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A Powerful Present

This year, my colleagues gave me the best gift ever.

Instead of buying me a present, GGers took our Do The Deed campaign as inspiration and pledged to do small acts of kindness on my behalf. Each team member wrote down his or her commitment and bound them together, creating a book of deeds for 2010.

The ideas range from little daily things (smiling more, communicating better, ordering the six-inch sub sandwich rather than the foot-long) to larger, life-changing commitments (quitting smoking, eating less meat, exercising regularly). Others are donating funds and efforts to causes that hold a special place in my heart.

I appreciate the thought that went into each and can’t wait to see the team live them out.

Peace and joy.

12.23.09 · Sonia Greteman

Paying Kindness Forward

We launched a campaign today and hope you’ll join in the fun. We’re calling it Do the Deed. It’s all about spreading a good vibe. Doing small acts of kindness that create ripples. That spread and grow.

Do the Deed couples attitude with action. Sometimes it just means being a bit more aware. Less wrapped up in our individual lives and more attuned to those around us. It could be as simple as looking the cashier in the eye and smiling as we get our change. Or simply saying please and thank you. A lot.

We’re not suggesting that being nicer to one another will cure all the world’s ills – but acknowledging people, giving them respect, showing them a little kindness – it can be transformative.

A Movement in Motion

Do the Deed started as our agency holiday campaign. But as we talked about fundamental truths and things that really matter, it became clear. Time to broaden our vision. We reached out to see if anyone had interest in joining our initiative. People did. In a big way.

The Wichita Eagle stepped forward as our lead partner. (Watch for Do the Deed in the daily paper and on Kansas.com.) Intake Studio worked late multiple nights to produce a compelling video and PSAs. Printers offered everything from oversized vinyl graphics to wallet-sized cards. Billboard companies donated digital space in and around Wichita. Wichita State University, Towne East, Towne West, NewMarket Square and Bradley Fair agreed to let us chalk their sidewalks with Do the Deed stencils. Members of organizations like Youth Entrepreneurs of Kansas and the Barton International Group are planning deeds even as I write this. The community is taking Do the Deed and running with it.

What will your deed be? Check out our website for ideas and to submit your own.

12.04.09 · Sonia Greteman

Marc’s Picks for Final Friday – November 2009

This month, making the rounds for Final Friday will be a good way to work off that extra Thanksgiving dessert. To help you plan your evening, I offer this list of must-see shows for November (and another art event right around the corner).

Jo Quillin Tomson at Watermark Books and Cafe

The title “The Traveling Mystical Gal and Moon Show” pretty much sums it up. Prepare to be thoroughly enchanted by Jo’s latest playful and intricate collage paintings.

Watermark Books and Cafe
4701 E. Douglas
6–8 p.m.

Horse Shoe Canyon by Randy Bradbury

2 ¼” at Center Gallery

This group exhibition by local and national photographers will celebrate the medium format camera, with photos by artists from Oregon to Maine, as well as work from our very own Randy Bradbury.

Center Gallery
111 Ellis
7–10 p.m.

Next Friday, December 4: Kelly Moody Benefit at Tangent Lab

As owner of Firehouse Gallery and frame shop, Kelly Moody has been a good friend to the local art scene. Kelly recently underwent surgery to remove a brain tumor and is currently receiving expensive follow-up treatment for cancer. Please come out and be generous as you bid in the silent auction on work donated by more than two dozen of Kelly’s talented friends.

Tangent Lab
143 N. Rock Island, Third Floor
7-10 p.m., Friday, December 4

11.25.09 · Marc Bosworth

Creativity Manifesto

I’ve been thinking a lot about the creative process. Especially now when we’re hip deep in the development of a favorite campaign, the Kansas State Fair. We had our first major brainstorming and, without spilling the beans, it was wickedly wonderful. Five creative types came together and soon had ideas zinging around the room, ricocheting off the walls. At the end of two hours, we’d generated 100+ ideas. Not all of them pretty. Now the real work begins, crafting those into a campaign that has legs, charm and the power to raise eyebrows.

Our Process Helps Us Get There

I’m always on the lookout for new ways to help us break through the mundane to something pioneering. I’m amazed by how many people think ideas just come to creative types in the shower, or in a bolt of inspiration. But there really is method to our madness. Questions must be asked and answered. Research plowed through. Competition scrutinized. And crummy ideas generated right along with the good.

We also have our wall. Which we love. When we’ve got something good, or a nugget of an idea, it goes up. The wall provides a place to collaborate. To create independently. To come together for feedback. It serves as a platform for solid, multi-voice critiques. Then it’s back to the drawing board. Repeat as necessary. Voila!

