Everyone's Blog Posts - GOOD CHEMISTRY

New Good Chemistry site

2012-08-24T19:14:41.000Z

Hi -- we've launched a new version of Good Chemistry over at http://goodchemistry.com

This site will be coming down shortly. Please visit the new site to contact Good Chemistry.

Thanks, Alex

Mid-summer 2011 Good Chemistry Update

2011-07-13T18:15:32.000Z

Good Chemistry continues to go from strength to strength in 2011.

We've had the good fortune to work with some outstanding individuals and brands this year. We're seeing clear evidence that as the business environment evolves to embrace the social web more every day, the work we've done with clients and collaborators has positioned them for growth and success in an otherwise challenging global economy.

Some new clients have come to experience Good Chemistry this year, namely: 1% For The Planet, Creative Energies, Yogahealer and Everything Everywhere.

These organizations are combining savvy business models with socially conscious, community-driven strategies that really leverage the social web for maximum engagement and long-term, sustainable growth.

Good Chemistry continues to work closely with a core group of organizations who have supported our efforts to redefine social business strategy since day one: Chase Jarvis, creativeLIVE, Solar Energy International, BUILD and Jones Soda.

In February, 2011, Good Chemistry partnered with our friends at One Eyed Bird and Backbone Media to organize the first annual GOAT event in Jackson Hole. GOAT stands for Gathering Of Artists, Athletes and Technologists, and brought together a supercharged group of individuals from across the creative spectrum for 3 days of collaborative brainstorming, mountain activities and general good vibes. Out of this gathering came many excellent ideas, but none so powerful as the creation of an ambassador program for 1% For The Planet which is going to be announced shortly. Planning for GOAT 2012 is underway.

I'd love to hear from the tribe if you're out there. Good Chemistry is always on the lookout for challenging, interesting opportunities that combine the social web with entrepreneurship and community-oriented business models that benefit more than just the bottom line.

Cheers! Alex

HuffPo!

2010-12-13T18:00:00.000Z

Whoa, what a way to start the week. I'm on HuffPo!

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/12/13/huffposts-greatest-person-alex-hillinger_n_795252.html

It's the power of good chemistry my friends. A few special shout outs to the people and organizations who have helped me along the way:

Chase Jarvis & crew

Solar Energy International

Dirk Collins - One Eyed Bird

Lou Sagar - Old School Ventures

And, of course, my supportive family!

http://sshgallery.posterous.com/

Thank you, I am humbled.

G.O.A.T. lives!

2010-11-30T18:30:00.000Z

Working on a top secret gathering of artists, athletes and technologists in Jackson Hole this winter...

Everything I've ever dreamed of doing comes together in this. The leap is big but I'm ready to take it...

Thanks to all my friends, bosses, colleagues, supporters, detractors, family members and teammates for getting me to this point...

You are my rock stars.

Sundance 2010

2010-02-03T22:30:00.000Z

I had the privilege of attending the Sundance Film Festival last week and wow, I'm still processing the experience. I was there with Chase Jarvis on behalf of G-Technology who were generous sponsors of both Sundance and the accompanying 140tc Conference.

Never has the convergence of technology, entertainment and business been so apparent. As social technology transforms how people connect with each other and share information, entire industries are re-organizing to stay relevant in this new environment. Power dynamics between brands, studios, actors, producers and agencies are being turned upside down.

At the same time, it was inspiring to hear so many people reaffirm that the creative process is really the big winner amidst all this chaos. There is a strong focus on creators at Sundance, and over and over again, people were talking about the democratization of creativity and how creators are able to envision, execute, distribute, market and monitize their work entirely as they choose, without the need for "permission" from conventional systems and organizations.

Take a look at Circle Films'clip on the '30 Day Feature Film Challenge' to get sense for what I'm talking about:

It was interesting as well to sense the appreciation people had for the tools of their trade. In addition to the obvious (Apple, Twitter, Facebook) it was companies like G-Technology that received enormous thanks for their support of creators with less sexy, but essential, tools for making media.

