200 Mile Radius - Home Grown

All week, most Hallmarks were looking forward to this particular presentation because we were promised free food. And they didn't disappoint...

Hilary Brown from Local Burger was our first presenter today. She told us about how she grew up feeling sick from all the food that she ate, which installed in her the dream of making healthy fast food in a casual environment. That's why in 2005, she opened up her fully organic, totally LOCAL restaurant. She went on to prove how healthy it actually was, by showing us her video "Localize Me" (get it? Like Supersize me? eh!?). It's about a man who eats all fast food, switches to only eating Local Burger, and sees a dramatic change for the better.
*note -Sergio was here! See what he thought here.

Next was BadSeed Farm. The vision of Farmer Brooke, a twenty something rebel, wanted to make food with LOVE. Her story was an inspirational one, where she grew up angry and "punk rock". Which led to her traveling the world, farming in foreign countries instead of becoming an artist. Which then led to her finding out that her place was back on her home soil. Now she teaches classes on how to start your own gardens, and you can find her food at the Organic Farmers' Market every friday night or at the City Market

Good Natured Family Farms' Diana Endicott told us about there plethora of organic and local foods that are sold locally through the Buy Fresh Buy Local program via Hen House Grocery stores. Products including: All Natural Beef, Free-Range Chicken, Farm Fresh Milk, All-Natural Pastured Pork, Local Honey, Farmhouse Cheese, Free-Range Eggs, Midwest Prairie Bison, Native, Wild Fruit Jellies, Local Farm Fresh Fruits and Vegetables, Free-Range Heritage Turkeys all from Kansas and Missouri.

To nosh on, Local Burger brought samples of all there burgers, and some deserts. BadSeed had homemade beer-bread and homemade organic apple-butter. Good Natured had pita chips and hummus, bison jerky, and cheese plates. Trust me, I had one of everything, and I didn't have ONE gripe. It might have been the best part of my day. Jeanee seemed to be enjoying every bite as well. But you can blame me for not having a picture of us doing so.

All of this goodness also inspired me to go out this weekend and get the supplies to start my own garden.

Happy Friday in Sunny KC. ;)
-Josh

PS. Check back Monday for photos. I had to leave work early today and i am posting from home without them. Sorry.

200 Mile Radius - upcycling

Today's presenter was Housing Development Manager Chris Kious, founder and partner of A Piece of Cleveland. Chris has always been fascinated by the varying definitions of "waste" that exist throughout the world. Every year in Cleveland, a thousand homes are demolished. APOC takes the two-by-fours, framing lumber, doors, and wooden floors of these buildings and upcycles them as chairs, lamps, tables, bookcases, cutting boards, counter tops and conference tables.

Instead of taking a 2x4 piece of wood and recycling it into mulch, Chris upcycles. He takes that 2x4 and turns it into a higher quality item. APOC celebrates the legacy of this lumber by sharing its story in the re-birth certificate attached to each piece.

Here is some of their work from wood that would have been thrown away:



A drawing for two APOC lamps and one cutting board was held after the presentation. None of the cre•a•tiv•i•ty member won a prize. I wanted one of those lamps SO BAD!

More APOC:
• Blogger
• Flickr

200 Mile Radius - Sustainability in Action

As I mentioned before, a big trend in culture is being green. One of the top experts in this field is Simran Sethi...

Right in our own backyard... Simran Seth, award-winning journalist, teaches courses on sustainability and environmental communications at the University of Kansas. Simran is named one of the top ten eco-heroes of the planet by the UK's Independent and lauded as the "environmental messenger" by Vanity Fair. Simran has contributed segments to the Nightly News with Brian Williams, The Oprah Winfrey Show (above photo recycling with Oprah), The Today Show, Ellen DeGeneres Show and Martha Stewart Show to name a few. She is committed to a redefinition of environmentalism that includes voices from the prairie, the inner city and the global community. Simran serves on the Sustainability Advisory Board in Lawrence, Kansas and is the Chair of the City's working group on climate change policy, education and outreach.

