whizdumb

Moving on, moving in

Time to shake things up a bit.  After four years here in the fine city of Denver, we've decided to make a change and move to New York. 

I'm going to miss a lot of people here in Denver.  I've had a fantastic experience at Integer; it's a great place to work with a strong culture and fine people.  I still think it's the best kept secret in the agency world (but becoming less secret all the time).

And I'll miss Coffee Mornings.  But we've got a new host for the coffees: Monique Elwell, a planner-type over at McClain Finlon.  Monique's energy and gift for gab have always served coffees well, and we're really excited to have her step up as host.  Coffee Mornings will continue as usual on the first and third Friday of each month.  Monique will keep the reminders and updates coming. And as always, to join the email list for details on the coffees write to coffeemorningsdenver@gmail.com. 

And Melissa Wilhelm of Sprout Strategy has offered to be the Denver point person for Planning For Good. Another piece of great news as PFG grows. 

For me the time has come for a new challenge, an opportunity to experience and contribute from a different perspective.  So over the last few months I've got to meet a lot of interesting people and agencies in New York, and I'm excited to have found a home in the planning group at R/GA.  My new job starts on Tax Day.

More details on this to come.  But in the meantime take a look at something R/GA launched in Europe for Nokia called the Urbanista Diaries.  I'm pretty biased now but still, it seems a great example of how the future of the marketing campaign might look.  From an R/GA release:

Urbanista Diaries is an extensive three-phase campaign that engages bloggers, journalists, and everyday people in ways that highlight the benefits of the Nokia N82. While the technology for this project is currently in beta, Nokia is partnering with several top media sites such as Wallpaper, Lonely Planet, National Geographic, and CNN to document major world events in real time. Reporters are given a Nokia N82 to snap photos, which easily get uploaded to the Internet and positioned on a stylized map-thus allowing people to follow their stories around the world.

More to come as soon when I unpack my computer late next week or so.  I think it's in box 63 or something.  Crap.

Recap: Coffee Morning 2/1

Thanks to David Kennedy for this recap of our last coffee:

We had great coffee this Friday morning (Feb 1) and were joined by many past attendees.  Hillary, Ameet, Ralph, Anoud, Michelle and myself (David) were all in attendance, as well as Amy (I think a first timer), an account executive, also joined us.  We also sat in the front room, as our “regular” table was taken (odd how we’ve always been able to get that back table in the past).

The conversation started as more of a job searching forum, with many people looking for a new job or at just a different one.  Lead sources were discussed, such as Andrew Hudson, TalentZoo (mainly for Creatives), The Ladders (for high pay jobs), and InDeed.  Anoud noted that with so many people moving to Denver, the competition for jobs is only getting tougher. 

The conversation quickly turned to all sorts of random things as it normally does, including why MP3 players don’t have an AM tuner (is it not hip?); coming up with a product name for a new Sorbet product one attendee is working on (we think we might be onto something with our group think tank…maybe we should start offering services for a fee!); and customer service research which led to “The Ultimate Question”.

Conversation wrapped up, looping back to the beginning as it often does, with talking about our ideal jobs and companies.  Follow your Bliss and Patagonia’s Yvon Chouinard were two examples of following what you believe in.

As usual, the conversation was all over, so I’m sure I missed something, but hopefully I did not leave anyone out.  Oh, one more thing.  New ideas were given for coffee mornings, including: “Beer Afternoons” and “Ski Saturdays (or any other day)”  I see an expanding market here…

Coffee Morning recap 1/18, reminder 2/1

A week ago we had a nice coffee morning and I never did a recap.  Life's been getting in the way like that lately I'm afraid.  Our next coffee will be Friday, 2/1.  I'll be out of town on vacation so it will be host-less.  But please come by and have a drink and a chat. 

Last Friday's coffee was visited by Monique, Ryan, David, Sarah, Trevor, Michelle, Amy and maybe a few others I missed.  A few newbies in there which is wonderful.  Unfortunately I had to leave before really getting to know them. 

Before I left there was hot air on all matter of stuff including American Gladiators, CW's partnership with SecondLife, the changing role of newspapers and tactile content, and how the writer's strike may be a precipitating factor for the rise of alternative content. 

