Dynomite!

Cognetix shined last night at the Charleston AMA Spark Awards held at the historic American Theatre. Katie Kern and Jessica Crouch were awarded the Dynamite Award (excellence for an event) for their work on the 2008 Shopping with Friends event benefiting Lowcountry AIDS Services.

The AMA Spark Awards recognize the most effective marketing campaigns in South Carolina and awards seven companies and one individual that have demonstrated outstanding leadership and programs in the previous calendar year. The entries are judged on the ability to show results through clearly defined objectives strategies and tactics.

Networking Aboard The Carolina Girl

By Lauren Verdi

On June 18, 2009 The Charleston AMA (American Marketing Association) hosted their Summer Social.  This was no ordinary AMA meeting, professionals were brought together to network with each other, promote themselves, and collaborate as marketers.

 When I heard about this event, I couldn’t wait for it to draw near. I was excited to meet new people, network, represent Cognetix, and enjoy a late afternoon on a yacht cruising through the Charleston harbor.

 In preparation for this event, I spent earlier that day creating my own business cards to pass out to good contacts and relevant professionals.

 When it was getting close to boarding time, a few of us ladies from the “Coghead’s Team” headed from the office to Ripley’s Point. When we arrived we were greeted by friendly gentleman at the dock to help us board the boat. The boat had plenty of room for mingling and networking. The ambiance was very relaxing and inviting. The food was catered by Heights of Charleston that included Polynesian treats of cheese, crackers, fruit, meatballs, and other dishes. The signature drink for the evening was the “Holy City Peach Tea” provided by Firefly Vodka, which had a fresh mint leaf and raspberry garnish. All drinks were prepared by ICEBOX bartending services.

 As I made my rounds from bottom to upper deck, I met Lee Deas and Emily Coleman of Obviouslee Marketing, Jan Marvin of J Marvin Studios, Shannon Odom of CVB, and I even met a few interns I could relate to and share experiences with.

Pecha Kucha Night

By Lauren Verdi

What a night of seeing the hidden talents within the city of Charleston unveiled.

While walking from the Gaillard Auditorium parking garage to the grassy area set up for the 3^rd installment of Pecha Kucha I was pondering what to expect of the event. After making my way to the lawn I discovered this was a very relaxed and laid back atmosphere that was very inviting. As I scanned for anyone I recognized from the “Cogheads team” I noticed everyone had chairs set up or blankets laid out staking out their spot to watch from for the evening. There was a huge crowd of over 400 people. I had no idea this event was in such high demand. I was in awe when I discovered it takes place in more than 200 cities, and that tonight it was in our beloved downtown Charleston.

PKN View in Charleston

Through some prior research and an explanation at the beginning I learned that the words Pecha Kucha actually mean “chit chat” in Japanese. Each presenter would only be allowed to show 20 images for 20 seconds each. They were to be done in a PowerPoint presentation, and their total timeframe for presenting had to be six minutes and 40 seconds.

There was a diverse group of people presenting. Presenters included: multimedia artist Kevin Hoth, from Charleston Conservation League Josh Martin, Chef Iverson Brownell, founder and dancer Julia Jaskwhich of Buen Ache Afro- Latino Dance Company, architect Jane Fredrick, and skateboarder and founder of Pour It Now Ryan Cockrell.

 My personal favorite was Iverson Brownell.

Iverson Brownell

He was able to hold my attention and keep me genuinely interested. This might be because I have a love for food and anything to do with it. He showed motivating photographs of places or objects that gave him inspiration for the food plates he created. He showed a picture of the Acropolis in Athens, Greece. Brownell emphasized on the strength and shape of the columns. He imitated the features of the columns by using potatoes that he shredded and rolled up into a cylindrical form. He then deep fried it for the potato shreds to hold and stay together. It wanted them to be strong and secure like the Acropolis building he was trying to emulate. I really enjoyed listening to him, although I and many in the audience commented that we wished he had brought samples.

http://pechakuchacharleston.com/