Tuesday, February 16, 2010
what fedex has learned from social media



Think that a company that ships packages can't benefit from social media? Have you ever heard of FedEx?

Check out what Global Communications Manager of Media Relations Matt Ceniceros has to say about the matter on the Amex OpenForum blog.

(We got to stop at FedEx headquarters on last year's PlaidNation tour, and can attest to Matt's awesomeness.)

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posted by darryl ohrt @ 7:47 AM   1 comments



Friday, September 25, 2009
a car with creamy filling and icing on top



If you could drive any car in the world, what would you drive? How about a car with icing on top?

Little Debbie, the sweetest girl on the internet, is looking to give away one million cupcakes. Rather than take the easy way out by sending a truckload to our agency, they've decided to drive a bunch of Little Debbie cars around the U.S. in a cupcake share-a-thon. It's like the Plaid Nation tour, but with cupcakes on board. Yummy.

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posted by darryl ohrt @ 7:36 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!

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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!

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posted by darryl ohrt @ 6:25 AM   0 comments



Friday, July 24, 2009
Plaid Nation Tour - Day 5

















As guest blogger and Plaid Nation Touree, I thought I might add another perspective on the experience. (Be sure to check out the daily madness over on Plaid’s official tour blog.)

What started out three years ago as an alternative to the typical self-promotional efforts by agencies–holiday themed microsite or “We’ve Moved!” postcard—has grown into something bigger than even Darryl had originally planned.

In edition to regional sponsors the Q Hotel, there’s Ford, Sprint and Subway. Ad Age has a profile of it in their Small Agency Diary. In addition to the growth of Plaid’s client list, new industry connections have sprung up for almost everyone involved. Not too bad for a little POS van with wireless.

Speaking of, lest you think it’s all cupcakes and Graceland, the hours are long. It’s pretty much an 8:00 am to 10:00 pm gig: Load the van > drive > meeting > drive > food > drive > funky place > drive > meeting > drive > food > unload > check-in. Lather. Rinse. Repeat.

Every single day.

In between it all, you still need to keep in touch with your regular workflow. Then there are the “other” tour elements. If you’re not shooting pics, you’re on Twitter—in the backseat on less than perfect roads going 75 mph. Or you’re responding to an IM or DM to the van.

Then there’s the uploading, describing and tagging of said pics. Or watching what you say because the mics are live. Video? While Ryan handled it the first year, Renato’s on it now—along with his 65lb backpack that goes everywhere he does.

Tired yet? Good. Now, try digitizing video in the backseat on less than perfect roads going 75 mph. Then editing it.

By this point in the tour, you get into a daily rhythm though of all that has to be done. It’s NASA, well, more like NASCAR precision as everyone has an assigned job to handle.

You also do all of this in the hottest part of the summer. AC cranked? OH, you have no idea. That’s not even including the other dynamic that kicks in: Trying to remember what city you’re in. All of a sudden you channel Motley Crue: “This is Tennessee, right? No, dude, that was yesterday. We’re in Arkansas.”

“I think.”

And after going through that for two weeks straight however? You wouldn’t trade it for anything because it is the single best time you will ever have in your life working for an agency.

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posted by mtlb @ 2:03 AM   4 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!

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posted by darryl ohrt @ 10:58 AM   1 comments



Friday, July 17, 2009
everyday brand decisions



(Cross-posting this from the Plaid tour blog - because I'm lazy, and I thought you might appreciate it.)

Sometimes the difference between brand awesomeness and brand ridiculousness are the simplest decisions.

While on tour, we're getting to experience both. When we hit Kanasas City, we'll get to stay in the luxurious Q Hotel and Spa (a PlaidNation sponsor), who could teach many hoteliers a lesson in brand awesomeness. And we're counting down the days until the Q.

But until then...we're learning brand and customer experience lessons the hard way:

On some random day somewhere, some person with Soooper 8 made a decision. Was it to spend fifty cents more and supply guests with towels that aren't made from sandpaper? Nope. Was it to put a respectable sign on the elevator? Nope.

