National Moth Week

Since I’ve discovered iphoneography, I’ve also been discovering more beauty in our everyday surroundings. And after purchasing a Photojojo macro lens for my iPhone, I’ve also developed a fascination with and appreciation for moths. I never took much notice of moths until getting a close up view for some macro insect photography, inspired by what I’d been seeing at Instagram. I had no idea moths were so butterfly-like, hairy to the point of fuzziness, and often with large, deep eyes. I used Hipstamatic to get this photo of one on my front door. If you’re interested, definitely check out NationalMothWeek.org for more info.

What do you think? Ever discovered an interest in something after getting a closer look? Have you ever seen a particularly interesting moth? What are your favorite insects? Let us hear from you in the comments!

Related articles

• Mark Your Calendars: National Moth Week (Bug Girl’s Blog)
• Moth Drama: Transforming The Ordinary into Art (rsmithing.com)
• Mad About Moths: National Moth Week (National Geographic)
• Moths in the Night (waiyukkennedy.wordpress.com)
• National Moth Week (The Dragonfly Woman)
• Single Image Sundays: Moth At The Door (rsmithing.com)
• Nature: Beautiful Moths Are In Abundance (Houston Chronicle)
• Moths All Night (NC Museum of Natural Sciences)
• the other lepidopterans (rebeccainthewoods.wordpress.com)
• National Moth Week July 2012 (scientificamerican.com)
• The Moth (jrants2012.wordpress.com)
• National Moth Week July 23-29, 2012 (membracid.wordpress.com)

How To Write The Perfect Blog Post

I don’t often straight-up repost content without elaborating much, but wow — this is one great infographic. And I don’t often say that either. Click for full-size, see what you think & share your thoughts below (credit: Alex Mangini of Kolakube, Derek Halpern of SocialTriggers; first spotted at FamousBloggers via Gregory Ciotti):

What do you think? Do you employ these practices? Is this really a recipe for perfect post? And if not, what else would you do? What would you do differently? Let us hear from you in the comments!

Related articles

• 6 Mandatory Posting Steps for New Bloggers (rsmithing.com)
• May’s blog traffic: Copy editing and Pinterest push a strong month (Steve Buttry)
• How to Turn Off Comments in WordPress Pages (rsmithing.com)
• What I Wished I Knew When I Started Blogging (taradaramadeit.com) 
• Write As You Speak? Or While You Speak? (rsmithing.com)
• What Makes A Perfect Blog Post? (famousbloggers.com)

Backyard Graveyard – Single Image Sundays

At the site of a long-since-gone church is this small graveyard, now part of the neighborhood among the trees and homes. Photo taken between Lockland and Madison Avenues, Winston-Salem, NC. Shot via iPhone, edited with the Noir Photo app.

What do you think? Have you ever happened across a random graveyard? Let us hear from you in the comments!

Related articles

• Derita resident finds possible graveyard in backyard (charlotte.news14.com)
• Single Image Sundays: High Five, Spider Style (colorfully) (rsmithing.com)
• An unusual graveyard (lornastearoomdelights.com)
• Cemetery Census (cemeterycensus.com)
• SFgate.comOld graveyard was forgotten by most – but not all (sfgate.com)
• Dream Catcher – Single Image Sundays (rsmithing.com)
• Angelic Graveyard Pictorials – White Shadows by Kat Keo is Captured in a Cemetery (TrendHunter.com) (trendhunter.com)

Virgin America Gets PR Right

Unauthorized Bedtime Nonsense – Click for full size at Pinterest

Safety can be fun, even for big businesses like airlines.

I’ve written in the past about how refreshing it is to see a big company get public relations and customer communications right. In that case it was  Delta Airlines endorsing their mile runner superfans. I’m pleased to report another discovery of a similar company offering up some positivity and humor with their own messaging: Virgin America.

During a recent #PinChat on Twitter, the featured guest was Jill Okawa Fletcher, Virgin America’s Director of Social Media. Ms. Fletcher was sharing insights about Virgin’s use of Pinterest and I immediately referred her to my pin of Virgin Atlantic’s wacky insert card campaign (at right). We then had the following exchange:

Richard Smith@rsmithing11 Jul 12

@JillOinSF I'd just like to say: love those faux safety insert cards. #pinchatpinterest.com/pin/1907697341…

Jill Okawa Fletcher@JillOinSF

@rsmithing Wish I could take credit. Those belong to our friends at @VirginAtlantic (diff airline). But you may have seen our safety vid?

11 Jul 12

And Ms. Fletcher then referred me to Virgin America’s easygoing in-flight safety video:

Corporate Wackiness Can be Entertaining

As you may know, I’m a big geeky fan of this type of thing, and true to its brand spirit, Virgin makes the most of an opportunity here with its captive audience. Yes, safety is important, but that doesn’t mean we can’t have a little fun with it.

Coincidentally, back to Delta…. I first noticed this in Delta’s in-flight safety video, where an attendant’s shiny tooth actually goes “ding!” after demonstrating proper use of a seat as a floatation device. That’s so funny to me just because it’s very subtle and wacky in an otherwise fairly standard video. I’m such a fan that once on a Delta flight, I was ready with my phone to get a picture of the exact moment… voila:

My favorite part of Delta’s in-flight safety video. The guy’s smile literally sparkles. And makes a “ding” sound. Brilliant.

What do you think? Can you name any examples of companies having fun with their otherwise serious messaging? Does this influence your perception of the company or a brand? Let us hear from you in the comments!

Related articles

• An Airline Gets It… Right? (rsmithing.com)
• High-tech Virgin America again rated top airline (slashgear.com)
• Secrets of Social Media Buzz Marketing from CMO of Virgin America(hubspot.com)
• How Delta’s Tweet Saved The Day (unmarketing.com)