What do you usually have for breakfast
before work?
Teresa Coles
Coffee, black.
Julie Turner
English muffin or half an everything bagel and a small glass of milk. Then, over the next few hours, about a gallon of coffee.
Maria Fabrizio
A cinnamon raisin english muffin with butter and giant cup of coffee at 5:00am.
Kevin Smith
I’ve been on a breakfast burrito kick of late. Skim milk is also key.
Will Weatherly
In order of consumption:
- Half-glass of Orange Gatorade
- Half of a pecan pastry
- Raisin-Bran w/ skim milk
- Full glass of water
Kevin Archie
Lately it’s been a toaster strudel and a glass of orange juice . I guess I’m still stuck in Middle School.
Cathy Monetti
Whatever I can find to eat in the car on the way to work.
Jody Piland
Usually it’s something simple like a piece of toast, one poached egg and some Greek yogurt.
What does your workspace look like right now?
Will Weatherly
8am – CLEAN /// 2pm – WRECKED /// 5:32pm — CLEAN
(rinse and repeat)
Julie Turner
A cornucopia of notes, charts, layouts and piles of work protected by multiple Tick action figures.
Ryon Edwards
Well, it’s only Tuesday, but mine looks like complete chaos right now. Paper everywhere. Job jackets all over. Sketches and books and magazines and samples on every flat surface. It’s about at the breaking point. Will clean up by Friday so I can start over next week.
Kevin Smith
Fairly tidy. The following are on my desk:
- Tell Them legislative post card job jacket
- Goodwill case study
- Diet coke
- Glasses (I should have them on)
- Business card from a vendor I need to call
Kevin Archie
In order of appearance: T-shirt design, Pantone chips, woven strips of paper, books, thrift store mug of pens with German type on it, telephone, water, onscreen: client brochure in progress and photo from my Yashica T4, cool yet uncomfortable headphones, lamp, logo studies, neglected job jackets, Eames chair. (Not pictured: piles of clutter and trash that would have made me look more unorganized).
For the past two years advocates across our state have gathered together on the same day for an important cause. That cause is to stand against growing assaults on reproductive and women’s health rights. If you’ve been following the news lately, you’ll know just how relevant these issues are. Republican presidential candidate Rick Santorum has spoken out against the so-called dangers of contraception, promising to end its federal funding if elected. Infamous talk show host, Rush Limbaugh, called a law student a slut for speaking out about the need for contraception. The Left is calling it a war on women. The Right considers it a war on morality. Such divisive talk is only serving to further polarize our nation, painting conservatives as womanizing religious nuts and liberals as sex-crazed maniacs. No matter where you stand on the issue, it’s clear that amid such chaos lies a great need for cooperation and understanding that reaches across party lines — a need for a voice of reason.
Enter Tell Them, a nonpartisan grassroots e-advocacy network of more than 10,000 members across our state whose primary purpose is to give voice to the issues that matter. They advocate for those who support age appropriate reproductive health education and access to reproductive health counseling and services for all South Carolinians. I recently designed promotional materials for their third annual Bee Day, an event (happening today) in which members and reproductive health advocates stand together as one to tell legislators statewide that reproductive health rights are important to them.
These issues are more relevant to South Carolinians now more than ever. On average, three out of ten young women in our state will become pregnant by the age of twenty, yet we continue to pour millions of dollars into abstinence-only programs that fail to help in the prevention of teen pregnancy. The result, instead, is higher teen pregnancy rates in the South than anywhere else in the country. Regardless of your background, beliefs, gender or political affiliations, it’s clear that something must be done before these numbers get any higher. Tell Them is the resounding voice of reason needed to enact real change for the future of reproductive health rights. Join today and make your voice heard.
Which Riggs Partners project have you enjoyed working on most recently?
Cathy Monetti
Rebrand for Pulliam Morris, a fabulous interior design firm celebrating its 50th anniversary. So interesting to work on design for designers!
Will Weatherly
The Inaugural Moe’s Burrito Dash
Teresa Coles
I love the brand work we’ve done for Haskell; it has been a textbook example of the proper way for a B2B company to strategically reassess its brand, and to put the right team and resources in place to make the program successful.
Kevin Archie
The Annual Report for First Community Bank — it required both design and photography.
Ryon Edwards
I’ve enjoyed working on Haskell website redesign, which is reflective of the the new brand we’ve developed for them — it’s been great working with the truematter team!
Julie Turner
The Bee Day projects for New Morning Foundation. Because they are important to every woman in South Carolina.
Kevin Smith
Developing a marketing strategy for Express Oil Change
What would you choose for your last meal?
Kevin Smith
A cheeseburger and french fried onion rings from the Sugar n’ Spice in Spartanburg, SC.
Julie Turner
A pimento cheese sandwich eaten at The Masters followed by a BBQ sandwich for dessert.
Ryon Edwards
You mean if I were on Death Row or something? I guess I would order a Moe’s Homewrecker. Would they deliver?
Teresa Coles
A hunk of beef tenderloin with balsamic reduction and Gorgonzola cheese, a baguette to sop up the juice, and a bottle of Barolo.
