Join us May 20th at VIG 27!

To RSVP, just send us an email: awol.allwalksoflife@gmail.com.
We look forward to seeing you!

Check out Vig27

What's in a Brand?

Some might consider your brand your most important asset. It is how you capture and depict that certain something that sets you apart. If you get it right, people around you will immediately recognize who you are and what you offer.

However, if the necessary time, insight and assessment are not applied, your brand can leave people confused, or worse turn them away.

In the life of a new organization or company, a brand can also set the stage for the audience. With all of this in mind, we have been collaborating to identify the A.W.O.L. All Walks of Life ^TM brand, and we wanted to share this process with you, our inaugural members.

Our first step was to answer some questions about who we are and what we offer. We recently went through a branding exercise to assist us in this. The conversation and feedback that the following questions stimulated have been vital in working toward our brand and getting all of us on the same page.

Please take a look and comment directly to this post with your own responses to each question. We would love to hear from you and learn about your own ideas for A.W.O.L. All Walks of Life ^TM.

What is A.W.O.L.? What is our vision for A.W.O.L.?

· Platform or Forum for people to share ideas and network

· Place where professionals can have a voice

· Forum to showcase ideas, talents, accomplishments

· Online workshop…possibly a critic’s corner

· Channel to meet/network with new people

What are A.W.O.L.'s Values?

· Integrity and Accuracy

· Safe environment to share ideas

· Professional and/or Creative

· Open Minded – encourages different perspectives

· Fun!

What is A.W.O.L.’s Target Demographic?

· Both genders

· Established Professionals

· Upstanding citizens (ethical)

How would you describe A.W.O.L.?

· Opportunity generating

· Creative

· New experiences

· Fun

· Inspirational

· People connecting

· Marrying traditional and non-traditional

· Getting out of your comfort zone

· Finding new and better ways to do things

What Car would A.W.O.L. Be?

· A Volkswagon Cabriolet Convertible – creative, quirky, fun

OR

· A Prius – smart, new, combines traditional and new ideas

What Colors represent A.W.O.L.?

· Green – infers wealth, environment, military…

· Deep Purple or Magenta – non-traditional and rich

· Orange - Fun, quirky, attention getting

· Possibly black and white as base colors with splashes of other colors

So now what?

Now the fun part begins. We are currently creating a visual identity that will capture all of these attributes and truly represent A.W.O.L.’s core offerings and personality. In the coming weeks we plan to reveal three logo ideas and will give you the chance to vote on your favorite image. We’ll then reveal our new logo and visual identity at our next networking event, scheduled for Wednesday, May 20^th in NYC (location to be announced shortly).

We look forward to your responses – have fun with it!

In the meantime, have some fun with this branding exercise and post your ideas! As always, you can comment directly to this post, or email your ideas to us and we’ll post them for you: awol.allwalksoflife@gmail.com.

Good to be GREEN

On St. Patrick's Day it's hard not to be Green!

Green is a positive color generally. It symbolizes growth and prosperity. For the last few years it's been very fashionable and certainly eco friendly to be green. And with the economy in the state that it is, well, we'd all certainly like to see a bit more green in our pockets and bank accounts!

If you are jealous you might be green with envy. If you aren't feeling well, you might be green around the gills.

At Christmas time, the evergreen is our favorite tree, and we like to spruce up our homes with greenery to get in the holiday moood.

The Emerald City is the always hopeful, beautiful fantasy that beckons us along the yellow brick road, and in the Justice League Green Lantern is our socially conscious hero that is the guardian of the universe!

There are a few of us who are part of the Green Party, and those that aren't, well we like the idea of Grass Roots politics which is always a little green on the ends!

If you flickr "green," you will see a stunning visual array of trees and snakes, houses and birds, landscapes and frogs. You will see chartreuse bikinis and lime wedges, and find shamrocks to match the leprechauns out in search of luck and fortune.

So on this day of Irish Luck. Do find a moment to don a green thread and drink a green beer, because tomorrow the rest of the rainbow will be back in competition, and you might find yourself a bit blue.

A.W.O.L. in Times Square

Did you watch President Obama's speech to the joint session of Congress?

What did you think about it?

What do you think about the stimulus package?

Is the state of the economy affecting you and the way you are spending money?

Muida Tayman, a professional editor and producer, and Carol Gretter, an Architect and founder of A.W.O.L. - All Walks of Life™ took these questions to the streets of Times Square, talking to folks from all walks of life – including an Economist, a Green Energy Consultant, a Social Worker and a Retired Financial Planner. Watch the interviews to hear their interesting and often surprising responses.

