Hollywood comes to Indianapolis

The annual Heartland Film Festival kicks off a 10-day run in Indianapolis today. This year’s festival features a record 87 films from around the world.

Heartland Truly Moving Pictures
is a non-profit organization that seeks
to recognize and honor filmmakers
whose work explores the human journey
by expressing hope and emphasizing
the best in human spirit.

The Festival will award cash prizes totaling $200,000 to winning dramatic, documentary, short, and student films at the Crystal Heart Awards ceremony on Saturday, October 17th. Audiences rate movies and vote for their favorites throughout the Festival and Audience Choice Awards are presented at the end of the Festival.

The Heartland Film Festival awards ceremony

“We’re excited about the number of opportunities film lovers have to experience the Festival this year,� said Jeff Sparks, Heartland Truly Moving Pictures President and CEO. “If someone has never attended the Festival before, this is definitely the year to give it a try.�

Over the past year, Brainstorm partnered with Heartland Truly Moving Pictures on the architecture, design and development of their Truly Moving Pictures website and we’re proud to be a 2009 Premier Level sponsor of the Festival.

A Mark Left

I live in an urban environment with a bus stop near the front of my house. One morning, my neighbors and I were dismayed to awake to graffiti. Our bus stop had symbols painted on it, store front windows were etched, a residential fence defaced, and the light post marked.

“The value of identity of course is that so often with it comes purpose.”

-Richard R. Grant

While I don’t think anyone in the neighborhood was surprised that it happened, we were grossly disappointed. We all work hard to maintain our beautiful space, but someone with a different connection to our space worked hard to mark it as their own. How hard they worked is debatable but they made their mark.

Leaving a Mark

Our identity is hugely important to our success, whether we’re a small business, an individual or a gang. We all create an identity, intentional or not. Some of us leave a mark and some of us don’t. I learned something from the “un-identified� (in my world) gang. They have an identity that means something to their audience, probably their enemies. It means something to me too – there is never an appropriate time to push an identity on someone, or a community, if they don’t want it.

Likewise, how your identity is imposed upon and received in today’s social media communities is a critical component of any brand design and marketing strategy.

Consider yours carefully, seek good counsel and identify yourself properly.

Image: Robyn Gallagher

Her love of
chicken and waffles

Our latest list of inane musings from the Brainstorm office white board:

Top 20 Reasons We Like Margo

1. She can call Goldie Hawn Mom, and get away with it
2. She sits funny
3. Her love of chicken and waffles
4. She always smells good
5. Bubbly personality
6. She makes random outbursts!
7. Denies ever being married
   to a Black Crowes band member (see #1)
8. She’s shorter than me
9. Her outgoing nature
10. She listens to me ramble all day
11. She’s a good superb stellar designer
12. She can talk and work at the same time
13. She talks to herself more than I do
14. It makes Jenni us all happy to have her here
15. Post-It note® reminder to herself: No candy No candy NO CANDY
16. Cute as a Kate Hudson button,
    sweet as a Kate Hudson pie (see #1)
17. Even her name is fun
18. She breaks into spontaneous song
19. Her smile :)
20. Because she limited herself to adding only 2 items to this list.
21. She won’t take offense at this board

See the entire board