Keep Calm and Carry On is the first thing I see each time I enter my office.

According to Wikapedia…”Keep Calm and Carry On was a poster produced by the British government in 1939 during the beginning of World War II, intended to raise the morale of the British public in the event of invasion.”

The best part, well second best part, about the poster is that it really is a morale booster. I can’t count the number of times I have been under stress and something as small as reading, “Keep Calm and Carry On”  calmed me down.  I don’t necessarily have to be under stress to appreciate it, I often tell my teammates to “Keep Calm and Carry On” under stressful situations.

So I will leave you with…”Keep Calm and Carry On.”

P.S. The best part about the poster is that it’s red and matches my office decor perfectly!!! Thank you Dawn T for finding the perfect poster for a Print Diva’s office!

Real life TSI’s? Typo Squad Investigators!

A few weeks ago, I was so excited when I saw this on CBS Sunday Morning!

These guys are pretty awesome and at times extremely brave.

One of the best parts of being the Print Diva is that I get spoiled rotten by my Print Partners. I often get invited to events and lunches. During a certain week not too long ago, I received 3 invitations for lunch!

I happily declined all invites with a little Diva twist!!  I asked each partner to pick a day to bring in sugary snacks for the Bulbs. This will allow me an opportunity to visit with them on my turf to discuss projects of the past, present, and future. At first I thought they wouldn’t like the idea. Then it hit me! Who wouldn’t want to spend time with the Print Diva in my beautiful University of Louisville themed office?  I think everyone would agree that just walking into our building gives you a sense of calmness and relaxation.  I’m happy that everyone embraced the idea with great enthusiasm!!!  Bulbs…get ready for random displays of sugary goodness!

Out of habit, I read everything that comes in the mail.  I was very disappointed to see this piece from a higher education organization with not one, but two typos before I even broke the wafer seals.

How many times should a document get proofed before it goes to print? Who are responsible parties when it’s time to proof?

It’s protocol here to make sure all materials go through a thorough proofing process before they are published or printed, and even after the client’s final approval.

What is your proofing protocol?  Is it worth a few extra minutes to reread what you’ve already read and also let someone else put their eyes on it?

I don’t think so…I KNOW SO!!!

I’m often asked, “How do you stay positive even in a negative situation?”

Basically, I try to always find a positive in the negative. At times it can be a little tricky and I just have to get creative. More often than not…I just add a little dash of humor.

A few examples:

Negative: You have to be at two schools for two programs that happen at the same time.
Solution: Stay positive and construct a plan of dividing and conquering. You can contact
grandparents, aunts/uncles and extended family to lend a hand.

Negative: Your computer crashes.
Solution: Stop and think about it. No one died, right?  Just do your best to recover any information that has been lost. If you’re not able to get anything back…look at it as starting a clean slate.

Negative: A car cuts you off and the driver proceeds to extend you a not so nice hand gesture.
Solution: Just blow that driver a kiss. She may be having a bad day and there’s no need to add negative on negative.  There are positive hand gestures that can be used.

How do you turn your negatives into positives?

A lot of things at work remind me of my children on a daily basis. Seldom does a discussion topic with my 6-year old make me think about work, though! The exception was just a few days ago – she and I discussed what she did in her kindergarten class that day.  She ran through a list of colors…red,blue, purple, yellow, orange, green, black, white, gray, and pink…etc.

In the world of printing, it’s not quite that easy. Yes, yellow and blue make green. But, we deal with thousands of ratios of cyan, yellow, magenta and black to create…well, any color in the spectrum.

You may or may not understand CMYK or RGB color schemes, much less web-safe, 2-color or spot color printing techniques. But, you see the results of these printing techniques every day. University of Louisville, for example, uses Pantone 1797 as it’s color – it’s a set red that can’t be changed, no matter what piece they’re producing. University of Kentucky has one too – pantone 286.

So, what my daughter is learning in her early years now actually has more to do with what I do on a daily basis than may be immediately obvious!

University of Louisville Red

University of Kentucky Blue

University of Tennessee Orange

Susan G. Komen Pinks

You’re driving down the expressway and you see an accident just as it happens.  What do you do?
A) Keep on driving
B) Stop to observe, but immediately get back in your car and keep on going
C) Stop to help

A few weeks ago, I was put in that exact situation.

Here’s how the story goes:
I was driving down the expressway and saw a car as it was vertically plunging into the center barricade wall.

My first reaction was to call 911.  When the operator answered, I immediately told her the emergency
and the exact location of the accident.  As I stopped short of the accident to get out, I noticed a man had
stopped to get out to observe but immediately got back in his car and left.  As I approached the driver of the car, it was almost like a voice said, “This is where I need you to be right now. Remain calm and I will guide you.”

I went to the driver’s side and immediately knew she was seriously injured.  I told the dispatcher that the victim was breathing, but unconscious. Then my call dropped. I called 911 again.

The operator answered and said help was on the way. The victim was starting to wake up and a little panicked. She went to the driver’s side and I went to the passenger’s side; we started telling her to remain calm and that she was going to be all right because help was on the way. I started looking through her purse for her driver’s license, cell phone and anything else that would help identify her.

After what seemed to be 50+ cars flew by, another car finally pulled over. It was a nurse! She immediately went into action.  She asked if we had called 911,  we said, “Yes, 2 times already.” She said call them back and give them this code. They will know what it means and tell them to hurry.

