news•
on February 27th, 2010•
Committee Passes Pam Byrnes’ Bill to Expand ‘IT’ Industry
Ann Arbor businesses advocate Byrnes’ plan to drive investment, create jobs
LANSING – On Wednesday, February 24, 2010, The House Committee on New Economy and Quality of Life passed legislation sponsored by Speaker Pro Tempore Pam Byrnes (D-Lyndon Twp.) that will increase investment in the information technology, or “IT” industry, and create good-paying jobs. Representatives of Ann Arbor-based businesses SRT Solutions and the Whole Brain Group testified in support of the plan that would include software development as a specific growth sector eligible for state funding through the 21st Century Jobs Fund.
Read more on Rep. Byrnes website….
news•
on February 18th, 2010•
After a bit of a delay due to some scheduled maintenance on our neighbor’s building, we were finally able to put our snazzy new office sign up this week! Instead of cruising up and down the street squinting at address numbers, our visitors can now spot our logo from blocks away and spend their time looking for PARKING instead.
Stop by and check out our new office and feel free to stand on the sidewalk admiring our new sign for as long as you like!
news•
on February 11th, 2010•
This week local graphic design + writing gurus InPrint unveiled their new web design at www.inprintonline.com — showcasing the abundance of high quality work they have completed over the years. InPrint is an Ann Arbor favorite when it comes to graphic design and writing, and The Whole Brain Group is pleased to have been a part of designing and developing their website.
Read more about the web design release on the new InPrint Blog >>
news•
on February 11th, 2010•
It’s easy to set up accounts on LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter, but sometimes hard to know what to do with them! You may have been to an overview session where you learned “everything you need to know about social media” in a 60 minute session with 50 other people, and then left frustrated and overwhelmed. Or maybe you felt empowered, went and set up your accounts and then waited for the business to pour in, only to hear crickets chirping….
Why this Social Media Workshop has Whole Brain Goodness
It’s important to understand how social media fits into your overall strategy and goals as a professional or business owner, and it’s really helpful to do this in a group environment where you can talk through your plans and get feedback from others who are struggling with the same issues. When it’s a group that’s facilitated by people with expertise to get your accounts configured properly, understand the tools well enough to help you define an appropriate strategy, it’s even better. And when you meet for 4 weeks in a row for two hours with the same people, you’ve got a winning combination!
You will walk away knowing how to:
- Speak the lingo of the top three social media tools (LinkedIn, Twitter, and Facebook)
- Choose and use those tools to help you grow or sustain your business
- Set measurable and reasonable goals for social media usage
- Establish healthy habits for making progress toward these goals
- Learn in a fun and collegial small group atmosphere where you won’t feel stupid asking questions!
- Following through on your plan with practice, practice, practice!!
This is a hands-on class (bring your laptop!), so you’ll also have:
- A complete LinkedIn Profile, with connections and recommendations from colleagues
- A company page on LinkedIn with a link to your company website, a listing of your employees on LinkedIn, and a feed from your company blog (if you have one)
- A twitter account that will help you join online conversations with colleagues in your industry, and help you spread the word about the interesting work you’re involved in.
- A Facebook account with lists of business and personal contacts to keep your information separate.
Meeting Dates (Registration Fee covers all four sessions):
- Tuesday, March 2: 12pm – 2pm
- Tuesday, March 9: 12pm – 2pm
- Tuesday, March 16 : 12pm – 2pm
- Tuesday, March 23: 12pm – 2pm
Prerequisite: Bring your lunch, and a laptop with wireless internet connectivity.
news•
on February 11th, 2010•
Our January Social Media Workshop Series, “Social Media With That Whole Brain Goodness,” was a great success! For four weeks the participants met once a week for a two hour in-depth session on how to work with popular social media tools such as LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter.
At the end of the four hands-on classes, each participant emerged with:
- A complete LinkedIn profile, with connections and recommendations from colleagues.
- A company page on LinkedIn with a link to the company’s website, a listing of employees on LinkedIn, and a feed from their company blog.
- A twitter account that helps them join online conversations with colleagues in their industry, and helps spread the word about interesting work they are doing
- A Facebook Fan Page for their company, product, or service.