After almost three decades of doing this for a living, I find myself obsessed with the methodology behind the development of breakthrough ideas. This compulsion has led me to assemble a wide-ranging collection of wisdom, aphorisms, quotes, philosophies and anecdotes. I recently heard artist Wendell Castle lecture at the Ulrich Museum. His thoughts were so similar to those I’ve collected and developed over the years, I decided it was high time to assemble my own creative bucket list.

15 Tricks to Turn

  1. Ideas are funny little things; they don’t work unless you do. Don’t sit around waiting for inspiration, get to it.
  2. Put pen to paper. Ideas happen when your pen is engaged. Drawing, doodling, noodling, daydreaming, require a free-range brain. No judging.
  3. Lose the fear of being wrong. You may be disappointed if you fail, but you are doomed if you don’t try.
  4. Mistakes are the portals to discovery. The lessons they teach you stick for a lifetime.
  5. KISS – keep it simple stupid. Coco Chanel said to look in the mirror before you leave and take one thing off. In design and life, reduction allows the true idea to be seen.
  6. Brainstorm and collaborate. Get your ideas out into the universe so others can build on them. Give voice to your ideas.
  7. Seek criticism not praise. Approval is easy, but an honest opinion is priceless. Ask what’s wrong? How can I make it better?
  8. The dog that stays on the porch will find no bones.
  9. The only way to get a killer idea is by starting with lots of ideas. Generate quantity not quality. Edit them down later.
  10. Frame your thoughts as questions. They become the answers.
  11. If I see an idea that makes me nervous, I know we’re covering new ground. If it’s offbeat or surprising, then it’s probably useful.
  12. Stretch like spandex. If you’re not trying new things, you are going nowhere.
  13. Don’t hoard your ideas. Give them away and more will come back to you.
  14. Tell stories. Write in an active voice. Use verbs. People connect with people.
  15. If you hit the bull’s eye every time, then the target’s probably too close.

11.13.09 · Sonia Greteman

Write Right

Tomorrow I’m speaking at a daylong event designed for PR college students statewide. My fellow panelists and I will each share five tips on how to write in a way that gets your stuff used. Tell me what you think. Am I missing any key points?

  1. Rein it in. Journalists are pressed for time. Only interested in what they (and their audiences) want to know. And really don’t appreciate the interruption. Focus your writing.
  2. Write slowly. Reread your work and rewrite as necessary. Remember the old saying, “Measure twice and cut once.” Cut – i.e. submit – factual work ready to publish or air.
  3. Know the reader. Will this run in a national aviation magazine or in a weekly business tab? No matter how cleverly you craft your prose, it won’t get picked up if the lingo rings untrue.
  4. Keep it active. Slash passive verbs and keep your tense present whenever possible. Past and future tenses tend to create leaks where energy seeps out. Imagine the wicked witch slowly melting.
  5. Amuse yourself. Sprinkle in the unexpected. Never under any circumstance include a quote that says, “I am excited to announce blah, blah, blah.” You can do better.

11.05.09 · Deanna Harms

GG Costume Throwdown

UPDATE: Thanks for your votes. In a nail-biter of a contest, the designers took 76% of the votes. The other teams are sure they were sympathy votes. (Posted by one of the losers.)

At Greteman Group, we don’t really need an excuse to dress up and have a good time. So we’re all pretty big fans of a holiday that encourages such behavior.

This year, for Halloween, we decided to split up into three teams – designers, account strategists and support – for a costume battle royale.

And now, we turn to you, our faithful, dedicated, beautiful readers, to help us decide which team will win the inaugural GG Costume Contest.

So take a look at the photos and then vote on your favorite.

Designers – Dia de los Muertos

Support Team – Sickos

Account Strategists – Design Envy

10.30.09 · Greteman Group

Marc’s Picks for Final Friday – October 2009

This Final Friday converges with Halloween, and many will be prowling the streets in full costume. To help you plan your evening haunting Wichita’s galleries, I offer this list of must-see shows for October.

Be sure to click the thumbnails for a larger view of the images.

Painting by David Friday
Painting by David Friday

Elly Fitzig and David Friday at Commerce Street Gallery

Candy colors and expressive marks unite the works by these artists, so expect a really fun show by two of Wichita’s nicest people.

Commerce Gallery at the Go Away Garage
508 S. Commerce
7:00-10:00 p.m.

