Think back.
What’s your favorite holiday memory?
We’re sharing ours at BCause08.com.

Just B Cause

For every visit to Brainstorm’s interactive memory-filled holiday site we’ll donate 25 cents to the National Multiple Sclerosis Society, up to $5,000.

Visit www.BCause08.com today.

Holiday Greetings

1. Ed Illig Says:
   December 23rd, 2008 10:02 pm

   @ Dave: That sort of greeting blesses us all. Thanks so much for stopping by and sharing that with us.

2. Ed Illig Says:
   December 23rd, 2008 9:59 pm

   @ Jenny: Thanks for stopping by. And thanks for letting us be a part of ‘your’ holiday experience.

   @ Ripi: A StumbleUpon fan! Great to see you here Ripi. And thanks for passing the BCause08 link on - too kind.

   @ Scott: Thanks for dropping by. We seem to have an ever-strengthening tie to the good people of Canada. I’ve made many a friend there over the past year via Twitter.

   Thanks for the tip that our holiday site was posted on CTV!

   @ Aimee: Your brother rocks. :) Period.

3. Dave Schwarber Says:
   December 23rd, 2008 9:46 pm

   Thank you for your generosity and fun implementation. My wife has been diagnosed for 23 years and my daughter for 3. God Bless you all.

4. Jenny Says:
   December 23rd, 2008 6:10 pm

   How clever…and for a great cause!!! thanks for letting me be a part of it…

5. Ripi Says:
   December 23rd, 2008 1:35 pm

   Stumbled upon this and will pass it on to my circle of friends/family. Thanks for your good work.
   MERRY CHRISTMAS

6. Scott Says:
   December 23rd, 2008 10:14 am

   What a wonderful idea! I got the link from Kris Abel’s blog on CTV, and very impressed. Merry Christmas!

7. Paul Ruda Says:
   December 23rd, 2008 12:52 am

   @ Aimee: Hey there little sis! Thanks for stopping by. I’m glad you liked the site and are passing it along to share the holiday fun and help to support MS research. You guys should let little Ella click through this site a few dozen times…she’ll probably find all of the hidden fun stuff in there. Happy holidays Brackbills!

8. Aimee Ruda Brackbill Says:
   December 21st, 2008 10:04 am

   Really cute! I’m sending this out to my friends. Thanks for your work and Merry Christmas!

9. Bob Blass Says:
   December 20th, 2008 10:19 am

   HAZEL: Thanks for stopping by! Thanks for forwarding…hope to see you around town soon at tweetup or some other…

10. hazel walker Says:
    December 20th, 2008 10:00 am

    This is fun great job! I am going to forward it to all my friends.

11. Ed Illig Says:
    December 19th, 2008 4:00 pm

    Heather: Thanks for stopping by and leaving us that vivid image. :)

    Paul: Thanks for the kind comment and for dropping a line in our holiday pond. ;)

    Trish: Thanks not only for promoting BCause for MS on Twitter, et al., but for leaving a well wish here during your busy EmailOurMilitary season.

    Greatly appreciated!

12. Ed Illig Says:
    December 19th, 2008 3:52 pm

    Helen and Joselyn:
    Thanks for those evocative memories. I recall snowball fights, ice skating, sledding and eating snow until my core temperature dropped to an alarming level. :)

13. Dayngr Says:
    December 19th, 2008 11:21 am

    Wishing you and the entire team @ Brainstorm a joyous and memorable Christmas this year and always!

14. Heather Donegan Says:
    December 18th, 2008 5:09 pm

    I love the holiday season, because of all the wonderful time spent with family and friends! One of my favorite memories is relaxing after opening presents and having dinner by playing euchre at my Gramma’s house… and of course the yummy desserts! : )

15. paul ocepek Says:
    December 18th, 2008 12:02 pm

    merry christmas brainstorm, this is awesome.

16. Joselyn Says:
    December 18th, 2008 9:46 am

    A favorite memory of mine is going to bed with my radio on and listening to them tell us just where Santa was spotted flying over. I would look out the window to see him. I would try to stay up to hear the reindeer land on the roof but never made it!

17. Helen Says:
    December 17th, 2008 11:42 pm

    A favorite memory of mine is of my siblings and me [count 'em 12!] lining up along the banister for the annual Christmas photo in our early gift new pajamas. =)

18. Terry Julien Says:
    December 17th, 2008 10:20 pm

    Hey Bob! Thanks for leaving a message, and directing us to the memory page. It looks great, and the memories are hilarious!
    I need to make a trip down to Indy soon, so we can catch up a bit! It’s been too long.
    Merry Christmas!

19. Bob Blass Says:
    December 17th, 2008 4:55 pm

    KELI: Man! Long time no hear!! Good to hear from you, and I hope that all is well there in KY. Yes, we are still slugging it out, into our 14th year. Have a great Christmas and New Year!

