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Sustainability: More Than a Buzzword in North Carolina with Ink Stain and Futurewave

2009-07-07T21:16:03Z

Ink Stain Joins Futurewave Consulting in North Carolina

Helps Sustainable NC Business Council

Define Sustainability for the State

A Sustainability Support Network to Attract New business is Born

(North Carolina Sustainability Event attendees participate in a Futurewave Consulting Ideation Program)

July 8th 2009

Contact: Joseph Coplans

303.459.2112

Cell: 303.882.8676

joseph@inkstaininc.com

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

DURHAM, NORTH CAROLINA--

North Carolina has grown to become a major hub of "green" activity--there are multitudes of programs designed to do everything from educate people to provide tax incentives.

Sustainability: complex and often confusing

But that's part of a new kind of problem for progressive green states. There's confusion about what it all means. There's confusion about the policy language of sustainability, confusion about why business loans aren't being made, and what support small businesses need to succeed.

As much potential as North Carolina has to explode green policy and grow green and sustainable business, there has been an equal amount of confusion about how all of these efforts can come together to help small business.

Collaboration is key to revenue for small business

On May 21st, the Sustainable NC Business Council partnered with Ink Stain and Futurewave Consulting to host a unique and engaging "collaboratory" designed to discover new possibilities for future sustainability growth.

The collaboration brought together people from all sectors--nonprofits, foundations, universities, government agencies, associations and businesses--to work toward developing a comprehensive, accessible network of support for creating, growing and attracting sustainable companies in North Carolina.

The Futurewave team designed a unique process that guided participants through a series of interactive, thought provoking, engagement and dialogue processes. The goal was to coalesce and unify the diverse demographics at the event and enable participants to walk away with new alliances and informed ways to inspire action in their networks. Futurewave Consulting combined several processes: facilitation, multi-media, paired interviews, provocative questioning, visual maps and experiential exercises, to expand the thinking needed for collaboration and actionable conclusions.

Bridging the communication gap between small business, local government and the financial world is key

The Futurewave team designed a six-hour program that enabled participants to walk away with new alliances and informed ways to inspire action in their networks. Futurewave Consulting combined several other processes: facilitation, visual maps and experiential exercises, to expand the thinking needed for collaboration and actionable conclusions.

Ink Stain produced a working document first identifying the inability for small business owners to feel confident that their financial needs are being addressed. The Ink Stain document then outlines the communication gaps between small business owners, policy makers and the financial community.

The result: a foundation for creative campaigns

Ink Stain and Futurewave Consulting provided a blueprint for new ideas

At the day's end, new alliances between sustainability demographics took root. New communication portals and campaigns to align the efforts of sustainability strategists have found its beginnings.

"This is fascinating, thought-provoking material," said Katy Ansardi, director for Sustainable North Carolina Business Council, an NGO dedicated to accelerated adoption of principles and practices that optimize economic prosperity, social responsibility, and environmental stewardship in North Carolina.

This Futurewave Consulting document includes maps, summations and a video produced by Grasp Media and is a free download on the Futurewave Consulting site. Futurewave Consulting is now in talks with Duke University for an additional "Collaboratory" and is available for new collaborations. Reach Wendy White at 919-688-8920, info@futurewaveconsulting.com for more information.

Ink Stain, Inc., co-publisher of ifculture.com, is strategic messaging firm ensuring companies become outstanding in their marketplace. Ink Stain Inc. produces strategic messaging, award-winning copywriting and SEO based persuasion language, helping companies tell their stories with distilled, contagious and repeatable messaging for every form of web-based media.

Ink Stain Inc Chosen for Core Messaging on East West Partners Web Site, writes "Our Culture" Pages

2009-07-04T00:18:52Z

July 4th 2009
Contact: Joseph Coplans
303.459.2112
Cell: 303.882.8676
joseph@inkstaininc.com

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Ink Stain Inc Chosen for Core Messaging on East West Partners

Web Site, writes "Our Culture" Pages

Denver, CO

Ink Stain Inc., hired by FL2, a Denver interactive firm, has created the specialized messaging for the "who we are, this is what we stand for" pages of the East West Partners Web Site--officially titled, "Our Culture", at eastwestpartners.com.