"The Multidimensional Deconstruction of Meditator" by Victor Rose
“The Multidimensional Deconstruction of Meditator” by Victor Rose

Victor Rose at Riney Fine Arts

Victor’s work is as intellectually challenging as it is soulful. As he describes it, his new works have “figures and objects that are abstracted into completely flat shapes, then presented in a raised but flat sculptural relief and also painted in a different position than the relief.” If that’s not entirely clear, just know that the work will play with your eyes and your mind – in a good way!

Riney Fine Arts Center Gallery
Friends University
2100 W. University
5:00-7:30 p.m.

Painting by Curt Clonts
Painting by Curt Clonts

Curt Clonts at Diver Studio

Curt has been keeping busy, and will be showing almost 50 new works on paper, paintings and sculpture. According to the artist himself, “you will find MUCH color, happiness, edginess and humor in these new works.”

Diver Studio
424 S. Commerce
7:00-11:00 p.m.
Visit the Diver Studio website.

10.29.09 · Marc Bosworth

Halloween: Keepin’ it Healthy

I do a pretty good job controlling my obsession with sweets, but this time each year – with Halloween just around the corner and the holidays quickly approaching – I find it’s difficult to escape the temptations around us. And it never fails that I’ll end up with a bowl full of Halloween snacks that didn’t get handed out. I’m trying to hold fast to the mantra of moderation when it comes to enjoying these holiday sweets. If not, I’ll at least be partaking in options from this list of healthier food choices for trick-or-treaters. Most of these options can be purchased in large quantities at any store.

  • Dark chocolate
  • Mini-pretzel packs
  • Cheese/peanut butter and cracker packages
  • Trail mix
  • Yogurt-covered raisins
  • Mixed nuts
  • Mini-bags of popcorn (unpopped)
  • Dried fruit
  • Fruit cups

10.28.09 · Greteman Group

Not as Easy as It Looks

Although I still have another month until I enter my 20s, I’m getting a taste of what the rest of my corporate life will look like, or so I think.

What started out as an unsure group of 14 students has turned into an evolutionary student-led company, never-failing recruitment tool and an ample amount of networking. Being able to be joint-CEO of the Barton International Group at Wichita State University has allowed me to partake in all of these outcomes, but any member you ask won’t say it was a cake walk to get to them.

Everyone understood going in that we would be forming, storming, norming and hopefully performing at high levels as a team. We held Wichita State’s Barton School of Business and its faculty’s reputation in our hands. We were faced with providing real results, or receiving real consequences.

And the Pace Quickens

After our success with working with Spirit AeroSystems at its new Malaysian plant last summer, the idea of the Barton International Group took off. Students showed interest and faculty members offered help. As we have started our second year of the program, we have a senior associate team (made up of 12 of last year’s members) as well as the new associates which encompass 17 fresh faces.

Just like a real company, promotions, demotions and firings are all realistic options. Each member understands this concept and works hard to form ideas, delegate instruction and create satisfactory results for the betterment of the Barton International Group. A little overboard? We like to think not. We know this is just a prelude for the expectations of our future employers.

10.27.09 · Heather New

Down But Never Out

Just before this year’s NBAA convention in Orlando – the industry’s 62nd – the Wall Street Journal ran the article “As Aviation Jobs Take Off, Wichita Frets Its Future.” In it Peter Sanders reported that aviation-manufacturing jobs lost during this downturn probably will not return to Wichita, rather future growth will happen abroad.

Locally, there’s a big push to get President Obama to Wichita – and to have him voice support for business aviation, an industry that contributes more than $150 billion annually to the U.S. economy. We hope Obama comes and tours our manufacturing plants. We’ve worked hard to become the Air Capital of the World. It’s a mantle we must retain.

Feeling Wichita’s Presence

Touring the still-mammoth convention center and its 1,000-plus exhibitors and the 100-aircraft-strong static display, we saw Wichita everywhere. In addition to the manufacturers – Bombardier Learjet, Cessna, Hawker Beechcraft – there were many other familiar players: FlightSafety International (which operates five of its 40 learning centers here), Signature Flight Support (at Mid-Continent Airport since 2008), Dallas Airmotive (which just opened a facility here in April ‘09) and too many allied businesses to name.

Signature Flight Support’s poolside party drew post-show attendees by the hundreds. Junkanoo entertainers kept the mood festive. No long faces here.
Signature Flight Support’s poolside party drew post-show attendees by the hundreds. Junkanoo entertainers kept the mood festive. No long faces here.

The industry hasn’t begun a full-fledged rebound yet. But it will. And when it does, Wichita will be ready.

10.26.09 · Deanna Harms