So that's the quick update. And of course the reminder: Coffee this Friday 2/1.  If you make it send me an update and I'll post it afterwards.  Thanks.

[The picture is a button handed out at Coffee Morning London.]

Coffee Morning this Friday 12/21

Well we can't guarantee you that kind of creative caffeine but some decent conversation is a given.  The usual place: Common Grounds at 17th and Wazee from 8-10am. No PFG assignment this week, it's a good ol' fashioned coffee morning.  The last of the year.  Hope to see you there. 

Also, I wanted to share some thoughts from Melissa on the last coffee morning.  She was our guest host and kindly wrote this recap:

The additional topics that were discussed were quite interesting. It struck me that there are so many people that have big fancy MBAs that can't seem to find a great gig – is it because there just aren't any good jobs? Is it because they are focused on staying in Denver/Boulder (if so that doesn't say much for Denver if they can't find jobs here)? Or is it that the MBA isn't carrying as much clout or weight as it used to? If it's not as important for finding a job in the Marketing arena, then what is? What are companies really looking for now?

I also found it fascinating that so many of the people who attend the coffee mornings are interested in breaking into the Agency world, however they're finding it to be really difficult, even if they are willing to start at the bottom. What makes the agency world so intriguing that you'd want to quit a perfectly good job and work in Advertising? It also brings up another consideration for me, is the agency world too stuck in their ways to see there are some amazing people out there who might be able to help them create new ideas, even if they don't have agency experience? I recently broke out of the agency-requirement mode when I hired my Human Factor Director (she's the director of recruiting at Sprout now). She's always worked retail and has an amazing intuition and understanding of people and she's really opened my eyes to my idiocyncrasies that have been formed through my strict business associations with Advertising and Marketing people. She's enabled me look at old problems from new angles, which has reinvigorated my love for what I do.

So, those were the things that struck me the most about our conversations. Oh, and the fact, that we are all supposed to be strategic but the first thing we did when we started talking about the assignment was go to the tactics.

Curious what any of you in attendance thought that might add to this perspective. 

Melissa also compiled our submission to the PFG assignment on Live Earth.  Download it here if you'd like to read it:
Download live_earthdenversubmission.doc

Many thanks to Mel and the group last week who came together for this cause.

 

Coffee mornings update

Well it's been a couple weeks since our last coffee and I haven't written any sort of a recap.

Briefly, we had nice group including David, Monique, Anoud, and Hillary who was new to coffee.  We talked about a range of things from Jello to loyalty programs to Meetup.com and Sheeples. (David and I got off on a tangent afterwards on how to design a new breed of research facility, which led to this post).

The new news is that we have a fresh Planning for Good brief in the door.  It's the last one of the year.  Unfortunately I'll be unable to attend the next coffee which is scheduled for this coming Friday 12/7 but Melissa Wilhelm has agreed to be our guest host.  She hasn't been at coffee for a few weeks so I'm sure she'll be fired up to work on this PFG assignment. 

Oh, I should also mention that the Unicef brief we worked on a few weeks ago was presented to the client.  Here is what Gareth said about it at the PFG Facebook Group:

Thank you to everyone who contributed to the UNICEF brief. As Ed said, it was a great meeting and the ideas lived beyond my scratchy voice. They were truly blown away and are due to get back to us with next steps in the next day or so.
Alisa, the client, asked us to pass on her thanks.  So thank you all very much.

The guys promised to get the presentation up on SlideShare in the near future. I'll post it once it's up.

Anyway, our new brief is an exciting one and I know Melissa has a lot of heart for the cause.  It's for Live Earth.  Here's a brief version of the assignment, from Planning for Good's new blog:

It’s no longer a debate. Global climate change is a fact of life today. Scientists from all over the world agree that the evidence of a warming trend is "unequivocal," and that human activity has "very likely" been the driving force in that change over the last 50 years; they believe the earth could warm by an additional 7.2 degrees Fahrenheit during the 21st century if we fail to reduce emissions from burning fossil fuels. This rise in average temperature will have far-reaching effects. Sea levels will rise, flooding coastal areas. Heat waves will be more frequent and more intense. Droughts and wildfires will occur more often. Disease-carrying mosquitoes will expand their range. And species will be pushed to extinction.

