As Controller and Director of Marketing, respectively, Amy and Ben have been indispensable new members of our team, crafting up innovative marketing plans and keeping track of lots of numbers (don’t worry Amy, we know you do more than that). See what they like about working at envisionit! And what (and who) their childhood selves wanted to be as adults!

Amy Russell

Where are you from?
Winston-Salem, North Carolina.

What do you do at envisionit?
Controller.

Tell us something you’ve enjoyed about working here so far.
Working with such engaging people.

What did you want to be when you grew up?
Dancer, which I still am when I’m not crunching numbers.

Fill in the blank: My favorite thing about Chicago is…
Living by the lake.

Ben Cox

Where are you from?
I was raised by horses in Shelbyville, Kentucky.

What do you do at envisionit?
I’m Director of Marketing, so I drive the strategic marketing bus. I’m responsible for understanding our clients and making sure we deliver delightful experiences that matter.

Tell us something you’ve enjoyed about working here so far.
Far and away the people. I love the youthful energy and genuine passion. And working beside seasoned marketers is equally rewarding and challenging.

What did you want to be when you grew up?
Indiana Jones.

Fill in the blank: I’m really good at…
Making my three boys laugh until they drool.

EIM intern Adrianna explains the benefits, for students and professionals alike, of presentation software Prezi. Read up to see how you can use it to stand out.

The business world revolves around creativity and originality. One new way to stand out is by upgrading your presentation out of the usual PowerPoint, and into a Prezi. Prezi is an online cloud-based presentation software that allows the presenter to capture the audience’s attention in a non-linear way.

As a student, I have used Prezi to create my professional portfolio. With the features of Prezi, my portfolio will stand out and leave a lasting impression, just as it will do for a presentation, lesson plan, or wherever your imagination takes you.

Prezi has a wide variety of features to help enhance your audience’s presentation experience.  There are twelve different drawing options available—including an org chart, process chart, a number of diagrams, timeline, pyramid, and compare table. In my portfolio, I used the timeline to show off important professional milestones, the pyramid to illustrate my values, the balance diagram to show evidence of my multitasking abilities, and clouds to highlight recognition from colleagues. Finally, I used the perspective chart to explain why I am a good match for the job I’m applying for. These drawings can be compared to “smart art” in PowerPoint, but these drawings allow for more flexibility and are more presentation friendly.

One great feature is the zoom tool, which highlights important parts of your presentation. With this tool, you can create your presentation to zoom into different parts of the drawings. For instance, my timeline is long, so I have the zoom tool set to focus on the more important dates. I was able to select where and when to zoom by creating a path, which guides the audience through the presentation, similar to slides in a PowerPoint.
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The Anti-Cruelty Society is just across the street from our office. We’ll often pass by and see some furry creatures getting the attention and care they deserve from a great team of volunteers.

In the spirit of giving, we thought we’d volunteer our Wednesday lunch hour to making cat and dog toys and beds for the shelter.

Despite some uncooperative scissors, everyone had a great time and made some great toys and cozy beds. Check out our Facebook page for all the action.

We made these! For dogs and cats!

We’ve all enjoyed seeing Tyler and Ari’s mustaches grow from mere stubble into respectable, robust mustaches. But alas, as all good things end, Movember has turned into December and Ari and Tyler are now ‘stache free.

The two have raised more than $1,300 for the Movember campaign. Congratulations, guys! Your dedication is admirable, and we’re very sad to see your mustaches go.

While envisionit’s premiere mustache-growers are currently without, we hope to see them again soon. As Chicago is the nation’s most mustache friendly city, they’ll be welcome with open arms.

Ari & Tyler sans mustaches. We'll always have Movember.

“Life is like riding a bicycle. To keep your balance you must keep moving.” – Albert Einstein

You often hear people in this season talking about finding their balance. When they realize the year is nearly over, they cash-in on their New Year’s resolutions, realizing that the year has mostly slipped away again. I have been guilty of the same annual self reflection. Did I juggle my home and work responsibilities to the delight of my family, my colleagues, and myself? Ironically, this self-reflection usually prompts saturations into my family as I realize my addiction to my keyboard. It’s true; the inner ear controlling my work-life equilibrium defects toward workaholism.

But that’s when I realize it really isn’t about finding balance at all. Balance just keeps you focused on achievement, which isn’t necessarily related to enjoyment. After all, that’s what I’ve always thought the “work-life balance” phrase was about: finding equality between enjoyment and achievement. Instead, I’ve come to understand it to be more about harmony. Webster defines harmony as the “pleasing or congruent arrangement of parts.” I’d apply that definition here to be: “the pleasing and congruent arrangement of work, family, personal (hobbies and friends), and spiritual lives.”

I really think that the idea of finding balance between work and home naturally creates competition between the two. It isn’t that they are opposing forces, each competing with the other for your time – although sometimes it may feel that way. Instead, we should each be working toward creating harmony among the four parts for a more pleasing personal concerto. Remember that work is only one of four parts to enjoyment in your life. Also remember that having harmony does not mean each part has equal measure. Some days may be more focused on investing in one part over another.
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Movember is closing in on its final stretch throughout the U.S. and right here at envisionit media. Our “mo bros” Tyler and Ari have proudly worn mustaches for four full weeks now. What do they cite as the toughest parts of Movember? Looking like a creep, being surprised to see their mustachioed reflections in the mirror every morning, and the itchiness–at first. But for such a good cause–promoting men’s health awareness–it’s all been worth it. Thumbs up to these two for their efforts, and for letting us post silly pictures of them each week!

If you’d like to contribute to their Movember teams, you can do so here for Tyler and here for Ari.

EIM "Mo Bros" At Your Service

Birds will fly. Fish will swim. Writers will write. That’s how it goes.

There are lots of different kinds of writing. This includes copywriting. Copywriters craft and draft content for websites, products, billboards. Copywriters should like writing. So they write.

You should write, too.

Any form. Any medium. It doesn’t matter what. It doesn’t matter where. Writing something gives you a moment to yourself and saves your thoughts for later.

Here are three ways to get started:

• Post on Twitter. Make your words short and sweet. Bonus points if they’re interesting and funny.
• Put pen on paper. Paper is still a happening thing. Get a notebook. Grab your favorite writing implement. Go for it.
• Try a prompt. Plinky has a few. Or, try The Daily Post for blog post topics.

Do you write every day? Tell us in the comments! (Also, that counts as writing if you’re looking for somewhere to start.)

We’re three full weeks in to the mustache-growing extravaganza that is Movember! Tyler and Ari are still at it, cultivating fine looking facial hair growth in the name of raising awareness and funds for overlooked men’s health issues, particularly prostate cancer. They were a little timid at our week 1 update, eased into the facial hair at the 2 week mark, and now, as you can see, they’re straight up owning their ‘staches.

The Movember Men with their Mustaches & Swagger

Interested in making a contribution to this great cause?

• Donate to Ari’s Movember team

• Donate to Tyler’s Movember team

We informed you last week that two of our very own, Ari and Tyler, are participating in the mustache-centric campaign, Movember, an international effort to raise funds and awareness for men’s health. These envisionit media men have completed 2 weeks of the facial hair growing fest, the results of which you can enjoy below. Check back again next Monday for more progress!

If you’d like to donate to either of their Movember teams, you can do so here for Ari and here for Tyler .

The mustachioed Ari and Tyler after 2 full weeks of Movember