Last month, Rhea + Kaiser competed once again in the annual National Agri-Marketing Association (NAMA) Region/Chapter Best of NAMA events. And once again, R+K held its own, hauling home seven first place and five merit awards.

 

“We strive to do Great Work for our Great Clients,” said CEO Diane Martin. “Performing well at Best of NAMA is one way we can evaluate and validate our ongoing efforts to accomplish that.”

 

The wins are as follows:

 

First places

• Bayer CropScience, Belt Insecticide Crop Registration “Trophy” Insert (Unique print advertising)
• Bayer CropScience, Stoneville :30 TV (Television – Single or Series)
• FS GROWMARK, FS Brand TV – Kelsey “Trust” (Television – Single or Series)
• FS GROWMARK, FS Brand :90 Videos – Kelsey “Trust” (Audio visual presentations)
• Rhea + Kaiser, R+K Holiday Card (All elements)
• Rhea + Kaiser, R+K Pancake Breakfast (All elements)
• The Howard G. Buffett Foundation, Nutrient Management Is All About Being “Right” (Persuasive writing)

 

Merits

• Bayer CropScience, Capreno “Man vs. Weed” Campaign (Multi-Media Campaigns)
• Bayer CropScience, Stratego YLD Fungicide Personalized T-Shirt (Premiums/Specialties directed to growers)
• Bayer CropScience, Driver Weeds Crash Yield Potential In Soybeans (Persuasive Writing)
• Bayer CropScience, GlyTol TechTour Takes Texas (Events – Customer)
• Bayer CropScience, Capreno Commodity Text Update Program (Interactive Marketing Tools)

 

All regional first place and merit finishers are eligible to compete in the national Best of NAMA awards, which are announced in April. Too see more of R+K’s Great Work, visit www.rkconnect.com/The-Work.aspx.

By now, we’ve all  made (and hopefully are still keeping) our New Year’s resolutions for 2012. Year after year, the most popular resolutions are losing weight, eating healthier, managing stress and so on. These are to be applauded, but for your consideration, allow me to suggest one more belated resolution – improving our workplace manners.

 

We’ve all been on the receiving end of some else’s bad manners and have, in turn, had to go into crisis mode, shakeup our schedules or re-prioritize tasks. And the kicker is: most of the offenders don’t realize (or don’t care) that their bad behavior is disruptive – not to mention unacceptable.

 

A few examples of bad manners that really drag down team morale and productivity include:

 

• Habitually showing up late to work or meetings.  For those offenders, here’s why this is a problem.  Late arrivals – especially repeatedly – telegraph disrespect for others’ time.  Late arrivals delay the start of work. Late arrivals disrupt the flow of meetings in progress. Ultimately, even if you delude yourself with your importance or busy-ness, late arrivals erode others’ confidence in you.  And by the way, there’s no reason anyone should ever show up unexpectedly late – virtually everyone has a mobile phone with texting capabilities and can call/text the expected arrival time.
• Last-minute requests. These should be the exception, not the norm. Regardless of the root cause, frequent last-minute requests create undue chaos for others, suggest you don’t respect their time or responsibilities and eventually drain the confidence and forgiveness accounts. A couple tips for those repeat offenders:  Be brave enough to ask for help before it’s a crisis, and consider seeking time-management training.
• Entitlement.  Neither tenure, nor title, nor role, nor educational pedigree ensures others will respect, follow or trust you. When you play the entitlement card, you’re effectively alienating those upon whom you depend, are trying to influence or want to impress. My advice:  Get over yourself and learn to work with others toward a common goal, whether you’re the boss, a colleague, a customer or a vendor.

 

I realize that these few examples of bad manners also touch on compromised ethics (check out Patrick Khuse’s list of 8 Critical Thinking Errors Common in all Unethical Behavior) and a general lack of professionalism.  The core of the problem is that in business we’ve lost sight of the Golden Rule:  Treat others as you would like to be treated (thanks Ben Franklin!). And I believe that when you embrace the Golden Rule, good manners, professionalism, ethics, productivity and profitability will follow.

 

When you abide by the Golden Rule, you’ll find that achieving individual and common goals is more feasible, more rewarding and much more enjoyable.  My challenge to you:  the next time you are on the receiving end of bad manners, don’t suffer in silence.  Tell the offender how their rude behavior affects you and the work. And if you’re feeling especially bold, let them know it’s unacceptable.

 

Diane Martin is President/CEO at Rhea + Kaiser and won’t tolerate rude behavior.

We’ve kissed the sun goodbye after returning to Chicago from Orlando and the North American Veterinary Conference.

 

It's a great event to attend if you’re associated with any aspect of the animal health industry. The schedule is chock-full of excellent sessions on a variety of trending industry topics, and exhibitors’ booths are generally overflowing with experts, white papers and video demonstrations. Attendees are primarily veterinarians, veterinary technicians and practice managers, and most of the IP is centered on helping pet-owning consumers keep their beloved, four-legged friends happy and healthy.

