News of Interest: WPO Chicago Member Honored by NWE

We felt privileged to attend the inspiring celebration for WPO Chicago downtown II chapter member Mary Bahr on her being honored by the Network of Women Entrepreneurs (NWE) at their 15th Annual Entrepreneurial Achievement Awards Breakfast February 22nd.

The lovely photo captures the essence of the moment. (L-R: Miriam Sturm, Musician-Violin Player, Composer and Rock Star with The John Mellencamp Band, Mary Bahr, President and Creative Director, MAB Advertising Inc., Diane Middlebrooks, Vice President & Women's Initiative Coordinator, Itasca Bank & Trust Co. and Hedy Ratner, Founder and Co-President of the Women's Business Development (WBDC).

And we agree with what the NWE said in their brochure about Mary:

... an intelligent, giving and hands-on leadership style.

Congratulations Mary. We are very proud of you!

Article of Interest: More Firms Create Own Social Networks

Facebook and MySpace have made social networking famous -- but do you need to be a social-networking company to make use of social networks? A growing number of companies don't think so, and are beginning to create their own. What's their appeal and how will it help grow your business? Find out here.

News of Interest: 22 WPO Members Named Enterprising Women of the Year

Enterprising Women Magazine has announced the 2008 Women of the Year award winners. Out of the 76 winners, 22 of them are members of the WPO -- and two are from Chicago. We are so proud!

See who won here.

Blog Post of Interest: Analysis of a Superbowl Ad Rating Experiment Using Twitter

There has been a tremendous amount of chatter about social media and social networking over the past couple of months. Both mediums bring content and information sharing from a passive to an active experience for everyone from a President (like you) to an individual who makes coffee at your local Starbucks. Think Facebook, MySpace, YouTube, Twitter and Kaneva.

At any given moment, someone you know is someone you really don't know in the social Internet world (for example, they may be an Avatar on Second Life under a name you don't recognize). We are empowered by the way in which information can be and is being disseminated to one another anywhere at anytime and at a lightening speed.

So what's this have to do with an analysis of a Superbowl ad rating experiment using Twitter? Everything. After you read this fascinating post from Forrester Research, you might think twice about ignoring the social Internet revolution that's taking place as I write this. The Forrester post begins like this:

Josh Bernoff and I conducted an interesting experiment. I (Jeremiah) encouraged the twitter community (social media, marketing, advertising mavens) to join in on providing real-time ratings about ads during the superbowl.

The experiment was a huge success. They had over 2000 responses from over 70 people over a 4 hour period.

They then shift over to what's going on with Super Tuesday (2/5/08) and report this:

Coincidently, today is Super Tuesday where many Americans will be voting, and I see that Google and Twitter are working together to create a map mashup (read what a mashup is here) to show real-time voices of which user is voting for who.

Expect this trend of real-time rating through social media to continue, and by this time next year, I hope to work with a sophisticated group who can take our little experiment to the next level.

We encourage you to use these platforms as a way to grow your business, build meaningful user-generated content, interaction and long-lasting value for your clients, vendors, constituents, partners, visitors and shareholders. And if you are already, please let us know what you are doing and how you are doing it. We'd welcome a chance to share your success stories with the world.