Enamored with Enamel

(Jen might not want to talk about her flair, but we LOVE talking about our flair.)

If you haven’t heard, enamel pins are the newest cultural obsession, and it makes perfect sense. These unique pieces of flair are wearable, collectable and cheap to produce (not to mention super cool and cute), and they give artists the chance to turn their work into an affordable commodity. Some of our team members have been collecting these pins and rocking them on their backpacks and jackets lately, so we had a great idea to do a Mediaura pin exchange.

Mediaura is comprised of a very diverse group of people with differing interests and personalities, and we love thinking up ways to learn more about each other and express ourselves to the team. So this past Friday we had a Halloween pin exchange! About a month ago, we each drew names at random and picked out a “spooky” pin that fits that person’s personality. We ended up with some pretty rad pins – You can check them out below!

Mediaura Selects Peak 10 for Safeguarding Digital Media

Peak 10 Inc. is delivering data center services to Mediaura, a Louisville-based interactive agency and software development company. Mediaura’s IT infrastructure is now hosted by the secure environment offered at Peak 10’s Louisville technology campus.

Mediaura serves a growing number of Fortune 500 brands and worldwide enterprises and required a partner that could support a high standard of Internet and database security for both its Web-based and mobile application divisions.

“After months of careful research, we chose Peak 10 because we felt its high-level of professionalism, IT security and customer service aligned perfectly with our own business practices,” said Andrew Aebersold, president and CEO of Mediaura. “In order to deliver on our commitment to our customers, it was imperative that we partner with a company that is dedicated to providing superior solutions, and we found that with Peak 10.”

Both Mediaura and Peak 10 share an unwavering commitment to their clients’ data security. Peak 10’s renowned team of experts and comprehensive service portfolio were fully prepared to deliver the high level of security and support that Mediaura required.

“We understand how crucial IT issues can be to the health of a business,” said Matt Phillips, vice president and general manager of the Peak 10 Louisville market. “We are excited about our new relationship with Mediaura and about supporting the company’s IT infrastructure so that it can deliver secure, creative and responsive websites and mobile applications for its customers.”

In addition to its Louisville operation, Peak 10 operates nine other technology campuses in the U.S., serving customers around the globe. The fast-growing company, headquartered in Charlotte, NC, recently announced it plans to install a new cloud cluster in Louisville to meet growing customer demand.

About Mediaura

Mediaura is a Louisville-based company specializing in creating customized websites and mobile applications that enable clients to easily update the content without the need of a Web developer. In addition to its custom services, Mediaura also offers a line of products that allow users to dynamically create content for their digital signage, local store marketing/custom shop marketing or online coupons. The company was founded in 2003 by Andrew Aebersold and today its clients are among the Fortune 500. Now the nation’s premier interactive company, Mediaura has been recognized with a number of awards. For more information, please visit

About Peak 10 Inc.

Peak 10 provides managed IT services and cloud solutions through data center infrastructure across the US. With 96% customer satisfaction, Peak 10 offers a comprehensive support model along with a portfolio of data center and cloud solutions to help small- to mid-sized businesses develop more cost-effective IT strategies. Peak 10 provides expert engineering and support services to market-leading companies such as The Tim Tebow Foundation, LendingTree, Pergo, Healthways, Churchill Downs and Carnival Cruise Lines. Peak 10 is SSAE 16 audited and helps companies meet the requirements of various regulatory compliance acts such as Sarbanes-Oxley (SOX), HIPAA/HITECH, PCI DSS and Gramm-Leach-Bliley (GLBA). For more information on Peak 10, visit

Enrichment, professional development valued at Mediaura

The information and photo here were provided by representatives at those businesses and nonprofit organizations.

In some cases, their answers have been edited for length, clarity or grammatical style.

  Enlarge

Mediaura employees celebrated the arrival of a new hire. 

1. Describe your company culture in five words.

Innovative, fun, professional, experts, one-of-a-kind.

2. Tell us three specific ways you ensure all of your employees know they are valued.

Every month, employees volunteer to be our “culture czar.”

That person then gets to choose to share something they personally love doing with the whole team. It’s a way for employees to share more of themselves with the team while strengthening the team as a whole.

We have a weekly team meeting where we share praise for successful projects.

We have daily morning meetings where we discuss projects and tasks. At these meetings, every employee — whether they are directly on the project team or not — is asked to contribute their thoughts on the project.

3. What concrete steps do your senior leaders take to create a great work environment for all employees?

Leaders talk to every member of the team throughout the day in a positive manner to find out how things are going.

If an employee feels overwhelmed, the leadership will partner with them to help alleviate any stress or burden, contributing to project completion, brainstorming solutions, etc.

