Ever heard of the SXSW conference? Big Omaha? These annual conferences have grown up out of a need for business owners and technology taste-makers to share ideas and examine the present and future state of technology. Technology and how we use it for business is evolving daily, and the residents of Austin and Omaha recognized the value in creating a venue to exchange ideas. So they created SXSW and Big Omaha.

If you are thinking that the need for that type of exchange is just as strong here in Indiana, you’re not alone. That’s why Bloomington, Indiana will be hosting the inaugural year of The Combine from September 9th through 12th. You might expect that the first year for this type of event would struggle to draw much in the way of celebrity speakers, but there are couple of big hitters on the docket.

If you are interested in measuring the ROI of your online activities, you won’t want to miss Neil Patel. A little birdie told me he’s going to be diving into analytics, testing, and highly targeted online ads.

The Saturday and Sunday of the conference has some cool stuff going on, but I’ll be honest: those two days are largely for the hardcore coders and development geeks. What does The Combine have to offer normal people? Thursday and Friday. The events on those days give you a chance to rub elbows with talented, driven entrepreneurs that are defining how we will be using technology in the coming years. Check out the full mix of networking, panels, and presentations.

I’ll be there. Come say hi at the Tech Cocktail on Thursday night.

Wonka on flexibility

Willy Wonka: Invention, my dear friends, is 93% perspiration, 6% electricity, 4% evaporation, and 2% butterscotch ripple.

Mrs. Teevee: [as Mr. Wonka drinks the formula] That’s 105%!

Mr. Beauregarde: Any good?

Willy Wonka: [smacks his lips, then speaks thinly] Yes.

When Silver Square begins working with new clients, sometimes we discover that they have crystal-clear plans regarding what they need. They want us to simply execute their vision because they don’t have the time, manpower or expertise. But more often than not, our perspective on the clients’ marketing and design needs leads to a modified version of their expectations of us. Instead of just the branding and image work they anticipated, we might also recommend website strategy. That extra 5 percent could be the butterscotch ripple and electricity a client needs to be really good.

Wonka on new things

Willy Wonka: Little surprises around every corner, but nothing dangerous.

If you want to grow your business through better marketing, chances are you’re going to be doing some new things. If you don’t welcome a few surprises, then you’re going to stay stagnant. Silver Square clients know that they’ll become more appealing to customers and potential customers by shaking things up and trying new things.

Wonka on silliness

Willy Wonka: A little nonsense now and then is relished by the wisest men.

Humor has its place, and it usually has a place in whatever Silver Square is doing. At the least, humor can lighten a mood, make dull things more palatable and inspire interest. Knowing when and how to use a little nonsense is necessary. When you’ve figured that out, there is always room for a laugh.

Wonka on perpetuity

Willy Wonka: The suspense is terrible… I hope it’ll last.

Marketing isn’t a one-shot deal. You can’t put up a website and expect it to sit there and make money. You can’t run a series of ads and expect that to sustain your business growth for years to come. In order for marketing to really work — to generate interest, to grow customers, to stay compelling — it must be perpetual. It must create suspense. That takes hard work and creativity. It takes a dedication to continuously staying on top of how businesses market themselves. Wonka knows this.

Wonka on victory

Willy Wonka: But Charlie, don’t forget what happened to the man who suddenly got everything he always wanted.

Charlie Bucket: What happened?

Willy Wonka: He lived happily ever after.

Don’t be afraid to visualize the perfect outcome. What could be the harm in that?

Check out http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0067992/ for more Wonka wisdom.

Accurate Tax Management

This property tax assessment business previously had a website that did not convey how large and successful they had become in recent years. In order to attract the larger clients they were ready to service, Accurate Tax Management needed a site that showed they were serious and able to tackle assessments of large commercial properties. This home page includes a section to display a photo, and as you look at the page it fades through a series of carefully selected photos that illustrate the type of properties where Accurate Tax Management can really make a difference. http://accuratetaxmgmt.com

Emily Frank, MD

Emily is positioning herself as an expert in the field of healthy eating. It’s a crowded space, but Emily is unique. In addition to being a practicing MD, she has a fun personality, a passion for understanding how the body processes food, and a willingness to call people out when they are making bad food choices. Her site needed to be extremely inviting and accessible, even though it’s packed with information. http://emilyfrankmd.com

Orchard in Bloom

Orchard in Bloom is a garden show and fund raiser for various education programs in Indianapolis. The event has a lot of moving pieces with an events calendar, vendors, sponsors, and a ton of logistic information for people coming to the show. We were able to provide all the necessary information and still project the flavor of the event by giving the site a large photographic background depicting a colorful garden scene. http://orchardinbloom.org

