Welcome to The Weekly Intelligence Report
Socially Speaking...
 
Dr. Conrad Worrill has NOT missed a Bud Billiken Day Parade since his first parade in 1951.

So, it is my hope that by now many of my business buddies have already realized the importance of having a social media & digital marketing strategy in place! While social and digital strategies should compliment each other, it is important to understand that they are different. You need a digital marketing component (and budget) that focuses on making sure you are receiving the correct amount of impressions for your digital ad campaigns. Additionally, you need a social media component (and budget) that properly integrates your messaging into the socialsphere through social posts, videos and social influencers! How many social influencers have been organically integrated into your overall marketing campaign? Let The Intelligence Group develop a great media mix that helps you reach your overall marketing goals and objectives! 



Straight Outta Bolingbrook!

I am very familiar with social media controversy, as a matter of fact, I often provoke it.  I am known in the social media universe because of my disregard for political correctness.  I take on topics of race, culture, gender, religion, and politics - all subjects that people who care about me tell me to avoid.  But honestly, I am fascinated by the conversations that people are willing to have when given the platform, regardless of how extreme the topic.  And trust me when I tell you extreme...I have seen extreme, without batting an eye.  People have the right to say what they want.  I stand on that principle, so as offended as I was when I read @StatehouseChick's article "Wishing for a Katrina..." I still think she had the right to say it (although I can't believe the Tribune published it).  But both Kristen and The Tribune were attacked by a social media tsunami and they still haven't recovered.  Do you have a strategy to withstand a social media tsunami if something goes wrong?  Consult The Intelligence Group to ensure you are social media storm proof.

Maze Jackson, VP of Business Development
Become a SPONSOR of the South Side Soul Fest!
 Join us at the South Side Soul Fest Saturday, September, 12, 2015. 

There are sponsorship opportunities and vendor spaces available.
Contact [email protected] OR maze@theintelligencegroupltd to reserve your vendor booth and / or find out how your business can become a sponsor of this festival that attracts thousands of people waiting to engage and interact with your brand! 

Rauner Family YMCA | 2015 Golf Outing 

It's not too late to sign up for the golf outing happening next week at 
Cog Hill Golf 
& 
Country Club. 

Get your foresome together today! 



Happening in Bronzeville
Have you considered hosting your next special event in #Bronzeville? 
Let Alice & Erica know the The Intelligence Group sent you! We highly recommend
 The Bronze Event Lounge for holiday parties and The Parkway Ballroom for galas, church banquets and wedding receptions! 
Bronze Event Lounge 
Parkway Ballroom
Bronzeville Summer Nights 
Bronzeville Summer Nights | The 47th Street Takeover happens THIS Friday!  Hang out on 47th Street between King Drive & Drexel and experience all of the great businesses, arts and culture in this great southside neighborhood.  This month's event is being hosted by WVON's Matt McGill. We even here poet 
Harold Green will be performing somewhere along the 47th Street Corridor!  Don't forget to drop in on our dear friends at H-Dogs Chicago and enjoy a great burger or Chicago Style Hot Dog! 
Bronzeville Art District Trolley Tour
Whilst you are hanging out in Bronzeville this Friday night, hop on the Bronzeville Art District Trolley Tour and experience some of the great art & culture #Bronzeville has to offer.
Black Caucus-Governor Rauner..."Together?"

As the state budget impasse continues with little to no progress, the state budget battle is shaping up to be a battle of egos between two of Springfield's "five tops," holding the rest of Illinois hostage until someone blinks.  I sat down with the Chairman of the Illinois Legislative Black Caucus, State Senator Kimberly A. Lightford on The Maze Said Radio Show and Podcast, and I got the distinct impression that some members of the Black Caucus were willing to negotiate with Rauner, depending on the terms.

On the flip side, sources inside the Rauner camp tell me Rauner wants the support of the Black Caucus so bad, he would be willing to fund Black Caucus priorities AND grow Black business opportunities with in each of the districts.  Of course, that would mean supporting Rauner's "Turnaround Agenda." Black Caucus members remain skeptical, preferring Rauner to bring business to the state before they consider cutting a deal, but they did not rule out the possibility of a deal, which is intriguing.

A Black Caucus/Rauner alliance would not solve the budget crisis, but it would change the balance of power in Springfield, giving the Black Caucus a bigger voice in directing where the state's funding goes.   The Senate President has already shown some willingness to work with the Governor, but as Lightford acknowledged, he  has not been as "involved" in the battle as the Governor and Speaker Madigan.  She also acknowledged that it would be more difficult to gather the same support in the House.

Sources inside the Caucus inform me that Rauner has been quietly meeting with Black Caucus members in the House.  Democratic leaders were so nervous about Black Caucus House members meeting with Rauner, they requested written confirmation of the meetings.  Members balked at the suggestion, but clearly there are concerns that the Black Caucus will begin to leverage the power of their numbers.
 
"The Democratic Party is not doing what they are supposed to for Black people."
- Illinois Legislative Black Caucus Chairman Kimberly A. Lightford

But "we are looking at it," Lightford answered when I inquired why not cut the best deal for the Black people.  "The Governor has a list," she continued, "but we need to look at that list together" and pick which things "we can live with."
 