Will Weatherly
French Dip Burger (Roast Beef and Fried Onions piled high on a Ground Sirloin Patty with Au Jus for dipping). Side of Fries. Pint of Avery Hog Heaven.
Kevin Archie
The all-meat Parrillada Para Dos from Tango Sur — an amazing Argentinian Steak House in Chicago — accompanied by a bottle of Malbec.
What was your latest bookmarked website?
Cathy Monetti
www.LouiseFili.com
I was alerted to it by my friend Julie Degni Marr of marketing firm StewartMarr in Charlotte. I felt, as Julie promised, Louise’s “celebration of la dolce vita in every glorious little detail of life.” I, too, love, love, love.
Jody Piland
An online unit conversion site. I have the hardest time figuring out things like how many tablespoons are in a cup whenever I’m cooking.
Ryon Edwards
www.jessicabergstresser.com
She’s an Art Director/Designer at R/GA in Chicago. Just happened to see some of her work online and I really liked it.
Kevin Archie
www.feltron.com
Nicholas Felton makes beautiful annual reports about his everyday life. This site has served as a great source of inspiration while I’m working on several business annual reports.
Kevin Smith
A test site for our clients at The New Morning Foundation.
Will Weatherly
“A Welcome Tab Isn’t Enough” – by Shortstack.com
Julie Turner
I am an Internet house stalker. I want this one, this one and this one.
Consumers are demanding more all the time. Yet they seldom get all they want. As a result, it often takes very little to delight them.
In light of our economy’s shaky recovery, nonprofit and socially conscious brands alike need to innovate. This needn’t be difficult or expensive. Let’s examine Nabisco’s Premium Saltines brand. More than 100 years old, Premium is not complacent. It asked three simple questions.
1.   How do people interact with our product?
The product has been packaged in boxes of two or four sleeves for decades. Most Saltines are consumed with other foods like soup, salad, cheese or peanut butter. Thus, an entire sleeve is rarely consumed in one day.
2.   What do they think about us?
Saltines are wonderful, but they go stale quickly. Most people don’t eat stale crackers. They throw them away. No one likes throwing away food.
3.   How can we make it better?
If your crackers go stale, you need to buy more crackers. If consumers kept their Saltines longer, they’d buy less. No actually. Saltines go stale, and consumers switched to another brand.
Fresh Stacks provides a reason for reconsideration. Repackaging resulted in a reason for trial, and ultimately, a shift in brand perception. Even better, the Premium brand shows consumer empathy, a catalyst for brand loyalty.
The next time your organization’s brand is stuck, make empathy your goal and start with the most basic questions.
What’s your favorite combination?
Ryon Edwards
ink + paper
Jody Piland
A glass of white wine and a medium rare ribeye
Julie Turner
A couch, a blanket, Caddyshack and a disco nap.
Teresa Coles
Ice-cold orange juice (Simply Orange, no pulp) and Fig Newtons.
Kevin Smith
Blue and brown
Will Weatherly
Cheez-its and Cran-Grape. Childhood in a snack.
Kevin Archie
Jameson and rocks (after 5pm, of course)
What’s yours?
According to the Internal Revenue Service, there were over 1.5 million registered nonprofits as of December 2011, and nearly 60% have revenue of under $100,000. Even if you divided that up equally among all 50 states, that’s 30,000 nonprofits per state.
Take that in for a second.
Nonprofit organizations are filled with the very best people you would ever hope to find: hardworking, passionate, committed to making a difference. Doing everything they can on a daily basis to lessen the negative impact of various social crises. All while fighting the odds of too little time, money and manpower to affect the real kind of change they want to see around their particular issues.
While growth in the nonprofit sector may reflect a more noble nature among us all, the result is increased competition for limited resources. This reality means we’re looking at more nonprofits competing for the same dollars to treat more symptoms — without necessarily solving the underlying problem.
Attacking the root problems that are causing a preponderance of negative social conditions demands not more organizations developing more programs, but more organizations coming together and building the kind of scale that can address the real problem. This type of collaboration can take place in several forms:
- Nonprofits that partner with each other in community initiatives around an issue
- Nonprofits that formally merge with other nonprofits that share a similar mission
- Nonprofits that build programs that can be replicated by other nonprofits in the country
Whatever the model, one thing is certain. We will never break the cycle of social ills that exist in our country until we step out of a parochial, separatist mindset and acknowledge that collaboration is the only way forward. A simple concept, but one that falls short of execution all too often, given too many competing agendas.
I’ll stop at that, and leave you with this look at two models for consideration. Which do you think has the most potential to solve the big problems that plague our communities? I’d love to hear your thoughts.
What crayon color are you?
(most personality traits from Crayola’s web site)
Teresa Coles
Brick Red
hot, energetic, loud
Kevin Smith
Blue Violet
imagination, fantasy, playfulness
Jody Piland
I’m Caribbean Green. It reminds me of happy island life.
cool, crisp, fresh
Kevin Archie
Robin’s Egg Blue
serene, gentleness, sincerity
Will Weatherly
I try to be Burnt Orange. I’m probably Olive Green.
cool, crisp, fresh
Julie Turner
Red
simple, effective, brain-grabbing
What crayon color would you be? Use this list for reference or make up your own color.
