Rachel Macik
The best job I'll ever have
The best job I'll ever have
Rachel Macik
Going Native. In a conference room.
Going Native. In a conference room.
Rachel Macik
Thank you, Next.

Learning the importance of hitting pause, before fast-forwarding to NEXT.

Thank you, Next.
Rachel Macik
Customer Success and UX
Customer Success and UX
Rachel Macik
We tried Design Thinking and this is what ...
We tried Design Thinking and this is what happened
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"Best" Videos? Says who...

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This CloudAve blog link originally came to me from Twitter. I'm really into looking at videos these days, as we just bought our first video camera and are currently setting up the template guidelines for film and production.

CloudAve sites these videos as the "10 Best Enterprise 2.0 Videos and Presentations in the last month". First, where did they get these videos? How were the recommended? How were they rated? Are they based on content? Because they surely aren't based on time and effort put into production.

So I wonder... is it really necessary to go through all this trouble of production? Do people really listen to the video, kind of like a pod cast, and not really even look at it? It sure would be nice to know... especially if these videos can make a Top 10 list and be so amateur.

Of course, I like the Salesforce Chatter presentation, mostly because its FLASH, and not really a video. And I sure do like that voice over... nice.




Not only is this video awesome... Its like an EPISODE. While things like this are hilarious to me, are they good for business? Is this kind of production worth the effort? In my book. Absolutely.



That said... this is more the route I'd like to go. HILARIOUS in my book. It gained the most attention when it was actually "withdrawn" for being risque. In the world of viral video, that is GOLDEN.



and for good measure: www.youtube.com/atosoriginus
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The New Rules of Marketing and PR

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I just ordered my first marketing book in a long time... The New Rules of Marketing and PR: How to Use News Releases, Blogs, Podcasting, Viral Marketing and Online Media to Reach Buyers Directly. It was recommended by another blog I just read on how to convience the CEO into social media. (Paul Stewart, Atos Origin CEO for North America already onboard by the way: @atosCEOPaul --what! what!) 


I really think the PR rules HAVE to change. Whatever we learned in school is all out the window now. I would love to interview a journalist... do you guys read the wire anymore? Do you acutally use the services that wire companies sell? 


I need some help. Hopefully this book is step one!
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I'm so proud *she wipes tear from her eye*

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This morning everyone in Atos Origin involved in the PR for the Vancouver Olympic Games and London Olympic Games got their heads together! For the first  time, we will send a release with multi-media attachments, hyperlinked text, custom videos, twitter feeds, and hey, I'm even blogging about it!

The web-savvy type exposure is a bit of a norm for my North America group. In fact, before we even saw the html version of the release we made our own version with buttons, images, and custom layout. When our list of media gets a hold of the release, they will have everything they need without having to read a word. (now that's MY kind of email!)

I would have shown the Global group the version our top designer made, but hey, they were so excited about the linked text, I just couldn't do it. After the exciting social fairy dust settles, I'll quietly send them the amazing release we made... Then, of course it will break my little heart of they don't like it. I kid, I kid... No, really it would. Seriously.

...and yes, I realize I didn't put a link to my fabulous release. It's not release yet! Hold your horses. I'll add the link in a comment on Monday. Have a great weekend!
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I see what you mean!

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It's come to my attention that Powerpoint is an outdated form of communication. Really? Well, I agree...but only the way YOU use Powerpoint. Today, you can insert Flash files and even do slight animations that make an old ppt file look like a fancy work of art. We intend to do both in order to explain complex solutions that involve onshore, offshore, clients, b2c, b2b, front office, back office (shall I go on?)



Atos Origin UK has an amazing marketing group. They also have some of the coolest presentations in our portfolio! Thanks to their vendor "See What You Mean" Atos Origin UK has taken presentations to the next level. Check out the vendors website. Check our their website and find the clients tab. From there you can chose to see some samples of several projects they worked on for the UK group.



One of the coolest samples is for the London Games in 2012. Its completely interactive. Click on whatever you like to see a portion of the Games that we help deliver. This is a huge effort, and sometimes very confusing when trying to explain to customers. I really believe using multimedia will solve several issues.



Atos Origin has several solutions that sell "nothing". We're selling our technology, application skills, or our people. Its difficult to market without a widget. There's no pretty shiny picture of a solution, so you have to conceptualize it. Of course we can continue with flow charts, and maybe even some fancy visio with avatars... but hopefully, this trend of interactive multimedia will take hold and become the norm.

I just wanted to give a shout out to the UK...this stuff is AWESOME!
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TLC in the TOC

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This was my first visit in the Atos Origin TOC (Technology Operations Center - or Centre depending on where you're from ;) I've worked with Magnus Alvarsson a few times over the phone, but never in person. It was a pleasure.

