brandflakesforbreakfast: the greatest jingle ever made.
Late last year, we posted about Love Jingles and his project to record an awesome jingle every day for 2010.
We were so impressed that we bought one for Brand Flakes. The resulting production is clearly the most fantastical jingle every heard by human ears.
You can still get in on the fun, and it's still affordable. Prices go up a little bit, every day. Get your own before they get expensive!
Labels: plaid, self promotion
posted by darryl ohrt @ 8:07 AM
2 comments
Friday, November 27, 2009
the ultimate gift guide for creative people
Happy Black Friday!
This is the day that the greatest blog in all of the land launches a gift edition!
The Brand Flakes For Breakfast Gift Guide is an entire blog devoted to the most killerest gift ideas for the creative person in your life. We'll post new, awesomely delicious ideas each and every day through the shopping, selling and giving season.
While today is the first day for the 2009 gift buying season, you can still browse through 2007 and 2008's awesome ideas, and then check back each day for more new, great stuff!
Get shopping. (And feel free to send ideas to @plaid)
Labels: blogging, holiday, plaid, self promotion
posted by darryl ohrt @ 7:28 AM
0 comments
Friday, November 06, 2009
this week at Plaid
Here's what happened this week at the greatest agency in all of the land:
Some costumes arrived for a production that's in house. Long story, but we're stoked to have another costume around the office for a couple of days.
We shot a screen test for something top secret for someone that we can't talk about. We're bursting at the seams wanting to share the details, but for now we'll have to tell you that it's been a load of fun hanging with someone in tv, and getting a unique perspective on that side of the entertainment industry.
Our skateboards arrived for the Bordobello event! This is an awesome fundraising art event where artists customize boards that are then auctioned for two worthy causes in Denver. We're stoked to be a part of it, and now Plaidsters will be getting busy customizing their boards.
I had a new piece published on Advertising Age's Small Agency Diary, discussing how to survive through tough times. While it's geared toward the agency business, this is advice that could apply to nearly any business in any industry.
Our client Segway hooked us up with a copy of WiiFitPlus, and we've been training like Wii-maniacs on the Segway Circuit game. So far, Steph has the office high score.
It's getting colder in New England, and the days are darker. Plaidsters are not adjusting well to the 3:30pm sunsets. Some already have their eyes set on spring, while others are counting down the days until the snowboards come out.
Have a great weekend!
Labels: plaid, thisweekatPlaid
posted by darryl ohrt @ 4:12 PM
0 comments
Tuesday, November 03, 2009
what you can learn from jason fried
We could all learn a lot from the work habits of Jason Fried. Inc Magazine has a super nice profile on the web2.0 entrepreneur who founded 37 Signals.
Jason doesn't believe in alarm clocks, work schedules, or office time. He does believe in mixing work with reading, office vacations and virtual collaboration over meetings.
We're not only users of 37 Signals products, we also subscribe to many of the same work philosophies at the world's hottest agency - and can say for sure that they work. Send the Inc article to your boss and see if you can get her to adopt at least one of these philosophies in your joint. Happy people = maximum productivity.
Photo: Chris Strong for Inc Magazine.
Labels: plaid, smallagency, workplace
posted by darryl ohrt @ 7:54 AM
2 comments
Friday, October 16, 2009
this week at Plaid
Here's what happened this week at the world's most scrumptious creative agency:
Conn Creatives, a new sweet resource for creative types stuck in CT published a print piece profiling agencies in the state. Naturally, Plaid was one of the shops featured. We're a little miffed that we weren't on the cover, back cover, and center spread, but we'll get over it.
I represented Plaid at the annual Housatonic Valley Cultural Arts fundraising breakfast, and shook hands with a bunch of really cool fine artists, and a couple of people in suits.
It snowed. Yes, that's ridiculous, and that's more proof than ever that Plaid should really be located on the west coast, where everything is perfect all of the time.
We completed our Yahoo Purple Pedals art initiative. Yahoo gave us a sweet purple bike equipped with a camera that auto shoots and uploads photos every 60 seconds. We used it to meet people in our community and ask them "what makes you happy?" See the results in this video, or take a browse through the bike's entire photo stream.
Chris got a haircut.
We were invaded by sickness. Both Steph and Chris were inflicted with a nasty cold that rendered them useless to the world. We blame our high school intern/job shadow, Shane. Because that's what high school kids are best at: spreading germs.
RJ cranked up our convection oven for the first time in a while to make hot, fresh chocolate chip cookies. These are the perfect end of week treat, and make the office smell delicious.
This weekend Plaidsters will mostly be hybernating indoors since it's cold, and planning on raining every second of every day. Hopefully your weekend will be nicer.
Labels: plaid, thisweekatPlaid, yummyfood
posted by darryl ohrt @ 4:34 PM
1 comments
Friday, October 09, 2009
this week at Plaid
Here's what happened this week at the world's most awesome creative agency:
We brought the Yahoo Purple Pedals bike to the Aldrich Museum of Contemporary Art, to participate in their BikeFest event. The turnout was massive, and everyone fell in love with the purple bike. We also shot some new Purple Pedals photos at a grade school (always interesting), and at client RMI Direct.
I had the pleasure of speaking at a Direct Marketer's Association event, for the Hudson Valley Chapter. I was on a panel with Valorie at Creative Concepts, and Ken Crites at Green Mountain Coffee, and needless to say, we KILLED IT. That's how we roll.
I spill my guts on Plaid failures in a brilliant new piece on Advertising Age.
Ausra's bobble head got launched to our main site.
High school student Shane joined Plaid for to shadow supreme coding goddess Steph. He'll be scarred for life, we promise.
The AdLawGuy paid a visit to our world headquarters and schooled the crew on everything related to copyright, trademarks and how to not to get yourself sued while creating brilliant creative work.
Chris got a haircut.
This weekend, Chris and I will be running our first ever half marathon. You can track how slow we're going here live during the race, by entering our last names (Ohrt, and Spada.) Plaidsters will also be celebrating the marriage of former Plaidster Sara this weekend. Cupcakes will be devoured.
Have a great weekend!
Labels: plaid, self promotion, thisweekatPlaid
posted by darryl ohrt @ 5:24 PM
0 comments
Thursday, October 08, 2009
cutting our military friends a break
We don't often promote our own clients on BrandFlakes, but thought this was worthy. Check out the video promoting Helmets to Hardhats, a unique program aimed at helping military vets that are returning from active duty get awesome jobs in the construction industry.
We produced Are You G2G, an online tool that helps soldiers plan for their re-entry into our nutty civilian life. There's even a Facebook app that lets them countdown their days till discharge in their timeline.
All you need to do is send the video to people who have friends in the military.
posted by darryl ohrt @ 7:54 AM
0 comments
Friday, September 25, 2009
this week at Plaid
Here's what happened this week at the world's most incredible creative agency:
I gave the keynote at the American Advertising Federation in Savannah on Wednesday, to kick off their 2009 - 2010 season. I shared the details of what we call "the attraction engine" at Plaid, our industrial strength business generation machine. You can listen to the audio and see details of my presentation on the AAF Savannah website. What a cool city, with an awesome creative community. Special thanks to Melanie, Cathy and Hal for extra amazing southern hospitality.
We began the production of our Purple Pedals project. We were invited by Yahoo! to participate in this super cool, international creative initiative. They've crafted 20 custom Yahoo Purple Pedals bikes, each equipped with solar powered cameras that automatically take a photo every 60 seconds, and then it uploads to Flickr. Pretty amazing.
