Sonia

An interesting challenge I’ve been dealing with lately has been translating techie products to senior management and company leaders in feature magazine articles. The reason why this is a challenge: The magazine also reaches tech staff, so we don’t the article to be over-simplified. It’s hard to differentiate the product without covering some of the…

The excitement just keeps happening… First, we were able to meet Matt Mullenweg, one of our personal tech heroes, at WordCamp St. Louis. Matt not only has shepherded the WordPress movement with tact, charisma and talent, but he’s also created a fascinating remote working model with Automattic. Then, Matt contacted Brett and asked him to…

The NeuConcept team got to meet one of our heroes in technology. And what made it even better was that it was an informal, fun encounter! How awesome is it when you are eating lunch and Matt Mullenweg asks if he can join you? This happened on Saturday while we were attending WordCamp St. Louis,…

I was really excited to find out that a video that I scripted and helped produce is now available on YouTube. It was put together by the St. Louis Family and Community Partnership to help recruit foster parents. We went to several families and interviewed them on why they foster children and what benefits it…

I’m now teaching Communications and Public Relations in the graduate program at Webster University. It has been very interesting because I’m teaching about topics and work that I’ve done for years, yet I find it can be challenging to find the best way to describe those activities that have become second nature. So that is…

I participated in a request for proposal (RFP) presentation yesterday. We rarely participate in RFPs because most of our work comes from referrals… but in this instance, it was my contact that had sent the RFP to me and requested our participation, and I wanted to learn more about the organization. What we learned The…

My husband is the geek who is normally glued to the screen every time new software or hardware comes out. But this time, I’m the one who’s excited! Thanks to Terry White, a trainer for Adobe and excellent blogger, we got a sneak peek of the top five new features in all of the new…

This cartoon says it all… and it is very funny. How a Web Design Goes Straight to Hell For those of us involved in design, web development, writing, videos and anything that’s not straight-up accounting, we’ve all had this experience. A client hires you for your expertise and then… well, you know. Check this scenario…

UPDATE: Interesting… An RFP for the National Endowment for the Arts recently required spec work, so the leading graphic designer’s association responded in a well-written letter. The irony is quite strong here… that an arts organization would be requiring free work (and damaging an industry they are supposed to protect)!

In the past few days, there’s been a somewhat heated discussion on Linked In about companies expecting creative firms to give away their design ideas on RFPs—before getting paid or selected, of course! The discussion was expanded to all RFPs and many different people, ranging from consultants to CFOs commented their varying views. I wanted…

I recently connected my personal website and Twitter accounts to my Facebook page, and I’ve noticed a lot more feedback on my posts. This got me thinking… if Facebook continues to grow in popularity and the amount of time spent, will it outrank Google in terms of reaching potential clients and customers? Will it become…

I was excited to see that WordPress has been awarded the Overall Best Open Source CMS Award in the 2009 Open Source CMS Awards. It’s a great tool! As WordPress founder Matt Mullenweg said in his post, “This is a landmark for us…it marks a shift in the public perception of WordPress, from blog software…

I attended the leadership assembly for the Public Relations Society of America (PRSA) this week as a delegate for my local St. Louis chapter. An interesting discussion ensued among members about the difference between Public Relations and communications. Many PR professionals feel like their work is distinctly different from communications, although the general public would…

Since I’ve been working with my husband’s web development company for the past two years, I’ve met with many clients as they develop marketing plans and consider website improvements. Interestingly enough, it seems that many companies have it backwards… they put more emphasis on the tangible print or sales presentations and less emphasis on their…

A few years ago, I read an article in John Maxwell’s leadership newsletter where he shared a tip for staying positive when you are not in charge at work. He said that when he was in a subordinate position, he started keeping a list of “Things I’ll Do Differently When I’m In Charge.” He said…

After I wrote my review on Quickbooks, my husband shared a humorous instant message conversation he had with Quickbooks customer service. We can’t win, so we might as well laugh! For your reading entertainment, here’s the recent “circular” conversation that my husband had with Quickbooks customer service regarding an upgrade for the 2009 version. Very…

A big part of running a small business is managing accounting. For those of us who are creative types, this can be a bit of a challenge. Most companies, however, buy accounting software like Quickbooks, MYOB, Peachtree, or one of the new online services like Freshbooks. When I started this company, my husband and I…

I’ve been in PR a long time, but like all industries, it’s very segmented. I worked primarily in the electrical industry, so I knew those publications very well and had excellent relationships with those media. However, now that I work for myself and for my husband’s graphic design and web development firm, I have a…