Category Archives: sharon cuppett

Sharon Cuppett – Global EXEC Women’s Panelist

Posted on September 3, 2010 | Leave a comment

Wi-Ex’s own Sharon Cuppett, VP of Marketing and Product Management, was recently invited to be on a Global EXEC Women’s panel discussing the topic of “Growing a Successful Brand, Product & Service in 2010” 

The other panel speakers were:

-Janis Cannon – Vice President, Global Brand Management, Hotel Indigo, InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG) and  

-Julie Collins – Director, Global Integrated Marketing, CIBA Vision Corporation

Sharon Cuppett – Vice President, Wi-Ex   

The Moderator for this event was:

-Vicki Hamilton – Senior Vice President, Turner Broadcasting System        

As an attendee, I was impressed with the level of executives in the room from all of the top Atlanta companies such as Coca Cola, Turner Broadcasting, Bank of America and many others.   The panelists did an outstanding job providing specific examples of what worked, what didn’t work and peaks into the future of their brands.   

Social media was a large part of the discussion as well as the importance of video in getting the brands message to the consumer. Sharon provided a number of important statistics that put the role of social media into perspective and also offered specific guidelines on how to make it most affective.

The breakfast was held at the Buckhead Club on Monday, August 23, 2010 at 7:30 a.m.

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Posted in Awards, Roni Pridemore, sharon cuppett, Technology and Our Lives, Technology Trends

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Spring Cleaning at Work

Posted on April 16, 2010 | Leave a comment

Spring Cleaning isn’t just for your house. Whether you can relate to any of the following or not, it’s time to “spring clean” your computer AND/OR your iphone or equivalent.

  1. Your computer desktop screen image could be relabeled “Sasquatch” – you are pretty sure it exists, but really can’t get a good look at it—it’s underneath all those desktop shortcuts, program downloads and files.
  2. When accessing your mailbox, it takes minutes to upload the over 1000 messages in your inbox –   some are so old, they include the video from Baja’s remake of “Who Let the Dogs Out” (2000).  (Still a favorite for 6 year olds and UGA Bulldog fans)!
  3. You thought it was odd that your computer included a program called “defrag” – clearly some game from the PBS “Fraggle Rock” children series – nothing you need to “play”.
  4. You think your computer is haunted because applications shut down mysteriously and sometimes reboot your machine.
  5. You have had a visit from the blue screen “fairy” and your computer went dead.  The fairy is clearly a minion sent by the people that provide us back-up drives and security software.

Start cleaning:  We’ll start at # 5 above and count backwards -

  1. If you have ever had a Blue Screen Fairy visit, then you know that the most important thing to do is backup your files. Do it daily, weekly, monthly or yearly – To quote Nike – “Just Do It.” I use a Seagate Passport and love it.  Buy one, plug it into your computer and follow the instructions. This may take some time the first time, so it might be a good time for a coffee break – you’ll have time to brew a couple of pots, the first time you back up.  a.) At this time- it’s probably a good time to download a free anti-virus software program – if you don’t already have one.
  2. After backing up your computer, it’s time to clean up all those old pictures, videos and old large corporate files .  You probably don’t need to be storing 5 years of family photos and videos on your computer.  And, when was the last time you accessed that 16Mb, memory-hogging, 3-year-old ppt presentation.  Make sure they are stored on the Seagate hard drive, then delete them and free-up a couple of gigs of memory from your computer. 
  3. On my machine, I find this program by going into  ”control panel”  then “administrative tools,” then “storage management” – it may vary, but most machine come with a Defrag program.  Run defrag—Again this is time consuming – but it will make your computer more efficient and faster.  Time for more coffee – maybe it needs to be made “Irish” – I am part Irish. :)
  4. Use folders and subfolders to store messages and files on your computer.  Think of your computer like a filing cabinet or a desk.  Would you really just put file folders and documents all over the top of it?  Not likely.  If you have never used folders – start now.  I know it’s time-consuming, but it will make future cleaning and searching go faster.  When I get behind and overwhelmed by the thought of this task, I have occasionally labeled some folders by month or season or desperately, by year, and moved everything from that time into it.   (It’s not the best system, but it’s a start.)   

 

When you have cleaned up your computer, like other spring cleaning – it feels great!

