Note from the Editor…or rather: Passion from the Editor

Note from the Editor…or rather: Passion from the Editor

I study Glamour, Vogue, Elle, Bazaar…and “The Beat Goes On.”  I scan the sale racks at every department store; I meander through photos, websites, vintage stores, and celebrity media.  What is it that I am looking for?  My passion: FASHION.

Some people like to fish, others enjoy crafts...I enjoy Fashion. I am not one of those people who say they love “fashion” when they really just love to shop and spend money. Of course I love to shop and spend money, but I live and breathe fashion. I love everything about it, really.  I like the mix of prints, the play on patterns, the cut of a shirt, the accessories and color that can make or break an ensemble.

Yeah, I love a lot of things. After all, I am an editor.  I love editing the diverse content we publish here at Olympia Media Group.  I adore writing; it allows me to clear my mind.  As for sports, I have done it all.  I have played basketball, volleyball, golf, tennis, swim team, dive team, soccer, gymnastics, figure skating…(my mom was a busy mom, allowing me to overachieve).  All in all, I am a dancer. My mom taught ballet in our basement, and I started at the age of two.

This is all beside the point though.  We all have passions. We all have dreams.  We all have experience…whether we think it is relative or not. We all have goals…or lack thereof.  I went from activity to activity as a child…meaning I learned to multi-task and prioritize early on in life.  I had to decide what was truly important in my life and what I was truly passionate about.

Now there are passion hobbies, and passion professions.  I am passionate about writing, media, and my career in general.  I am also passionate about dance, health, socializing, cooking, and of course FASHION.  Why live in a world where we have to choose one over the other?  There is no time for that.  Pursue all at once, mix up all your interests, and take and pick what works.  I am not going to lie; I adore getting articles in about fashion. 

What I am saying is: let yourself be passionate about everything you were before you got into the workforce.  Just because you played soccer all through high school and now work in a corporate setting, doesn’t mean you can’t play intramural soccer…or coach a league. Yeah, I get it. We are all busy.  However, if you take a second to think about what is truly important in your life and what is important, you will make time for what you are passionate about.  Bring out the inner you and what makes you happy. Cheers my friend, to another new year with endless opportunities.

XOXO,

K

What You're Not Doing That You Should Be

At the ripe old age of 24, I’m the oldest person on the executive team at Olympia Media Group.  I’m also one of the few people working for this company that has had any prior post-college work experience.  And, what I’ve realized since joining the team last summer is that it would benefit a lot of companies if they took a page from our playbook.  When I say that, do I mean that they should start a company in the middle of an industry that is “dying,” hire a handful of 22-24 year olds to run separate divisions of that company, set up shop in a bagel factory in the middle of a sweltering Indiana summer with no air conditioning, blast mashups and 80’s music throughout the office on a daily basis, throw all political correctness out the window, and allow starting a weekend pre-game at the office because there’s a lot of work to do but also a lot of playing to do?  Kind of, but not exactly.

The reason that we do all of these things isn’t because there’s some overwhelming reason to do them, it’s because there isn’t an overwhelming reason not to do them.  Call it genius, or call it being “kids” that have decided to jump in and then learn how to swim because we’re too impatient to do it the other way around, but we are constantly asking ourselves why we’re doing what we’re doing, and why we aren’t implementing a new idea that we came up with while sitting around a wobbly card table in an old factory.

We constantly ask ourselves “Why? ” and “Why not?” because we know that there are only 2 outcomes: we either confirm that the way we’re doing something is the best way for us to do it, or we deciding that there is a better way to do it, and quickly make that change.  Knowing what I know now, I would venture to guess that most companies don’t ask themselves these questions often enough because they don’t like the answers that they know they’ll come up with.  Companies grow, and companies develop systems and processes, but if they don’t constantly ask themselves why they’re doing things a certain way, how they can do those things better, and most importantly encourage every employee to subscribe to this philosophy, they might grow, slowly… but in this rapidly changing, innovation-driven economy, it’s more than likely that they’re going nowhere, fast.

Jordan Roraus, Regional Sales Manager

A Unique Blend of Form and Function

Innovation is not a suggestion here but to us it's a state of mind.  As a young graduate from Ball State University in 2008, I realize a blank canvas stands in front of me waiting to foreshadow future endeavors with imagination and brilliance.  As I continue to grow with what is projected to be a multi-million dollar company and make a name for myself and my colleagues, I see the light at the end of the tunnel.  Being within a team environment where the average age is around 23, shows that we all have high ambition along with high expectations for one another.  We rely on our colleagues to produce high quality and high quantity work to support our name....and that alone is worth all the hard work and time invested.  Why a unique blend of form & function?  Our team works to get the job done, no matter the circumstances.  But, we also choose to do so, in a well balanced and structured agenda.  

