CM Life

Share the Love!

It's been a super fun week here at the Home Office, with surprises arriving in the mail each day.
Notes of appreciation, thanks and a whole lot of love started trickling in to Consultant Services.

And then we started receiving emails - with photos like these - from teams all across the company.

Next thing you know, we've been flooded with LOVE from Consultants all over North America!

This act of love has touched every team here at the Home Office, and let me tell you, there's an extra skip in our steps because of it. So, thank you!

In this spirit of love, we have an extra special Valentine to share. 

We used the new P.S. I Love You Digital Kit (US|CAN) to to make a Facebook cover image for you to use for Valentine's Day!

Start by saving this PNG file and then refer to this tutorial to start a new project in StoryBook Creator 4.0. Import the image (like a freebie) to personalize with photos of your sweetie and upload as your Facebook cover photo for Valentine's Day! Don't have our software yet? You can get a free 30-day trial US|CAN!

And if this inspires you to create more timeline images, use this handy tutorial from the Tips & Techniques tab on the Creative Memories Go Digital Facebook page to make your own.

Happy Valentine's Day from ALL of here at Creative Memories!

 

Let's give 'em something for talking out

 

Rewards Club member Pam Keen, her Consultant, Bev, and their friend Mary Anne, on a scrapbooking trip last September.

Pam Keen of Virginia has been a member of our Rewards Club since July and she’s happy to tell you all about it. So it was sort of icing on the cake the other day when she got the phone call telling her she’d won the $500 Shopping Spree in last month’s Creative Memories Rewards Club Refer-a-Friend promotion.

How did Pam find out about the $500 offer? “Well, I told my sister Marianne about last month’s deal where she could sign up and get $39 in club credit right away, and she signed up. Then I got a call yesterday and Creative Memories told me I won $500,” she laughs.

Actually, Pam and Marianne and Creative Memories go way back. “We first started scrapbooking with Creative Memories back in 1994, but it’s been off and on,” Pam recalls. “Recently though, I’ve gotten Marianne hooked on digital scrapbooking.” And now that Marianne’s earning 15 percent in club credit on her purchases, she’s sure to do more!

Pam’s been given a $500 Creative Memories Shopping Spree as our way of saying thanks for sharing our Rewards Club. And, to say thanks for supporting Pam and her friends, we’ve also given a $150 reward to Pam’s Consultant, Bev Gonzales. And that’s even better, as far as Pam’s concerned. “Bev’s wonderful,” she explains. “Bev and I and our friend Mary Anne vacation together and scrap the whole way!”

So what does Pam plan to do with her $500? Evidently our Rewards Club isn’t the only thing she likes to share. “I volunteer with both Homes for Our Troops and Habitat for Humanity and I like to put together StoryBooks to give to the families when we finish those projects. So I’ll be putting some of this toward those books.”

 

A letter to Santa can help make wishes come true!

We know that fabulous comes in all shapes and sizes, but it also comes at any age. Four weeks ago, 9-year-old Gabriella Miller from Northern Virginia was diagnosed with a rare and aggressive form of inoperable brain cancer. Now Gabriella endures an almost-daily regimen of grueling radiation and chemotherapy treatments.

Upon learning she was eligible, Gabriella submitted her wish to visit Paris, France to our charitable partners at Make-A-Wish^®. But this little girl also has the spirit of giving and wanted to know how she could help give back.

According to a website created to share Gabriella's mission, "Gabriella is asking all of her friends near and far to join her in writing letters to Santa Claus because if Macy's receives 1,000,000 letters to Santa before Christmas, the company will donate $1,000,000 to the Make-A-Wish Foundation. Gabriella’s goal is to have her friends write 10,000 letters to Santa that she can personally deliver to Macy's on December 23rd."

If that isn't fabulous, I don't know what is! Follow Gabriella's journey on Facebook or learn where to submit your letters on her website.

Thank you to our Facebook fan, Allison Brochu, for sharing this story with us.

And Gabriella, watch your mailbox for a special gift from Creative Memories!

 

We're awesome. The judges said so.

We’re pretty proud of our product development and creative services groups right now -- the illustrators, graphic designers, writers, developers, marketers, trainers...who put together most of our advertising, marketing and product designs.* That’s because this past Friday night there were a whopping 11 awards given out to Creative Memories' work at this year’s local ADDY Awards show.