Exhibit A: http://twitter.com/gandthew/statuses/8554567331

Combine that goodwill with the changing power dynamics occurring in Hollywood and every other industry, and the future of marketing is more or less upon us.

2010 Good Chemistry Update

2010-01-21T17:58:07.000Z

Things are shaping up nicely for Good Chemistry in 2010. Here's a brief overview of what we've been up to and what we've got in the pipeline:

* Jones Soda Co. - just launched Roadtrip Jones 2: The Quest for Pow with the talented marketing team at Jones Soda, in collaboration with: Horizon Air, Ride Snowboards, Snowboard Magazine, Mammoth Mtn. and Skullcandy. This is primarily a Facebook promotion targeted at skiers and snowboarders, along with Jones' 360,000+ Facebook fans.

* Solar Energy International - Good Chemistry continues to lead the transformation from offline to online marketing for Solar Energy International (SEI). In 2009 we successfully migrated SEI to a Drupal-based web platform and launched LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter outposts for this entrepreneurial non-profit. 2010 will see a full court press to position SEI at the center of the conversation on renewable energy education and charitable efforts around the world.

* Chase Jarvis - Working in close collaboration with celeb photographer Chase Jarvis, Good Chemistry developed marketing partnerships with Nikon, Broncolor, SanDisk, G-Technology/Hitachi and Movidius. Equally successful was the development and launch of the Best Camera iPhone app, photo sharing website and book. 2010 promises to continue Chase's breakthrough work in photography, video and online community building.

Interest in Good Chemistry's services has been strong in 2010. As marketing's transformation continues to move in connected, open, social and collaborative directions, we've continued to invest in relationships with the most talented designers, developers and artists working today.

We'd love to help you achieve breakthrough results. Please contact us to schedule a free consultation.

All the best for a successful and healthy 2010,
Alex

Good Chemistry + PSFK Present...Good Ideas Salon, Seattle

2009-08-26T04:00:00.000Z

To register for this event which is sure to sell out, please visit: http://gisseattle.eventbrite.com/
View event…

The future of community

2009-08-25T02:09:37.000Z

Some people speak of social media as if community never existed online before 2007. Bollocks. The human-powered web. Rubbish. It's always been human-powered, since day zero. If anything, it's a lot more robot powered now than ever before.

Ever since the first email exchange took place, we've been seeking community online. Sure, it was clunky and didn't have things called "tweets" two twelp it twavel across the tweb, but it was community fair and square.

So here we are in 2009 and the whole social, community-oriented aspect of the web has taken center stage. Well, so what? Why is this important? Hint: it's more than finding a way to monitize Facebook.

If you're reading this, you're a die hard friend of good chemistry, so I'm going to let you in on a little advanced notice: we'll be exploring this topic together with some of the biggest brains in the online "community" space in Seattle on September 23rd at 5pm, with one of the finest creative communities anywhere as our partner. I'm not going to say who that is just yet, but it's the best one I could've imagined.

Put on your thinking cap and start asking questions about why community matters and how the web is changing the way we interact. It's going to be awesome and I hope you can be there to make it awesomer. Or is that twawesome?

Good Chemistry Experiment: 002

2009-06-19T20:30:00.000Z

Just started a discussion thread to get your minds engaged in thinking about the next Good Chemistry Experiment. The first one was a blast and the feedback was overwhelmingly in favor of doing it again.

Gladwell on why the underdog wins

2009-05-15T21:00:00.000Z

Call it what you want: disruptive technology, the upset victory, an insurgency...Malcolm Gladwell deconstructs how a small upstart group with good strategy and commitment can beat out inertia, scale and ability in this ultra-insightful piece in The New Yorker: http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2009/05/11/090511fa_fact_gladwell

Definitely worth reading if you're attempting to change the status quo...

Good Chemistry Experiment: 001

2009-05-05T16:39:06.000Z

Tonight is the first event in the Good Chemistry Experiment series. The topic of tonight's get together is "the future of creativity." I cannot wait to hear what Andy, Chase, Kevin, Andrew and Ksenia have to say about this.