We're turning it into our own project of sorts, and have created What Makes You Happy? We're attempting to have the bike photograph as many people as possible holding the answer to the question "what make you happy?" in front of the camera. We hope that the end result will be a really sweet gallery of photos that reads like a melting pot of human happiness. We'll see how this unfolds over the next couple of weeks. Dave got to ride the bike behind a police escort, earlier in the week (pic, above.)
In the meantime, you can check out the live photo stream for our bike on Flickr, as well as the Plaid Flickr photostream for regular updates.
Our Parking Day event from last week was a huge hit, and landed us on the front page of the local paper. Always great to be in the local news, especially when it's not the police blotter.
Leaves have begun to fall, and this weekend Plaidsters will enjoy a rockabilly festival, cool local shows, and some rest and relaxation. You should do the same!
Labels: plaid, self promotion, thisweekatPlaid
posted by darryl ohrt @ 6:59 PM
0 comments
Tuesday, September 22, 2009
you should really fly to savannah. right now.
I'll be speaking about self promotion to the Savannah chapter of the American Advertising Federation, at Alligator Soul on Wednesday. If you get on a plane right now, you could probably make it.
FutureDarryl already attended the event (because you can do that when you have time travel at your fingertips) and he says it's the most awesome presentation ever.
From what I've heard, every awesome person within an hour's drive of Savannah is going to be there. If you live nearby, you should take a long lunch and attend. You don't want to be the one cool person left in your office with the creepy guy who decided to "eat lunch at his desk." Gross.
Labels: adindustry, plaid, self promotion
posted by darryl ohrt @ 6:25 AM
1 comments
Friday, September 18, 2009
this week at Plaid
Here's what happened this week at the world's most awesome creative agency:
Whew! What a week! Lots of crazy, cool work in house, and fun events happening this week.
Earlier in the week, David art directed a two day photo and video shoot for client Sikorsky Financial Credit Union. We shot with the legendary Chip Simons for stills, and Renato Ghio for video. They made people beautious. Even in the rain.
My new post was published on Advertising Age. I've outlined Plaid's awesome open management philosophy, and how it could change the world as we know it. ;)
Our Purple Pedals bike has been shipped from California, and on its way to Plaid world headquarters. We have great plans for it over the next few weeks.
Future Darryl stopped by our office to deliver a most important message about an earth shattering event happening in Savannah, GA next week. If you live anywhere near the peach state, you should be making arrangements to get there.
Today our agency participated in PARKing Day, an an annual, one-day, global event where artists, activists, and citizens independently but simultaneously temporarily transform metered parking spots into “PARK(ing)” spaces: temporary public parks. We've added a few photos and video clips to our Flickr photostream, and will update more next week.
This weekend, Plaidsters will be enjoying the last weekend of summer and sun, checking out a sweet local art show, and getting ready for another Plaidtastic week. Hope you're doing the same!
Labels: plaid, self promotion, thisweekatPlaid
posted by darryl ohrt @ 7:23 PM
0 comments
happy park(ing) day!
Today our agency will be participating in PARK(ing) Day, an annual, one-day, global event where artists, activists, and citizens collaborate to temporarily transform metered parking spots into “PARK(ing)” spaces: temporary public parks.
We'll be turning a parking space in front of our building into a Plaid park. We imagined the perfect park would be a place with comfy chairs and free wifi so that you could hang outside and tweet your friends. So that's the park that we're creating! (If you're in the area, stop by and say hi!)
Labels: plaid, self promotion
posted by darryl ohrt @ 10:17 AM
4 comments
Tuesday, September 15, 2009
the greatest article ever published on ad age
If you haven't been paying attention to Advertising Age lately, then you might have missed how it's become the most awesome publication on earth. Yes, they already feature Brand Flakes on their top 150 ad industry blogs, but now they've published several (that's more than two!) pieces of mine in their Small Agency Diary section.
These latest words of genius are titled Transparency Begins at Home, and it's all about being transparent with your employees. Taking the sharing philosophy inside the organization as well as outside the organization can do wonders, and you should give it a try.
We're here to change the world, and Ad Age is on board. Woot!
Labels: adage, adindustry, plaid, self promotion
posted by darryl ohrt @ 7:36 AM
1 comments
Friday, September 04, 2009
this week at Plaid
Here's what happened this week at the nation's hottest creative agency, Plaid:
We've put together the plans for another art initiative for our city. We're taking advantage of being invited to participate in Yahoo's Purple Pedals program, and turning the event into something that anyone can participate in. We'll share details soon, once we receive our bike - but you can see a sneak peek at Matt's design work, above.
We started a super cool project for Aflac that we can't tell you about, but can't wait to show you. We're also working on something for Rosa Regale that you'll be able to join in on. Lots of announcements, soon.
We committed to participate in the upcoming (Park)ing Day, where citizens take over the parking spaces in their cities and turn them into something fun. You should do the same thing in your city!
Former Plaidster Sara Champion got married!! She's got the coolest wedding pics that you'll ever see.
Today was our last half day Friday of the season, and this weekend Plaidsters will be enjoying a three day weekend! Many will also be taking in the Safe to Swim Weekend 2 (S2SW2) festival that's taking place around town.
Have fun on the last weekend of summertime!
Labels: plaid, self promotion, thisweekatPlaid
posted by darryl ohrt @ 7:57 PM
0 comments
Saturday, August 29, 2009
this week at Plaid
Here's what happened this week at the world's most awesome creative agency:
I appeared on the Beancast podcast for the very first time! Needless to say, this was the best episode of the Beancast that ever was produced. Other guests included world famous Bill Green of Make the Logo Bigger and Kelly Eidson, a contributing writer for Advertising Age.
I also wrote another piece for Advertising Age Small Agency Diary. The post was featured in the AdAge email newsletter, and resulted in loads of comments, which means that it was the best post ever. (Technically, this happened the week before, but since we forgot to post last week, and it's important to brag about stuff like this, we're including it here. Stop getting all technical.)
Adrants posted about our G2G project for a division of the AFL-CIO that helps soldiers get great construction jobs when they return home. This is a really great effort for some really great men and women, so spread the word.
David launched a new site for Powderhouse Productions. This may have happened the week before as well, but we're too lazy to fact check stuff like that. Powderhouse produces some pretty awesome television, and now we're almost guaranteed a starring role in something. Someday.
Ausra's bobble head arrived! As you may already know, Plaid employees are bobbled and then featured on the Plaid website. Ausra's bobble features the thinnest body of all of the bobbles in our collection, so now we're putting the other bobbles on a training program.
This weekend, Plaidsters will be soaking in the best that hurricane Danny has to offer. Hopefully you won't be doing the same. Enjoy!
Labels: plaid, self promotion, thisweekatPlaid
posted by darryl ohrt @ 3:52 PM
0 comments
Monday, August 24, 2009
best marketing podcast ever
If you've never listened to the Beancast, here's a good reason to start: I'm featured in this week's episode.
You'll love hearing Kelly Eidson, an Advertising Age contributing writer and BrandFlake's colleague Bill Green from Make the Logo Bigger chat about stuff that's happening in the industry. But clearly the best part of this week's episode is my glorious voice.
