Today I made it out to Chinatown after two failed attempts. Hurray! Sometimes you have to MAKE yourself do the things you want to. Chinatown is a change of pace, colors, flavors and energy. Switching up my normal means a big bonus in creative juices. I’ve already had gau, some boiled peanuts and ginger chicken too. I brought back a couple almond cookies to keep that energy with me. What excursion have you been putting off lately?

The year of the Ox is here and Chinatown in Honolulu is a buzz with excitement. OrangeRoc is located about 2 blocks from the edge of Chinatown and we would like to wish everyone a happy and prosperous new year.

Year Ahead for 2009 (or Chinese Year 4707): 
The OX year is a conservative year, one of traditions and values. This is not a year to be outrageous. A slow but steady year.

This OX year will bring stability and growth where patience and diligence pays off.

This is a year of Harvest – when we reap what we have sown. Take care of business this year, do not let things slide. 

To sum up: For businesses this year it is a time to focus, work hard and make slow but steady progress. As all companies seem to be pulling back due to the economic climate, now is the right time to look at what your company is truly great at and refine and focus and retool to make your company stronger so when the marketplace does turn around you are in the best position to capture new clients and keep the ones you have. Now more than ever people and companies are putting microscopes on everything they buy. With money tight, every financial decision is a big decision. Make sure that you are positioning your company in the best light to capture those on the fence of making a purchasing decision.

If you get a chance to experience Chinese New Year celebrations where you live, take advantage of it. The sight’s, smells, tastes and sounds will make you smile!

In 1963 Martin Luther King Jr. delivered his famous “I have a dream” speech to more than a quarter million people in attendance. He spoke about many things including non-violent change and that all men and women should not be judged by the color of their skin but rather by the content of their character. 

Now less than 45 years later we are about to inaugurate America’s first African-American President in front of what some have estimated to be 1 million people. How far our country has come since the days of slavery. We still have far to go to make sure that all men, women and children have equal rights, opportunities and access to all that America offers. 

Today is a day of reflection on America’s past but tomorrow will be looking forward to the future with a new President, new challenges, new opportunities and new ways of thinking. Tomorrow begins a new chapter in American History but the the seed of what will be a most interesting story yet to be written was planted 45 years ago in Washington DC by Martin Luther King Jr. 

OrangeRoc hopes you  had a great holiday today filled with both reflection and all eyes on the future. 

P.S. I had a sort of quirky fact related to MLK day that I wanted to share. When I lived in Atlanta in 1996 I decided that I wanted to visit the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Site on MLK Day. I thought it was very appropriate that I visit the site on the day set aside to remember such a great man. Well when I arrived at the memorial, to my surprise, it was closed. You see, the Memorial is considered a National Park and all National Parks are closed on National Holidays so I was out of luck. I thought it kind of ironic though that they would not keep this one park open on this very important day.

I am a punk at heart, a rather geeky punk, but that is another post.

I grabbed this book last year. and read it through, it really has some challenging ideas about what we do. It is all about re-thinking challenging  our accepted ideas about marketing.

Here are some of the articles of punk marketing.

10 Articles of the revolutionary of marketing.

1. Avoid Risk and Die: “In times of change the greatest risk is to take none at all.”
2. Why not ask? “Why Not?”  “Assumptions… while once serverd a useful purpose but now hinders truly creative solutions”
3. Take a Strong Stand. “Trying to be all things to everybody inevitably results in meaning little to anybody.”
4. Don’t Pander. “Customers are important but they are not necessarily right.”
5. Give up Control. “Consumers now control brands – End of debate.”
6. Expose Yourself. “ A Relationship Between brand and consumer, like that between two people, is built on honesty.
7. Make Enemies. “All Brands need to position them selves against an alternative.” Where would Batman be with out the Joker … seriously”
8. Leave them wanting more. “Avoid the temptation to reveal all your assets at once.”
9. Out Think the Competition. Think smarter than the other Dude.
10.  Do Not Be Seduced By Technology. “ The Media is not the message any more. The Message is the message.

Excerpt from “Punk Marketing” By Richard Laermer And Mark Simmons. (get the Book and read it)

I recently go a chance to pick up the old paintbrush and lay down some strokes. It felt really good! Here is the finished piece created for the invitation to a collaborative Neverland-themed birthday party. Happy Birthday Theo, Kalai and Elle!

The internet has become one of the most useful tools ever invented, and a vast majority of it’s content is still free. One of the best free resources on the web is Wikipedia. Most of you probably have discovered this very useful reference site by now but if you have not go check it out. It’s an online encyclopedia that everyone can access and everyone can edit. It’s a pretty amazing site and has information about almost anything you can think of  – and is available in multiple languages.

The Hawaii connection is of course the word “Wiki” which is Hawaiian for “fast” and that’s what you get on Wikipedia … fast information.

Wikipedia is currently is asking for donations to keep it’s operations running. As the site becomes larger and larger it requires more equipment and more staff to maintain the same level of service and to help grow it’s offerings. OrangeRoc has therefore decided to donate to such a worthy site that we reference quite often for our projects. It’s very easy to take the web for granted so we wanted to do our part to help thank the people who made this incredibly useful website.

We encourage all of you to donate any amount you can to Wikipedia.org or to another free website of your choosing. Every little bit helps and it feels great to think that you are truly a part of the web and not just a consumer of it.