What’s an ADDY Award, you ask? The ADDY Awards are a creative awards competition sponsored by the American Advertising Federation (AAF). In fact, it’s the advertising industry’s largest and most representative competition -- attracting over 50,000 entries each year in local ADDY competitions.

Local winners from clubs like our AAF-Central Minnesota chapter will now travel on to district-level competition. Winners there compete at the national level for a National ADDY Award. (Wish us luck!)

ADDY Awards are given in a bunch of different categories, from brochures and catalogs to magazine and television to websites and packaging. Awards can also be given for “elements of advertising” such as logos, photography and illustration.

This year, between entries submitted by our internal team and those submitted by our fantastic friends at Adventure, here’s the list of awards we brought home:

• Best of Copywriting -- Fall/Winter 2011 Photo Solutions Catalog and
• Gold ADDY -- Fall/Winter 2011 Photo Solutions Catalog

 

• Gold ADDY -- Dear Santa Simply Said Book • Gold ADDY -- Reminisce Travel Additions (illustration campaign)
• Silver ADDY -- Spring/Summer 2011 Product Catalog
• Silver ADDY -- Getting Started Guide

 

• Silver ADDY -- Just Between Friends Simply Said Book
• Silver ADDY -- Logo Depot Business Gifts (t-shirt, tumbler, datebook/stationery, nail file)
• Silver ADDY -- Holidazzle Collection (illustration campaign)

 

• Silver ADDY -- Reflections (illustration campaign)
• Silver ADDY -- Spring and Summer Reflections (illustration campaign) *Now, don’t get me wrong, we’re just as proud of everybody else around here. We all bleed CM blue. These are just the people lucky enough to have something to shout about this week!

 

“It didn’t feel like 25 years…'til today”

Ah, Valentine’s Day. Love is truly in the air as passion and romance fight off winter’s chill here in Minnesota. And so, on this magical day where Cupid holds sway and hearts and minds turn toward love’s true embrace, we’re all 25x excited.

Actually, we’re 25x excited throughout 2012 because it’s our 25th anniversary year. But today we’ve found an even more exciting 25th anniversary to celebrate. It’s our own beloved Pam Cesnik and her long-suffering husband, Luke.

Today is their 25th wedding anniversary. (Congrats, Pam and Luke! Let’s make that clear up front.) And, as you can imagine with a Valentine’s anniversary, these two have a history of pushing the envelope beyond mere flowers and chocolates. In the past (on their 19th and 23rd anniversaries), Luke has decided it’s “cute” to embarrass Pam with a tuxedoed barber shop quartet sent to her place of work. Mission accomplished. She's been mortified.

But revenge, as they say, is a dish best served cold. And (see earlier comments regarding February in Minnesota) today seemed a good day for payback.

So Pam, much like the black widow spider, lured her unwitting mate into a trap. Some "complicated insurance interaction matters" demanded a face-to-face meeting for both Pam and Luke with Creative Memories' crack HR squad. Sorry, hon, there's no way around it.

Luke arrived, completely unsuspecting, and the trap was sprung. And if the look on his face in this photo is any indication, he celebrated his 25th anniversary with a moment in the spotlight that must have felt 25 years long!

We didn't let Pam off too easy, though, by finding a chair for her to join her sweetie for the second serenade!

In the end, Luke came out ahead with this awesome Photo Panel from Pam. Ahhhh!

Here's to 25 years of great memories...and 25 more to come!

Vote today (and tomorrow) for a Creative Memories shining star!

It’s not every day that a friend and co-worker becomes a contest finalist and wins a trip to New York, a hair transformation with celebrity stylist Mark Townsend, and a chance to star in a Dove_® TV ad. But that’s exactly what’s happening to our dear Mandy Wolvert, a sales activation specialist here at Creative Memories.

Mandy’s trip to New York and hair transformation are happening this week. And just that part would be great. But – with help from all of us – there can be so much more. It’s a contest. Mandy’s one of three finalists and she needs your vote. 