In the "Risky Business" episode of the Beancast, we chat about taking risks, anonymous blogging, Twitter movie reviews, banner ads and the Brody PR blunder. We all go on and on as if we're experts in everything. Download it now - because you're tired of all the songs on your iPod, anyway.
Labels: plaid, podcasting, self promotion
posted by darryl ohrt @ 8:41 AM
2 comments
Friday, August 14, 2009
this week at Plaid
Here's what happened this week at the world's most awesome creative agency:
We've sorted out tour shirts, conducted post-tour meetings and are already setting up plans for next year's tour. (We have a handful of small and medium PlaidNation shirts left - if you know of anyone worthy, give us a shout.)
We're now working with Riunite and Rosa Regale, which means that many of our brainstorms have turned into wine tastings. Not that that's a bad thing. :) There were several brainstorms/tastings this week at Plaid, resulting in nothing but pure awesomeness. (If you're in the neighborhood, stop by and we'll poor you a glass.) In the meantime, be sure to follow Riunite & Rosa Regale on Twitter.
We just launched a Facebook application for soldiers who are nearing discharge. The Good to Go Countdown Clock lets soldiers share their discharge date with family and friends, so that everyone can be ready for their return home. Send it to anyone you know who's serving! (We'll be sharing more about G2G and a cool program that helps soldiers find jobs, soon.)
We inflated the tires on our office Segway PT. For the first time ever. We love this magic machine that takes us from place to place like a magic carpet. It's extra cool that this is the only maintenance required, because we really don't like to get our hands dirty.
This weekend, Plaidsters will be enjoying the first heatwave of the entire summer with Oyster Festivals, bike rides, runs (the athletic kind, not the kind caused by Oysters) and of course District 9 viewings.
Labels: plaid, self promotion, thisweekatPlaid
posted by darryl ohrt @ 3:55 PM
2 comments
Friday, August 07, 2009
this week at Plaid
Here's what happened this week at the world's greatest creative agency:
We completed PlaidNation! This was the best tour yet, and if you haven't already watched the videos, you should head over now - and then catch up on the tour blog. Loads of great stuff. We met great people, large and small businesses, some amazing brands and inspiring non-profits. We have a feeling that you'll learn something from each of them.
We hired Ausra! She'll be maintaining awesomeness levels throughout the Plaid organization, and we're happy that she's here. Learn all about her background and Candian-ness on her welcome post.
We launched the Plaidtastic Ten! This will be a site devoted to profiling ten people, brands or companies that we believe will inspire you. So far, we've profiled Scott Monty, the 826 Organization, and the boys from BlueFuego. Even more awesome profiles are coming down the pike!
We learned that Chris loves beefcake. Actually, Chris is a vegetarian (who had quite a bit of trouble finding food while on tour in the south), so we decided to celebrate his special day with a cake decorated with beef.
We were featured in Advertising Age! They published a piece that details our philosophy around business development, and how our tour, this blog and other Plaid goodness generates Plaid love all around the world.
We launched AreYouG2G.com. This is the first component in a campaign that we're doing for a division of the ALCIO, that assists soldiers transitioning back to civilian life. AreYouG2G.com helps soldiers organize all of the things they need to do between now and their date of discharge - while promoting the job opportunities that exist with the Helmets to Hardhats organization. Send the link to anyone that you know who's about a year or less from coming home.
RJ got a haircut, and he wanted you to know.
Summer decided to follow the PlaidNation crew home from tour, so Plaidsters will be celebrating this weekend in style. Hopefully with BBQ. You should do the same.
Labels: plaid, thisweekatPlaid
posted by darryl ohrt @ 1:44 PM
0 comments
meet ausra.
Meet Ausra, Plaid's newest recruit!
Ausra will be working with clients and Plaid creatives to keep all of the Plaid magic on budget, on time, and filled with happiness. We like to call that position the "master of everything."
Ausra hails from Canada, the place where it snows all of the time, the country responsible for creating Loverboy, and where people say "aboot" instead of "about."
She's also loaded with agency experience, including stints at ICE (a Canadian integrated communications agency), Fuel Design, Karo (the strategic branding company, not the syrup company) and most recently at SVP Partners.
So, say howdy to Ausra (pronounced Owshra)! You can follow her on Twitter and talk about Canadian beer, Celion Dion and policeman that ride horses. ("Mounties." What a silly land she hails from.)
Labels: plaid
posted by darryl ohrt @ 10:17 AM
1 comments
Monday, August 03, 2009
Thanks.
We've completed another grand tour of the Plaid Nation, and wow - what wonderful stories, people and companies that we met!
Plaid Nation couldn't have happened without the help of soooo many wonderous people. We owe a massive THANK YOU to many people who made this possible.
Bill, Ben and DaBitch. Truly the smartest, most entertaining and most awesome bloggers in the universe. We gave them the keys to Brand Flakes for Breakfast, and they took over. This blog has rocked like never before, and we're blown away that they gave it so much love. If you haven't already - be sure to add each of their blogs to your blog roll:
Bill Green: Make the Logo Bigger
Ben Kunz: Thought Gadgets
Ask DaBitch: Adland
The people that we met along the way. Businesses, individuals, other agencies and interesting people between Detroit and New Orleans opened the doors to their operations, their homes and their hearts, so that we could do our best to share it with you. There are far too many to name in person here - but we hope that you experience it all on the PlaidNation dashboard. There's loads of great video, photography, blog posts and a tweet stream with a lot to say.
Our clients. For the last two weeks, we were slower to return emails. Slower on deadlines. Maybe a little more spacey than we should have been on conference calls. Confusing Central Time for Eastern Time. We have the most awesome clients in the nation, and they let us take two weeks to creatively stretch ourselves to learn, to share and meet tomorrow's creative superstars.
Our families. Plaidsters have been working non stop on tour prep months before we even hit the road. And those that were on tour left girlfriends, wives and families at home, while the crew worked from 7am to 11pm nearly every day and night, with little time to call and say "i miss you."
So a wonderous, serious thanks from all of us at Plaid, and to all of the Plaid friends who made this possible!
Labels: plaid, plaidsummertour
posted by darryl ohrt @ 6:41 AM
3 comments
our sponsors are awesome. no really.
If you enjoyed this year's PlaidNation, you really need to spend some big money with our sponsors. We were fortunate to have some awesome brands join the tour this year, and we can honestly say that we use, love and and adore these products and services. The PlaidNation tour serves as our ultimate testimonial.
So thanks to the most awesome sponsors ever!
Ford Motor Company - Two and a half weeks is a solid test drive. And after spending two and a half weeks with the Ford Flex, we can honestly say it's one of the nicest rides ever. If you've got a family, stuff to haul around, or a team of creatives going on tour, this is the ultimate ride. We liked the luxurious inside, and the super-cool styling on the outside. Throughout the vehicle, you'll fall in love with the impeccable design details that show a real understanding of how humans interact with cars. Oh, and the Flex turns heads. Ours had bright orange flames - which certainly helps, but even prior to our graphics install, the Flex is a looker.
Sprint - People always ask "don't you get bored, driving across the country for two weeks straight?" We've learned that if you have internet in your car, you can go anywhere. And make a five hour ride seem like a trip to the corner store. Our live broadcasts, videos, blog posts, photographs, tweets and more were uploaded minute by minute day by day. While in cities, while driving through cornfields and even the Ozark Mountains. Internet was everywhere. If you travel a bunch, have a family road trip in your future, or just don't like being in a car, get a Sprint wifi card, and your life will be changed forever. Really.
