Before my days at matchstic began, a promise was made to take everyone here on a trip to Six Flags for all their hard work. When it came time to go, projects popped up with deadlines, and the trip date was indefinitely postponed. This past summer, those in attendance when the original promise was made gently reminded Blake and Craig of that ancient promise. So it was that we went to Six Flags.

We figured we might as well do something more than just ride rollercoasters while we were there, so we brought along a point and shoot video camera. Our goal was to put together a video to enter the Barenaked Ladies "High Fives on the High Seas" Video contest we had just helped our friends at Sixthman produce. Check the video out below and enjoy!

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Today mark's the one year anniversary of the matchblog! In 80′s sitcom fashion, I thought it would be nice to have a quick "blog-tage" (a blog montage) back through some of my favorite blogs. Enjoy!

It's Up To Me?- Nick Hollomon

Chilean Sea Bass- Dustin Britt

The Buying Tribe- Blake Howard

Creating Community- Craig Johnson

Rated R for Recession- Blake Howard

I Drive A Lexus… I must be rich- John Bowles

Rap While You Wrap- Blake Howard

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It seems that Pizza Hut after 50 years of making pizza, has decided to change their name to "Pasta Hut".  Really?  Do they think that their name, identity, and brand equity are worthless? That is the only reason I can imagine a mega chain of restaurant/pizza delivery would think about changing their name because of one new service they offer. (read more here) I am sure this is just a stunt, and they are trying desperately to get people to talk about the easily forgettable chain… But as we discussed this catastrophic event, I heard someone in the office make a great point that changed the way I viewed this whole issue.

His comment was "Would anyone really miss Pizza Hut?" I wouldn't, I would just go to Dominos, or better yet Mellow Mushroom. But I definitely wouldn't say, "man, if only I had another pizza place." I really wouldn't say, "man, if only I had another pizza place that also serves pasta."

If you have to rely on stunts, then you probably aren't that remarkable in the first place. And when the dust clears, people will just go on forgetting.

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We've had the privilege of having Evan McHugh work with us at the Matchstic House for the past 6 weeks.

Evan and I went to the same high school and it hasn't been too tough to keep in touch as it was such a small school.  When the opportunity arose for him to come work with us I was really excited.

Now if there's a down side to Evan working with us, it's the fact that his time is only temporary.  The truth is that Evan is pursuing a music career, and as much I want to personally sabotage that career for selfish reasons, I'm really excited for him.  I once gave up everything to pursue a music career myself (check out our 10 year old awesome Geocities website here) so we want to do everything we can to support him.

Evan is managed by Russell Carter (Indigo Girls, Shawn Mullins) and leaves us next month for LA to record his second record with renowned record producer Julian Raymond (Wallflowers, Fastball).  We're all super excited for him.

Evan's music is awesome.  Check out his website here, and look for a new release next year.

We're just glad we'll be able to say we knew you when…

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Our very own Justin Hudson continues to amaze us with his collection of tattoos.

He had one tattoo when he first worked with us 2 years ago.

Now he's up to eight.

Thursday, he got this bowling pin tattoo during lunch.

Well done Justin…well done.

(new tattoo courtesy of our new next door neighbors and friends at Memorial Tattoo)

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Yesterday was an exciting day for me as I got to hear Seth Godin, my favorite business thinker, speak at Catalyst Conference.  He just released his new book: TRIBES, and his talk revolved around the concepts in the book.  Here are a few of my notes from his talk:

• A Crowd is not the same as a TRIBE. Traffic & Crowds don't matter.

• We define ourselves by who isn't there.

• What matters is not how many people there are, but how connected they are.

• Become Heretics: a heretic is someone whose faith is so deep, they're willing to deal with the criticism that comes from the status quo.  Heretics don't let rules or religion stand in the way of faith.

At the end of his speech, he gave everyone at the conference (12,000 people) a copy of his new book: TRIBES.  I thought to myself: he is brilliant.  Rather than get paid to speak at the conference, he knows that if he just has the conferece just buys 12,000 books to people from all over the country in all different tribes, we will spread the word about it and he'll sell even more books.

Seth, I salute you.  Everyone else, go buy his new book here.

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Well friends, all things must end. This will be the final law of The 22 Immutable Laws of Branding.

The Law of Singularity.

What is a brand? A singular idea or concept that you own inside the mind of the prospect. What's a brand? A proper noun that can be used in place of a common word. Its the singularity that helps a brand perform at its best.

Instead of an imported beer, you could ask for Heineken
Instead of a thick spaghetti sauce, you can ask for Prego
Instead of a safe car, you can ask for a Volvo

It's as simple and difficult as that.

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With each Matchstic retreat comes a new shirt, and this retreat was no different. This time around Gern Blanston, aka Justin, did the honors. The shirt is a factory of the Matchstic process. With all of the 4 C's represented, Connect, Concept, Create, and Complete. As an added bonus inside the "Matchstic Factory" you can find Waldo's hat. If you want to be one of the cool kids with an awesome shirt, come by the office and we'll get you one.

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Well, the wait is finally over, I am official. I have been given my very own flame suit. It is an honor that they (craig and blake) had been holding out for the retreat to bestow on me. But now, I am a legit Matchstic member.

The flame suit to me is proof that I work at a place that is committed to their brand, but also to their employees. Like I have said before about working here, you first are taken off guard by all the matchstic branded stuff, but everyday I realize that it speaks to the commitment to excellence, and an investment into the equity of our brand. A red jump suit, that doesn't add to profits might be a hard sell to most owners, but here, something so small and simple, makes you feel like you aren't just punching a clock, but working for something bigger.

I can't tell you about the weird rituals that are associated with recieving the suit, but I can say it is worth it. (for the record… I am just kidding.)

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Recently Dustin found this great new technology called Yammer.  It is basically Twitter for co-workers, where team members can update each other on what they are working on.

Matchstic quickly setup a Yammer account and we are loving it.  It keeps us connected and really helps my email clutter. If you have a large organization, don't worry, you can choose who you's Yammer feed you want to follow.  With just 7 of us, I follow everyone, and it helps me know what everyone is doing while I'm out of the office.

I like it so much, I gave them a few testimonial quotes and they used it on there site here.

Go check out www.yammer.com and sign up your team now.

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