+ Chase Jarvis - photographer/director: chasejarvis.com
+ Andrew Rohrmann - composer/designer/dj: strongforthefuture.com
+ Ksenia Oustiougova - founder of web animation studio Lilipip! lilipip.com
+ Andrew Van Leeuwen & Kevin Eckert - partners in architecture/design/build firm BUILD: buildllc.com

Been giving a lot of thought to what chemistry means in a social sense. We know what it means in a scientific sense...a bunch of chemical elements and compounds, a process for combining them in ways in which we can measure the results, lab coats, mad scientists, etc.

But what is social chemistry all about? Can it be measured?

Tonight is an experiment in social chemistry. The various elements have self-selected themselves. The lab is none other than mad photographer/director/friend Chase Jarvis's beautiful studio overlooking Lake Union.

Social lubricants are being provided by Darin and Seth from Small Lot Co-op: http://small-lot.com/ and Anson and Jenny from Picnic: http://www.picnicseattle.com/

My hypothesis is that it's gonna rock and we're going to create the social equivalent of cold fusion on this rainy day in Seattle. Of course, it could also react like Mentos and Diet Coke...

BAM Party Recap

2008-12-01T17:40:43.000Z

Many thanks to all of you who ventured out to the Bellevue Arts Museum on "Black Friday" for the Good Chemistry @ BAM Party in celebration of John Grade's exhibit: Disintegration: Sculpture through Landscape.

I think it's fair to say the party was a success for all involved. It was great to see so many friends and colleagues assembled in one place. John's on his own wavelength with what he's doing artistically. I can't wait to see where he goes from here. Andrew Rohrmann's sound compositions added a great auditory dimension to the evening as well.

I'd be remiss if I failed to thank Bellevue Arts Museum (most especially Tanja Baumann), DRY Soda, Precept Wines and Seattle Magazine for their sponsorship of the evening.

Here are some photos I snapped:

The BAM Bar

DJ Andrew Rohrmann and Eric Goehring

Guests head up to see John Grade's exhibit

John Grade explaining what's inside his head - to the amazement of the crowd

Meanwhile...outside the Museum a cast of characters had assembled

Thanks to BAM for a great party space

Stay tuned for the next Good Chemistry event...join the mailing list.

Spirit of the Moment

2008-11-05T16:30:00.000Z

My brother sent this image to me last night with the caption "NYC is celebrating!" Seems like the perfect expression of this moment in America's collective history. Enjoy, Alex

Presidential Brands

2008-10-22T17:00:00.000Z

I was recently voted "Dadpreneur of the year" at an event in Seattle. What this means for my future, I'm not exactly sure. But I'll definitely ride it til the cows come home and make it a part of my personal brand.

As the presidential race unfolds before us, there is no better forum for learning about how powerful a personal brand can be. This is from today's NY Times:

"The selling of a presidential “narrative” the reigning buzz word of this election cycle has taken on outsize significance in an age in which a rush of visuals and catch words can cripple public images overnight. Mitt Romney, it is said, lost because he could not get his story straight. Hillary Clinton found her I’m-a-fighter leitmotif too late to save her candidacy. By contrast, the narrative of Barack Obama has seemed to converge harmonically with the shifting demographics and surging discontent of the electorate. It may well be, as his detractors suggest, that Obama is among the least-experienced presidential nominees in our nation’s history. But to voters starved for change, the 47-year-old biracial first-term Democratic senator clearly qualifies. That, in any event, is his story, and he has stuck to it."

No matter which candidate you support, it should be clear that Senator Obama has had a much clearer understanding of his personal brand than his opponents have of theirs. Senator McCain seemed to grasp this concept early on, but lost his way as the economy started to tank. His attempt at co-opting Obama's "change agent" brand was a lost cause - the maverick offered too little, too late. Now he's back to the "country first" badge his campaign more or less began with. It would've served him better had he stuck to this brand and sought ways to make it relevant in the face of voter desire for change. If John Kerry's failed bid for president taught us anything, it's that being labeled a flip-flopper is just about the worst thing a candidate's brand can stand for. Especially when it's your competition driving the message.

