A Remarkable Blog

Out of the Box Idea

June 30, 2009 in 1 | Tags: courage, features, marketing, Remarkable Tributes, Demo | Leave a comment

Sometimes in order to really think “out of the box” you need to open more than one box. As the graphic illustrates, sometimes there are big and small constructs or constraints that keep us from thinking creativity.

For weeks I have been thinking about some online demos, some video clips that would describe some of the main functionality of Remarkable Tributes and make it easier for people to get started with the site. I have dreamed about how I’d have professionally-produced videos that would inspire clients to new heights of appreciation. Yet, time passed and I was frustrated that I wasn’t making progress. I am sure I am not the only one that is a prisoner to perfectionism at times. We have high standards and love to impress.

Yet, in the end I felt it was more important to start sharing the information, so today I used a simple and powerful tool, still in beta, by Pixetell to record an ad hoc demo of one of the benefits of Remarkable Tributes, sharing tributes online using Fill-in-the-Blank Links and the online publishing tools we’ve built into the software. You can find this demo here. I welcome your feedback on this little demo (but go easy on me as you know how I can be) and on other topics you’d like to see covered in future demos. And thanks for letting me think outside of the boxes!

Summertime

June 23, 2009 in 1 | Tags: blogging, Remarkable Tributes | Leave a comment

It has been a hectic couple of week and I apologize for the radio silence.

So, in terms of catch up, my son finished up his first year of “real” school and summertime is upon us. My husband is in the midst of building a chicken coop as our three chickens need a home that is more right-sized for their growing bodies. Our garden is growing nicely and we’ve already had two trips to the zoo, one Vacation Bible School participation, and are planning some fun events this summer. I hope yours is shaping up equally cheery.

Remarkable Tributes is doing well, considering we are so new, and there are new users to welcome and new tributes starting every day. I am humbled by all the great feedback and the projects that we have been honored to participate in. Tributes for birthdays, graduations, going away farewells, and even an adoption day anniversary book. Awesome!

Keep up the great work and I look forward to writing more soon!

P.S. I am still twittering all over the place at http://www.twitter.com/remarkabletweet and I’ve been posting some cartoons and thoughts over at http://jenniferbdavis.blogspot.com. But those are no excuse for me to ignore this blog.

Tributes as Recessionista Chic

June 1, 2009 in 1 | Tags: Affordability, fill-in-the-blank link, Remarkable Tribute book | Leave a comment

With the economy on shaky ground, it is good to know that some things are affordable. As a reminder, an awesome 20 page, coffee-table style Remarkable Tribute created by your friends and family is $29.99. The online version published a clever little Fill-in-the-Blank Link you choose is only $19.99.

It’s the People!

May 31, 2009 in 1 | 2 comments

The following quote came across my Twitter stream the other day, attributed to Amber Case, who twitters @caseorganic. I knew I had to immortalize it in a cartoon.

People make places

It says so elegantly, something I have been thinking about for a while: It is all about the people. We can build a cool online place like Remarkable Tributes and get it ready for people to use, but the tributes themselves, the stories, the memories, and the photos are from the people. It isn’t about the tool, it is about what you bring to it.

Keep the fantastic tributes coming!

Doing Good

May 30, 2009 in 1 | Tags: Doing Good | Leave a comment

Do Well by Doing Good

I am constantly reminded of how cool my job is. I get to see tributes each week to fantastic people who have given so much love and are now being appreciated by their friends and family. I get to see hundreds of people honor each other with mini-tributes. Great stuff!

The quote in this cartoon as been attributed by Craig Newmark, the founder of Craig’s List, and others. I think it captures one of the goals of Remarkable Tributes, when we first started planning the business: to do good. It is a mission that we continue to drive towards.

Celebrate Your Times

May 29, 2009 in 1 | Tags: celebration, collaboration | Leave a comment

Celebrate

As the song says, “Celebrate good times, come on. Let’s celebrate!” However, we should not only celebrate in good times, but anytime. There is always something to be grateful for. Always someone to appreciate. Always a group of folks to collaborate with. Always something to celebrate!

If you like the drawing, it is free to use for non-commercial purposes. Link back to http://jenniferbdavis.blogspot.com and give credit to Jennifer Davis.