I placed the 3rd call to 911.  About that time I heard someone say, “there’s an ambulance.”  I turned and without really thinking stepped out in traffic to wave the ambulance (who didn’t have any emergency lights on) to come toward me.

They pulled over and immediately started caring for the lady.  The next thing I know, the other ambulance pulled up along with fire trucks and other emergency personal.  We had the driver’s license and social security card ready for the officer.  After passing off the information, the other lady that stopped to help and I grabbed hands and immediately said a prayer for the victim of the accident.

How does this story relate to CurrentMarketing? Good question. We are a family of folks that stop to help. Regardless of the situation, we are there.  Whether it be change a tire for a complete stranger who broke down outside of our building or drive a co-worker who is extremely sick to immediate care.  These are the type of people that make my job and life a joy!! Being a member of the Current Family is like no other!!!

I’ve dubbed this day in particular “Show Time”…2 shows in 4 hours with some of the most amazing people!

I was at the Athens Paper Show with my CM family then headed over to Tumbleweed on the River for the weekly production of The Coach Charlie Strong Radio Show.

In a time where things are shifting to a digital world, my hat’s off to the tenacity of all the paper mills who are not giving up on the most traditional form of print production. This event highlights the latest and greatest paper stocks and techniques used take your print designs to the next level. I love to see the twinkle in our designers’ eyes when they see something new that gets their creative juices seriously flowing. This year our very own CM family member, Donovan Sears, designed a fabulous invitation centered around the Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory theme! It was definitely a topic of discussion throughout the event!

Being a Cardinal alumnus, I take a lot of pride in the weekly production of the Coach Charlie Strong Radio Show for one of our greatest clients, Tumbleweed Southwest Grill. I have the privilege of setting up the camera so that all the patrons in the restaurant can watch the show even if they don’t have a reservation to attend. This is an opportunity for supporters of the football program to have dinner at Tumbleweed and be up close with one of the newest additions to the U of L Athletic Program.

They can also ask questions about the not only the program, but personal things like “what does he do in his free time?” This night was extremely fun because I talked to a rival school supporter, who was excited to be at the show to see Coach Strong and even showed his support by wearing a red shirt!

Not to mention, I stood up for about 10 minutes holding up a sign to keep the sun out of Paul Rogers and Coach Strong’s eyes!!! Just a little thing in the life of the Print Diva. The highlight of the night came when I was talking to someone while I was walking and almost ran right into Coach Strong and got an “excuse me sister” from him. CARTWHEEL, TOE TOUCH AND HIGH FIVE!!! I’m Coach Strong’s Sister!!!!! A typical day in the life of Louisville’s Print Diva is not always exciting, but this was truly a great day to blog about!!

We are definitely on the dawn of a new era, the back to school list has now  developed into a Super Supply List.
These things were never on my list before:
tissues
hand sanitizer
freezer zipper bags
highlighters
steno pads
individually wrapped candy
clorox wipes
paper towels
“activity fee”

WOW!!!! Things have definitely changed!!!
For new parents, my suggestion is to keep an ongoing mental list for these items, especially for when they go on sale!

This was an interesting time for me to step back and analyze where I buy my kids’ supplies and what each big box’s marketing has done to influence my buying habits. In no particular order:

meijer
“Back to School Price Drop. It’s baaaaack!”
This one’s simple – meijer is the closest to my home.  Word of mouth among my mommy circle is that they have the best bargains by far! They are also offering a Back to School Sweepstakes.

Wal-Mart
“Get A+ Savings on Back to School Essentials”
I consider Wal-Mart my old faithful.  There’s always one nearby. You can also order online and get free shipping on uniforms.

Dollar General Store
“Fall 2010 Back to School. Get Smart Savings”
I have been a proud supporter of DG Back to School supplies since I was a first grader in 1981.  Some folks have a tendency to snub DG, but I don’t. When it comes to simple things like paper towels and tissues, you can buy name brand and save money.  Just toss the bright yellow bag when you get home.

Target
“Check off your list”
Why do I go to Target? Actually, I don’t. My daughters have wonderful grandparents who consider back to school shopping an annual event and it always starts at Target. I tend to label them as the upscale shopping source. They have great sales and a great selection of what my daughters refer to as “sassy items.”

I was very impressed with their online ordering.  I played around with each pizza, adding various toppings, putting toppings on ½ and then taking them away.  When it was all said and done, I had ordered 2 medium, 2 topping pizzas.

I entered my credit card information and received my email confirmation. Upon reviewing my confirmation, I noticed that I had put bacon & ham on both pizzas, which I didn’t intend to do.  That’s where the Pizza Tracker came in! I was able to call the store directly because the phone number was provided on the confirmation. I spole to the person that had received my order because his name was on the email and he immediately updated my order.  I was then able to track the pizza as it was being prepared, placed in the oven, added to the box and en route for delivery. I knew exactly when our order was going to arrive at our house!

You can track your UPS packages from the time you process the shipment to the time it delivers.  Why not be able to do the same with your pizza order?  I really enjoyed the ordering process and the pizza was pretty good. And, just for the record, I’m not a pizza snob.  If it has the right price, it’s the right pizza!