Enduring brands are nothing if not consistent. People, whether they're labeled consumers or voters or producers or media, are consistency-seekers. If there is no consistency, they will attempt to connect the dots on their own, essentially taking control of the message and weaving a story that they can buy. So do yourself and your customers a favor and sell them a story worth buying. Start with your personal brand, and then extend it to your business brand.

A word of caution: a brand is not a marketing strategy. Your brand is the core of your identity, and the most basic and defensible representation of your character. A company's brand is no different. Effective marketing strategy should bolster a company's brand and add dimension to it in the minds of consumers, but the two are not the same.

When a strategy fails, it's time to move on to new strategies and learn from your mistakes. When a brand fails, however, the problems are not so easily solved. You can no more adopt the brand of your competitor any more than you can adopt the character of the leading presidential candidate.

Consumers, and voters alike, will see right through you.

No Picnic

2008-09-25T02:30:00.000Z

So tomorrow is an event in Seattle called "Company Picnic." It's being billed as the largest networking event for entrepreneurs in the Puget Sound region. That much I don't doubt. What remains to be seen is if it's a homogeneous group of consultants, web designers, life coaches (one guy bills himself as a 'life exfoliator' - scary) and social media hawkers.

What's interesting to me is the way in which the event organizers have utilized SO MUCH web-based technology to help them pull this event off. From the transaction partner to the social networking registration site to the contest for entrepreneurs - thanks btw if you voted for me - and I'm sure a ton more, it's simply staggering how much of this sort of "enabling" technology now exists.

The neat thing is that it all provides genuine value. Those of you who remember the wild and woolly dotcom boom will recall the vast majority of companies with marginal value-adding capability, and hence, a lifespan just longer than that of a fruit fly. It's sites like these, and Ning for sure, that are enabling a whole new level of capability for the non-technical people of the world to make use of.

The implications for marketing are obvious - network effects. The more enabling technology that's created (think iPhone) the more time we're going to spend using it. And the more time we spend using it...the deeper our relationship, nee our dependence, upon it becomes for our daily existence. The same goes for everyone else. The marketing is built right into the product/service itself.

It's the collective force of change that these technologies are bringing about that is why marketing is going through such upheaval at the moment. In essence, there's something very disruptive going on. It's happening at a level that's easy to measure but hard to comprehend for a lot of old school marketers. If you're not sure what the difference between Twitter and Feedburner is, brother, it's time to catch up.

And that, my friends, is the big opportunity. Wish me luck tomorrow. - Alex

The video section is live

2008-09-19T18:00:00.000Z

Everyday the web moves closer to a universal broadcast medium. How long before it swallows TV entirely is your guess, but it won't be long.

To that end, I've added a video section to Good Chemistry. If you like what you're watching, please consider posting it to the video section. Here's the first one, courtesy of Chase Jarvis and Superfad. It's a behind the scenes look at a campaign they created for the Kung Fu HD Network.

Click to watch.

NYC

2008-09-12T05:30:00.000Z

Back from the road trip refreshed and invigorated. If you ever get the chance to spend a month on the road, do it.

Now I find myself in New York City, along with Chase Jarvis, meeting with some of the more cutting edge marketing firms on the planet. Firms that are actively reinventing what marketing means and how it's done. And the level of talent here is simply unreal. So many smart, creative, ambitious people crammed into such a small space is bound to create some really interesting and compelling work and NY has not disappointed.

Needless to say I'm thrilled that Good Chemistry is off to a quick start, basically zero lag time from end of road trip to beginning of work. It's still early days and there's a lot to work out, but it feels great and right and that's no small thing.

Now I can't wait to get back to Seattle and turn it up to eleven. Thanks to Doug Jaeger from thehappycorp who Chase and I spent some time with today. Doug is breaking boundaries left right and center, combining branding, events and networking into a mashup in which the lines become blurred to the point of abstraction and what's left is a pure experience that stands on its own - no contrived and formulaic marketing stunt, this shit is the real deal. Most impressive.

Tonight we dined with Shawn Schwartz, founder of Halcyon and a true pioneer in the evolution of Brooklyn as legitimate hipsterville.

A day in New York is the equivalent of a month in most other places. I can't wait to get up in the morning and do it all over again.

