One of Flint’s most senior employees, donna (the lowercase “d”s are intentional—she started when she was 15, and they just stuck) has been with the company for 23 years. As director of media services, she oversees the Flint Group media planning and buying processes, focusing specifically on broadcast media and retail accounts.

donna had a small flower bed at her condo in Moorhead, Minn., but her gardening “took on a whole new life” four years ago when she moved to St. Cloud, Minn.

A passion for planting

donna says her passion for planting helps offset some of the stress and detail-oriented, rigid work she performs for the Flint media department.

“I don’t have to play by the rules when I garden. It’s very relaxing and therapeutic—almost god-like,” says donna.

Gardening “every day it isn’t raining or cold,” donna takes great pride in her lavish landscaping. She looks forward to summer evenings when people walking, and even driving, stop and ask to see her yard.

Her favorite gardening store is Scenic Specialties Landscape Center, a beautiful 14-acre hobby farm she visits often for planting supplies and project ideas.

donna’s first large-scale project after moving into her new home was restoring the 4,500-gallon pond at the southwest side of the house. The pond, complete with a waterfall and underwater lights, is home to 100 fish, including koi, shubunkins, and orange, white and black goldfish.

Trading her green thumb for a thimble

When she’s not gardening (i.e., when it’s winter), donna trades her green thumb for a thimble.

“Wintertime is for crafts,” she says.

donna hadn’t sewn since she was 13, but two years ago, she began sewing on her mom’s sewing machine—an appliance that is older than her. She started out making simple, patterned mittens from recycled sweaters, which she now sells at Gypsy Lea’s, a store in downtown Sauk Rapids, Minn.

Her most recent crafting endeavors include making winter headbands and wine gift bags, which she gives to friends and family.

Donna usually gets her reusable materials from garage sales, thrift stores and her own “goodwill bag,” but her favorite retail craft store is Crafts Direct.

From antique to trendy

donna also collects vintage dishes, a hobby she describes as “a sickness.”

“It’s really bad—I’ve filled about every cupboard I have,” says donna.

Seeking to condense her generous supply of antique china (or perhaps secretly wanting to make room for more), donna took on a four-day project to restore her childhood dresser with a mosaic top made from crushed, old plates.

The most fun part of the project?

Shattering the plates, says donna.

Are you interested in purchasing a unique, homemade gift for someone special? Contact donna dodge to chat about the possibilities!

Get to know a Flintster: Q + A with donna

What’s your dream job?
Working in a greenhouse

What was your first job?
Waitress

What did it teach you?
That I didn’t want to work on my feet all day.

What’s the best advice you ever got?
Be mindful. Enjoy each moment.

What sound do you love?
Children laughing

What scent do you love?
Baking bread

Harnessing the latest buzz is smart marketing, and we have the Queen Bee.

Debbie Morrison, who is based in our St. Cloud office, strategizes proven communications for a broad range of clients. Away from the office, she and her husband Jim live on and operate Sapsucker Farms, their Minnesota-based certified organic farm, which includes 12 bee hives, chickens, sugar maple trees, a vegetable garden and an apple orchard. She also contributes to the Simple Good and Tasty blog.

Sweet rewards

You know the colleagues who bring the best treats to the office? That’s Debbie.

Her passion for organic agriculture yields sweet results, especially honey and organic maple syrup. Besides our offices and homes, Sapsucker Farms products are enjoyed all over the world. Debbie ships anywhere: Just order here.

Debbie’s syrup in Jerusalem

Accidental farmers

“We got into organic farming accidentally,” Debbie explains. “We bought 172 acres of land near Mora, Minn., in 1997, then built our house and moved in 2000. Our original goal was to restore the land to natural habitat. We started by restoring 40 acres of hayfields into native prairie. All of the prairie flowers inspired me to start beekeeping. A friend from Vermont saw our maple trees and suggested we tap them, so we did. Then we planted the organic apple orchard, which is 60 trees in 30 varieties, and I started learning about organic agriculture. The chickens were added last year. We’ve been certified organic since 2006.”