The Q Hotel and Spa. If you visit Kansas City (and you should, it rocks), there is no better place to stay than the Q Hotel and Spa. We were treated to the most awesome hotel in a truly spectacular city. The Q Hotel and Spa is one of the hottest boutique hotels that you'll ever visit - and they're also certified green. They've taken thought for our environment to an entirely new level. The hospitality industry could learn a lot from a visit to the Q - and once you stay there, you'll expect every hotel in the world to think in the same way. Some day, the entire hospitality industry will act responsibly like this. For now, there's the Q Hotel and Spa.
Subway. Eat fresh! Truth be told, we ate a lot of cupcakes. And bbq. And things that aren't real good for you outside of moderation. Subway was a great way to enjoy a fresh lunch (with vegetables!) in any city, any market, and every neighborhood. Their Veggie Delight sandwiches may have saved our lives.
Sony Music Entertainment. Did you totally love the soundtracks to the awesome videos for PlaidNation? We do - and they're all courtesy of Sony Music and Entertainment. Favorites this year are definitely Passion Pit, Peter Bjorn and John, and the Wild Light album. Buy them.
Thanks again, and if you have any questions or want to know more about the Ford Flex, Sprint Wifi, The Q Hotel & Spa, those delicious macadamia nut cookies that they sell at Subway, or what the cool people are listening to, feel free to give us a shout!
Labels: plaid, plaidsummertour
posted by darryl ohrt @ 6:25 AM
0 comments
Wednesday, July 22, 2009
what really powers the Plaid Nation Tour
If you spend any amount of time around Plaidville or the tour, you notice the love of sneakers, sugar and funky ho-tel, mo-tel. So here’s a little tribute to some of the things they love most. Let’s kick off with some kick adornments: Bumper stickers for sneakers.
Next up, we combine both sneakers and sugar for what might be the most amazing concoction I’ve seen yet: The Kanye West Nike Air Yeezy cake. Or maybe the Neiman Marcus cake is more your style. Can we suggest something in a Macbook perhaps?Then there all the fun places they’ll stay. Sure the Q Hotel and Spa signed on as a tour sponsor, but until then, Super 8—it’s great! Even those however might not compare to a hotel made from ice or sand, or any of these other unique hotels. (via.) Then there’s hotels for geeks.
Happy motoring. Hopefully nothing will break down.
Labels: plaid
posted by mtlb @ 1:26 AM
0 comments
Saturday, July 18, 2009
this week at Plaid
Here's what happened this week at the world's most Plaidtastic creative agency:
PlaidNation, PlaidNation, PlaidNation, PlaidNation! The annual Plaid summer tour kicks off on Monday, and preparation is in full effect. I'm in Detroit transforming the Plaid Ford Flex into a social media juggernaut. The graphics have been installed, webcams installed, swag has arrived, and we are ready to kick off the most bitchin' Plaid tour that the nation has ever seen.
Bloggers are picking up on the tour and writing awesome things, and the press is beginning to get tuned in too. The Fairfield County Business Journal stopped by Plaid offices to shoot pics of the crew before they left for tour.
Back at the homefront, new client Banfi Vintners sent a few cases of Riunite and Rosa Regale for the crew to taste, taste again, and then taste once more. Needless to say there will be quite a few wine tastings in Plaid's near future. Stop by if you're in the hood and we'll poor you a glass of our best.
Meanwhile, we've hired a new Plaid recruit. She'll be starting when we return from tour, and we can't wait to introduce you. Plaid just continues to fill our office with awesome talent and you're going to love the newest member of the Plaid team.
Have a great weekend of rest and be watching Monday as the PlaidNation kicks into high gear!
Labels: plaid, plaidsummertour, thisweekatPlaid
posted by darryl ohrt @ 10:58 AM
1 comments
Saturday, July 11, 2009
this week at Plaid
Here's what happened this week at the world's most Plaidtastic creative agency:
Final preparations are being made for the third annual Plaid tour, PlaidNation. Our vehicle prep crew leaves for the tour next week, and the tour kicks off in just EIGHT DAYS!
The theme song to PlaidNation '09 was released on iTunes! The song was produced for us by the greatest band that ever existed, Pop Heroes. We had offers from Cold Play, MGMT, U2 and Lady Gaga, but turned them all down.
Bloggers are starting to pick up on the tour, too. You can see what the blogging superstars are writing about PlaidNation, on the tour dashboard.
If you have a blog (and if you don't, why not start one?) and you write a post about PlaidNation, we'll send you some sweet Plaid swag!
We started working with a couple of new exciting clients - Banfi Vintners and Sikorsky Financial Credit Union. Expect that we'll be drunk on Riunite and giving out financial advice real soon.
We've completed interviews for an open position that we'd like to call the boss of everything. Sara had to leave this position due to illness, and it's been a tough road without her. We'll be making a cool announcement in this department real soon.
This weekend Plaidsters will be attempting to enjoy a summer weekend, even though the northeast has traded weather with Seattle. Maybe next week, we'll actually see summer.
Labels: plaid, plaidsummertour, thisweekatPlaid
posted by darryl ohrt @ 7:21 PM
0 comments
Sunday, July 05, 2009
this week at Plaid
Here's what happened this week at the world's greatest creative agency:
We launched our first video for the PlaidNation tour. This is our pre-tour video, where you get to meet some of the Plaid tour, and otherwise get pumped up for the most delicious and nutritious rolling media and creativity demonstration that ever hit the highway. Sign up for a reminder that the tour has started on the tour's dashboard, if you're worried that you'll miss it.
Some of the crew have been working like crazy on the last components of pre-tour production. Hotels and motels have mostly been secured. We're finalizing our tour stops (if you're on the route, we still have room in some markets for a stop/visit. Give us a shout if you'd like to see the Plaid Flex.) The cameras that will be installed in the Flex have been tested for broadcast. Camera mounts and all tech equipment are being packed up.
Follow Plaid on Twitter, if you want to keep up with the lastest and greatest about the tour. We've been tweeting the behind the scenes action for a while now, and will be tweeting non-stop come July 20!
We're sending out blogger packages of Plaid love. If you write for a blog, just write a post on the most spectacular thing to happen all summer, and we'll send you a package, too.
Work-wise, the week was filled to the gills with brainstorms, conceptual strategy building and production work. We've got a couple of cool things that are close to launching that we'll share real soon.
Plaidsters celebrated a three day weekend, with the Fourth of July. Some will spend this time resting and relaxing, others will blow things up. Hope that you're doing the same.
Labels: plaid, plaidsummertour, self promotion, thisweekatPlaid
posted by darryl ohrt @ 1:42 PM
0 comments
Friday, June 26, 2009
imagine leadership
Take six minutes this morning and devote them to leadership. This inspiring new video from the folks at XPLANE and Nitin Nohria is nothing short of wonderous.
We'll be meeting the folks at XPLANE when the PlaidNation tour stops in St. Louis on July 24th. If you loved this video, then be sure to watch the tour, and meet some of the people behind this breakthrough visual thinking. (Kicking off in just 23 days!)
Labels: creativeinspiration, design, illustration, inspiration, plaid, plaidsummertour
posted by darryl ohrt @ 7:47 AM
1 comments
Monday, June 01, 2009
sprint: official plaidnation sponsor
The PlaidNation tour is only FORTY-EIGHT DAYS away. That's like less than fifty. There's a massive army of ninjas getting everything ready behind the scenes at Plaid.
