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This post was written by our Lead Designer, Matt Wetter.

Do you ever have trouble staying motivated during shark week? I mean… the work week. Same answer though right? No? Well, we all have times where we just sort of hit that wall at work. Here is a list of strategies that have been working for me lately, enjoy!

1. Get Inspired
Nothing has gotten people inspired over the years like finding someone or something to look up to – so find yourself a muse. For me, guys like Walt Disney and John Lasseter (of Pixar) have been a picture of innovation and creativity. Walt took risks and kept on the peak of new ideas in order to achieve the best quality of entertainment, he was an innovator. Similarly Lasseter was excited about technology and the potential of computer in animation. Taking similar principles and trying to apply them to my job is something that motivates me.

2. Update Your Scenery
Does looking at your personal office space inspire as much energy and creativity as a dried out potato? Or maybe it has just looked the same for a while. Some people think change is bad, but I think we can all handle a little bit of a scenery update from time to time. So start your vacation away from your everyday work environment. Bring in a poster, a plant, some photos, or a toy (maybe a hundred).

3. Music
For some people music can be a distraction, but for others it can get the blood pumping and creative juices flowing. What you’re listening to impacts your whole environment and mood. So hit up iTunes or Spotify and start listening! If you find music to be distracting there are a few websites that make background noise to help calm and soothe you. I’d recommend www.rainymood.com and www.soundsleeping.com.

4. Take a Break
Changing your scenery for part of the day and relaxing a bit is good for you when you can’t stay in the zone. Make sure you are taking breaks that are afforded to you, come early if you need to so you can have a more leisurely approach to your day. Other options might be something as simple as doing a bit of stretching or being intentional about taking a few minutes to talk to a coworker.

5. Switch Tasks
If you’re like me, you usually have multiple projects/tasks in your to-do list. If you find yourself stuck on what you’re doing switch to something else for a little while. It might just give you the refresher you need.

Happy working!

Have your own ideas? Comment below and help others fight that tyrannical jerk Mr. Boredom.

As part of the ongoing culture and team building at 360 PSG, February was host to another great event that brought people from all of our departments together again. We try to put together fun and engaging activities every month at 360 PSG, and this time the crew decided on a game night. Starting at about 5pm, we kicked off the night with pizza, chips, homemade chicken wing dip, and the obvious after hours refreshments that we all enjoy.

Company president, Joel Colombo, is an avid tabletop gamer and he brought in a suitcase full of options to choose from. Some of the games were designed for everyone and others were 4 or 5 hour commitments for the most strategic players. We opted for games that could be easily learned and enjoyed quickly by all levels of players.

There were two game stations setup to accommodate the turn out. Putting a bunch of people into a room with a competitive challenge creates a lot of noise, commotion, and trash talking… all in good fun. So we cranked up Pandora on the conference room speakers and dug in to win.

The first game on the roster was “Ticket To Ride” – a very easy game to learn, but requires a strategic focus to win. The game consists of building railroad connections across the US and earning points for the longest and most continuous routes. As we moved along, we had to deal with the new sales and marketing director (Don) hoarding all the cards and draining the piles… while the company office manager (Ann-Marie) was constantly hiding her cards in her pockets and feared that everyone was trying to peek. In the end, Ann-Marie took home the win and let everyone in the room know it.

On the other table we pulled out “Acquire.” This game is all about buying and selling stocks, merging and growing corporations, and is a cut throat business tactical game. With one team member having his series 7 financial license (Nick), he was sure he would take the top spot. But early on he learned that buying too many stocks and not being able to sell them left him penniless, opening the door for our director of operations (Dan) to claim the shareholder bonuses and own the bragging rights until our next round.

As our team continues to grow, we make it a point to change and mix up what we do as a company. In the last few months we have gone to Laserton, Skyzone, happy hour, and more (with our bowling challenge coming next month). At 360 PSG we believe in a “One Team” approach to everything we do and this type of game night (or any non-work activity) gets everyone having fun, talking between departments that normally don’t interact on a day-to-day basis, and generally just getting closer together in the way we all communicate with one another – something that ultimately translates into better service for our clients.