Jim and Debbie during maple syrup harvest

Do you know where your food comes from?

Watch how Debbie bottles Sapsucker Farms pure, organic maple syrup:

At the office, Debbie is, as she describes, “Director of Strategy and Lots of Other Stuff.” She consults and strategizes for various clients and industries, in part lending experience she gained while working for large Minneapolis-based agencies earlier in her career.

Get to know a Flintster: Q + A with Debbie

How does your passion outside of work fuel your career?
My passion for the farm stimulates my thinking in so many ways. Farming requires constant problem-solving, strategizing, creating, building, and continually forcing me to push beyond my boundaries and work outside my comfort zones. All of this helps me be a much more creative thinker, strategizer, analyzer, problem-solver, and leader in the work place.

What do you do on a typical night or weekend?
It depends on the season. This time of year, our farm chores are feeding, watering the chickens and collecting eggs, plus filling our outside wood boiler twice per day with firewood. In the summer, we feed and water the chickens, and collect all of the fresh, organic free-range eggs – about one dozen a day. On weekends, we inspect the 12 bee hives, weed the garden, cut firewood and basically spend about 12 hours per day of hard labor on the farm. We get dirty, get sore muscles and go to bed exhausted every night. And we love every minute of it. Autumn is harvest time and hunting season. I do as much as I can after work and indulge in both on the weekends. In the spring, during the maple syrup season (usually starting in March), after work I go out into the woods to collect sap, then on the weekends the sap is boiled to perfection to create maple syrup. Also in the spring, I start vegetable seeds in our greenhouse for the garden.

What’s your dream job?
I have it already: I’m an organic farmer.

What was your first job?
In the kitchen at a nursing home, where I served food in the dining room and washed dishes.

What is one thing you’d be willing to practice for an hour a day?
Target shooting with a bow, pistol or rifle.

What’s the best advice you ever got?
Empower the people who work with you and for you.

What sound do you love?
Frogs croaking, especially spring peepers in our pond.

What scent do you love?
The sweet scent of honey inside the honeybee hives.

Making a difference

“Obviously, I’m passionate about growing and producing fresh, safe, organic food, reading and learning everything I can about the food industry, agriculture, and organic practices.

“The earth is in peril, and needs help. By being a good steward of the earth’s resources, I believe I am making a difference,” Debbie says.

A bit more about bees

“Our farm is USDA certified organic, certified by MOSA. Organic certification is a LOT of work, with lots of paperwork, but it’s worth the effort.  The only thing that is NOT certified organic is the honey. While I do manage the bees organically, it is nearly impossible to have honey certified organic here in the lower 48 states. The reason why is because bees will forage up to four miles away, and if there are any conventional farm fields, golf courses or other landscapes that have been sprayed or planted with GMOs within that radius, a beekeeper cannot prevent the bees from foraging in those areas,” Debbie says.

“We are also expanding the farm considerably in 2012. We will be putting out 1,000 taps for maple syrup, and have opened up a new one-acre field for vegetable growing. Plus we have qualified for an NRCS (USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service) grant to add a high tunnel for vegetable growing. It will be 30’ x 100’ and will extend our growing season. Also in 2012, we will start a CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) offering subscriptions to people in our local area,” she explains.

Find Debbie and Sapsucker Farms on YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and the Simple Good and Tasty blog.

Pssst! Look for just one blog post next week. It will appear on Wednesday, with a little holiday love from us.

In our St. Cloud office, Bill is a certified brand strategist, but he does everything from managing accounts to finding new business to washing the dishes (it is a small office, after all!). Outside of work, Bill’s zest for life continues. Two nights a week, he teaches upperclassmen at St. Could State University about the ins and outs of advertising and integrated brand promotion. He’s also an avid windsurfer, enjoying the thrill of cruising across the lake at 40 miles per hour. But, if Bill had to choose his biggest passion of all, it would be music, hands down.