Dorien Wamelink, Atos Origin Olympic Marketing, and Jennifer Semilla, a tiny Vancouverite had us fully prepared for our visit, and off to a fresh start with a Coke cup of coffee. (Everything in the VANOC buildings is branded..did you know Coke made coffee?!)

See the pics from today's tour at www.facebook.com/atosoriginnorthamerica
Each version of the TOC tops itself. Since the Athens Games in 2004, the Atos Origin TOC gets smarter and stronger. What amazed me the most is the thought processes behind the PEOPLE running the TOC and all the operations connected to it. Magnus says "Its easy to predict what the technology will do, we have to test the people reactions." In doing so, this equals years of hard work from a mixture of new members and old. All possible scenarios are exercised during strategically planned phases of testing.
There is so much to write about, I can't possibly put it all in one blog. I'll have to write pieces as I learn more. PS: Jennifer and Dorien: Can I PLEASE see what the uniforms look like?! :)

yummy in my tummy

I'm in Vancouver BC right now learning the city before Atos Origin calls it home in February. We are the Worldwide IT provider for the Vancouver Olympic Games 2010.

While this isn't DIRECTLY related to marketing, I wanted to share one of my favorite things so far... I've been tasked to scour the city, looking over the venues, meeting with the media groups, and all the other things that make my job soooo tough. (I kid, I kid...)
So I'm checking out the local Vancouver Tours, I came across Denman Street. On the west end, which I've learned is the more "Swanky" part of Vancouver...very nice...densely populated...eclectic. I love it. We sat at a Greek restaurant, choosing it for its open sidewalk seating. Service was NIL... so we moved on. We found a delight, and indeed local favorite.

Two giant Hefeweizens later, we're served lamb burgers, yam fries, salmon sandwiches with a giant heaping helping of local hospitality. This adorable little restaurant gets a big thumbs up from me. The owner "Doug" came to visit our table and wish us luck in touring the rest of the city. Thanks Doug... we loved it :) http://www.centralbistro.com/

1072 Denman Street – a downtown restaurant in the west end Vancouver BC

Corporate Intro to Web 2.0


Its an exciting time for the Atos Origin Marketing Department. During our quarterly employee meeting, our Web 2.0 efforts will be featured. We have several individuals who are "Social-Savvy" and have already entered the world of twitter, facebook, youtube, and the blogger-sphere. I'm glad Ryan Schebler was excited enough about these efforts to feature them in his Sales & Marketing Update.

We have a come a long way, but certainly have a long way to go. When I grow up, I want to be like the Compuware CIO. This video is awesome. I hope this really is their CIO. I love it. Thanks @imrichb for the link!

Social Media, and Corporate Email

Ok, so this blog post by Steve Mann is over a year old... but he has a point.

"I was told yesterday by SAP HR that I have to remove the link to my PERSONAL (this) blog from my SAP corporate email signature."

Do companies still think like this? Are companies still trying to keep lines between social media and corporate strategy? I like what a lot of people say in his comments. They say they like knowing who the people are behind the corporate wall. I think a lot of companies have grown in the past year. Has yours?

Has your company allowed expressed opinions and encouraged networking through social media networks? Is free networking encouraged, or is it moderated first?

I'd love to have more input on what you're company is doing today!

PS: I think SAP has come a long way from this, but I can't be certain. They have been recently ranked as one of the top "engaged" global brand y the www.engagementdb.com
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21 Ads You'll Love

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Or, more appropriately entitled "21 Ads You Won't Hate" by BusinessWeek. I originally saw this post on Twitter, (Thanks @HelenWalters).

This is a great article with quick links to a bunch of ads from 2009 that made the most creative list. One of my favorites is number #21 Boone Oakley's You Tube Website. It's a little bit of twisted humor wrapped in an unsuspecting scribbled "website" on youtube.

I've just fell in love with Billy, their Marketing Director who was killed by his wife to set an example for all others who may fall into the Madison Avenue trap. You'll have to see it for yourself to get the full appreciation of this hardly "little" company.

Follow @booneoakley, or visit their webpage: http://www.booneoakley.com/ --which incidentally just goes to the youtube show :)

Words that make my day


It's Friday, so I figure a nonsense blog was in order. I like to fancy myself a writer, but I'm really not. I believe a true writer would be at home in her loft office looking out the window, large cup of coffee in one hand, twitter in the other, Labrador at her feet, thinking of the next chapter.

Instead, I'm sitting in my gray office, cold coffee next to a keyboard--wishing I could fit several of my favorite words into marketing literature. None of this will probably make sense, but it doesn't have to, it's my blog :)

Favorite words I wish I could use: snark, smitten, heckova, certifiable, fabulous, nice, muddling, aficionado, gazillion, instincts, genius, nice, or any mild profanity...

