Yaffe Tidbits

How To Do Local Blogger Outreach The Right Way

Getting bloggers to talk about your product is a tricky thing. Getting social media influencers to talk about your product multiple times is even harder - especially if you're a regional or local brand, rather than a big national brand. The Suburban Collection of car dealerships is doing it in the Metro Detroit area and doing it well. And here's how.

Each weekend, they give a car from one of their dealerships to a local blogger and social media influencer as part of their social test drive program. In return, they ask that when you tweet, facebook, foursquare or whatever, you use the hashtag they created for the program: #SocialTestDrive. They don't put any restrictions on what you write or blog about, which is the only way to do it right. They let their product and service speak for itself and trust that it will result in a good experience for the recipient of the vehicle.

The Suburban Collection has only been doing this for about four weeks now, but they are already seeing good results. After their first week, they sold a couple vehicles as a direct result of the program. One of the guys who bought after following the first week's social test drive online said he came in because the experience he witnessed through the social channels seemed to be a good one. He had had a bad experience at Suburban in the past, but after reading the posts, he decided to give them another try. This time, he had a real good experience. The vehicle he bought wasn't even the one that was being test driven that weekend. But, the experience he'd followed through social media seemed good enough to give Suburban another shot.

"Our goal is to just be a part of the conversation," says Zac Holmes, Online Marketing Coordinator at Suburban. "People hang out online, live there, interact there - that's where you'll find them. We wanted to reach out to them in the space they're already occupying and connect them to our brand."

One of the smart things Suburban is doing is the way they recruit the people to participate in their program. They do it by having the person who just finished the program choose the next one, giving them the additional perk of sharing the experience with their friends. Plus, they get a list of influencers already vetted for them. Who else would know the local blogger/social media influencer landscape better than those who are a part of it.

"People are a lot more likely to believe a review if you hear it from someone you know or follow, rather than from the brand itself," said Holmes. "It's more realistic when it's coming from them. We also wanted to put people in vehicles they might not try otherwise. This makes driving part of the buying experience - whether it's actually driving the vehicle or driving it vicariously through following along with the driver online."

I have first hand experience in how the process works, since I participated in their social test drive program last weekend, driving a hybrid Honda Insight from Suburban Honda. I had followed the previous weekend's driver, fellow social media and ad guy, Bryan Willmert, on his social test drive (mostly through Instagram) and had enjoyed his story. Then, to my surprise the following week I got a tweet from both Zac and the Suburban Collection asking if I'd like to participate. Obviously, I said yes. And it was a pretty good experience.

They gave me a choice of several different brands. Once I chose Honda, they asked what I was driving and suggested four different models that I might like to test drive. I was interested in checking out their hybrid, the Honda Insight. When I showed up, they walked me through the vehicle and how to work all the options. They shot a video of me with the car and sent me on my way.

It was interesting to see the interaction I got. On my first day (last Friday), I had to go downtown Detroit for a lunch meeting. I tweeted out where I was going and the car I was in. I immediately got feedback via twitter. One person I know tweeted me that they were a half mile away from my meeting, could I stop by while there. I swung by and let him take the Insight for a tool around the city. Once that was done another tweeted for "nexties" and another wanted to see it and we hooked up the following day at the auto show. So, the most immediate feedback came via twitter - including from people outside of my own followers, people who were following the hashtag, either promoted by Suburban or via previous test drivers.

Longer discussions, with more in depth questions, came on the Facebook messages/pictures I posted. And for shear volume, my Instagram posts seemed to get the most reactions - including again, from people I had no idea who they were. They were just fans of the car or the brand.

Talking with Holmes, who works with four of the Suburban Collection dealerships in the Detroit area (Honda, Acura, Ford and Chrysler/Jeep/Dodge/Ram), his group has enthusiastically embraced the program and plans to continue it with one or two social test drivers each week. Judging from my experience and the reaction to it, I'd say they're on to something. It's a good way to connect with your local community in a very real way and really boost your share of conversation online. So, think about it. How can you accomplish the same for your local brand/client?