 

What’s amazing is how many more influencers pet owners have access to today. Joe Smith’s local veterinarian is hardly his first or last stop for pet health information.

 

“Why not ask my local pet food retailer what will keep Skippy’s tummy feeling good? They know what they’re talking about.”

“I’m sure the groomer will let me know if anything looks weird.”

“Since I started taking Skippy to my chiropractor, he’s in the best shape of his life.”

 

Yep – chiropractors. And doggy day cares. And big box stores hoping to open countless doc-in-a-box centers for animals. It’s truly a jungle out there for pet owners looking for the most appropriate, most informed information about pet care, and often it’s everyone BUT the reputable veterinarian channel making the most noise and getting the most attention.

 

Does this crowded, loud, and often convoluted marketplace sound familiar? Where do consumers find out about your brand? What shapes their opinion about your product? Who do they trust to recommend your product? Do they even know and understand what your product does and why it’s important?

 

If you need to uncover insights into how your consumer thinks, learns and chooses, and if you need to do it now to grow – or defend – share-of-voice and share-of-mind, give us a ring. We’d love to chat about how our Think Customer First approach could help you build your business.

After a day of hi-how-are-yous, nice-to-see-you-agains and lets-catch-up-at-the-booth-laters at the North American Veterinarian Conference (NAVC) in Orlando, there’s much to ponder. As evidenced through the vast curriculum offered during the four-day show, the conference’s mission is “to provide world-class continuing education for all members of the veterinary healthcare team.”

We’re at NAVC to make new friends and to ensure we offer the best thinking to our current clients in this category. I.e., we don’t just promise an informed, cut-through-the-clutter point of view, we deliver it.

But we’re also here because we truly appreciate and seek out opportunities to learn. At R+K, we steward a culture of learning through programs like R+K IQ, Donuts + Dialogue and every day learning moments (that we even have a job number for). For example, we challenge R+Kers to not just know how many veterinary clinics are on Facebook, but to understand how our clients can help these clinics drive business results through improved compliance through social media channels.

Well, off to our the-rest-of-the-story dinner.

Diane Martin and Laura Schmidt reporting from Orlando

This week we lost a friend, a leader and a great storyteller when Van Kaiser, co-founder of Rhea + Kaiser, passed away. Yesterday, we toasted Van with some of his favorites including black licorice, Big Boy Boscoes and a lot of funny and poignant stories.

 

As the R+K family shares their memories of Van – and others share theirs on our Facebook page, and through emails and phone calls, I’m hearing similar themes about how Van touched their lives. And looking back on my own 25-year relationship with Van, a lot of great memories rush forward. All of them held a common thread: After a conversation with Van, I left with a chuckle and new inspiration. I learned about leadership and mentoring from Van. Specifically, I learned about the importance of leading by example and of being consistent, honest and, well, human.

 

All of us in the Rhea + Kaiser family say thanks for the humor, compassion and the opportunity to do great work at Rhea + Kaiser. Cheers to you, Van! You are missed, but your legacy will live on.

 

Diane Martin is President/CEO and a 25-year fan of Rhea + Kaiser.

Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus. He tweeted me just the other day.

Children have been hanging their stockings with care, hoping for a glimpse of the jolly fat man, since the 17^th century. Over the years, Santa has moved with the times, appearing on radio, television and the Internet. Now, with the recent proliferation of social media vehicles, there are more ways to interact with Santa than ever before.

Parents used to debate the authenticity of the local mall Santa; now, they also have to worry about which Twitter Santa is the real Santa. A UK wireless provider probably went to the greatest lengths to spread Christmas cheer on Twitter – anyone who used the hashtag #o2santa between December 12 and 15 received a custom YouTube video from Santa.

Discovering new ways to interact with Santa is just one example of how people are connecting digitally during the holidays. Need help counting down the days until Christmas? Download one of several holiday-themed apps to do the job. In fact, search “Christmas” at the iPhone App Store and you’ll get more than 600 results, including everything from movies and music to widgets and wallpaper. Or how about a clever reimagining of the Nativity Story envisioned as a series of Facebook posts, tweets and foursquare check-ins?

It’s not a holly, jolly Christmas for everyone. There’s talk of Facebook greetings supplanting holiday greeting card sales. And for every St. Nick on Twitter, there’s an Ebenezer Scrooge lurking (sample tweet: “I just saw my own grave. #whoa”).

Still, the social media Christmas vibe is definitely a net positive, especially after reading stories like the one where the Case Foundation is encouraging people to commend random acts of kindness they witness through a #GoodSpotting hashtag. And after Christmas is over, Mashable will show you how social media resources can help you keep your New Year’s resolutions.

Of course, nothing beats an in-person smile, handshake or hug at the holidays. But if we don’t see you, we still want to wish you a very happy digital holidays.

