Candy Chang painted the side of an abandoned house in her New Orleans neighborhood with chalkboard paint. Over that she stenciled “Before I die I want to _” 80 times and left chalk for people to use. The neighborhood did the rest.

At The Cyphers Agency we decided to conduct this little experiment ourselves. A sheet was placed on the bulletin board and our wildest of hopes, dreams and aspirations were released. Here are some of the highlights.

Before I die I want to…

• …start a non-profit.
• …see a lot more of the world and experience more culture than I already have.
• …crush my enemies, see them drive before me and hear the lamentations of their women.
• …build my own house.
• …get rich and buy millions of shoes.
• …raise my children to be happy adults!
• …float in space.

What do you want to do before you die?

Welcome, welcome, welcome! Danielle Ali has officially joined our ranks as a Social Media Coordinator here at The Cyphers Agency. She first joined us as an intern in August, sharing her experiences with you as she learned the ins and outs of the biz. She has made incredible progress over the past three months. So much, in fact, that we just couldn’t let her go!

As Social Media Coordinator, Danielle will be responsible for spreading the word about our clients. She will continue contributing to the the Push-n-Pull department and will help enhance our general marketing efforts. We are continually impressed with her passion for the industry, eagerness to learn, creative thinking, and fun attitude and personality.

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“So how’s work?”

We all hear it all the time. It’s a reliable small-talk thing to say when you run into someone in a parking lot and feel obliged to make conversation so it doesn’t turn completely awkward.

My response is usually not far off from the above (awesome cartoon compliments of an agency favorite, Hyperbole and a Half). While I have been learning lots of cool stuff at The Cyphers Agency, I try to not talk people’s ears off about the advertising industry. Still, the truth is, sometimes you (if you are anything like me) just have to toot your own horn. So lately, when I’m asked, “How’s work?”, instead of a pat answer that hurries our obligatory small talk session along, I turn into That Girl who blabbers about her awesome job when you are just trying to do your grocery shopping.

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So far, I’ve only talked about what goes on in The Cyphers Agency office. Don’t get me wrong, the hours between 9 and 5 have been pretty fun since I began working here. But Jocelyn upped the ante last week when she invited me to the annual Halloween party hosted by the Baltimore chapter of the American Advertising Federation.

Admittedly, I wasn’t sure what to expect from this type of event. Would ad folks from rival agencies be sizing each other up? Would I need to have an elevator speech at the ready? I was assured that this party would be light on the networking and heavy on the good times. That was all I needed to know to commence brainstorming brilliant costume ideas with Jocelyn… the Kardashians!

“Kim” and I showed up at The Waterfront Hotel fashionably late, as celebrities do. The party was packed, complete with very tasty chicken fingers, adult beverages and ‘80s pop. I got to meet a lot of cool people in our industry, including two women dressed as old and new Gap – great idea, huh?

In just a few months at The Cyphers Agency, I’ve gained exposure to the whole wide world of advertising, both in the office and out. It was a really cool opportunity for me, the lowly intern, to get to mix and mingle with some really talented folks.

Case in point – I’ve considered myself a “social media enthusiast” for a few years now. I’m an avid user of Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn. I’m especially addicted to Twitter and have been pretty confident in my ability to leverage this tool to get results. After all, it helped me get my foot in the door here! Of course, it’s one thing to network personally on the web, and quite another to use social media to shape conversations for our client’s brands.

On the Other Side of the Screen

The social web has made it easier than ever for regular people to interact with the services and businesses that they care about. Being on the other side of the computer screen, so to speak, has been a rewarding experience but its also been challenging. It can be a big responsibility to answer tough questions from customers on behalf of our clients. Your company’s social media identity isn’t just for piping up in conversations about your product – its a customer service outlet that is increasingly important as our society becomes more and more digitally minded.

Creating a Social Media Voice

In the last month, I’ve definitely developed a deeper understanding of the importance of creating a social media voice. While I may be the one typing a response to a question on Facebook, I am representing our client’s brand, and so I have to be careful that the tone, words and phrasing I use are in tune with the message our client wants to convey. Is this client’s tone less corporate and their message more light-hearted, like The National Chicken Council? Or is this a client that requires a more trustworthy, authoritative tone? Looking back on how much I’ve grown in my ability to project our clients’ voices online, I realize now that I certainly was not the “social media expert” I thought I was!

Find the In-Between & Build Relationships

Still, its a balance. The strength of social media is authentic interaction. We all know that a tweet that seems too carefully crafted can feel less than genuine, squashing any potential to build a meaningful relationship. One of the best parts of my job is that I get to have real, candid conservations with people, despite our geographic limitations.

At The Cyphers Agency, we’re always working to perfect the social media voices of our clients. How do you determine the tone your brand uses when interacting with customers online? How have you honed your social media voice? Need help? Just ask.