The Power of Collaboration

May 28, 2009 in 1 | Tags: collaboration, contributors, organizers | Leave a comment

collaborate

I love to brainstorm. Maybe you do, too. I find that ideas when shared, generate better ideas. One input will inspire others. They are like steps on a staircase. The more input you get, the higher you climb.

Collaboration is a critical part of Remarkable Tributes. Each page of the tribute is created by a different contributor, offering his or her unique perspective, stories, greetings, photos, and memories to complement the whole. The organizer of the tribute (the person who start it off and invites others) has control over how the tribute looks, the deadlines, and the ultimate publishing, but each person adds a bit of themselves.

Collaboration can make things more efficient, as well. It isn’t all up to the organizer to put it all together (perhaps at the last minute in time for the party), but rather responsibilities can be shared. You can see more about this in our video introduction.

We wish you success with your upcoming occasion and would love the opportunity to assist you.

3 Ways to Practice Appreciation

May 27, 2009 in 1 | Tags: appreciation, isAbsolutelyRemarkable.com, Mini-Tribute, Remarkable Tributes | Leave a comment

Those things worth doing take practice. Although the gratitude or appreciation you might feel for a friend, family member, teacher, coach, neighbor, or co-worker may be spontaneous, the act of recognizing or articulating your feelings may not be. Below are a few ideas that you might consider the next time appreciation “strikes” and something you can to do make sure it strikes more often.

1. Send someone a mini-tribute

Go to http://www.isAbsolutelyRemarkable.com. Type in your friend’s first and last name and voila! You have created a unique, personalized mini-tribute that you can cut-and-paste into an email, write out on a card (like we do on our business cards at Remarkable Tributes), or use the form on the site and we’ll send it for you. It is free, takes a couple of seconds, and is super fun. People love receiving them and say things like “too cute!”, “that is awesome,” and “Amazing. Made my day, maybe even my week. Thank you.” (just a few of the actual notes we’ve received after sending one). Share a smile!

2. Create a Tribute

For a more special occasion, you can create a full-blown, collaborative tribute book or website at http://www.RemarkableTributes.com. Invite your friends. Share your photos, greetings, stories, and memories. As our customer Kim told us, ““there are so many things Remarkable Tributes could be used for. Milestone birthdays, milestone work anniversaries, retirement gift, welcoming a new member to the family (ie, birth, adoption, marriage), going away gift, class reunion (let each graduate add a picture and bio), graduations, school history, and more.”

3. Remind Yourself

Often even our best intentions to appreciate a co-worker or friend can get sidelined by other priorities or activities. So, copy and send yourself via email the drawing below. Print it out and hang it in your office. Tape it to your mirror or your computer monitor. Any place where it can serve as a constant reminder. Sometimes it doesn’t take much to let someone know how much they mean to us. Keep your gratitude in the forefront of your mind with this little reminder.

appreciate

The drawing above is free to use for non-commercial purposes. If you post it on your blog or the like, include credit to Jennifer Davis and include a link to http://jenniferbdavis.blogspot.com.

Not Easily Impressed, but Easy to Impress

May 27, 2009 in 1 | Tags: coffee-table style photo book, fill-in-the-blank link, online publishing, Personalized Gift, Remarkable Tributes, thoughtful | Leave a comment

I have always admired people who gave thoughtful, personalized gifts. The ones that found the perfect card or picked up the scarf in just the right shade of blue to match their eyes or tickets to their high school heart throb who is coming into town in concert.

I also have always loved personalized gifts. You know the mugs, keychains, or bags that said “Jason” or “Maggie” on them. I’ve had friends with unusual names or spellings and they never could find their names on the spinny racks at the drug store. But neither could I. With a name like Jennifer, I could pretty much count on my name being “out of stock.”

So, Remarkable Tributes was designed so that you’d never be out of stock or out of ideas on how to honor someone remarkable on their birthday, anniversary, graduation, or other special occasion. Go to http://www.RemarkableTributes.com and start a free tribute. Invite friends and family to join in the effort, adding their greetings and pictures. Then, you can publish it immediately online at a clever little website address (that we like to call Fill-in-the-Blank Links because they are sentence starters that you can personalize) or you can order the coffee-table book. In any case, you have the perfect gift and we print it for you and deliver it in 10-14 days.

Although we have made it simple, we don’t mind at all if you take the credit. You are, after all, the clever one!