Never a Lack of Ideas

Say "Peace" To add a little twist to the city's 2010 holiday card, the mayor of Naperville , IL invited all 145,000 of the city's residents to a photo shoot for the cover of the card. And on Friday, November 26th at 2:00 p.m., my wife Monica and I showed up alongside 500 of our neighbors to make holiday card history. Collectively, we Napervillians spelled out "peace" and posed for a few pictures. Monica and I were in the second E, in the stem between the top and middle horizontal bars. The event was well organized by city staff and volunteers. Two news helicopters and a handful of reporters showed up to cover the event and everybody seemed to have a good time. The Evolution of the Holiday Card This event got me thinking about how far the corporate holiday card has come. It wasn't too long ago when they were just simple cards. Then came e-cards. E-cards went to another level with Jib Jab . Then came those customized e-cards that include your name througho...

That’s a Lot of Tapas Mesón Sabika , a tapas restaurant in Naperville, IL, gives tables of up to four people a 40% food discount if at least one of the four people at the table works in one of the two local school districts. Between Naperville school district 203 and Aurora school district 204, that’s 5,600 employees who qualify for the discount. A Brilliant Discount The discount for school district employees at Mesón Sabika is brilliant for four reasons: It’s a significant discount. 40% off of food is a great reason to go to a restaurant. It’s hard to go anywhere else if you can get 40% at a great restaurant. It’s not a rinky-dink 10% discount. 40% off is a great deal no matter how you look at it. It’s a great form of word of mouth marketing. One person who works in the district can bring up to three non-district employees and get the discount for the whole table. Thus, the discount encourages district employees to bring their friends and families to the restaurant. The discount, its...