Hustle bustle, need it yesterday, hard deadlines, brand launches, paper pushing, daunting white canvases, and the whirlwind of our craft can distract from the privilege of participating on a Sandweiss Koster team as an employee or a visiting client.

Positioned high on the banks of the Missouri River in Briarcliff Village; often Mother Nature brings her best creative inspiration to our doorstep. It may be in the form of hawk perched on our patio, a magnificent storm system, or the odd anticipation of a sunset landing between the uprights of the power plant’s steam towers during solstice.

Watching tom turkeys perform their spring strut next to the river, smelling freshly manicured lawns at Briarcliff Village after a rain, geese and mallard migrations, or even the simple bliss of clouds rolling over Kansas City’s skyline from an office window give us a perspective unobtainable from a downtown roof deck.

We don’t hang work in the office because we refuse to rest on what we did yesterday. Obsessively buried in words and creative work product of outside sources generate diluted results.

If we take time to slow down, take time to look up, take time step away from our canvas; be awake, be conscious, be balanced, our location provides the inspiration and mental freedom to blaze paths reserved only for bold pioneers.

Once understood, it will be one of the most financially rewarding actions taken for your organization. That’s why on May 17th I am honored to be a featured guest panelist as part of CEO+Connect’s educational event series for CEOs and business leaders to engage, discover, and achieve.

After 14 years in the creative business I am 100% sure more times than not a creative position or creative working relationship is misunderstood, mis-hired, mis-managed and built on unrealistic expectations.

Because a creative problem solving workforce behaves so differently than the rest of the working team, a business leader is in for a long road of angst if they don’t take time to develop an acute understanding of the creative mind.

At the end of CEO+Connect’s event, CEOs and business leaders will leave with some new creative problem solving strategies in their back pocket, a few myths busted, and key pointers on fostering a creative culture in their own organization.

Other guest speakers include Philip Hatterman, owner of the Corkscrew Agency, Kerry Meier, Art Director at the Kendall King Group, and others.

If attending this event would benefit your organization, drop me a line and I’ll send you an invitation to attend.

Date: May 17, 2012
Time: 3pm to 5pm
Location: Paradise Park
Address: 1021 Colbern Road | Lee’s Summit, MO 64086

If you don’t want to watch their video here’s the quick answer: There is an staggering amount of competition.

Therefore you better have a strong digital media strategy in place if you have any aspirations of climbing to the top. If you don’t, here is where you can get a great one: Sandweiss Koster

JESS3 designed and animated this for the JESS3 lecture at AIGA Baltimore in Feb 2010.

When I watched this video the first time it was as if the clouds had parted and a beam of brilliant light was shot down from the heavens upon me. It was definitely a eureka moment. After twelve plus years in the creative business, I finally had an explanation for a sneaky, repetitive, and evil productivity pitfall I’ve recognized time and time again, but never knew what to call it or how to combat this frustrating behavior.

I can’t think of how many clients and colleagues I’ve watch suffer from this awful gift of idea generation. I’m not saying idea generation isn’t a great thing, it certainly has its time and place. Without it we’d still be living in caves grunting over the excitement of fire. But sadly, I’ve watched the “Idea Generation Trap” bankrupt multiple companies, large and small. That’s how dangerous falling into this pattern can be. How about you? After watching the video below, have you seen it happen? Are you guilty?

Thankfully Belsky provides some great explanatory visuals and insightful work-arounds for keeping big idea projects on track. Making this possibly one of the most valuable ten minute videos you may ever watch.

After reviewing this video at least 15 times, and giving this topic some serious thought; it occurred to me that most people only make a few excuses on why they don’t or won’t see a good idea through to fruition. It pretty much always boils down to budget or time. If you don’t believe me check this out #99excuses.

And while those sound like reasonable explanations I’m positive the roots run much deeper than that psychologically; almost to the point of being too scary to acknowledge for most.