Mike McClure, Social Driver

Building a Mobile-Friendly Website

Part 2 of our Mobile Marketing Series

Last week we dipped our toes into an ever-changing and exciting world of Mobile Marketing.  You enter Part 2 of the Mobile series, armed with knockout customer insights and a vocabulary full of jargon terms you already used to impress everyone at Monday’s department meeting.  The next step is to build a proper Mobile webpage, which will not only convert potential clients into paying customers, but increase positive association with your brand.

 

Seeing Through Your Customers’ Eyes
Access your website through a Mobile device, and see it through the customer’s eyes. As expected, the design and layout of what looks good on a personal computer doesn’t translate well into mobile experience.  If you’re squinting to see the font, so are your frustrated customers. If you’re having trouble navigating through the pages, your customers are contemplating checking out your competitor. If the page is still loading by the time you finish this paragraph, the customer already left.

Cashing In on the Insights
The insights you gathered are a blueprint for your website. After monitoring and analyzing your traffic through Google, you will know what mobile devices your customers are using. iPhone, Android, Blackberry or tablets have different  strengths and weaknesses, so it’s crucial you understand them. For instance: if your customers are primarily using an iPhone, keep in mind that it cannot run Flash (so don’t use it).  Android and iPhone use touchscreen navigation, while Blackberries might not.

Satisfying a Need
Looking at your Mobile Segmentation analysis, ask what NEED does your website satisfy for your customer? Depending on your insights you may arrive at different conclusions. If your customers frequently get lost while trying to find your location, they access your mobile website for directions or your phone number. If that’s the case, make sure that the first page that loads has your phone number and directions.   If they are looking for prices, make it brain-dead easy for them to find and buy items. If they’re looking for coupons, you can offer a special for signing on Foursquare or “Liking” you on Facebook/ following you on Twitter.  Satisfying their need is your first priority. Users who cannot find what they are looking for or are have trouble navigating through the store check-outs, often leave halfway through the transaction, never to return.

Keep it simple. I mean it.
Everybody knows your cool website has flashy graphics, ready-to-download case studies and well-written bios, but nobody wants to see it on their smartphone.  Slow connection speeds and pay-per-byte data plans will make the experience of going to your website expensive and unbearably slow. Keep the graphics to a minimum and focus on satisfying the customer’s needs.

Small Screens = Large Fonts
Unless your customers are rocking an iPad, they’ll have a hard time seeing anything written in regular font.  Make the font larger, and test it on mobile devices. Your mobile page should fit neatly into the screen of the hand-held device and spitting out easily-digestible content. Buttons, links and navigation tools should also be bigger to make navigation between pages easier (especially with touch-screen devices).

Click to Call
If you’re listing a phone number that the customer might want to contact you with, make sure that it’s “click to call.” Once the customer clicks (or touches) the phone number they will have an option to automatically dial it, eliminating the hassle to write it down(while driving).

Listen to Feedback
The biggest mistake you can make is ignore your customers while building a mobile website specifically designed for them. Involve them in the process by asking about and monitoring their mobile use. When the beta version of your website comes out, bring in a few loyal customers you trust and test it out. Observe and improve.

Deep Thoughts About Ending Paragraphs
If you haven’t found a mobile development expert within your department’—congratulations you are the new mobile web development expert of your department! As the newly-crowned mobile expert it is your responsibility to enlist support of digital advertising veterans to make this thing a reality (what about The Yaffe Group? I hear they’re pretty good). Stay tuned, next week brings the final installment of the Mobile Series. Use the internet-comment-machine below to post your mobile thoughts.

 Dmitri Pivtorak, Socially Mobile

Ad of the Week: Google+ - Muppets Rock Out In a Hangout

There was no doubt this ad would become one of my ads of the week. When I first saw it at home, I kept backing it up on the DVR and replaying it. Made me smile every time. Of course, there's no way it could lose. First off, if you follow my Ad of the Week posts, you know I love the ads Google has been doing for the last few years. I think they produce some of the most consistently wonderful advertising out there. Every ad tells a story that connects well with it's audience.

