Everyone has heard about those fanatical Star-Trek fans and their fandom conventions. But with the recent rise of “Vamp Romance” books, TV shows, movies, or books that were made into TV shows or movies came a whole new kind of fandom. When we were given the chance to host the largest U.S. convention for fans of the hit book and movie series Twilight, centered around a pair of star-crossed vampire and human lovers, I fully embraced the quirky and sometimes nerdy stigma that can come with fan conventions and leapt at the opportunity to be a part of it – as any true “frog” would.

I, myself, am a huge Twilight fan so I was more than ready to help when Jordan told me about the project, dubbed TwiCon 2009. He and three other partners had decided to host the conference in Dallas, TX, a midway point for the entire U.S., and were anticipating (gulp!) 2500-3000 people from all over the world. In addition, we weren’t only planning this event we were executing it as well. That meant that Leapfrog and the managing TwiCon partners were in charge of everything from start to finish – from the e-commerce Web site and promotional items to the marketing materials to media awareness to promotions to celebrity negotiations to programming and more.

Thankfully, Leapfrog had an incredibly professional and talented team who literally put their blood, sweat and occasional tears into every aspect of TwiCon. And while most of us had never participated in anything nearly as large as this event, we all worked together, learned as much as we could along the way and can now say that we created something incredible.

If I have learned anything from this experience (besides the fact that you CAN live on coffee alone for about 4 to 5 days) it’s that I can handle just about anything I put my mind to. All you need is a supportive team to work with you, a willingness to be flexible and very resourceful, and um… did I mention coffee?

More than that, I learned not to be afraid of uncharted territories. Because even if you’ve never done something before it just might turn out to be the best experience of your life – or your afterlife, as the case may be!

Since I’ve never been to a business seminar before, I didn’t quite know what to expect at the Get Motivated event at the Greensboro Coliseum. It was my first outing as a Leapfrog intern and I was hoping to leave as motivated as Tamara Lowe, emcee and co-founder of the world famous Get Motivated series, promised. I felt a little out of place in a sea of business suits, but as the event began, it seemed like I was at a rock show rather than a business convention.  Each speaker walked out to a different, upbeat theme song,  and upon entering the platform, an explosion of light and flames shot out of each corner of the stage while the emcee encouraged the crowd to give each guest a big welcome as loud as they could!

Rick Belluzzo, former COO of Microsoft, kicked off the morning with tips on how to advance in any career by being flexible, accepting bad news in a constructive manner, always being an active listener and learner and by staying humble.  Next, former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani shared his experiences from the September 11th terrorist attacks, emphasizing the importance of being prepared for anything.  Later, several business gurus, including Zig Ziglar and Phil Town, shared their secrets to success, followed by the “Hero of the Hudson” pilot, Captain Chelsey Sullenberger, who gave the crowd goose bumps as he described the day he saved 155 people from a potentially fatal airline disaster, January 15th 2009.  General Colin Powell finished off the action-packed seminar with a personal speech reminiscing on his experience as former Secretary of State. 

So the question is, did I leave motivated? Absolutely - I had a great time and learned valuable information on how to stay motivated and become a successful leader. I look forward to attending more seminars like this one and using my new skills at Leapfrog.--Jessica Rak

I will admit that I chuckled when I first clicked open the link to the 30-second viral spot, sent to me by a friend. The commercial -- produced for a High Point furniture store by a North Carolina-based production company -- takes a decidedly different approach to appealing to customers by playing the race card in a tongue-in-cheek fashion. The spot, which appears to be web-only right now, has gained more than 530,000 hits on YouTube as of today and received national attention on TMZ.com and other sites.

In talking about the true meaning of viral marketing and social media, I offered to my team here at Leapfrog this spot as an example of one way to create buzz for clients in this "gotta-break-through-the-clutter-to-be-successful" world in which we live. It has provoked some fairly fervent debate both here and through my Facebook and Twitter accounts, polarizing viewers pretty effectively. Here's the spot:

As a former intrepid reporter, I decided to phone "The Red House" to gauge the true measurement for any campaign -- whether it has successfully returned their investment or stimulated business. A very good-natured employee at the Red House shared with me that, since the videos launch on April 20, increased business at the store has not materialized, but inocuous phone calls -- asking questions like, "Do you serve Asians, too?" -- have mushroomed. I am sure this is at a cost to the business in labor and as a distraction.

