Ironically, the best feedback that I received on the initial post was via Facebook, about a week later.

Well Allison, I have taken part of your advice for now. This installment includes some of my favorite tweets and blog posts, by people other than just social media folks, and is geared more around great uses of the protocol(s) for starting the conversation. Any conversation that is!

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(1) The #needWaffle campaign. A Twitter conversation between @michaeltomko and @NadozCafe.

[blackbirdpie url="http://twitter.com/michaeltomko/status/16073819259"]

[blackbirdpie url="http://twitter.com/NadozCafe/status/16074046792"]

[blackbirdpie url="http://twitter.com/michaeltomko/status/16076527995"]

[blackbirdpie url="http://twitter.com/michaeltomko/status/16087172760"]

[blackbirdpie url="http://twitter.com/NadozCafe/status/16113310678"]

[blackbirdpie url="http://twitter.com/michaeltomko/status/16113928562"]

[note: The word "touché" is not being correctly displayed in the above tweet. Thank you Blackbird Pie]

I’ll admit, I was most definitely baiting Nadoz Café to figure out a way to respond to the gauntlet that I had publicly thrown down. In my mind I was going to see 1 of 3 possible “reactions”.

1. They wouldn’t respond to the bait.
2. They’d go all Nestle on me.
3. They’d come back with something either witty, creative or both.

In all honesty, Nadoz Café far exceeded my expectations and came back with something not only witty and creative, but also quite worthy of me publicizing via word-of-mouth, social media and now this blog post. This is a fantastic example of a small business using social media to create empowered, and localized, advocates of their brand. And the other very important thing to realize here is that I haven’t even been in to eat their food yet and I’m already evangelizing how impressed I am with them. Thank you Nadoz for showing me the person(s) behind the curtain and responding to my bait like a real person would. I will be in very soon to claim my waffle.

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(2) “Google Rolls Out Local Business Tags Nationwide, Soon on Mobile Too” via @SEOPRO4U

[blackbirdpie url="http://twitter.com/SEOPRO4U/status/16013557425"]

A quick post by Arnold Zafra at the Search Engine Journal documenting a cool and inexpensive new way to get yours, or your clients’, businesses to stand out in search.

If you’re running a local business and you have placed listings on Google.com or Google Maps, you can enhance your listing with yellow tag emphasizing specific information about your business such as coupon, video, website, menu, reservations, photos and even custom messages. Getting this yellow tag to appear on your Google listings is not free though. You would have to pay a flat monthly fee of $25. The tags will not affect your listings’ rank and Google will clearly indicated which parts of the search results are sponsored when you’re local business is displayed.

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(3) “Products That Are Earth-and-Profit Friendly” via @sarahfelts

[blackbirdpie url="http://twitter.com/sarahfelts/status/16008077342"]

A lengthy article by Sindya N. Bhanoo at The New York Times that goes in-depth into the growing trend of businesses making a concerted effort to incorporate sustainability into their products. Great read!

As the world’s greatest soccer players take to the fields at the FIFA World Cup in South Africa, many are wearing jerseys made almost entirely from plastic bottles rescued from landfills in Japan and Taiwan.

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(4) “Farewell to Globe Drug Store on Cherokee” via @jcohen111

[blackbirdpie url="http://twitter.com/jcohen111/status/15900627501"]

This blog entry from B.E.L.T. really hits home for me. As a fellow Cherokee Street resident, I’ve frequented Globe Drugs for awhile now. It is really sad to see it go as it was one of the few remaining landmarks on Cherokee still in operation.

The Cherokee Street News broke the news that the venerable Globe Drug store had closed its doors, and got the sentiment right in the headline: 1939-2010. It does feel like a friend has died.

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(5) “Cassette Lamp” via @emilyfitzhugh

[blackbirdpie url="http://twitter.com/emilyfitzhugh/status/15630133169"]

Do I really have to tell you how cool this is? I need one of these for my desk!

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(6) “Trying To Make A Right Out of Two Wrongs Or Why We Started Our ‘Sprockets’ Program” via @spoke_marketing

[blackbirdpie url="http://twitter.com/spoke_marketing/status/15498453505"]

Spoke Marketing is doing the St. Louis marketing community proud with their Sprockets Program. As someone who has helped coach and place interns before, I have had to have the conversation many times about paying ones dues. The analogy I often use is that if a you pass an empty coffee pot, it doesn’t matter if you are the gopher or the owner, you start a fresh pot. That said, interns are all too often abused and treated as if they are only worthy of scrubbing the toilet. The rule of thumb should be that if the owner of the company isn’t willing to do the work, then it isn’t fair to make an intern do it either.

The goal of Sprockets is to solve these two problems by letting our interns work on pro bono projects for nonprofits, and early stage start-ups. The clients get free marketing help, and the interns get a meaningful experience, a portfolio, and case studies to show future employers.

Don’t worry…we don’t just throw our interns to the wolves. We work with them on each of the projects, point them in the right direction, ask the right questions, and help them make the right decisions. But, at the end of the day (summer), the decisions are theirs, the work is theirs, and the success is theirs.

They might learn that they hate marketing, and that they should go to dental school. But at least they won’t learn it basking in the glow of a copy machine.

Well done guys. This is a great program.

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(7) “Dear Honda Lawnmower” via @amveats

[blackbirdpie url="http://twitter.com/amveats/status/15497139168"]

Schlafly Summer Lager now comes in a can. That’s all you need to know.

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If you want to get your tweet featured here A) follow me and B) write better tweets! As always, your feedback is much appreciated. Until next week…

Client: Merbs Candies

Project: Outdoor Campaign

Platform: Billboards

Date: 2009 – 2010

Merb’s Candies challenged us to come up with a way to showcase their famous Bionic apples online. Somewhere in the discussion the client asked if we thought creating a billboard was a good idea. Well, who wouldn’t be tempted by a 10’ tall plump caramel-coated, pecan-encrusted beauty of a Bionic apple as they zip by on the highway? We thought this was a great idea and got to work.





In less than 24 hours we had the perfect shot. A layout followed, then client approval and it was up alongside Highway 44 in 7 days. (We don’t love having to do things that fast, but everything came together beautifully!)

Over the next 6 months we rolled out 2 more boards that featured signature Merb’s selections, appropriate for the season. (Fall: Bionic Apples, Winter: Molasses Puffs, Valentine’s Day: Chocolate Covered Strawberries) The funny thing about this billboard campaign was that it worked, and worked well. Several times over the course of the campaign the client was flooded with so many new customers that they ran out of the featured candy.

In addition to the billboard campaign Scorch also designed and deployed an online candy store for Merb’s entire product catalog. Oh how we love Merb’s. They are by far our sweetest client.

Client: The Gateway Mall Project

Project: Custom Website Build

Platform: WordPress

Date: September 2010

The Gateway Mall Master Plan provides the framework for a far-reaching effort to reconstruct, restore, enhance and beautify the Gateway Mall section of downtown St. Louis. Our client had only a brochure to attract the interest of financial support for this highly ambitious project.

Scorch Agency partnered with the Gateway Mall Project to translate its existing brochure into an effective online solution. Scorch developed a logo, identity and color palette reflective of City Garden that enabled us to create a vibrant, interactive experience. Integrating AJAX technology and JQuery slideshow capabilities allowed us to add dynamic functionality while still being viewable on mobile devices. This microsite allows visitors of all demographics to easily view all of the features of the proposed Gateway Mall in an intuitive, sleek and modern design. Scorch Agency was excited to work on and create buzz for the project to help transform and revitalize downtown.