Ben Potter is Manager of Technical Writing for R+K and mayor of the North Pole on foursquare.

In a fanfare-filled announcement last week, R+K announced it is changing the name of its Account Services department to the Account Management + Planning Department, or AMP.

 

The idea behind the name change is to better reflect the team’s role as account leaders who provide smart, strategic counsel and cultivate big ideas for clients and internal teams.

 

The 12-member AMP team was super pumped about the “namectomy” and the resulting new department moniker because it underscores that they do much more than tend to the day-to-day account details.

 

“We’re forward thinkers who bring unparalleled knowledge of our clients’ industries and customers, nurture our relationships with clients and internal teams, and generally are awesome and indispensable,” said Cheryl Muzinic, director of the AMP department at R+K. “We think AMP says that loud and clear.”

 

Oh…and we’ll let you caption the pictures.*

 

 

 

 

 

*Please note that AMP team member Laura Boynton is NOT pregnant, nor is AMP team member Neil Johnson the reigning Iowa Beef Queen. They were simply paying homage to AMP team member Kim Berns…who is.

We are fans of “the cloud.” Here’s why.

Traditionally when you are working on a computer, you have your hardware (laptop/desktop), operating system, applications and data. When you buy a new computer from the store, you typically install your programs that you would be using and create/add/edit data, i.e. word, excel, etc., add music to your iTunes and download your child’s precious first birthday pictures from your digital camera.

And of course you have it all backed up right? Ideally a backup would be done daily or at least weekly, but who has the time? We all still need to get work done and don’t have time to worry about the small details…until a hard drive crashes, or your computer gets stolen, lost at the airport, etc.  It’s a scary thought but it is an unfortunate reality.

But what if when you used your computer, your files were automatically backed up without you having to lift a finger? What if when you saved a word document it was saved in a place that didn’t have the same risk of just leaving it on your hard drive? How about the cloud?

The cloud, in my generic definition, is a place out on the Internet that can serve as a repository for almost anything; office documents, pictures and music. If you save your critical files to the cloud, you automatically have your data backed up on highly available, reliable, redundant storage in a location that is available 24/7/365 days of the year.

At Rhea + Kaiser, we are putting the cloud to work for us. Five years ago, we virtualized our servers (think of it as a “private cloud”). Within the next six to twelve months, all company laptops and personal computers will be virtualized as well. We’ll be able to log onto a website that will allows users to see and run applications and their desktops loaded on a custom interface.

What this means is that we are no longer tied to a particular piece of hardware. Don’t feel like lugging home your laptop every night? No big deal – just access your data via the cloud on your home computer or mobile device like the iPad or even your phone. We’ll never fear the “blue screen of death” again.

The cloud has improved efficiency in other ways, too. For example, we only house three physical servers (we had 24 five years ago) at our main facility and two more at our disaster recovery site. These three servers are actually running 25 virtual servers that let us access company data, email, proprietary application and more. Cooling, electricity and space requirements have gone down dramatically.

As technology continues to progress and head more to the cloud, I think the traditional laptops and desktops that we are used to today will slowly disappear and move more towards devices that are instant on and don’t hold any critical data on the device –  only in the cloud.

Faisal Farooqui is the manager of business technology at Rhea + Kaiser.

Last week’s “Digital PR Next Practices Summit” yielded hundreds of helpful insights. Here are 12 such tidbits we thought were particularly worth sharing.

 1.  Online shoppers are 144% more likely to put an item in their shopping cart after viewing a product video.

2.   Your microsite is 53x more likely to get on the first page of Google search results if it has video content.

3.   By 2014, mobile Internet use will surpass desktop Internet use.

4.   A good Google+ profile has the following: (1) fresh content, (2) a defined voice, (3) no clutter, (4) transparency.

5.   Your headline is probably too long – Google only analyzes the first 65 characters of headlines in its search algorithm.

6.   RSS feeds are nearly always a top five traffic driver.

7.   46% of journalists use Twitter to find sources, and 98% of journalists start a story by doing a Google search.

8.   Journalists are increasingly expected to provide not just headline and body copy, but also links, keywords, alt text, etc. They consider it a tremendous value add if PR would start supplying these.

9.   LinkedIn has two severely underused professional development tools: Advanced Search and Answers.

10.  Crisis communication made simple: (1) Have a plan before it happens, (2) Don’t deny, (3) Humanize, (4) Don’t overreact, (5) Monitor.

11.  Some good books that can help you learn more: “Social Media ROI” and “Sam’s Teach Yourself Google Analytics in 10 Minutes.”

12.  The word that was spoken the most times during the conference: LISTEN.

You can find more event information here. The digital world moves at a breakneck speed, but with so many new communications tools at our disposal, we consider that a good thing.

 

Ben Potter is manager of technical writing at R+K. He is 53x more likely to help out a co-worker who bribes him with candy first.