This decision involved the experience that a guest might have in the bathroom. Not soaps. Not shampoo or other niceties. Somebody said "we can add your logo to this $2 faucet, if you want", and then a Soooper 8 employee replied "absolutely."

Here's proof that branding is more than your old logo on crappy equipment. It's little decisions that affect your customer's experience every day. Thanks, Soooper 8, but I really would have preferred the non-sandpaper bath towel.

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posted by darryl ohrt @ 7:30 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.

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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.

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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!)

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posted by darryl ohrt @ 7:47 AM   1 comments



Saturday, June 20, 2009
this week at Plaid



Here's what happened this week at the world's most awesome creative agency:

Lots of new client meetings and meeting-calls, which is totally terrific. There's some pretty awesome things in discussion and we can't wait to share the details.

Everyone's got at least one heavy deadline that they're working on, so pretty much we're all in nose to the keyboards and ignoring the phone mode.

Our PlaidNation tour t-shirts and cubicle/car air fresheners arrived! The air fresheners smell just like cupcakes. And the t-shirts smell like new t-shirts. If you have a blog, you'll have the opportunity to get a sweet package of PlaidNation love just by writing a post about the tour. If you don't have a blog, what are you waiting for?? Clearly, you have too much free time on your hands, and you should launch a new blog this afternoon.

We launched the 2009 version of our PlaidNation tour dashboard! Check it out, and be sure to sign up for an email reminder so that you don't forget that the tour started. When the tour kicks off (in 29 days!) you'll be able to watch live Flex cams, videos and tons of content that we'll be generating from the road. We guarantee to suck the productivity right out of your day.

There was no cake, cupcake or gummy goodness at Plaid headquarters this week. Hmmm. We'll need to do something about that soon.

This weekend the Plaidsters will be enjoying another two days of rain. We haven't seen the sun in weeks (months?) and we're all looking just a little bit pasty. Especially RJ. Have a great weekend, and we hope that you're in a part of the world where they actually still celebrate summer, and have a sun. We've given up on those frivolities.

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posted by darryl ohrt @ 7:14 PM   0 comments



Wednesday, June 17, 2009
now you can stay in the "my name is earl" motel



This may prove to be a valuable tool during the upcoming Plaid tour. A pop culture treasure map.

Want to know where Laverne and Shirley's apartment is? Or the Christmas Story house? Or the I Am Legend apartment? It's all there.

You can submit new spots, or just bask in the branding that made it all happen, from AOL and Visa. Fun. Found on Make the Logo Bigger

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posted by darryl ohrt @ 7:32 AM   0 comments



Saturday, June 06, 2009
this week at Plaid



Here's what happened this week at the world's most awesome creative agency:

Over the weekend, we produced the first of what will be multiple Plaid art initiatives for the community where we work. Chalk Walk brought together professional artists, families and other cool people to color the sidewalks of our city. We commissioned two internationally known artists, Ellis Gallagher and Curtis Goldstein to add to the mix. The result was a bunch of fun for everyone. Renato graciously produced a video documenting the event!

The CT Film Festival started on Tuesday, and the event was kicked off with a private VIP party at Plaid's world headquarters. Plaid employees were treated to the finest catered food, loads of beer and wine, and a bunch of people in dresses and sport jackets. Even the Mayor (above) stopped by to declare that "Plaid is officially the greatest agency in all of the land."

We've been doing work, too. We've launched a few things recently that we keep forgetting to share:

A new site for a Marc Ecko line of watches. Chris' design work sets the perfect stage for these bitchin' time pieces.

We've launched some awesome stuff for Segway recently. You've probably already seen Project P.U.M.A., and now David just completed work on the new Segway Patrol site. All the Segway goodness packed into a kickass device meant for layin' down the law.

