Posts by Lauren Esposito

Fresh off the plane from this year’s South By Southwest Interactive conference I’ve been lining up all the blog posts I want to write. Rather than kicking things off by sharing one of the incredible panels or awesome events I attended, I wanted to dive into one of the most buzzed about issues that happened this year: Homeless Hotspots.

As you can imagine, when thousands of techies congregate within in a 5-mile radius for the hottest interactive event of the year, wireless network capacity is an issue. In an effort to help bring more network capacity to Austin and help out a few individuals along the way Bartle Bogle Hegarty’s BBH Labs launched…

Apps are software programs that have been created for a specific purpose. We use them to play games, to get directions, to communicate, to socialize, and to organize. Apps provide us with wanted distractions and useful information in real time. Apps meet users where they are.

The success of a brand is no longer directly related to its products’ pricing, entertaining advertisements, or celebrity endorsements. With today’s technology, customers can quickly and easily find cheaper and better solutions to what you are offering. Customers no longer want the best product for the best cost, they want more information, more interaction, and a relationship with the brand. They want an experience.

Here at KA+A we…

The Evolution of QR Codes
Quick Response Codes (QR codes) are two-dimensional barcodes that can deliver large amounts of information while taking up a small amount of print space. QR codes can be made up of many different types of data and can be downloaded at a high-speed by a QR reader. Originally these codes were used in the automotive industry for manufacturing, but due to their ability to store and deliver a message in a fast and concise manner, QR codes quickly found purchase in a variety of industries.

Much like its predecessors, Microsoft Tags and Jagtags, QR codes are easily read by mobile devices, which use the camera as the reader. The contents of the tag typically…

As a young professional I’m admittedly still green, but lately I’ve found real encouragement and inspiration from the more seasoned colleagues. I wanted to share some of their advice on how to be a bit more successful a bit faster.

Have Passion and Be Curious
If you were lucky to attend Verge this week, you heard Kristian Andersen speak to passion and curiosity. As professional individuals, we sometimes think that we are confined by what is said on paper, and to achieve more we must have more letters to put after our name or more accomplishments to list out. However, we shouldn’t limit ourselves and allow our resume to be the sole indicator of who we are.

“Curiosity is the one determinant for success; it’s

What does it take to be a successful consultant?
If you find that you are asking yourself this question there may be a simple answer. Change the way you engage others.

I know. Easier said than done, but exactly how do you change the way you engage others? First, you have to understand that you have your own personal experiences, opinions, and goals. You are not meant to fit into anyone else’s perception of these, just as they are not meant to fit into yours. Next, you have to surrender your perception of control, predictability, and consistency and learn to value the inclusion of others.

Achieving Positive Results
We can all agree that the…

I was recently re-introduced to justWink greeting cards via an iPhone app a friend shared with me. I’m typically hesitant to download open-once-and-never-use-it-again apps, but I’ve always been a huge fan of mailing justWink’s cheeky cards, so I decided to give it a try. From the moment I used their app, I fell in love with their brand and product all over again.

Each move within the app has been fully branded with justWink’s witty design and tone. Flip through their more popular cards or jump to a specific occasion, and you’ll soon be exclaiming “Yay, new human!” as you search for the right card to welcome a new baby. justWink has even…

If you are a true Hoosier then you couldn’t be more excited about Indy’s opportunity to host the 2012 Super Bowl. You may be a bit worried if you’re a local about where you can watch the game, how you’ll get around, or what events to attend, but have no fear the 2012 Super Bowl Host Committee is taking care of everything!

This will be the most compact, connected, and convenient Super Bowl in history.

Indianapolis is hosting the most urban Super Bowl to date, and with that comes its advantages and disadvantages. On June 29th, Dianna Boyce the Communications Director of the 2012 Super Bowl Host Committee was joined by…

Yesterday morning I attended the monthly Linking Indy Women event. (A great event if you’ve never been!) I had the extreme pleasure of listening to Nicole Misencik from WTHR share her professional experience. Nicole is an active user of both Twitter and Facebook professionally and personally. As she walked us through the benefits and challenges she faces in having such an active social media presence a common theme presented itself in the Q&A:

How do I find what I am actually looking for?

Many of us enjoy using Twitter and find it to be an additional bonus to our professional lives, and many of us also find it to be…

If you’ve ever read Marty Nemeier’s book Zag, I’m sure you are well aware of the book’s main concept:

“When Everybody Zigs, Zag”.

As the book describes, the concept of zagging is often a bit harder than you may expect. Yet, over the weekend I found a great example of a company that has managed to zag with excellence. While in the checkout line at the grocery store I overheard the cashier and bag boy commenting on one of my purchases:

Cashier: “Check out this drunken bar code!”
Bag Boy: “Cool I’ve never seen anything like it!”
Cashier: “Yeah they have designed something you would have never thought could be designed.”

They were talking about…

To know more you have to read more and recently I have been indulging in internet based articles and blogs, so I thought I’d take a look at some of the best voted business books of 2011 that I should get my hands on. Please feel free to comment on any books you have read and share your suggestions.

1. Great Again: Revitalizing America’s Entrepreneurial Leadership
Great Again, by Henry Nothhaft and David Kline, walks readers through America’s history and future as an entrepreneurial leader while demanding change to the regulatory red tape many startups face today.

“Serial entrepreneur Nothhaft takes readers inside the heart of the communities most responsible for innovation and shows how a few practical reforms can get America’s economy moving again.”