Imua Family Services

We recently had the good fortune of meeting the incredible team at Imua Family Services—a Maui non-profit organization that provides early developmental services for children with special needs, as well as support and resources for their families.

“Imua Family Services’ mission is to, ‘Empower children and their families to reach their full potential.’ Our programs and staff assist children and their families overcome developmental learning challenges in their most critical formative years using play-based instruction designed to help them move forward.”

We were blown away when we found out about the work that Imua carries out here in Maui County and, needless to say, we were delighted and honored to work with them on two very different fundraising projects in the first half of 2017.

Imua Family Services' main headquarters in Kahului, Maui.

The first was the Imua Ball, an annual fundraising gala held at the Hyatt Regency Maui. This year’s event, the Platinum Jubilee, celebrated 70 years of operation for the non profit.

Cake Media were there to help with social media, mostly in managing Imua’s Facebook, Twitter and Instagram accounts on the day of the event. Taking on Imua's voice and using it across all our posts, we built up anticipation in the hours leading up to the ball, then covered the festivities as they happened. Our aim was to raise awareness, while encouraging engagement, new followers and—importantly—donations. You can still donate by the way, right here!

We were also taken on by Imua to manage a team of local social media influencers who were helping to get the word out, thank sponsors and spread the use of the #imuaball hashtag. Cake Media had pre-prepared event guides, with key information about the Ball, its performers and key event sponsors and were on hand to provide support as and when needed.

Social Media Prep Kits, created for the Maui influencers.

The second time we worked with Imua was Saturday May 6 on the 2017 Bluesmiths Paddle Imua, a race from Maliko Gulch to Kahului Harbor. The annual downwinder is open to a number of disciplines, including outrigger canoes (OC-1, OC-2, OC-6), Stand-up Paddle Boards (SUP), Surf Skis, Prone Boards and Hydrofoil SUP.

All funds raised from this event go to Camp Imua—a week-long camp for Imua’s children aged 6 to 16. Here they have an opportunity to do all kinds of fun activities such as horseback riding, ziplining and flying in a helicopter, to name just a few.   

We know the Maliko race well, having paddled it ourselves a handful of times in an OC-6 and we were in our element working at this event, considering our mutual love of paddling and Laura’s passion for and history of covering sports (yep-that’s my first love! – LG)

Image courtesy of Paddle Imua

Based at the finish line, Jenny took on the social accounts for Imua Family services – covering the day’s events from a human-interest angle that would make sense to existing and potential followers. 

Starting at the Maliko Gulch start line before zipping back to Kahului Harbor to see the athletes cross the finish line, Laura took over the social pages for Paddle Imua, sharing content before, during and after the race. Laura’s content was geared more towards people that might have been entering the race, paddlers, sponsors, water people, etc – focusing less on the human interest angle and more on the sport, the conditions, the athletes and the action. Taking on different “voices” for the clients and the respective social media pages that we manage is something that we love to do.

To make a long story short, we had a blast. We relish new challenges and what could be better than working with such an incredible organization and cause? 

For more on Imua Family Services and Paddle Imua, give them a follow on Instagram!

Thanks for reading! Laura and Jenny

Social Media and Branding for New Maui Clients

It’s been a busy start to 2017 and the weeks feel like they are flying by but we are beyond happy with how this year has started off, with so many cool new projects and clients.

The first we’d like to mention is a slipper/flip-flop company called Ha’awi. This is a new Maui venture owned by three fantastic, inspiring and ocean-loving women who wanted to create a fresh slipper brand, inspired by their love for Hawaii. Their vision is not just limited to designing attractive and beach-ready footwear but also to perpetuate Hawaiian values and the spirit of aloha, while giving back to the local community. To say that we were inspired by their vision when we first met is a huge understatement.

Funnily enough, we initially met the trio of women behind Ha’awi shortly after they’d paid a visit to one of our other clients, Star Noodle. While eating at the restaurant, they saw the 30 Acts of Aloha t-shirt that Jenny had designed in mid-2016, found out about us and got in touch. You’ve got to love those kind of connections.

After meeting to discuss the project, we were thrilled when Ha’awi chose to work with us, using Jenny’s graphic design and branding skills to come up with a series of logos to launch the new company.

A sample of Cake Media's design work for Ha'awi.

There will be plenty more news coming up about Ha’awi in the future but for now, remember the name! We know that this Maui startup is going to be huge.

Elsewhere, we feel very honored to reveal that the Old Lahaina Luau is now one of our clients.  In late January we started managing their social media across Facebook, Instagram and Twitter, with the focus on driving engagement, organic follower growth and customer service.

Performers at the Old Lahaina Luau.

This Luau is owned by Na Hoaloha Ekolu, the parent company of Star Noodle, Leoda’s Kitchen & Pie Shop and Aloha Mixed Plate. It’s a phenomenal organization and we are deeply grateful to them for the work they have sent our way. 