Happy weekend, I'm ready for a margarita.
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Marketing people will one day, rule the world

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... ok, maybe not :) BUT-- I was impressed, yet again to hear that another Marketing MBA has risen! Dave Patzwald, who holds an MBA in Marketing, is the CIO of Schneider Electric. (read more about Dave) He has re-branded his IT department. By hosting parties, filming funny videos, and giving his team a creative environment to work in, Patzwald has been able to make his department a little more "human". Read all about it in this week's CIO Magazine Making IT Fun Again by Kristin Burnham.

But Dave... where is your Twitter? Where is your blog? A guy with these great ideas and momentum should take advantage! Don't let us IT marketeers down! :)

If you have your google alerts all set up, or you've had your daily dose of ego surfing, I hope you find my little blog, and have uploaded your video to YouTube. Send me a tweet, and let me know where I can see it. Either way, well done. I'm glad to see you're thinking ahead!

My first SAPPHIRE


I'm going to have to say this was an amazing event! I am very happy about our leads, and booth success (read about the business side here). But I've got to blog about how amazing this event was.

Being a Houstonian for my entire career, I've been to several Oil & Gas trade shows--and they can't hold a candle to the SAPPHIRE event in Orlando Florida. Right when you walk in, you see the SAP brand splashed and literally spotlighted across every wall, poster, and aisle. Each photo as the SAP gray subtle hues, tinted as a calming color pallet. This against their YELLOW and BLUE colors really looked amazing. The theme was clearly (no pun intended) "Clarity". The subtle, yet in your face multimedia played against three story tall screens. Keynote speeches were not to be missed as the little ladies held up signs to let you know what was going on, and where you needed to be.

Now, I realize they may not have sold as much exhibitor space as they had hoped, but the lounge areas with giant black leather couches proved to be a wise investment for attendees and exhibitors. Those who weren't lucky enough to have on-booth meeting space were able to enjoy a quick prospect meeting just steps away from any booth.

I kept hearing how small this SAPPHIRE was compared to past events. WOW. Really? I thought it was ginormous. I was impressed. We also brought home more qualified leads than the past three years. Perhaps there is something to be said about a "select few". Who ever pulls this event off every year, well done! You guys are AWESOME.

We were even amaze at the FREEMAN staff who began tearing down the event in seconds, carpet was rolling up, crates were being delivered... (and special thanks to the Novell who tolorated our popcorn machine and let us borrow their vacuum cleaner!)
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Hey Twit! I'm a Facebooker!

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I did it! I'm an official twitter-er. (tweeter?) I think I've actually got the hang of this... and if I'm successful at my first official business TWEET, then @aurisauris will answer my request for someone with the Houston Chronicle Spanish section to write about Sergio Banuet, our latest transplant from Mexico! Wait, that sounds like a medical operation... he was the VP of Mexico Operations, but is now heading up the Houston Business Developement for Atos Origin. He is very engaging, I hope we get some face time!
I've also been able to locate some of the Houston Business Journalists, some people from the Chronical. FINALLY, I get to see some personality in these people to see how they would like to be approached. It looks like some people were forced to open a twitter account, but only sent one shout-out, thats it. Some have really got the hang of it and even have some LV purse connections... nice!
check me out. My tweets are to the right. ------>
Our facebook group is here
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Using YouTube, the right way...

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Ok, so this is a shameless plug for Atos Origin... BUT there is a reason to posting the video. It looks like MetaStorm really knows what they are doing. They have used YouTube to post professional videos of clients, event participants, and have done a great job. If I can search for Atos Origin, and they come up... well done them.
When I grow up, I want to be like MetaStorm.

Even the deli has a big screen

So this is my first post. My boss is making me do it.

As we walked into the office deli next door we were greeted with a 42" flant panel screen. Wow. As an employee of an IT company you wouldn't think such simple technology would be a big deal - but it is. We have tried to get a flat panel screen in our office lobby for months. Yes, you could call the computer monitor we have set up on a side table a success, but compared to the deli's flatscreen we've got nothing. It's big and fancy and people like it. Now, I apologize I didn't have my phone with me to take a picture, but I've got something even better:

Hopefully, I can post soon about our new fancy big screen.

Picket Marketing?

Seriously? Is this what we've come to? This guy, (below under the Post Oak Blvd sign by the Houston Galleria) is presumably "Bart". He is there every morning in a suit and tie, holding his sign.

And if you check out his website, it looks like he has his kids as part of his marketing campaign... wow. http://www.bartami.com/




I wish I had more followers of my blog (ok ONE follower to my blog) that could give me some feedback on what they they of this! I dont know if I'm shocked, stunned, proud, or what. This guy is out there every morning. I'd love to know if he has picked up any business, or even a news spot or two. Surely, he has a PR manager, huh?