A new site for Interstudy, the hottest study abroad program ever. There's still work being completed behind the scenes, but this will be an incredible experience for students. Soon, there will be live video webinars that allow you to chat with an Interstudy advisor and loads of other cool tools. (Nice work, Chris and Koombea!)

On Friday, we celebrated National Doughnut Day. This is our favorite day of the year. We opted not to decorate the office or get a Doughnut tree this year, but enjoyed plenty of frosted delights. With sprinkles.

PlaidNation tour planning is in full effect. This week, we were happy to find out that The Q Hotel, (voted best hotel in Kansas City!) signed on as an official sponsor. We can't wait to hit Kansas City, and staying at the Q is going to make it even more awesome. The Q joins Ford Motors and Sprint as official sponsors.

Plaidsters Chris and I ended the week with a Moonlight 5K race, a local running race that takes place after the sun sets. If it weren't raining, I am certain that we would have come in within the top ten. ;) Even still, we kicked the ass of hundreds and hundreds of the over 750 registered runners!

The sun is scheduled to come out over the weekend - something that doesn't happen frequently in our part of New England. Enjoy and have fun.

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posted by darryl ohrt @ 9:40 AM   0 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.)

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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!

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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!

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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!

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posted by darryl ohrt @ 10:08 PM   0 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!

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posted by darryl ohrt @ 10:29 AM   6 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!

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posted by darryl ohrt @ 10:29 AM   14 comments



Wednesday, October 01, 2008
sprint: using social media for good



While on our company's summer promotional tour, we utilized Sprint's mobile USB cards for the majority of our internet connectivity in the van. Fantastic service.

The first day of the tour had us crossing the border to Canada, and of course we utilized our internet cards for the 20 or so hours we spent over the border. To our surprise, we recently received an invoice for the "roaming" charges while in Canada. OVER ONE THOUSAND DOLLARS per card, for less than 24 hours of internet service.

Laughing at the absurdity, I called Sprint customer service. Yes - you've undoubtedly been in this situation yourself before. The sticking to the scripts, the time on hold, the ratcheting up to a supervisor, the sticking to the scripts, the time spent on hold again, etc. The call ended with a supervisor indicating "that's the plan that we agreed to, and the charges were fair."

Not happy with paying $1000/day for internet, I tweeted about the experience, as I prepared a blistering blog post in my head. Here's the awesome part: SPRINT WAS LISTENING. (Not to the blog post in my head. They were monitoring Twitter.)

Justin Goldsborough sent me a tweet, (having seen mine on a Twitter search for the word "Sprint"), asking if everything was taken care of. We connected, I explained our situation, and he brought it to someone's attention.

A day later, I received a call from John Crowdis, from their executive and regulatory services department. Within minutes, John looked at the situation (as a human, without a script or robot decision making tools), and realized this wasn't fair. He reduced the invoice on the spot. To our satisfaction.

That's how you use social media to create customer evangelists. You don't need silly campaigns. You don't need fictional characters tweeting. Just real people, listening, connecting and providing human to human interaction.

Will we use Sprint on next year's tour? You bet.

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posted by darryl ohrt @ 8:09 AM   7 comments



Friday, August 22, 2008
how design gets plaid



The September issue of HOW is covered in Plaid. First, our 2007 Plaid Summer Tour won a "Merit" award for self promotion. If that wasn't enough, they featured a two page spread on the tour as a unique self promotional tool. (Matt models the cover above)

The story isn't live on the HOW site yet, but we've scanned a copy for you to see. Read the first page of the spread here, and the second page here. We think that you should buy all of the copies at your local newstand and tell the cashier at Borders that Plaid ROCKS!

Funny side story: We told HOW that one of the clients we were introduced to on tour was the genius team at crayon. They assumed we meant CRAYOLA, and printed that we landed them as a client. I wonder if the marketing team at Crayola is reading HOW and thinking, who's Plaid???

Thanks HOW!!

