Jay and Vonda supported the annual Toy Run in January. Throughout the year, CIA welcomed new employees, expanded to a new office, and helped communities impacted by storms. Jay and Marc Shepherd filmed a new TV commercial in the fall. CIA participated in local community events throughout the year. In summary, 2012 was a successful year for CIA where they provided support, expanded their operations, and engaged with their communities.
23 Tips From Comedians to Be Funnier in Your Next Presentation (via the book ...David Nihill
As they clock up the 10,000 hours that Malcolm Gladwell says make a master, comedians learn a lot the hard way. Here are their top tips so you don't have to.
1. Use the Rule of 3
2. Draw Upon Your Real-Life Experiences
3. Identify the Key Part and Get There Fast
4. Find the Funny in Pain Points
5. Think Fails and Firsts
6. Listen and repeat.
7. Think Fun Over Funny
8. Screen Your Jokes
9. Tell a Joke
10. Like Jerry Seinfeld Does, Use Inherently Funny Words
11. Paint a Picture for Others to See
12. Do Something Memorable
13. Jokes are: 1, 2 … 4!
14. Use the Art of Misdirection
15. Put the Word the Joke Hinges on at the End of the Sentence
16. Use Tension
17. Avoid Ever Going Blank Onstage
18. Use Your Hands
19. Use Metaphors and Analogies Combined With Hyperbole (Exaggeration)
20. If the Energy Is Down, Bring It Up
21. Trust Your Funny Bits
22. Proper Planning Prevents Poor Performance
And last but not least, from Irish comedian Dylan Moran:
23. Don’t Rely on Potential
“Don’t do it! Stay away from your potential,” Moran says. “You’ll mess it up. It’s potential; leave it. Anyway, it’s like your bank balance–you always have a lot less than you think.”
As Mark Twain said, “The human race has only one really effective weapon and that is laughter.” That type of arms race may be one worth all our time. Most presentations are really boring. With applications of these tips, yours will not be.
These tips are taken from the bestselling book Do You Talk Funny and Hacking Public Speaking. http://hackingpublicspeaking.com/
An impactful approach to the Seven Deadly Sins you and your Brand should avoid on Social Media! From a humoristic approach to a modern-life analogy for Social Media and including everything in between, this deck is a compelling resource that will provide you with more than a few take-aways for your Brand!
23 Tips From Comedians to Be Funnier in Your Next Presentation (via the book ...David Nihill
As they clock up the 10,000 hours that Malcolm Gladwell says make a master, comedians learn a lot the hard way. Here are their top tips so you don't have to.
1. Use the Rule of 3
2. Draw Upon Your Real-Life Experiences
3. Identify the Key Part and Get There Fast
4. Find the Funny in Pain Points
5. Think Fails and Firsts
6. Listen and repeat.
7. Think Fun Over Funny
8. Screen Your Jokes
9. Tell a Joke
10. Like Jerry Seinfeld Does, Use Inherently Funny Words
11. Paint a Picture for Others to See
12. Do Something Memorable
13. Jokes are: 1, 2 … 4!
14. Use the Art of Misdirection
15. Put the Word the Joke Hinges on at the End of the Sentence
16. Use Tension
17. Avoid Ever Going Blank Onstage
18. Use Your Hands
19. Use Metaphors and Analogies Combined With Hyperbole (Exaggeration)
20. If the Energy Is Down, Bring It Up
21. Trust Your Funny Bits
22. Proper Planning Prevents Poor Performance
And last but not least, from Irish comedian Dylan Moran:
23. Don’t Rely on Potential
“Don’t do it! Stay away from your potential,” Moran says. “You’ll mess it up. It’s potential; leave it. Anyway, it’s like your bank balance–you always have a lot less than you think.”
As Mark Twain said, “The human race has only one really effective weapon and that is laughter.” That type of arms race may be one worth all our time. Most presentations are really boring. With applications of these tips, yours will not be.
These tips are taken from the bestselling book Do You Talk Funny and Hacking Public Speaking. http://hackingpublicspeaking.com/
An impactful approach to the Seven Deadly Sins you and your Brand should avoid on Social Media! From a humoristic approach to a modern-life analogy for Social Media and including everything in between, this deck is a compelling resource that will provide you with more than a few take-aways for your Brand!
How People Really Hold and Touch (their Phones)Steven Hoober
For the newest version of this presentation, always go to: 4ourth.com/tppt
For the latest video version, see: 4ourth.com/tvid
Presented at ConveyUX in Seattle, 7 Feb 2014
For the newest version of this presentation, always go to: 4ourth.com/tppt
For the latest video version, see: 4ourth.com/tvid
We are finally starting to think about how touchscreen devices really work, and design proper sized targets, think about touch as different from mouse selection, and to create common gesture libraries.
But despite this we still forget the user. Fingers and thumbs take up space, and cover the screen. Corners of screens have different accuracy than the center. It's time to re-evaluate what we think we know.
Steven reviews his ongoing research into how people actually interact with mobile devices, presents some new ideas on how we can design to avoid errors and take advantage of this new knowledge, and leaves you with 10 (relatively) simple steps to improve your touchscreen designs tomorrow.