    Best,
    Bob

20. Bob Blass Says:
    December 17th, 2008 4:37 pm

    MUKUND: Thanks for dropping by! Have a great holiday season, and best to you out on the Smart Coast!

21. stacy Says:
    December 17th, 2008 2:52 pm

    fantastic. very nice. happy holidays to you all.

22. Rob Kearns Says:
    December 17th, 2008 1:33 pm

    Simply delightful - best wishes to you all!

23. Ed illig Says:
    December 17th, 2008 1:16 pm

    @ Avinash: And you’d be pleased to know this "card" is wired like a holiday light set with Google Analytic events. :) (child asleep on chest: nice image)
    @ Janet: You’re just nuts, Janet. That third week was going to be so awesome too. ;) And a wonderful Christmas to you.
    @ Lori: You certainly illuminated the holidays here at Brainstorm. But you knew that. We of course miss you too, Lori. All the best this season. :)
    @ Brian: Hi, Brian! Thanks, and happy holidays to you as well!
    @ Susan K.: I was hoping you’d drop by. And now you have. It’s great we’ve all reconnected via these social mediums. :)
    @ PopTopp: Glad it flipped your lid! Happy holidays. :)

    Thanks @ large folks. - Ed (dude :) )

24. Keli Quinn Ulferts Says:
    December 17th, 2008 12:36 pm

    Hello Bob, and Ed ( and others who joined later…) —

    Merry Christmas from Kentucky — so glad to see you all are still in business!

    Keli

25. Betty K. Says:
    December 17th, 2008 11:42 am

    Great!
    This is what Christmas is all about. Heart warming.

    Thank you Santa and your helpers….

    Merry Christmas

26. Dennis Trinkle Says:
    December 16th, 2008 11:52 pm

    Thank you Brainstorm. You’re creative, collaborative, and committed to community–just the type of values-based organization everyone should want to work with. Thanks for making your holiday greeting about helping others.

27. POPTOPP Says:
    December 16th, 2008 10:52 pm

    ED: YOU SHOULD HAVE SAID LOOK AT ALL THAT HAIR! MARCEY & I WISH EVERYONE @ BRAINSTORM A MERRY CHRISTMAS & A HAPPY & PROSPEROUS NEW YEAR! ENJOYED YOUR AWESOME WEBSITE!

28. Susan Kindel Says:
    December 16th, 2008 10:28 pm

    Brainstorm does it best! This is awesome!

29. Mukund Mohan Says:
    December 16th, 2008 9:39 pm

    Nice. I like the creepy santa guy. Bad haircuts are the norm for me BTW.

30. Brian Says:
    December 16th, 2008 8:57 pm

    Happy Holidays!

31. Lori Says:
    December 16th, 2008 7:59 pm

    Hey guys. Love it! :)
    Holidays at Brainstorm were always my favorite time of year. :) Have a wonderful, relaxing holiday season. :) Miss you. xoxo

32. janet schwind Says:
    December 16th, 2008 7:44 pm

    Hi dudes!
    I love it! See this is why I worked for you guys for two whole weeks! You’re awesome!! Have a wonderful Christmas!

33. Avinash Kaushik Says:
    December 16th, 2008 7:42 pm

    Brilliant! Absolutely adored this "card".

    For me holiday memories started all over again with the kids. Each year they give me new ones (like typing this on vacatoin with my 4 year old sleeping on my chest). :)

    -Avinash.

34. Ed Illig Says:
    December 16th, 2008 5:54 pm

    @ Charlotte: That’s the way i remembered it anyway. ;)
    @Greg G: thanks for the birthday sentiments, Greg - great to see you here.
    @ Drew: Pumpkin Pie: You’ll get no argument here. And, ditto. :)
    @ Barbara B.: Now if only Chuck might stop by and share his holiday "tails". Really great to see you here, B. :)
    @Leigh: The goodies are rolling in. :) Stop by any time.
    @ Phil: But Phil, we just donated for you. :) -Eddie the Kid
    @ Jim: Watch it we still have access to your ‘fro shot. ;)
    @ Tracy Lee: I had no idea. that makes this effort worth it all the more.
    @ Joe: You’re not alone on any of those counts. Thanks.
    @ Scott: Thanks!. Miss: likewise!
    @ Mary Ellen: H’m, ‘Memory Machine’ may stick. Has a certain Raay Bradbury ring to it. :)

35. Tom Neff Says:
    December 16th, 2008 5:02 pm

    Nice touch.

36. Tim Barnes Says:
    December 16th, 2008 4:21 pm

    Great web site. Fun to see the holiday memories. Appreciate your generosity!!

