What is SOPA/PIPA and why should you care?

Today’s blackout protest of the SOPA and PIPA bills is one of the biggest organized protests in the history of the web. Not only are the big web services on board but the Twitterverse is a constant stream of “Stop SOPA/PIPA” “Call your Senators and Representatives” and “Why is Wikipedia down? My paper is due in 2 hours?! Nooooo!!!”.

Some could argue that this piece of legislation is designed to stop online piracy, no doubt a relevant cause and worth fighting. The problem, however, is that SOPA/PIPA legislation is a blanket solution much akin to fighting a toenail infection with euthanasia. It’s too general and too restrictive to be any good for a free and open internet community. Creating a firewall between the United States and the rest of the world is not the answer. By blacking out for the day, organizations like Wikipedia and Google are trying to educate Americans who may not quite understand what this could mean for a free and open internet and how mass restrictions would stifle free speech and change the face of the internet as we know it today. Below are a list of links explaining the issues and providing a few perspectives. I would encourage everyone (regardless of which side of the aisle you sit) to read about these pieces of legistlation and educate yourself on the issues. Not to be overly dramatic but, the future of the free internet may depend on it! (cue dramatic echo)

Google’s landing page provides information and immediately contact your Senators and Representatives.

A good article in CNN Money SOPA explained: What it is and why it matters

An inspiring talk at TEDxUofM Marvin Ammori – Why Internet Policy Matters

The Day the LOLcats Died

Other resources:
Stop The Wall
Americancensorship.org
BlackoutSOPA.org
Craigslist: About SOPA
What is PIPA?
What is the open internet?
While the Net Goes Dark for SOPA and PIPA, Register to Vote by Christina Gagnier, intellectual property attorney and partner at Gagnier Margossian LLP
Websites flexing muscle in push against online piracy bills LA Times

A Thankfulness bib.

This year at The Image Group we’re just really, really, really thankful for our clients, our families, our friends and just life in general. We have SO much to be thankful for that this could get messy fast. So the brain trust here at TIG have designed a thankfulness bib. A handcrafted and designed bib printed on premium paper and basted with our personal Thanksgiving thoughts and favorite recipes.

This year we invite you to join us in wearing YOUR bib of thankfulness. So as you gather with family, friends and that crazy aunt and uncle from out of town, you can slather them in love and appreciation for who they are and the joy that they bring to your life.

Please know that here at TIG our thankfulness bibs are covered with gratefulness, blessings and a little turkey gravy for the many blessings the Lord has provided.

If we just take the time to count our blessings, our bibs of thankfulness should be a Thanksgiving masterpiece.

Happy Thanksgiving!

AMA Symposium on Higher Education 2011

Ah, it is the end of another enlightening, inspiring and exhausting conference from the American Marketing Association marketingpower.com. Over the past 3 days, the Symposium on Higher Education provided an open atmosphere for higher ed marketing and communications professionals to share with, learn from and even brag to each other.

I am going to need a few days to process the sessions and put into words the ah-ha moments, but throughout the sessions was a push for, or really, a rallying cry for college and university marketing efforts to be authentic and exemplify the amazing product that higher education is. Education is life changing and sometimes it takes a 3-day break from the day-to-day to remember what a privilege it is to promote it. And, as you do so, do everything – video or social, print or web – really, really well.

Here are a few institutions we heard from who are doing things really well and seeing great results.

Boston University Admissions

University of Dayton Undergraduate Application Page

American University

Stone Plastics Video

West Michigan. Our home. It has long been a place of strong community where entrepreneurs have been able to breathe life into ideas and watch them grow. Michigan has faced some difficult times as of late, so it is always encouraging to see businesses that are able to thrive in spite of an economic downturn. Stone Plastics is one of them. As a company, they are a youthful 12 years of age, yet they produce parts that make their way onto some of the finest cars in the world, including Bentley and Mercedes-Benz. Their good work is evidence of a great company culture. Each person you meet at Stone, from leadership to engineers to machine operators, seems genuinely delighted to be working there.

Recently, we had the opportunity to work with Stone to produce a video that highlights what makes them unique as a company. We had a lot of fun shooting this piece. Acquisition of B-roll in the plant brought me back to my days as a kid watching Mr. Rogers show how stuff is made on the Picture Picture. There was no lack of visually interesting things to shoot. However, we went one step further and enlisted the help of Matt Johnston, a rally car driver turned aerial video shooter. Matt originally custom-built a remote helicopter camera platform for shooting rally cars, but as it turns out, it also works great inside a plant. This unique platform, combined with Matt’s ability to actually fly the darned thing, enabled us to get some really unique shots that would not have been possible otherwise. It also provided a decent amount of entertainment for the Stone employees. Engineers stood by gazing drop-jawed with iPhone cameras rolling as the flying lawnmower buzzed overhead. And in case you were wondering, there were no collisions and no one was injured in the making of this video.

West Michigan: Home of Mike Tyson

CBS recently launched a new reality show called “Same Name.” Each episode features a celebrity and an average Joe who share the same name. When they trade lives for a few days, they discover how much or how little they have in common beyond having the same name. Sunday night, Mike Tyson was on the show. That’s right, Mike Tyson, the part-time nurse and stay-at-home dad from Zeeland, Michigan…and Mike Tyson, the former heavyweight boxing champ.

Not only did West Michigan get some national airtime in this episode, but two identities created by The Image Group were prominently displayed. “Michigan Mike” and his wife work for Metro Health. Their logo—that The Image Group created as part of a comprehensive brand campaign a few years ago—was shown numerous times throughout the episode. Metro received some great free publicity as a result of the show, particularly in regard to the work they are doing in their community clinics for low-income and/or uninsured patients. In addition, the City of Zeeland got a little shout out as the home of Mike Tyson, and the Z! logo and Feel the Zeel tagline that The Image Group created were shown onscreen as well.

• CBS: Same Name
• Grand Rapids Press article on the Mike Tysons

*iPhone photo stealthily taken by resident paparazzi photographer Jason Kehrer