We genuinely love what we do—creating and sharing fresh and unique content, interacting with followers, writing and design, assisting with customer service and getting to be creative every single day. For us, there really is nothing better.

We’ll soon be bringing you exciting news about our work with a swim/activewear company, based in West Maui. Stay tuned for more details!

Thanks for visiting, Laura and Jenny

Making Writer's Block a Thing of the Past

Following a recent Instagram post, where we touched on the topic of writer’s block, we received a couple of direct messages asking us to elaborate on how we really overcome a creative clog to set about filling an empty page.

It's something I used to face quite regularly when starting out as a writer. I knew I wanted to write but sometimes—deadline looming—I'd find myself staring at a blank screen, not knowing where or how to begin. The longer I spent watching the clock and worrying about what to write first, the worse it would get.

The feeling can be familiar in any creative field; photography, art, music, design, we all face moments where the creative juices just seem to dry up.

I’ve now worked as a writer, in print, online and radio for over 11 years, I have studied a degree in Creative Writing and a post grad in Newspaper Journalism and in that time, I’ve learnt from friends, teachers, colleagues (and my procrastinating self) how to get past the occasional bout of writer's block. Of course, it will still show up from time to time but now I know how to overcome it.

So, for anyone who has ever sat and looked at an empty page or canvas and despaired, here are a few of my favorite ways to get back on track:

1. “The Morning Pages”

An old friend and spoken word writer/performer told me about the Morning Pages sometime around 2002/03 and to this day I still thank him for it. It’s a great creative hack for anyone who wants or loves to write. It's simple: keep a pen and paper next to your bed and every morning when you wake up, before you do anything else, sit up and start writing. Don’t think about what you are writing, don't worry about punctuation, just allow a stream of consciousness to flow. I guarantee that you will be surprised at what you produce in your half-awake state. Granted, the combination of words may not make sense but the Morning Pages will kickstart your day in a creative way. Once you get into the regular habit, you will see the positive effects on your writing.

2. Take a Walk

If the words just will. not. come. and your ideas are feeling stale, a walk can be one of the simplest ways to recharge. Fresh air, a change of scenery and exercise always has me coming back to my computer in a much clearer frame of mind.

3. Inspiration From Others

Ever read a line in a book and feel inspired to put pen to paper? I find that the more I read, the more I write and I’d urge anyone who wants to write as a career to read as much as they can, from as many different sources as they can. Visit a second-hand bookstore, dip into the newspaper and magazine section in your local Barnes & Noble, leaf through a dictionary, read online articles. Carry a notebook and note down interesting words or phrases from real people out on the street. It will all help to inspire and shape your writing.

4. Caffeine and Music

It’s a failsafe combination and one I use every single day. A good cup of tea/coffee and some music in the background is how I start every writing project (in the afternoon, I normally switch to water). The music keeps me stimulated and eases boredom, the caffeine energizes and helps me stay focused. It makes me type faster too…

5. A Change of Scenery

It can be hard to stay creative when you sit at the same computer, in the same place, day after day. Especially if you work from home where the distractions are many. At least once a week, I like to take my laptop to a nearby coffee shop, connect to the free wi-fi and work from there. This week, try working in another space, it’s amazing how change can affect your output.

6. Write

You have to train your body and your brain to write, just as you would with running or any form of exercise. Don’t worry about writing Pulitzer-prize winning material, just write. Trust me, the more you do it, the easier it becomes.

7. Skeleton First, Flesh Later

Before I start thinking about writing an intro or how I want my article to be structured, I will write down all my researched facts, statistics and quotes. This is done in no real order, it’s just a matter of getting the most important points onto the page first. This forms the framework, or "skeleton" of the piece. Then I move the parts of the skeleton into an order that makes sense for how I want to tell my story/get my opinion across, before getting creative and fleshing the rest of it out. It might not work for everyone, but I find this approach very useful, especially if I am writing an article that leans heavily on stats and research. 

Have any questions or comments? Please get in touch. Thanks for reading!

Laura

Happy New Year!

How best to describe 2016? Well...it was certainly eventful and, like most, we weren't too unhappy to bid farewell to those tumultuous 12 months, come December 31.

But wait! Last year wasn't all doom and gloom and certainly, in a business sense, it was very good to us.

As sisters who love online marketing but have very different skill sets, we'd casually toyed with the idea of setting up our own company for a while, until we decided to go for it in early 2016. Officially registered as a business in April, Cake Media emerged as a new Maui startup and we are delighted to have worked with so many great Maui businesses since then. Also, we must admit, we've been pleasantly surprised at how our small company has grown in such a short space of time.

We'd like to say a heartfelt thank you to everyone that worked with Cake Media over the last year. Social media management, graphic design, SEO work, content writing, consulting and more, we are so lucky to be doing what we love and feel honored that so many of you have chosen to work with us.

Happy New Year to each and every one of you and here's to a healthy, happy and prosperous 2017!

Laura and Jenny