About Author: Patty Cara

Website: http://
Description: Patricia Cara, our Vice President of Creative Services, has an eye for design no doubt honed by years of painting, photography, cooking (and school-projects). Every AE's go-to goddess at deadline time, Patty, with Alstin for more than 24 years, keeps it real with impromptu office dance parties and the latest iPhone apps.

Posts by Patty Cara

People are Talking About: Cameron Russell’s Ted Talk

Posted on January 18, 2013 | No Comments
Don’t hate her because she’s beautiful. Cameron Russell, an accomplished and in-demand model, shares some very compelling insights on the power of attractiveness, the insecurities of even (perhaps especially) physically...
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Seven Things You Should Know About INSTAGRAM

Posted on November 7, 2012 | No Comments
1. Instagram is a photo sharing app that allows you to apply simple filters and frames to your photos and then share them through social media. You share them either...
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A Satirical Look at Statistics

Posted on October 3, 2012 | No Comments
Here’s a video of a Ted talk that offers an amusing take on the use (misuse?) of statistics. Effective measurement is absolutely essentially to gauging the success of a communications...
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Find Your Olympic Body Match

Posted on August 2, 2012 | No Comments
Don’t know if infographics are a trend or if they are here to stay, but I DO know that they are among my favorite things to discover on the Internet....
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Creative Ways to Get Creative Jobs: What Works to Get Work

Posted on June 1, 2012 | No Comments
As a long-time Creative Director, I remember the pre-digital days when creative applicants would find offbeat and eye-catching ways to get their foot in the door. And, yes, this actually...
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The Science (and Magic) of Color Selection

Posted on April 2, 2012 | No Comments
Many years ago, I was expectantly preparing my baby’s nursery. I chose soft yellow for the walls and painted the ceiling sky blue. Clouds and stenciled birds added finishing touches....
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Khan Academy: The Best Site on the Internet (Seriously)

Posted on February 2, 2012 | No Comments
A really, really smart guy named Salman Khan (three degrees from MIT and an MBA from Harvard) wanted to help his niece in another city bring up her math grade....
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The Ten Questions That Show Who You Really Are (And My Answers)

Posted on December 15, 2011 | 2 Comments
Earlier this year, we featured a blog highlighting the Ten Questions that James Lipton asks his guests at the end of each interview on “Inside the Actor’s Studio.” The format...
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Cross “shopping” off your to-do list – while staying on budget!

Posted on October 12, 2011 | No Comments
‘tis the season to get interactive! If you’re an HR professional who’s in the market for: End of Year Awards for employees Holiday gifts for clients, vendors, or employees Party...
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Haven’t I Seen You Somewhere Before? Google Adds Image Search to its Capabilities

Posted on August 11, 2011 | No Comments
Google it. It’s become the solution to nearly every question of the modern age. Whenever you need to know something – from the mundane to the philosophical – you know...
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YourHRStore is Open for Business.

Posted on June 23, 2011 | No Comments
We’ve all seen promotional products done poorly. The sloppily printed smiley face squeeze ball that ends up rolling around your office drawer. The pen that doesn’t write. The letter opener...
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Failin.gs: Tell Me What You REALLY Think.

Posted on April 28, 2011 | No Comments
“O wad some Power the giftie gie us To see oursels as ithers see us!” The above is an often quoted line from a Robert Burns poem entitled, “To A...
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Photo Tip: Shooting from the Hip. Literally.

Posted on February 24, 2011 | 1 Comment
Until Spring arrives for real, I thought I’d brighten your day with a hot pink photo of flowers. I also wanted to share the unconventional method that I used to...
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Need Some Motivation? Just Click Here.

Posted on January 13, 2011 | No Comments
It’s mid-January . . . do you know where your resolutions are? Less than two short weeks ago, you probably made some promises to yourself. Maybe they involved going to...
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Favorite Blog of the Year: Patty Cara

Posted on December 22, 2010 | No Comments
My favorite post from the past year is actually one from last December. I wrote “Mango: A Love Story” just a week after we got our first real pet. It’s...
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Marian Bantjes: Intricate beauty by design

Posted on November 11, 2010 | No Comments
I want to share a TED talk with you that I found especially creatively inspiring. First, a bit of background on TED: They are a non-profit organization devoted to...
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One-Minute App Attack: Percolator