This post was written by our new Director of Sales, Don Hahn.

New Years is considered a time of renewal and change, and January 1, 2013 was certainly both for me.

In the fall of 2012, After 12 years as an independent sales consultant and 15 months as a first time grandfather, I decided that it was time for a career change. Having the luxury of being selective, I began searching for an organization that shared my passion and values. Leadership, shared values, and forward thinking team members were the cornerstone of my search, which quickly narrowed the field. 90 days later, I reported for my first day in the role of 360 PSG’s Director of Sales.

It has been all I expected, and more.

While my first few weeks have been a bit like drinking from an informational firehose, we are fortunate to have strong resources that have been able to aid me in getting over the hump. Regardless of the technological learning curve, the thing that excites me most about 360 PSG is the depth and breadth of our resources and the intellectual property we own. 360 PSG’s investment in developing a powerful and user friendly Content Management System (CMS) uniquely positions us to be leader not only in the Buffalo market, but nationwide. It is this vision and opportunity that brought me here. Having worked with (and for) many second stage growth companies, the critical catalyst for success is a “killer product” and the leadership to execute, I believe 360 has both.

As my expertise is sales and marketing, it my goal that 360 will continue to strive to improve our position as the premier web development company in our chosen markets, while expanding our channels through strong partnerships nationwide.  As we move forward in 2013, our focus is on the following 3 areas: re-purposing resources, product expansion, and new channel development. In my next few blogs, I will expand on what exactly that means for you and 360 PSG as a company.

Until then, please feel free to say hello or ask any questions you may have in the comment section below!

View a complete list of our open positions on our website job board. Check back often as new openings are posted as needed!

 

Last night, a bunch of the team got together after work for a little autumn-themed fun at the 1st Annual 360 PSG Fall Extravaganza! The night included go-kart racing and arcade games at Adventure Speedway followed by food and drinks down the street at Westby’s Pub & Eatery. Due to rain we had to forego the much-anticipated corn maze, but all-in-all everyone still had a great time.

The evening’s events are documented in the pictures below. While it’s unfortunate that there aren’t any driving action shots (since we raced at the same time), it’s probably best that there’s no evidence of our highly competitive go-kart racing antics.

 

 

 

 

Have you harnessed the power of hashtag marketing to promote your brand via Twitter?  It can be a handy tool that “tags” a tweet and allows searchers to find it more easily.  While it can be very rewarding to run a successful campaign, it’s also easy for your plan to backfire.

What are trending topics?

Twitter’s help center explains:

“Twitter’s Trending Topics algorithm identifies topics that are immediately popular, rather than topics that have been popular for a while or on a daily basis, to help people discover the ‘most breaking’ news stories from across the world. We think that trending topics which capture the hottest emerging trends and topics of discussion on Twitter are the most interesting.”

Why use hashtags?

The Good

First, Twitter redesigned their website last year to highlight key services, one of them being hashtags.  At the top of your Twitter home page there are three large icons: Home, Connect, and Discover, which all allow for more fluent navigation of the popular social media website.  On the side, you’ll see the most popular trending topics for specific locations, e.g. Los Angeles, New York, or the United States.

Apple recently announced the latest version of OSX, Mountain Lion, with Twitter integrated into many Mac programs like Safari, iPhoto, Photo Booth and more.  That means even more tweeting in the near future, so getting a jump start on developing your social media marketing campaigns is a good idea.

Second, hashtags give users a way to interact with your brand by referencing a specific topic.  Back in 2010 retail giant Target used hashtags to promote their #blackfriday deals, giving away $25 gift cards and offering special deals through their trending topic.  But hashtag topics don’t have to be promotions.  According to Carmen Hudson, CEO and co-founder of Tweetajob, between 300 and 500 jobs per minute are posted on Twitter with hashtags like #jobs or #salesjobs.  Of course with the saturation of job postings on Twitter, hashtags should only be used to supplement other job resources like your Job Board.

Hosting an upcoming seminar on Social Media Basics?  Why not establish the hashtag #socialmediabasics to allow guests to live-Tweet your event.  Then anyone not attending the event can easily search for highlights from your event by plugging #socialmediabasics into Twitter’s “Discover” section.

