Suspended Studios...the Blog!

So I'm listening to the radio right now as they cover the poor kids who is alegedly floating away in this UFO balloon. I couldn't find any good photos so I got some off of a live stream of FoxNews.com. This has that Disney movie "Flight of the Navigator" written all over it. Maybe this is just a stunt for the remake? Who knows.













Good news! He just landed in a cow pasture! Just kidding. I hope the kid ends up alright though. He'll have one heck of a story to tell.

***UPDATE***

The balloon has landed and, thank goodness, there's nobody in it. On the radio, these morons reported that there was no one in it and the reporter said: "There's no one in it...oh well." OH WELL??? How about "WHEW! Thank goodness!" What were you hoping that there would be a body in there? Idiots, these people in the media honestly make me sick. What's wrong with people? And where is the kid? The mystery continues...

***UPDATE***

So the whole thing WAS a hoax, wow, who saw THAT coming? Ha ha, it was fun while it lasted, huh?

This latest project, "A Dollar for Debbie", is actually for my mom who was recently diagnosed with breast cancer. As soon as I heard about it, I decided that I needed to do something but didn't know what to do until an idea just popped into my head a few days ago. So I decided to use blogger as the platform for this project because of how integrated it is with YouTube, Gmail, Picasa and other tools that my mom is already familiar with.

Yep, I'm turning my mom into a blogger. I think sharing her story and experiences will be very therapeutic for her and that her amazingly positive attitude can inspire others. The other reason I built this was to help raise money for her. Since my parents don't have insurance, they're looking for ways of covering the expenses. One solution was to come up with the idea of just giving one dollar.



It's basically as simple as that, and what we're noticing is that people don't seem to like to abide by the 'one dollar' request. They're giving more. I think it says a lot about people. When it comes to a good cause, and to do something that will directly change someone's life something seems to click in us.

Thus far, the 1.2 days since this project has been live, we've raised $333 out of 456 visitors (the stats are right on the page) and I think that it's awesome. We're working on some other plans for the future of this idea. If it's successful, then we plan on seeing how we can really use a version of this program to benefit other women struggling with the same problem. I honestly love to work on projects like this because they impact people, they make a difference and they take the drudgery out of the daily grind and remind you what life is all about.

Ok, so I found this site today advertising these "cargo bikes" by a company named "Madsen" and my first thought was "brilliant"! If you've got kids (which I do) something like this is simply awesome.

Link: MADSEN Cargo Bikes



We currently have this trailer thing that we have to hook onto the bike but this looks a heck of a lot more pratical for day to day use. It's like a wagon built into the bike. With all this "green" talk going on, this is a perfect way to capitalize on the hyseria. A few people might buy it wanting to save the planet, but I think most will like the idea of saving gas and getting exercise more.



I mean, either way, you can market this thing in a myriad of reasons. I think one particular downside is that it's probably a pain to fit into a vehicle of any kind, especially if you have kids in the back seats. I know this because I built a 9.6' long bike and I have to strap that thing to the TOP of my Trailblazer. That said, I don't think that should be TOO much of an issue because this thing looks like it's designed to get you from home to other places around the neighborhood, so you probably won't be taking it on trips or anything.

Seriously, I think it's a pretty clever idea, and I always like to see innovation in areas where you usually think that you've seen it all. Cool stuff.

I liked the photo of this guy towing around his music equipment on one of these bikes. He's so excited...or late to band practice.

So this morning I get an email from Light CMS. Usually in the mornings I check my email on my phone so I'll just browse down my list and see if any of the new ones are interesting. When I come across an email from some place that I randomly signed up at just to see how their processes work, I kind of sigh a little because it's kind of like a girl that you take out on a date just to be nice and now she keeps calling you...and, dude, it's over, seriously. Ok, so that's kind of mean but I think you get the idea.

However, this email seemed a little different than the standard "Thank you for signing up, here's a reminder of all the stuff you've already spent time looking at on the site" type of email. The subject line said "Ashley with LightCMS" and I though that this was very clever, just make it look like it's from a specific person. So I cracked it open and read a very non-threatening and actually inviting email. They put the unsubscribe information right at the TOP instead of hiding it (like you're never going to find it) down at the bottom. I appreciated that. Then they provided a photo of a friendly looking 'consultant' (eww, makes me think MLM) who offered assistance. Real help from a person and not an FAQ that has every answer except the one I need, snazzy. Then it offers the consultant's full name and "personal" email address so that you can bug them personally with your questions.

Well, I have to tell ya, I was pretty impressed with this because of its simplicty and effectiveness. I liked the personal touch because it set it apart from what you usually see every day. Creativity in marketing can be so incredibly effective in the small details like this simple example. I mean, hey, if it gets some designer to waste 15 minutes of his time writing a positive blog post about it then it's a good thing, right?