You are dumb at the internet. You don't know what will go viral. We don't either. But we are slighter less dumber. So here's a bunch of stuff we learned that will help you be less dumb too.
What 33 Successful Entrepreneurs Learned From FailureReferralCandy
Entrepreneurs encounter failure often. Successful entrepreneurs overcome failure and emerge wiser. We've taken 33 lessons about failure from Brian Honigman's article "33 Entrepreneurs Share Their Biggest Lessons Learned from Failure", illustrated them with statistics and a little story about entrepreneurship... in space!
SEO has changed a lot over the last two decades. We all know about Google Panda & Penguin, but did you know there was a time when search engine results were returned by humans? Crazy right? We take a trip down memory lane to chart some of the biggest events in SEO that have helped shape the industry today.
Inside this guide, you'll learn an insiders tips and techniques to getting into the marketing industry - no job applications necessary.
You'll learn what marketing really is, why you'll find a job easily, what entry level marketing jobs look like and four actionable things you can try right now to help get you into the marketing industry.
Visit Inbound.org and the Inbound.org/jobs community jobs board to find opportunities and connect with professional marketers from all over.
The What If Technique presented by Motivate DesignMotivate Design
Why "What If"...?
The What If Technique tackles the challenge of engaging a creative, disruptive mindset when it comes to design thinking and crafting innovative user experiences.
Thinking disruptively is a disruptive thing to do, which means it's a very hard thing to do, especially when you add in risk-averse business leaders and company cultures, who hold on tight to psychological blocks, corporate lore, and excuse personas that stifle creativity and possibilities (see www.motivatedesign.com/what-if for more details).
The What If Technique offers key steps, tools and examples to help you achieve incremental changes that promote disruptive thinking, overcome barriers to creativity, and lead to big, innovative differences for business leaders, companies, and ultimately user experiences and products.
Let's find out what's what together! Explore your "What Ifs" with us. See www.motivatedesign.com/what-if for details about the What If Technique, studio workshops, the book, case studies and more downloads--including a the sample chapter "Corporate Lore and Blocks to Creativity"
Connect with us @Motivate_Design
Digital Strategy 101 is an overview of the current state of digital strategy and an exploration of core concepts, deliverables, and thought-leaders relevant to young practitioners.
Today we all live and work in the Internet Century, where technology is roiling the business landscape, and the pace of change is only accelerating.
In their new book How Google Works, Google Executive Chairman and ex-CEO Eric Schmidt and former SVP of Products Jonathan Rosenberg share the lessons they learned over the course of a decade running Google.
Covering topics including corporate culture, strategy, talent, decision-making, communication, innovation, and dealing with disruption, the authors illustrate management maxims with numerous insider anecdotes from Google’s history.
In an era when everything is speeding up, the best way for businesses to succeed is to attract smart-creative people and give them an environment where they can thrive at scale. How Google Works is a new book that explains how to do just that.
This is a visual preview of How Google Works. You can pick up a copy of the book at www.howgoogleworks.net
How People Really Hold and Touch (their Phones)Steven Hoober
For the newest version of this presentation, always go to: 4ourth.com/tppt
For the latest video version, see: 4ourth.com/tvid
Presented at ConveyUX in Seattle, 7 Feb 2014
For the newest version of this presentation, always go to: 4ourth.com/tppt
For the latest video version, see: 4ourth.com/tvid
We are finally starting to think about how touchscreen devices really work, and design proper sized targets, think about touch as different from mouse selection, and to create common gesture libraries.
But despite this we still forget the user. Fingers and thumbs take up space, and cover the screen. Corners of screens have different accuracy than the center. It's time to re-evaluate what we think we know.
Steven reviews his ongoing research into how people actually interact with mobile devices, presents some new ideas on how we can design to avoid errors and take advantage of this new knowledge, and leaves you with 10 (relatively) simple steps to improve your touchscreen designs tomorrow.
You are dumb at the internet. You don't know what will go viral. We don't either. But we are slighter less dumber. So here's a bunch of stuff we learned that will help you be less dumb too.
What 33 Successful Entrepreneurs Learned From FailureReferralCandy
Entrepreneurs encounter failure often. Successful entrepreneurs overcome failure and emerge wiser. We've taken 33 lessons about failure from Brian Honigman's article "33 Entrepreneurs Share Their Biggest Lessons Learned from Failure", illustrated them with statistics and a little story about entrepreneurship... in space!
SEO has changed a lot over the last two decades. We all know about Google Panda & Penguin, but did you know there was a time when search engine results were returned by humans? Crazy right? We take a trip down memory lane to chart some of the biggest events in SEO that have helped shape the industry today.
Inside this guide, you'll learn an insiders tips and techniques to getting into the marketing industry - no job applications necessary.
You'll learn what marketing really is, why you'll find a job easily, what entry level marketing jobs look like and four actionable things you can try right now to help get you into the marketing industry.
Visit Inbound.org and the Inbound.org/jobs community jobs board to find opportunities and connect with professional marketers from all over.
The What If Technique presented by Motivate DesignMotivate Design
Why "What If"...?