Global warming is already affecting the world we know, endangering polar bears, shortening ski seasons and creating more intense storms.

The Live Earth global concerts on 7/07/07 helped to create a tipping point of awareness in the U.S. this summer. Live Earth is leading the charge to create a mass movement to influence people to address climate change, through the power of entertainment. With 8 concerts on 7 continents, and a broadcast on over 150 TV stations around the globe. Live Earth was the largest global media event in history. This event was the single largest online entertainment event ever, and in total we had an estimated live audience of 1 million people, and 2 billion total viewers around the world.

The UN secretary general has called the climate crisis “the most defining crisis of our time,” and has pointed to the U.S. (and China) as the leading emitters of greenhouse gasses. In the next 9 months, Live Earth will focus our efforts here at home where awareness and behavior change are lagging from the rest of the western world.

Background – Live Earth 2008 Campus Program:
On April 20, 2008 we will kick-off a massive Live Earth fueled student movement in the U.S. Ultimately, we aim to reach half the total student population – nearly nine million undergraduates.

Assignment:
Help us position Live Earth and create a messaging strategy that will kick-start students to take action. Help us define actions that will be the most relevant to students and help the cause. Evaluate our current messaging and inform us on how we can make it smarter, more impactful.

The Live Earth Assignment has 3 components:
1. How should LE be positioned to college students?
2. How should messaging come out of that?
3. What do the actions look like?

The assignment is due 12/17 so bring your brain and some caffeine and join Melissa this Friday 12/7!  Usual time and place: 8:00am at Common Grounds, 17th and Wazee in downtown Denver.

[image: Live Earth belt sold in the UK, made from reclaimed London fire brigade hose, available for purchase here.]

Planning For Good entry: UNICEF

We used our Coffee Morning last Friday to chew over the Planning For Good assignment.  It was based on an interesting brief for UNICEF's holiday period giving drive. 

Many thanks to Ameet, Elizabeth, Eric, Sarah, Erin, Ralph, David and Tom for their energy and ideas. Sarah even wrote a follow-up about the coffee.

I've done my best, in a very short time, to bring it all together in our idea submission.  Already when I read it I see some things I'd do differently but such is the nature of short timelines. 

You can download our submission here.  What do you think?

Can't wait to see what other groups have submitted.

Coffee Mornings' first Planning For Good assignment

Did you ever think you could help a non-profit by drinking coffee with some friends?

This Friday's coffee is going to be a little different.  I've volunteered us help out a global group of planners trying to do good stuff for people who need it.  It's called Planning For Good and described as:

Account planners and their friends using their brains to help solve problems for causes and non-profits.

To date Planning For Good has, through its Facebook Group, tackled its first project: helping the New Orleans non-profit group Idea Village create a vibrant, entrepreneurial community through talent and collaboration and innovation.  See the first PFG presentation that resulted from that effort here.

Ed Cotton, the organizer of PFG recently sent this out to the group:

We are keen to get as many great ideas for non profits as possible and with time constraints we know it's often hard to participate.  So we want to make it easier. Here's how.

1, We want to create PFG city groups

2. Each city will have a leader who organizes coffee mornings - 30/40 minute brainstorms over a brief that happen once a month

3. The ideas generated are then sent in

It's a good way to meet people and do good at the same time.

So naturally I volunteered our coffee morning this Friday for just such an assignment.  And the brief came in today so we're going to tackle it Friday!

The assignment is about helping UNICEF in a late 2008 five-day push. 

So here's what I'm asking of you:

- Read the PFG brief for UNICEF 
- Come to Coffee this Friday with your strategy and creative hat on and start jabbering.  Hell, even if you haven't read the brief, come on by!
- You'll have done some good and had some good conversation doing it.

I'll coordinate any submissions / ideas that we create and will get it out to the PFG group.  It's a really quick deadline as all ideas need to be submitted four days later, 11/7.

Thanks in advance for your participation.

P.S. If you're feeling really frisky about it and want to get started before coffee, bring some of your ideas on the PFG Submission Form.

Coffee Morning 10/19 recap

First things first.  The pictures I took at Coffee with my new phone didn't come out well.  Actually what I mean is they came out fine but people just looked bad.  You're all nice people but indoors early in the morning with a camera phone, it's a crap shoot. 