We aren't your average black and white newspaper, we bring color and vibrance to a slowly failing print concept.  We have something to prove and we show it.  Around here we laugh in the face of impossible.  You may hear rumors about print dying, but we are looking to revamp what is already a popular concept.  While dealing with new & existing clientele, you realize how much impact you actually have on there overall appearance.  As a Graphic Artist I want to be able to showoff as much as possible and give clients a look they can be proud of.  

At Olympia Media Group, I have the opportunity to use my wide array of graphic capabilities.    Between designing ads, layouts and illustrating I stay busy yet content with our progress as a team.  This company is growing rapidly and I am excited to be a part of it.  There is always a chance to make an impression....why not do it with The Odyssey?!

"Never let your fear of striking out keep you from playing the game."

Clay Rebber, Designer

"Arrival of Greek Student Newspaper Promotes Shared Interests Among Members"

The Odyssey at University of Nebraska has been featured in the Daily Nebraskan:

"One month into its publication, the fourth issue of The Odyssey, the University of Nebraska-Lincoln's all-greek newspaper, covers topics such as an interview with a GDI (God Damn Independent, or a non-greek student, for all those not pulling Total Frat Moves every Fraterday night), a discussion about the increasingly serious penalties for composite (or photo of the entire chapter) theft, information about Chi Omega's Wing Fling and several other columns reflecting upon everything from sisterhood to caffeine overdose.

Less news and more weekly lifestyle magazine, The Odyssey is a multi-campus greek publication run through parent publisher Olympia Media Group.

Beginning in 2009 at the University of Indiana, it has since spread to 28 campuses across the nation, mostly large state schools.

In mid-October, it came to UNL, delivered in weekly bundles to every greek house throughout campus..."

Read more at http://www.dailynebraskan.com/news/arrival-of-greek-student-newspaper-promotes-shared-interests-among-members-1.2402999

Enthusiastic Editor Needed!

We are looking for a Managing Editor at Olympia Media Group to orchestrate the communication and organization of papers at up to nine campuses. This includes communicating with writers in multiple forms by keeping them on deadlines, advancing their content, and growing our writer base. This position also includes proofreading, editing, and planning of the layout of each publication each week. This is a great opportunity for someone who is just starting out as you will gain an immense amount of knowledge and experience from both being in the fast-paced environment of a start-up and the  development of several Greek publications across the country. If you are interested please email jobs@olympiamediagroup.com.

Olympia Media Group is Featured as a Mid-Size Business Client for a Central Desktop Case Study

Central Desktop is a project collaboration tool for teams with the ability to manage projects and teams online, easy to use with the ability to access the file-sharing platform anywhere anytime, ability to manage task lists, sync with members of the company and calendar events, and one place to clearly organize all files and documents in one place. 

About Olympia Media Group

Founded in June 2009, Olympia Media Group publishes The Odyssey, a weekly lifestyle paper targeted at the Greek community, fraternities and sororities. As of Fall 2010, The Odyssey is being published in 18 universities, including Indiana University, Texas Tech University, Penn State University and the University of Southern California.

The Challenge: Managing Thousands of Pieces of Content

In nine weeks, Olympia Media Group produced 106 issues of The Odyssey, which translates to 1,700 pages, 800 ads and 1,450 articles. With so much content being produced at such a rapid pace, Olympia Media Group needed a single place to store files and manage the production of each issue. The company needed an online solution to help connect its 100 employees and 300 writers based across the country in various universities. Olympia Media Group also had plans to expand to 27 universities by the end of the academic year and 40 additional universities the following year.

Olympia Media Group initially used 37 Signals' products but quickly outgrew them as the company continued to expand into more schools. Olympia Media Group needed a file-sharing tool that would allow its staff to access its files regardless of where they were located. In its first year, Olympia Media Group was producing four papers with three people on the creative team, but quickly grew to producing 18 papers with only eight people on the creative team each week. Each issue of The Odyssey required the coordination of dozens of people including publishers, sales managers, designers and editors. The company needed a solution that would help them manage all of these moving parts.