Finally, hashtags are a cross-platform tool.  Hashtags are not exclusive to Twitter; they can be used to promote brand unity across popular social media sites like Facebook, Instagram, and Pinterest just to name a few.

Now, The Bad

McDonald’s recently made headlines with their hashtag campaign, #McDStories, which garnered some bad press.  Intended to help spread positive experiences at McDonald’s locations around the world, #McDStories was hijacked by angry patrons and used to share unpleasant dining experiences at the fast food chain.

It started innocently with tweets like, “Meet some of the hard-working people dedicated to providing McDs with quality food every day #McDStories”.  However McDonald’s hashtag campaign quickly turned into an ugly bashtag campaign with tweets like, “One time I walked into McDonald’s and I could smell Type 2 diabetes floating in the air and I threw up”.  Oops.

The lesson?  Know your brand.  McDonald’s has to know that they have just as many detractors as they do supporters.  They set themselves up for failure and had to quickly pull the plug on their #McDStories campaign.

Avoid making a similar marketing gaff by identifying your intended audience.  It’s important to believe in your product and trust that your audience does too.  However, before launching a hashtag campaign, really think about what you’re trying to accomplish.  If there is any chance that your positive message could be spun in a negative way then consider a different marketing strategy.

As a final note, having a unified brand across all social media platforms is extremely important.  Make sure your new Twitter page reflects your current color scheme, logo, and website address.  Had the same homepage for a few years?  Consider a Twitter page redesign.

Like it or not, Facebook Timeline is here.

I like to fancy myself an early adopter of new technology.  I was a Twitter-er before anyone else I knew, I begged friends for a Google+ invite, I converted to Gmail’s newest theme when it was still just a trial version, but most recently I changed my Facebook profile from the classic view to the new Timeline layout not because I wanted to but rather because I would be forced to sooner than later.

Am I fan of Facebook Timeline?  Aesthetically speaking, no I am not a fan.  Timeline displays your activity in a chronological column alternating left to right and back again.  It’s a bit jumbled compared to the classic news feed view, but just like any other design change Facebook has made over the last few years I’m sure Timeline will grow on me.  Love it or hate it, Facebook Timeline is going to be mandatory for everyone in the next few weeks as they “roll it out.” (according to their blog)  It’s social networking Darwanism at its finest.  Adapt or be left in the dust.

Facebook is famous for rolling out changes to the site’s design, layout, and privacy settings frequently enough to frustrate users who had “just gotten comfortable” with the previous version.  Speaking of privacy settings, there are a few of those to pay close attention to as well.  The big one being that Facebook Timeline goes way back like Steve Jobs’ hairline, displaying information from the beginning of Facebook time (okay, that’s only 2004, but still!).  Once you make the switch to the Facebook Timeline layout (or when the switch is made for you) you will have a seven day preview of your profile during which you will be able to edit or delete any information from your Facebook past that you don’t want to be visible.

Don’t worry; the seven day grace period isn’t the only opportunity you’ll have to edit your information.  Whenever you post on Facebook, there is a “Public” dropdown menu that allows you to choose whether your info will be public, for friends only, close friends, acquaintances, only you, and more.  You can also delete your past activity from friends’ Timelines.

To some, Timeline may seem pointless.  For example, do I need to know what I posted or who I was dating in 2006?  Do I really need to relive my college years?  If that is important to you however, Timeline makes old information much more accessible.  If you wanted to see one of your posts from 2005 in classic Facebook you would be required to scroll to the bottom of the page and click “See More” an exhausting number of times.  With Timeline, you just select the year that you want to view on the right, and voila, there are all of your posts.

Apps

Facebook is also pushing Timeline Apps as a way to share activities and interests with your friends.  Facebook explains “Apps on Facebook allow you to play social games with your friends, remember friends’ birthdays, share your taste in movies, send gifts to friends, and much more.”

With categories like entertainment, music, food, fitness, news, fashion, and more you can add apps like Words With Friends, Hulu, Rdio, Spotify, Urban Spoon, Wall Street Journal, and Pinterest just to name a few.

