BATTLE OF THE BANDS

DATE:
Wednesday June 17, 2009

TIME:
6:00 pm

PLACE:
Someday Lounge
224 NW 5th Avenue
Portland, OR

COST:
$300 per band

Register your Band!
Contact Mike Terry at mterry@magnetoworks.com

Yes, it’s time once again for the infamous PAF Battle of the Bands. And if you haven’t guessed, the theme this year is the 90’s.

Ahhh, remember Jon Bon Jovi, Dee Lite, Madonna, Nirvana and the most wonderful of all, M.C. Hammer?

So put on your pantaloons or your plaid shirt (or both) and sign up your band for a chance at glory.

Sign-up Deadline is May 30th

Do you know your membership status? Join the dynamic men and women of Portland’s Creative Services
Contact the PAF office, 503.224.2623, or jamie@portlandadfed.com.

PLEASE WRITE A HAIKU COMMENT ON YOUR LOVE OF 90′S ROCK BANDS, RAP, POP MUSIC, ANY OF IT. CONTINUE THE INSPIRATION!

]]> http://eroidays.com/2009/05/07/will-eroi-take-paf-battle-of-the-bands-for-3rd-straight-year/feed/ 3 http://eroidays.com/2008/12/24/a-few-good-holiday-emails/ http://eroidays.com/2008/12/24/a-few-good-holiday-emails/#comments Wed, 24 Dec 2008 21:08:46 +0000 Ryan Buchanan http://eroidays.com/?p=1355 Like most of you, I got dozens of corporate “Happy Holidays” emails. Most had great intent behind them (donating to good causes instead of sending a paper card or gift), but these email campaigns lacked creativity and fell flat in their execution.  GoDaddy’s holiday email and flash landing page was so tame and off-brand from the edgy stance they’ve taken with their Super Bowl ads.  Some of our vendors sent me holiday emails that were strong sales pitches – not appropriate for a time of reflection and authenticity.  Most other emails had generic subject lines like “Happy Holidays from x” and generic email design with low or generic results to their campaigns.  I liked 2 holiday emails (beyond our own holiday email) – the first was from Michelle Obama – the main thing I liked was that the Obama campaign FINALLY didn’t ask me for money for themselves – they did ask me to donate to my local food bank.

The second holiday email campaign (see above for email design) had such compelling and humorous, original content on its landing page that it made up for a slightly expected subject line and simple email design and copywriting.  Basically, this email from Sandstrom Partners was incredibly effective at getting me to click on the main call to action and even better at getting me to laugh as I completely connected with the agency gift conundrum.  See if you think their video landing page is funny too >>

The following email was the twelth I received for the week yesterday and I just want to tell the Obama posse (Barack, Michelle, Joe, and the local Barack campaign manager) to stop asking me for money in at least one of these uber-frequent emails.  A recent email example with subject line “Deadline: Tomorrow”:

 Ryan –Over the last week this race has been transformed.Barack named Joe Biden as his running mate, and they accepted the Democratic nomination at our historic open convention in Denver.Our team is complete, and our movement is growing rapidly. But now we are facing our first major challenge together.

The August financial reporting deadline is tomorrow at midnight, and we have an opportunity to show that a campaign funded by ordinary people can go toe-to-toe with the Washington lobbyists and special interests lined up behind John McCain and the Republican Party.

Make a donation of $50 or more before midnight tomorrow, and you’ll receive a first edition Obama-Biden supporter kit.

Or you can make a donation of $30 or more and receive an Obama-Biden T-shirt:

https://donate.barackobama.com/08shirt

Thanks,

Obama for America

P.S. — The deadline is midnight Sunday, August 31st. Make your online donation now:

https://donate.barackobama.com/08collection

I’d love to get Dylan’s response to Michele Obama’s email this evening with the subject line “Behind the scenes in Denver”.  The content of the email hit the mark – it was real, genuine, her voice, intelligent.  The timing perfect: she delivered a kick ass speech at the Democratic National Convention just 3 hours after her email hit my inbox.  The call to action was compelling, obvious, focused, and had intrigue and mystery built into it.  I want to see what’s going on behind the scenes in this historic presidential race.  Don’t you?

So, before you all get jaded from one mis-step out of 207 emails, get inspired by the good stuff.  To me, the Obama campaign displays Email Intelligence.  And, unlike his opponent, he can actually use the medium. Tell me what you think in your comments on this post.  Subscribe to this Blog in the upper right.

If you want to check out the content of Michelle’s email, read more here >>Michelle Obama’s personalized email:

Ryan –

My mom, the girls, and I left home in Chicago and got to Denver yesterday. What a beautiful city!

The convention started this morning, and everyone here is getting ready for the big week.

All the work you’ve done is at the heart of what’s happening here, and our team filmed a short video to give you a look behind the scenes at the convention center.

Take a minute to check out the video and share it with your friends:

http://my.barackobama.com/behindthescenes

This week, folks from across the country will get to know Barack and our family a little better. Tonight I’m giving a speech at the convention, and I’m planning to share a few stories about the Barack I know — the husband, the father, and the man who shares my dreams for our girls, for this country, and for our future.