The three finalists’ entry videos are posted on dove.us (The Dove_® Make Friends with Your Hair Contest) and you can vote for Mandy, once each day, through Nov. 28. So go vote right now before you even bother reading the rest of this post. We’ll wait. (You may win some free products when you vote. My friend Liz just voted and won a free bath robe and Dove product. What fun!) 

Bad hair daze
Mandy’s a sweetheart. We all love her. But – and we mean this in the nicest possible way – she’s got some crazy hair. (Now, to some of us, that’s one of her most endearing qualities.) So when Mandy first told us she was a finalist for a spot in a shampoo commercial, we all responded with lots of enthusiastic (but slightly confused) congratulations. “Too funny, everyone,” she quipped. “I’m a finalist because of my BAD hair.”

Actually, Mandy, it wasn’t just your hair that made the difference. According to the contest’s official rules, finalists were picked based on likability and personality (50 percent); creativity and originality (30 percent); and eloquence and articulation (20 percent). Looking at the judging criteria, you were born to be a winner!

Dreamy adventure
Before Mandy left for New York, she told us this trip was a dream come true. “Some girls dream of a fairytale wedding,” Mandy said. “My dream has been to have my hair done by a celebrity hairstylist.”

And it wasn’t just any stylist that did Mandy’s hair. It was the talented and experienced Mark Townsend, who works on hair for folks like Reese Witherspoon and Penelope Cruz (not to drop names). Now he gets to add Mandy Wolvert to his portfolio. And we can’t wait to hear all about it!

Mandy’s story is one for the books – Creative Memories StoryBooks, that is. We’re excited to see all her pictures from the trip, and we’re excited to see the album or StoryBook she ends up creating (which MIGHT look a little something like what we’ve started for her below). But mostly we’re excited that, in all this year’s Wolvert family holiday photos, Mandy’s going to see the beautiful woman we’ve always seen!

 

 

 

 

 

Clear as mud

The other day, while looking at photos on Facebook, I spotted several photos of three of my co-workers and some of their friends dressed in pink and black dance outfits, including tutus, and covered in mud. "What are those three up to now?" I wondered.

What I discovered was, while I was warring with household dust balls, Amy, Carrie and Mandy were participating in the Warrior Dash — a mud-crawling, fire-leaping, extreme 5K run — in Hastings, Minnesota. Warriors were asked to come in costume and, for their entry fee, they were given a Warrior Dash shirt, medal and very cool helmet (I so want one!). There were more than 10,000 people competing that sunny Saturday in July.

It really didn't surprise me that they were part of this competition. These three women, creative forces at Creative Memories, are always up to something unique, challenging and fun. However, when I heard how difficult this run was, I — an older, slower co-worker — was surprised that all three of them considered it a "fun" run. Really? Fun?

"Fun, fun,fun!" Mandy described the mud-filled day. "I would have never thought that a grueling 5K obstacle course that included climbing over walls and jumping over fire would be so rewarding and best of all...FUN." (Nor would I, Mandy!)

"Best. 5K. Ever. From scaling walls to swimming through the mud... I'd do it all over again in a heartbeat," Carrie recalled her slip-and-slide run. (I'm beat just thinking about it, Carrie!)

Amy summed it all up, "The experience was all-around amazing and crossing the finish line felt like a great accomplishment. Fire, water, walls and mud pits! Can't stop us!!" (Sense of accomplishment — now that's something I can understand — that is, without the fire, walls and mud pits.)

Yep, now it's all clear as mud — they were competing in a mud run. And, when it comes to a challenge, there's no stopping Amy, Carrie and Mandy. Not mud. Not fire. Not walls. Not those prickly tutus. And, at the end of the day, they generously donated their sneakers to be refurbished and distributed to people in third world countries. Way to go, warriors!

While looking at all their muddy warrior photos, I decided to have some fun of my own. Working at Creative Memories, I had everything I needed to put them on display in unusual and fun ways. Here are some Page Prints, 2012 Calendar pages, 4xD Book Card cover and pages, and a Wall Print for your mud-run viewing pleasure.

Page Prints

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

2012 Calendar pages

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Wall Print

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

4xD Book Card cover and back

Three pages from 10-page 4xD Book Card

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Now that you've seen a few of my choices, which one would you use to display those warrior photos?

Luv Ya, Earth!

