I had a chance to catch the last 20 minutes of Rex’s “marketing track” presentation at Tuesday’s FOLIO Show in New York. (I hid in to the back to avoid notice; at last year’s FOLIO conference, Rex had a ball embarrassing Shannon and me.) In his session, “Managing a Creative Services Operation: From Ad Creation to Custom Publishing,” Rex zeroed in on strategic ways custom publishers can partner with clients to publish content that truly fulfills an organization’s mission. Whether that’s creating a blog that adds value to a magazine for an influential association, or creating inventive content that subtly and effectively promotes the goals of an esteemed genealogical society, custom publishers make it their business to make a client’s goals their own.
Rex also got some great questions from the crowd. My favorite: “How much time do you spend writing your blog every day?” Yea, no comment from me.
P.S. It was impressive to see all of Hammock’s magazines, Web sites and blogs onscreen–seeing them at somewhat of a distance reminds me why we should feel really proud of what we do.
What a great way to start our week! Last night, MyBusiness (the magazine we publish for members of the National Federation of Independent Business) was honored at the Folio Show in New York with a prestigious Ozzie design award for best feature design in a business-to-business magazine with a circulation above 100,000. This award is a big one within our industry. At Hammock, we liken it to an Emmy, though as Managing Director John Lavey points out, itﾕs really more like a Golden Globe. Either way, weﾕre thrilled to have won.
The winning entry was a feature in our February/March 2006 issue about a business owner who single-handedly rescued the small town he loved as it teetered on the edge of extinction, like so many other small towns across our country. Congrats to our fabulous design department for their smart work and excellent photo direction.
Select any of the spreads at the left to open a PDF of the full article and see the whole thing in its full-fledged Ozzie-rrific-ness.
We were going to do some cute post about the 15 things we love most about Hammock Publishing to commemorate Hammock’s 15th anniversary this month. But when we started the list of our favorite parts of working here, we could tell we would pass the 15 mark several times over.
It the simplest terms in boils down to this: We love working at Hammock because of the:
But not necessarily in that order. Here are a few things that could be heard around the water cooler when the topic of the anniversary came up recently.
Bill Hudgins: “From a selfish employee perspective: I have worked in large and small organizations, including a unionized place, and none of them ever offered benefits as generous or working conditions as friendly and caring as Hammock. If this is your first ‘real’ job, you don’t have any way to compare, unlike those of us who have worked other places. The only other place I worked that encouraged creativity, self-improvement and initiative as much as Hammock was the PR agency where Rex originally hired me.”
Barbara Greenfield: “Rex and Patrick R. keep me ‘technologically hip’ so I don’t feel like an idiot in public when I hear people talking about Apple’s new innovation and RSS feeds. And people here love what they do. It’s not ‘just a job.'”
Jamie Roberts: “Hammock has the best Christmas parties — and after-parties.”
Megan Goodchild: “A work-life balance is definitely supported at Hammock, and it’s not the end of the world if you get sick or have to go to the doctor during the day. Also, being an Apple/technology nerd is pretty much encouraged.
Summer Huggins: “To anyone in the blogosphere, Rex is a celebrity! (So to steal words from Heather Armstrong:) Working for Rex is like working for Brad Pitt’s cousin. Say the words ‘Rex Hammock’ in some circles and people are impressed and a little verklempt!”
Shannon McRae: “I love working at Hammock because I learn about things like mobile blogging and RSS before most anyone else I know, thanks to Rex’s love of technology. And the laughs we share from recounting stories of Hammock Christmas parties past. And the total lack of micromanaging.”
Lena Basha: “That pour-your-heart-out speeches at Hammock Christmas parties are well-received with responses like, ‘Oh my goodness, you almost made me cry,’ and ‘I was thinking the same thing.’ And that celebrity gossip is encouraged.”
Lynne Boyer: “The Hammock Publishing office experience. You have to be a part of it to understand. And we actually have fun office Christmas parties, ones that employees/significant others want to attend.”
No amount of jet lag or intense desire to sleep late could keep Rex, Jamie, Susie and I from waking up early this past Saturday, putting on the work clothes and taking part in Hands on Nashville Day, a day of volunteering that brings together more than 1,500 volunteers each year to spruce up some of Metro Nashville’s public schools (more on the sprucing later).
The four of us joined up with a team of local bloggers — officially named Mr. Roboto’s Team Blogger Sponsored by Hammock Publishing and Amerigo’s, which was led by my favorite blogger of all time, Mr. Roboto (Sorry, Rex) — at Percy Priest Elementary School. Our objective: to clean, construct, mulch, prune, paint and organize.
Sure, there was chit chat and excessive donut consumption, but there was also hard work. Susie and Jamie mulched and pruned. Rex put together a corner cabinet for a classroom. I cleaned doorknobs and helped install shelves. The principal of the school was even there to help us find the tools we needed (and to make sure all the tools were returned) and to tell us how much she appreciated the work.
Overall, a good–and feel-good–time was had by all.