So instead I did a Google image search for 'i need a picture' and took the first image that came up.  (Woah, I just tried it again and it came up second). 

There it is.  WTF?  It's a consumer submitted video for TreeHugger.com and Seventh Generation's Convenient Truth Video Contest.  So if you fancy getting lectured to about consumer consumption by a pipe cleaner, check it out.  Wow, talk about irony.  Is this karmic retribution for Coffee Mornings' consumer marketing jabber?  Who knows.

Back to coffee last Friday.  We were joined by Ameet, Jennifer, Monique, Dave, Anoud, Erin, Melissa, Ken (of the Pure Thinking blog.  He wrote his own coffee recap here), and newbies Joe and Tommy. 

Joe just moved to town and is looking to land in a corporate communications or marketing role of some sort (Joe, leave a comment with any other details or contact info if you like). 

Monique is a planner at McClain Finlon, and she let everyone know that they're hiring.  So if you're a planner looking for a home check 'em out.  I believe Sarah Miller is the head of planning over there.  I've never met her I know she's trying to make it to coffee one of these days. 

Tommy has worked for some time at Comedy Works helping them to operate and expand their business and he had some really interesting perspective on comedy as an art and as a product.  For example, a good comic should have you laughing 4-5 times per minute.  I never really thought about that.  But it is a product and it's got, well I guess, metrics.   He also talked about the ratio of practice material versus tried and true material.  In a 15 minute set there may be 2-3 minutes of experimental stuff.  If you err on the high side that's 20% experimental.  Putting stuff out there to see if it sticks. You can see where I'm going with this...

What if brands allocated 20% of their ideas / product innovations / media spend to purely experimental stuff?  Things that might polarize.  New ground.  It's not unlike a regular innovation pipeline, but just put out there with the rest of it all, not researched in test markets and groups.  Just as there's nothing quite like a live audience in a comedy club, there's little to truly replace really going for it with a product launch in the real world.

Anyway, Tommy was also kind of segmenting comics among comics versus performers.  Dane Cook, for example, he considered a performer.  I'd probably put Robin Williams and maybe Bill Hicks in that category after watching a clip that Craig posted. On second thought, I think Hicks may be in a category all his own!

Incidentally, he's also a comic (performer?) himself.  Tommy, you've got to let us know the next time you're on stage.  I promise not to throw rotten tomatoes.

Ameet was sharing some thoughts from a presentation he recently attended on innovation by Tony Ulwick (Download the ppt here).  It makes the case for devising solutions that meet unmet consumer needs.

A few other topics came up but that's all I've got time for now.  Anyone have anything to add?

Reminder: Coffee tomorrow Friday 10/19

Made with catalog card generator.

Coffee Morning 10/5 recap

Last Friday we were joined by David from Corona Research, Melissa who is a planner for hire while she cooks up other interesting plans, and two marketers on the market, Rebecca and Anoud.  If you'd like to get in touch with any of these folks I'd be happy to make the connection. 

We talked about a lot of stuff.  Of course, about the new Dove spot Onslaught.  The new TV Guide.  And David shared his love of the Facebook Cities I've Visited and Borat applications. 

Anoud brought up the subject of Dubai the brand. 

From floating cities to skiing indoors, the country has taken bold steps to make a name for itself and attract attention from the West, and in some circles it's being called the New York of the Middle East.  She mentioned one proposal for a bubble city floating in the air.  I poked around and found it mentioned in the Washington Post:

"A few months ago one of the newspapers did a spoof about a project called Bubble City," said Sohrab Motiwalla, a longtime Dubai resident who tracks development trends. "It was going to be a huge city encased in a glass bubble, suspended above Dubai by helium balloons. The problem was that it took people here a few weeks to figure out it was a joke."

Amazing how long it took people to figure out the joke was on them.  The country is so used to spectacle a bubble city was not outside the realm of believability. 

Then we trailed into a reverie of travel stories, tips, and lists.  Melissa told us about her Balinese honeymoon.  Anoud shared her transformative Galapagos trip.  And on and on.  I won't go into more detail except to say that we basically covered every continent and by the time coffee was over there was a palatable wanderlust in the room.

Next coffee: 10/19