Last week’s retreat really raised the bar.  Nothing could top having the brilliant and ever-generous Alina Wheeler in the house. As I mentioned last week, we’ve used her book, Designing Brand Identity, as a text book, but let me tell you there is no substitute for having her talk with us in person.

First of all, she is flat out one of the nicest ladies ever.  From the moment I picked her up from her hotel, she was so engaging, so interested in us, and so encouraging.  I was embarrased when she saw the mess that is the library in the back of my car, but she loved it and just had to take a photo for inspiration.

She was a deep well of knowledge and inspiration, but I thought I’d just share a few quick quotes I took away.

“Demonstrate what you Declare.” – Many companies forget this.  It’s one thing to declare something, but unless it’s demonstrated you’re brand is merely a facade.

“Trust turns to Dust.” - This was her comment on the current state of most large businesses in our economy.  No longer does the big company automatically have our trust.  It has to be earned.  The trust we once had has now turned to dust.

“Business is no longer about Big and Small, it’s about Fast and Slow.” – This was the most paradigm shifting things for me.  We’ve definitely seen a big move in our economy away from the large companies.  People no longer care about how big you are, they care about the size of your impact and how fast you move.  As a small team, we can move very quickly, efficiently, and powerfully.  She gave us more confidence in who we are.

“A logo is a gateway to a much bigger conversation.” - I’ve witnessed this personally, but will more than likely focus more on it.  Whenever we work with an organization to develop a brand identity, 90% of our conversations are not about the specific identity, but about who the organization is, what their hopes and dreams are, and what roadblocks are in the way.  A brand identity is merely a summary of all those hopes and dreams in one form that can be as small as a favicon.

“We are on the verge of one of the most innovative eras in our nation’s history.” – Let’s all just let that soak in a little bit and start each day remembering that we are all shaping our nation for it’s next generation.  We are a part of world change.  World change comes not from people following the same rules, but from people willing to wake up each morning and charge forward, making this world a better, more sustainable place.

“You guys don’t have any holes in your team and you do really good work…and I’m an expert.” - Little horn tootin here, but I couldn’t help myself.  Always great to get this kind of confirmation.

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