The leadership team at Mediaura is committed to creating a fun environment and areas of the office for team members to take breaks throughout the day and recharge. We know that when employees are happy and relaxed, they do their best work.

We strive to make sure that everyone is always in a positive mindset, and that when any issues do arise they are immediately addressed and do not linger.

The leadership works very hard to make every employee comfortable and know how much they are valued.

They work to establish a process for efficient/flawless work execution, provide weekly meetings for open discussions/feedback and provide a flexible work environment, understanding everyone works different.

4. Give us some specific examples of how your company creates opportunities for individual development and career growth at all levels of the company.

Every employee is allotted time through the day/week for personal enrichment.

Mediaura pays for employees to attend special events, classes or seminars that the employee feels will help them improve in their job.

All employees at Mediaura are cross-trained to further enrich their own skill sets and gain further insights into areas they would like to pursue or grow into. This also allows different departments to understand how each area contributes and fits into the process as a whole.

Once an employee expresses interest in a new department, they are partnered with the team leader of that area for mentorship.

As an employee’s skill set and contributions increase, their salary becomes reflective of that as well.

5. How would you describe your company in 30 seconds to someone you meet at a cocktail party?

Mediaura is a full-service digital agency specializing in innovative solutions and measurable results.

We are an award-winning team with global clients — everything from entrepreneurs to Fortune 500 organizations, from a wide variety of industries.

6. What are the most popular perks you offer to employees?

Flexible work schedule, a paid-time-off bank and a work environment that is tailored for their specific needs.

7. How does being a Best Place to Work affect your bottom line?

It reinforces what we know to be true and what we communicate to our team and potential new hires: This is more than just another job.

http://goo.gl/YKMNb7

Anchorage firefighter suspended after Facebook posts about President Obama surface

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- A part-time firefighter for the Anchorage Fire & Ambulance Districts has been suspended over social media posts he allegedly made about President Barack Obama.

Screenshots of the social media posts provided to WDRB News appear to show comments made from a Facebook account associated with the name "Donald Lee Baker." The comments appeared in response to a post referencing President Obama's address at the funerals of the police officers murdered in Dallas.
"Would someone please put a bullet in this [EXPLETIVE]'s head," one comment from the "Donald Lee Baker" account stated. "He has no respect for anyone in uniform and no respect for America. He is a worthless piece of [EXPLETIVE]."
When someone responded, confronting the poster about the comment and accusing him of threatening the president, the Facebook account associated with the name "Donald Lee Baker" responded, "Carrie, I've been in the law enforcement field. It's not a crime because I didn't threaten the president nor would I ever it's a figure of speech because that's all he's good for."
"It's scary, and it's sad, and I wish people would maybe just think before they say something," said social media expert and CEO of Mediaura, Andrew Aebersold.
Aebersold said the firefighter's post and the one made by a Metro Corrections sergeant this week are damaging. While the United States values freedom of speech, the First Amendment does not protect against consequences at the workplace.
"If you're talking about something that relates to your professional career, it bleeds over from just your personal opinion and becomes whether you want it to or not, maybe the opinion of your professional  entity itself," Aebersold said.
Even if you have a private account, he said your posts can still be made public.
"I think a lot of people are a little emotional when they're doing this. They don't take a minute to take a deep breath to say, 'should I really be saying this,'" Aebersold said. "It's the same thing ten years ago when we're typing emails, and maybe I should think before I press send on this email. Maybe you should think before you post that publicly."

In a statement released Thursday, William Rockwood, Chief of the Anchorage Fire & Ambulance Districts, confirmed that a part-time firefighter named Donald Baker has been suspended pending the outcome into an investigation into the social media posts. In his statement, Rockwood called the posts, "extremely troubling and inappropriate."

"The District does not condone or allow the use of inappropriate conduct or language by its employees in person or through instant technology," Rockwood wrote. "The opinions of the employees of the Anchorage Fire Protection District do not express the opinion of the Anchorage Fire Protection District. If made on duty or off duty, or through the use of District equipment, this may result in disciplinary action, up to termination. This matter is under investigation immediately. Mr. Baker has been suspended pending the investigation."

Pokemon Go and Digital Advertising Opportunities

Pokemon Go is the newest craze that has taken the world by storm!

What is Pokemon Go?

