Socialjodi

11/04/2025

This goes for BUSINESSES too. Restaurants. Retailers. Your signs & your storefronts & your merchandising & your fixtures. And your music.

I see this every day. I’m thrilled when people get it & capture the whole essence.

I’m sad & cringy when they don’t.

Many times I want to hand them my card & say “call me….we should talk. We can help you”

But people don’t appreciate it when you try to fix them & they don’t know they are broken. Trust me. This is a fact.

If you have any lingering doubts, any “we could probably use a glow up”….we should talk.

Times aren’t a-changing, they already have. I just hope your city didn’t miss it. If you still have a Chamber, a Tourism Bureau, and an Economic Development Department, it’s time for a glow-up.

It’s okay to talk about it. Those offices had their moment. They did good work for a long time, but the world changed. People changed. The economy changed. Our cities have to do the same.

We don’t make progress because we’re afraid to have uncomfortable conversations. We don’t want to hurt anyone’s feelings, but when we protect egos instead of residents, we all lose.

I don’t have an axe to grind. The people in those roles are working hard, but many of their missions are outdated. I am not suggesting anyone go away, but evolving would be good. Doing the wrong thing more efficiently won’t fix anything.

It’s not about jobs and visitors anymore. It’s about residents. It’s about beauty, emotion, and attachment. Some organizations get this, but too many still act like it’s 1994.

Today’s economic development is about aesthetics. People make choices based on beauty. They choose restaurants by how they look before checking the menu. They pick destinations for how pretty they are, not how affordable. They buy houses for how they make them feel, not just the square footage.

Every business understands they have to connect emotionally with customers. They sell confidence, not products. Cities need to understand the same thing. Nothing boosts self-esteem like being proud of where you live. If visiting a place can change your mood, imagine what living there can do.

Cities are obsessed with cost but forget about value. Cost is just math. Value is emotion. People pay more for a BMW, but it does the same thing as a Ford. Whole Foods sells groceries just like Shop-and-Save, but many people feel better shopping there. Cities have to offer that same sense of value.

Do your residents love their town? Do they brag about it? Can they take beautiful photos downtown, walk safely, hang out somewhere fun, and feel proud to call it home? If not, your institutions are failing them.

Pretty matters. It matters because humans are drawn to beauty. The simplest way to make your city desirable is to make it beautiful. Who doesn’t want to live somewhere lovely?

The old institutions don’t have to vanish, but they have to be brave enough to admit what’s not working. Step out of Robert’s Rules for a minute and ask the real questions: What does our community need? What would make people proud?

I want a Chamber of Cute. A Bureau of Enjoyment. An Office of “Holy Hell, This Town Makes Me Feel Great About Myself.” That’s money well spent.

It’s not hard. Local governments and civic organizations just need to take a hard look at what they do and ask if it’s actually moving the needle. Because it’s a shame to spend all that time chasing outsiders when the people already living there get none of the love.

Want to be a hero? Put residents first. Give them what they crave. Give them beauty. Give them joy. Deliver them cute.

People just want nice things. They want to walk safely, have friends nearby, let their kids play, grab a drink somewhere cool, and feel proud of the place they call home. Really, is that too much to ask?

04/25/2025

Pretend your downtown/commerical district is a restaurant. If business is slow, you’ve got a few options, you can improve the food, step up the service, or freshen up the ambiance. Of course you can crank up your marketing, but no amount of Instagram hype will save a place that serves cold soup in styrofoam bowls. At the end of the day, the experience of dining is what matters.

Now what doesn’t make any sense is thinking that same restaurant would do better if they added more seating. That’s what towns are doing when they think the solution to a sluggish commercial district is more parking. It’s asinine. The problem isn’t that people can’t park. It’s that once they do, there’s nothing drawing them in. You can have all the parking in the world but it doesn’t matter if there is nothing worth visiting.

On the other hand, when business is booming, when the food is killer, the vibe is right, and the staff understands great service, people will line up. They’ll wait for hours. They’ll make reservations weeks out. They’ll deal with the inconvenience because the experience is worth it.

