Best Free Photo Editing Software and Utilities

Often times a client will come to us with a simple request like cropping an image, changing to black & white, or converting an unsupported file type. Though we are always happy to oblige, there are a lot of great tools out there that are free and simple to use that can get these tasks done right on your desktop. So, if you do not want to shell out the big cash for a software like Photoshop, take a peek at some of these software titles that can be amazingly powerful and useful tools.

	Photoscape is an incredibly powerful and easy to use software that is available for free over the internet. It gives you the capability of performing many tasks, including red eye removal, cropping, and color adjustments. It also performs advanced functions such as batch editing, image slicing (for web), and RAW conversion. With all of these wonderful functions it is obvious why that this software is one of the most popular available over the internet.
	Irfanview is a tool I have used often over the years when I had to do batch conversions. There are a lot of great features, but its batch conversion function seems to be the fastest and easiest to use. Also, it opens a variety of file formats and allows you to convert them to a more “friendly” JPEG to insert into your PowerPoint presentation. This is another widely used software and I would recommend it based on its user friendly but powerful interface.
	Picasa, differing from the last two softwares in function, is a web based editing and hosting software powered by Google. Users will receive 1 GB of free online photo storage space upon signing up and will find it easy to upload images using the Picasa desktop software. Picasa is a fantastic desktop-webintegration tool that allows you to edit and upload to the web in the same platform. You can also browse others’ images right from the loaded software.

The 180 Group Times – Social Media Edition

Hi blog readers! Sorry for slacking lately, but we have been crazy busy around the office and the blog has been on the back burner. However, I am back and I have a newsletter full of content to deliver to you. Check out the latest edition of The 180 Group Times. There is lots of fun stuff in there to check out, and I am always lookig for feedback on what you all want to see. Tell me and I shall deliver. Without further adieu, click the banner below to check it out!

180 Provides Twitter for MPI-NJ Golf Outing

MPI of New Jersey hosts a fantastic golf outing every year at Royce Brook Golf Course in Hillsborough, NJ. Suppliers and planners meet on the course and enjoy a day of play and socializing complete with hole-in-one competitions, great food and beverage, and lots of laughs.

This year we decided to partner with the planning committee for this wonderful event in order to facilitate the use of Twitter for all foursomes and hole sponsors. This turned out to be a tremendous success as many folks “tweeted” their way along the golf course talking trash, making jokes, and updating us on their scores.

To see the custom website we created, complete with Flash interaction, click here. This aerial view of the course outlined everyone’s starting position and provided the name of each foursome and hole sponsor’s twitter account. This proved to be a great tool for the attendees and planners alike!

Above are photos of the “Twitter-mobile” The 180 Group built for this event. This “golf-car” was custom built by us to support a LCD monitor, computer, keyboard and mouse. We used it to display the Twitter feed for the event, as well as a station for groups to update their status. To see more photos of the “Twitter-mobile”click here.

All-in-all it was a fun event. As always, we gave away $500 cash at our putting competition. This year’s winner was Michael Shannon (pictured above in his moment of victory) from MGM Resorts International. If you want to learn more about what we did at this event, feel free to comment below, or contact us directly. Thanks for reading!

Happy Belated 4th Bloggers

Hi all! It has been a while since we last posted a blog entry and for good reason; we have been busy! We do miss you guys though and wanted to give you a little update. We have been back and forth across the country working productions for some of our favorite clients, and the next thing we knew summer was upon us.

We wanted to thank all of our clients from the 1st and 2nd quarter by making the video below. If nothing else it would give them a chuckle. Our owner, Howard Sr., was a good sport and it was quite fun to make him dance in front of the green screen for this one. So, without further adieu, enjoy. Oh, and happy belated independence day. Look for us to be on our regular blog schedule starting tomorrow.

Twitter: What I Have Learned Thus Far

We joined Twitter as a company and began to use it as a marketing tool on March 10^th of this year. So, right now we are about two months into this experiment and I have learned much about how to use it (and how not to use it) effectively. I have had a personal Twitter account for over a year now, but as I am sure you all know this is a whole different game. I know I still have much to learn, but here are four things I have learned so far:

1. Make sure your tweets are valid and interesting – When I first started I made a point to post daily on a specific topic. I even outlined what topic I would cover each day with an example for each (it was very nerdy). I stuck to this for about 2 weeks and found that it was not getting the exposure or generating interest I had hoped. This was because I was posting tweets as if I was marketing to myself. I was interested in the stuff I was posting, so naturally I thought my followers would be too. However, this was not the case. I needed to alter my strategy and begin to post things that were relevant to my followers. Once I did this I was getting re-tweeted and receiving @replies almost immediately.

2. Re-tweet things that you find interesting – Passively using Twitter to purge your own ideas and information is a huge miss. Though, as stated above, posting valid and interesting information is key, rewarding those who have done so already is also important. By re-tweeting someone else’s tweet, you have not only given them a digital “high five” but also let your followers know that you are tracking what others are saying and are willing to pass on valuable information regardless of whether it was your own brain-child or not.

3. Get involved in live industry chats – I am new to this, having only done it once, but I see it as a huge opportunity to get together with other industry professionals and share thoughts, ideas, and innovations. Example: This week I joined the #eventprofs chat. They open this forum twice a week (Tuesday @ 9pm ET & Thursday @ 12pm ET) and it is filled and followed by others in the meetings and events industry. They cover varying topics. Bottom line is these chats are a great place to meet other industry professionals and learn new ideas or gain new perspectives.

4. Stay Active! – The worst thing you could do is have an account that sits stagnant for days at a time. In this era of go-go-go information and marketing, missing a week of tweets could take you off of your follower’s radar. If you are going to take the time to create an account for B2B or B2C marketing make sure you are dedicated!