Tyner Pond Farm is a Rare Bird client, and on behalf of them and all those who support locally grown food, Hoosier farmers and all things good for Mother Earth, we invite you to give those great causes an important boost. Chase Bank’s Mission Main Street Grants program will award grants of $250,000 each to […]
Author: Jim Cota
Last year, about this time, I penned a brief primer intended to help people make the most of their trip to Indianapolis for Exact Target’s annual marketer-stravaganza, Connections. While initially intended for first-timers, it turned out to be helpful for veterans as well. In retrospect, this shouldn’t have been surprising: every year is so uniquely […]
It’s State Fair time in Indiana. As the newest member of the Rare Bird staff (aka “Baby Bird,” which perhaps is not the most apt but is, so far, the least head-scratching of my proposed nicknames), I decided to find out how my fellow birds feel about this Hoosier tradition. Here, for your edification, entertainment, […]
Have you ever had to buy something you knew very little about? Something like a vacuum cleaner, a gas grill, wiper blades, or maybe even replacing your brake pads? For some of the smaller items, like the wiper blades, you may do what I do: pick the one with the median price. If you do, […]
You may have noticed some subtle changes going on around you. More and more people are wearing odd bracelets emblazoned with small LED lights, some even show scrolling words that refer to their current ‘fuel’ levels. While it might look like a bit of avant garde jewelry, it’s really the latest in wearable technology and […]
Even in this age of hyper-communication, where people are willingly sharing all kinds of things with each other on social networks, there is one area of our lives where we quiet down completely. On the one hand, it’s not surprising. The topic is uncomfortable and the potential for misunderstanding is large. On the other hand, […]
In sixth grade, I had the insight to realize that girls love musicians. So when the time came to sign up for music at school, I quickly raised my hand and declared my intent to play guitar. “That’s great,” said Mrs. Bonham, as she handed me a violin. “Start with this.” I have nothing against […]
Recently, Indianapolis Police Detective Darin Odier came to our school with a message for the students, and he delivered it in the most impactful way possible: He started with the seventh and eighth graders and immediately got their attention by projecting pictures of some of them on the big screen at the front of the […]
Oh, woe is the plight of the marketer. With so many things to do, so many channels to explore, we often forget the one abiding truth in nearly everything we do: No one cares like we do. We find ourselves today living in the proverbial forest, trying to answer the timeless question: If a tree […]
There’s a significant amount of evidence, both empirical and anecdotal, that suggests you really need to meet face-to-face with your clients and customers periodically. Of course, the reality of your working life may make this difficult. If so, you’re likely relying on conference calls to keep in touch and ensure projects are progressing. For the […]
Your kid can be a Maker. That’s the promise of a new website called DIY (DIY.org) that is built around the idea of moving kids away from the virtual world – and deeper into the real one – by getting their hands dirty with projects. In an interesting twist, they can then post pictures of […]
I was doing some research recently and discovered an infographic that explained just how much data is being generated by the information-rich world in which we live. The image showed things like “Google receives more than 2,000,000 search queries” and “Twitter users send more than 100,000 tweets” and “Facebook users share more than 684,000 pieces […]
