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In Seattle Washington this evening, a business network meeting was held at Rocket Dog Communications, whos offices are right down across the street from the Seattle Ferry Terminal. The meeting was organized by the company owners, a husband and wife team, Michael and Susan Elliot. But it was promoted by an organization called "Lunch 2.0".
Rocket Dog is a pretty cool company. They have taken the stylized art of the 1950s and used it to brand their image. The Buck Rogers type "Rocket" theme is broadened to encompass a wider ranging 1950s Sci-Fi motif that has worked well for them. I remember reading somewhere that if you want to never go out of style, stick to the 1950s. Michael actually fits that style quite well in his formal suit with a blocky, powerful figure that reminds one of more streamlined times.
The gathering drew in excess of 50 professionals from disciplines ranging from circuit board prototyping, to staffing services, to financial consultants, and even a University of Washington Professor named Kathy Gill. She is an instructor in the field of Digital Communications, and was one of the most interesting and cerebral people that I was privileged to speak with. She advised me to read "The Tapping Point" by Malcolm Gladwell, and "Ted Talks" at ted.org. How often does one receive a reading assignment at a networking meeting? I took it as a great compliment and have already located and browsed the material.
Michael Elliot, the CEO of Rocket Dog Communications, was kind enough to speak publicly on the subject of staying relevant as marketing professionals in a down economy. His points were very well taken. One was that while the rest of the business community wrangles and agonizes about their failing investments, marketers are seeing one third to one half discounted rates in print and broadcast media. The opportunity for go-getters is real and exciting. Another hammer point was regarding Mobile Technology. He made the unarguable argument that there are actually more cellular phones on the market than there are people. He advised strongly that we should not leave that fact out of our marketing philosophy moving forward.
But business talk after a few glasses of wine (free wine) becomes old hat. As the roughly three hour event wound down and the snacks began to dwindle, the group began to disperse as well. We stayed a little late, talking with Susan about the up and coming maturation of video as an online audience drawing element. Susan was very gracious and easy to talk too. She even played a little guitar hero for us, and was surprisingly good at it.
We also spoke at length with Michael Elliott about the difference between a viral episode and a viral movement online. Though not focused on these themes in their business acumen, I was pleasantly surprised at the level of insight each of them had on these subjects.
All in all, the entire experience was a pleasant one. Rocket Dog Communications CEO and his wife were very knowledgeable in their expertise, and should I have need of media services, I will certainly entertain their proposal.
