Keeping busy in September

So. Many. Proposals.

Wow, have we been busy working on new business proposals. From good old fashioned direct marketing projects, to content strategy and writing, to website redesigns, to brand messaging and repositioning, to marketing automation, we’re seeing a boom in B2B companies who are looking to up their marketing game. Some of these we’ve won, others we haven’t, and we’re still in the running for a few more. Nonetheless, we are enjoying the challenges of learning about new companies and working on solutions to help them achieve their goals. That’s pretty much why we come to work every day.

Pro Bono Work

The nice thing about pro bono projects is that we don’t have to write a proposal. And in the case of CycleHealth, we get to do some really cool work. CycleHealth is an initiative of the YMCA Greater Twin Cities that offers fitness challenges for kids. We’ve been partnering with the amazing people who run this organization (and previous others) for almost 10 years on a pro bono basis, and we never get tired of designing fun and inspiring materials for them. We’ll be revealing the work soon in an upcoming newsletter.

Literally, Around the Agency

What seems like ages ago, but is probably just over a year, construction began on a new 10-story building (plus 3 floors of above ground parking) right next door to us. Last winter, we endured months of non-stop steel beams being pounded into ground—our building owner actually sent regular updates to inform us that the foundation hadn’t moved. They still have one more story to go and we’ve all agreed we’ll probably never see the sun again once it’s complete.

To help ease our pain, we visited the new First Draft Taproom & Kitchen for a late summer, beer-enhanced, Friday lunch expedition, which is conveniently located just two blocks from our office. The food was great and the pour-your-own-beer experience was, well, interesting to say the least. Read all about Tim’s experience in his latest blog.

Project 333

This month we’re showing some local support by choosing Friends of the Boundary Waters Wilderness for our $333 donation. Not only are The Boundary Waters in Minnesota’s back yard, the Friends of the BWW organization is headquartered in our office building. Their stated mission is: “To protect, preserve and restore the wilderness character of the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness and the Quetico-Superior Ecosystem.” Since 1976 they’ve been working to keep this area, important not only to Minnesota but to all of North America, healthy, vibrant and protected from activities that erode its wilderness character. They also fight to ensure the entire area is managed according to sound ecological principles.