    I have great memories of working with Bart and the Brainstorm team on projects at International Teams during my tenure there. Wishing you all a wonderful and joyous holiday season!!!

37. Brian Brase Says:
    December 16th, 2008 4:20 pm

    Thank you very much.

38. Mary Ellen Cassells Says:
    December 16th, 2008 4:15 pm

    I enjoyed your greeting this year, and especially the donations to MS. I loved the "memory machine"… very innovative!

39. Scott Woolgar Says:
    December 16th, 2008 3:50 pm

    Fantastic job. I miss you guys!

    – Scott

40. Heidi Baniszewski Says:
    December 16th, 2008 3:35 pm

    This was the coolest! Thanks for sharing it. Thanks also for sharing with the MS society. Have a wonderful Christmas and many blessings in the new year.
    Heidi

41. Joe Wendel Says:
    December 16th, 2008 3:25 pm

    It was cool to see past holiday wishes. Don’t things seem funny in the rear view mirror? I personally appreciate your donation. I may have MS, but it doesn’t have me!

42. Lydia Stauder Says:
    December 16th, 2008 3:21 pm

    This email made my day. It is so wonderful to hear about folks doing something good when we have so many troubles going on in the world today. I am mostly thankful for all the blessings, family, and friends during the holidays. That’s what makes it special.

43. Tracy Lee Carroll Says:
    December 16th, 2008 2:22 pm

    The glowing warmth of the smile you gave me was to me, what Christmas is all about.

    Thank you!

    This is a wonderfully concocted work or art/toy and the fact that you will be donating to the MS society makes it even richer for me. I watched MS take my father’s brother down, little by little. My mother and a dear froend have also had their lives forever changed by this dibilitaing disease.

    Thank you again!

    Tracy Lee

44. Lisa Coffman Says:
    December 16th, 2008 2:13 pm

    Happy Holidays!
    We are so pleased that Brainstorm is using its’ incredible creative gifts to help support the Indiana State Chapter of the National Multiple Sclerosis Society this season.
    Thank you so much!

45. Keerat Singh Says:
    December 16th, 2008 2:12 pm

    Great idea and site!!!! Merry Christmas and Happy New Year 2009 to Bob, Barb, Ed and team!!

46. Jim Wolfe Says:
    December 16th, 2008 1:58 pm

    Brainstormers all…
    Great job on this site. I see ‘fingerprints’ everywhere. Merry Christmas to you all - hope to see you before the holiday. My Christmas memory? A ‘fro by firelight!

47. Phil O'Halloran Says:
    December 16th, 2008 1:47 pm

    Ed, Bob, Barb and Hiroki,

    Congratulations on another high end design — I had no idea you did animation! Very cool and for a good cause too. Will send a donation. I pulled the tag enough to see shots of Baby Ed and Eddie the Kid.

    Be Brainstorm!

    {that’s my choice for your next ad campaign}

48. Sharon Says:
    December 16th, 2008 1:39 pm

    What a wonderful Idea!
    Giving to a great cause.
    Wishing Everyone at Braintorm a Very Merry Christmas and a super duper great 2009.

49. Leigh Marino Says:
    December 16th, 2008 1:37 pm

    Nice! Merry Christmas to all of you too. Ask Barb to save me a homemade christmas cookie! and Hiroki to save me one of those weird orange things his mom sends him! I miss you guys!!! Leigh (p.s. great job on the holiday microsite!

50. Barbara Bennett Says:
    December 16th, 2008 1:13 pm

    Merry Christmas, Ed! The season of giving–thanks for contributing to MS and inviting me in to view your memories. What a wonderfully fun idea. My favorite memory–secretly unwrapping the Bugs Bunny electric toothbrush, and then attempting to rewrap it without my mother realizing. (I failed miserably!)

51. Drew Cronenwett Says:
    December 16th, 2008 1:09 pm

    Pumpkin pie rocks!!
    Thanks for the memories Brainstorm and have a great holiday season.

52. Greg Glass Says:
    December 16th, 2008 1:03 pm

    Christmas is the best birthday party I can think of!

53. Charlotte Says:
    December 16th, 2008 1:02 pm

    Wow!! Thanks, Ed! Happy holidays!! Love "My mother’s incessant desire to photograph me in the bathroom mirror."

54. Ian Says:
    December 16th, 2008 12:47 pm

    It doesn’t work on any mobile device.

    Merry Christmas

55. Belinda Says:
    December 16th, 2008 11:57 am

    Christmas rocks!

56. Gwen Says:
    December 16th, 2008 11:53 am

    Happy holidays, everyone!

57. Ed Illig Says:
    December 16th, 2008 11:40 am

    "A Christmas gambol oft could cheer
    The poor man’s heart through half the year."
    ~ Walter Scott

Who’s Who?