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posted by darryl ohrt @ 8:24 AM   2 comments



Friday, August 15, 2008
this week at Plaid:



Here's what happened this week at the world's most awesome design and branding firm:

This was the first full week of having everyone back from tour, and getting things back to 'normal' state. We announced that our 2009 tour will take place in the midwest. Think the midwest is flat and filled with cornfields? Just wait. We've got a load of surprises planned, and we've barely started the planning process.

We edited a "best of" our Plaid tour - taking key moments from each of the daily wrap up videos. You can still view all of the individual daily wrapups on the tour dashboard, and on Vimeo.

We hired a new designer! His name is Chris, and we'll formally introduce him in the next couple of weeks.

Lots of new clients this week. Maybe it's the tour, maybe it's Plaid fever spreading across the nation. Whatever it is, we're liking where this is going, and love meeting new people. Even when it starts with an NDA.

We're featured in the September issue of HOW Design Magazine! There's apparently a sweet two page spread devoted to Plaid love. We don't have our copy yet (mail is slow here, I guess), and it's not on news stand yet either. Checking the mailbox daily.

Plaidsters will be spending this weekend hunting bigfoot, or doing whatever Plaidsters do at the end of summertime on a weekend. Enjoy.

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posted by darryl ohrt @ 5:08 PM   0 comments



Monday, August 11, 2008
stuff that i learned on tour: listen to smart people

We met a boatload of really smart, creative and inspiring people while on the PlaidNation tour this summer. I'm stoked to share with you interviews with three of those people - and three people that I really admire - Robert Scoble, Biz Stone and Cathy Brooks.



Robert Scoble actually invited us into his home. In this interview, we talk to Robert about a personal brands, social media, haters, and his Twitter-stream.



Biz Stone was an awesome host for the Plaid crew, at the brand new Twitter digs, in San Francisco. In this interview, we learn about the origination the fun and unique illustration work now synonymous with the Twitter brand, and how the fail whale came to be a celebrated, fun symbol of - failure.



Cathy Brooks is one of the many recognizable faces of Seesmic. Cathy gave us the royal tour of Seesmic headquarters, and then we sat back in some comfy FatBoys to chat about Seesmic, and how brands could use this wonderful tool in their marketing plans.

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posted by darryl ohrt @ 7:07 AM   0 comments



Friday, August 08, 2008
Plaid tour 2009: painting the midwest plaid.



It's official. 2009 will bring the Plaid tour to middle America. The landlocked states. Where corn grows high and creativity blossoms.

The planning process has just begun - and there's already a load of new fun surprises for 2009. Middle America may never be the same. Routes haven't yet been established - so if you're situated in the 'middle' of this great nation, give us a shout (darryl AT thinkplaid DOT com).

Plow the fields, put the animals in the barns. Plaid is coming to town.

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posted by darryl ohrt @ 2:24 PM   6 comments



Thursday, August 07, 2008
stuff that i learned on tour: workplace culture.



Here's the first of what I hope to be a few posts sharing things that we've learned while on tour this summer.

Think cool environments are just for ad agencies and dot coms? Think that your company is too big to maintain a positive, cool culture? Think again. While on our agency's west coast tour this year, we met a host of companies - some in the agency business, most in other industries. And we were inspired but what we experienced.

What we learned: Work culture is everything. Create a successful culture and employees will want to work for you. They'll believe in your brand. And everyone on the outside will want to become a part of it. Great work cultures can exist in large environments just as much as independently owned small firms. I didn't really believe that, until this tour.

Here's an attempt at summarizing what we've seen work for some pretty spectacular brands during the PlaidNation Tour 2008:

Freedom of space.
Great company culture creates employees who want to work. Employees who want to do as little as possible will find their way to the boring, crappy workplaces. And they deserve what they get. Inspired employees believe in what they're doing, and love doing it. So give them space. Space to take naps. Space to goof off. Space to hang and space to explore. Don't worry about downtime. Give them freedom and trust, and you'll inspire them to do more.

