Twitterview with Kristi Colvin

@JoelECarlson – A big WELCOME to everyone following today! Today is #Twitterview100. 99 people leading up to @KrisColvin today! Lets go!

@KrisColvin – Well I am esteemed to be #100! :D

@JoelECarlson – To start off with @KrisColvin, thank you SO MUCH for being available today and putting up with the #FailWhaleFiasco on Friday.

@KrisColvin – That seemed like a conspiracy – it worked fine until 11:00 CST sharp. LOL! #jectv Twitter loves to play tricks. :-)

Q – #1    So @KrisColvin – Where did you grow up, and tell us some steps in your life that led you to who you are and what you do today?

A:    I grew up in Wichita Falls, TX, with a Mum who was always perfectly dressed. Little did I know that would influence me!

Her unerring habit of “matching” everything probably led to me doing creative things like visual merchandising/design.

I planned, when younger to be a writer. I still love to write, though don’t do it often enough in my blogs.

But as an only child, I was very cerebral and “in my head” a lot, always reading, everything in front of me & writing.

So designing, writing, and reading on the computer today is really just the digital equivalent of my youth. :-)

I moved away to the big city when I was 21, to Houston, and eventually did marketing for a Whole Foods Market where…

… I encountered my first Macintosh, a black and white Mac classic. From there, designing stuff online called me.

Q – #2    I see. So did you take any formal training or classes in HS/college to help you develop your creativity?

A:    I had gone to MSU in Wichita Falls for basics, but had no idea what I wanted to major in.

After moving to Houston, I went to the community college and took some course from an art director. She rocked.

They were basically Illustrator, Photoshop and Pagemaker courses. I still miss Aldus Pagemaker!! :-)

But I am primarily self-taught, my whole career. I never graduated and taught myself web design on my own projects.

And no, in HS I only had writing classes really. I unfortunately cannot draw, so art classes drove me nuts.

Q – #3    Kudos to you as a self-teacher! How have you been able to show your creative talents in the Social Media world?

A:    Well, we do a lot with social media & almost all (save a client or two) involves design or extension of brand identity

We are really on a mission to help companies and product brands socialize their sites and interactions. It’s fun.

Q – #4    Since you are talking about “We” – your company, explain how Fresh Id came to be and what your overall role is?

A:    I have been mostly self-employed since about 1993. My co. used to be called Fresh Pages, then Fresh Media Solutions…

I have twice, closed my business and gone to work for clients as an employee. When a company was acquired in 2002…

I relaunched as Fresh ID, so technically have been in biz as that incarnation since 2002 always doing creative services

Last year, I did a lot of work with Lisa Qualls at LightThread, as a contractor & we have a similar service principles

So when thinking about growing a company vs. freelancing, I made decision to ask Lisa to come & head Fresh ID as CEO.

She is now my 50/50 partner, and is CEO, and I am Chief Creative Officer, but really we all do lots of everything. :D

I hate my title. I need to crowdsource one that makes sense. It’s hard when you are a small firm & wear many hats.

Q – #5    Nice to find a teammate that works well with you! So who are 5-10 people that you follow for inspiration or humor?

A:    Well, @thebrandbuilder is a must follow. Can’t live without him. Also @kellyolexa, @shannonpaul, @armano & @lukew

But honestly that doesn’t begin to cover it – I love sooooo many of my Twitter friends. Small interactions mean a lot.

Q – #6    Yes, small interactions can = a lot of value! So with the current Social Media tools, do you see something missing?

A:    Well, we would first have to define “tools.” I have been chewing on a problem all weekend, actually.

The thing missing from all these great social media measurement/monitoring tools is analysis. It has to come manually.

I am tasked with designing an sm dashboard, have already prototyped one in the past, and keep hitting that obstacle.

So that is one issue with monitoring social media and looking for results. Another thing missing is convenience.

I get SO MASSIVELY frustrated when I am on a site – a major one like Yahoo – and can’t share content fast/easy.

Publishers who don’t have social sharing of their content for both Twitter and Facebook minimum, are nuts.

There is an excellent implementation at People magazine online: www.people.com/people/article/0,,20399588,00.html

Note the specific article sharing buttons beneath the image, and all the ways to get People in upper right. Well done.

Q – #7    Good and well thought out points! Now my FAVS questions: Favorite – restaurant, offline-store, summer activity & gadget.

A:    Favorite restaurant in KC is www.wiljennys.com. Store: Anthropologie, online & off. Summer activity: outdoor boot camp!

And my favorite gadget, though I don’t own one yet, is the iPad. I would use that sucker constantly!! Tweet, tweet.

Q – #8    Do I need birdseed to finish? :) If you could invite any 1 person (dead/alive) to dinner, who would you ask & why?

A:    Edgar Allen Poe. I want to know why he was so glum. His stories are brilliant!! I’d like to see him crack a grin. :D

But the person who could make ME laugh is William Shakespeare. I’d like to have him to brunch. He is funny!!

Q – #9    True literate companions! What are your hope/goals for you and your company for the next year or two?

A:    Wow, that’s tough to answer without @lqualls4444 input. I want to be the female Jason Fried. LOL! I loooove products.

But I also am having deep yearnings for B2C work. I want to own a restaurant or greatly contribute, and do social stuff

I want to make hotels and retail shops more fun and engaging via social interactions. I think that…

… I am wanting to be where the people are, virtually and physically. I love foursquare/gowalla for that reason.

Basically, I hope we can just keep learning how to use all this neat stuff online, to make lives better offline.

Well, offline and online. They really are melded into one universal experience, for me. That’s the dream, at least!

Q – #10    Well, offline and online. They really are melded into one universal experience, for me. That’s the dream, at least!

A:    Hmm. A wise person once told me “Intention is demonstrated by attainment.” It’s very hard to swallow sometimes.

But food for thought that I do consider when I feel like giving up or think something is impossible. Never stop trying!

@JoelECarlson – Thank you again for being today’s #Twitterview100 guest @KrisColvin! It was a great experience. Have a great week!

@KrisColvin – Thank you for the wonderful interview today Joel. It was lots of fun! :-)