Alexis Listens to Twitter CEO Speak at University of Michigan 2013 Spring Commencement

Hopefully the title of this post hasn’t turned the Ohio State fans away from reading this blog already.

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Three weeks ago, my parents and I headed to Ann Arbor to watch my brother receive his undergraduate degree from the University of Michigan. Now attending a commencement ceremony for a class with a few thousand students doesn’t seem like the ideal way to spend your afternoon (it took an hour and a half for all the graduates to walk into the Big House and take their seats). But when I heard that Dick Costolo, Twitter CEO, was the guest speaker, my interest quickly sparked. Seeing that I had just given a lecture on Twitter through the Youngstown/Warren Regional Chamber the week before, as well as being the one logged onto social media the most in the McConnell office, I was really excited to hear what he had to say.

“You know I have to start with by tweeting this, so just give me one second. I’m a professional so this will only take a second.” Costolo, a graduate of UM, pulled out his smartphone, snapped a picture of the graduating class and tweeted it. Naturally, I hopped onto Twitter to see if my section made the photo, and of course, my parents and I just got cut off.

“When I was your age we didn’t have the Internet in our pants,” Costolo joked. “We didn’t even have the Internet not in our pants—that’s how bad it was.”

Not only did his humor grab my attention, Costolo’s speech was also inspiring. After graduating with a Computer Science degree, and with three job offers from technology companies under his belt, he moved to Chicago to pursue his dream of stand-up comedy. As he is now the CEO of Twitter, fame in the comedic world didn’t work out for him like his fellow Second City classmate, Steve Carell. He explained, “You cannot draw that path looking forward. You cannot draw any of your paths looking forward. So you have to figure out what you love to do and what you have conviction about and go do that.”

“There are no expectations. There’s no script. When you’re doing what you love to do, you become resilient because that’s the habit you create for yourself. You create a habit of taking chances on yourself and making bold choices in service to doing what you love. If on the other hand, you do what you think is expected of you or what you are supposed to do, and things go poorly…as surely it will, you will look to external sources for what to do next because that will be the habit you’ve created for yourself.”

There are so many highlights, I would basically be writing the manuscript of his 17-minute speech for you to read. So you should probably just watch it instead.

As I watched and listened with a smile on my face throughout the entire time, Costolo couldn’t have ended his speech more perfectly—“hashtag go blue!”

Take a Look at Our Awesome Boss

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There’s a bit of an internet celebrity in our office. As some of you may know, our very own Mark McConnell is also an Assistant Professor of Marketing at the University of Mount Union. Check out this nice profile of Mark featured on their website!

Teamwork. Team energy. Team lunacy.

Last year, the McConnell Marketing Katie’s ran to raise support for the building of water wells through RUNWATER, a division of Mentor Leaders and a nonprofit working in a small village in Togo, West Africa. This summer, the office is embarking on a similar project—and this time with benefits a little closer to home.

McConnell Marketing is joining long-time client Winkle Electric Company, Inc. on their journey to Pedal to the Point raising funds for the National Multiple Sclerosis Society. During the event the team will ride 100 miles to Sandusky, Ohio, locally referred to as “The Point.”

The event isn’t until August, so stay tuned for training updates and mishaps (as we’re not an experienced group of  bikers). Please share any biking tips or gear suggestions as we’re just getting started!

Help sponsor Katie or Megan’s 100 miles … or both!

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McConnell Marketing Participates in Clean the World’s ONE Project

 

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The team at McConnell Marketing had the opportunity to participate in the ONE Project—a project started by Clean the World Foundation, Inc., that provides hygiene products to people in the community who are struggling to meet their family’s basic needs.

Clean the World, whose home is in Orlando, shipped all of the products required for each individual hygiene kit to the McConnell Marketing office in Canfield, Ohio. Each team member was then assigned to a station to assemble hygiene kits for the Rescue Mission of Mahoning Valley and Hurricane Sandy victims.

image-4Assembling the hygiene kits gave the team a chance to bond. Team member Matthew Sprankle said, “It was a heartwarming moment to work with my co-workers on working towards such a rewarding cause.”

Katie Williams took the lead role in the development of the project within the office said, “I think Clean the World is awesome. Taking a product, that would have been thrown away, and recycling it for the greater good truly warms my heart.”

image-5Clean the World is a social enterprise that collects and recycles the partially used soap from hotels to donate to organizations that provide aid to impoverished people around the world. By providing soap to those that need it most, Clean the World helps prevent the spread of disease and saves lives.

“Like” Clean the World on Facebook. And spread the Global Hygiene Revolution—get them trending by using the Twitter hashtag: #SoapSavesLives.

 

Our Favorite Thanksgiving Traditions

Living in a country known as the melting pot, Americans celebrate an abundance of different holidays. However, there’s one holiday that we all have in common—yep, you guessed it—Thanksgiving.

Sure, tons of families and friends gorge on a big meal and watch football and the parade, but every family has different traditions that make their Thanksgiving unique and special! And that’s no exception for the McConnell Marketing team.

Check out some of the team’s favorite Thanksgiving traditions:

Mark

My favorite Thanksgiving tradition involves waking up way too early on Thanksgiving Day. I get the coffee going, then let the dog out while it’s brewing. I head back inside to savor the silence. With steaming cup in hand, I then head to the den. For one or two glorious hours, I surf the web without purpose, avoiding any site that has to do with news, my career or my commitments. Thankful.

Katie H.

When I was the producer on Sparkle Markets Great Groceries, host, Nancy showed these turkeys years ago, and I’ve been making them with the twins for the last few years. All you need is one potato, four toothpicks, paper and markers. They make simple and cute place settings that give the kids a way to contribute to Thanksgiving (and keeps them occupied while waiting to eat).

Megan

Every year on the day before Thanksgiving, I go over to my mom’s house, where we drink wine while I help her cook. The family favorite is my grandma’s stuffing recipe. After she passed away, I’d spent years perfecting it, trying to make it taste exactly like hers. There’s no exact recipe written down anywhere, so it’s completely done from memory…and I finally have it down.

Katie W.

I love waking up early on Thanksgiving morning to the smell of my mom’s cinnamon rolls. My family watches the Thanksgiving Day Parade while we all rip bread, cut celery and carrots and help make the famous stuffing that will later be devoured by the 30+ family members at our Thanksgiving feast!

Alexis

Since all of our extended family lives out of town, my parents, brother and I get celebrate Thanksgiving with our long-time family friends that live right down the street. We only see everyone once or twice a year, but every time we get together, it feels like we take off right where we left. We’ve been doing this ever since I was a little kid, and this time next year, a new generation will be taking part in our Thanksgiving tradition! *Note: I’m not the pregnant one.

Matthew

After a warm, luxurious feast with the family, all of the cousins gather around for a fierce game of everyone’s favorite board game—Monopoly. As dinner comes to an end, the cousins quickly turn on each other—for there can be only one winner of the game. With a handshake to the shark, we crown the winner Victor of Monopoly until the next year’s Thanksgiving.

Steve

Over the last few years my high school buddies and I meet at the 50 yard line, and we play in the Western Reserve Turkey Bowl. For a few hours, we relive the glory days of high school, and then soon after come to the realization of how hopelessly out of shape we’ve gotten.

Everyone at McConnell Marketing wishes you an amazing Thanksgiving with family and friends!