The High Museum of Atlanta Presents The Rise of Sneaker Culture

The High Museum Of Art Atlanta has a very creatively displayed 155 sneakers that have origins dating back to the mid-nineteenth century. This exhibition is a ‘Sneakerheads’ heaven. The shoes are displayed with descriptions and years of the time that they were created.


What is most interesting to do while at the exhibit is to watch someone reflect back on a pair of shoes they see that they may own, what they were wearing with the shoes, and even such memories as how they used a toothbrush to keep the shoes clean.

Sneakers have been a part of the hip hop culture for quite sometime. Many feel that when they select a sneaker to wear, they are making a statement as they round out their outfit with a nice pair of “Kicks.” RUN DMC made a statement that led to one of the first marketing collaboration with their 1986 hit My Adidas. 

This basically boils down to a very successful influencer marketing strategy that still works today. Here is how to story goes of how the partnership came to be:

Setting the scene – Adidas was not a very popular brand among kids in the early ’80s. At the time,  Fila and Reebok were bigger. But, this song made it the apparel of choice. RUN DMC had the good fortune of being managed by Russell Simmons and in early 1987 when this song became a crowd favorite, he arranged for executives from Adidas to attend a show. Before performing this song, DMC (Darryl McDaniels) asked the crowd to “show us your Adidas,” and about 3,000 audience members lifted their sneakers for display. Extremely impressed, the Adidas executives signed a $1.6 million deal with Run-D.M.C. and created their own line of laceless footwear.

To this day, RUN DMC still makes money off of this deal. And, they have opened the door for so many that have come behind them.

Michael Jordan’s story is also an interesting one when it came to the elevation of the Air Jordan and the relationship with Nike that almost did not happen. This Bleacher Report video shows that Jordan’s mom had to make him go speak with Phil Knight and the team at Nike in Oregan. Remember, in 1984 Nike was basically a start up, entrepreneurial company. What ultimately sold Jordan on the idea to go with Nike was their ability to creatively think outside of the box in how they would portray the brand.

Marquis Henderson enjoying the exhibit

This exhibition originated at the Bata Shoe Museum in Toronto, Canada. You can see from their site and the images below that they have a passion for all types of shoes.


The High Museum is of coarse more then any one installation. From the art lab for kids to the interactive installations on the Carroll Slater Sifly Piazza, this is an excellent destination for families, couples on date, or simply someone who wants to take it in on their own.

Sage having fun in the Art Lab

The Business Take-A-Ways:

  1. Find brands that you can parter with in an arrangement that is mutually beneficial.
  2. Track your data. Brands want to see the numbers behind any influencer strategy that they may consider. Remember, it’s more important to garner engagement as opposed to numbers that you can not move to action.
  3. Like Jordan, don’t be afraid to push the limits of creativity to stand out from the crowd.
  4. Find ways to blend your story in to the narrative of culture. This technique will make your product or service part of the conversation for a lifetime.
  5. It’s ok to go with the underdog when trying to partner with a brand. You never know where that journey may take you.

The Rise of Sneaker Culture is on view through August 14th.

Learn Community Building from Anita Wing Lee on March 29th

Community Building with Anita BLOGThe app Periscope has introduced the world to many AWESOME people and allowed them to share their gifts with humanity. Anita Wing Lee is one of those individuals that is using platforms such as Periscope to bring stories to the world that may not have gotten told in their purest form. Following her path as a light worker, she has managed to build a pretty amazing community.

Anita will be in Atlanta for one day to share her tips on what it takes to build a community that will support your initiatives. On March 29th, those of us in and around Atlanta will have the opportunity to learn from someone who has really accomplished what so many large brands struggle with currently.

You will learn:

  • Community Building
  • Storytelling
  • Tips to using visual cues
  • The beauty of delegating work to community members
  • And, so much more!

Note: This event is a fundraiser with all proceeds going to help Anita’s efforts in the refugee crisis. In an effort to keep the majority of her doantions going directly in to the camps, guest will have to purchase their own lunch. Valet parking is validated with the purchase of your lunch.

