do it in...A few goings on of note:We've gone social!  Check out @Thingnamer, @Stokefire, and our shiny new Facebook Page (We could do with a fan or two.)Stokefire signed our first social media client, so ... http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Thingnamer/~3/YRr3ZFYuQ1o/whats-goin-on-hi-crowdspring.php http://www.stokefire.com/blog/2009/05/whats-goin-on-hi-crowdspring.php crowdsourcing crowdspring eric l frost geniusrocket imagine alexandria kluster Stokefire update wordnik Wed, 13 May 2009 10:55:44 -0500 http://www.stokefire.com/blog/2009/05/whats-goin-on-hi-crowdspring.php Nancy Belmont and I were interviewed by Missy Frederick at the Washington Business Journal earlier this week.  Great things are coming from the non-profit and the article gives a peek into what's coming.  Look for more in the near future from our all-star communications team.  (They're so good that in ... http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Thingnamer/~3/FeLqWgiHejA/imagine-alexandria-shout-out.php http://www.stokefire.com/blog/2009/04/imagine-alexandria-shout-out.php board dennis belmont imagine alexandria nancy belmont tate linden Fri, 24 Apr 2009 11:15:15 -0500 http://www.stokefire.com/blog/2009/04/imagine-alexandria-shout-out.php I'm on record as supporting crowdsourcing as a solution to branding, though I tend to rant a bit about the ways in which people are trying to get the job done.  Stokefire tried an experiment with naming and crowdsourcing and got pretty horrid results from the activity about a year ... http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Thingnamer/~3/by7s7Mwtqko/crowdsourcing-takes-on-verbal.php http://www.stokefire.com/blog/2009/04/crowdsourcing-takes-on-verbal.php crowdsourcing crowdspring namethis Tue, 21 Apr 2009 10:45:51 -0500 http://www.stokefire.com/blog/2009/04/crowdsourcing-takes-on-verbal.php One of the knocks I have heard about crowdsourcing is that the buyers are not savvy enough to recognize good (or bad) work, and even if they are they are not willing to risk upsetting the designers working without a paycheck by telling the bad ones that they really shouldn't ... http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Thingnamer/~3/3prUwKVK8Rc/now-that-is-real-communication.php http://www.stokefire.com/blog/2009/04/now-that-is-real-communication.php crowdsourcing design graphic design spec spec work Thu, 09 Apr 2009 14:55:40 -0500 http://www.stokefire.com/blog/2009/04/now-that-is-real-communication.php We're workin' on it, how about you?In addition to placing a creative director on all crowdsourced projects we've added a pool of money to reward great work.  We know it doesn't solve everything, but we see it as a good second step.  (In the first day we already identified one ... http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Thingnamer/~3/iVwYAORGxrE/lets-stop-complaining-and-star.php http://www.stokefire.com/blog/2009/04/lets-stop-complaining-and-star.php crowdsourcing crowdspring design graphic design identity logo no spec spec work Tue, 07 Apr 2009 09:54:22 -0500 http://www.stokefire.com/blog/2009/04/lets-stop-complaining-and-star.php If it does then you might want to check out Chuck Westbrook's project: BlogHiker. He's got a great concept that helps worthy blogs find traffic and get noticed on a national level.  Interested?  Join the conversation and maybe even get your own blog on the list of those ready to ... http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Thingnamer/~3/g-3vK3qFtuE/does-your-blog-need-a-lift.php http://www.stokefire.com/blog/2009/04/does-your-blog-need-a-lift.php blog hiker bloghiker chuck westbrook giving good blogs a lift Mon, 06 Apr 2009 13:37:54 -0500 http://www.stokefire.com/blog/2009/04/does-your-blog-need-a-lift.php Yep.  I'm headed over to the American Chamber Of Commerce Executives association to help judge the location-based marketing campaigns they've developed over the past year.  I went last year and was astounded by the creativity.  I'm guessing '08 will be at least as impressive, in part because most budgets weren't ... http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Thingnamer/~3/i5DmGvZ6FZs/judgement-day.php http://www.stokefire.com/blog/2009/04/judgement-day.php Fri, 03 Apr 2009 08:31:08 -0500 http://www.stokefire.com/blog/2009/04/judgement-day.php In case anyone noticed that the last few posts from the blog got wiped out (along with quite a few comments) I figured I should take a moment to explain.Apparently all my non-techie fiddling with our web servers about four years ago has resulted in numerous random scripts floating around ... http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Thingnamer/~3/XDuHgNq4jQo/we-got-haxxored-again.php http://www.stokefire.com/blog/2009/04/we-got-haxxored-again.php Thu, 02 Apr 2009 12:19:02 -0500 http://www.stokefire.com/blog/2009/04/we-got-haxxored-again.php Imagine a world where you no longer need to sift through piles of email and strategically answer only the ones that matter.  According to Google's Gmail that day is finally here.  Google Autopilot handles all the dirty work for you.Just log in to your Gmail account and look in the ... http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Thingnamer/~3/2Vl6bAh1EoM/google-autopilot.php http://www.stokefire.com/blog/2009/04/google-autopilot.php april fools april fools autopilot april fools gmail autopilot gmail gmail autopilot google autopilot Wed, 01 Apr 2009 08:49:33 -0500 http://www.stokefire.com/blog/2009/04/google-autopilot.php The best way to communicate your brand position is to occupy it.  If you have to tell people what your brand positioning is then you haven't actually established the position yet. ... http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Thingnamer/~3/knjebhwwtQ4/brandoriented-thought-for-the.php http://www.stokefire.com/blog/2009/03/brandoriented-thought-for-the.php Tue, 31 Mar 2009 18:13:20 -0500 http://www.stokefire.com/blog/2009/03/brandoriented-thought-for-the.php