Training By Tanner

Karen decided 2010 was the year to expand her remote personal training. With regular communication, custom workout routines, and instructional videos she can work with clients that may not be within driving distance of her studio. Since so much of that service relies on communication, it was critical that the website gives potential clients confidence that Karen has the appropriate technology setup to make it work. We also needed a design that communicated that you still receive a custom workout experience with a personal connection. http://www.trainingbytanner.com

Greg Mrakich Painting

Greg is a talented painter who needs to find clients who value the high-level of craftmanship he brings to his work. So while Greg’s website has a thumbnail gallery of his work, we also wanted to make sure that visitors could immediately get a sense of what they can expect in working with him. So each page of the site features a prominent image to help them understand what Greg has to offer. http://gregmrakichpainting.com

As the 82,000-square-foot Indiana Design Center prepares to officially open in summer of 2010, Silver Square is excited to announce that it will be one of its tenants and business partners.

Located within Carmel’s Arts & Design District, the Indiana Design Center will serve the community of design professionals and its clients by providing a premier collection of resources. Silver Square, a 10-year-old graphic design and marketing firm, has entered into a three-year relationship with the Indiana Design Center to handle all marketing for the building and serve as its agency of record. The firm will also move from its Fishers offices into the multi-use center located at the corner of Range Line Road and 1st Street S.W. this summer.

Melissa Averitt is Vice President and Director of Marketing and Sales for the Indiana Design Center. “Having Silver Square as a tenant is a great advantage. In the Indiana Design Center’s inaugural year, they will be here, working right alongside us to support our efforts to champion design excellence and connect the design community with products, services and potential clients,” she says.

The center will be home to Ferguson (plumbing fixtures, lighting and appliances), J. Baker Interiors (full-service design firm), The Trade Source (decorative fabrics, drapery hardware and wall coverings), Outré (family-owned custom furniture) and other design-related businesses.

“Good design begets good design. We are thrilled to be in this building with these fellow creative types,” says Raquel Richardson, founder and Principal of Silver Square. “The space is energizing, the idea is innovative and the synergy of it all will work well for us.”

In line with the Indiana Design Center’s goals of innovation and Silver Square’s impulse to constantly evolve, Richardson and her team will explore and vet the latest marketing trends to recommend and create the most effective strategies and tactics to grow the center’s business. That mix will most likely include branding, strategy, Web and social media.

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This year, Silver Square Inc. celebrates its 10th anniversary as a creative, trusted graphic design and marketing firm. In case you haven’t heard, Silver Square is known for hitting it out of the park, using funny as a business tactic, offering expert advice through online guides, being brutally honest, exploiting social media and reveling in its clients’ successes. Its clients include Bingham McHale LLP, Peter Dunn, Indiana Small Business Development Center, Walter Knabe and Maddox Industrial. Visit www.silversqaureinc.com or call 317.576.8511.

Set to officially open in summer of 2010, the 82,000-square-foot Indiana Design Center will serve the community of design professionals and their clients by providing a premier collection of resources including fine traditional and contemporary residential and contract furnishings including fabrics, floor coverings, kitchen and bath products, lighting, architectural productions, wallcoverings and accessories. The Indiana Design Center is located at 200 South Rangeline Road in Carmel, Indiana, just 30 minutes/23 miles from Downtown Indianapolis. The Design Center’s proximity to the Carmel Arts & Design District provides access to interior designers, art galleries, showrooms and antique dealers. Please visit the Indiana Design Center Website at www.IndianaDesignCenter.com.

To our RSS readers, here’s what you’re not seeing:

So now it’s easier than ever to let us know when you really like one of our blog posts. If you approve of what you’re reading – and you don’t have time to leave a comment – just hit the like button that shows up at the top of all of our blog posts.

This is actually only one of several changes Facebook has recently rolled out, but some of the other stuff gets a little heavy on the geek-speak. This is the new feature that you will probably be noticing the most as you browse your favorite websites in the coming months.

My real point, though, is that your business has a unique opportunity to connect with your audience on April Fool’s Day. Even if the voice of your business is very formal and polished 364 days a year, you do have a chance on this one day to be irreverent. We’ve talked before on this blog about the value of using humor in your marketing. We walked the walk yesterday with our humorous video on our new design breakthrough. (Haven’t seen it yet? Head over to YouTube and leave a comment after the video to let us know what you think.)

The response to the video has been great. We connected with customers, referral partners, and other people in our network. The video was spread around to coworkers and friends. It was seen by people we’ve never met. Once we started getting some attention, we stoked the fire by adding a link for viewers to download a PDF of the actual charts we used in the video. We added the link into the comments on Facebook and added an in-video annotation over on YouTube.

We’re not the only ones who jumped at the opportunity to have a little April Fool’s fun. Here are some other great jokes from yesterday:

Have any favorites we missed? Sound off in the comments.