In the meantime, you should know that Sprint has joined Ford Motors as an official sponsor of the tour! We'll be streaming more content than ever this year and it will all be made possible by Sprint!
Look: There's even an official quote from Rich Pesce, Manager of Social Media for the brand:
"The Plaid Nation tour is the perfect event to showcase what's possible with a Sprint Mobile Broadband connection on our 3G network. Whether downloading pictures or music, staying connected to social networking sites, streaming video, or simply staying in-touch with friends and family during the tour, we are really excited that Sprint will be a part of the journey and to help Plaid stay connected from Detroit to New Orleans."
Thanks, Rich! We're looking forward to lighting up the internet with tons of creative goodness in just FORTY-EIGHT days!
(Brand people: not too late to get your brand on tour, too. All of the cool brands are doing it.)
Labels: plaid, plaidsummertour, self promotion
posted by darryl ohrt @ 8:28 AM
3 comments
Friday, May 29, 2009
this week at Plaid
Here's what happened this week at the world's most bitchin' creative agency:
This week was a short week thanks to the holiday, which left everyone scrambling to make up for the lost time. LOTS of work happening, and everyone is pushing hard to keep up.
We celebrated Dave's birthday with a Richard Simmons cake. Our office has had a long time fascination with the Richard, and none of us can even remember how it started. (But he tastes great as cake.)
There was plenty of behind the scenes work going on for the upcoming Plaid tour. Sprint officially announced their sponsorship. We added a stop at FedEx, while we're in Memphis, Threadless while in Chicago, and are finalizing other tour stops along the way. (If you're somewhere between Detroit and New Orleans, you may want to give us a shout.) The tour dashboard should launch next week, and you'll be able to keep up on all of the pre-tour action.
Tomorrow, Plaid is sponsoring our first ever art initiative - ChalkWalk. This will be one of a handful of Plaid art initiatives intended to bring art to the city where we're headquartered. We've also commissioned two amazing internationally known artists for the event - Curtis Golstein and Ellis Gallager who will be producing some awesome inspirational work.
After about 600 days of grey, the sun is supposed to arrive tomorrow, too. Plaidsters will be enjoying that. Hope you do, too!
Labels: plaid, plaidsummertour, thisweekatPlaid
posted by darryl ohrt @ 3:49 PM
0 comments
Friday, May 22, 2009
this week at Plaid
Here's what happened this week at the world's most awesome creative agency:
The Plaid roofdeck is officially open! Warm weather finally arrived to the blustery northeast, and we enjoyed quite a few outdoor lunches, brainstorms and other activities.
The PlaidNation tour is only 58 days away, and the Plaid crew is in the process of finalizing the hundreds of items that need to be done before the tour kicks off in Detroit. We're also scheduling tour stops - so if we're coming to your market and you'd like a visit from the Plaid crew, give us a shout.
We were stoked to find out that Sprint has joined Ford Motors as an official sponsor of the tour! People often ask "How do you broadcast your every move while driving through the country?" - and Sprint is a large part of what makes that possible. Do you represent a brand that would benefit from a PlaidNation sponsorship? It's not too late. Reach out!
Our agency has donated an art initiative to the downtown area where Plaid lives. We've created ChalkWalk, commissioned two of the nation's hottest street artists to create work, and invited the citizens of our city to join in the fun. The event is only a week away, so planning is in full effect.
A couple of the smarter dudes from Crayon joined Plaid for a fun brainstorm event. Joseph Jaffe and Greg Verdino stopped by for a day of Plaid/crayon think-magic. Details are top secret.
We started a Plaid running team. Well, that is if two people running with @BenKunz from an agency across town can count as a running team. That's what we're calling it. We're kicking ass.
Plaidsters are heading out of the office to enjoy a three day weekend, and kicking off the summer season of half day Fridays!! BBQ in the future. Have a great weekend!
Labels: plaid, plaidsummertour, self promotion, thisweekatPlaid
posted by darryl ohrt @ 5:16 PM
0 comments
Saturday, May 16, 2009
this week at Plaid
Here's what happened this week at the world's most awesome creative agency:
We're committing to posting regular weekly updates with what's happening at the agency again. Look for "this week at" posts each and every week now. This week was particularly awesome. Loads and loads of cool stuff:
SARA IS BACK! Technically, this happened a week and a half ago - but we've been so buried that we haven't officially announced it. After a quick battle with her replacement "Jim", Sara came out victorious. It's seriously awesome to see her kick a most scary case of Chronic Lyme Disease, and show it who's boss. We're all pretty stoked.
We ate chocolate covered grasshoppers. Really.
David and I had a really nice trip to New Hampshire, with a visit to Segway. This was the first time that David had seen the factory, which is a pretty amazing place.
I also gave a "Blogger School" class at Westport Country Playhouse. Hanging with theater people and talking about blogging was an absolute GAS.
We completed some great work this week too. One cool piece that we can share with you: Chris launched a new site for Marc Ecko Watches. It totally rocks.
As part of our continuing education at Plaid, most of the team attended a development/coder school led by Paul, who schooled us with all kinds of new tricks.
The Plaid summer tour is only EIGHT WEEKS away. There's a ton of planning going on, and everyone's pretty excited about where it's going. Sprint has joined Ford Motors as an official tour sponsor, which has us completely and totally stoked. It's not too late for your brand to get involved, too.
In other pre-tour news, Matt completed the design on the graphics that will be installed on the Plaid Ford Flex. Awesomeness at full speed. We also confirmed the markets that we'll be visiting on tour this year.
We ended the week with a Wiffle Ball showdown against the media strategy and planning all stars at Mediassociates. They're an agency of planning dorks a few blocks away, and we needed to show them that creative is boss. Truth be told, the game ended in a tie and everyone agreed to a re-match in the coming weeks. And there was beer.
I'm sure I forgot tons of stuff in an action-packed week...but there will be more next week!
Labels: plaid, plaidsummertour, self promotion, thisweekatPlaid
posted by darryl ohrt @ 10:08 PM
0 comments
Friday, April 10, 2009
friday flakes fourteen
Today's Friday Flakes is taped at Plaid world headquarters, and is hosted by David, RJ and Darryl.
In this week's show, the crew chats about:
+ How, despite RJ's urgings, the staff refuses to dress in bright, cheery Easter colors
+ That we've loaned our conference room to an author writing a book about the legendary punk club The Anthrax. Our office will be filled with aging punk rockers reminiscing about the good ole' days
+ How Darryl showed the staff some old punk rock flyers, pointing out that "in his day, we didn't have Photoshop. Or the internet"
There were some exciting launches at Plaid, this week, too:
+ The Segway P.U.M.A. site launched in record time with lots of last minute down to the wire video action
+ Darryl guest blogged/tweeted the media event for Segway, and accompanied the Segway crew behind the scenes at the Today Show, Fox Business News, and a major worldwide press conference at the IAC building
+ Darryl managed to piss off Al Roker, the happiest, nicest, jolliest man on earth
+ The launch of CleanFreakConfessions, a site devoted to getting your clean freak on
RJ reminded the crew that Plaid owns a full bunny costume, and that it must be put to good use. Possibly with candy. Or a butcher knife. And definitely on video.
Have a great weekend!
Labels: fridayflakes, plaid, self promotion
posted by darryl ohrt @ 10:23 AM
0 comments
Friday, April 03, 2009
friday flakes thirteen
Today's Friday Flakes is taped at Plaid world headquarters, and is hosted by David, Chris and Darryl.