The Solution: Central Desktop as a File Sharing and Communication Tool

See the rest of the case study here... http://customers.centraldesktop.com/media-publisher-online-content-management.html

Welcome to the Real World: Startup Style

 As I graduated with all of my friends on May 8, we were all on the verge of the real world. However, the real world was a different shape for some of us. As most of my friends were about to embark on one last summer break before starting their careers in July, August, or even November for a few of them, I was taking a different path. That following Monday, May 10, I was getting a jump start on life. And that was just the beginning.

 Being involved with a startup company has one important component, you try to run as lean as possible in those first few months. Running in these lean times usually leads to good times and humorous stories for all. For starters, during the hottest months of the year in June and July, air conditioning was but a dream. It became an everyday occurrence for the office to reach into the mid-90s by late afternoon. Thus the dress code was termed “Frat casual” better described as polo shirts, shorts, and boat shoes. 

 When it came time to do some traveling, there are also areas to keep costs low: lodging. Now when all of my friends were embarking on their first business trips, they were being treated to housing matching the names of Hampton, Holiday, and Hilton. My lodging of choice had greek letters across the front, and not always in shiny new condition. Without getting into the details, it was always an experience. It was almost a surreal feeling, as here I was 4 months ago living in a chapter house and living the life of these kids, but now I was here for a business stop. Or as close as you can get to feeling that you’re on a business stop as you can when at 3am you are awoken to raging music and bodies slamming into walls.

 All the humorous stories aside, it was and continues to be an awesome experience that I wouldn’t trade for anything. No matter what alternate thoughts may cross through my mind when sitting in a 95 degree office, sleeping on a frat couch, or chugging 5 hour energies, all I have to do is sit back and think of that corner office. I think about, that at 23, I am working on an executive team to build a multi-million dollar business in its first year, and that is a TFM.


Ian Blackwell, Regional Sales Manager

I know your demographic, we’re friends.

In the time that I have spent in college (which sadly ended in May), my entire viewpoint of media has changed drastically. It started with solely relying on the traditional mediums such as radio, television and print in order to reach everyone, because you could. However, over the years I have seen the transition to today’s advertising mediums; the switch from mass communication to personalized communication in order to run after desperately seeking the attention of the target consumer.

The Gen Y demographic (born between 1985 and the present) is selective in its communication. They determine when and where the messages they receive --- and if they will interact with the message. 

Let’s take the news for instance. Not only can we receive the news in print, on the radio, and on television, we are now able to receive customized updates via Twitter, Facebook, and specified genres online and on our iPhone app. If we aren’t interested, we can literally tune it out.

This is the same for advertising. Companies are revamping their brands entirely in order to get through to their target consumer and give them what they want. They are learning that they need to actively engage them in their product or service to hear how they can improve and in turn have better brand awareness.

The first example that pops into my head is Domino’s. They recognized that people did not like the product and they challenged consumers to tell them how to fix it. They even encouraged customers to send in pictures of their pizza where they critiqued them online and in their television advertisements, now that is quality control.

Now what have we at The Odyssey learned about our select Greek students of the Gen Y?

An article by Kenneth Gronback in AdAge had an interesting insight about the Gen Y demographic, “Difficult to reach with marketing messages, their principal medium is cyberspace. Unlock the formula for efficient marketing to Generation Y, and you will print money. One anomaly: They love snail mail and anything with their name on it.”

Now I agree with most of this assessment, but I think we need to dig a bit deeper. I do not believe as a Gen Y-er that my principal medium is cyberspace. Yes, my eyes are infiltrated at every turn at every website where I am bombarded by messages, and frankly I just get annoyed. Advertisers think that if they go online then they will automatically see results. What messages mean most to me? The tailored ones, the ones that are just for me. I love snail mail, I love reading emails that call me by name, I love when I am being sent a message on purpose. I like when advertisers actually care about me, what’s going on, and what I’m interested in.

At The Odyssey, we are able to put out a product that is incredibly specialized to our target consumer, our demographic, our fellow Greeks and the messages that are being sent to them from our advertisers are being received. They have cut through the noise level in print and seeing great returns and better relationships with their customers, (who knew you could still do that with print!)

Bottom line: don’t just do a knee-jerk approach and immediately run to the dim light of a computer screen, remember the personalized tailored messages are best, even if it is a “dying” medium. Trust me, we will all benefit. 

