Charlotte Chamber of Commerce Quarterly Meeting

Julio Colmenares will be attending the Charlotte Chamber of Commerce Quarterly Meeting today at 3:45 at the CPCC Central Campus. He will be a part of a panel discussing business in these tough economic times. We are proud of the role we play with the Charlotte Chamber of Commerce and with the Community Building Initiative. With the strength we give to these organizations, we help to improve the quality of life in Charlotte and the surrounding area. 


By Embra King

Quit While You're Ahead

By: Embra King

                                      

Do you know of the Geico Gecko? Of course you do they have been beating that company mascot to death ever since his introduction in 1999. He has even had a couple accent changes since his debut. I know you know the Geico Cavemen pitch that has been on since 2005. You know--the one that is so bad now that you almost feel embarrassed for them. Now I am all for fun creative advertising, but these things should have expiration dates, and for Geico’s two longest running adds, I think it is time to let them rest. It is a good thing when a company knows when enough is enough, to bow out while the going is good. At once I thought that Geico’s gecko and caveman pitches where playful and fun; now I cringe every time I see one of their ads. It is like someone who was fun to hangout with for short periods of time, when all of a sudden they started showing up to parties uninvited and sat in the corner not talking to anyone, periodically shouting nonsense to remind everyone that he is still in the room. 

But now for my point. This past week Target unexpectedly announced it was parting ways with advertising firm Wieden + Kennedy. For several years now the firm had been creating fun, 15-second commercials that depict little life moments, highlighting a single product at the end. The ability to deliver 150 compact, playful, and sometimes downright hilarious commercials in only about a year and a half is impressive, but what is more impressive is that each is very well done, with none that really stand out as being bad.  When Target’s VP was asked why they split with W+K he had this to say, “Leave really good work before it’s time to leave”.  I think Gieco needs to take a page from the Target playbook and retire the gecko and caveman before someone thinks that a TV show based on their commercials is a good idea…

Chairs and Tables Photos

Some great new photos from the Chairs and Tables Breakfast have arrived. It was a great success for us and the rest involved, and we look forward to continuing CBI spread their message throughout Charlotte in the years to come.

                                         Almost three hundred people were in attendance.

                                            Dianne English, the Executive Director of CBI, 
                                                    spoke on the differences in diversity.

Julio Colmenares(Center)  is the chair of the

    Latin American Chamber of Commerce here in Charlotte.

                                      Charlotte's mayor Anthony Foxx gave a great talk on 
                                                 diversity and its importance to our area.

Chairs and Tables Photos

Some great new photos from the Chairs and Tables Breakfast have arrived. It was a great success for us and the all the rest involved and we look forward to continuing CBI spread their message throughout Charlotte in the years to come.

CGR on Fox News

CGR's very own Julio Colmenares was interviewed for Reboot Charlotte on Fox news. It was a piece about leaders in the hispanic community that are making an impact in the Charlotte area. Check it out!

Chairs and Tables

By Embra King

This Friday CGR Creative helped put together and deliver the Community Building Initiative’s annual stakeholders breakfast. The title for this year’s event, Chairs and Tables, is a play on the idea that, despite our differences, we are stronger together than apart. The event was a huge success, drawing in almost 300 people to the Mint Museum on a crisp December morning.

Among the many speakers at the event was Charlotte’s own mayor Anthony Foxx, who spoke on the need for us to move beyond just talking about equality and the importance of connecting within our community. It was a great experience for all who attended and a lot of great stories and perspectives were presented.

We here at CGR are very grateful to be a part of such an important organization. If you want to learn more about CBI, please visit their website listed below. We at CGR look forward to moving forward with CBI in spreading ideas of equality and community across the Charlotte area.

To add to the conversation on the topics discussed during the stakeholders breakfast, simply use the hash tag #CandT to add your opinion on the ideas of equality and community in Charlotte.


Get connected to the Community Building Initiative:
www.communitybuildinginitiative.org
Twitter: @CommBldgInit
Facebook: communitybuildinginitiative

Facebook Swallows Another Company Whole

By Embra King

This week Facebook has announced the purchase of the location-based company Gowalla for an undisclosed amount. This comes right around the time that Foursquare (The largest LBA provider) announced that they have just recently exceeded a user base of fifteen million.

Location-based apps are only a year or so old and are growing thanks to the explosion of smart phone owners. With the purchase of the Texas based company, it appears that Facebook has big plans for what these types of apps can bring to networking, marketing and social reviews.

Facebook's biggest challenge is to increase the usage of these apps. While Foursquare boasted about their fifteen million subscribers, triple that of what they had at this time last year, a recent study has found that only about 2% of the subscribers actually use the product at least once a week.

It will be interesting to see if this most recent purchase is more of an acquisition of Gowalla's talent, or if they have plans for integrating this new app into Facebook’s already large social networking toolbox.