In this week's show Chris chats about:
+ His crazy hat, a sweet gift from Koombea
+ Some of the work that he's been doing for an international student exchange client, the Plaid tour dashboard, and the AFL-CIO
David tells us:
+ Pretty much nothing. He teases us with the fact that he's working on super top secret projects that he's dying to tell you about, but they're too top secret. Pretty sure he commutes home in a black helicopter
And I chat about:
+ How I was personally responsible for selling out the CADC Engage event on Social Media, and how I totally killed it. Expect to see me at Ford Field some time in the future. And I totally forgot to share my killer slide: HowToBeaSuccessInSocialMedia.com/
+ The possibility of extending the Plaid tour, and creating multiple tours, across the U.S., throughout the year
+ Cupcakes!!! In the process of interviewing for an open position at Plaid, one candidate brought cupcakes. Our company can totally be bought for a handful of cupcakes
+ My super sexy whiskers. I haven't shaved for a week, and nobody noticed, so I brought this to everyone's attention. Perhaps I should wear a t-shirt that says "notice my whiskers"
You can vote on my whiskers here:
Have a great weekend, everyone!
Labels: fridayflakes, plaid, self promotion
posted by darryl ohrt @ 11:28 AM
4 comments
Friday, March 27, 2009
friday flakes twelve
Today's Friday Flakes is taped at Plaid world headquarters, and is hosted by Justus, RJ and Darryl.
In this week's show we chat about:
+ How we're reconsidering the Friday Flakes show format. Does it provide value? Is there a reason to watch? How could we make this better, within a 10 minute platform?
+ The perceived work ethic at Plaid and the creative industry. People are usually surprised to see that we actually work
+ How Justus eats live babies, and is extremely dangerous
+ A poltergeist makes an appearance at around 5:41 into the show, and throws an iPod at the crew
We chat in more detail about our takeover of the Denver Egotist:
+ How it was a smart idea for Denver Egotist to initiate this promotion
+ The Mayor of Danbury, CT is possibly the coolest Mayor in the nation
+ We spent more time promoting the Denver Egotist in a day than we have promoting Brand Flakes in the last year
+ That more brands should allow fans to takeover for a day. Think of the excitement that could be generated!
Have a great weekend, everyone!
Labels: fridayflakes, plaid, self promotion
posted by darryl ohrt @ 11:10 AM
0 comments
Wednesday, March 25, 2009
denver: your city is ours now.
We've officially stormed their offices and taken over the Denver Egotist. Our announcement to the people of Denver is featured above. We are now the hottest shop in Denver AND Danbury. Welcome to the PlaidNation.
posted by darryl ohrt @ 10:48 AM
2 comments
plaid takes over the denver egotist
This is big.
We're taking over. Like a gaggle of pirates and ninjas banding together for the creative workers of America, we've taken over the Denver Egotist.
In fact, we believe that the takeover will be so easy that we'd like to take it one step further: We're taking over Denver, too.
As of today, we declare that we are now the hottest creative agency in Denver. We've prepared a video message that alerts the Denver population of this development. We'll post it on the Denver Egotist first thing this morning.
Check the Egotist (soon known as the Danbury Egotist) all day for our fresh content.
(Keep in mind that if you're reading this in the AM on Eastern time, that people in Denver are lazy. They sleep two hours later than we do. We can't actually take over until they drag their lazy asses out of bed and get into their offices.)
Denver residents: We'll need to change your town's name to Danbury. And our Mayor will likely need to take charge, too. We have a feeling that you're really going to like this. Welcome to the PlaidNation.
** This may only be a 24 hour takeover, as we don't really have offices in Denver and would probably find it difficult to breath their weak air on a regular basis.
Labels: denver, plaid, self promotion, smallagency
posted by darryl ohrt @ 7:33 AM
0 comments
Tuesday, March 24, 2009
less than 24 hours until the denver takeover
It's official. Just to teach Denver a lesson, we're taking things over for a day. We'll be commandeering the Denver Egotist tomorrow. We're going to call it the Danbury Egotist, because that's where Plaid hails from.
When the takeover is complete, the Egotist will be chocked full of content that we've produced, and stuff that makes our city look cool. And we'll make all of the Denver people fly Plaid flags from their offices.
Denver can put it on hold. Plaid is coming to town.
Labels: blogging, denver, plaid, self promotion
posted by darryl ohrt @ 8:14 AM
1 comments
Monday, March 23, 2009
plaid takes over
On Wednesday, we're planning a hostile takeover. Don't tell anyone, but we're going to storm the offices of the Denver Egotist. We'll tie up their staff, commandeer their site and will turn it into the Danbury Egotist. We'll write content that's all about us, our friends, and the cool things that happen in the city that we'd like to one day call Plaid.
It's all going down on Wednesday. Don't tell anyone.
Labels: blogging, plaid, self promotion
posted by darryl ohrt @ 7:22 AM
1 comments
Friday, March 20, 2009
friday flakes episode eleven
Today's Friday Flakes is taped in the elevator vestibule at Plaid, and is hosted by David, RJ and Darryl.
This week, we chat a lot about SXSW:
+ How David and Darryl were lazy screw ups and didn't post to the BrandFlakes SXSW edition as often as they were supposed to
+ How ATT failed big time in their ability to handle 4000 iPhone tweeters in one place
+ That Twitter has changed the social dynamic and it's now acceptable to ignore your friends while you tweet away
+ How BBQ and Lone Star beer are an acceptable diet
+ The SXSW awards show rocked, and featured a funny parody of the popular Chris Brogan "Open Invitation" video. (Which T-Sand had done an equally funny version, ages ago.)
+ Facebook announced new features of Facebook Connect, which will allow Facebook to connect to your iPhone, among other things
We also announced some exciting news about this summer's PlaidNation tour:
+ Ford Motors has signed on as the first official sponsor to the tour, and we'll be riding in style in a sweet Ford Flex!
+ We've finalized this year's route, and will be visiting Detroit, Milwaukee, Chicago, Indianapolis, St. Louis, Kansas City, Branson, Memphis, Jackson and New Orleans.
Have a great weekend, everyone!
Labels: fridayflakes, plaid, plaidsummertour, self promotion, sxsw
posted by darryl ohrt @ 10:29 AM
6 comments
Friday, March 13, 2009
friday flakes episode ten
Today's Friday Flakes is recorded at SXSW, from the Pepsico Podcast Playground. This week's episode is hosted by David and Darryl with special guest Eric Fleming from Segway!
This week, we chat about:
+ FridayFlakes is celebrating our tenth episode!
+The cabbie that picked up David and Darryl from the airport has knowledge of a secret plan to replace humans with insect people. Eric got to ride in a stinky cab.
+ The weather is sucking in Austin, and we bitch about it like babies.
In the World of Social Media, we chat about:
+ Why Segway comes to an event like SXSW
+ The overall vibe at SXSW
+ How Eric plans to learn a bunch of things at SXSW, while Darryl and Dave are here for BBQ.
In This Week at BrandFlakesForBreakfast, we chat about:
+ The Pepsico Twitter mashup showing what's happening at SXSW
+ The Pepsico Podcast Playground
+ How people at SXSW need helmets, because everyone's walking while tweeting
Want to follow David, Darryl or Eric's adventures in more details? Here's all of the links you'll need:
BrandFlakes SXSW Edition
Darryl's Tumblr page
David's Tumblr page
Darryl's schedule
David's schedule
Eric's schedule
Darryl's Twitter page
David's Twitter page
Eric's Twitter page
Have a Texas-style weekend! (Whatever that means.)