But the ad for Google+ with the Muppets doing a hangout while playing along with the Queen/David Bowie classic "Under Pressure" seems like it's targeted specifically at me. For one thing, I'm a HUGE Muppets fan. I love almost everything they do. I'm also a huge David Bowie fan and Under Pressure is one of my favorite songs of all time.

Yet, I don't think Google was talking just to me. Seems a lot of people love this ad. Which is part of my initial point. Google just knows how to connect well with people. Maybe it's because they know so much about us, given all the data they're able to collect. But, in their advertising at least, they seem to be using the info for good, not evil. So, in my completely biased opinion, here's one of the best ads of the last year.

 Google+ - Muppets Rock Out in a Hangout

So, what did you think? Love it as much as I do? Or is there another ad out there you think is better? Let me know, maybe your favorite will end up as a future ad of the week.

Mike McClure - Self-admitted Muppet Maniac

Blogger outreach: Your secret weapon in the struggle for influence

Bloggers link directly to the hearts and minds of your customers. Equipped with intimate industry knowledge and engaging content, successful bloggers skyrocket to front pages of the search engines with the help from their dedicated army of readers. According to 2009 survey, 77% of active Internet users read blogs, which makes blogger outreachan effective tool for any organization interested in marketing a product or a service online.

Benefits

People like people. Bloggers are not brands, but real individuals who cover topics they are passionate about. Readers who follow a specific blog develop a trust-based relationship and become part of an interactive community surrounding it. Trust allows bloggers to effectively communicate your message better than any form of ads because it is viewed as word of mouth.

Targeted exposure. The biggest benefit of blogger outreach is talking directly into the ears of your customers. Successful blogs are niche-centered, and attract readers who are interested in that specific topic. This is segmentation at its best; you are conveying your business messages to the right people, at the right time. By writing about your product or brand in their post, bloggers can introduce a new product, increase brand awareness and even make your content go viral.

SEO. In addition to speaking directly to your audience in an environment where they are more engaged, you will reap the benefits of moving up in the SEO world. Links provided by the blogger in the post will boost your rating on search engines.

Creating a target list

The first step in blogger outreach is creating a list of bloggers in your niche. Each blogger has their own voice and viewpoint; keep an eye on the ones that fit your brand. Before you can start reaching out to bloggers, you need to crank out your excel file list. Aim for at least 100 blogs. New tools come out every day, but I have found these to be a good starter kit.

1. Technorati.comis a database which ranks blogs based on authority and groups they belong to. The authority score and blog rank will help you sort through influencers and their runner-ups.

2. Alltop.com is a good place to start if you don’t know what niche categories you are looking for. Alltop’s categories are numerous and clearly defined. Trending industry stories and top bloggers are listed on the top of each category page.

3 Google.com/blogsearch is an advanced Google search function targeting only blogs. This function will cover everything Alltop and Technorati missed.

4. Blogroll. Once you found a blog you like, it would be a good idea to check what other blogs the author links to. This list can be found on a right hand side of the page or in one of the headings and contains similar blogs to the one you are on. Additionally, check out if the blog belongs to any community or organization which would be indicated by a button or a link.

5. Alexa.com will help you measure the numerous lists of blogs you have acquired by providing statistics on ranking, reach and page views.

Filled with unshaken confidence, gallons of coffee, and a room packed with interns you are sure to come out victorious. What are your thoughts on blogger outreach? What tool was your favorite? Comment below to feed your local bloggers.

Dmitri Pivtorak, newest member of the Yaffe social media team.

SEO, SEM and Social Marketing: You Have to Know It All

Have you ever wondered what to do first while developing digital strategies for your business? Should you redesign your corporate websites and rewrite all the content for search engine purposes? Or should you start display advertising programs on Adwords and AdCenter? 

It’s amazing how the usage of the Internet has evolved over the past few years. Two or three years ago, search engine optimization could be examined separately. And people would argue that improving website meta tags or adding detailed title tags could be a long term win compared to bidding competitive keywords on Google, Yahoo (when its online advertising program still existed) and Bing. Nowadays, no matter whether you are an individual business owner or a corporate employee, knowing the relationship between organic search (often related to search engine optimization), search advertising (related to search engine marketing or paid search) and social media is just as important as identifying business opportunities.

