Insights from Nebo

Ah, automation — everyone’s favorite buzzword. Along with machine learning, chatbots and General Data Protection Regulation, it’s one of the prevailing themes of marketing trends and predictions for 2020 and beyond.

If you’re like me, you’re in full-on Futurama-face mode, and automation feels like a bunch of slick-talking Google reps trying to take our jobs. 

Anyone who follows Nebo knows that we’re pretty passionate about animal welfare. As such, one of our core causes has always been rescues.

I once told my therapist that I live my life trying not to offend anyone. She was pretty taken aback and said that sounded like a very difficult and exhausting way to live life. And she’s right — it is.

Whenever I’m talking to someone, my brain is always three steps ahead, trying to make sure I won’t accidentally say something that could be considered a microaggression, or politically incorrect or just genuinely hurtful. I’m hyperaware of the conversations I have and whether or not I’m “allowed” to have them, or if there are words I’m not “allowed” to use. It’s exhausting, but it’s worth it.

Anyone in paid media knows that in this ever-changing industry, today’s best practice could become obsolete tomorrow.

In the world of paid, change happens at a pace that is near impossible to keep up with. What if a client asks a question I don’t know the answer to? What if Google or Facebook makes a huge announcement, and I don’t hear about it for several days? How am I supposed to optimize campaigns if I don’t know what tools are available?

It all boils down to one question: how can we do our best to stay on top of an industry that's changing faster than we can think?

Nebo’s culture is fueled by our team’s constant hunger to learn and grow through one another and never be satisfied with where we are. As someone who loves to learn, I’m constantly looking for new ways to challenge myself. One of the ways I’ve been cultivating this learning is through podcasts.

Twenty-three minutes and 15 seconds. That’s the length of a “Friends” episode — and also how long it takes to refocus after being interrupted, according to widely supported research by the University of California.

Enter Slack. 

Slack, a team collaboration tool that makes it easy for us to share cat pics and ask for unscheduled things immediately, is an interruption generator. Making strides on your presentation? Not so fast. There’s a cake in the kitchen and someone has a “quick” question about a project you worked on two years ago. 

Then there are GIF important conversations about decisions GIF that will impact an entire GIF project GIF GIF peppered between jokes, so GIF silencing notifications is not GIF an option. 

How do I feel about all of this? I’m fine, in the most Ross-is-not-okay kind of way. 

Some things never change, and Nebo’s love for Halloween is one of them. 

We love to get stupid and spooky on this most hallowed day of the year. It is tradition that Halloween at Nebo is extra af, and it’s been that way since waaay back in the day. Like, since dressing up as Tom from MySpace was relevant. 

These days, we proudly display our over-the-top costumes on Facebook. But Halloween at Nebo long predates the Zuck. We’ve been doing Halloween right since 2004, and today, we’re traveling down Memory Lane to the intersection of Elm Street to take a look back at some of our spookiest moments.