Scope Day Atlanta is coming – Jan 23

Scope Day Atlanta Jan 23, 2016

You may have heard that Selsi Enterprises is putting together an event titled Scope Day Atlanta. This event will be the first of its kind for any city to participate in around the world.  This is an event that will take place on Periscope and will highlight all of the great elements of the city of Atlanta and surrounding areas.

Scope Day was founded by a gentleman in Taiwan named Mike Lin. In a matter of 30 days, he pulled off a Scope Day that allowed people to travel around the world via their mobile devices on the app Periscope.

Here are some details about what took place on the original Scope Day:

  • Take a look at that scopes that were captured using the hashtag #ScopeDay via our partner Katch.
  • Here is a look at the press release that went out for Scope Day.
  • Recent press coverage – Australia and Adweek

The potential for Atlanta to be on a world stage with this effort is huge! This event will garner the attention of people globally and introduce them to a piece of Atlanta that they may not have seen.  From athletes to authors, the broadcasters in this event will be amazing.

If you are live streaming and you live in Atlanta, be sure to join our Facebook group titled Atlanta Live Streamers.

Stay tuned for additional details on Scope Day Atlanta.

 

Are you Live Streaming in Atlanta?

Live streaming platforms are all the rage at the moment. In Atlanta, we know that there are a lot of you that are live steaming some great content. It is our hope that we can pull our live streaming community together. By coming together, we can help each other grow in our streaming capabilities and support each others streams. You never know, you may find someone that may make a great business partner on an upcoming project.

If you are streaming in Atlanta, be sure to sign up for our eNewsletter, PR World. Also, jump over to Facebook and join our group titled Atlanta Live Streamers. Here, you will be able to keep up with the latest information on upcoming meetups and live streaming news.

Spread the word!

Top 14 Industries that Can Benefit from Live-streaming

Friends making selfie. Two beautiful young women making selfie

Live-streaming is all the rage now in social media. In our opinion, it is a true game changer.  Live-streaming give you the ability to have your own television station in the palm of your hands. Right now, there are two live-streaming apps that are garnering a lot of attention – Periscope and Meerkat. Each of the apps have great features. Currently, our preference is Periscope and we will write about that in another post.

Today, we want to share with you 14 industries that could really move the needle on anything from raising brand awareness to increasing sales by using one of the live-streaming apps regularly. Here is our list in no particular order:

14. Consultants

13. Musicians

12. Retail store owners

11. Restaurant owners and chefs

10. Travel

9. Realtors

8. Health and wellness

7. Photographers

6. Fashion & beauty stylist

5. Authors

4. Journalist

3. Actors

2. Event planners

1. Educators

What industries would you add or delete? Leave us a comment below to share your top industries that could benefit from live-streaming. We will be diving a little deeper in to this topic on our upcoming scopes this week. Follow us on Periscope and Meerkat at @Selsi_Ent .

Mom 2.0 Summit — We’ll Be There!

This is one of the top summits to attend for all things related to Mommy Blogging. As an official Mompreneur, we love connecting great brands with the mom audiences. This will be our first year attending this summit, but we are sure it will not disappoint.  The connections made at a summit like this will help us to better serve the needs of our clients.

Take a look at the intro video:

SE calls for nominations – 2013 NonProfit Challenge

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Selsi Enterprises announces a call for nominations for their 2013 Nonprofit Challenge. The 12-month pro bono public relations initiative was created to help generate community awareness for a select nonprofit 501(c)(3).

The nomination and submission information for the Selsi Enterprises Nonprofit Challenge is now available. All Georgia based nonprofits are eligible to apply. The application can be found here on the Selsi Enterprises website in the column on the right in the Box.com widget. Simply download the application and email it in. The deadline for nominations/applications is Thursday, November 28, 2013, at 6:00 PM EST. The winner will be announced on Friday, December 6, 2013.

For one year, the Selsi Enterprises team will work collaboratively with the selected nonprofit to provide communications guidance and support via news releases, media relations, media training, community outreach, social media, communications training and other related services.