Adrian France, Chief Creative Officer

Introducing Olympia Design Studio

Readers of The Odyssey may have noticed something different this year: higher visual appeal. We've recently added a creative team, Olympia Design Studio, to design a weekly paper that focuses on aesthetics and usability, and we've received an overwhelming response! Take a look at the progress so far:

So, why would a small business invest in five new Designers?

It's the best way to connect with your user in a cluttered market! 

Modern Psychology research confirms what the Design Community has been arguing for ages.  "The relative appeal of visual stimuli is closely related to both user satisfaction and perceived usability." www.swinburne.edu.au/hosting/ijets/journal/V5N1/pdf/Article1_Lindgaard.pdf. 

If it's not pleasing to look at and easy to use, on to the next.

Good Design compliments a Good Product

Visual appeal does not guarantee market success. The product must meet the needs of its user and must be able to change as those needs change. www.businessweek.com/innovate/content/jan2010/id20100127_150531.htm

We're focusing visual appeal to make The Odyssey stand out from other print publications, but we're not stopping there.  Our audience is plugged in, so we've added online and mobile versions. Want to share it with your friends? Use our social media links. Who knows what'll be here in 2011!

In addition to In-House work, Olympia Design Studio works with professional service clients in branding, collateral, web design, and advertising. More on that later...

Amanda Parks, Designer

Young, Fresh, and Vibrant

The Odyssey is young, it’s fresh, and it is taking off! That goes for the office of Olympia Media Group as well.  With both the business and creative employees of the company working in close quarters, there is never a dull moment! What a great opportunity to be working for a start up company with “kids” that are all in the same age range.  The company is new, thriving, and full of motivation.

I don’t just speak for myself when I say that the people of this company are truly inspired to produce the best quality of content possible. While going from 1, to 4, to 27 papers this year is going to take some trial and error for every aspect of the office, it is exciting to know that we are the beginning of something GREAT!

Enough of that…who wouldn’t want to read about the best days of our lives; COLLEGE! As a Managing Editor, I not only get to work with and edit the content of 9 different Universities, but I have my Alma Mater (however, as a 2009 grad, I can hardly call myself an Alum just yet).  There is so much nostalgia and excitement with reading about each campus and what is going on in their Greek system.  I especially enjoy having a writer from my sorority, Alpha Chi Omega.  I could get all cheesy and sentimental…or I could just make it known that I (and probably most IU grads) would kill to be back at our respective houses on campus.

So, with that being said…CHEERS to The Odyssey, CHEERS to Olympia Media Group, and CHEERS to everyone who made it possible.  Keep doin’ yo thang…and keep on keepin’ on ;)

XOXO,

Kelsey Laesch, Managing Editor

What does going viral mean anyway?

Everyday it happens, some new no-name individual becomes a celebrity for doing something shock worthy or ultra cool on YouTube.

After seeing this day after day I asked the question, how before web 2.0 did trends go viral? We didn’t call them viral but these wildfire trends still existed, leather jackets, bell-bottoms, acid washed jeans, headbands, and even light up sneakers.  Going viral is nothing new.

Yet today brand after brand quest to become the next viral trend, searching for that elusive million plus views on YouTube. Many times brands don’t even have control over what happens after viral status is achieved; the ‘Icing’ trend was a PR nightmare for Smirnoff as the point of the trend was to use the brand as a tool to shame others.

So it hit me, in the past viral trends still occurred, they just had to be much more significant.

There are two types of viral trends:

1.    Shocking, bad for brand
2.    Cool, good for brand

If you think back to what you have seen, the cool trends almost never originate online they just documented there.

So to create a viral trend that we can control, it’s not just uploading a cool video, it means actually influencing people on an individual basis.

Here are the steps to generating a trend:

1.    Define what market that you want consuming the brand.
2.    Understand who is actually interacting the brand
3.    Where does the market interact?
4.    Engage those individuals on a direct one to one level.

Most brands understand number one perfectly, the breakdown begins on level two when brands don’t listen to the market. If point two is not understood then the brand will not understand where the audience interacts. The final step is the most important in today’s high noise level, engaging people on a one to one basis. Mass marketing, as a sole strategy is dead, highly targeted niche marketing that is medium neutral is the way to only way to actively engage people.

With all the lazy marketing today, we must filter out a lot of info.  For me to really act it must really impact me personally, otherwise the brand runs the risk of being another name on a billboard that stands for nothing more than a highly guarded corporate trademark.

Evan Burns, CEO, Olympia Media Group