Reinvention...and It Feels So Good.

There's nothing better on a warm summer afternoon than a cool frappucino from Starbucks. Or, on a cold Holiday evening, a hot latte to warm the soul. Starbucks has been controlling and maintaining body temps for almost 40 yrs and with a resume that long, it's not a stretch to say the company has managed to keep their image young and modern by constantly re-inventing their brand. In fact, to celebrate 40 yrs in the biz, starbucks is planning on unleashing a brand new version of its original logo. Hey, if starbucks can re-invent and re-establish their brand in an effort to stay modern, shouldn't your small biz do the same? We think so! Check out an awesome article featuring a Q & A with Starbucks' SVP Terry Davenport discussing the new logo. Then, waltz over to branditbandits.com to find out how you can reinvent your small business brand today!

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Build Your Brand: Social Media Can Help

Here at brandITbandits, our specialty is small business branding. We live for giving small businesses the platform the social platform they need to grow into a success. From blogging, to press releases, we know how to use social media to get our client's names out there.

Usually, we'd hate to give away our secrets, but this blog on entreprenuer.com details what we do so well, we couldn't help but share it. Check the blog out here:

www.entreprenuer.com/article/217815

then, give us a call, shoot us an email or contact us on facebook to get your business's social media campaign started today!

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Invitation Bandits

Planning a wedding, shower or other special event? Then you're going to need invitations! http://www.invitationbandits.com/ is the place to get premier deals on all the hottest invitations and paper vendors. Check it out today!

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Twitter Updates from Team Twitter

Over the coming weeks, we will be making two important updates that will impact how you interact with Twitter applications. We are sending this notice to all Twitter users to make sure you are aware of these changes.

What are applications?

There are over 250,000 applications built using the Twitter API. To use most applications, you first authorize the application to access your Twitter account, after which you can use it to read and post Tweets, discover new users and more. Applications come in many varieties, including desktop applications likeTweetDeck, Seesmic, or EchoFon, websites such as TweetMeme, fflick, orTopsy, or mobile applications such as Twitter for iPhone, Twitter for Blackberry, or Foursquare.

Update 1: New authorization rules for applications

Starting August 31, all applications will be required to use “OAuth” to access your Twitter account.

What's OAuth?

• OAuth is a technology that enables applications to access Twitter on your behalf with your approval without asking you directly for your password.
• Desktop and mobile applications may still ask for your password once, but after that request, they are required to use OAuth in order to access your timeline or allow you to tweet.

What does this mean for me?

• Applications are no longer allowed to store your password.
• If you change your password, the applications will continue to work.
• Some applications you have been using may require you to reauthorize them or may stop functioning at the time of this change.
• All applications you have authorized will be listed athttp://twitter.com/settings/connections.
• You can revoke access to any application at any time from the list.

Update 2: t.co URL wrapping

In the coming weeks, we will be expanding the roll-out of our link wrapping service t.co, which wraps links in Tweets with a new, simplified link. Wrapped links are displayed in a way that is easier to read, with the actual domain and part of the URL showing, so that you know what you are clicking on. When you click on a wrapped link, your request will pass through the Twitter service to check if the destination site is known to contain malware, and we then will forward you on to the destination URL. All of that should happen in an instant.

You will start seeing these links on certain accounts that have opted-in to the service; we expect to roll this out to all users by the end of the year. When this happens, all links shared on Twitter.com or third-party apps will be wrapped with a t.co URL.

What does this mean for me?

• A really long link such as http://www.amazon.com/Delivering-Happiness-Profits-Passion-Purpose/dp/0446563048 might be wrapped as http://t.co/DRo0trj for display on SMS, but it could be displayed to web or application users as amazon.com/Delivering- or as the whole URL or page title.
• You will start seeing links in a way that removes the obscurity of shortened links and lets you know where each link will take you.
• When you click on these links from Twitter.com or a Twitter application, Twitter will log that click. We hope to use this data to provide better and more relevant content to you over time.

Thanks for reading this important update. Come and check what's new athttp://twitter.com.

Thanks,
The Twitter Team

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The Special Event Conference-Going on Now

The Special Event Conference and Trade Show is going on now in New Orleans, LA. brandITbandits had the distinct pleasure of presenting a class with Debbie Elias, CSEP, CMP of Elias Events on branding. Titled " Brand Conscious or Unconscious - Steps to Wake the Sleeping Giant" was a huge success. The show chose our class to record for attendees to later enjoy. As a first time speaker at this level, I was apprehensive being the first 8:30am class on a day prior to the conference opening day. However, my fears were put to rest when people started to pour in. Moreover, the class quickly filled and 98% stayed for the entire presentation. The questions being posed were mostly related to social media and how to harness those platforms for global brand positioning. I had the pleasure of speaking to a few of the attendees later that day. The VIBE agency is a DMC dedicated to the European market and wishes to expand into the US. We spoke briefly one on one about their goals and where they want to go from here. Shortly after that, Mia Farrell, owner of Leave it to Mia, spoke about her instant success and where to go now that her company is 'on the map'. The guys with Bon Appetit Management Company posses a challenge to brand their organization next to another one to maintain individuality with cross-market efficiency.

When I reviewed the schedule of classes being offered on the sales and marketing track, I was pleased to see that most of the classes focused on branding. 'Tis the season to develop strong strategies that are cost effective and efficient. Using social media for business and global development is key.

Branding your business, small or large, takes time and a well thought-out strategy. It has always been my impression that businesses making up the special events industry were left behind when it came to campaign development and management. It seemed that the industry was focused on creating whimsical trendsetting and well branded events for their clients and missed the mark creating it for themselves.

After working with Elias Events and other special events related companies since 2007, branditbandits focus became teaching and educating the special events industry to be more brand aware. Through low cost targeted resources, our clients are able to maintain control over their brand while being part of the creative team that makes it happen.

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The Special Event Conference and Trade Show 2010

Jennifer Schafer of brandITbandits.com in conjunction with Debbie Elias of Elias Events are slated to speak at The Special Event Conference and Trade Show. It will be held in New Orleans, LA at the Ernest J. Morial Convention Center, January 12-15, 2010.

branditbandits.com recently developed Elias Events custom blog and website. The site has been entered into several categories for awards and we are awaiting the results. Meanwhile, Jennifer Schafer and Debbie Elias developed a brand awareness class entitled " "Brand Conscious or Unconscious? Effective solutions to waking the sleeping giant." This class will go over the importance of corporate identity in the current economic climates and how to revive established businesses taking them into the next millennium.

Join us there in 2010!

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