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Unique, personal insight about the marketing and creative industries, presented by seasoned professionals. That's what Shop Talk is all about.

The first season of this monthly program featured writers and designers, agency owners, a Hollywood filmmaker, a former newscaster, a voiceover talent, a college professor and others. (See the poster of our guests below.) 

Each of those speakers drew from their successful careers to provide valuable advice for both our live audience and online viewers. (Watch several Shop Talk videos here.)

And now, season two of Shop Talk has begun.

We invite you to attend any or all of the sessions. They begin at noon, typically on the fourth Thursday of each month. November's Shop Talk is held on the second Thursday, and there is no presentation in December.

The location: The Mad Ave Collective at 1600 Madison Avenue, Floor 2 in UpTown Toledo. There's plenty of free parking at Madison and 17th, and free light grazing is provided by All Crumbs Artisan Bakery.

Walk-ins are certainly welcome, but if you can, please let us know you're coming. This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or call 419/724-7345.

Check The Collective's calendar for upcoming speakers and topics.

Hope to see you at Shop Talk.

Think about the months after you graduated from college.

What if you could've had a personal mentor to teach you about the "real world" you were about to enter?

Someone who had worked for decades in your chosen field.

Someone who provided valuable insight that you could not have learned in a classroom.

Someone who gave you an advantage when looking for a job.

The Keep Toledo Creative Scholarship Program was established to do all of that: give aspiring creatives the additional knowledge and experience they need to distinguish themselves and help them succeed.

In the video above, several KTC mentors and students talk about the need for the scholarship program and what it's brought to their lives.

For more details on Keep Toledo Creative and the scholarship program, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or call 419/724-7345.

The MadAveGroup's demo reel is a fast-paced overview of several of the videos we've produced. 

The projects include recruitment videos, an online welcome video, humorous instructional videos, even a music video, as well as tradeshow and promotional videos. 

With our in-house writers, directors, videographers, editors, musicians and voiceover talent, we can create the videos you need for a variety of environments, including television, your website, social channels, and on-site / in-store applications.  

For more details, call 419/473-9000. 

Since the On Hold Messaging Association began presenting Judge's Choice Awards as part of its annual MARCE Awards ceremony in 2009, there have been nine Judge's Choice trophies awarded.

BusinessVoice – our On Hold Marketing agency – has won five of them!

Our latest Judge's Choice win came at the 2015 OHMA conference in New Orleans.

The winning entry was an On Hold Marketing production we created for MyOpenHouse.com.

Conceived and written by Creative Consultant Bob Seybold, the piece includes four scenarios, five music beds, several sound effects, and more than a dozen voices. (Listen to the production in the video above.)

The work earned very high scores from two of the three judges: 99 and a perfect 100. Those judges also shared a few comments:

• "This was creative and [made] good use of the voices. It gets the point across for the caller..."

• "Good mixing on this one. The goals [that were] stated were met."

The MARCE Awards is an annual competition that recognizes marketing and creative excellence within the On Hold Messaging industry.

BusinessVoice is the nation's most-awarded On Hold Marketing agency, having won 100 local, regional and national awards for its work.

- Sharks Love the Taste of Rubber 
- Stream of Consciousness 

Online Video - Become a Newsboy (Toledo Newsboys)

"May the best work win."

That was the slogan for the 2015 Internet Advertising Competition. And we're proud to say that our work was among the best. 

MadAveGroup won the 2015
IAC award for Best Non-Profit Online Video.

The winning video - "Become a Newsboy" - was created for the Old Newsboys Goodfellows Association of Toledo, Ohio, a non-profit organization that's been providing coats and shoes for the city's needy kids since 1929. (Watch the video below.)

The goal of the video is to attract the next generation of Newsboys so the organization can continue to serve the community for many years to come. The audience is 22 to 40-year-old people who see the value in giving some of their spare time to a worthwhile cause.

The Web Marketing Association presents the Internet Advertising Competition awards each year to celebrate "outstanding achievement in Internet advertising."

MadAveGroup won its first Internet Advertising Competition award in 2014 for the Facebook content created for Spirit Services.

Video production credits
Videographer: Bob Seybold
Editor / Audio Engineer: Chris Zaharias
Producer / Director: Scott Greggory 

BusinessVoice (our On Hold Marketing agency) and SensoryMax (our Sensory Marketing agency) were both recognized with Bronze awards at the 2015 ADDY Awards ceremony. The event was presented by the American Advertising Federation / Toledo.