Before my speech, we’re also going to show a video introducing our family to families across the country. Make sure to turn on your TV at 10:30 p.m. EDT (8:30 p.m. MDT) to see it, or you can watch it at www.BarackObama.com.

This is such an important moment, and I hope you’ll join me by tuning into the convention tonight and all week long.

Thanks,

Michelle

While the above story is unbelievably compelling and a reflection of the cultural shift of a new generation who shares all online, is transparent, and believes in the online medium, it is one of many case studies in the for-profit world. I recently went to a fundraiser for Portland’s best-kept secret of a non-profit, Friends of the Children. I recently joined the Board, and true to my outspoken, naive youthfulness, thought I could make huge changes right away. What I didn’t realize is how much good the organization does at a magnitude I never imagined before. The positive impact really hit home with me at this 600 person fundraiser, when young adult after young adult got on stage with their mentor / friend, and told of impossible odds of rising above their past of abuse or neglect early in their childhood to be the first ever in their family to graduate from high school, or to get to States in their freshman year in high school, or begin full-time working at a prestigious law firm in town.

What makes this organization, Friends of the Children, so incredibly powerful and successful is its innovative business model. It pays full-time salaries for professional mentors to be with a few kids one-on-one mentoring week after week, for 12 years. That loyalty and consistency in these young people’s lives that have never had that from anyone before is unbelievably rewarding, healing, uplifting. I was a mentor in college for 4 years in a program called Big Siblings in Charlottesville, VA. Up until a couple years ago, I still kept in touch w/ my little brother. I have my own kids now and can’t offer that daily consistency that paid mentors can and do provide and the results and emotional connection that occur from these relationships truly inspire all of us who witness it.

My hat goes off to entrepreneurs like Duncan Campbell who founded Friends of the Children and pours his heart and soul into a beautiful creation that transforms kids lives, and the community as a whole.

Thank you Friends of the Children.

However, one of my colleagues, brought up a good point. Here is what she had to say:

Hi Ryan,
Just my latest email marketing peeve. I was a John Edwards supporter. When Edwards endorsed Obama, I got an email urging me to register at Obama’s site. There was a specific link (www.barackobama.com/johnedwards). I signed up because I do want to support Obama now, and I also want the Obama campaign to be able to gauge how much support comes via Edwards.

Below is the first email I got after signing up. As if I’ve been a supporter all along. It seems like a missed opportunity to send me something relevant, ie. thanks for signing up, we really respect Senator Edwards and like him, we support issue X, Y and Z.

It would have been so easy. Sigh.

Cheers,
Jean

Begin forwarded message:

From: Barack Obama
Date: May 21, 2008 4:45:21 PM PDT
To: Jean
Subject: Thank you
Reply-To: info@barackobama.com

Dear Jean,

You did it.

Not just yesterday, but every day for more than a year, you did what the cynics said we couldn’t do.

You said the time has come to get beyond the same old tactics that divide and distract us, and you gave people a reason to believe again.

Because of your work, we won the Oregon primary by a large margin — and made it clear that at this moment, in this election, there is something happening in America.

There is something happening when Americans who have never participated in politics get involved and knock on doors, make phone calls, and talk to each other about their vision for our country.

There is something happening when people vote not just for the party they belong to but for the hopes they hold in common.

Change is what’s happening in America.

The momentum you created won’t stop now. Together we’re building a campaign that will compete in the general election — and a united Democratic Party that can lead this country for the next generation.

You can keep it going by taking a trip to Montana for the last primary in the country. Supporters like you are needed to help get voters out to the polls for their June 3rd primary.

Sign up now to help Get Out The Vote in Montana:

http://my.barackobama.com/cometoMT

We’re within reach of the nomination, and we are ready to take this country in a new direction.

Thank you for everything you’ve done to make this possible.

Barack

E-mail campaigns for donating everything from money to shoes are boosting relief efforts for people affected by Hurricane Katrina. While many businesses were quiet the first days after the hurricane hit, e-mail marketing picked up earlier this week.
KatrinaShoes.org, an organization of shoe companies, churches and individuals, set up its site Sept. 3 with a goal of getting 1 million shoes to victims of the disaster. The group got more attention when it issued a news release Sept. 6, which was then e-mailed among friends.

Christian relief organization Week of Compassion, Indianapolis, took a more measured approach, sending daily e-mails to its 4,500 subscribers since early last week.

“We’ve not only seen a growth in our [e-mail] list, but we have also seen a bump in the amount of online contributions,” said Doug Smith, Webmaster for Week of Compassion, which provides emergency and long-term assistance to people after disasters.

Through the organization’s e-mail database, handled by Constant Contact, Waltham, MA, it has sent 65,000 e-mails to current subscribers since the disaster. The group already has raised more than $40,000, which is unusual, Smith said, and one of its e-mails had a 39 percent click-through rate.

“We have raised more money at this point than we had during the tsunami, because of people’s comfort level with online donations, the ways that Constant Contact has helped us streamline our tools, and people respond better to [causes at] home than far away,” he said.