Maybe cubicles are a necessity in your company - because of the size, and the number of employees. But do they have to be lame? At iiiDesign, they custom crafted their cubes. At Zappos, every department is decorated in a theme. The upstairs at Jones Soda feels more like a tree fort than office. Aptera decorated their office area like a giant fishbowl. All of these companies have one thing in common: Their workspaces reflect the collective culture of their employees.

Fun.
Great workplaces and workspaces need to be fun. The majority of workers spend their time on boring tasks in boring industries. But that doesn't mean they can't have fun. Fun isn't reserved exclusively for "video game testers."

Are your employees smiling? At this very moment? This is more difficult than most people realize - but it starts with little things. And it almost never has to do with money. Most of the places that we visited were filled with smiles. Humor. Friendships. Lively discussion. Encourage this, and let it grow.

Stop worrying about the board. About the bank. About investors. Your workspace wasn't created for them. It's for your employees.

Greetings are in.
As the phone becomes the most ignored device in the workplace, many companies have removed receptionists from their lobbies. But don't throw out the baby with the bathwater. We experienced some awesome greetings while on tour - and the majority of them weren't people assigned to answering phones. The "greeter" should be a new role in every firm. Sometimes assigned to a single person, sometimes a shared role - but everyone who walks in your door should be greeted as a friend. As a part of the family.

At Jones Soda, we chatted with Chris, and learned about Seattle. And some funny characters at Jones. At Zappos, the front desk friendly squad entertained us and gave us the pre-show to the company tour that would blow us away. At Twitter, whoever is within earshot will greet you with a friendly smile and make you feel welcome. Welcome. That's the key. Security is out. "Hello" is in.

Lobbies can rock.
Your lobby should be impressive. But not in a marble floors and 40 foot ceilings kind of impressive. Your lobby is the very first physical impression of your company's culture. The lobby at Zappos is messy. But you know what? I have never had more fun hanging in a lobby than we did at Zappos. There was food and entertainment (DDR!). Friendly employees. Conversation. Company history. Toys. Books. Drinks. The next time you're in Vegas - stop by and experience it yourself. You'll get the Zappos culture in about 30 seconds.

Get a Mayor.
Your company needs a mayor. Zappos has Jerry. While giving us a tour of the Zappos headquarters, Jerry greeted every single person from every department and every hallway by their name. Jerry knew every detail of the company's history. Jerry understands the industry trends and could remark on where Zappos was going. Jerry knew what couture was. I'm pretty sure that Jerry could replace CEO Tony in a meeting, if he needed to. Who's your Jerry?

I learned as much as I shared on this year's tour. Which is pretty cool. And you don't need a Plaid van or a summer tour to do the same thing. Visit firms outside of your industry. Who are the hot employers inside your market? Just outside of your market? You'd be surprised by what you can learn from a simple company tour.

Thanks to everyone who opened their doors to the Plaid van in 2008!

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posted by darryl ohrt @ 8:31 AM   9 comments



Tuesday, August 05, 2008
2008 Plaid tour: experience it all.



Phew. Another year on the road has screamed past faster than a Plaid van at 85MPH.

If you haven't had a chance to check in, or missed some key moments, now's a great time to catch up on the most glorious tour ever to hit the highways. PlaidNation 2008.

See all of the daily wrap up videos here. It's the next best thing to being there.

See the interviews and extra footage here. The interviews with Robert Scoble, Biz Stone and Cathy Brooks (coming later this week) are extra remarkable.

Read the Twitter stream. If you're new to Twitter (or just bored at work), this is a great way to see it's value. An entire tour has been documented (and archived) moment by moment, as it was happening. Reading the stream is like re-living the tour.

Watch the 11:40 shows. These vidcasts were recorded live at 11:40, wherever the van happened to be at that moment. You'll see additional discussion about what happened on tour, with extra detail brought to the show by the people on the tour. The most popular episode: Plaid gets kicked out of a popular celebrity cemetery in Hollywood, California.