A few weeks ago this popped up on our Facebook page:

(Thanks, Illoana!) And it got me started thinking. Um… Wow. I’ve personally never even heard of Earth Hour (but you should check it out!). Heck, I’m not even sure what our stance is on Earth Day.

Don’t take that the wrong way – I’m not implying that conservation and recycling aren’t important here at Creative Memories. Quite the opposite, actually. Truth be told, it’s in our DNA.

Our original parent company was founded in 1926 as the Antioch Bookplate Company. Ernest Morgan and his partner, Walter Kahoe, recycled the paper scrap from the campus print shop where they worked. And, with permission from the school to use the machines and ink after hours, they began printing bookplates.

That kind of ongoing awareness has always been part of who we are at Creative Memories. Not specifically on Earth Day, but just kinda every day.

Maybe the fact that we don’t make a point of celebrating Earth Day is a blind spot or an oversight for us. We’re certainly not perfect in this area. We haven’t converted our flagpoles to a wind farm yet.


And there are still more SUVs


than Priuses (Prii?) in our parking lot.


But, in case you’re interested, here are some fun facts* about the things we do to make sure we’re being (fairly) responsible with the Earth’s limited resources!

Product Standards
1. Creative Memories plastic products are typically PVC free. PVC is not readily recyclable and emits chlorine while being manufactured and, worse yet, often incorporates either lead or cadmium (up to 20 percent by weight).
2. Creative Memories metal products are lead and cadmium free. We use steel and zinc for strength and cutting applications, avoiding nickel and chromium.
3. Our albums and papers are inert and 100 percent recyclable and biodegradable. They are also free of mercury (common in cheaper papers).
4. The corrugate we use is 100 percent recyclable and meets CONEG (I’ll save you the trouble of looking it up. That’s the Coalition of Northeastern Governors, who developed model Toxins in Packaging legislation in the early 1990s.) requirements for the absence of lead, mercury and cadmium.
5. The packaging pillows we use are 100 percent recyclable and biodegradable.
6. Our inks and dyes use organic porphyrins for colorants, free of heavy metals and VOCs.
7. All of our adhesive products are VOC free and 100 percent biodegradable.

Systemic Controls
1. All of our tier 1 suppliers are audited for compliance to applicable environmental laws.
2. All of our products are actually tested (we don’t just trust a certificate from our suppliers) to be free of heavy metals.
3. VOC-containing products are not allowed in our manufacturing facility.

Manufacturing Processes
1. Scrap, rework and excess inventory are all actively discouraged so we can minimize energy and material consumption.
2. Equipment and processes are selected, at least in part, based on energy consumption and are designed for peak efficiency.
3. No processes in our facility require PPE or ventilation for VOC removal.
4. We use a four-day work week (250 cars x 3 gallons x 50 weeks = 37,500 gallons of fuel per year! And roughly 1,000,000 pounds of CO2.)

Last year we recycled 85 truckloads of paper, cardboard, plastics and metal.

Early in 2010 we wrapped up a complete lighting retrofit in our plant. Almost 650 light fixtures were replaced with energy-efficient fluorescent high-bay fixtures. Of those, 363 have motion sensors installed on the fixture (which are totally fun to play around with –– check this out –– as long as you don't do it often enough that you're wasting a lot of electricity).

These light fixtures only turn on when someone is under the fixture in that particular warehouse aisle. In addition to that, 56 of our 67 nightlights are now on motion sensors. After these areas are free of motion for 7 to 15 minutes, the lights turn off automatically. And, just so you know, all the old fixtures were dismantled and recycled responsibly.

All told, our green initiatives have lowered our energy use by 1,834,000 kilowatt hours annually. That’s $209,000 a year, in case you’re wondering. And it’s enough to power over 100 households a year.

Congratulations! Wow, check you out -– reading all the way to the end of this post. You’re quite the little eco-trooper, aren’t you? How about a couple of Earth Day-themed digital freebies to salute your sticktoitiveness? (Honestly, that’s one of those made-up words that sounds okay spoken out loud but really looks awkward when you type it out.)


*All fun facts courtesy of Joe Ohman, our Manager of Equipment and Facilities.