It's a real world, augmented reality game that encourages players to walk

outside and hunt for #Pokemon. Pokemon Go is the world's biggest scavenger hunt, where players capture and collect creatures called Pokemon. The app uses maps and GPS to guide players to a Pokemon's location, Pokestop, or Gym. Once found, the Pokemon will then appear on the phone superimposed via the camera in the 'real world'. It can result in groups of up to hundreds of people – mostly adults – arriving at locations as they chase the virtual cartoon characters. Players walk to PokeStops to receive rewards. #PokeStops can also be boosted with "Lures" which attract surrounding Pokemon. The tagline is to "catch 'em all". There are currently 151 Pokemon to collect – some more difficult to find than others – and once captured players "train" Pokemon at virtual Gyms to become more powerful.

This game has been installed on twice as many phones as Tinder, it has double the engagement of Snapchat, and it is eclipsing Twitter in its percentage of daily active users. This means increased foot traffic, and possibly sales, for your business. If you are located on a Pokestop then you will want to places lures on your stop. This is very affordable to do. Lures increase the rate of Pokemon generation in the area around the PokeStop where they're placed for one half hour. Placing lures are only one step. Add to that by an advertising and social media campaign to get the word out. Running specials or discounts for players only is an ideal way to ensure your company is getting the most out of this phenomenon. Social media management is key for this process. Posting photos of rares caught in your business or even a 'rare of the week' prize work wonders in getting people interested. If you are located at a gym instead of a Pokestop, then your ad campaign would be slightly different. There are three teams in Pokemon Go, Team Instinct, Team Mystic or Team Valor. They can battle each other in the gym. Running team specials or tournaments would be another way to draw in customers. A good marketing team is key. As they say, "catch 'em all", both Pokemon and customers. Contact Mediaura for assistance in deploying your Pokemon advertising campaign.

Mediaura Donates To Makenzie's Coat Closet

This week, Mediaura donated coats and other winter garments to Makenzie's Coat Closet for their 2014 annual coat drive. Makenzie's Coat Closet, founded in 2006, has distributed over 20,000 coats and countless hats, scarves and gloves to those in need. The organization started as seven year old Makenzie Smith's mission to keep the less fortunate warm in the cold winter months.
According to their website, Makenzie says she gets asked all the time what keeps her driven to continue donating. She says, "It is a question that is so easily felt, but hard to explain. You have to experience the joy in seeing the smiles on all the faces of those we help. The thanks and deep appreciation that so many have for what we do, the warmth that I feel every time I am able to say, 'yes, we can help.'"
Mediaura is proud to support such a great cause and encourages other Kentuckiana businesses to donate. You can find out more information at www.makenziescoatcloset.com

Happy Feet Redesign

Happy Feet is a slipper business that started as a mall cart program in 1996 and has grown into an international company, with an appearance on Shark Tank in 2014 and now, they are producing items for a number of DreamWorks properties. The company has rapidly expanded over the years, appearing on different TV shows from Good Morning America to Late Night with Jimmy Fallon. But there was one problem – their website didn’t represent their business well or the quality of their products in the slightest.

Mediaura partnered up with Happy Feet earlier this year to completely reinvent their online presence. Our team created an entire digital strategy for their company from top to bottom. We worked very closely with the Happy Feet team to create a strategy that would engage and convert their major audiences, improve their user experiences and most of all, convey the high quality and comfort of their product. It is by far one of the most robust sites in our portfolio to date. You can view the site in its entirety here. 

The Redesign

The old website was outdated, cluttered and hard to navigate. There were far too many call outs, the menu wasn’t easy to find and there was little to no organization. The interior pages included one unprofessional photo for each item. Mediaura created a homepage that is clean, concise and shows the customers exactly what they are looking for. We included the top 5 products for each category of slipper on the homepage with a call to action “view more” button. The main menu now includes drop downs so users can go directly to the slipper they want to purchase.

The Old Website

New Homepage 

When you click on a slipper, it takes you to an interior page with a banner image of the product, a large picture of the slipper and six different angled shots below it that enlarge when hovered on. We did all the photography for this project in house and went above and beyond to show the customer exactly what they are purchasing. Each item has a full description and a list of details about the product. 

Every item has a list of custom made icons that when clicked on will take you to that style of shoe. Each style of shoe has it's own detailed description with angled shots. 

 

We've included a related items option that pops up at the bottom of the page for each item. 

Our team also set up a Juicer account for the site, which aggregates all the Happy Feet social media posts into a single feed. 

Mobile 

The website is now mobile responsive and allows for easy use on smart phones and tablets. 

Let Mediaura Help You 

This project consisted of website development and design, content creation, eCommerce solutions, photography, social media management, an on-going PPC and SEO strategy and more. Mediaura is a full service digital agency that prides itself on developing digital solutions for our clients, whatever their needs may be. Let us take your online presence to the next level and contact us or call us today at 502-554-9649.