Here’s a brutally honest opinion on what makes the idea generation trap an easy deflection tool. All four items below feed off of each other to create the perfect opportunity for idea failure:

1. Poor Planning: The idea was the easy part, and the old saying – failing to plan is planning to fail still rings true. Failing to plan is generally combination of the following three factors.
2. Fear: Understandably nobody likes to fail, but the fear of unknown risks, from lack of planning, kills great ideas by the minute before they have a chance to blossom. Second, fear from personal insecurities can also manifest repeatedly through out the creative process causing delayed decision making or loss of focus that will likely spell doom for the idea. Pushing past the fear with knowledge, planning, and organization gives an idea a fighting chance to come to life.
3. Focus: This is where the less ideas come in. If you believe in your idea and have the research and vision to back it up, you should have the confidence to say NO. NO to the thousands of forces that will try to demolish the idea and project before completion.
4. Knowledge: Ideas derail during the creative process because inevitably you find roadblocks, hundreds of them. Questions left unanswered by brainstorming session. Questions so hard, it’s easier to give up because they can’t be solved in a single days work. Posh. Do your homework. Plan for those roadblocks. Hire the professionals with the tools to make the action happen. Listen to them. Trust them. Understand their processes. Understand the whole picture of getting your idea from point A to point B. Map it out. Have fun along the way, and celebrate the little victories. It was your idea… own it… never stop learning!

On that note I’m going to keep digging deeper into what Scott Belsky and www.the99percent.com have to say. Looks like I’ve barely scratched the surface by finding their 10min video. Belsky is also the author of Wall Street Journal Best Seller: Making Ideas Happen. I think these guys might be on to something.
Never Give Up!

This simple but effective website was a really cool project to add to my portfolio, and the An family were great to work with. One of the things that made this fun, was as part of the package I was able to help them establish a presence in the social media space with a SUMO branded page on Twitter and Facebook while setting up their accounts to connect with loyal users of Yelp and Foursquare. Check out the links below to see the final results. While the site has only been launched for a few days it has been really interesting to see how much online traffic the social media outlets are driving to the new site. This should equate to new diners for SUMO if worked properly.

The other thing that made this project enjoyable was the strong foundation of key elements. A very iconic and interesting logo coupled with fantastic food photography made it a cinch to incorporate their restaurant decor into their online personality.

Already known in SoCal for their everyday half price sushi menu and huge selection of beautifully artistic sushi rolls, the decision to go online for this local restaurateur was solidified by the addition of sushi catering for private and corporate events to their menu.

If your in Los Angeles be sure to stop by and tell Mr. An I sent you. You’ll be in for a culinary treat! I’d like to give a special shout out to Haekyung An for giving me the opportunity to work on this project. Without her it would not have been possible. Cheers- AW

Click an image to visit that location directly.

All online strategy, graphic styling, photo editing, copy writing, and the postioning statement for SUMO Japanese Restaurant’s online assets was executed by Adam Walker Marketing + Design Solutions.

Let’s keep it simple. Obviously you are looking for result driven, award winning, freelance creative services otherwise you wouldn’t have made it this far. Can we collaborate our way to a successful solution? More than likely. On a short deadline? No Problem. There is midnight oil waiting to be burned.

If that’s the case just email over the project scope, and in same day you can expect a reply with either a list of questions or an estimate for services rendered. You will be guaranteed an honest, no non-sense, professional assessment of the task at hand; from there the decision is yours.

If were good to go, a deposit for 50% of the estimated amount will be needed to start, unless otherwise arranged. The balance will be due on completion. Payments can be made via credit card on Pay Pal. For a full list of rates and services please visit http://adamwalker.biz/services

Have a great day, and let’s make some magic happen!

Best Regards- AW

Recently, I had the privilege of collaborating with this forward thinking company, and was able to tour their facility in Shanghai. The eco-friendly energy solutions this group of talented scientist and engineers are creating will blow your mind and change how we function as a global community.
In 2003, every day became Earth Day for Horizon Fuel Cell Technologies. Thinking big but smarting small, George Gu, Taras Wankewycz and their team began solving the complex problems to introduce commercially viable, clean hydrogen fuel cell power. Since that time the accomplishments and mountain of prestigious awards Horizon has compiled have been staggering. Being first in category to debut revolutionary hydrogen energy solutions for consumer electronics, portable emergency power, stationary back-up power, aerospace systems, and clean transportation keeps Horizon Fuel Cell Technologies at the forefront of the clean energy movement. Check out the great video from CNN Below. But perhaps one of their most important accomplishments has been the mass distribution of renewable energy science kits around the globe that continue to inspire, educate, and captivate the next generation of green scientist and engineers.