SensoryMax won for the Essence of Lincoln signature scent it developed for the Lincoln Motor Company.

SensoryMax Director Michael Seay said he's confident that this is the first time an ADDY Award has ever been presented for a scent. "It's still an unusual concept to most folks, so it's really exciting to us as more and more people see the value in Aroma Marketing," said Seay. "To win another award for it is gravy!"

Essence of Lincoln also contributed to SensoryMax earning national media coverage, as well as the title of 2014's Scent Marketer of the Year.

The BusinessVoice team was acknowledged for a humorous On Hold Marketing production it created for Binkelman Corporation. Titled "Stream of Consciousness," it features wall-to-wall thoughts on a variety of topics, from ugly shirts to dump trucks, and canned chili to spare teeth.

You can hear the winning work in the video above.  

MadAveGroup has produced the new music video for singer / songwriter Jaime Mills, "Ain't Enough Whiskey in the Bottle." The song is from his Jerome Productions recording "Long Hard Road."

Based on a true-life struggle, the video tells the story of an important decision in Jaime's life, and then follows him on a journey - both literal and figurative - as he commits to that decision.

Inspired by the authentic sounds of Bob Seger, Michael McDonald, Merle Haggard and Waylon Jennings, Jaime describes his music as Americana; a fusion of country, blues and rock.

"The preparation and care that was put into the creation of my music video far exceeded my expectations!" wrote Jaime. "I am absolutely thrilled at the end result, and I am equally excited knowing that MadAveGroup is handling one of the most important aspects of my career."

Video Production Credits
Producer / Director: Scott Greggory
Camera Crew: Ron Matanick & Thom Ovacek
Editors: Chris Zaharias & Scott Greggory

"WOW! WOW! I am so moved. It is beautifully done and you have captured so much feeling. I can't thank you enough. This is wonderful!"

That was Tracey Edwards' reaction to the video above.

Tracey is President of the Old Newsboys Goodfellows Association, a group of volunteers that has been providing coats and shoes to Toledo's needy children since 1929.

"The Old Newsboys is one of our city's oldest and most beloved organizations," said MadAveGroup CEO Jerry Brown. "For many years, our staff has raised and donated money for the group's annual paper sale, but last year we decided we wanted to do more, so we offered to create a video for them."

A MadAveGroup team met with Ms. Edwards and other Newsboys and determined that the focus of the video should be new member recruitment.

"There's always a need for the work the Newsboys do," said Scott Greggory, Mad Ave Group's VP of Creative Services. "A great number of the current Newsboys have been members for decades, so we created a recruitment tool to attract the next generation of Newsboys."

The short-form video includes a look at the 2013 paper sale at various spots in Toledo, Maumee and Sylvania. During in-studio interviews, seven members describe what makes the Newsboys organization so special and the benefits they derive from serving in the all-volunteer group.

For more information and details on how you can join the Old Newsboys, visit www.ToledoNewsboys.org.

Video Production Credits
Producer & Director: Scott Greggory
Videographer: Bob Seybold
Editor & Audio Engineer: Chris Zaharias
On-Camera Interviews: John Pezzino, Pat Markland, Yvette Gordon, Tracey Edwards, Dave Hendricks, Laurie Renz-Gast and Rachel Doran

The MarCom Awards is a competition that recognizes excellence in the concept, writing and design of print, visual, audio and online marketing and communication materials.

MadAveGroup has been honored with three 2014 MarCom Awards.

• Gold Award - On Hold Marketing for Applewood Plumbing
• Gold Award - The BusinessVoice Website
• Honorable Mention - On Hold Marketing for Binkelman Corporation

MadAve Creative Consultant Andrea Poteet conceived and wrote the humorous copy for Applewood.

"I'm so excited that the work we did for Applewood was recognized," she said. "They understand that plumbing has a lot of potential for humor and that customers calling because of a plumbing emergency could probably use a laugh. My goal with the script was to put callers at ease, while informing them about Applewood's services. I'm glad the client and the judges saw value in that." (Listen to the award-winning On Hold Marketing production in the video above.)

WebArt, the MadAveGroup's website design and marketing agency, created the award-winning BusinessVoice website. (Read this post for insight on the site's design and features.) 

Listen to the humorous Binkelman On Hold Marketing in the video below.