So, to recap: Few would argue that the campaign has been wildly successful (perhaps, even by accident) at gaining worldwide notoriety for the store and for the producers of the spot. I have hard evidence that it has not -- yet -- produced big numbers in terms of sales.  However, I do admit that the use of a very out-of-the-box approach to communications like this is almost mandatory these days -- whether you agree with the M.O. or not.

I am very interested in hearing what you think about this campaign, and its apparent early results, as well as your answer to the question posed in the title to this post.

A little horn-tooting, if you'll allow it: Leapfrog has learned that it won three Hermes Creative Awards -- a very prestigious honor from an even more prestigious international organization.

Click this link to read more about it! 

Often there is confusion between the distinction of vector graphics and bitmap images. Understanding the difference will help ensure the quality of your company’s visual materials in both print and web. 

I like to refer to a bitmap as being an image rather than a graphic. Even though the words “graphic” and “images” are considered interchangeable, I find that to be part of the confusion. A graphic is a computer generated drawing of an object, person or thing. An image, like a photograph, is a representation of a actual object, person or thing.

Bitmap images are made up of pixels in a grid. Each pixel contains specific color information used to create an image. They are an exact visual picture composed of exact information at a fixed size. This pixel goes here and is this color; that one goes there and is this color, and so on. A photograph, whether it was scanned in to your computer or taken by a digital camera, will always be bitmapped. There are thousands of different colors, shading and gradations in a single photograph. It must be composed of hundreds of thousands of individual pixels, too complex to be drawn as Vector Art.

The number of pixels in a bitmapped image determines its resolution: dpi (dots per inch) or ppi (pixels per inch). When printing them, the dpi should be at least 300 at 100% actual size. If you enlarge the original image, the computer will add additional pixels based on the surrounding pixels. Since there is no source for this additional information, the color values have to be estimated. This will cause the image to become blurry and jagged.

Pixels can not change size. It takes more pixels to fill a larger space and less to fill a smaller space. To make an existing bitmap image smaller, pixels are deleted and once that information is thrown away, it is gone for good (which is fine if you are using it for a smaller space). You can repeatedly make an image smaller and maintain the image quality needed for that space. But if you need to increase the size back... I hope you’ve saved the original image.

Vector graphics are quite the opposite. Instead of being a literal representation, they are mathematical creations consisting of points, lines and curves that can be freely manipulated to any size without losing information. The programs used to create them come with instructions on how the graphic is drawn. A vector graphic can be reduced in size to fit a business card and resized again to fit a billboard with no loss of quality. Because of its scaling flexibility, it’s a good idea to have your logo designed in a vector program. And always keep a copy of the original vector art! If you import your vector logo into a bitmap program, such as Adobe Photoshop, your logo will be converted to a bitmap image. There is no way to convert it back to a vector graphic. Once it’s converted to a bitmap, it stays that way.

Vector or bitmap, ALWAYS KEEP A COPY OF THE ORIGINAL FORMAT. 

When providing graphics such as logos to your designer, it is best to give them in a Vector graphic. Common formats include .ai or .eps files that have been created in a vector program, preferably Adobe Illustrator. Photographic images should be provided at its highest resolution and size. Common formats in a high resolution include .psd, .eps, and .jpg.

You know we aren’t doing without. Bagels in the creative area, popcorn perfume wafting through the air, comparative analysis of our various microwaved lunches—we’re a bunch of well-fed frogs.

However, many area residents can’t make that claim. That’s why WFMY-News 2 is challenging area businesses to see who can collect the most non-perishable food to help out the families who need it most.

So bring in your beans, your peaches, your canned tuna. Pack up your peanut butter, your peas, your pasta and sauce. Here at Leapfrog, we’ll be helping stock the shelves at the Greensboro Urban Ministries, making sure that we do our part so no family goes to bed hungry.

The box is in the lobby. Tell your friends and neighbors, even your clients who have a heart for Greensboro’s hungry. We have the next two full weeks to fill the box which will fill up empty tummies.

On Feb. 26, we’ll have a short ceremony to weigh our booty (from the box—this isn’t the Biggest Loser, after all) and report the results to WFMY and Greensboro Urban Ministrries.