Search engine optimization (SEO), in my opinion, is mostly considered as “the meat.” It includes any bits and pieces of information you place on your website or blog to help visitors (or Google algorithms) find what they are looking for easier and faster. You can identify different keywords for each page, add alt tags for images, and use different codes such as H1 H2 to emphasize certain content. Whereas search engine marketing (SEM), is more like “the bait.” Whether the format is text, images, or multimedia, the purpose of search engine marketing is to boost awareness or to increase sales. However, as consumers become more and more complicated and picky, given the amount of information they can easily find online, the companies who want to utilize SEO, SEM and social media have to make all three work as a seamless process to acquire and nurture relationships with their customers.

For example, business-to-business companies who have low brand awareness can use SEM to promote their products and services, getting new customers to take some sort of action (fill out a form, request a demo, or call a number…etc). After new customers become prospects (or leads), the company has to keep informative content on its website (SEO) to develop a long-term relationship with their customers rather than a one-time interaction initiated from paid advertising.

For business-to-consumer companies, social media usually plays a role during the customer relationship management process (and beyond), serving as another channel for information and interaction. Companies can easily outsource all their SEO, SEM and even social media projects, but they have to understand the synergy between all these concepts in order to have effective campaigns.

If you live near the Detroit area and would like to dive deeper into how different businesses can utilize SEO, SEM and social media, the Social Media Club Detroit is presenting a panel discussion on the subject on Nov 30, 2011. Four industry evangelists of SEO, SEM and inbound marketing will be sharing their experience how to look beyond tools and algorithms to tailor best practices to business needs.

Last but not least, no matter what campaigns you are planning, have a goal first. Too often companies get sidetracked by all sorts of tools and metrics and forget about the funneling process of business acquisition, retention and management. I recently attended search engine strategy summit and listened to an amazing talk about marketing strategies versus different attribution models. To learn more about what I learned there, please read my blog post at evyfindstheway.com.

Guest blog post by Evelyn Chou, Social Media & Digital Marketing Specialist

Tidbits You Can Use From Brand Camp 2011

For the third year in a row, I attended Brand Camp University Detroit last week and gleaned a little inspiration, a bit of knowledge and connected with some new people along the way. Here are some of the best tidbits from the conference.

The Best Storyteller Wins. Hajj Flemings kicked off the day talking about storytelling. He asked if we ever knew someone who wasn't as qualified as others, but always seemed to get the job or make the sale? It's probably because they're a better storyteller. The fact of the matter is, when you're looking for a job or trying to sell your product/service, there are a lot of others out there that seem to have the same qualifications or product specs. What makes you stand out? It's your story and how you tell it. Does that person have a more compelling LinkedIn profile? Does that brand have a more compelling story?

People make emotional connections with stories. It's all about making yourself stand apart by finding what's different about you and telling that story well. And your story has to have all the elements of a good story. There has to be something that the protagonist overcomes, obstacles to be hurtled. Victory snatched from the jaws of defeat. Or failure turned into triumph. Look at your brand proposition (whether you're the brand or your product or client is). How can you make a compelling story out of it.

Brainstorming Producing a Drizzle? Try Rolestorming. Josh Linkner introduced a concept I like a lot - the idea of rolestorming. The idea is to try brainstorming as a different character or person. In traditional brainstorming, people often hold back on their best ideas, either because they're afraid to share them or because they figure if it was a good idea someone else would have said it. The way to bring down this inhibitions, is to have everyone brainstorm as someone else.

Linkner said they were brainstorming something at ePrize and nothing much was coming out of it. Then they decided to brainstorm as if they were each a character from Mad Men. Suddenly the energy in the room went up and the ideas started flowing. Instead of thinking like yourself, you start thinking about how someone else would approach it. For instance, if you were rolestorming as Steve Jobs, you'd come up with big, grandiose and outlandish ideas. If you were rolestorming as Charlie Sheen, they might be crazy, even illegal ideas. Rolestorming as villains like Darth Vader or Dr. Evil are particularly fun, said Linkner. Sure some of the ideas are way too out there, but out of those ideas the kernel of something great can grow

If You're Starting a Business, You Need a Kitchen Cabinet of Advisers. Melinda Emerson, also known as the Small Biz Lady, talked about needing your own kitchen cabinet of advisers to help you make sure your business is set up to succeed. First, you need a supporter. This can be a spouse, a relative, a friend - someone who is going to give you emotional support and be your cheerleader. Secondly, you need a mentor. This is someone who can give you advice and show you the ropes. Then you need a CPA or a lawyer, who can make sure your business plan is tight and meeting sound business standards. The final two are an entrepreneur and a potential customer. These are all people who are already invested in your success and will be able to support you in different ways, giving you different perspectives.

