I love being in the kitchen, huge five course meals are my specialty because then I get to concoct my culinary delights for hours on end.  I cook Thanksgiving dinner every year on my own – it takes me seven straight hours and, because of that, Thanksgiving is my favorite cooking day of the year.   Not that it isn’t already an obvious metaphor, but a good recipe is the same as a good online marketing campaign.  You have your ingredients:  SEO, PPC, web design, social media engagement and PR.  Then you have your methods of combining them:  Should you braise, boil and simmer, sauté, or just bake for an hour – possibly with a cheesy crust?

Managing a client’s marketing campaign is very similar to my kitchen escapades.  Now not every client is going to be up for a seven hour turkey basting extravaganza, some are your average week night meals complete with a protein, a grain and a green.  However, these guys still take creative thought – you can’t serve the same meal every night, there needs to be some variation in ingredients and flavors even though the basic concept may still be the same.  Larger meals are more exciting for plenty of reasons:  you plan it out days ahead of time, your shopping budget is bigger, there’s more than one course, you never stick to a recipe and you almost always end up burning something (occasionally salvageable depending on who’s coming to dinner).

I appreciate other cooks in my kitchen as well; it’s the best way to learn new things since I’m completely self-taught to begin with.  Every time a dish is produced you’re able to generate immediate feedback and shift gears accordingly for the next go-round.  I’ve never made the exact same meal twice because of this as it continues to evolve each time I attempt it.  While I definitely have more experience at the stove than I do at my laptop I’m assuming that the same can be said for the way I put a good campaign together.

The principles are easy:  Understand your ingredients, know what works together and what can be complementary, eat what you ruin – I guarantee you won’t make the same mistake twice.  Satisfy not only your hunger, but your need for nourishment.  Don’t make a huge production out of every meal – my best meals have been the ones with no planning where I just open the pantry and put together something based on what I already have, there’s a lot more creativity required.  Always use fresh ingredients, keep sea salt handy and never ever put soy sauce on tomatoes.

Photo Credit: birdies-perch

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One of the things I love the best about my workplace is the philanthropic heart we seem to have as a whole. For years, Pop Labbers have partnered with different non-profit organizations in order to reach out to others and give back to the community.

This holiday season, Pop Labs adopted a refugee Karenni-Burmese family through the Interfaith Ministries of Houston. The Karenni are part of a group that has escaped from Burma (also known as Myanmar). These people have fled a military regime that the Bush administration had singled out as one of the most brutal in the world. (more…)

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“Here’s where we gotta be… love and community!”

As U2 so profoundly put it in their song “Get On Your Boots,” the idea of love and community is one that every organization has “gotta” have.

Kinda makes you wonder whether or not our fearless leader Gene was in cahoots with the band as they wrote this song!

This Wednesday, the Pop Labs crew was treated with tickets to the U2 360° Tour Concert at Houston’s Reliant Stadium. Braving the two hour traffic before the concert and the mass exodus of U2 fans, our little crew of Pop Labbers showed up at the concert and was thoroughly touched by U2’s amazing performance.

More importantly, it was a great time to spend with one another. Everyone was seated together and even sang a song or two in harmony (cough, cough – @leonardsara). At one point, some of the Pop Labs leading ladies – lead by @llogue – even joined hands and got down with The Edge.

All in all, it was a “Beautiful Day,” and not just because we got to see an amazing concert, but because we were experiencing an epic performance while bonding with the people with whom we work every day. U2’s been around for a freaking long time; for more than 30 years, they have touched the world with their music, their vision and their passion. Each member is an individual – you’ve got Bono, The Edge, Adam Clayton and Larry Mullen – each with his personal convictions, each with their individual passions. But they help each other out and “in the name of U2″ (as corny as that may sound) they empower each of their band-mates to succeed. (more…)

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