Check out the Flickr photo stream. Better than your Aunt Lucie's vacation to the Galapagos Islands, you'll see other workplaces, cool locations and Plaid employees mostly avoiding trouble.

We've put all of this and more together for you, on the tour dashboard at PlaidNation.com

Thanks to everyone who wrote about it, talked about it, or became a part of it. We're already in planning mode for next year's tour, and have some incredible surprises. Just wait until 2009!

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posted by darryl ohrt @ 7:55 AM   2 comments



Thursday, July 31, 2008
plaid summer tour: fun, information and inspiration



We're still barreling down the west coast, on the last few days of the Plaid summer tour. We've met so many cool, interesting and inspiring people.

Highlights from the last couple of days include:

+ Getting kicked out of the most celebtastic cemetery while broadcasting The 11:40 Show live

+ Interviewing Robert Scoble at his house, and then broadcasting the 11:40 Show from his front lawn.

+ Burritos at Dos Pinas. Hot Dogs at Pinks.

+ Danny Bonaduce smirking to the van on Hollywood Blvd, on the way to the gym.

Watch yesterday's wrap up show above, and then check the tour dashboard for all of the stuff you haven't seen yet!

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posted by darryl ohrt @ 7:16 AM   0 comments



Monday, July 28, 2008
Plaid tour now in week two.



If you're not already following the Plaid tour, be sure to check out the dashboard at PlaidNation.com. There are daily wrapup videos, live webcams, and oh, so many more things to waste your otherwise productive day away with. The wrapup video from Friday is above. Enjoy.

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posted by darryl ohrt @ 7:52 PM   0 comments



Friday, July 25, 2008
it's friday. sit back and enjoy the plaid tour



If you haven't already heard, our agency is in the middle of a summer tour.

We're taking a Plaid van down the west coast in the spirit of everything creative, in a rolling social media palooza. We're meeting other creatives, interesting brands, internet workers, and people that we'd like to do more with. And we're hitting donut and cupcake shops, wherever possible. We're blogging, tweeting, photo blogging and sharing in every way possible. You can even watch what's happening in the van on live webcams (when the van is in motion, anyway.)

We're producing a wrapup video of each day on tour (yesterday's clip is above) and shooting a live vidcast titled 11:40, broadcast live from wherever the van might be at 11:40 pacific time.

We've already hit Vancouver, Seattle, Portland and Medford. Today we're in SanFrancisco, and next week we're hitting San Luis Obispo, Los Angeles, San Diego and Vegas.

If you're on the west coast, come say hi. If not, spend the rest of your day catching up with the tour on our dashboard, and then stay tuned every day next week for even more fun. Don't worry. Just tell your boss that you're exploring new ways to use social media, and learning about what other brands are doing. And seeing some freaky people on video.

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posted by darryl ohrt @ 6:32 AM   0 comments



Thursday, July 24, 2008
introduce yourself to an interesting stranger today



Yesterday we met Victoria. On the streets of Chinatown, in the heart of Portland. Victoria is a character like no other. With a sweet pink helmet and a banana seat bike. You can read about our encounter on the Plaid tour blog.

Here's the thing - there are interesting people in every town across America. But most of the time we're all too busy or too intimidated to actually stop and say hi to people outside of our circles.

I've learned on tour that having a crew with cameras around increases the comfort zone a bit, when approaching strangers. But this is something that every creative person should be doing, every day. Without cameras.

It's easier than you think. Start with a compliment. And then ask questions. You'll be surprised at the interesting characters awaiting your discovery. And the perspective and stories you'll earn in the process.

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posted by darryl ohrt @ 7:02 AM   0 comments



Wednesday, July 23, 2008
life on the road. it's all glitz and glamour.



If you're not already watching, don't forget to check out the Plaid summer tour - happening now over at PlaidNation.com.

