To celebrate 11/11/11, we thought we’d give you a few tips on ways to thank the veterans that have sacrificed everything for our freedom.
#11 – bag all that Halloween candy you don’t need and ship to active duty military
#10 – write a thank you note to a local veteran
#9 – make homemade cookies and send to the troops
#8 – walk through Arlington cemetery and reflect on all those who died for our country
#7 – join…

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If you’ve been following the field of healthcare you know that one of the new exciting developments is called predictive medicine, or genomics. Based on your individual genetic make up, doctors can predict which diseases you are more likely to have, and maybe start preventing or preparing for them. Our new client, Inova Health Systems, is a pioneer in this field, and thus the tagline “Join the future of health.” The more I learned about this way cool concept, the

Every now and then you have the pleasure of working with a client who is able to simply move you. And that’s what we have with Melwood. For those of you who don’t know, Melwood is a non-profit organization located in Upper Marlboro, MD. It’s mission is to create jobs for people with disabilities. You may also know them as the place where you can donate your used car…, but they are much more than that. There are

…Over the past few weeks, we have joked about all of us losing our minds. Silly dumb things make us laugh, and dumb stupid things make us crazy.  Yesterday, and it was late, like 10pm…Karen said, “I have lost my mind!” We all asked if tomorrow, meaning today, would she bring her brain with her to work, so… it became ‘Bring Your Brain To Work Day’ here at SmithGifford.  Almost everyday is such a day. We just thought we would

It all started in June when someone turned on some sort of “I want TV” machine. So we got going. First with Middleburg Bank with two new fox commercials, Then Melwood which will break in a week, then Washington Gas, and Steal My ID. Plus one that is being wrapped up now for another client. All in three months. Pheeww! We have all gained weight from those red licorice stick things at the craft service table, and from stress eating.…

Every now and then you come across advice that is just so darn right that you have to share it with the world. So, that’s what I’m doing here. Kim Kadlec, the worldwide VP of marketing at Johnson & Johnson shared her views the other day at the OMMA Global conference…. She talks about the need to “shift from reach and frequency to reach and relationships if we want to engage consumers. Marketers and agencies need to connect

In the beginning, when social media was young, it was important to get followers and fans. Remember Ashton Kutcher’s race to get to 1 million followers on Twitter…? The idea was that you would acquire as many fans and followers as you could, you’d tweet messages out to them, post to your Facebook page, and your fans and followers would somehow interact with you. They might “like” your Facebook post, maybe post a comment to your wall, or re-tweet

Well, the good news is that Suzanne’s nails are OK.. The bad news.. Our truck, Garage, and utility trailer are not. Last night, Irene came a knock’n on our garage door. We did not answer and she got pissed and knocked down an old Oak onto our stuff. The Truck I thought was toast, but in the end, a dent, the utility trailer has an odd twist about it, and the garage needs some roof repair..
We consider ourselves lucky..In…

Ok, now this is getting out of hand… Get it.. Hand, manicure..Karen, Matt, Bruce and Suzy each all have around 25 years in the business. Sweating it out, missing parties, weekends, all nighters trying to do work that gets noticed.. And what happens.. Suzy’s interrupted manicure gets the news..Here is the clip from yesterdays news. Lets all give a hand to Suzy! She nailed it! Sorry..got carried away there..…

Our fast thinking COO, Suzanne had taken off work at noon today to .. well, get her nails done and get a hair cut.. Little did she know that an earthquake would hit her nail salon while she was getting her nails done..’Stuff started crashing down around us, there was a look of fear on everyones faces. mine included. But I knew what it was from living in San Fransisco” When Suzy stepped outside of the building she saw smoke…