Video produced and edited by Miuda Tayman (www.miuda.us) in coordination with Carol Gretter and A.W.O.L. – All Walks of Life. ™

A.W.O.L. - opportunities are everywhere.

NYC Goes A.W.O.L.

NEW YORK, NY, - A.W.O.L. – All Walks of Life™, a multi media forum for creative professionals to express, share and inspire ideas across disciplines, launched its first network event this week on Wednesday night, February 18, 2009 at Tonic NYC. The inaugural invitation was extended to a hand-selected mix of local professionals, many of who braved the streaming sleet and rain to find connections that could help them bring their ideas to reality – whether finding professional opportunities, brand new jobs, or even just a push to turn their hobbies and interests into something more.

The idea of A.W.O.L. was first conceived by Carol Gretter, a NY-based architect and co-founder of A.W.O.L. Gretter’s idea was to establish an online magazine where professionals from all walks of life could contribute essays, blog posts and thought leadership as a means of inspiring, influencing and creating multi-disciplinary ideas and new ventures. It was while sharing this idea with friends Amber Edwards and Erika Schwartz over a New Year’s Eve brunch that Gretter’s concept evolved beyond simply an online forum. Edwards, an established marketing director in the Pharmaceuticals industry, and Schwartz, a Financial Services marketing consultant and freelance writer saw great potential for A.W.O.L. as a forum to aid in making introductions and encouraging face-to-face networking. Within weeks, Gretter, Edwards and Schwartz co-founded A.W.O.L. – All Walks of Life,™ as a multi-media forum to help New Yorkers make professional and personal connections and stay inspired in spite of the up-ended economy and influx of on-line social networks that have quickly become a lazy substitute for handshakes and conversation.

It is no coincidence that A.W.O.L.’s co-founders are doing this right now. At a time when Wall Street and Main Street are very much at odds and the economy promises to get worse before it gets better, people are looking for some optimism. “We are a great example of what can happen when you tap into your relationships and recognize that opportunities can come from anywhere, in spite of what’s going on right now,” says Gretter. “Yesterday A.W.O.L. was a concept. Today, thanks to the people who came out last night A.W.O.L. is a community with great potential to thrive.” Gretter continues, “We are confident that there will be a new day and new opportunities. The creative ideas A.W.O.L. and its members share and push each other to express will be the catalyst for these opportunities.”

Social and professional online networks provide instant gratification in the form of connecting people and prove to be quite powerful in initiating contacts and building networks, but beyond that initial connection, the potential for real opportunities will fizzle out if “in-the-flesh” interaction does not come into play. A.W.O.L. will seek to not only offer the instantaneous network connection that an online forum provides, but to go one step further and help cultivate those connections into real opportunities with regular networking events and continuous, personal motivation of its members.

“From the person you meet on the street to the conversations you overhear at brunch,” there are opportunities everywhere and there is always someone who can make an introduction or offer that bit of inspiration you need to launch your next adventure,” said Edwards. “It’s one of New York City’s magical traits, agreed Schwartz, “A.W.O.L. is seeking to harness that magic and bring it into a multi-media community where it and its members can thrive.”

The “A.W.O.L. – All Walks of Life”™ blog is live at A.W.O.L.awol-allwalksoflife.blogspot.com and is open for contributions ranging from writing submissions, to the promotion of new concepts and the making of new connections.

A.W.O.L. – All Walks of Life™ Inaugural Networking Event Photos

A.W.O.L. – All Walks of Life™ co-founders: Amber Edwards, Carol Gretter and Erika Schwartz Alter would like to thank all of the new A.W.O.L. members who braved the recession, the sleet, and Times Square to make our inaugural networking event such a great success. Following are some great photos from the event. We encourage all attendees to share their experience on the A.W.O.L. blog and look forward to seeing more of you in May (details to come)!

Welcome to A.W.O.L.

A.W.O.L. - All Walks of Life

We are surrounded by creativity and opportunity.

The concept:

A multi media forum for creative professionals to express, share and inspire ideas across disciplines.

A forum to find inspiration and to share your latest thoughts on the color blue, the best fly to catch a trout in the Kinderhook Creek, the music you hear from your 5th floor window in the East Village, or the purpose of a second hand on a watch.

A.W.O.L. is a time, a place, and an opportunity.

We will be looking for contributors to the A.W.O.L. blog, sponsoring networking events, promoting cool concepts and making connections!

It's not a coincidence that we are doing this right now, at a time when Wall Street and Main Street are at odds. And the old American car companies that we associate with baseball and apple pie, see the sun setting on the highways that allowed them to drive manufacturing all these years.
There will be a new day. There will be new opportunities. And A.W.O.L. will be at the front of those. The creative ideas we share and push each other to express will be the catalyst for these opportunities!