"I'm not for term limits...that's what elections are for," she goes on. "Maybe some people have been there too long, I get that," which is why they need to look at the list together she reasons.
 
In a state where Blacks continually do less that 2 percent of the state's business and cuts to vital services in the Black community are always on the table, the fact that the Black Caucus is talking about looking at a plan TOGETHER with Rauner should be of grave concern to the people Lightford said have built "legacies" while not letting the Blacks participate equally.
 
I don't know whom she was talking about, but "they" better be concerned...

Click here to watch  Part 1 and  Part 2  of the Maze Said Radio Show & Podcast interview with State Senator Kimberly A. Lightford! 

#mazesaid
 

DuSable Museum | Du You Have a Membership? 
 The LAST Jazz Concert Series at the Du! 
#DuJazz
Join us TONIGHT, Wednesday, August 19, 2015, in the front of DuSable Museum! Bring your chairs and coolers and enjoy the sounds of Jimmy McGriff, Richard "Grove" Holmes, Jack McDuff and Charles Earland.

Black Lives Matter, Then and Now
#EmmettTill60th
On, Thursday, August 27, 2015,  make plans to join Author and journalist Professor Christopher Benson who will speak on his work with Ms. Till-Mobley on the award-winning book,
Death of Innocence: The Story of the Hate Crime That Changed America. 
Freedom, Resistance and The Journey Toward Equality
On, F riday, August 28, 2015, DuSable Museum's newest exhibit will open! "Du" you have plans to attend? "Freedom & Resistance" is dedicated to the thousands of unknown lives given in the name of freedom and equality. 

Freedom Stories: Contested Meanings of America's Black Past
Attend a lecture and book signing with Dr. Khalil Gibran Muhammad, Director of the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture in New York on, Thursday, October 8, 2015, at 6:30 PM. 
The Condemnation of Blackness: Race, Crime and the Making of Modern Urban America will be on sale for $20.00 that evening.
Our Phi Beta Sigma Superheros of The Darkside Chapter with City Treasurer Kurt Summers at Bud Billiken Day Parade.
The West Side Music Festival audience in 
Douglas Park in the 24th Ward! 
Maze fulfilled a life long dream to dance on stage with BBD at the West Side Music Festival.
Dometi Pongo, Morning News Anchor of WVON and Maze at Movie Studio Grill on 87th & the Dan Ryan watching Straight Outta Compton.
Tenille Jackson and State Comptroller Leslie Munger! I-L-L-I-N-I 
Dr. Conrad Worrill and Congressman Bobby Rush exchanging pleasantries on Bud Billiken Day!

The Intelligence Group in Media
We don't only participate in the conversation, The Intelligence Group shapes the message and drives the conversation! 
The Maze Said Radio Show & Podcast    www.intellectualradio.com  on Mondays from 8:00p - 9:00p
Maze Jackson, WVON Commentator www.wvon.com
  Mondays at 9:20a,5:20p and 11:55p
Maze Jackson, Political Editor of The Chicago Defender www.chicagodefender.com
The Social Media Question of the Week with
 Maze Jackson & Matt McGill on Thursdays at 8:00 AM
Black Harvest Film Festival ENDS September 3rd!
 

Join The Mom & Dad Squad for a night out! 

Friday, September 11th @ 7:30 PM
Marvel Universe LIVE! is an original, live-action arena experience! Did you test your knowledge of Marvel Comics? Here are the questions WITH answers  from last week's Intelligence Report.
  1. Who created Marvel Comics? (Stan Lee)
  2. Where does Black Panther hail from? (Wakanda)
  3. Who were the founding members of the Avengers? (Iron Man, Thor, Ant Man, Wasp and the Hulk)
  4. What gave Spiderman his powers? (Radioactive Spider Bite)
  5. What metal is Captain America's shield made of? (Vibranium)

Buy your tickets TODAY!
Weekly Intelligence Report Contributors
Will Porter is a graduate of Southern Illinois University located in Carbondale, IL. Will currently holds a Bachelors of Science degree in Advertising and Integrated Marketing Communications. Will serves as a brand management intern and creative mind for The Intelligence Group. Will handles the creative sector of The Intelligence Group  from artwork to copy writing. He's currently learning how to completely manage a brand through various vehicles especially that of social media. He has been very instrumental in creating many of the graphics for The Weekly Intelligence Report. 
Thank you for reading The Weekly Intelligence Report, a weekly newsletter that we hope you  find entertaining, engaging and insightful. The mission of The Intelligence Group, Ltd. is to be the primary resource corporations, municipalities and associations utilize to create an environment conducive for their issues, causes and legislative agendas to be successful. Now you may ask yourself, "How in the heck did I get on this mailing list?" At some point you have met one of The Intelligence Group Principals, Tenille Jackson or Maze Jackson and we added you to our database. We encourage you to remain on our mailing list for the latest information on what is going on with The Intelligence Group, our clients and affiliated properties. Because we have so many different things going on,
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