Ink Stain was quick to notice that the success enjoyed by East West Partners is rooted in the company's understanding of 'systemic investments'--emotional and professional--in the communities they build. Interviews with East West Partner owners and the company's marketing department yielded a plain and very down to earth philosophy about how to run a development and real estate and resort building company: invest in your people, the very people who live and care about the community you are building in. As one East West Partners owner said, "I rely on people who are smarter than me. I give them every chance I can to show off what it is they do best."

Ink Stain Inc. wrote 'Overview', 'Our Partners', 'Our Residents', 'Our Community', and 'Our Employees' sections highlighting the East West Partner commitment to building a sense of community in every project they do.

"Not many development firms can say they build what they manage and manage what they build," says Joseph Coplans, owner, Ink Stain, Inc. "So East West Partners has an actual history of investing in neighborhoods. They have actually considered what people living in their dwellings need and want foremost. That has allowed East West Partners the opportunity to transcend the everyday corporatespeak other companies use to describe their values and beliefs," explained Coplans. To Ink Stain, East West Partners represents the kind of cure for corporatespeak many companies need.

The East West Partners site has been up and working for quite some time, now entering its second year without a single change to its workings. Is that because the site has maintained a certain level of perfection--in terms of both its visual vocabulary and its core messaging? More than likely, East West Partners is being true to the East West Partners brand: when they've got something that works, it's simply unnecessary to change it.

Ink Stain Inc., co-publisher of ifculture.com, is a strategic messaging firm ensuring companies become outstanding in their marketplace. Ink Stain Inc. produces strategic messaging, award-winning copywriting and SEO based persuasion language, helping companies tell their stories with distilled, contagious and repeatable messaging for every form of web-based media.

10 Years of Great Stories, the Basis for the Newly Launched Webzine: ifculture.com

2009-05-06T15:22:27Z

FINALLY, CULTURE-CHANGE EXPLAINED:

10 Years of Great Stories, the Basis for the Newly Launched Webzine: ifculture.com

April 25th 2009

Contact: Joseph Coplans

303.459.2112

Cell: 303.882.8676

joseph@inkstaininc.com

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Denver, Colorado

Ink Stain, Inc., a marketing and messaging firm, is gaining the attention of CEOs, Directors of Continuous Improvement, and Sustainability Managers with a newly produced web magazine, ifculture.com, which features in-depth stories about leaders who excel as models of culture-based leadership success.

ifculture, published every six weeks, takes the complex subject of culture change and distils it into humanized stories that give readers a way to understand what leaders go through to create profitable, healthy cultures. ifculture is articles that narrate the conflicts and resolutions, epiphanies and breakthroughs, the hard choices and visionary steps company leaders take to create continuous improvement programs.

ifculture is stories about companies escaping the traditional, hierarchical leadership models of the past, who have transcended the pressurized, bottom-line thinking that cripples innovation.

ifculture premiere story: a sweet success.

The ifculture.com web format, produced by Ink Stain Inc.'s design partner, Six Degrees Studio imitates the experience of reading "print" by enabling readers to literally turn pages as they read on the web. ifculture's first article, released March 11th, 2009, is the story of how Doug Harper, Continuous Improvement Director for Blommer Chocolate, North America's largest producer of cocoa products, transformed an operating loss of $1.1 million into a profit of $325K in a single year, despite a $1 million dollar reduction in annual sales.

Great cultures are great stories to tell

Publisher Joseph Coplans of Ink Stain Inc., saw an opportunity for ifculture.com in the marketplace after working with Jim Morris and Elizabeth Upchurch, owners of Bristlecone Learning, LLC. Bristlecone Learning, an organizational development consultancy, presented engaging stories about culture transformation with their work with such clients as: IDEO, Novozymes, Duke University, Red Hat and Winterpark Construction Company. Ink Stain Inc., formed a partnership with Bristlecone Learning, LLC, to create stories for ifculture.com.