A Little Creative Freedom

My favorite part about Facebook Timeline is the new “Cover.”  Facebook encourages you to “fill this wide, open space with a unique image that represents you best.  It’s the first thing people see when they visit your timeline.”  Finally, Facebook gives users a customizable (even if it’s just one spot) profile for the first time.

Here are a few examples of really creative (and funny) Facebook covers:

http://mashable.com/2012/01/26/funny-facebook-timeline-covers/

As usual, there are plenty of Facebook Timeline critics.  As reported by the Washington Post, a SlashGear poll revealed that forty five percent of responders admitted to considering nixing their Facebook accounts altogether over the mandatory switch to Timeline.  But let’s get real for a moment, Facebook isn’t going anywhere.  In fact, I doubt it will see a very steep decline in users once Timeline becomes the norm.  We’ll just have to learn to enjoy Facebook Timeline until the next big change comes.

No Changes for Facebook Business Pages… For Now

For the time being, Facebook Timeline is only being rolled out for personal pages, so business pages will have to wait for any profile design updates.  However, rumors are swirling that Timeline could be available as soon as the end of February.

Facebook VP of Global Marketing Solutions Carolyn Everson said:

“The goal has always been to have your personal experience on Facebook not be so different than the brand or page experience. And right now, it is different. You have Timeline and you have a page-brand profile. So we are absolutely moving in the direction to sync those up. We believe that brands want to be able to curate how they’re represented in a more visually pleasing way, and we’re in the midst of trying to figure out how best to do that.”

If that’s the case, then now is a great time to get a head start on Timeline design concepts for promoting your brand to millions of Facebook users.

We did it, guys!  We saved the Internet!  SOPA was shelved; we won.  The revolution is over.  Right?

Not so fast.

Two days after the proposed blackout (Jan. 18^th) of major websites like Reddit and Google, Lamar Smith, the main sponsor of SOPA, postponed further action on the bill in Congress soon after Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid did the same with PIPA.    The postponement of both bills came on the heels of a somewhat unified protest by Internet giants Google, WordPress, Mozilla, and Craisglist, amongst others.

Wikipedia and Reddit “went dark”, Google covered its logo with a black rectangle, millions of armchair activists voiced their opinions via social media and by signing online petitions, and in turn Congress backed down.  A moral victory if nothing else.

What does that really mean?

We’ve won the battle but not the war.  While SOPA and PIPA have been shelved for the time being, we need to be aware of revisions and similar bills with new names (and acronyms) that will likely surface in the coming weeks, months, and years.

“It is clear that we need to revisit the approach on how best to address the problem of foreign thieves that steal and sell American inventions and products,” Smith stated in an interview.

Markup (that’s Congress speak for “debating, amending, and rewriting proposed legislation”) for SOPA is scheduled to continue in February.  Hopefully the new bills will outline a responsible way to police online piracy while still looking out for the best interest of everyone, especially small  business.

This is beginning to feel less like a revolution and more like a revelation of what the Internet is by the majority of Congress members; you know, the responsible leaders who are writing legislation that could affect everyone who uses the Internet, who is, you know, EVERYONE.

SOPA UPDATE: Read “SOPA Far, So Good” Here!

A Case of Censorship VS. Free Speech

Raise your hand if you can tell me what SOPA stands for.  Okay, well how many of you have at least heard of the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA)?  How about the Protect IP Act (PIPA)?  If you still didn’t raise your hand, you should pay close attention to what follows as SOPA and PIPA could change the Internet as we know it as early as January 24^th.

Introduced on October 26, 2011 by Representative Lamar Smith, (R –Texas), the SOPA bill targets rogue websites (mostly located outside the US) that infringe upon the rights of intellectual property owners by offering illegal downloads of movies, music, and other copyrighted, trademarked, and patented material.

PIPA: The Senate’s Older Cousin to SOPA

The Senate will have their own vote on their bill, PIPA, which was first introduced May 26, 2011.