GMC Trucks Have the Best Use of QR Codes I've Seen.  John Gasloli from GMC trucks showed us how they've completely integrated QR codes into the new GMC catalogs. They use them for engaging their customers with inspirational 4-minute documentary style videos. They also connect to some really great mobile tools via QR codes. For a more in-depth post on their program, read my post on the Social Media Club blog.

It's a Passion Story, Not a Product Story. If you want to build communities and conversations around your brand, it has to be tied to people's passions, not the product. Nobody wants to talk about brands, they want to talk about things they are passionate about. Your brand can be part of their passion stories though. Spike Jones spoke about this. For instance, he pointed out that you wouldn't think their would be a community built around WD40. Then Jones read from a post where a guy was talking about how he has been spraying it on his bait since he was a kid and how it's good to spray on wasp nests on his car, because it doesn't wreak the paint. It's stories about the guys passions that involve the brand. Jones also talked about orange-handled scissors. Nobody would be passionate about them. But people are passionate about scrap booking. That's where you could build passion stories.

Those are just a few of the things I took away from this year's Brand Camp University. How about you? Did you go? What made an impact on you?

Mike McClure, 3-Time Camper

Is It In Your Jeans? A Professional Look at Innovation and Attire

I recently started reading Guy Kawasaki’s Enchantment on a plane ride to meet a client. As I sat on the runway waiting while they made a repair (always reassuring) and sweating in head-to-toe wool, I read his section entitled “Dress for a Tie” which takes a look at how our choices in dress affect our professional interactions. I should mention that this section resides in a chapter called “How to Achieve Likability.” I should also mention that, much respect to Guy, I’m generally suspicious of anyone who bullet points tangible action steps to achieve intangible qualities. Affecting attributes in order to win people over can be sniffed out by the herd on a very primal level, and it generally stinks.

Still, I’m intrigued by boardroom behavior that involves subliminal communication (as I assume anyone in the business of wooing people would be) and I found it refreshing to see a man willing to discuss dress in terms of strategy rather than fashion. The “jeans vs. suit” is a real issue that can be (and arguably is intended to be) very polarizing in the workplace, especially in agencies. 

Recently, I read that though now Steve Jobs’ jeans are an iconic statement of innovation, they were once part of the reason he was fired from Apple in the 80’s. Alex Bogusky, former head of CP+B, said he heard that the reason they lost the pitch to Land Rover was because he showed up in jeans. On the flip side, I know of another agency that lost a pitch to a youthful brand partially because they all showed up in suits and ties. “They’re out of touch.”  If anyone was at Future Midwest this year, they likely remember one of the speakers stand up and apologize for wearing a suit to speak to what was clearly a jeans and jackets crowd.

I don’t think it’s a huge leap for me to make the claim we associate jeans with innovation. (Please see Steve Jobs and Alex Bogusky above for support.) I don’t think it’s a huge leap either to claim that some people still see it as disrespectful and unprofessional.

I don’t know if I have anything to contribute to this issue that will be helpful (as I sit typing in head-to-toe wool), but here are some things I think about when I talk to myself about this debate:

-Is it silly to conflate attire with innovation or creativity or is it fair to say that wearing jeans in a professional environment, or any other item counter to the acceptable dress code, is indicative of a deeper drive for breaking the rules, a necessary part of innovation?

-Is it silly to think about dress too much when time would be better spent on your pitch? (I think you could argue that if Bogusky’s idea for Land Rover had blown the others away, they might have looked past the jeans.)

