Gracie Communications

A good friend of mine once told me that he liked to surround himself with people smarter than himself. He said we’d all be in trouble if he were the smartest person in the room. While there is plenty that this friend is the smartest about, I have taken that advice to heart and try to hang out with ubersmart people. I’ve found the really smart ones are also the ones most willing to share what they know.

That was definitely the case at Blog Indiana 2010. The two-day conference was filled with smart presenters who gladly shared their knowledge and expertise with everyone in the room.  With 35 speakers, I wasn’t able to attend every session but there were two in particular that stood out. (more…)

If you are under 18, you aren’t reading this blog post. But if I texted it to you, you might.  Texting is the single most popular way for teens to communicate. Earlier this week, a few Indy area teens helped me understand why. (more…)

I was on vacation last week, which meant I had plenty of time to catch up on all the books I’ve been meaning to read. One of them, “How the Irish Saved Civilization” by Thomas Cahill, has been on my To Read list for five years. Since the rest of the book deals with how the seemingly uncivilized Irish preserved great literature and history after the fall of the Roman Empire, I was surprised to read a passage that dealt with marketing and public relations. (more…)

It’s been two weeks since my last blog post. I’ve spent a lot of that time with kids. My own, who have invaded my home office since it is summer vacation, and a great group of teenagers who are sharing their thoughts with me about youth obesity. While I love to talk about my kiddos, today’s post is about what a group of teenagers recently taught me. (more…)

This post continues what some of my colleagues are calling my “Communications 101” series. Today’s installment: What is a conduit and when should I use one. (more…)

On Thursday, I attended the Indiana Cultural Tourism Conference. I was disappointed about the sparse crowd, especially after keynote speaker Andrew Taylor, Director of the Bolz Center for Arts Administration at the Wisconsin School of Business, shared his views about the concept of place in the Internet era.  (more…)

I’ve used this blog to talk (repeatedly) about the importance of listening in order to learn who your audience really is and what motivates them to interact with your product or service. I still believe that is the crucial first step to any good communications campaign. The step that comes in a close second is to understand who else competes for your audiences’ attention. (more…)