Spring 2011 48/5 2nd Place: Tell Stories

As mentioned in our last post, the East Lansing Film Festival Spring 48/5 Competition was the weekend before Memorial Day, and the two teams containing MessageMakers staff, Big Foot Films and Tell Stories, took first and second place, respectively.

As a refresher, here's how the ELFF explains the 48/5:

For the East Lansing Film Festival 48/5 Film Contest, filmmakers come together to write, shoot, edit, and premiere an original five-minute film in a mere 48 hours.

Spring 2011 48/5 Winner: Big Foot Films

At MessageMakers, we get excited about the success our staffers find in their extracurricular pursuits. A large part of our staff loves video production, so video competitions tend to be a large part of that.

The East Lansing Film Festival Spring 48/5 Competition was this past weekend, and the two teams containing MessageMakers staff, Big Foot Films and Tell Stories, took first and second place, respectively.

Old Town Lansing Receives 2011 GAMSA!

Great news for our neighborhood. We mentioned a number of months ago that Old Town was named a GAMSA semifinalist. The National Trust for Historic Preservation announced today that Old Town Lansing Main Street and its 1,300 volunteers are the recipients of the 2011 Great American Main Street Award® (GAMSA).

Recognized as a leader following the Main Street Four-Point Approach®, embracing sound historic preservation ethics and building strategic partnerships, Old Town [Lansing] Main Street was honored today at the Main Street Awards Ceremony during the National Main Streets Conference in Des Moines, Iowa (streaming live starting at 10:30am EST).

MessageMakers is glad to support Old Town's betterment efforts, from festivals to clean-ups, from performances to community meetings.

Welcoming Pat McNerney, Project Manager!

We're glad to welcome Pat McNerney to the MessageMakers team as our newest project manager.

Pat has worked with MessageMakers as a contractor on a number of high-profile event production jobs and shared the fruits of his considerable experience. He's been a talented addition to our team, and we're glad to make that addition permanent.

6 Factors to Improve Meeting Quality

What's the worst meeting experience you can remember having? What made it so bad?

In our experience, there are six factors that combine to make a meeting a good one... or a bad one. Some of these sound like common sense—but you'd be surprised how often these items aren't addressed by meeting and event planners.

MessageMakers Website Redesign Wins 2011 Summit Creative Award

Over the past year, MessageMakers has redesigned this website and been at work to expand the useful content we provide. Today, we received word that the redesign has been recognized with a bronze award from the 2011 Summit Creative Award competition.

"Many people put many hours into this redesign, and now we're seeing the results," says Matt Penniman, one of the lead developers on the MessageMakers website redesign.

Celebrating 2011’s Michigan 50 Companies to Watch

The staff of MessageMakers had a great time at the seventh annual Michigan Celebrates Small Business event, held April 28 at the Lansing Center. At the event, MessageMakers was honored as one of the 2011 “Michigan 50 Companies to Watch,” an awards program sponsored by the Edward Lowe Foundation and presented by Michigan Celebrates Small Business.

Review: How to Live on 24 Hours a Day

During a recent business trip, I ended up with a few hours free to escape to the pool with a book. I eventually settled upon Arnold Bennett's productivity short How to Live on 24 Hours a Day, published in 1908. (You can get a free copy for the device of your choice.