According to MediaBeat:

“Under PIPA, if a website is accused of containing copyright-infringing content (like a song, picture, video clip etc.), the site could be blocked by ISPs (like Comcast), de-indexed from search engines and even prevented from doing business online with services like PayPal.”

How Do SOPA & PIPA Affect You & Me?

If any of the bills pass allowing governmental regulation of the Internet we could, at the very least, see the demise or severe depletion of content shared on YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, Vimeo, Reddit, Tumblr and other popular social media websites.  Blog authors would be putting themselves or their websites at risk of copyright infringement every time they post a link, video, or share a photo with their readers.

For other websites and small business owners, even if you’re clean, one of your visitors could post a link to copyrighted material in your blog’s comment section and put your site in danger under these new guidelines.

Social media sites aren’t the only ones affected by these bills.  Monster Cable, “the world’s leading manufacturer of high performance cables that connect audio/video components…”, cites Ebay and Craigslist (as well as Costco and Sears) as “rogue” sites because their users offer Monster’s secondhand cables at cheaper prices.

Craigslist now offers a page with more information on SOPA, including a list of supporters and opponents of the bill.  A Craigslist representative added:

“SOPA/PIPA authors and supporters of course insist they’re only after foreign piracy sites, but Internet Engineers understand this is an attempt to impose China-style controls on the Internet, complete with DNS hijacking and censoring search results.  Except in the US, instead of to the Communist Party, that control will go to the highest bidder.”

It’s a perplexing issue for lawmakers.  On one hand protecting U.S. jobs and earnings is very important for the economy.  However, the hasty fashion in which this legislation is being drawn up and voted on could result in major repercussions for small-to-medium size companies doing business online; something that I don’t think the government is addressing.

Who is supporting these bills?

The entertainment industry loves the idea of ending online piracy.  The Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA)issued a press release alleging that content theft has cost the U.S. economy $58 billion dollars annually, “including more than 373,000 lost American jobs, $16 million in lost employee earnings, plus $3 billion in badly needed federal, state and local governments’ tax revenue.”

However there are plenty of people who oppose SOPA & PIPA and for good reason.

Together We Stand

In a letter titled “We stand together to protect innovation” addressed to Congressional leaders several Internet giants expressed their concern for the bill:

“We support the bills’ stated goals… Unfortunately, the bills as drafted would expose law-abiding U.S. Internet and technology companies to new and uncertain liabilities, private rights of action, and technology mandates that would require monitoring of websites. We are concerned that these measures pose a serious risk to our industry’s continued track record of innovation and job creation, as well as to our nation’s cybersecurity.”

The letter, which was signed by Google, Facebook, Mozilla, Zynga, eBay, Twitter, Yahoo, LinkedIn, and AOL, also cites the already-strict Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA), which “…criminalizes the act of circumventing an access control, whether or not there is actual infringement of copyright itself… while limiting the liability of the providers of on-line services for copyright infringement by their users.”

Under the DMCA, sites are responsible for removing content or users who use or share copyrighted material when they receive a complaint; a sort of honor system.  That disappears with the passing of SOPA or PIPA and instead leaves the policing of websites up to the government.

Just when you thought that was enough, there’s a third “solution” for combating online piracy.

OPEN Act

SOPA and PIPA essentially assign responsibility for policing every site on the Internet to the government, but who is actually the watch dog?  If it’s up to the Online Protection and Enforcement of Digital Trade Ace (OPEN), policing international online pirates will be a job for the International Trade Commission (ITC).

Sponsored by a coalition of lawmakers including Representative Darrell Issa (R – California), OPEN is a somewhat less severe option for policing overseas piracy.  As reported by the Washington Post, Issa explained, “OPEN would address the problem of piracy without resorting to denial of service, he said, by empowering the ITC to cut off the money flowing to copyright infringers.”

While OPEN may enlist the help of the ITC for overseas matters, they cannot regulate domestic matters.  That would be left up to whom?  SOPA or PIPA?  Even if that is the case, would all of this regulation actually “fix the problem”?  According to NY Times reporter David Carr, no.

“…Even if it made some progress toward reining in rogue sites, the collateral damage would be significant. Under the terms of each proposed bill, the federal Department of Justice, as well as copyright holders, could seek a court order against a Web site that illegally hosts copyrighted content and then wall off the site permanently.”