Intermission

2008-08-01T21:38:13.000Z

A major milestone in the progression of Good Chemistry has happened. I am no longer working for Suncadia which means I can devote 100% of my time to making Good Chemistry a success story.

That process is well underway. We're talking to some great companies about some great marketing projects. And I'm coming to learn more about what Good Chemistry is, exactly. Good Chemistry leverages marketing knowledge the way a venture capital firm leverages cash and management expertise. It's an entrepreneurial spin on the concept of a marketing firm, in which its clients make a financial investment in Good Chemistry and we in turn make a marketing investment in them. Both entities have the same goals in the end, to add substantial value to a client's brand and bottom line. How we achieve that is through marketing strategy and project management of specialists within the Good Chemistry network of companies.

I'll keep you posted on how things progress...and now for the intermission:

Before Sierra and I dive headfirst into Good Chemistry, we felt it was an opportune moment to take a break. It's August, neither of us are beholden to an employer and Leo is hopefully capable of spending some quality time with his car seat. So we're heading out on the road for 30 days starting today at 6pm.

Our first stop is Jackson Hole, followed by Carbondale, Colorado to drop in on Solar Energy International, then Santa Fe, Sedona, the Grand Canyon, Great Sequoia National Park, Yosemite, Chico, California where Sierra has family (for real), up through Mt. Shasta, Bend and finally back to Roslyn.

If you'd like to follow the trip, I'll be posting photos on my Flickr account in near real time thanks to an iPhone app called Airme. Click here to ride shotgun:

We'll be back on August 30th and Good Chemistry will begin in earnest on September 2nd.

Let's ride, Alex

The Program

2008-07-02T05:55:45.000Z

Just wrapped another fantastic photoshoot with Chase and Scott from Chase Jarvis. I love working with those guys. They just get it. Like a Federer backhand, they make it look effortless, but you know it took years of practice and dedication to be that good. They get a Good Chemistry gold star.

The thing that Chase and his team do so well is that they provide truly great service. Even though you know they've got a crazy schedule that takes them all over the world, when you're working with them, you feel like you're their only client and the only thing that matters is making your photoshoot a success.

Which brings me to something I've been thinking a lot about lately: products and services. For so long we've viewed the two as being separate. But more and more I've come to believe that real success comes from having both in one offering. You buy the product, but what you get is the product plus the service. Or vice versa.

Nobody understands this better than Apple. What would the iPod be without iTunes? A cool gadget but not nearly the category killer it became. What matters most is that the delivery of the service is virtually inseparable from the product, and that each one compliments and adds value to the other.

How does this apply to your business? What services could you offer that would enhance the value of your products? What products could you create or sell that would enhance the value of your services?

In the near future most every product will have a service component, likely enabled by the web. If you're not thinking about how to integrate this into your business or helping your clients do it, it's time to get with the program.

White Tigers

2008-06-20T22:30:00.000Z

Made a very insightful trip to Portland to meet with an agency there called CMD. What struck me as most unique was the fact that they employ a full-time marketing strategist in-house. In my experience, finding a defined marketing strategy within a company is rarer than discovering a white tiger at the pet store. Even rarer still is if they actually use it (their strategy, not the tiger). This is worrisome indeed. So it was refreshing to be able to discuss strategy with someone who does this for a living.

The thing about marketing strategy is that it's often developed at the very beginning of the planning process and then tossed in a binder for the rest of the year. For strategy to be truly effective, it needs to be there at the beginning, but it also needs to be there in the middle and at the end. Every single marketing effort needs to be measured against your strategy. The fundamental question is 'why are we doing this?' If part of the answer isn't 'because it fits with the strategy' you've got yourself some serious thinking to do.

Which brings me back to CMD and their internal strategist. For most of you, having someone to focus full-time on strategy is not an option, nor is it necessary. But that doesn't mean you shouldn't wear your strategic hat when appropriate. Before you embark on a new project for your company or a client, put on your strategy hat and ask them how this project fits.

