Co-creation: now that's a great idea!

Co-creation - the process during which a company involves an external group of people in (a part of) the innovation process of a product or service - gets its first public event!

Held on June 24th in The Netherlands, the first ever Co-creation event is under the auspice of RedesignMe - "the first platform where communities and companies collaborate on (new) products and services".

As marketeers, we all too often stay in our 'gilded corporate cages', instead of actively involving our clients, prospective clients or other relevant stakeholders in the development of products or services. While I worked at Barco Media & Entertainment as marketing manager, we did so on a few occasions (in 2004! imagine!) so I got to see the benefits of involving users of your product first-hand during the R&D process. Seeing the proactive participation of users, the free exchange of ideas, the 'free' advice and ultimately the results of these collaborations, I am a firm believer in the theory that a product developed with direct input from its consumer is a better one than the product developed in the vacuum of our labs.

Special offer: Attend Forum JUMP for just 50€!

The biggest event in Belgium dedicated to Women’s careers.
JUMP offers a wide range of tools to reinforce Women’s empowerment and position in the economy by making best use of all skills that they have to offer.

Join the event and a community of outstanding women and men, with whom you will live- out the potential you may not even have known you had. Learn how you can increase your organisation’s performance and above all how women in general can renew the economy. JUMP will give you all the confidence and energy boost to make things happen for you.

When? 23 April 2009 from 09:00 - 18:30
Where? Bozar, Brussels
The program? www.forumjump.eu

Muse Communication proudly presents the marketing-to-women workshop "Why women own 19 pairs of shoes" at JUMP!

The first 10 people to email me can attend the event for only 50€ instead of 350€!

News, views and a breath-taking video

The summer vacation is almost at an end and it's been a busy period for us, preparing for the months ahead.

There's much happening that I want to share with you in the coming weeks, not least of all our upcoming talk "Why women own 19 pairs of shoes (and other secrets revealed)" at the Brussels Geek Girl Dinner on August 20th.

I would also like to take this opportunity to introduce you to Courtney Davis, one of the newest members of Muse Communication, who'll be blogging here with me from now on.

I met Courtney in March this year, in my search for a person to strengthen our management team. I knew Courtney was the person I was looking for when I arranged to meet her in Ghent, and we both arrived wearing all black with red accessories and both ordered a glass dry white wine, which we finished while talking non-stop about life, universe and everything else over the next two hours. It's difficult for me to describe Courtney in a few words, suffice it to say that she is a very competent, switched-on woman and marketeer who brings invaluable knowledge and insight to the company. I leave it up to Courtney to explain the garlic, the barefoot hippy and the other parts here.

To wrap up for today there is this video, which won the short film award at Cannes and shows the power of getting the message just right. It will take your breath away...

La fille d'O celebrates 5th birthday!

Mark your diaries, ladies and gentlemen! This is going to be a wickedly wild party!

Date: April 12th
Venue: Handelsbeurs, Gent
More info: devilles@lafilledo.com or www.lafilledo.com

Naughty but NICE! Lingerie - A brand new collection of SHOES - Bikinis and more!

No respectable girl would miss this!

JUMP - the forum for professional women

Don't forget to mark your diaries: 25 & 26 April

JUMP forum

Jump is the place to meet, discuss, brainstorm and participate in conferences and training sessions. A wide range of tools to reinforce women's empowerment and position in the economy will be offered.