The letter to Congress concludes by pointing out the major impact the Internet has had on the US economy.

“We are proud to be part of an industry that has been crucial to U.S. economic growth and job creation.  A recent McKinsey Global Institute Report found that the Internet accounts for 3.4 percent of GDP in the 13 countries that McKinsey studied, and in the U.S., the Internet’s contribution to GDP is even larger.  If Internet consumption and expenditure were a sector, it’s contribution to GDP would be greater than energy, agriculture, communication, mining, or utilities.  In addition, the Internet industry has increased productivity for small and medium-sized businesses by 10%.  We urge you not to risk either this success or the tremendous benefits the Internet has brought to hundreds of millions of Americans and people around the world.”

David Carr is as unbiased a reporter as they come, however he may have put it best when he wrote, “Given both Congress’s and the entertainment industry’s historically wobbly grasp of technology, I don’t think they should be the ones re-engineering the Internet. The rest of us might have to just hold our noses and learn enough about SOPA to school them in why it’s a bad idea.”

Blackout Imminent… Hopefully

Reddit, a social news website, has proposed a blackout day to the veritable Internet superpowers who drafted the letter Congress.  Reddit has promised to go dark Wednesday January 18^th from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. just over one week before the House’s scheduled floor vote on SOPA the 24^th.  Whether or not Google, Yahoo, Facebook, Twitter or any others will follow suit is still up in the air.  Will they walk the walk or let Congress walk all over them and their users?  We’ll just have to wait and see.

What Can You Do?

While it is important to stop these pirates to curtail the hemorrhage of jobs and capital that is otherwise due to the entertainment industry and the US in general, it is also important to consider the ramifications that imposing such harsh laws could have on everyone who does business on the Internet.  SOPA, PIPA, and the OPEN Act affect nearly everyone.  Stay informed.  The Washington Post recently reported that Congress is starting to back down on SOPA and PIPA.  However, that does not rule out a revised SOPA or PIPA bill resurfacing in a few weeks or months.

It will be interesting to see how Congress handles this matter going forward.  In the meantime, contact your State Senator and tell them you are against SOPA and any other bill that imposes governmental regulation of the Internet.

Speak up!  Contact your representatives today.

Be sure to sign Google’s petition that tells your representatives to vote “NO” on SOPA and PIPA:

Google: https://www.google.com/landing/takeaction/

Visit Wikipedia’s homepage today, enter your zip code and you’ll be linked to a list of your Representatives with their contact information:

Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Main_Page

Craigslist offers a plethora of links to tell Congress that you oppose SOPA & PIPA:

Craigslist: http://www.craigslist.org/about/SOPA

SOPA UPDATE: Read “SOPA Far, So Good” Here!

2011 was a big year for 360 PSG.  We grew as a company with new hires and new positions that allowed us to improve our overall efficiency in providing powerful web solutions that enhance and add measurable value to our clients and their organizations.  In addition, 360 moved into a brand new office space and upgraded our world class datacenter.

On our blog this year we brought you news about cell phones; making good first impressions (on the web and in person); what we watch and how we listen to our music; stand-up work stations; our favorite apps; 360’s big move; open creativity; Netflix and Qwikster; and 360 PSG’s web culture.

As the year comes to a close at 360 PSG, the heads of all departments are meeting to discuss our plans to improve procedures to better serve our clients in 2012.  Tonight, we have our holiday party where the Championship round of 360’s Foosball tournament will be played before we head to Lasertron for Laser Tag and Cyber Sport.  Then of course, it’s back to work tomorrow…  Sure it’s a Tuesday but hey, we have to celebrate the holidays together when it’s convenient for everyone.

With all of the upgrades in workspace, personnel, and internal procedures, 360 PSG strives to provide the best web solutions and superior customer service for you, our readers, our current clients, and all future clients.

360 PSG thanks you for reading.  As always, we greatly appreciate your feedback to help us improve our services.  Please be sure to fill out your Snapshot surveys.  We look forward to an even better 2012.

Happy Holidays!