Since age eight, music has played a significant role in Bill’s life. Like many kids, he started with piano lessons, but eventually turned his focus to drums. During high school and college, Bill played in several jazz bands and, while at St. Cloud State, toured Europe with the University Jazz Band. He also played in a number of variety bands during that time, both country and western, but soon discovered that rock and roll was his preferred style.

“I’m the kind of drummer who likes to play with enthusiasm,” Bill explains. “I was given the nickname ‘Crash Bang’ by a former bass player because I play loudly. I have mellowed a bit over the years.”

Bill’s current band, The Receders, has been together for almost 15 years. Widely known throughout St. Cloud as a favorite dance band, The Receders play a combo of originals and cover tunes, and even created an original CD in 2008 (with hopes to record an encore release soon).

See The Receders in action:

(If you like what you hear, become a fan on Facebook.)

The band, composed of four busy professionals, performs about once a month. One of their larger gigs was in August 2011, when they played to a crowd of roughly 5,000 at Summertime by George, an outdoor concert festival in downtown St. Cloud.

Bill is proudly passing on his love for music to his kids. Son Max is a drummer too, playing occasionally in a rock band. Daughter Hannah has already informed the family that “she will be famous doing something with music,” as she plays piano, drums and sings.

Describing his musical side as the “artist in him getting out,” Bill loves the creative opportunity to express himself. Plus, pounding the drums is a huge stress reliever—perfect for the president of HatlingFlint.

What’s your favorite way to relieve built-up stress from work or life in general?

He also paints and sells chalkboard horse doodle pads on his Etsy shop, Houndstooth Design.

Josh started collecting model horses at age five. Fast forward 20+ years to a purchase on eBay. He explains, “I got one that was horribly scratched up and didn’t want to give it to the neighbor kid, so I sanded it down to the normal plastic and primed it. A friend mentioned I should paint it with chalkboard paint. I thought it was a dumb idea.”

But Josh tried it anyway and realized it was not a dumb idea at all. He bought a handful more horse bodies, painted them and started an Etsy shop to sell them.

“I didn’t have any sales for a couple of weeks and all of a sudden they were all sold.”

Josh quickly found more and has been building his brand since.

Why horses?

Even though he never had horses growing up, Josh admits, “I love everything about horses—the shape, the spirit, the Wild West, the medieval times. Yes, I am a 12-year-old girl.”

Ever since he can remember, Josh has wanted a real horse. These models took the place.

“After I received my first plastic horse for Christmas, I was hooked on the different colors and shapes they came in. That’s when I started collecting them and have since.”

The hunt.

The hunting and gathering process of finding these horses appeals to Josh. After finding the horses on eBay or in thrift shops, he stores all the models in bins until he’s ready to repurpose them. “I’m constantly buying more—I don’t like to see my stock drop. It keeps me busy and gives me that extra spending money.”

Currently, Josh has about 250 horses and other animals that need to be painted before the snow flies.

Building his brand.

Josh understands branding, and it shows.

He has created a unique product which appeals to a very niche audience. His chalkboard horses have been used in eclectic wedding décor and adored by equestrian fans. Houndstooth Design has even been featured in magazines such as Weddings Unveiled and Equestrian.

A blank slate.

“While I’m painting horses, I can clear my mind and think about anything and everything I want.” Josh often finds himself thinking about design problems at work and coming up with solutions while he paints. He jokes, “I should probably bill clients for these hours.”

Get to know a Flintster: Q + A with Josh

What’s your dream job?
To own a vintage modern shop, with a coffee shop and little bakery inside. I have also wanted to own a dog bakery. And to be the head of visuals for GAP or Anthropologie.

Which job would you not want to have?
That list is a mile long. I don’t want to do anything that makes me uncomfortable and/or dirty. My dad and brother are plumbers. I can tell you I never once even thought about that profession. I also wouldn’t want a job that doesn’t challenge me.

What was your first job?
I worked at a pet store.

What did it teach you?
I learned how to manage customers and daily responsibilities that go with the job. I learned that I never wanted a pet snake, rodent or tarantula. It taught me that I wanted to eventually be my own boss and own my own company. I also learned how to multitask and that gave me a good work ethic. But I think I learned that from my parents.

