Posts Tagged ‘Expressionary’

Gift Chronicles: Like a Broken Record

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By: Michael Flanigan

Time for another installment in this series that we’ve started. So without further ado here we go.

A few years ago my sister and I bought my mom a record player for her birthday and it was a huge hit. We actually left my dad a little speechless cause we had pulled it off. You see my sister and I are what I like to call gift giving partners when it comes to getting our parents gifts and we had been thinking about getting my mom a record player for a few years. The only problem was that we we’re going to pay an arm and a leg for something that looked cool and just played records. We wanted something with a little more functionality.

Growing up my mother had introduced her to records (78′s, 45′s and the like) and a record player. As an only child she spent hours and hours dancing and singing along to her records and often annoying her parents as she played the same side over and over again. The records were part of her childhood and something that she enjoyed even as an adult.

While her records were and are in pretty good shape to be from the 70′s, her record player was not. I had seen better days. The arm was falling off and the speakers were shot for the most part. So with a little digging and planning with my sister we were able to finally find one that not only plays the records, but gives her the ability to record them in mp3 format so that she can keep the songs longer without having to buy digital copies.

We presented the gift to her and when she opened the box her eyes lit up like a kid on Christmas morning. She immediately went to the basement and grab a few records off the shelf and played them. She loved it and it was a hit. This brings me to my gift tip for this story: replacing or refurbishing something special makes a great gift.

Gift giving doesn’t have to be hard and I truly hope this gives you some ideas for the holiday season. Please send us your gift stories so we can help even more people.

Utilitarian vs. Sentimental: Which Makes A Better Gift?

B y: Michael Flanigan

I remember a few years ago, my buddy gave me some fire steel to start fires with for Christmas. It was intended for use in camping and today I have no idea whee it is. He also gave my other friend a book on the CIA, I believe. It was his first real time giving gifts and he made the mistake of doing what most people do: buying something you like for someone else. Nonetheless the gifts were somewhat thoughtful and we were all just happy that he had given us anything.

Reflecting on this today, I started thinking about whether or not it’s better to give sentimental gifts or useful gifts and which one is truly better. Is there some line that you aren’t allowed to cross before your gift just becomes more like a tool you’re lending to someone and not something thoughtful? All good questions right? I have a conflict because I give both gifts that are useful and sentimental so I guess I might answer my own questions too.

Useful gifts are awesome like a 2tb hard drive, yeah that’d be for me and my future home server, or something that you really needed, but hadn’t gotten around to buying. Useful gifts fulfill a need and really seem to come at a time when you need them. Last year I got a wallet and some socks, both of which I actually needed. I was thankful that I got them and have used them, which is why men often get socks, wallets and other standard men’s gifts for Christmas. But the fact that the things  I received were useful was great, but it did not compare to how I felt when I got Power Rangers toys for Christmas.

Sentimental gifts make you feel all warm and fuzzy inside or excited like I was when I was 7 on Christmas morning tearing into the toys I got for Christmas. They just leave you with a feeling of warmth. I can’t really explain it, but comment if you know what I’m talking about. My sister and I got my mom a new record player a few years ago for her birthday, because it was time. It was extremely sentimental and though she rarely uses it, she loved it. It made her feel special and loved. So does that make sentimental gifts better?

To answer this question and wrap everything up, I personally think that sentimental gifts, even if they are useful are a little better. They make you feel like someone cares and loves or gets you, which is always nice. But useful gifts are also very great, but they show a little less effort or thought. A pair of socks or a wallet isn’t an original idea for guys, please stop buying these for all the guys in your life unless they say otherwise. Putting a little effort into the gift to make it more sentimental shows that you truly care for someone. Sentimental gifts don’t even have to be expensive they can be simple and cheap.

Tell us what you think. We’d love to hear from you. And if you like sentimental gifts check out what we sale. If you have questions we have live chat.

Expressionary @ The Art of The Launch

By: Michael Flanigan

A few weeks ago Expressionary was fortunate enough to go to a unique and one of a kind event, especially since it was the first of it’s kind called The Art of The Launch. It was the World’s First Marketing Hackaton, no lie, and it was put on by the most awesome powerhouse of a lady herself, Mrs. Jacqui Chew.