Her unique approach to fighting "the good fight" left me without words (even now i am having trouble writing this). She explains the concept that changing the way we live in general will have it's impact on the environment. She touched on subjects such as: communities & relationships, clothing, energy, transportation, media consolidation, fostering art, commerce, nature, waste, and even how global issues like terrorism can relate to climate change. Very interesting.
Since Simran is from our area, her talk was focused on what our region is doing, and could be doing to better itself. Specifically, she mentioned Kansas and wind-power, and preserving the Haskell-Baker Wetlands—577 acres, inhabited by 312 different species. Below is a piece she did for the Sundance Channel on the success of Greensburg, Kansas (which she showed part of at the presentation).


The Good Fight

I'm personally glad she is part of my 200 Mile Radius.

200 Mile Radius - kids & shopping

Today’s Trend Week presentation was by Cheri Sterman, Director of Child Development & Consumer Relationships at Crayola. Cheri is a “kid expert” and one of the top 5 experts in kid’s marketing. She spoke on how kids impact today and the future.


Well, I’m not going to give out ALL of Cheri’s secrets, but today the nation is more child centered than ever! Before cereal, toy and children’s television companies targeted to kids branding. Now every brand needs to capture a child’s attentions. Why? Because by the age of three a child knows 100 brands!

Children influence what their parents purchase and where to purchase it. And by the age of six they have their own money to make their own purchases.

Why are parents buying so much? Well, parents don’t discipline like they used to. They reward their children with small gifts. With the economic downturn that gifts needs to have a lot of value for the money spent. And “mom” wants to be sure she buying items that her family enjoys and nothing is going to waste.

As early as two-years old a child can sit in a shopping cart and point to what they want. Companies need to capture that child as early as possible to get a sale today and retain that customer for the future.

200 Mile Radius

Every year Hallmark sets up a week long event that allows us to stay relevant with emerging and evolving trends. This year is especially germane to our blogging experience, because the theme of 2009 is 200 Mile Radius, showing us the importance of the amazing resources in our own backyard. "Trends Week" kicks off with an introduction by our very own Marita Wesely. Her fast-paced slideshow hit on the topics that will be unraveling in the rest of the presentations throughout the week. To summarize, Marita shows us that most of the trends this year will be based on our falling economy and how we can make the most of it. Or how we can focus our energy on something else, like getting out and doing something for your fellow man, or the environment (she mentioned Kansas is the fifth most volunteering state in the US). The future is about taking charge of your own life and being somebody. Intense.

Jeanee and I will keep will keep you in the loop about these presenters throughout the week:
•Cheri Sterman, Director of Child Development & Consumer Relationships — Crayola
•Simran Sethi, journalist
•Chris Kious, founder and partner — A Piece of Cleveland

and then Friday is:
•Hilary Brown, Local Burger, Lawrence, KS
•Brooke Salvaggio (Farmer Brooke), Bad Seed, Kansas City, MO
•Diana Endicott, Coordinator of Good-Natured Family Farms, a group of "natural" meat and vegetable producers
(this presentation includes food, so i'm pretty excited!)

Stay tuned!

Trend Week : Day 5

Being green is becoming quite the trend. But our speaker today for Trend Week started his project without even thinking about the environmental benefits.

Chad Pregracke grew up on the Mississippi River in the Quad Cities. (I'm from Iowa so that's why I chose to say he's from the Quad Cities and not the more specific East Moline, Illinois.) As a high school student and an off-again-on-again college student , Chad worked on the river and loathed all the garbage he saw. Not just Coke cans and grocery sacks, but bigger things like tires. Refrigerators. Tractors. Oil drums.

Over the course of a decade, Chad and his non-profit organization, Living Lands and Waters, have cleared away over 4 million pounds of garbage from America's rivers. As I sat and listened and laughed at energetic, spastic Chad tell his story I could see how his enthusiasm for the project has caught on. Not only caught on, but changed lives and more importantly the environment.

Sure, being green can be trendy... but it is also a passion.

Please click this ----> CBS News Video <---- to watch and learn about Chad and his focus. Meet the personality we had the pleasure of listening to and watching this morning for the final day of Trend Week.

Trend Week : Day 4

This is going to have to be quick because I have a full afternoon of meetings/brainstorming/launch kick-off/one-on-one with my manager...

Can't believe it's day 4 of Trend Week already. Today's speaker was Issa (can't help myself saying "the artist formerly known as" Jane Siberry.) She talked about her life, read her poetry and sang one of her songs. She spoke about accountability in everything you do. Also making sure that you are projecting the kind of energy that you want others to receive.