What is one thing you’d be willing to practice for an hour a day?
Yoga.

What’s the best advice you ever got?
Never give up and life is short.

What sound do you love?
I love a lot of sounds, but the one that I would pick would be the sound of walking over wet leaves in the autumn.

What scent do you love?
Scents really do it for me. I cannot pick just one. Fresh cut grass, firewood, fresh air, a cow or horse barn, the smell of dirt, the forest after a rainfall, the smell of autumn, cookies, all the scents of Christmas, 3M (my mom works there and when she would get home at night, she would tuck me in and I could smell tape on her… I still try to get a whiff of her hair).

Ps. The holidays are coming up! Remember to check out Houndstooth Design on Facebook or Etsy.

We turned ours into a red carpet event, complete with the “paparazzi” (our photographer, Paul Middlestaedt of Advent Imaging in St. Cloud).

Students and professionals alike visited our office, where we shared samples of our client work across the Flint Group agencies. We also got creative with our menu, serving two different kinds of “fancy” mac ‘n cheese: bleu cheese pecan bowtie and shrimp + pesto penne (catered by Short Stop Custom Catering of St. Cloud). Plus, we gave away some fun swag bags:

If you attended our first-ever Agency Crawl, find your red carpet photo in our Flickr stream.

Attendees: What was your favorite part of the Crawl?

CTO is the world’s largest cleantech business competition and entrepreneur incubator created to find, fund and foster entrepreneurs with big ideas.  It offers entrepreneurs MBA quality training, CEO mentors, seminars and clinics, investors pitch and feedback, and more. CTO has:

• Helped to raise $300 M for 100 firms since 2006
• All 4 North Central CTO Finalists in 2010 have received funding
• CTO funding amounts range from $100,000 to $30 Million
• 80% of participants remain economically viable today
• More than 2,000 new clean technology jobs have been created.

Focus areas:

• Renewable Energy
• Energy Efficiency
• Green Building
• Air, Water & Waste
• Transportation
• Smart Power

Visit:www.cleantechopen.com

Calling All Entrepreneurs – Innovators – Economic Catalysts to a

Cleantech Open Briefing
April 21, Grand Forks, ND

Cleantech Open in the North Central Region is in search of entrepreneur applicants for this year’s competition, company mentors, judges, and partners.   Attend our briefing luncheon in Grand Forks on April 21 to find out more about CTO and how to participate.

The North Central Region Cleantech Open Competition in conjunction with the Red River Valley Research Corridor, Innovate ND, NDSU Research & Technology Park, Marketplace of Ideas & the UND Center for Innovation.

- APPLY, NETWORK & CREATE NEW COLLABORATIVE PARTNERS -

Bill introducing Josh and Libby at the 2010 HatlingFlint KNOW event.

As big of a deal as it has become, social media remains a mystery to so many of us. We pretend to know what we’re doing when we post a status update, a link to a favorite blog, and press “like” once in a while on Facebook. But, navigating Facebook is just the tip of a giant iceberg.

Do you know how many characters are in a Tweet? How many friends does the average Facebook user have? What percentage of companies use LinkedIn as a recruitment tool? Every minute, how many hours of video are uploaded to YouTube?

Some of the answers are shocking, others are just no brainers. Attendees of our KNOW event on Thursday, Oct. 7 at Territory Golf Club got these questions answered and so much more. Our topic again this year focused on social media: blogging strategy and the importance of Facebook. Our presenters Libby Hall, New Media Strategist, and Josh Lysne, Digital Strategist, both with the Flint Group did an awesome job.

Two hours flew by with some pretty frantic note-takers burning a hole through their notebooks. We failed to remind them that a copy of the slides would be available. Ooops! We remembered and reminded everyone that the slides will be available for download.

Many of our attendees expressed interest in a “How to create a LinkedIn strategy” seminar. We’ll be posting information on this event as we make plans. Don’t forget to check back.

By the way, there’s 140 characters in a Tweet. The average Facebook user has 130 friends. 80% of companies use LinkedIn as a recruitment tool. And, 24 hours of video are uploaded to YouTube every minute.