We made it to round two with a little creative presenting in the first round and in round two we competed for the cash prize, which we unfortunately didn’t win, but we had a lot of fun.

We thought we’d share this silly little video with you guys out there as we make complete buffoons of ourselves so we hope you like it.

YouTube Preview Image

We hope you enjoy it and if you could spread it to your friends so they can see us act like idiots, that would be great.

Thanks for reading and stay tuned for some of the things we learned from the awesome conference.

Who is Expressionary?

Posted on: by mflanigan 1 Comment

By: Michael Flanigan, Vice President

From day one we’ve always been about the same thing and had the same goals: to help people give better gifts and to bring the meaning back to gift giving, but we haven’t communicated that well. So I’m taking some time out today to really tell everyone who we are.

Expressionary is a company that is founded by two Chemical Engineering grads from Georgia Tech, who happen to be pretty good at gift giving. We have a passion for it that we want and will share with the world. It’s our passion so much that my co-founder and business partner, William Mehserle, quit his job to start a company that makes a personalized dictionary. That is pretty crazy right? He got me involved for good measure and we’ve been duking it out with every big retail store ever since November of last year.

Bill came up with the idea for our product when he was in high school trying to express himself to his girlfriend (yeah he’s a hopeless romantic: insert ladies swooning here). He wanted something that really represented what she meant to him. He wanted to get her something “that was prefect, personal” (See this video below with him talking about it. He hates it. I love it.) YouTube Preview Image

But we are so much more than the product. We love gift giving and not to brag (oh goodness I hate when people say that) we’re pretty good at it. We want to help people really give unique, personal and great gifts that help people express themselves. That’s it period.

We’re not in it for the money and we even give 10% of all profits to one of our six partner charities and hope in the future we can give more. We’re all about helping people express themselves and appreciate others through gifts. Plain and simple. That’s it. So if you were ever wondering what we do or who we are, now you know.

Thanks for reading this.

For Reporters Only

Dear Journalist,

I found your articles on startups very interesting especially the ones regarding a company name Wantful. My name is Michael Flanigan, Vice President of Expressionary, LLC and our goal is to help people bring meaning back to their gift giving, but through expressing themselves. I saw that you had mentioned Wantful , which is similar to our startup. Our goal is to help bring the meaning back to gift giving and help people express themselves better through gifts.

The way we do this is through our product called The Expressionary, which takes the phrase: “if you looked in the dictionary under the word successful, you’d see a picture of Steve Jobs, etc.” and brings it to life. We make it easy for people to actually tell people exactly how they feel without having to take a long time to do so.

The way the product came about is through my co-founder, William L. Mehserle Jr., trying to find a good gift for his high school girlfriend. He wanted to get her something special, but didn’t know what to get and he didn’t have a lot of money. So he started thinking and he realized as he was thinking about their relationship, he was actually defining it. So he went to the store, bought a dictionary and cut out photos of her and pasted them in there. She was overwhelmed by the thought of it so much that she cried and he did the same for the rest of his family who all became emotional. A year after graduating from Georgia Tech, he quit his job and started this company full time to help people express themselves and give better gifts.

Below are a few pictures of the product along with samples of one we did for Meg Caswell and a sample we are doing for the National Corvette Musuem. We’d love for you to write about us and hear what you have to say.

 For more info on us you can also check out this article: http://blog.theexpressionary.com/2012/08/who-is-expressionary/

A sample from Meg Caswell’s Expressionary.

 

A sample of the Corvette Museum’s sample.

 

Please let me know,

mjf@theexpressionary.com

Win An iPad 3 With The “Expressogram iPad 3 Giveaway!”

Do you want to win an iPad 3? Then this message is for you. Today marks the beginning of the latest and greatest Expressionary campaign. By following the Expressionary on Facebook, Twitter, and Google+ and creating and sharing an Expressogram, you could have a chance to win an iPad 3. Exciting right?