Same goes for your town. People aren’t coming for the asphalt. They’re coming for what you’re serving: the shops, the sidewalks, the hanging baskets, the street life. If you want your downtown to thrive, stop obsessing over the number of parking spaces and start focusing on the quality of the experience. Fix the food, not the tables.

03/06/2025

This hits. I have been feeling-noticing-experiencing this same sentiment. What about YOU?

A couple of weeks ago, I went out to dinner alone while traveling for work. When my meal arrived, the soup was in a Styrofoam container, and the cutlery was plastic. I hadn’t ordered it to go—I was sitting in the restaurant. This wasn’t a fast-food joint or a convenience store counter; this was a sit-down meal, yet the experience had been stripped of anything that made it feel like one.

I see this happening more and more. I order a coffee, and before I can say anything, it’s handed to me in a paper cup with a plastic lid—even though I’m not going anywhere. It’s not that I mind drinking from a paper cup in the right setting, but what happened to sitting in a café, enjoying a drink in an actual mug? What happened to the simple pleasures of a meal served on a real plate, a drink poured into a glass, a moment made just a little bit more intentional, a little bit more meaningful?

Some people might think this is insignificant, but I don’t believe it is. Sure, call me a snob, but nice things are nice—and when we cheapen everything, when everything is disposable, what is there to care about? What matters?

If we can’t sit in a coffee shop with a real cup, if we can’t have a meal served with proper utensils, if we can’t enjoy a drink in glassware, then we aren’t just cutting costs—we’re stripping the world of small, daily joys that make life richer. And when the details don’t matter, when everything feels temporary and throwaway, it creates a culture of apathy.

The little things—the weight of a ceramic mug in your hand, the way real silverware feels when you eat, the act of sitting down and being present—these are not trivial. They signal that life is something to be experienced, not just consumed. They remind us that our moments, no matter how small, are worth something.

When we treat every interaction as temporary, transactional, and disposable, people start to feel temporary, transactional, and disposable. This isn’t just about personal preference; this has real consequences for mental health, for community, for the way we see and value each other.

This creeping disposability bleeds into everything. It’s in how we treat our cities, our relationships, our work. It’s why loneliness is rising, why depression is so pervasive, why people feel disconnected from their own lives. Because when nothing is designed to last—when even the smallest moments of care and beauty are erased—what’s left?

Details matter. A well-set table, a real cup of coffee, a thoughtfully designed public space—these things are not frivolous. They shape our experience of the world and, in turn, how we feel about ourselves and each other. When people feel valued, they act better. When they feel cheap, they act accordingly.

Nice things are nice. And they make people feel nice. And when people feel nice, they are happier, healthier, kinder. They care more—about themselves, about each other, about their communities. That’s not snobby. That’s just human nature.

10/21/2024

Cracker Barrel observations:

Instagrammable breakfast. Chinoiserie/Blue Willow plate/charger. Coordinating blue white check paper. In a BASKET.

Nostalgia for their base. Appeal for next generation.

They have also added alcohol in many locations.

Their app is easy to use. You can even pay from your table using a QR code.

Their gifts are fun to shop, too & they have expanded offerings in that category as well.

Lots of innovation for a company who majors in the old fashioned ways.

09/05/2024

We design all kinds of graphics for all kinds of clients. As a white label agency, you never know it’s us behind the marketing.

Today I did one for my purposes.

I thought it would be cool to have t shirts for my dad’s knee replacement, which coincides with his 83rd birthday tomorrow…..

07/18/2024

Have you seen the American Floral Trends?!?
No? Well check it out! AIFD American Institute of Floral Designers J. Keith White AIFD CFD just dropped this fresh info. https://americanfloraltrends.com/2025-2026-trends

And oh yeah....guess who got the cover? Socialjodi. Lots of other eye candy within the pages. Honored to be a featured trend consultant.....and I am in stellar company.

07/14/2024

Here's a little eye candy. Unveiled last year on the stage in Chicago for the AIFD American Institute of Floral Designers It's a look with concepts that are aging well. That's the power of AI + style + knowing how to communicate...even without words. Creating videos like this is a welcome challenge.

07/04/2024

Ah! Back when graphics were clean & crisp & classy. Back before Papyrus & Comic Sans! Claps to my friend Tim Holts for this terrific collection. Happy Independence Day!