The Illinois State Bar Association (ISBA) won the 2010 ACLEA’s Best Award for Professional Excellence for the Virtual Coffeehouse community built and managed by Peach New Media!

The Virtual Coffeehouse is a critical part of the ISBA’s efforts to reach lawyers who are new to the practice of law and demonstrate the powerful value of membership in the ISBA.  Coffeehouse sessions are approximately 5 weeks long and include weekly live webinars with seasoned attorneys, weekly assignments to watch on-demand videos, post to message boards and forums, and blog articles written by ISBA members.

Additionally, ISBA coffeehouse registrants are eligible to receive discounts on online CLE content specifically for new lawyers.

Peach New Media was proud to provide the platform, event management, and logistical support for the Virtual Coffeehouse program and congratulate the ISBA on this great accomplishment!

Somewhere between the living room and the kitchen I had a thought…  maybe the paint fumes played a big role in this, but I started to wonder where I could find a pure white semi-gloss that I can apply to my life with the same amazingly satisfying results.

You see, just one quick stroke of pure white semi-gloss paint on my baseboards covered up all of the smudges, wood putty and the bruises from the vacuum.   All it took me was about 90 minutes and now my baseboards are one solid shade of bright, white, goodness.

So what’s my point?  I think we all have quite a few versions of pure white semi-gloss at our fingertips just waiting for us to crack them open and apply to our lives.  Maybe you can find your’s at our upcoming Association New Media Summit, a Peach Knowledge Community webinar or maybe it’s just that “phenominal” book you bought 6 months ago…  Whatever it is for you – I encourage you to find it, crack open the can and get to painting!

You see, Karen is the ultimate Support Team manager. She is invincible. No person, place, or thing has ever ticked her off.  She is ROBOCOP of support. She is always polite, courteous, professional, and even cheery in the face of angry customers, frustrated users, crazy busy days, and massive loads of stress usually piled on in very short periods of time.

So the bet quickly grew and before long we had people joining in on the bet (Karen wasn’t included on the conversation, of course), and even our Apps team offering additional winnings if there could be video to prove any claims.

Within the hour, this video was distributed internally from Dave:

Of course, the video is totally staged and Dave didn’t win any money… except a few payments from those of us who were impressed by his efforts to fake and publish the video.

I’m certainly no HR expert, so I can’t tell you how to incorporate this trait into your recruiting processes, but I can simply pass along that I hope your organization can have the same internal joke about your support team. We should all be so lucky to have a Karen Troupe!

The answer, in the simplest terms, go back to the basics, improve your marketing.

In this blog, we have listed the 5 marketing tips that Peach New Media sees as the essentials to enhancing your overall marketing efforts:

Tip #1: Simplicity. When it comes to marketing, keep it simple. Be short, compelling and specific. Use bullets, lists, and brief sentences. Essentially, whether it’s an email blast, or a description on your website, customers want the information they need and they want it fast.

Tip #2: Use the tools you have; Social Media, E-mail, Partners. There are so many outlets available to you, literally at your fingertips, that can and should be used to expand your marketing efforts. Taking advantage of these opportunities is key.  There should be a link to your Webinar registration page almost anywhere you can think of. Your email signature, your Facebook page, Twitter, Blogs, your event partner’s/speaker’s email signature and their social media accounts. The new age of Social Media and E-marketing are here to assist you, so use them.

Tip #3: Listen to and know your audience. It certainly takes time, surveys, polling and analytic strategies. But you have an audience, and it is extremely important to value their opinion. Presenting them with knowledgeable speakers and relevant topics that are specific to them is what will keep them coming back. Take steps to make sure your speakers know your audience, and coach and guide them so they have a thorough understanding of what your audience is hoping to takeaway from the Webinar. Most importantly, make sure you are always trying to improve and adjust to the growth and variations within your audience.

Tip #4: Track, Analyze and Revise. After touching upon listening to your audience, it is also notable to say that it is a must to use tracking and analytical devices to keep getting better. Use surveys, polling and Google Analytics to learn about what your are doing well and what you need to adjust. In addition, use several marketing links and track them, so you get a better understanding of where your registrations came from and which channels were successful.

Tip #5: Be Consistent. Everything above won’t work without consistency. Marketing is a full-time task that needs a lot of grooming and attention. Each effort must be continuous. Updating your Social Media forums, gaining a better understanding of your audience and continuously reviewing and adjusting your strategies are tasks that must be repetitive. Consistency will make your marketing efforts a success.

Some of you may have noticed through our August 6^th webinar “Creating an Online Knowledge Community: 6 Tips for Association Executives” that Peach New Media is exploring this topic as it relates to our clients and their professional development goals.  The fact is that there is not a right answer when you’re talking about a closed or open community – you can have both and they can work together or you can pick one or the other.  They each serve a different purpose as it relates to the type of collaboration and community you are trying to develop.

Want to learn more?

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We’re excited to host Jeff De Cagna, experienced association professional and founder of Principled Innovation, as he will be leading a 3-part webinar series starting on September 25.  This will be a great opportunity to learn more about how your association can leverage the social web and develop a community strategy.  All 3 webinars are being offered for just $299, which gives you full access to each 90 minute session and the associated webinar recording and handouts.  To take advantage of this great opportunity or learn more CLICK HERE.

The evenings were filled with other kinds of networking. The kind of networking I have not participated in since college. And this is when I began to acknowledge my age. Well after my bedtime, a young lass stepped up to me and with the music pounding in the background and she yells, “I’LL GIVE YOU $20 (Canadian, I assumed) IF YOU CAN TELL ME WHO SINGS THIS SONG!!!” I didn’t hear everything she said but heard enough to know the answer was “Justin Timberlake”.  Her jaw dropped and I heard her say, defeated, “Oh my God! (OMG) I thought you were, like, 40!”

Well, I am like 40. And I know who Justin Timberlake is. I like to think I’m hip.

And being nearly 40, I have worldly knowledge (extend a slow nod and a knowing wink if you’re over 40). For instance, I remember the Rubik’s Cube when it first came out in the late 70’s. I also remember getting 2 sides solid before giving up and going back to riding my Flying Turtle down the drive way.

(Flashforward) – Last week, among the people we met at the ASAE Food and Wine Classic in Toronto was Eric Limeback.  Eric solved the Rubik’s cube for us in about 11 seconds.

And if you search YouTube, you’ll see videos of Eric doing this blindfolded. Really???? Yes. So I Googled it… How can it be?.

Ok, so I fell asleep in the second paragraph but I dreamed about how similar the theory is to the way we run webinars. Everything is discombobulated to start. But based on the configuration and the state of things, we (and Eric) apply certain memorized algorithms to produce the end result. It’s a collection of procedures all glued together. Every event is managed and treated differently, just as every time Eric solves the Rubik’s cube he applies a different set of algorithms.

Funny how everything comes back to webinars for me…. Funny how I’m comparing my genius with Eric’s.

Just curious: Have you ever had success in solving the Rubik’s Cube? How old were you when it first came out? Do you know who Just Timberlake is?