Selsi Enterprises also invites other Georgia based firms specializing in branding, advertising, marketing and social media to join the Nonprofit Challenge and provide complementary services to the selected Nonprofit Challenge recipient. Firms interested in donating their time and talents to this initiative can email nonprofitchallenge@selsienterprises.com or telephone Selsi Enterprises directly at 494-939-1594.

About Selsi Enterprises

Based in Atlanta, Georgia Selsi Enterprises is a comprehensive communications firm specializing primarily in servicing small/medium size business, corporate communication, as well as nonprofits across the country. The firm utilizes the most relevant and current communications tools—with a hybrid of traditional and new media approaches—to develop and execute strategic public relations initiatives for its clients.

For those of you in the Atlanta area…..

We are trying to find some parents who may be interested in being part of a LIVE special audience for HLN’s Raising America with Kyra Phillips on Thursday, September 26th@ noonWe are doing a show about hacking, security, and identity theft and want to get your questions/comments on-air from a parent standpoint of how to handle this topic. If you have personally experienced any kind of hacking, identity theft, etc or know someone else who has, PLEASE let us know because we would like to not only have parents but also try have some guests with personal experience as well.Please let Christo Taoushiani know ASAP if you (or a friend/family member) are interested and available to come to the CNN Center – Downtown Atlanta on Thursday, September 26th at 11:00amET for this exciting opportunity.

10 spots available so first come first serve!

Best always, Christo Taoushiani

HLN Planning UnitDesk – 404.827.3627Twitter – @ChristoZT

Christo.taoushiani@turner.com

Newspaper Delivery Still Occuring

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During my morning walk, I saw something that I have not seen in a long time…..a delivered newspaper. As we know, newspaper circulation is on the fast decline. I have to wonder how much longer we will see deliveries actually occur. One thing that you can do is pretty much define the target audience that still reads a paper newspaper. As marketers, if we are trying to reach the individual that still receives the newspaper, are the current prices of the ads still worth the investment? I would love to read your comments.

5 Lessons Any Small Business Owner Can Learn from Chick-fil-A

Chick-fil-A is doing customer service right!

First, for those of you that are not familiar with Chick-fil-A, it is an Atlanta based quick service chicken restaurant chain. According to their website, they are the second largest operation of their kind with more than 1,615 restaurants in 39 states. In 2011, the restaurant reached $4.1 billion in sales. Chick-fil-A is credited with creating the first boneless breast of chicken sandwich.

What is impressive and what I think small business owners can learn from Chick-fil-A is the culture that they have created within not only their management team, but also their sales associates. The politeness of of all of the associates oozes the idea that the employees are happy to work at Chick-fil-A. The associates always make an attempt to go above and beyond in their service that they are providing to you.

My family frequents Chick-fil-A’s in several states. The customer service results are the same. Our neighborhood location keeps a line in the drive thru the majority of the day.

The founder, Truett Cathy, implemented a Closed-On-Sunday policy since the opening of the first restaurant in 1946. Although he caught a lot flack for this decision, Cathy states that this is one of the best business decisions that he ever made. The company still continues to compete well in the area profitability against companies that are open 7 days a week.

So, here are my top 5 lessons for the small business owner when using Chick-fil-A as a case study:

1. Put the people in your organization first. When others here that a company respects it’s employees, that particular company does not have a problem attracting top candidates. This is easy to see in the caliber if employee hired at Chick-fil-A.

2. Allow employees to spend time with their families. WorkLife Balance is something that many organizations struggle with today.

3. Many people have some sort of spiritual thirst. Not saying that all companies have to implement a Closed-On-Sunday policy, but respecting employees spiritual desire will go along way towards the success if a company,

4. Develop a positive culture from the top down. The managers in Chick-fil-A model the behavior that they expect. In turn, the associates provide the customers with top quality service.

5. The product sold is always properly prepared. From the oatmeal to a chicken caesar wrap, the quality does not diminish. And, if a customer is given something that they feel is not top quality, then it is PLEASANTLY exchanged.

Make customer service a priority in your organization immediately. Learn from those that have a formula for success.

I hope that you enjoyed this post. And in the words of any Chick-fil-A associate, “It’s my pleasure!”