OrangeSoda’s Christmas Party 2007

December 21st, 2007 - Stuart Lisonbee, Content Director

Last weekend, OrangeSoda held their company Christmas party. OrangeSoda is just over a year old, so although this wasn’t the company’s first Christmas, it was their first formal company Christmas party.

One of my favorite parts of a company Christmas party is when the person that had most exemplified OrangeSoda’s mission throughout 2007 is recognized as “employee of the year,” or receives some other similar recognition.

When the time for this recognition comes, I always like to try and guess who it’s going to be. I usually do pretty well. At most companies, the hardest working and most dedicated employee is usually quite obvious, and it’s not much of a secret who that person is.

I joined OrangeSoda in May, and though that should be plenty of time to find out who the employee of the year would be, I found myself struggling to pinpoint the one person that was most deserving. Not because nobody stood out as the obvious choice, but because so many people stood out. I couldn’t imagine the difficulty those in charge would have in selecting the one person to recognize.

Several possible names ran through my head. Then they made the announcement: Director of Client Support, Nathan Judd. I nodded my head in acceptance. Nathan was certainly deserving of the award.

But then they brought out another award. I smiled as I realized that the executive team could do no better at choosing a single person than I could.

Jared Turner, VP of Development was next. But it didn’t stop there. Jared was followed by David Dustin (Sales Manager), Jon Wadley (Director of Campaign Management), and finally Jon Sanderson (Account Manager).

left to right: Nathan, Jared, David, Jon W. and Jon S.

As I considered these five employees, there was no doubt in my mind that each and every one deserved the recognition they were receiving. But at the same time, they could have recognized a dozen or more employees and I would have felt the same way I did then: that several employees who were so deserving weren’t being recognized.

That thought sat with me for a bit as I considered what truly makes OrangeSoda unique. In past jobs, I’ve listened to coworkers talk about going on strike, complain about their job or their boss, or browse the help-wanted ads while at work. These things don’t happen at OrangeSoda.

Every full-time employee is here because they want to be here. Every one of us believes in OrangeSoda, and every one of us is willing to sweat and bleed for this company. The commitment spills over to our customers, because without their success, OrangeSoda doesn’t succeed.

“Without you, there is no us.” We hear it so often it’s become cliché. Every company says it, but does anybody other than the executive team live it? At OrangeSoda, every employee knows it, believes it, and lives it.

When the opportunity for me to join OrangeSoda came up, I had a bit of an internal struggle. The company I was with at the time had given me four weeks of paid vacation due to the time I had served with them, something I wasn’t too interested in giving up.

Furthermore, I felt that I was well respected in my position. I was the third longest serving employee, having started with them when they were working out of three tiny offices in the corner of the second floor of a four-floor office building.

There were only six full-time employees. Three of us stayed around long enough to watch the company grow to over 100 employees, take over all four floors of the office building, and eventually win an award as the fastest growing, privately-owned technology company in the nation. I felt like I was an important part of that company’s success, history, and culture. The thought of leaving them nearly brought tears to my eyes.

But in the end, OrangeSoda presented an opportunity to start over, to be an integral part of having that experience all over again; helping a new startup company grow and be successful.

I believe in OrangeSoda, I believe in our mission, and I know that my fellow coworkers all believe it too. So in my own little world, I award employee of the year to every one of my coworkers, each of whom are deserving of this recognition.

If you’ve ever wondered whether or not a company you patronize has any interest in helping you, you don’t ever have to worry about that with OrangeSoda.

Here’s to a new year with twice the passion, and three times the success for both you and OrangeSoda! Watch out world. The fizz has never been stronger.

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Let Users Control Your Content

December 4th, 2007 - Jay Bean, CEO

As the world moves toward a Web 2.0 experience, thereby allowing users more and more control over what content gets put up on the World Wide Web, it has marketers everywhere throwing fits as they try to figure out how to control it.

Experts in reputation management have started to appear out of the woodwork offering companies a false sense of security by claiming to be able to control user-generated content, promising to squelch anybody who posts negative comments about your company anywhere on the Internet.

While it is important to protect your reputation from those who would slander you, one of the best ways to do so is by bringing the fight home.

Keep the Fighting In House

An acquaintance of mine once worked for a business-to-business company’s marketing department. He proposed that the company implement a discussion board on the site. However, he met large opposition to his proposal, especially from the manager of technology who argued that it would simply encourage members to openly talk negatively about the company, which did not have a particularly glowing reputation.

The marketer argued that this would be just fine. To begin with, they had plenty of evangelists that would come to their defense. Second of all, the griping and negative talk would be in a forum where they could quickly and easily respond (and probably learn things from their customers they might not ever hear otherwise). Third, it would generate free content, even if it does have a negative slant towards the company.

In essence, my acquaintance saw any company bashing as an opportunity for the company to actually improve its reputation.

How Does Allowing Trash Talk Help My Company?

A little over a year ago, General Motors held a contest. They invited consumers to create homemade TV ads for the Chevy Tahoe and post them on Chevrolet’s website. While the expected flow of incoming videos including some good and positive commercials, there was also an influx of Tahoe-bashing videos, especially from people who viewed the SUV as an unnecessary gas-guzzling monstrosity that only served to destroy the environment.

Chevrolet’s response? They left the videos up.

Know Who You’re Talking To

In Chevrolet’s case, it’s well known that environmentalists don’t like SUV’s. Anybody looking to purchase an SUV already knows that they get bad gas mileage. They don’t need an angry consumer video to tell them that. However, the angry consumer videos, thanks to all the talk they created, might get someone considering a competitor’s SUV to visit Chevrolet’s website instead, at least to see what all the fuss is about.

Adjust, or Die

Old-school marketers can’t handle not having complete control over everything. Fifty years ago, company mascots such as the Jolly Green Giant, Michelin Man, Tony the Tiger, and so forth were invented from marketers that wrote down everything the mascot could say and not say, do and not do.

Today, consumer generated comments are considered among the most reliable sources for legitimate information about a product or company. Consumers trust the word of people they don’t know far more than anything a marketer can cook up.

To adjust, you first have to accept that users are now in control of what is being said. Next, you have to allow visitors to your website to communicate with each other. And finally, let go. Don’t edit what you don’t like, don’t attack those who say things against you.

This is your opportunity to listen to what your customers are saying, to take steps to improve your company, and in that way control what is being said about you.

If 9 out of 10 people that speak about your company are speaking ill of it, it might be time to take a long hard look at yourself. You’ll never be able to please all the people all of the time, but at least you’ll be able to please most of the people most of the time.

In Closing…

So what should you do when user-generated content on your site doesn’t go the way you want it to? The answer is: do nothing! Thrive by accepting that users control the Internet, or die trying to control the masses.

Posted in Online Marketing, Content Creation | No Comments »