In the past 2 months, Inner Circle Media was honored with a Silver Addy Award and recognized by Corp! Magazine in their “Best of Michigan Business” competition (in the Marketing & PR Company category). Gosh, we sure are thankful when people like our work enough to give us awards!

First, let’s talk about the Addy… (By the way, that’s a photo of Carrie at the event)

Each year the American Advertising Federation receives 60,000 entries for its Addy Awards Competition. The Ann Arbor Ad Club calls for entries from local creative firms and determines winners who will compete on the regional and national level. We entered the web site we developed for Soul Tracks in the category of “Interactive Media: Web Site, Consumer HTML.” Soul Tracks is the premier online destination for soul music enthusiasts. Interestingly, Soul Tracks was started by Chris Rizik, co-founder and Board member of Ardesta, who’s passion for soul music is contagious. Boasting over a million hits a year, Soul Tracks is a vibrant web community with many contributors.

When designing SoulTracks.com, we focused on both aesthetics and flexibility. As all you web developers know, there’s always a worry that when the client takes over the upkeep of a website, the aesthetics of the user interface will quickly slide downhill. With SoulTracks.com we knew we had to build a pretty website that would stay pretty even when new content (photos, ads, videos, news, etc.) was added daily. Inner Circle built the new site on the Drupal content management framework which allows contributors to continuously add new information - like free mp3 downloads, new artist photos, bios, album updates, critical reviews, and soul music news. Drupal also allows Soul Tracks staff to manage an increasing number of advertisers.

Keeping all this in mind, we entered SoulTracks.com in the Addy competition because the site is a great example of an well-designed, technically astute website that lets our client easily manage a booming online community. We thought it deserved recognition as an example of a truly INTERACTIVE website where the content is always changing. We were right - our entry was awarded a Silver Addy and we were invited to attend the Addy Award Gala, which took place at the beautiful Rackham building on the University of Michigan campus, just a short walk from ICM’s office.

Carrie and I attended the gala, and gained keen insight into what else is going on design-wise in Ann Arbor. We learned some important things at the gala:

• Ann Arbor has some major design talent. We were super impressed with the work displayed in the Addy gallery: standouts (our favorites) include Heidi Woodward Sheffield’s work for the Ann Arbor Book Festival; Scott Pryor of Pryor Design’s sales promotion for ele Cake Co.; and Perich Advertising + Design’s entire advertising campaign for the Detroit Institute of Arts.
• The Addy Awards are based on design, not function, and this is especially true in the web site categories. Winning (Addy-worthy) entries included beautiful, expansive photography and simple, clean home page designs. Addys don’t give extra credit for functionality or recognize the power of an online community. We’re not saying that this is the Addy’s role: we could enter our sites for other awards that look more at the technical side, but it was an important lesson for us.
• They ran out of dessert. Carrie and I were devastated to find that very early in the evening, the dessert table was empty and never refreshed again. Katherine’s Catering provided the food, which was delicious, and the wine and beer selection, as well as the jazz trio, were a great enhancement to the festivities, but no chocolate for us was sad indeed.
• The price tag was a bit steep: $50 for Ad Club members (or $60 for nonmembers). The event was a great opportunity to meet other creative types in the Ann Arbor community, but I wonder if attendance would be boosted if the entrance fee was lower.

Now let’s talk about Corp! Magazine’s “Best of Michigan Business” Award…

Corp! magazine asked 1000 readers which companies they considered the “best” in Michigan. Those kind readers chose Inner Circle Media as one of the “best” in the “Marketing & PR” category. It was not clear to us how they categorized winning companies, as our firm could have fit in the “Technology Firms” or “Small Business” categories too. Winners were featured in the January/February 2008 edition of Corp! magazine and at a breakfast event in Troy, MI last week. Several other Ann Arbor companies made the list including:

• Accent Reduction Institute (Small Business $1-10 Million- also an ICM client)
• Busch’s (Grocers)
• University of Michigan Health System (Health Care Provider)
• Uproar Communications (Marketing & PR)
• Milliken Realty Company (Real Estate-Commercial/Industrial)
• Gandy Dancer (Restaurants)
• Running Fit (Retailers)
• Menlo Innovations (Small Business)
• Ardesta (Technology Firms)
• Fry, Inc. (Technology Firms)

Congrats to all the companies who made the “Best of Michigan Business” list. We should all be proud of our combined accomplishments and our efforts to build and grow great companies in the Great Lakes State.

Here’s an interesting Harvard Business Review article by Boris Groysberg (I found it on the BNET website). In his article, Groysberg says when star performers switch companies, they often fail to be star performers at the new company – except if they’re women. Groysberg found in his study that women are more successful in transitioning from one company to another. Here are the top reasons why:

• Men typically form in-house bonds at their company, while women are better at building external relationships and networks with customers, mentors, colleagues, partners, vendors, etc. outside their own company. When they leave one company and go on to the next, they take these strong connections with them.
  

• Men typically consider compensation first when selecting a new position. Women are more likely to evaluate a variety of factors when considering a new job –especially cultural fit, values, and managerial style. Women often choose to work at companies that are receptive to female talent, open to a range of personal styles, and impartial in their performance measurement systems. Because women select new jobs based on a strong personal fit, they are more likely to find success in those jobs.

If this topic interests you like it does me, then this might interest you too (especially if you live in Ann Arbor / Southeast Michigan). We are forming a new women’s group called the Women’s Exchange of Washtenaw. Our focus is on helping women build and lead strong companies. The first WXW event will be held in early May. We’ll feature a panel of high-powered business women (a C-level corporate leader, a successful company founder, and a soon-to-be successful entrepreneur). Unlike many other local business groups, we’ll also have break out sessions where all participants will discuss struggles and solutions common to growing and leading companies. The event will end with the happiest of happy hours (my favorite). Topics and agendas for future WXW events will be determined based on the outcome of this first event.

Please let me know if you want to know more and/or get involved. More info will follow on this blog, on the Chamber website, and in the press soon.

Inner Circle Media has been lauded as a commuter-friendly business by the getDowntown program, which is committed to promoting alternative transportation options. Click here to read more about our sweet award.

There are so many people we’d like to thank: our parents, who taught us how to walk, ride the bus, and drive; our family members for supporting our carpooling efforts. Oh wait, there’s the music telling us to wrap it up…