-I hate to drop the gender card in the midst of an already polarizing issue, but is it different for women? Ever look at the difference between how Facebook’s Sheryl Sandberg and the rest of the team dresses?

-Do people like Bogusky wear jeans because they’re thinking about dress, or because they refuse to? And isn’t “refusing to” still thinking about it? (When he was conducting interviews at CP+B, he said he regularly asked prospective hires to explain why they’d chosen their outfit in order to hear them work through strategy and rationale.)

-Do any of these questions even apply to junior workers, or non-principals? Or do we just wear what the bosses wear? And if you do just conform to the boss, are you making a statement about your innovation within the company?

I’d like to hear what you think about when you think about this issue, or if you think about it at all?

  Jen Wright, Yaffe Suit and Jeans Wearer

 

 

 

Your Company Social Media Policy Needs To Be Part of Its Branding

Companies can't avoid it any longer. And even if your company isn't doing social media, you can bet some of its employees are. So, it is important that your company has a social media policy. But, it's not just about guiding employees, facilitating conversation with customers and protecting your company. Something you might not have thought about is how it helps shape your brand. You see, your social media policy needs to be as much a part of your branding as your marketing materials and the logo on your door.

I had a chat with our new media strategist, Jen Wright, yesterday about all the social media policy work we've been dong for clients and what we've learned. The branding issue was one of the things she keyed into. I recorded her part of the chat and edited together some of the more interesting tidbits. The video is inserted below.

 A Chat With Jen Wright About Social Media Policy

So, what do you think? We'd love to hear your thoughts on social media policies in general and their part in company branding.

Mike McClure, I'm company branding right now.

Fun Facts: Social Media Revolution 2011

Every so often someone puts together a fun, compelling video that shows off interesting facts about the new media age we're living in. You've probably seen some of them before. Today, one of the newest ones floated through my web world (meaning someone in the Houston office emailed the YouTube link to our meida director here in Detroit and she passed it on to the rest of us - yes, I still find things through email sometimes). I enjoyed it and thought I'd share it here - in case someone hadn't sent it to someone who posted it somewhere you could see it yet

It has some facts we've seen before, like "YouTube is the world's second largest search engine" and "if Facebook were a country it would be the 3rd largest." It also has new fun facts like "socail gamers will spend $6 billion on virtual goods by 2013 compared to only $2.million spent on real goods by movie goers." Fun stuff. Check it out.

 Social Media Revolution 2011

So, what did you think? Anything really surprise you? Hear anything interesting that's not in this video?

Mike McClure, Social Media Guy

 

What Inspires You? TEDxDetroit 2011 Had It

Inspiration. That's the word I hear most when people are asked how a TEDx event is different from other events and conferences. The people you meet and the ideas they share are inspiring. They touch you on a deeper emotional level. They represent the great things that humanity can do, whether it's in technology or the arts, whether it's a spark of inspiration or just pure human perseverance. And yesterday's TEDxDetroit delivered all that in spades.

So, what inspires you?

Overcoming Great Odds To Do Great Things.We heard some truly amazing stories of people who beat the odds or overcame some of life's big roadblocks. Bobby Smith told us how he grew up in the poorest areas of Jamaica and how he came to own America's largest fencing training company, En Garde, right here in Detroit - a business that is teaching area kids a lot more than the sport of fencing. We heard Tara Michener's story about how she overcame getting beat up and bullied to run a business that helps today's kids deal with those very same issues. We even heard how successful Detroit entrepreneur, Josh Linkner, was told that his ideas were terrible and wouldn't amount to anything... by his father. But perhaps the biggest beating the odds tale came from Baby Einstein creator, Julie Aigner-Clark.

Julie was a mom who just refused to listen to the inane sounds of a big purple singing dinosaur when her child was born. So, she made her own videos of things that her baby seemed to like watching and played classical music as the background. What started as something she did in her basement with hand puppets, hard work and a little luck, turned into a huge multi-million dollar company that got bought out by Disney. But, she wasn't through - Julie also beat the odds by beating cancer - not once, but twice. The second time it was stage 4.