Click over to www.horizonfuelcell.com and get the full rundown; even buy a science kit for your family’s next Earth Day Difference Maker and become better energy stewards together. www.horizonfuelcell.com/store

Thanks for all your doing to preserve our planet, and keep up the great work Horizon Team!

Zimmerman Properties Construction of Springfield, MO is raffling a 47″ Visio LCD HDTV and a Nikon Coolpix 12.1 MP Digi Cam to assist with medical bills and travel expenses for my cousin Leslie Davis and her family. The drawing for the winners of these items will take place on Friday, May 7th. Raffle Tickets are $10 each or three for $25.

Leslie has been courageously battling breast cancer the past two years. During the past several months, her doctors were hopeful she was in remission, but on April 9th they discovered cancerous lesions on her brain. She and her husband Jeff have traveled back to Houston, Texas where Leslie undergoes daily radiation at MD Anderson Cancer Center to shrink the tumors they found. Her three boys ages 5, 7 and 10 are still in school and living in the Springfield, MO area with immediate family.

For more information about Leslie and her quest, please visit her blog at http://theleslieupdate.blogspot.com. While the blog does not have information specific to this raffle it will give you a good idea of the person, family and faith you are supporting with your raffle ticket purchase.

Please contact my cousin, Anita Zimmerman [Leslie's Sister] from the information below if interested. She will send you tickets upon your request and receipt of payment. You can also check back to this page to see if you won.

Thank you so much for your support! It so important that Leslie and the kids have the resources to spend as much time together as possible as they get over this bump in the road.

To Purchase Tickets Send Check or Contact:

Anita Zimmerman
Phone: 417.861.3456
Email: anitazim@hotmail.com
Mail: 4 Century Farm Road – Rogersville, MO 65742

1. Every struggling non-profit Executive Director should watch this video, 10 times if necessary
2. Audience building simplified; no matter if you’re a blogger, musician, politician, or race car driver, This Is Law
   
3. Maybe this is a key ingredient to shifting a woeful corporate culture during a command change
4. It’s feasible you could utilize these steps to get your big idea [that's out in left field] sold to your boss or client
5. These core principles might add fuel to the fire of a great new product’s initial launch
6. Pretty sure most businesses take this concept for granted; it’s called a referral.
7. The right parent/coach could use these lessons to get their kid’s little league team firing on all cylinders
8. With planning, maybe you can get a circle of friends to a new restaurant, a cause, concert, or out in nature

Give it a shot. Drop me a note if you find another way Sivers’ insight is applicable. I’d be interested to know. Cheers!

The image in this post was remixed with permission from the following creator under a Creative Commons license.

The tragedy of child abuse and neglect afflicts millions of children annually physically, sexually, or emotionally. Sadly, a report of child abuse is made every 10 seconds in America. Worse, statistics indicate that as many as 1 in 4 girls and 1 in 6 boys are sexually abused before adulthood. This is senseless and can be prevented in many cases. Ultimately all of adults are responsible for protecting children. Not the child.

As we take this month to emphasize and reflect on the importance of understanding child abuse and the need for all Americans to help families overcome this devastating problem; below are a few recommended steps and helpful organizations that will minimize this destructive behavior. Take this opportunity to keep kids safe by making a donation or volunteering your time to one of the charities below today because no child should ever have to suffer from abuse.

If You Suspect The Abuse Of A Child Or Have Been Abused

• Contact local law enforcement agency immediately. They’re there to help and protect.
• Contact the National Child Abuse Hotline: 1-800-4-A-Child
• Contact a local Child Advocacy Center by visiting this website [click here]

If You Are A Caring Parent Of A Child Or Teenager

• Never stop learning to recognize the signs, how it occurs, and the effects of child abuse
• Begin age appropriate dialogs with your children about the potential for abuse
• If you suspect abuse trust your instincts and take appropriate action.

If You Are A Relative, Care Taker, Or Teacher of Children

• Be conscious. Know the warning signs and trust your instincts
• Assess the situation and take appropriate legal action

If You Were Sexually Abused As A Child And Are Silently Suffering

• Success is not just measured in victories but in every loss that doesn’t defeat you. NEVER GIVE UP.
• Report your abuse and perpetrator to law enforcement where the abuse occurred
• Consider getting involved and joining a SNAP Support Group [click here]

Click The Logos Below To Make A Donation To Prevent Child Abuse