Labels: fridayflakes, plaid, self promotion, social media, sxsw, twitter
posted by darryl ohrt @ 12:51 PM
0 comments
Tuesday, March 10, 2009
plaid heading to sxsw!
We're heading to Austin, Texas to attend SXSW! Maybe it's the bbq, maybe it's the Lone Star Beer. Or maybe it's because thousands of the internet's smartest, brightest and most creative people are converging together in Austin, Texas to share thoughts, ideas and inspiration.
Coworker David Plain and I will be tweeting, blogging, vlogging and photo posting just about everything that happens at SXSW - so if you're interested, you can share the experience. So as not to clutter up good ole BrandFlakes, we've again launched a SXSW Edition of BrandFlakesForBreakfast. If you're at all curious, check it out.
But it doesn't end there. Thanks to the awesome tools that the social media gods have laid down on us, you can follow our every move. Here's all of the links that you'll need, to shadow our SXSW experience:
Twitter:
Minute by minute updates, posts, happenings and adventures will be posted on Twitter. 140 characters at a time.
Darryl's Twitter page
David's Twitter page
Tumblr
This is a fantastic blogging tool that we've completely fallen in love with. Things that can't be summed up in 140 characters on Twitter will be posted on our individual Tumblr pages. Look for photos, videos, notes from the speaker panels and whatever else might happen.
Darryl's Tumblr page
David's Tumblr page
BrandFlakes SXSW Edition
We'll post at least one update daily here. Think of this as the big picture overview of our adventures, without all of the clutter.
BrandFlakesForBreakfast SXSW Edition
Schedules
Going to SXSW and want to hook up with us? Check out our schedule with the most awesome social media scheduling tool, SCHED.
Darryl's Schedule
David's Schedule
We leave for the big, flat state on Thursday. Stay tuned for big Texas fun!
Labels: adindustry, plaid, sxsw
posted by darryl ohrt @ 8:08 AM
4 comments
Friday, March 06, 2009
friday flakes episode nine
Today's Friday Flakes is recorded with FUTUREVISION, the Plaid technology that allows the recording of content for future posting. This week's episode is hosted by Chris, RJ and Darryl.
This week, we chat about:
+ We've finalized the tour route for the Plaid tour! We'll be launching a 2009 tour blog next week sometime - but expect lots of fun in places between Detroit and New Orleans, this summer.
+ Darryl and David are heading to SXSW next week. If you're also going, be sure to buy them a Lone Star beer. You can also check the SXSW version of BrandFlakes, which will detail meeting notes, photos and incriminating videos of the entire Plaid SXSW adventure.
In this week at BrandFlakesForBreakfast, we chat about:
+ How the demise of the Rocky Mountain News went viral
+ The relationships that you need to eliminate from your Facebook page
In the World of Social Media, we chat about:
+ How people did nasty things with Skittles and it was delicious
+ How the new Facebook will be all new, and sparkly and stuff
At the suggestion of Eric Smith, we talked about the power of RSS feeds, and how easy it is for you to start reading feeds, too.
Darryl sends us off with his trademark Texas salute. Have a great weekend!
Labels: fridayflakes, plaid, self promotion
posted by darryl ohrt @ 9:47 AM
0 comments
Friday, February 27, 2009
friday flakes episode eight
Today's Friday Flakes is hosted by David, Justus and Darryl. In this week's episode, we talk about:
+ Gummy week at Plaid
+ Sara's doctor says he hates Plaid
+ The opportunity of a lifetime: your potential job at plaid.
In this week at BrandFlakesForBreakfast, we chat about:
+ Darryl oddly defends Ashton Kutcher as Dave questions his existence
+ How guys look stupid on Facebook (make sure it doesn't happen to you!!)
+ Giving up Facebook for God.
In the World of Social Media, we chat about:
+ How people tweeted the Oscars
+ Obama's State of the Nation that was not a State of the Union but did include an awesome Facebook/CNN mashup.
Since we completely spaced on it last week, we offer two Tips O' the Week:
1. Google's new Google Calendar/iPhone integration
2. Don't say Backslash.
Note: we didn't realize until posting this video, that Justus pretty much just sat on the couch and hung out during the show. (Speak up, Justus!!)
Have a great weekend!
Labels: fridayflakes, plaid, self promotion, smallagency
posted by darryl ohrt @ 10:28 AM
10 comments
Wednesday, February 25, 2009
We're hiring: the best job in the entire world
It's true.
The greatest agency in all of the land is looking for the greatest Project Manager/Producer/Master-controller-of-the-universe.
We're not big on titles, but some agencies might call this a Project Manager. Or Office Manager. Or Producer. We like to call it the glue that holds us together.
You'll be working with our creative team, working with our clients and working with our partners to be sure we deliver spectacular creative on time, on budget and with everyone smiling.
What it's all about:
Manage all aspects of projects for a super fantastic creative firm.
Interact with (mostly cool) clients, (totally cool) creatives and (awesome) partners from around the country.
Get stuff done.
Get stuff done on time.
Get stuff done on budget.
You totally rock because:
You're a great communicator, with fantastic people skills, and organization/planning skills that would make our heads explode. You might even have previous agency experience, or interactive experience. You likely have an understanding of the production process relative to a design and brand firm. And you'd be even more awesome if you're already on Facebook or Twitter.
Work at the best agency ever created by humans.
+ Open office, open books. No politics. For real.
+ Really fun, collaborative and energetic work environment.
+ Half day Fridays in the summertime, planning trips to fun places, and an office Segway.
+ 100% paid health benefits, 401(k) plan, and super aggressive profit sharing.
(Must be willing to work in our CT office, located in the grayest state in the union, where it's cold during the winter and the skies are usually not always sunny. But everything else rocks.)
Send your details to darryl AT thinkplaid DOT com, with "greatest job in the world" in the subject line.
Labels: plaid, self promotion, workplace
posted by darryl ohrt @ 9:00 AM
1 comments
Friday, February 20, 2009
friday flakes episode seven
Today's Friday Flakes is hosted by David, RJ and Darryl. In this week's episode, we talk about:
+ How Plaidsters spent President's Day weekend
+ Plaid's summer tour planning has begun!
+ We're planning routes across the midwest, looking for cities to visit and sponsors to be a part of the team
In the World of Social Media, we chat about:
+ The Facebook terms of service fiasco
+ People smarter than Darryl
+ Dave mentions orgy photos, and makes us uncomfortable
In this week at BrandFlakesForBreakfast, we chat about:
+ 99 Things you should have already experienced on the internet
+ 100 Dances to 100 songs in 100 places
We also nearly forgot (but ultimately remembered) to talk about those stupid Facebook memes like 30 best albums of all time, or 25 things about you.
Have a great weekend!
Labels: creativeinspiration, fridayflakes, plaid, plaidsummertour, social media
posted by darryl ohrt @ 10:29 AM
14 comments
Friday, February 06, 2009
friday flakes episode five
In this week's episode, we talk about:
+ A Plaid, Plaid world without Darryl.
+ Darryl's replacement, or, Fake Darryl.
+ Delicious Swedish Fish.