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Posted in Friday Fun, Home Office, sharon cuppett, Technology and Our Lives, Uncategorized

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Online pushes offline sales

Posted on October 16, 2009 | 1 Comment

It may surprise you, but we all know it. We all do it. Research says that online consumers think nothing of shopping across a retailer’s stores, Web site and catalog. So, online product research continues to drive more land-store sales than online sales. Yes – reread that sentence because it tells us where to put marketing your monies – “Online product research is actually driving more land-store sales than online sales.”

According to eMarketer, from 2007 to 2012, Web-influenced store sales are forecast to grow at a 19% average annual rate, compared with a 12% rate for retail e-commerce.

Your marketing can be as simple as highlighting the nearest retail locations or presenting coupons for in-store use based on shoppers’ geographic locations. Any retailer who isn’t using the online channel to promote offline sales—as well as online sales—is missing a huge opportunity.

And speaking of coupons—here are a few sites to check out before you shop.

http://www.retailmenot.com

http://www.couponchief.com

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Posted in Marketing Blog, sharon cuppett, Uncategorized

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Gerry’s Gang

Posted on July 28, 2009 | Leave a comment

“entire group copy webCelebrating 80 years of Fun, Style and General Awesomeness!”  This was the back of the T-shirts we made for my Mom’s 80th birthday and the front said, “Gerry’s Gang”.

 My family, Gerry’s Gang, was in Amelia Island celebrating my Mom’s 80th birthday.  She is a true Yankee Doodle Dandy, born on the 4th of July.  Most 80 year olds with a husband, 5 children, and 12 grandchildren would be considered the family matron, but not my Mom, she is the leader of Gerry’s Gang.  Adding to Gerry’s gangs are my sibling’s spouses, who have been labeled the out-laws rather than the in-laws

 Our 4th of July celebration included all of the above family members except for one grandson who was on a submarine, (We can’t say where, because it’s a secret.) plus my Mom’s older sister and 2 of her nieces and one nephew.  Whew! That was a lot of people, with a lot of cell phones using different types of phones and service providers.

 Thank goodness my sister and brother in law have a zBoost dual band installed in their home.  With over 25 people in their home for most of the weekend, good cell service was a necessity.  We had family members at the beach, on the golf cart, at the beach club and at the house.  Without cell phones and a good cell phone signal it would have been impossible to keep track of everyone’s comings and goings. 

We spent many hours in and around the pool enjoying each other’s company and celebrating Gerry, the leader of our Gang.

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Posted in Guest Blogger, sharon cuppett, Testimonial Tuesday

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Belief in Ideas

Posted on July 24, 2009 | Leave a comment

If I were required to guess off-hand, and without collusion with higher minds, what is the bottom cause of the amazing material and intellectual advancement of the last fifty years, I should guess that it was the modern-born and previously non-existent disposition on the part of men to believe that a new idea can have value.

Was this said last week, last year or over 100 years ago? 

It’s appropriate to write on the topic of “believing in new ideas” during the week of the 40th anniversary of landing on the moon. Technology may be a driving force and the internet and smart phones have surely changed the way we communicate, but it probably started with an idea and the openness to that idea.  I have to agree with Mark Twain on his belief in ideas.  (Yes, the quote is over 100 years old and still kicking.) 

Being in technology marketing, I have witnessed many times, one group of very smart non-believers say something is “impossible” and another group proving them wrong in time.  No magic, no voodoo (that I know of) just belief in an idea and lots of hard work, sleepless nights and determination in figuring out how to bring “the idea” to life. The “believers” don’t always persevere, but they still believe.  I never get bored in the technology industry and I no longer give credit to the voice at the table that says “it’s impossible”.  In fact, just the opposite –  I usually think – ok if we don’t do it, someone else will – the idea has slipped out, now SOMEONE will believe and bring it to life. 

At this time, there a product out there that I never thought I would see – I didn’t believe it was possible and it has changed my life.  It’s at the top of my “made my life better” list of products.  I am thinking of a product that I didn’t believe could exist.   No, I am not pitching zBoost – it’s great – and it works and it’s changed my life by keeping me from running to the windows to answer my mobile.  Although zBoost is up there on my list, the top product is the product that I thought was impossible — the CHI hair straightener.  I’m just saying – it’s amazing and hard to believe that it works! (If you ever saw me on a rainy day, you would know what I mean.)

So take some time this summer to be open to new ideas and believe.  Go ahead and comment on products that made your life easier.  

If you want to guest blog – send your thoughts to kpatterson@wi-ex.com .  If you want us to follow you on Twitter, send your info to jarko@wi-ex.com.

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Posted in Friday Fun, Guest Blogger, sharon cuppett

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