For my weekly Social Image of the Week column on Convince&Convert, I’m covering Glad’s #TrashCrashers campaign, which leverages visual storytelling, influencer partnerships and events in an effort to make people view cleaning up in a fun new way. For more information, plus tips on ways Glad can further activate the campaign, please click here to read the post.
While Valentine’s Day has come and gone, I am so excited to share with you the most surprising gift I received on that day: a copy of MY FIRST BOOK! Yes, that’s right dear readers of The SavvyBostonian – I co-wrote a book! The book is called The Power of Visual Storytelling and discusses how to strategically use visuals, videos, and social media to market your brand.
The book is published by McGraw-Hill and I was fortunate to co-write it with one of the most intelligent, dynamic people I know: Ekaterina Walter. We were inspired to write the book after an article Ekaterina wrote on the subject went viral – and for good reason.
Pause for a moment and think about just how drastically the social media landscape has changed over the past few years in favor of visuals. When I first signed up for Facebook, the only image I could use was my profile photo and now my Newsfeed is a mobile-friendly stream of photos, videos, infographics, and more. Sites like Instagram and Vine have disrupted the industry by encouraging users to communicate with visuals and videos. Pinterest has changed the way we organize content and search for visual inspiration.
The book is meant to inspire new levels of creativity within organizations of all sizes – small, medium, large. We wanted to write the book to offer marketers tools and tips on how to work smarter and embrace the best practices of visual storytelling. We’ve included a powerful toolkit, full-color visuals, case studies and a step-by-step roadmap on how to curate visuals into a story. Whether you’re starting a business on your own, trying to build a brand for yourself online, or want to take your company’s social media to the next level, we’ve included a broad spectrum of examples across B2B and B2C companies.
I’m so excited that the book is here and now available on Amazon. We’re officially launching it in March 2014, but it’s shipping now. Oh, and if you do purchase a copy on Amazon, please make sure to leave us a review there and let us know what you thought of the book. We would love to hear your feedback!
For my weekly Social Image of the Week column on Convince&Convert, I’m covering the clever #CokeGames video contest Coca-Cola is hosting inspired by everyday moments of Olympic greatness that can be captured at home – all starring a Coke, of course. For more information on the video contest and tips for hosting a video contest on social media, please click here to read the post.
I know what you’re thinking….more snow!? I’m right there with you. This winter has been anything but pleasant for yours truly. After so many years of braving Boston winters, I consider myself fairly patient (thanks to wearing by North Face down coat + snow boots at all times), but this winter has been tough. If there’s a silver lining, it’s this photo of the Back Bay. At least the city looks beautiful in the snow. Fingers crossed that this will be our last snowstorm!
It’s almost comical writing about late night eats in Boston, simply because to most the city is not perceived as a late night kind of town. Despite bars and restaurants closing earlier than in cities like New York, there’s still an appetite for late night eats beyond stumbling over to Chinatown or ordering takeout pizza. One restaurant catering to the city’s late night foodies is Uni, Ken Oringer’s sashimi bar in The Eliot Hotel. Every week on Friday and Saturday night, Uni serves up a late-night ramen menu, complete with hearty bowls of noodles, plus sides like steamed pork buns, roasted shishito peppers, and more.
Although the menu is written up each week on a piece of cardboard (see left) and subject to change , I found out during my two visits that there are a few ground rules you have to abide by if you want to enjoy late-night ramen:
All in all, I really enjoyed trying out the late-night ramen menu at Uni, but not sure how frequently I’ll go back. The ramen was good, but a little too salty for me to enjoy late night. If they change their policy to just require a $10 per person order, I could see myself there more frequently. Those steamed pork buns were a home run for my late-night food cravings.
Unfortunately, it was too dark to snap good photos, but a quick search on Flickr showcases some lovely images of Uni’s late-night ramen. Sadly, they’re not creative commons licensed, but check ’em out here.
Uni is located inside the Elliot Hotel at 370 Comm. Ave. in Boston’s Back Bay.