We chat about Denny's and their Grand Slam goodness:
+ Denny's delicious giveaway.
+ Did Denny's change their public perception?
+ What is even in a Grand Slam breakfast?
We talk about computer tans vs. real tans:
+ What's computer tan all about?
+ Who at Plaid has been a repeat tanner.
We chat about Google and their new Latitude app:
+ Is it creepy, or cool?
+ How it works, and why you'd use it.
+ Would somebody as boring as Dave even want to use it?
Labels: fridayflakes, plaid, self promotion
posted by darryl ohrt @ 11:20 AM
5 comments
Friday, January 30, 2009
friday flakes superbowl episode
Here's a special SuperBowl episode of Friday Flakes! Today's Friday Flakes is hosted by Justus, RJ and Darryl.
In this week's episode, we talk about:
+ A photoshoot at Plaid, for a profile at ConnCreatives
+ Plaid's snowday, earlier in the week
+ Sara defies death by eating peanut butter crackers
We chat about the "big game" coming up this weekend:
+ Who would win, if the game were based on brand essence?
+ How ridiculous of a team the Cardinals are, based on branding
+ Which ads we're stoked to see
We talk about how to watch the Superbowl:
+ With Twitter hashtags on Adrants
+ With your Twitter friends
+ Or with 3D glasses
Happy Superbowl from FridayFlakes!
Labels: branding, fridayflakes, plaid, sports marketing, superbowl
posted by darryl ohrt @ 11:37 AM
4 comments
Friday, January 23, 2009
friday flakes episode three
Here's episode three of Friday Flakes! Today's Friday Flakes is hosted by Justus and Darryl.
In this week's episode, we talk about:
+ Critiques and suggestions for Friday Flakes from friends and viewers
+ How Darryl needs to give less gaydar
+ Shout out to an awesome person that you should hire today: Garret Ohm
+ How we only know people by their Twitter names
+ New company BlueFuego launched by BradJWard and FJGaylor to help higher education better market themselves on the internet
In the world of social media, we chat about:
+ The CNN/Facebook mashup that took place during the inauguration
We highlight two posts from BrandFlakes:
+ All the superbowl spots throughout history, at your fingertips
+ Shepard Fairey gets his Obama art accepted into the Smithsonian
We've experimented with a different camera and audio setup this week, too. Still not 100% happy, but we're moving in the right direction.
Labels: fridayflakes, plaid, self promotion
posted by darryl ohrt @ 12:34 PM
7 comments
Friday, January 16, 2009
friday flakes episode two
Here's episode two of Friday Flakes! Today's Friday Flakes is hosted by RJ and Darryl.
In this week's episode, we talk about:
+ A crazified, cold and gummi-less week at Plaid.
+ Darryl's zombie thumbnail
We highlight two posts from BrandFlakes:
+ A pirate store helps a non-profit
+ Yet another social media network that Caff and Dirk turned us onto
In the world of social media, we chat about:
+ The Facebook vs Burger King faceoff
+ How Twitter broke the plane crash story
We're still troubled with audio issues, but refuse to use any of our pro equipment. We're attempting to produce these episodes with Flip cameras - virtually eliminating all setup, digitizing and editing. Our goal is to produce an entire show from start to finish within 30 minutes, and zero editing. This is something we'll consider to discuss and experiment with - and your ideas are welcome!
Labels: facebook, fridayflakes, pirates, plaid, podcasting, self promotion, smallagency, social media, twitter, yummyfood, zombies
posted by darryl ohrt @ 6:22 PM
0 comments
Friday, January 09, 2009
Introducing friday flakes
We're going to try this podcast thing. Here's our goal:
+ A quick ten minute-ish clip from the makers of Brand Flakes for Breakfast.
+ Hosted each week by two Plaid employees, and posted every Friday.
+ A little bit about the industry, cool stuff we've noticed, and life at Plaid.
+ Un-rehearsed, quick and dirty, no editing, just sit down and chat.
Our first episode is above. This week, we talk about:
+ Returning from a long, long holiday break.
+ CES and MacWorld
+ Robert Scoble stuck on a bus.
+ David Armano makes social media magic.
And we highlight three posts we thought were interesting this week:
- A cool way to do testimonials
- Some new thinking on "free"
- How not to be a tweetscumbag
We've already torn the first episode to pieces and know what we'll do better next week. This is absolutely a work in progress. But what about you? What should we do more of? Less of? Get better at?
Labels: adindustry, blogging, fridayflakes, plaid, podcasting, self promotion, social media, technology, twitter
posted by darryl ohrt @ 2:05 PM
7 comments
Friday, January 02, 2009
everyone agrees. brandflakes is the best.
Scamp is tracking the most popular advertising blogs in the land, and charting them by their traffic according to Alexa. And BrandFlakes makes the top 25!
Now you can finally stop reading everything else on the internet, and trust your one and only healthy source for creative goodness. Tell your friends, your boss, your mom. BrandFlakes. Even better with bacon.
Labels: blogging, plaid, self promotion
posted by darryl ohrt @ 8:14 AM
0 comments
Sunday, December 28, 2008
seven things you didn't know about me.
Ryan Kuder just tagged me in a meme called Seven Things. You need to share 7 things about yourself, and then ask 7 people to do the same. So here goes:
1. I know how to shoot a gun. I grew up in Texas, and even shot an armadillo once (photo above, if you don't believe me.) Today I don't even eat beef, which I'm pretty sure my cattle ranching relatives might freak, if they knew.
2. My first job was delivering papers for the Chicago Tribune. I woke up at 4 in the morning, got on my ultra cool chopper bike, and pedaled newspapers through a subdivision in Bloomingdale, IL. Got pretty good at riding and throwing, although I once threw a paper through a customer's front window.
3. I rode in a rental car down that famous hairpin turn road in Monte Carlo, during an actual auto road race. It looked exactly like what I now know as the Monte Carlo Rally, and it did take place in January, so who knows. This wasn't a planned adventure - just a handful of dumb Americans who couldn't read the French road signs that probably said something like "Road closed for Monte Carlo Rally." We got some pretty funny looks at the finish line. To this day, I'm really not quite sure how the whole thing happened.
4. I'm accident prone. I've nearly lost a couple of fingers, an eye, and suffered a bunch of other hilarious injuries, mostly as the result of stupid activities. For this reason, I do not own a chain saw.
5. I've never been fired, arrested or beaten to a pulp. I've come very close on many occasions but somehow always draw the line in the nick of time. I should probably have at least one of these experiences sometime in the near future. (Taking risks is a requirement in our profession.)
5a. I once pissed on the Pentagon. Pretty sure you'd get killed for that today. This was during the height of the punk rock years. Beer was involved. (Figured this fact belongs as a sub-set to fact #5.)
6. I've lived in at least two haunted houses. One as a kid, and another just a few years ago.
7. The Elegant Universe is one of my favorite books. I have this thing for super string theory and theoretical physics. I'm not smart enough to actually understand the majority of it, but I'm blown away by the possibilities. Outside of business, internet, fashion or pop culture, that's my favorite content to read.
Ok, so now it's your turn. Here's who I choose to share 7 things next:
Ben Kunz
Bill Green
Brad J Ward
Charlie Wollborg
Dirk Singer
Garret Ohm
The Girl Riot
(I was also going to tag Todd Sanders, but Barbara Nixon beat me to it.)
Labels: plaid, self promotion
posted by darryl ohrt @ 5:01 PM
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