Summer is Over

And for most of us, it was a long, hot summer. I just sat through our weekly content meeting (when our team meets and talks content strategy for our clients), and we were reflecting on the past three months at MJ2.  Rest was clearly not in our picture!  Maybe this last weekend will bring us a small reprieve.

Here’s a glimpse at what is happening at MJ2:

- We are working on the finishing touches of a major brand identity and re-design for our client, Scioto Properties (showcase coming soon…). You might want to look now at www.scioto.com. Tuesday everything will be different.  Check back… it is good.

- Our team took to the streets and embraced a foot marketing campaign on Face Forward with the Catholic parish festivals.  This effort, coupled with a partnership with Chipotle restaurants, has bumped our interactive audience to 2,000 fans.  That’s 2,000 fans in just eight, short months.  In addition, we received a national “nod” of recognition regarding the Face Forward Columbus blog by the United States Catholic Council of Bishops.  Voted top ten website!

-We are launching into video storyboarding, small flip videos for Facebook, and general videos to highlight certain content on the sites and profiles that we maintain. We have found this approach to be extremely viral, and it fully supports our efforts to source and write good content.  We just finished a major production video with Luc Nutter (Ohio State FlashMob – Student Union).  Luc was instrumental in storyboarding a difficult service offering for our client, Fireproof Records.  It will be live in mid-September. Watch for it.

-Finally, as we further embrace the industry value of sourcing, writing, editing, and posting good content for our customers, we made the decision to bring Lori Murray, a business writer and content consultant, on board at MJ2.  Lori will be working with us on something that we believe is very important: PERFECT WRITING…PERFECT GRAMMAR…PERFECT POSTS…INTERESTING AND COMPELLING ARTICLES…AND SOUND RESEARCH. Lori is a grammar fanatic, and she is a real asset to our team.  More to come from Lori!

-We bid “adieu” to our favorite intern, Kati Keenan as she returned to school, and welcomed a new addition, Stephanie Giska, from OSU to the MJ2 team.  Stephanie’s attention to detail and work ethic is an incredible asset to our crazy culture at MJ2.  She keeps us sane and works hard.

Stay tuned for an all new window into MJ2 as we redo our own website.  So, it looks like we are rockin’ into Fall.

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Bob Titmas, CEO of ABCO Fire Protection, recently visited our offices for a client status meeting.

MJ2 has been handling the social media for ABCO Fire Protection for more than two years. When we first engaged with ABCO, we were redoing their Web site with one of our Web partners, Forefront Web. The task was far more arduous than we originally thought. Not only did the home page feature the same Employee of the Month for the previous eight months, but it was plagued with clumsy navigation and an overabundance of content. Bob was initially cautious, but he soon realized that a Web redesign and a reorganization of content were inevitable.

As the site took shape and a few additional “facelifts” were implemented, Bob realized the need for a content blueprint and strategy on his blog. He wanted to be the first in the industry to initiate conversations via social means. We started with ABCO when there were only 4 million users on Twitter. Today that number has grown to over 75 million. Those conversations played a big role in converting followers to customers. They ignited conversations with their sales staff with national accounts, and a large buying network of untapped prospects. People have reached out to ABCO beyond regional boundaries, and this groundswell has helped to prepare a path for future brands: NIFAST and Meridian Integrations.

All in the name of fire safety, Bob has approached this new technology with fervor, but with a non-intimidating, leadership style. He knows how to work with vendors, and he wants his people to learn to do the same. He approaches things with his staff from a hands-off perspective, and hopes they will share his passion for fire safety. It begins with passion for the cause, but the end result is passion for their jobs.

It has been impressive to be a part of this team. We’ve been able to follow along as Bob creates a strong online presence with the ABCO brand and as he allows his staff the opportunity to form sister brands under the ABCO umbrella. In today’s world, Bob’s approach would surely be considered “thoughtful.”  

Follow Bob on his blog.

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We are long overdue with this post, but this was just too cool to overlook for the summer!

I always say to my kids “Remember where you came from…”

I grew up in Broadview Heights, Ohio, the other side of the tracks from Brecksville, where I went to High School and spent thirteen years from Kindergarten through graduation. I loved it- it was friendly, safe, and many of the people I went to high school with I am still in contact with today. We had good teachers, good schools, and a really cool McDonald’s where we all hung out after the football games. Most the time our parents did not know where we were. Thank God for no cell phones back in the day.

We went to concerts. A lot of concerts. Southside Johnny, The Boss, Bon Jovi, and of course, Cleveland’s own, Michael Stanley Band. We went all four nights to Blossom Music Center (or so I seem to remember I did- it was probably more like two…) and of course New Year’s Eve was a bust unless you were with MSB at the coliseum. His ticket was the most coveted ticket in Cleveland.

This June, our invitation came to ride a fledgling school bus out to Newark Midland Theater for a “remember when” concert with Michael Stanley and The Resonators. This I had to see…

About 18 of us rolled up in the “party bus”, which we decided to call it, and were hastily ushered in to the backstage area for a “meet and greet” with Michael Stanley. Our stage pass took us backstage, to a stairwell, for our orchestrated meet-n-greet with our icon from our formative years! Michael Stanley was as gracious as ever, and all too willing to smile for all the giggling fans.

After all the “remember when’s”, photographs, and random loitering in the stairwell, we were dismissed for the show. And a show it was!

Michael Stanley can still rock the house (okay, so we were the majority of the house…) At 62,his voice still bellows, and he seemed to have lost a bit of the chip he had back in the day as a frustrated Cleveland artist trying to make it out of the heartland. Check out future shows here…

And always remember where you came from…

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MJ2 made tracks to Old Dublin on Saturday (July 17) to video and highlight online a great selection of fine art at the annual Dublin Art Fair.

Armed with our video intern Kati Keenan (twitter.com/katikeenan) and lots of water, we made our way through multiple exhibitors, all very willing to talk to us about their fineries.

Painters, Photographers, Sculptors and many fine artisans flanked the lawn at Sells Middle School, as  well as many food vendors (we visited ALL of those!)

The photographers that caught our interest were Stephanie Moon and her beautiful photos of pets and people Lee Mascarello, Owner at Panoraas, Portraits and Prints (LeeMascarello.Imagkind.com); and Underwater Images by Cheryl and Doug Kneisley.

OSU-themed items seemed to be the attraction for most onlookers, and it was apparent that Buckeye fever is just around the corner.

On to the food…

Sugar Inc was standing by; however, the sweetest delight we found were the outgoing ladies at  Shawnee Hills Bakery.  Did you know a bakery exists in Shawnee Hills? You may want to pay them a visit as you head North…they delighted us with edible cookie “fries” and catsup frosting…they were buttery light, fun to eat, and a great pick-me-up at the end of our day. Check them out!

I think we all agree, the City of Dublin creates, supports and rocks their events!  Irish Festival here we come…

For more images of the fun event, please visit our MJ2 Marketing facebook page.

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