What do BBDO, New York; Disney, Paris; Greenpeace; the BBC; and Brainstorm all have in common? Each won a Best in Show Award from the 2008 W3 Awards, a global competition for website and online content designers, creators, and promoters, judged by the International Academy of Visual Arts.

“In a competition pitting over 3,000 competitors, including Fortune 500 companies and international marketing agencies, we’re pleased to finish in the top 1 percent,” said Brainstorm’s president, Bob Blass.

What’s What?

Brainstorm also won a Gold Award for Visual Appeal for the site, Camino a la Universidad (The Road to College). The site brings interactive life to a research report on Latino’s post-secondary access and success by University of Texas at San Antonio professor Dr. Raymond Padilla.

“Brainstorm created a beautiful, culturally relevant, sharable way to interact with decades of research data without diminishing its depth and substance,” said Teresa Detrich of the Lumina Foundation, sponsor of the research and website.

This is Brainstorm’s third W3 Award, including a Silver Award in 2007 for a website promoting Community Health Network’s North Hospital.

Avoid depression. :)

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

Top 20 Things You Could Do With $700 Billion

1. Buy a house of cards
2. Socialize a bit more
3. Avoid depression. :)
4. Buy a better bowling ball
5. Impress the ladies
6. Look to AIG for alternative answers and assurances
7. Y’ought to be able to buy a yacht for that;
   join the U.S. CEO Flotilla
8. Not solve the financial crisis
9. Buy buckets and barrels of French wine!
10. Fund golden parachutes, Wall Street style
    (10.5: Give everyone in the U.S. $2,300)
11. Purchase the means to produce more, consume less.
12. America
13. 700 trillion pieces of Bazooka Joe (I think)
14. 1.4 trillion McDonald’s Apple Pies
    (of course on sale buy 1 get 1 free)
15. Fund AIG executive retreat
16. Pay off 1/1000 of U.S. debt to China
17. Buy a decent-sized island; launch America 2.0
18. Provide alternative energy sources to entire U.S.
19. (buy) Houses for people to live in
20. Live like a Buffett – Buy Iceland

See the entire board

[image: mab@flickr]

“Enter zip code.”

First Impressions

Low on fuel and on a tight schedule, I pulled into a BP-fueled truck stop. Grimy housings, hand-scrawled, duct-taped instructions, greasy LCD screens and several “out of order” signs indicated that this wasn’t your typical BP.

My instincts told me to take my business elsewhere but my fuel gauge and my watch spurred me on.

Imposing Impressions

I inserted my credit card into the slot and after a long delay—as if awakened from a deep, sleepy dial-up—the screen queried, “Credit or Debit?” I punched “Credit” and, after another delay, got “Car Wash Y/N?” I scanned the keypad and hit “N.” At last the computer processed my input and responded “Enter zip code.”

Zip code? This zip code? Certainly not. My business zip code? My home zip code? And why? ID verification? Demographic purposes? Requiring personal data mid-transaction calls for a friendly explanation. Something beyond “Enter zip code.”

Perturbed, I punched in my home zip code. Time passed, “Authorizing…” At long last the pump offered up its final decree: “Card error.” Now invested and thinking I’d erred in supplying my home zip code, I repeated the entire process, entering my business zip code—to no avail, “Card error” again.

Lasting Impressions

I returned to my car, cold, irritated, and still in need of fuel, wondering exactly what “Card error” meant. And why zip code was the last query in my customer experience, not the first. Several exits later I filled my tank at a competitor’s pump using the same credit card.

So what did BP gain from this customer interaction? They realized no sale, no add-on sale and, by association with the truck stop, a less than positive brand impression with a potential customer.

Acquiring customer data and positioning yourself for additional sales opportunities is smart business, but never at the expense of your customers’ experience. In today’s convenience-oriented, competitive business climate, place a premium on your customers’ time and expectations. From housekeeping to user interface design, put customer needs and desires ahead of your own. That’s front line branding.

[ image: ifranz ]

The Spork of Tomorrow,
Here Today

The Forgotten Spoon

A recent visit to the deli counter at Target yielded an interesting consumer experience brand extension. It’s a small detail, yet answers a very basic quandary.

Ever leave a deli or carry out without a utensil with which to eat? Enter this little innovation.

Forget Finger Food

The lid of the food container has a small thermoformed cavity that’s roughly the shape of the head of a spoon. In this cavity is a “folded” spoon with a living hinge and a snap-fit tab that transforms it into a fully functional utensil roughly 2/3 the length of a normal plasticware spoon.

Putting a Finger on Innovation

A need was identified and with some simple ingenuity a smart solution was borne. While it won’t change the world, it is genius.

[ image: illig ]