Young People Achieving Incredible Success.If you are inspired by hearing how today's youth is creating their own successful businesses with hard work and innovation, TEDxDetroit had you covered. Look no further than 22-year-old design student, Veronika Scott. She had a class assignment to design something to fit a need. So, she spent time in a homeless shelter talking to the folks, sometimes 3 times a week, to develop something that would fit their needs. What she came up with is a coat that converts into a sleeping bag. The class ended, but she hadn't perfected the product yet and she didn't want to let the people she'd been working with down. Eventually, she employed a couple homeless women to do the sewing. By the time the Red Cross asked when she would be able to produce 20,000 for disaster relief, she know it was no longer a class project. It was a calling. It was a business she was meant to run. Now she has her own building in Detroit where she runs her own business.

And if 22 isn't young enough for you, there was also 9-year-old Sebastian from Muskegeon who created a lemonade business he runs at the local flea market. It has become a booming success and he gives a portion of his profits to local charity. Seems like a fine, upstanding and inspiring young man.

Old People Making a Comeback.So, what about people on the other side of their lifespan? They hae inspiring stories too. Randel Chalton, Director of Tech Town Detroit shared how, after early business success, he faced a downturn where he had failures. He said he'd lost confidence in himself and his ability to do great things. But, he learned from his failures. When he had a new idea, but not a lot of money, he looked for the lowest cost place in America to start a business. That led him to, you guessed it, Detroit. Randel says Detroit gave him confidence and he sees Detroit's confidence is coming back too. He said we're going to rebuild Detroit, one job, one company at a time. Now, his Tech Town Detroit is made up of 255 businesses and touches 3000 lives.

Detroit & Michigan On The Rise. Perhaps it's stories of the area or region rising like a phoenix out of the ashes of the economic downturn that brings you inspiration. There were plenty of those stories, too. Besides the ones we already mentioned, we heard Matt Dibble talk about how Detroit's small pond is about to become a big sea. Mark Salamango from Robot Town Detroit told us how our technical advancement and automotive know how is putting us at the forefront to build the robot master race... I mean, lead the world in robotics. 

We also heard about on one guy with a wacky dream to do fun stuff with a few friends and a city that was willing to work with him turned Grand Rapids dying town image into one of fun and innovation. Rob Bliss did it with fun projects like the world's largest pillow fight, creating the YouTube sensation lip dub movie and having 30,000 people show up downtown to participate in the throwing of 100,000 paper airplanes. We later heard from even further north as Bob Southerland of Cherry Republic told how they took the biggest cherry producing region in the country and kept if viable by creating a whole new range of cherry products when cherry consumption began to wane.

Changing The World. If none of that is what inspires you, we heard some truly changing the world type stories. The most powerful was probably the talk delivered from En Garde's Bobby Smith. He didn't just talk about training kids to enjoy fencing as a sport. He talked about how he uses that to gain their attention and then teaches them skills they'll need to advance in this world. He teaches them things like financial literacy, empathy, alternate fitness, health and nutrition. "Fill up a kid's backpack with hope or the drug dealers will fill it up with blocks," said Smith. He also said, "I look at kids, not as bottles to be filled up, but as candles to be lit." Meaning, don't just pour knowledge into them, but inspire them to shine brightly.

Music That Fires The Imagination & Lifts The Soul. If arts and music is what inspires you, there was plenty of that at TEDxDetroit. All of it amazing. We had the innovative rapping of Detroit CYDI (Can You Dig It) who invited the audience to tweet them one word. Then as the twitter stream went across they screen they made up rap lyrics on the spot using the words people tweeted. And they did it well!

 

But, for me, the most inspiring musical moment was the last one. The children's choir from the Detroit Academy of Arts and Sciences came out and performed an amazing rendition of Detroit State of Mind - a rewrite of the hit New York State of Mind. Those kids gave me chills and they brought the house down with the loudest, longest standing ovation of the day.

There were plenty of other inspiring moments, talks and people at this year's TEDxDetroit, but this blog has gone on long enough. Thanks to Charlie Wollborg, Terry Bean and their outstanding crew - it was truly an inspiring day.

So, what inspires you?

Mike McClure, still glowing in the Detroit state of mind.