What really makes Issa different though is that she gives her music away for free... using what she calls "self-determined" pricing. This month she started offering "creative currency" as a payment option: in exchange for a download, you can choose to do a good deed— Earth-friendly deed, Elder-friendly deed or other— and her site will automatically post your choice for others to ponder.

I checked out her website when I got back to my desk and found that parts of it weren't fully up and running. But her writing is there under the journal tab and worth a look. Also be sure to visit the Sheeba webstore.

(from Sheeba webstore)
What is a Sheeba Spirit Store?
"This store model is based on the belief that:
People are good.
In trust, our best comes forward full force.
To treat others as we would like to be treaded is generous, not selfish.
Good living can still come from not trying to control things; in trusting in a wider sense of transactions.
We are "a part" more than "apart."

Things to ponder, not too long though, life is out there waiting.
The most important thing is that the music flow out to where it could bring enjoyment.
And THAT is the best thing you could give back to me.

Issa"

Trend Week : Day 3

You know that little thing that Bank of America does called "keep the change?" They transfer the left over some odd cents from each purchase on your debit card into your savings account. Or maybe you are one of the many people who have recently returned to leisurely biking due to the comeback of a simpler bike, a "coasting" bike. Because, let's be honest, not everyone wants to be Lance Armstrong.

Well if so, you are enjoying innovations from a consulting firm called IDEO. Today for Trend Week, Managing Partner and co-Chief Creative Officer of IDEO, Jane Fulton Suri spoke to a packed house.

What I took away most was the importance of empathy in design. Definitely key when designing product for Hallmark, but empathy is vital in the design of anything that needs to connect with a user/consumer/observer/etc. I am now going to once again steal copy, this time from the email sent out about our speaker today:

Jane Fulton Suri places special emphasis on the contribution of human insight, creative practice and design thinking as they relate both to IDEO's work and to client organizations worldwide. Jane has worked on multidisciplinary teams designing web services, electric vehicles, medical products, digital cameras, and environments for specific clients. As one of IDEO's global leaders, Jane plays a prominent role in teaching and adapting methods for use in innovation workshops. She has introduced terms like "empathic connection" - human centered design - and teaches her approach to observational research.

Jane is the author of Thoughtless Acts, a picture book of empathic observations that invites readers to look more closely at interactions in the everyday world - a first step in design thinking.

Check out IDEO's website... there's a wealth of information there about their approach to problem solving and also a boatload of past projects, articles written about them, and a client list that will blow your mind.

Trend Week : Day 2

Um, wow.

Denyse Schmidt was here this morning and spoke to a large group of us eager Hallmarkers. For all you RISD students out there, she is a graduate of the Rhode Island School of Design and (after a few other careers) is now an über quilter. Enjoy the eye candy and check out her site!

www.dsquilts.com

Trend Week is Here!

Every year our trends department here at Hallmark sets up a week's worth of daily, hour long presentations to keep Hallmarkers in tune with societal shifts that shape consumers’ attitudes, perceptions and behaviors. <-- I stole that last part from our intranet site. I can't come up with words like "societal" on my own, folks.

Whenever I explain something like the trends department, Trend Week or anything about my job here at Hallmark, it's hard not to come off as though I'm bragging. Sometimes I even feel like I'm describing my favorite summer camp. But no, this is where I work, and I get paid to come here every day. Sweet deal if you ask me.

Trend Week is one of my favorite perks (besides the nap room, of course) of working here. But I feel as though it's something that I could tell you about and then I'd have to end it with, "I guess you had to be there." It's an inspiring, informative experience that, as an employee of Hallmark, you don't want to miss.

Monday morning's presentation was given by our trends guru, Marita Wesely-Clough. One of the trends she talked about was a dichotomy in today’s consumer. For example, a consumer can be both a luxury shopper and a value shopper. People can be consumers of content and creators of content.

What's also cool is that at the end of the presentation we get information about the emerging and evolving trends, a list of interesting websites for 2008 and a very thorough book list. I'd love to share more with you, but I'm pretty sure all of Marita's hard work is to be kept within the walls of Hallmark. I guess you had to be there... (you should probably come and work here.)