Meanwhile, Direct Contact Marketing, Laguna Hills, CA, a marketing and sales consulting firm, e-mailed 10,000 prospects in the insurance industry this week, saying it would donate 5 percent of its revenue from new campaigns signed in September to the American Red Cross.

“I took a road trip across the U.S. 10 years ago and spent a couple weeks in New Orleans. And we have a couple clients in Biloxi and Baton Rouge,” DCM president Darren Clevenger said. “When this happened, I just felt like I wanted to donate.”

In other efforts, Mi8 Corp., an outsourcer of Microsoft Exchange hosting services, said it will offer free services to companies in the affected areas as well as nonprofit and government organizations involved in relief. The company’s services include e-mail, contact management and document storage systems.

“As a New York City-based company, we remember well the outpouring of support from Americans following the days of 9/11, and this is our small way of paying some of that back,” Mi8 president Patrick Fetterman said.

Some businesses and organizations may have waited until this week to start e-mail campaigns not only because people were “in shock,” but businesses likely were determining which organizations to sponsor, said Ryan Buchanan, CEO of eROI, Portland, OR, an Internet, e-mail and search marketing firm.

Last week, he chastised the e-mail industry in eROI’s blog, saying the silence from e-mail marketers “has been deafening.” Now he realizes they likely were just considering the best course of action.

“With 9/11, the Red Cross was so overwhelmed, there were some wasted dollars,” he said.

This week, at least four eROI clients, including Seattle-based Mercy Corps, are conducting e-mail campaigns to raise money and donations of other items.

Christine Blank covers online marketing and advertising, including e-mail marketing and paid search, for DM News and DMNews.com. To keep up with the latest developments in these areas, subscribe to our daily and weekly e-mail newsletters by visiting www.dmnews.com/newsletters.

Hurricane Katrina will be remembered as one of the worst natural disasters to hit American soil and much help is needed. DCM provides appointment and lead generating services to agents and carriers throughout the entire country and to our shock and sadness, a number of our clients ‘ businesses were greatly affected.

In the month of September, DCM will donate 5% of our revenue from new campaigns to the American Red Cross – specifically to help out the victims of this horrible event.”

Email Example #2

Email Example #3:
Subject: Giants to Raise Funds for Katrina Disaster Relief
Date: Tue, 6 Sep 2005 13:13:49 -0400 (EDT)

=============================================================
SAN FRANCISCO GIANTS BASEBALL NEWS
September 6, 2005
============================================================

FORWARD TO A FRIEND –>

http://click.mlb.com/ct/click?q=77-u6U6zKAf7Mkcez_xA8pG~sRR

GIANTS TO RAISE FUNDS FOR KATRINA DISASTER RELIEF The San Francisco Giants announced today that it will launch a number of initiatives to raise money for Hurricane Katrina Disaster Relief.

Four once-in-a-lifetime experiences and priceless items will be auctioned off at sfgiants.com. Beginning at 9 a.m. PT on Tuesday, September 6, interested bidders can visit sfgiants.com to bid on these unique items. The bidding will close at 9 p.m. PT on Thursday, September 8.

Items up for bid:

- Autographed Hall of Fame Portrait >>

http://click.mlb.com/ct/click?q=1b-wAyhI3N3zagm9rHQ2hNJ4dRR

- Meet with Willie McCovey in his private booth >> http://click.mlb.com/ct/click?q=45-fNJJIKBCjVGkU0Y~LK~00dRR

- Autographed Caps from entire 2005 Giants Team >> http://click.mlb.com/ct/click?q=6f-3xv9IOL1YBpjWuM3CT~UTRRR

- Private meeting with Willie Mays in the Giants Dugout >> http://click.mlb.com/ct/click?q=84-CCIyQ60_VggnAz0Zw4MDpRRR

100 percent of the funds raised will be donated to the Red Cross Hurricane 2005 Relief Fund to assist in those southern states affected by Hurricane Katrina.

FULL STORY >>

http://click.mlb.com/ct/click?q=99-4mCyQAd_8OrqvBU2xN0F8RRR

SFGIANTS.COM AUCTION >>

http://click.mlb.com/ct/click?q=ae-jOo6QMBAEJi51Vj8NLMH19RR

——————————

ADDITIONAL WAYS YOU CAN HELP

1) In addition to the online auction, volunteers will be on hand at SBC Park to collect donations for the Red Cross Hurricane 2005 Relief Fund during the Giants versus Cubs
games on September 8-10. In exchange for any donation fans
will receive Mardi Gras beads to wear as a symbolic gesture in support of those affected by these tragic events.

2) On September 10, the Giants Community Fund will hold its annual post-game live auction. Fifty percent of the proceeds from the auction will be donated to the Red Cross Katrina Disaster Relief Fund.

3) The Giants Dugout stores, in conjunction with Major League Baseball, will sell merchandise – including wristbands and t-shirts – with proceeds benefiting the disaster response effort. T-shirts will be available for sale on September 8 and wristbands will be available on September 15.

Email #4
Apple sent out an email. It links directly to iTunes (opens the app) and you donate right through the music store. Very easy to do since they already have your personal info.