 

PS: One thing that Earth Day DOES mean to a bunch of us here in the Creative Memories Home Office is the chance to get out and enjoy the fresh, spring air in the Earth Day 5k and Earth Day Half Marathon.

And, since this is Minnesota, Earth Day is still fair game for snow.

Sondra ran the 5K this year and her sister, Wanda, was there to cheer her on.

Then Wanda went on to run the half marathon. Here she is getting ready with Mandy.

Erin and her whole family ran. (The kids ran the 1K and the grownups ran the 5K.)

This is Brittany providing evidence that she actually RAN the half marathon, unlike the others who just sent in smiling photos NEARBY the races. I'm not questioning, I'm just pointing out.

There were lots of other brave Creative Memories souls who ran this past weekend, but these are the only ones who would provide me pictures. So congratulations to everyone who ran, and happy Earth Day to everyone, everywhere!

A little recognition for jobs well done

Congratulations to us!  We're really proud to share that Creative Memories won five ADDY Awards last week!  What's an ADDY Award you ask?  Well, the ADDY Awards are the advertising industry's largest and most representative competition, attracting over 50,000 entries every year in local ADDY competitions.  The mission of the ADDY competition is to recognize and reward creative excellence in the art of advertising.  The local ADDY Awards is just the first of a three-tier national competition—so wish us well as we move on to that level!

In the meantime, here are the awards we received:

• Best of Copywriting - Fall/Winter 2010 Catalog
• Gold ADDY - San Diego Incentive Trip Gifts
• Silver ADDY - Fall/Winter 2010 Catalog
• Silver ADDY - Spring/Summer 2010 Catalog
• Silver ADDY - Fall/Winter 2010 Photo Solutions Catalog 
• Silver ADDY - Reminisce Winter Additions

The "Best of" awards are top billing at this event, so we were especially pleased to earn one!  Here is what the judges had to say about it: 

"For our Best of Copy-writing Award, we gave it to a piece that really took something that could have been very mundane—a catalog—and they made it fun.  They had some fun headlines with good solid body copy behind it.  It was really a well-done piece and certainly the copy-writing led the push on that."

That's awesome!  In addition to all the people that helped create these catalogs and products (it takes a village, really), we want to give a special shout-out to Greg Skoog for his amazing writing skills, Lisa Larson for the design work on the San Diego incentive trip gifts, Corinne Skoog for her art direction on the catalogs, and Matt Haubrich and Amy Imdieke for those beautiful Reminisce Winter Additions.  

Shelley Wright, you're our StoryBud!

A few months ago, when we launched our new logo, we knew we needed a name for the icon in the middle—even if it's just to keep us from going crazy at the office.  

Seriously. Somebody would say something like, "Hey, I'm updating the bags for Showcase with the new logo.  Can I use the shutter flower thingy in red?"

It wasn't exactly convenient to continue calling it the "shutter flower thingy", so we announced a contest on Facebook.  You guys responded with a ton of great name suggestions...we received over 1,000 entries!

We had the hard task of narrowing the list down to a few great finalists...any of which would have been a great name.  After that, it was off to the legal churning mill to make sure that there weren't any conflicts with any of our finalists (this is a lot more challenging and time consuming than it sounds!).  And now, that brings us to today, and we finally have a winner!  The officially sanctioned icon name is (drumroll please):

StoryBud!

Why do we love it?  Well, we love it because it has layers (like onions or ogres or parfait). 

• Bud feels friendly, fun and approachable (like us).  So you'll remember that you have a scrapbooking buddy—your Creative Memories Consultant.
• Bud signifies a beginning—the bud of an idea or the photo that gets you started.
• Bud also represents flowers.  And flowers are pretty.  So we like being associated with them.  And really, the icon does resemble (among other things) a flower.  

And the story part? Yep, we love that part too.  In fact, that was a big draw for us.  What's always differentiated Creative Memories from the rest of the world is our love and appreciation for the stories behind your photos.  And because, as we know, everyone's got a story to tell, we want this icon to serve as a reminder to help other people tell their stories.

We can't say enough to thank Shelley Wright for offering up such an excellent idea.  But, as they say, actions speak louder than words.  So we'll be backing up our thanks to Shelley with a Canon PowerShot Digital Camera!

Shelley, you are now and will forever be our StoryBud.