Josh speaking to those eagerly awaiting golden nuggets of information.

Libby explains how Facebook and contests can lure someone in...we got you with our contest, didn't we?!

If you attended the 2009 Hatling & Flint Circus party, you may have heard the horrible news that Barbie was launched from the cannon and got trapped in a tree.

Original footage has been lost. This is not the actual Barbie.

Despite our efforts, she could not be rescued. We tried and tried with no avail — we had to count our losses. We watched autumn turn into winter, winter to spring, and now, spring to summer.

She has been through turbulent wind, pelting rain, bitter cold temps, freezing blizzards, blinding snow and scorching heat. She survived plagues of bugs, threats from squirrels and cuttings from territorial birds.

We’re still not sure how she got out of the tree. With thoughts of another winter on the horizon, she may have been a jumper. The birds may have grown tired of her purple tutu and big smile. Maybe the tree grew tired of her constantly perfect posture. Either way, she was back on solid ground. Once on the ground, she had the ants and a riding lawn mower to contend with. Luckily, Bill saw a purple ballet costume and stopped the mower just in the nick of time. We don’t know the events of that Thursday in July, but we do know that she landed on the padded lawn with that expression and pose that only Barbie could hold.

An excited Barbie. Once on the ground, she had a hard time leaving her tree.

Through all of this, she hasn’t lost that sparkle in her eyes or that big, genuine smile. Her clothes may be a little tattered and sun bleached, but by golly, her hair is still perfectly coiffed.

I didn’t campaign on a promise of “Change We Can Believe In” because, quite frankly, I think the organization has a pretty good thing going! As the incoming president of the American Advertising Federation-Central MN, I would like to speak to the benefits of being a board member, plain ol’ member who enjoys all of the AAF member benefits, and an active volunteer in my local club. The benefits and growth I have experienced from being involved are priceless. I have met people, prospective clients…who have in some instance became active clients, learned a ton from extraordinary luncheon speakers, mentored current students, networked with local pros, people from other states, clubs, and agencies and have had a ton of fun in the process.

The new President, Jennifer Keul

As plagiarized from the American Advertising Federation website:
The American Advertising Federation (AAF), acts as the “Unifying Voice for Advertising.” The AAF is the oldest national advertising trade association, representing 40,000 professionals in the advertising industry.

AAF Mission
The American Advertising Federation protects and promotes the well-being of advertising. We accomplish this through a unique, nationally coordinated grassroots network of advertisers, agencies, media companies, local advertising clubs and college chapters.

Here’s what the AAF does:
· Brings members together to yield creative business solutions.
· Protects and promotes advertising at all levels of government through grassroots activities.
· Educates members on the latest trends in technology, creativity and marketing.
· Provides programs to assist local association volunteer leadership.
· Presents the industry with its future leaders.
· Honors advertising excellence.
· Promotes diversity in advertising by encouraging the recruitment of people of diverse cultures.
· Applies the communication skills of its members to help solve community concerns.
· ADDY Awards – the world’s largest and arguably toughest advertising competition.

And on a local level, being a member gets you:
· Discounts to AAF luncheons and events
· ADDY registration
· Opportunities to attend social events
· Exposure and access to local professionals in the industry
· Networking opportunities
· A ton of great benefits, such as discount pricing to Adweek, Advertising Age, Brandweek, AdCases.com, FedEx Shipping, Hertz rental, and MANY others.

You don’t all have to jump online and register to become a member of your local AAF Chapter (even though I would if I were you), but I do encourage you to give your support to a local organization that will be mutually beneficial.

 Dr. Delore Zimmerman, President and CEO of Praxis Strategy Group in Grand Forks and Fargo, N.D. with affiliate offices in Los Angeles and Sacramento, California and Accra, Ghana, West Africa, has served as the Coordinator of the Red River Valley Research Corridor since 2004. Praxis has been awarded 9 Small Business Innovation Research Awards.

Praxis Strategy Group is a partner with the Flint Group