Marketing strategy need not be a complicated ordeal. In fact, if done properly, it should be relatively straightforward. The key is to be honest about your capabilities and those of your competitors. There's little point in defining a strategy that you're not able to execute as well as someone else. That's the definition of a weak strategy.

Strong strategy is built upon the capabilities that your organization does best. Start with defining those capabilities and work forward from there.

Small fires

2008-06-05T04:30:00.000Z

Picking up on the theme of my last post...there are signs that the Good Chemistry fire is starting. It emanates from what Richard Florida (author of The Rise of the Creative Class - which I urge you to read if you want to understand why this site is in existence) calls "the creative furnace that burns within each of us."

And that's starting to get at the vision for Good Chemistry. If we all come together with our individual creative furnaces, perhaps, just maybe, we will begin to generate a bigger flame and a hotter flame. At some point that flame will burn so bright and hot that it can't be extinguished. That is critical mass. We're a long way from there.

I don't know about you but I was mightily energized by Barack Obama's victory speech last night in Minnesota. Whatever your political views, you've got to admit, the guy is a truly amazing speaker. But what he spoke about also resonated. Now is our time. We're beginning to see a sea change in the political forces at work in this country, backed by everyday people like you and me who are ready to embrace a whole new paradigm in the way we engage each other and the rest of the world.

I spent two years living in Australia, watching the US from afar. From that vantage point it's much easier to see how much power and influence the US really does have on the rest of the world, and how much the world looks to us to chart the course. So it's been especially disappointing to see us going in so many wrong directions at once.

What does this all have to do with Good Chemistry? Everything. Understanding what fuels the creative fires in each of us is central to our identities. If you don't understand that you shouldn't be on this site. It's much bigger than the outputs that we each individually contribute - whether that's web design, photography, art, music or literature. Those are the expressions, I'm talking about the white hot core.

Next post from Portland...

Birth

2008-05-30T04:30:00.000Z

Today was a big day for Good Chemistry. I took the first step and invited some of my closest connections to join. As I write this, not one of them has created a profile [edit: now they have joined], so I'm hoping that's not an ominous sign of (no)things to come...

One thing I do know for certain, if you want to start a big fire, start with a small fire. Today was my fledgling attempt at starting that small fire. The feedback I got was mostly good. Some weren't sure what the hell Good Chemistry is supposed to be. And that's okay, it's very early days. Its DNA is all there but its features haven't fully developed yet. And its eyes are still closed.

Questions running through my mind...what if nobody joins...what if it gets out of control and loses relevance...what if members have conflicts...what if it actually works and Terry Gross wants to interview me for Fresh Air? I am nothing if not an optimist.

Day Zero

2008-05-28T05:51:40.000Z

Sitting at my kitchen table, working on this website. And for all the work I've put into it so far, I still really don't know what it will become. Like the name says, it's all about chemistry. But right now it's pretty much just me. So I guess the only thing left to do is start inviting people and see what happens.

It's a gamble of sorts. A calculated risk on every one of us that our investment in time will result in something worthwhile. Given that time is easily the scarcest resource we have, that's asking a lot I know. But at the same time, this is something we all actually need. A way to formalize the loose bonds between us. A forum for discussing the relevant issues we're faced with, with a group of people who just might get it, and just might be able to help.

Why not simply use Facebook or LinkedIn? Well, I don't know about you, but for me they really are pretty limiting. Facebook is all about personal relationships, and reconnecting with people you've long since forgotten about. LinkedIn is great if your network is everyone you've ever done business with, but what about the people like you? What about the people who are in the trenches every day, dealing with similar issues to you - how to keep clients satisfied, how to navigate the corporate politics, how to make sense of marketing in a world that is moving extremely fast.

One thing I think we're seeing is the rapid dis-integration of traditional agencies. For all the attempts at being all things to all clients, I find it nearly impossible for an agency to be good at PR and advertising and web. And for all the rhetoric about "synergies," more often than not what you get are mediocre people struggling to stay relevant in a out-dated "full service" business model.

The future is for the specialists. People and companies that are extremely good within a narrow range. And that's where this site comes in. Because while we're all trying to specialize, there's still a need for common ground and a holistic approach towards marketing.

Let's give it a shot.