Additionally, participants learned strategies and best practices for driving traffic to their website, publicizing events, and establishing industry expertise. Armed with a social media strategy that makes sense for their own business and lifestyle, they now can choose and use the tools that will help them grow or sustain their business on their own.
Registration is now open for our March Social Media Workshop Series! >>
Here’s what a few of our happy clients have to say:
“I attended Whole Brain Group’s Social Media Workshop Series and highly recommend it to anyone seeking to optimize the business impact of these activities… A great combination of practical strategic and tactical advice. Great for social media newbies as well as folks who have some experience and want to make social media work for their business.” — Mike Wynn, Sandler Training Center – Ann Arbor
“I highly recommend the Whole Brain Group for their savvy in helping businesses integrate social media into their repertoire” — Cheryl Baker, Humax Networks
“It was well worth the time and money. As a small business owner, I was able to take what said and immediately apply it … at times before the session ended. [The Whole Brain Group] provided personal feedback and guidance throughout. I would give this workshop a strong thumbs-up.” — Kathy MacDonald, The MacDonald Group
news•
on February 1st, 2010•
TorranceLearning released a website for its eClickMap product this week, at http://www.eClickMap.com. eClickMaps enable customers to deliver short multimedia learning pieces on their websites to visually explain complex topics. The website was created by The Whole Brain Group, showcasing the growing synergy between the two companies.
Read more about this web design success story on the Torrance Learning website >>
news•
on February 1st, 2010•
The Whole Brain Group was one of 46 companies in Michigan recognized at the Corp! Magazine “Michigan’s Going Green” Awards Breakfast on Tuesday, January 26, 2010.
The Corp! Magazine Green Industry Innovator Award was given to recognize the company’s idea for developing an iPhone app to replace the paper version of the Ann Arbor Area Chamber of Commerce member discount directory. After conceiving of the idea, The Whole Brain Group designed and developed the A2Chamber iPhone App with Arbormoon Software, which is available on the iTunes App Store as a free download.
Read the entire story on the Corp! Magazine Website…
Get more info about the A2Chamber iPhone App
news•
on January 10th, 2010•
In January, we moved to our very own space on 109 E. Ann Street in Ann Arbor!
We’ve got lots of room for our new employees, and even have space to hold our training and education sessions.
Stop by and visit us at our new location!
news•
on December 6th, 2009•
ANN ARBOR, Mich., Nov. 17 /PRNewswire/ – Four Michigan companies received a combined total of $200,000 from the Michigan Microloan Fund Program, administered by Ann Arbor SPARK. Allinnova, Procuit, Solarflex, and The Whole Brain Group will use the funding to commercialize their products. The Michigan Pre-Seed Capital Fund, the Ann Arbor Local Development Financing Authority and Washtenaw County support the Michigan Microloan Fund Program. [Read more...]
news•
on October 29th, 2009•
To complement the recent development of the Ann Arbor Area Chamber of Commerce’s A2Chamber iPhone App, Whole Brain Group, TorranceLearning, and the Chamber partnered to develop a fantastic interactive demo!
The demo, powered by TorranceLearning’s eClickMap technology, allows you to view the features of the app, learn about the benefits of advertising member-2-member discounts, and find out how to sign up to get your business listed in the app.
“We asked TorranceLearning to work with us to develop the demo because the app won’t be officially available in the iTunes store until mid-November,” states Marisa Smith, President of the Whole Brain Group. “We knew that the team at TorranceLearning could create an eClickMap that would provide people with the information they need to get signed up to list their discount in the app, and understand the benefit the listing would provide to their business. The demo is a great visual way to explain the power of the app to people – much more powerful than a longwinded written description!! And once the app is launched, we plan to update the demo as new features are added with each release.”
About the A2Chamber iPhone App
The app is designed to provide details about member-2-member discounts offered between members of the Ann Arbor Area Chamber of Commerce, along with other directory details about business location, phone, url, and email. The new mobile format allows the Chamber to push new discounts to the iPhone every week, which is a plus for local businesses who want to offer fresh discount offers.
Learn more about the A2Chamber iPhone App in this AnnArbor.Com article.