Look at the box. Learn to pack your extra items in the car the night before so you won’t forget them. Leap into the decision to give. Let’s LAND at Greensboro Urban Ministries with a level of generosity that tells them what kind of people work at Leapfrog Marketing | PR | Design.

With one snowy day behind us, and a chilly forecast for the week ahead, my thoughts have begun turning to the halfway mark of winter…and the anticipation of predictions to be made by rodents awakening from hibernation.

On February 2, the most popular groundhog, Punxsutawney Phil from Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania, will awaken at daybreak to give our nation his weather prediction. Will Phil see his shadow? Will there be six more weeks of winter? Or will it be a cloudy, shadowless day in Pennsylvania? Will spring be on the way?

I prefer to rely on our local groundhog, Woody, who will be making his appearance at the Natural Science Center in Greensboro. Woody, unlike Phil, may not make his prediction based solely on his shadow. It is rumored that Woody may be influenced by the crowd. I hope that no one present is going to be cheering for Woody to predict six more weeks of winter.

As we begin the second half of winter next week, I’ll be eagerly awaiting the colorful crocus and daffodils that will be piercing the landscape soon. Daylight savings time can’t be far behind!

It’s time for reviews. It’s time to talk about growing, getting better, and setting goals. It’s time to evaluate and make recommendations for improvements.

Being fair and accurate is important to whether or not these reviews really work the way we want them to. So, I have a couple of resources that I believe are proving to be more than helpful. Second Wind is a great resource for information about running an agency. They always have plenty to ponder.
Action Coach is another great resource that I can count on. They teach me how to be a team leader.  And even though I believe the most useful information is what you learn from other people, I still would’ve never thought about asking other employees for their input on their teammates' performance review.

I have found some great articles and listened to some inspiring auditorials, but the thing that I think will be most helpful in writing these reviews is listening to what teammates have to say about one another: NOT a gossip session, NOT a griping session, but what positive things do they believe this person brings to the team? How do they improve our environment? What do they appreciate the most about their teammate or what makes them a valuable asset?

I’m thinking that I’ll create a short questionnaire for everyone to fill out. The questions will allow team members to only focus on the positives. I want to know what the natural skill sets are that someone brings to the office each day. (And that means more than just their interaction with me!) Besides good design and exceptional writing, I want to talk about things that add value to our culture. I expect everyone to do their job. I want to know what else they do. Do they inspire others? Do they motivate others? Are they the steady rock that grounds us when emotions get out of control? Whatever it is, I want to develop it.

We are always working on improvements within the agency, and I’m betting that this will help as well. And, of course, everyone will start thinking about what THEY bring to the team and how important their ownership is.

I’ll let you know how it goes.

(I’m curious to know what other methods are out there, so if you have any, please share them!!)--Tracie Beasley

It’s time for reviews. It’s time to talk about growing, getting better, and setting goals. It’s time to evaluate and make recommendations for improvements.

Being fair and accurate is important to whether or not these reviews really work the way we want them to. So, I have a couple of resources that I believe are proving to be more than helpful. Second Wind is a great resource for information about running an agency. They always have plenty to ponder.
Action Coach is another great resource that I can count on. They teach me how to be a team leader.  And even though I believe the most useful information is what you learn from other people, I still would’ve never thought about asking other employees for their input on their teammates' performance review.

I have found some great articles and listened to some inspiring auditorials, but the thing that I think will be most helpful in writing these reviews is listening to what teammates have to say about one another: NOT a gossip session, NOT a griping session, but what positive things do they believe this person brings to the team? How do they improve our environment? What do they appreciate the most about their teammate or what makes them a valuable asset?

I’m thinking that I’ll create a short questionnaire for everyone to fill out. The questions will allow team members to only focus on the positives. I want to know what the natural skill sets are that someone brings to the office each day. (And that means more than just their interaction with me!) Besides good design and exceptional writing, I want to talk about things that add value to our culture. I expect everyone to do their job. I want to know what else they do. Do they inspire others? Do they motivate others? Are they the steady rock that grounds us when emotions get out of control? Whatever it is, I want to develop it.

We are always working on improvements within the agency, and I’m betting that this will help as well. And, of course, everyone will start thinking about what THEY bring to the team and how important their ownership is.

I’ll let you know how it goes.

(I’m curious to know what other methods are out there, so if you have any, please share them!!)--Tracie Beasley