The What If Technique tackles the challenge of engaging a creative, disruptive mindset when it comes to design thinking and crafting innovative user experiences.
Thinking disruptively is a disruptive thing to do, which means it's a very hard thing to do, especially when you add in risk-averse business leaders and company cultures, who hold on tight to psychological blocks, corporate lore, and excuse personas that stifle creativity and possibilities (see www.motivatedesign.com/what-if for more details).
The What If Technique offers key steps, tools and examples to help you achieve incremental changes that promote disruptive thinking, overcome barriers to creativity, and lead to big, innovative differences for business leaders, companies, and ultimately user experiences and products.
Let's find out what's what together! Explore your "What Ifs" with us. See www.motivatedesign.com/what-if for details about the What If Technique, studio workshops, the book, case studies and more downloads--including a the sample chapter "Corporate Lore and Blocks to Creativity"
Connect with us @Motivate_Design
Digital Strategy 101 is an overview of the current state of digital strategy and an exploration of core concepts, deliverables, and thought-leaders relevant to young practitioners.
Today we all live and work in the Internet Century, where technology is roiling the business landscape, and the pace of change is only accelerating.
In their new book How Google Works, Google Executive Chairman and ex-CEO Eric Schmidt and former SVP of Products Jonathan Rosenberg share the lessons they learned over the course of a decade running Google.
Covering topics including corporate culture, strategy, talent, decision-making, communication, innovation, and dealing with disruption, the authors illustrate management maxims with numerous insider anecdotes from Google’s history.
In an era when everything is speeding up, the best way for businesses to succeed is to attract smart-creative people and give them an environment where they can thrive at scale. How Google Works is a new book that explains how to do just that.
This is a visual preview of How Google Works. You can pick up a copy of the book at www.howgoogleworks.net
2. Jay & Vonda support
the annual Toy Run
by starting to find toy
bargains early in
January! Honey
Grant of City Cycle
Sales is gracious
enough to store the
toys for the year!
3. Jay & Vonda started 2012 out right celebrating
with thousands of other fans across the region
in Dallas!
4. Miss Brynlee Ann
Walter joined
Chandra and Matt
Walter in January!
Chandra is one of our
commercial customer
service reps in the
Manhattan office, but
also works with
agents in the other
offices.
5. Lance Sharp, Riley agent, and his wife Jada
welcomed Colton Lee in February, adding a
new little brother to their brood!
6. Insurance offices are not
immune to losses—a
water pipe breakage
next door caused a lot
of damage in February!
Lamunyon Cleaning
and Restoration got us
back on track, although
major renovations
wouldn’t happen until
later in 2012!
7. When Harveyville experienced a devastating
tornado in February, CIA wanted to do
something to thank the Red Cross for their
support in storm response.
8. Setting up the big screen (okay, wall!) to cheer
on the ‘Cat’s!
9. Mike Rhodes of the Junction City office visits
with Jeff Moore of VFIS at the annual meeting
in April. Jay also had a client, Jeff Holmes, of
the Riley Fire Dept. stop by.
10. We added Kelli Bramhall as a Customer
Service Rep in Manhattan, Corey Reeves as a
new Wamego agent, and Kim Metzger as a
Customer Service Rep for Riley!
11. Brandi Cole came on
as a new agent for our
new Marysville office,
open in July!
12. Corey Reeves from
the Wamego office
and Mark Boylan
from the Mission
office were selected
for the prestigious
State Auto Pacesetter
program, attending a
2 week kick off
session in Columbus,
Ohio, in July!
13.
14. Jay & Vonda spent a
day in Kansas City
adding commercial
truck procedures to
their defensive
driving classes that
they can offer to our
clients!
15. Corey Reeves took his truck in the annual
parade in Wamego. CIA also helped sponsor
the large fireworks display that draws people
from near and far!
16. In August, we expanded our staff once again to
add Vanessa Taff as a new commercial service
rep, hailing from Texas!
17. All offices joined together for a
for a Wildcat party!
18. When Jay designed
our t-shirts for the
tailgate, he had a few
extra (thousand!)
made to share with
our customers, even
the tiny ones!
19. New TV Spot!!! Jay and Marc Shepherd, agent in
Topeka, work with RMS Investments to shoot a
new commercial for the fall football season!
Jay and Marc Shepherd, Topeka office, film the new TV
spot with RMS Investments, just in time for the Fall
Football Schedule!!!
20. Orlando: Here
comes Trouble!!!
Jay and Vonda, along
with Shelley Blau,
Customer Service
Rep in the Manhattan
office, Josh Runyan,
Manhattan agent, and
Lance Sharp attended
the Astonish
eSummit in Orlando
Florida to hone skills
in the digital
marketing realm!
21.
22. Riley, Wamego, and Abilene offices look
forward to participating in Halloween activities
in the communities!
23. Inside…… And out!
(remember that February flood????????)
24. CIA participated in the Manhattan Mayor’s
Lighted Holiday Parade and Riley’s The Magic
of Christmas!
27. 2012 was a year
worth celebrating!
Thank-you to all
of our staff, and
to our clients for
making our year a
great success, and
having fun in the
process!!