Posted on September 23, 2010 | 1 Comment
Percolator is an iPhone app that allows you to creatively modify photographs. The user experience is simple and somewhat intuitive, although it required a bit of tinkering to get what...
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My Almost Triathlon (With Apologies to Real Triathletes Everywhere)

Posted on September 2, 2010 | No Comments
Some things seem like a good idea if you agree to them far enough in advance. Case in point: Last year, after my husband finished a sprint triathlon in Brigantine,...
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Creative Brief: Productivity Meets Creativity

Posted on July 15, 2010 | 1 Comment
Top Three Summertime Sources for Creative Inspiration If you’ve read my “Five Simple Steps to Greatly Increasing Your Creativity,” you know that I’m big on “Creating Your Own Inspiration.” In...
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The Wonderful Thing About Deadlines

Posted on June 17, 2010 | No Comments
Deadlines. The very word can strike fear into the hearts of anybody who has ever had to meet one. For those doing something creative, doubly so. To work under time...
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Stalking Bradley Cooper

Posted on May 12, 2010 | 1 Comment
Last Thursday two co-workers returned from their lunch break breathless with excitement. Bradley Cooper and Robert DeNiro were filming a scene for their upcoming movie, The Dark Fields, just a...
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Five Simple Steps to Greatly Increasing Your Creativity.

Posted on May 6, 2010 | 2 Comments
By day, I am a Creative Director. My team and I routinely complete multiple creative projects in minimal time. At this moment I have at least twenty active projects. The...
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Inspiring Creativity: The Playlist

Posted on April 15, 2010 | No Comments
In my last blog post, “Music and Creativity: Let the Music Play. Or Not,” I asked for input on music that inspired people creatively. I got back recommendations that were...
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Music and Creativity: Let the Music Play. Or Not.

Posted on March 25, 2010 | 14 Comments
As a Creative Director by day and an artist by night, I’m especially interested in tips and tricks to stimulate creativity. As I’m writing this, there is a base line...
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Great Expectations: Be Careful What Your Employment Brand Promises.

Posted on February 11, 2010 | No Comments
I went to see the movie “The Hangover” before all of the hubbub. Before it became the highest grossing comedy of all time. Before people said it was the funniest...
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iPhone Apps: These are a few of my favorite things – Part II

Posted on January 7, 2010 | 1 Comment
A few weeks ago, I posted the first five of my “Top Ten” favorite iPhone apps. The list continues below. In the spirit of new beginnings that comes with the...
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Mango: A Love Story

Posted on December 17, 2009 | 1 Comment
By the looks of this blog, you might think we over here at Alstin eat, breathe and sleep all that is recruitment and retention. Every so often we’ll stray from...
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iPhone Apps: These are a few of my favorite things.

Posted on November 30, 2009 | 1 Comment
I’m getting a jumpstart on the 2009 “Year in Review” articles. Just for fun, I’ve assembled a list of my all-time favorite iPhone apps. They aren’t in any special order...
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Take My Privacy. Please.

Posted on October 22, 2009 | No Comments
This is not another cautionary tale about cybercrime or identity theft. This is about a loss of another kind. The disappearance of something that we used to value highly and...
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The Move: In Pictures

Posted on October 2, 2009 | 3 Comments
Once all of the boxes are unpacked and we’ve made the space truly ours, we’ll widen the lens a bit more. For now, here are some familiar faces on moving day:
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You’ll Find Me at Misconduct Tavern

Posted on September 3, 2009 | No Comments
By the looks of this blog, you might think we over here at Alstin eat, breathe and sleep all that is recruitment and retention. Every so often we’ll stray from...
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Contemplating Navels, Pendulums and Pocket Jobs

Posted on August 13, 2009 | No Comments
As a creative professional with expertise specific to employment messaging, I’m doing some serious navel gazing these days. It’s a tricky time to be an expert in employment communications. For...
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The Clock is Ticking: Social Media and Employment Marketing

Posted on June 18, 2009 | 1 Comment
The majority of employment marketers are simply not early innovators. Often for good reasons: The budget isn’t there, the needs are not great, and the old methods are still working...
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Design vs. Data: A Digital Duel

Posted on May 21, 2009 | 1 Comment
Developing great creative isn’t really the hard part. With the right team of writers and designers – and good information to build on – Alstin’s usually got that part in...
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