Entries maybe submitted in the following ways:

Facebook: Log onto http://facebook.com/expressionary, find the “Expressogram iPad 3 Giveaway” tab (‘Tab’), and follow the instructions provided. This consists of Liking the Facebook Page (if not already liked), filling out the entry form (hereafter, the ‘Entry’), and completing one Expressogram at http://theexpressionary.com/expressogram and socially sharing to their Facebook wall via the “Share to Facebook” button in the Expressogram building process. Limit: one (1) Entry per person, per email address, per Entry Period.

Additional Contest Entry via Twitter: Log onto twitter.com/myexpressionary and twitter.com/expressogram and ‘Follow’ both accounts. Entrants must complete an Expressogram at http://theexpressionary.com/expressogram and share their Expressogram to Twitter in a message containing the #expressogram hashtag.

Additional Contest Entry via Google+: Log onto https://plus.google.com/b/107956409817788218432/107956409817788218432/posts and add the Expressionary to your circles. Entrants must complete an Expressogram at http://theexpressionary.com/expressogram and share it publicly with their Google+ circles.

Entry Period and Prize Notification: The Expressionary’s “Expressogram iPad 3 Giveaway” (The ‘Contest’) will consist of one Entry Period between 04/12/2012 at 12:00:00 AM EST and 05/28/2012 at 11:59:59 PM. Entries that are not received during the Entry Period will not be accepted. Potential Prize Winners will be notified by email, Twitter Direct Message or Google+ message within one (1) business day following the close of the Entry Period. No purchase or payment is necessary to win. Making a payment or purchase will not increase the odds of winning.

Official contest rules can be found here.

Good luck and happy sharing!

Valentine’s Day Tip #12 for the Guys: Showcase Your Love with an Expressionary

the expressionarryThis post is part of Expressionary’s “Valentine’s Day Date Ideas” series.

Telling a loved one how you feel about her can be tricky. Rest assured, though, you’re not alone. We don’t all have the same charisma or way with words that Romeo and Juliet had. It’s for people like us that the Expressionary was created. Expressionary gives you a unique way to say what’s in your heart when words don’t seem enough. We’d love to guarantee that it will seal the deal, but our lawyers won’t let us. But trust us on this one, it has worked before.

Grab some great rewards by interacting with our blog!

We’ve added a new feature to our blog that will let you have a chance of grabbing some cool rewards just for sharing and interacting with our blog posts!To get started, you’ll need to connect your Facebook account to the Rewards feature by clicking the Rewards button on the left-hand side of an individual blog post, such as the Valentine’s Spread the Love Giveaway announcement.

Once you have done so, you can build up your rewards points by visiting our blog every day, leaving comments on our posts, and sharing posts on various social networks by using the Like, Tweet and +1 buttons.

The rewards on offer include gift cards for iTunes, Amazon and Starbucks! The more you interact with and share our posts, the faster you’ll accumulate points and the more likely it is that you’ll receive one of these rewards.

You can check the leaderboards and how many points you need to claim a reward by clicking the Rewards & Giveaways tab on our Facebook page or clicking the Rewards button on one of our blog posts.

We want to say thanks to you guys for visiting our blog and being interested in our amazing product. We think this is a great, fun way to do that.

The Expressionary Brings Happiness to Wounded Warriors and Their Families with Thoughtful Gift Donation

Personalized gift company donates 1,000 beautiful personalized dictionaries to wounded servicemen and women, deploying troops and their families

The Expressionary, an online personalized gift company, has begun its mission of donating 1,000 of its beautifully designed personalized dictionaries — Expressionaries — to seriously wounded servicemen and women, deploying troops, and their families.

Expressionary President William Mehserle was on hand at Fort Sam Houston and Brooks Army Medical Center (BAMC), Texas, to personally hand over some Expressionaries and demonstrate how “Wounded Warriors” can create their own Expressionary as a thoughtful, meaningful gift for their families.

The Warrior and Family Support Center (W&FSC) is a facility at Fort Sam Houston, and is designed to meet physical and emotional needs of America’s heroes — our “Wounded Warriors.” The W&FSC makes a profound contribution to the rehabilitation of America’s seriously wounded Soldiers, Marines, Sailors, Airmen, National Guard Reservists and their loved ones.

