July 2017 – Croixstone

WBTV’s Maureen O’Boyle Visits the Croixstone Loft

The Croixstone team enjoyed welcoming WBTV’s Maureen O’Boyle (Anchor/Reporter) to our loft today. We enjoyed working with Maureen for a photo and video session to promote PurpleStride Charlotte 2017…the walk/run to end pancreatic cancer hosted by the Charlotte Affiliate of the Pancreatic Cancer Action Network (PanCAN) on September 9.

Croixstone’s Founder and Managing Partner, Mark Weber, serves as a volunteer Media Relations Chair for PanCAN. Patti Weber, Croixstone’s Chief Experience Officer, volunteers as Teams Ambassador for PurpleStride Charlotte.

Pop-Up = Competitive Advantage

The concept of “pop-up” was once limited to the world of retail and public relations stunts. Fast forward to today, and you’ll find business innovators using pop-up strategies in fresh, new ways to gain a competitive advantage.

Most people think of “pop-up retailing” (also known as “flash retailing“) as shops, restaurants, collections of shops or events opening short-term in a temporary location. The concept, however, is now being utilized in other ways including as a business model for temporary, project-based companies and training/professional development organizations.

The New York Times recently ran a story about how “flash organizations” are forming to build products for the on-demand economy. Click here to learn more.

The Croixstone team loves SkillPop, a local organization providing pop-up training and professional development.

For WSJ subscribers, learn how consumer brands create buzz by setting up NYC pop up stores here.

Disruptive Innovation via Big Data

Big Data in the marketplace is a disruptive force that requires new technologies, skills, tools and an open mind to drive innovation in business. According to the May 6, 2017 cover story in The Economist, “The world’s most valuable resource is no longer oil, but data.“

Learn more about 5 trends in Big Data here.

Where is the value in Big Data? Find out here.

Virtual Reality (VR) + Business

Last week, MacRumors reported Apple’s purchase of SensoMotoric Instruments which could be a major step toward making virtual reality (VR) mainstream.

At Croixstone Consulting, we understand that the potential implementations of VR in business are too numerous to count. Currently, VR is being used to give virtual tours of entire business environments and to provide training to new employees (especially where it involves equipment). At Stanford Health Care, doctors are using VR technology as a sophisticated visual tool during brain surgery and to train future neurosurgeons. VR can also provide 360 views of products and a more cost-effective way of developing product prototypes to detect design based issues at an earlier stage, issues that can lead to subsequent problems down the road.

Learn more about what VR is here.

See more on how VR can transform a host of industries—and business operations here.

For WSJ subscribers, check out: Virtual Reality Finally Catches On – With Businesses