The judges, including editors from AOL Autos, Autoblog and Engadget, awarded the top prize to Uconnect Access which gives users one-button emergency assistance, voice-controlled text messaging, vehicle performance monitoring, a voice-activated smartphone app that allows locked doors to beopened when keys are locked inside and more great assistive technology.
We're so excited about the technology; we'd love for you to try it out too. Starting this week, we're giving you a chance to win your own installation of Chrysler Group's Uconnect Access, inside a brand new car, of course! To celebrate the award, we're giving away a 2013 Dodge Dart Limited, worth more than $23,000.
For details on how to enter visit AOL Autos Facebook Page between now and January 25 by 5pm EST. A winner will be publicly announced in February. We wish you the best of luck!
In my experience as a recruiter, I've observed that culture is an important aspect in a candidate's decision making process, and I'd guess that more than half of candidates ask me what our culture is like. Many of those candidates stress how important culture will be to them when making a decision on accepting new employment. For me personally, employee culture is very important.
The culture at AOL now could not be more different from when first I joined in 2008. It's not that the 'old AOL' culture was bad, but it was not the open, fun and collaborative culture of the 'new AOL.'
In 2009, the announcement came out that Tim Armstrong would assume the role of CEO. The new leadership recognized the need to change the culture in order to change the company. Early on, a new AOL mission statement was generated using employee input from across the globe, and AOL crafted a corporate values statement that was largely drawn from employee input.
One of our core values is that 'We help people.' AOLers embody this value by participating in company-wide Monster Help Days, where employees have done community service that ranges from creating care packages for deployed troops, selling cupcakes in Grand Central Station to raise money for Cancer Research or renovating a library in a local elementary school. These events not only help us 'Walk our Talk' but they help to shake things up and are often fun. Hard work, but fun.
To take the culture transformation one step further, Culture Clubs have been established in each office. I'm a member of the Culture Club in New York. Our club holds a weekly happy hour and has staged events that range from a Halloween party, a chocolate and beer tasting and a Pride March pep rally. Similarly, offices around the country have held a variety of events that include a golf party, an annual Barbecue Cook Off, Office Olympics and various events, weekly and otherwise, that allow employees to have fun with their colleagues. I think these events, the community service and the existence of Culture Club have served a very important purpose – they have transformed our organization from the inside. Now when candidates ask me what the culture is like, I give them a very long, enthusiastic and sincere answer.
To find out more about working at AOL, visit our Careers pages. For more information on Monster Help Day, check out the video below!
At AOL, we're in the business of helping people, period. We live by this value every day, and we're proud that our CEO, Tim Armstrong, has been recognized for leading our company's commitment to making a difference in the world. Today, Adweek posted their portfolio of people doing good entitled "The Givers" which highlights individuals who have committed their "companies' capital and human resources, gave their own time and money, and lent their influential voices to causes as diverse as climate change, access to clean drinking water, the arts and the support of military families, these powerful people are making a colossal difference." Joining Tim on this list are other "Givers" including New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg; global CEO of Havas, David Jones and A+E Networks president and CEO, Abbe Raven.
"Even as he leads the biggest reboot in the history of digital media, the CEO of AOL has kept serving others top of mind, orchestrating huge efforts to inspire giving on the part of employees, partners and consumers. Since instituting the annual Monster Help Day two years ago, employees in 22 offices worldwide have volunteered 60,000 hours to more than 60 charities. Other initiatives include Citizen Schools, in which more than 100 AOL employees serve as teachers. Armstrong formed Action America upon the 10th anniversary of 9/11 to inspire community involvement and giving. And the redesign of the AOL homepage mandated that a permanent space be dedicated to a different nonprofit daily, driving over 19 billion impressions to 380 groups."
Check out the full list of "Givers" here and learn more about AOL's Corporate Social Responsibility initiatives here.
More than 12,000 people gathered in France for seven days to discuss, debate and celebrate the best in creative advertising during the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity. Among those attendees were creative agencies from around the world including Crispin Porter Bogusky, BBDO, Leo Burnett and the global leadership teams from brands such as Coca-Cola, Hyundai and Visa. AOL was on the scene, both on the ground and online, highlighting our thought leadership in online advertising and creativity through stage presentations, panels, events and activations.
During the "Engaging Generation Social" presentation, Rene Rechtman head of AOL Advertising International and CEO of GoViral, spoke about "high impact formats and how brands should concentrate on creating a peer-to-peer environment." Meanwhile, Arianna Huffington and Roy Sekoff presented "Tapping the Zeitgeist: The Participation Revolution, Unplugging to Recharge, and Tweeting Our Way to Compassion," a session about building a more human Internet. They also previewed HuffPost Live (formerly called Huffington Post Streaming Network) on a global stage for the first time. Video highlights from both sessions are available here and here.
AOL Agency Development, a small strategic team dedicated to building and strengthening our relationships and business across the four largest holding companies, held numerous meetings and events designed to dig deeper into the challenges, opportunities and successes in the agency business. During AOL and Interpublic Group (IPG)'s panel discussion on "Why Brands Matter," panelists from AOL, IPG, Initiative North America and Purpose spoke about the unique role advertising and creativity can play in building a better world. AOLer, David Shing also sat down with WPP's GroupM CEO Rob Norman and Y&R CEO David Sable for a discussion about the year's biggest trends, prior to a dinner for 40 WPP clients at the AOL suite.
AOL spent a full day with Publicis hosting two panel discussions, the first, made up of six senior creatives from across VivaKi and Leo Burnett, explored the best work of 2012 for an audience of 100 clients. Publicis ad agency Digitas also brought the highly successful Digital Content NewFronts, of which AOL is a founding partner, to their global clients in Cannes. During a private panel for 50 attendees, Karen Cahn represented AOL speaking about great partnerships and moving brands forward through AOL's Branded Experiences.
On AOL's last day in Cannes, we hosted a panel on the hottest topics and biggest stories emerging from this year's Cannes Lions. Led by David Shing and Jonathan Haber, Chief Innovation Officer of Omnicom's OMD, our closing event provided an excellent summary of all that was seen, celebrated and debated during the week.Check out more highlights from our trip to Cannes by reading our Storify recap below.
After mentoring a group of eager sixth graders for the past 10 weeks, several Boston AOLers got the chance last week to see our students shine.Through the Citizen Schools program, which partners with middle schools in low-income communities to extend the learning day and provide students with new learning opportunities and experiences, we've worked with the kids to teach them all about business networking.
At last week's "6 Degrees of Boston WOW!" event, we saw our young apprentices test their skills shaking hands, making small talk, asking career-related questions and politely transitioning between conversations. Other Boston AOLers joined us at the event to staff an AOL booth, trade-show-style. Our team exchanged business cards and career information with the students and socialized with future engineers, doctors, pianists, and basketball players.
The event culminated the second consecutive semester the Boston office has participated in the Citizen Schools program, with which AOL has partnered for the past three years. Our colleagues in New York have also mentored groups of kids twice yearly, culminating in "WOW" events hosted in the New York office. In addition, Tim Armstrong and Arianna Huffington taught a Citizen Schools class about local journalism last year.
Learn more about AOL's community initiatives here.
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