The W&FSC supports many Iraq and Afghanistan war veterans with extensive burn injuries, loss of limbs, head and internal injuries, along with their families.

“Wounded Warriors” and their families who are eligible for one of the donated Expressionaries can claim them by navigating to theExpressionary.com, create their custom product and using the code provided to them. Those interacting with W&FSC can simply talk with the director if they need help. Each deploying troop out of Fort Sam Houston and their families will receive notice of the possibility to create one.

The 1000-Expressionary donation equates to a value of over $26,000 and was coordinated by the Expressionary and W&FSC. The Expressionary is dedicated to giving back to those less fortunate, and is committed to donating at least 10% of its profits to charity.

“A lot of soldiers aren’t good at expressing themselves,” said W&FSC Assistant Director John Wolf. “They want to be, but it is difficult. When these guys come back from war with an injury of this kind of magnitude, they are here for 1, maybe 2 years. These guys have to learn to walk again, they have PTSD (Post-traumatic stress disorder) — and rehabilitation can be frustrating — and sometimes this flows into their personal relationships. Their family is here, helping them through the rehabilitation. They suffer as well. And these troops, they want to show how much they appreciate the family being there for them. This is exactly a way to do that.”

Expressionaries are helping soldiers express to their loved ones exactly how they feel about them. “Man, my wife is really gonna appreciate this. She has been by my side since I got back.” said Sgt Daniel Romero. “That is just so easy, and so thoughtful. Thanks, I’ve been wanting to show her how I feel.”

“When the soldier leaves for deployment, it is not just the soldier who experiences pain, but his or her spouse, their children, and their parents. We want to allow the soldiers to make an Expressionary for their family, so when they are away, their family can look at it together and see exactly how much that soldier loves their family,” said Mehserle. “In addition, we wanted to allow the families to make one for their soldier, so that after a long day out in combat, they can return home, lay on their cot, exhausted, and leaf through their Expressionary and smile when they see the words the family used to describe him and his family.”

Mehserle’s experience at the W&FSC was an eye-opening one, and left inspired by the soldiers who radiate positivity despite their injuries. “Their families are waiting for them to be done with rehab. Giving 1000 Expressionaries is the least we can do. Hopefully someday soon, we can give more,” he added.

Information on W&FSC is available at http://www.returningheroeshome.org/

Use of the W&FSC and BAMC names, logos, descriptions, and/or their weblinks do not constitute an expressed or implied endorsement or favoring of Expressionary by the US Army or the DoD.

About The Expressionary

Expressionary, LLC – a subsidiary of M&W, LLC – was founded in September 2011 by William L. Mehserle, Jr. and Michael J. Flanigan, both graduates of Georgia Tech. The company’s website, theExpressionary.com, launched in open beta on Nov. 23, 2011. The Expressionary concept was born during Mehserle’s high school years, as he was searching for a sentimental and meaningful gift for his then girlfriend. He purchased a dictionary, and pasted his favorite photo of her beneath the words that he felt best described her and their relationship. The full backstory can be found at The Expressionary’s website.

An Expressionary is a luxury personalized dictionary containing fine paper pages, beautiful covers, a letter in the front of the dictionary explaining the concept and high-quality photos. Additionally, The Expressionary is committed to donating at least 10% of all profits to charity. Customers can choose which of The Expressionary’s charity partners they’d like a donation to go to.

The Expressionary Launches ‘Valentine’s Spread the Love Giveaway,’ Prizes Include Game Consoles and Gadgets

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Personalized dictionary company, which lets customers create a thoughtful, sentimental gift for their loved ones, gives away PS3, Xbox 360, Kindle Fire, iPod Touch and OnLive Game System in new contest

With Valentine’s Day fast approaching, The Expressionary, a company that helps customers define their feelings for loved ones with personalized dictionaries, is giving away game consoles and gadgets in its new “Valentine’s Spread the Love Giveaway” contest.

By following The Expressionary on Facebook, Twitter and Google+ and “spreading the love,” entrants can win a PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, OnLive Game System, Amazon Kindle Fire tablet or iPod Touch device.

