Writings from Force 5 Basecamp

02/23/16

A webcam was recently installed at the Notre Dame Linked Experimental Ecosystem Facility (ND-LEEF) at St. Patrick’s County Park after two bald eagles took over an existing red-tailed hawk nest.  This is clearly an attempt by the eagles to break into the avian reality tv market and compete with South Bend’s Peregrine Falcons.   For your convenience, I have included the feeds

10/30/15

Happy Halloween from the team at Force 5! Here are a few fun facts about Halloween… In the United States, the first citywide celebration of Halloween was in Anoka, Minnesota in 1921. Jack o’ Lanterns originated in Ireland where people placed candles in hollowed-out turnips to keep away spirits and ghosts on the Samhain holiday. According to Irish legend, Jack

10/06/15

Our Little Free Library has been in front of the Force 5 offices for about two months now.  Our library is one of over 20,000 registered Little Free Libraries in over 70 countries.  The response in the neighborhood has been very positive, and there is always a new selection of books that have been left by the neighbors.  (Note: we always seem to run

08/06/15

Over the weekend, Deb DeFreeuw and David Morgan installed a Little Free Library in front of the Force 5 Offices.  For those of you that don’t know about the Little Free Library, it is a nonprofit organization that supports the worldwide movement to offer free books housed in small containers to members of the local community. The idea was popularized in Hudson,

05/06/15

With over 50 food vendors, 60 musical acts, Headliner Ben Folds, dozens of art exhibits and booths, things to do for the kids, a Tech park, and even a Zip line, South Bend’s birthday celebration over the Memorial Day weekend in downtown South Bend will be one of the biggest and most exciting community events ever held. How do you

11/05/13

If you happen to peruse on by Google today, you will notice that Google’s doodle is celebrating the birth of Raymond Loewy, a french-born industrial designer. Although Loewy is best known for his involvement in designing the Coca-Cola bottle and locomotives for the Pennsylvania Railroad Company, Force 5 wanted to recognize Loewy for his relationship with the Studebaker Automobile Company,

09/10/13

Calling all Non-Profit organizations (NPOs) located in St. Joseph County! Nominations are now open for our Force for Good contest. You could win $5,000.00 in brand development and marketing communication services. We know times are tough for NPOs and part of our brand is a commitment to doing good work for people who do good works. We would like to

07/18/13

For the last 10 years or so, we’ve been pleased to work with the Elkhart County (Indiana) Fair’s Marketing department and their Grandstand entertainment selections for the year. If you don’t know about this fair, you should. It’s one of the best in the country! It’s the fourth largest spectator event in the State—only surpassed by the Indy 500, the

06/26/13

I love local. It’s the heart and soul of a community, our neighborhoods, and our social circles.  The term brick and mortar actually means something to me. Now, I am not that person who doesn’t like a good online deal despite my local retailer, but I am that person who feels there is a happy medium. Recently my wife of

01/22/13

Force 5 is proud to announce to we have added three more hospitals to the ICE Michiana app! This expands the coverage of the smartphone application beyond St. Joseph County and now includes ER facilities in Elkhart, Fulton, and Starke Counties. The ICE Michiana app has had almost 8,300 downloads since its debut in August of 2012. We encourage all

08/07/12

Over the past years, we’ve had the good fortune to work for and with great companies. Some have been clients, some vendors. In each case, these folks have been terrific. Each of them has had a common goal–to bring success to themselves, their community, and to us. On occasion, we find the company or vendor that doesn’t have this goal-its

08/05/11

Well, we are at the end of the first week of nominations in our Force for Good non-profit awareness contest! Last I checked, we had 16 nominations. Actually, there were many nominations, but a fair number were duplicates. You non-profits have a lot of fans! I have been reading the acceptance write ups from the organizations as they come in,