"Culture change, it's hard to explain what it is and what it does and what the benefits are to a leader under pressure to perform," explains Mr. Coplans, co-publisher and writer for ifculture.com.

"Yet, the Bristlecone Learning team has fantastic stories about great accomplishments. Stories about how leaders have done great things for others, about leaders with an unwavering belief in something larger than themselves," said Mr. Coplans.

Contact Joseph Coplans at Ink Stain, Inc., for more information on how to advertise on ifculture.com. Call 303.459.2112 or email: joseph@inkstaininc.com

Ink Stain, Inc., co-publisher of ifculture.com, is a strategic messaging firm ensuring companies become outstanding in their marketplace. Ink Stain Inc. produces strategic messaging, award-winning copywriting and SEO based persuasion language, helping companies tell their stories with distilled, contagious and repeatable messaging for every form of web-based media.

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Ink Stain Ads Incite a Big Win in Vegas!

2009-05-06T15:18:30Z

Ink Stain Ads Incite a Big Win in Vegas!

March 25th 2009

Contact: Joseph Coplans

303.459.2112

Cell: 303.882.8676

joseph@inkstaininc.com

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

DENVER--Ink Stain, Inc., a strategic messaging firm, has written seven advertisements for the Long Beach, CA based, HFS Concepts 4, enabling them to acquire a key hotel, "a leading Las Vegas casino and hospitality client," stated Jason Carignan, owner of Tonic Brand Communications, Thousand Oaks, CA. The seven ads, which appeared in a variety of publications, were written in partnership with Tonic (http://thinktonic.com), and demonstrate the important role "strategic storytelling" plays in uniting and solidifying a complex brand.

"HFS Concepts 4 provides four essential offerings that most other companies in their space simply cannot accomplish: HFS Concepts 4 is an architectural firm, an interior design firm; a fulfillment house that also offers accomplished FF&E procurement. That's a lot to offer. Yet, these key components came together under the umbrella of strategic storytelling," explains Joseph Coplans, owner of Ink Stain, Inc.

A luxury hotel experience should offer the best of what the entire world has to offer.

Combining all of these vital brand attributes into a single story was a challenge for messaging. The Tonic team, produced the visually rich design, and opened the door for "storytelling" as a tool to bring to life the core brand elements--enabling the message to become strategically partnered with a human experience. After all, the end product is people having an experience as they enjoy their vacation, as they travel to see the world or attend an important event. A luxury hotel experience should offer the best of what the entire world has to offer.

Such a special experience should bring together the specialized talents of professionals and artists who also care about the experience they are creating for others. With that in mind, the traveler and the artisan are experiencing the same thing: a step into a luxury experience that showcases what the world talent pool has to offer. Readers of the ad appeared to have responded to the unconscious realization that travel brings them closer to the world and the world closer to them.

"The challenge was to combine these rather dry initial brand descriptors into something that would actually inspire the reader to see a bigger picture about people," explained Mr. Coplans. And that bigger story about people has enabled a big Las Vegas hotel create an even bigger in the minds of visitors.

Which ad caught the eye of the Las Vegas hotel owners?

It's hard to say. But as one ad headline reads: "Behind Every Door, a Story Reveals Itself"

"That story is about people combining talents and ideas to create something larger than themselves, for the benefit of a bigger offering," says Mr. Coplans.

Contact Joseph Coplans for more information about strategic messaging and storytelling models that incite brand awareness. 303.882.867

Ink Stain Inc., co-publisher of ifculture.com, is a strategic messaging firm helping companies become outstanding in their marketplace. Ink Stain Inc. produces strategic messaging, award-winning copywriting and SEO based persuasion language, helping companies tell their stories with distilled, contagious and repeatable messaging for every form of web-based media.