The Expressionary, which launched in open beta November 2011, is a personalized gift that brings to life the age-old saying “If you looked in the dictionary under the word “________” you’d see a picture of “___________.” It allows customers to define what their loved ones mean to them with a thoughtful, sentimental gift.

Customers are invited to upload photos of their family members, friends or partners and pick the 10 words that best describe them with the help of the custom word recommendation engine, KHARIS. The result is an exquisitely designed personalized dictionary – an Expressionary – that features the name and a photo of a loved one below the 10 words that best describe them.

Facebook Xbox 360 and Kindle Fire Giveaway

The Expressionary is giving away two (2) prizes to its Facebook fans. Each winner will receive their choice of a Kindle Fire tablet or Xbox 360 4GB game console.

To have a chance of winning, participants must Like The Expressionary Facebook Page at facebook.com/expressionary and post the following as a public status update on their Facebook Wall:

The Expressionary is giving you the chance to win an Xbox 360 or Kindle Fire tablet in our “Valentine’s Spread the Love Giveaway!” To enter, Like our page, share this post publicly on your Wall and provide your name, email address and the link to the Facebook profile where you shared this post in the “Valentine’s Giveaway” tab on our page. Good luck! Details: http://ow.ly/8sKgC

Entrants must also provide their name, email address and Facebook profile link in the “Valentine’s Giveaway” tab on The Expressionary’s Facebook Page.

Entrants must not have a default avatar image on their profile. The winners will be announced on The Expressionary Facebook Page and the Expressionary blog on February 11. Winners will be contacted via email.

Twitter PlayStation 3 Giveaway

The Expressionary is giving away one (1) PlayStation 3 160GB game console to its Twitter followers. To enter the contest, participants must follow @MyExpressionary and tweet their thoughts about the Expressionary product.

To be eligible, entry tweets must contain the hashtag #expressionarylove and this link: http://ow.ly/8sKgC

For example, entrants might tweet, “Fantastic gift idea! #expressionarylove http://ow.ly/8sKgC”

Participants may send one entry tweet per day (exceeding this limit will result in disqualification). Additionally, entrants must not have a default avatar image on their Twitter profile. Winner will be announced on @MyExpressionary and the Expressionary blog on February 11. The winner will be contacted via Twitter Direct Message, so entrants must be following @MyExpressionary.

Google+ iPod Touch and OnLive Game System Giveaway

The Expressionary is giving away two (2) prizes to its Google+ followers. Each winner will receive their choice of an 8GB iPod Touch or OnLive Game System (plus a game of their choosing from the OnLive store). To have a chance of winning, participants must add The Expressionary to their circles and share the following as a public post with their Google+ followers:

The Expressionary is giving you the chance to win an iPod Touch or OnLive Game System (plus a game of your choice) in our “Valentine’s Spread the Love Giveaway!” To enter, add us to your circles and share this post publicly. Good luck! Details: http://ow.ly/8sKgC

Entrants must not have a default avatar image on their profile. Winners will be announced on The Expressionary Google+ page and the Expressionary blog on February 11. Winners will be contacted via Google+, so entrants must be have The Expressionary in their circles.

The contest entry period will close on February 10 at 23:59:59 EST. Winners will be selected by random drawing. Participants must be aged 18 or older and must be U.S. residents. Full terms and conditions are available at http://theexpressionary.com/contest/valentines-giveaway

About The Expressionary

Expressionary, LLC – a subsidiary of M&W, LLC – was founded in September 2011 by William L. Mehserle, Jr. and Michael J. Flanigan, both graduates of Georgia Tech. The company’s website, theExpressionary.com, launched in open beta on Nov. 23, 2011. The Expressionary concept was born during Mehserle’s high school years, as he was searching for a sentimental and meaningful gift for his then girlfriend. He purchased a dictionary, and pasted his favorite photo of her beneath the words that he felt best described her and their relationship. The full backstory can be found at The Expressionary’s website.

An Expressionary is a luxury personalized dictionary containing fine paper pages, beautiful covers, a letter in the front of the dictionary explaining the concept and high-quality photos. Additionally, The Expressionary is committed to donating at least 10% of all profits to charity. Customers can choose which of The Expressionary’s charity partners they’d like a donation to go to.