There's a handful of Plaidsters barreling down the west coast in a Plaid van. Think life is all glitz and glamour on the road? Not with Plaid. Check out my bathroom for the ultimate in luxury accommodations.

Two good quotes come to mind:
"A picture really is worth a thousand words."
"What doesn't kill you, makes you stronger."

We're in Portland, spreading Plaid love today. Stay tuned for more action!

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posted by darryl ohrt @ 6:37 AM   0 comments



Monday, July 21, 2008
meet parker



Parker the Intern came to Plaid at just the right moment. And by right moment we mean just in time for the Plaid tour insanity to begin. Ever wonder who actually assembled all those key chains and put together those sweet blogger packages? That's Parker. She's an assembling machine. Even better: she claims to like that kind of stuff. She's still giving us the thumbs up, so we'll assume she's cool with it.

But don't let her appreciation for the mundane fool you. Parker has impeccable design skills, too. You can check out some of her Plaidtastic work on our tour site and see for yourself.

Parker will be with us through August, when she returns to a life of cafeteria food, homework and student projects. (Which, after a summer of working with David, she might be looking forward to Salisbury steak and student work.) Welcome Parker!

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posted by darryl ohrt @ 7:14 AM   0 comments



Sunday, July 20, 2008
this week at Plaid



Here's what happened this week at the world's most incredible design and branding firm:

We finished our first round of interviews for the design position that's open at the agency. Some really awesome talent out there, and we're beginning to narrow it down.

Outside of emergency deadlines, most of the Plaid team was busy getting ready for the upcoming Plaid tour. There's a massive amount of production work necessary prior to sending the team to the west coast. We produced the first tour video. (Guess you could say it's a "pre-tour" video.)

We kicked off pre-tour operations. The pre-production team headed to Seattle to secure the Plaid van and get it wrapped, wired and ready for next week's tour. You can watch it all live on the PlaidNation dashboard starting Monday.

Our local paper did a nice spread on the tour, and even included a callout to the story on the front page. Always cool to make the front page of your local paper, without getting arrested.

If you're not already - be sure to follow the Plaid van on Twitter, too!

See you Monday, live from Vancouver!!

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posted by darryl ohrt @ 5:41 AM   0 comments



Friday, July 11, 2008
this week at Plaid



Here's what happened this week at the world's most tour-ready design and branding firm:

Lots of stuff happening in the Plaid house this week. Sadly, coworker Rob is leaving us, for North Carolina. We decided to outfit him with the latest NC gear. A southern suitcase (pictured above), a NASCAR beach towel, hat and car stickers. And a DVD copy of Joe Dirt. And Skoal. We're sure we've officially offended everyone south of the Mason Dixon line. (Which, btw we just discovered is really close to NEW JERSEY.)



There's loads of preparation taking place for the upcoming Plaid Summer Tour. The tour dashboard is nearly complete, where you'll be able to check in and see what's up on the tour at any point in the day. Or all day.

Sara crafted a special foil helmet for RJ, so that he could properly test the tour van's GPS system. We think it worked. And RJ will probably be wearing that helmet at the bars in Block Island this weekend. Cuz that's how he rolls.

Matt completed an intense stop motion show intro for the tour videos. He set up an incredible series of scenes and shot hundreds of stills to animate. Parker prepared our Ustream channels with graphics.

We've begun the interview process for a new designer. Lots of great talent and fun people. Difficult decisions ahead.

There were quite a few new client meetings and phone meetings this week. Definitely something in the air. Really excited about some of the people and brands that we've chatted with.

This weekend will be spent enjoying wonderful summer weather in the northeast, and a few last minute tour preparations. If you haven't already, please follow the Plaid van on Twitter, and become our fan on Facebook. Bookmark the tour dashboard and tell all of your friends. Only about a week till lift off!

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posted by darryl ohrt @ 9:30 PM   0 comments



Friday, June 20, 2008
this week at Plaid



Here's what happened this week at the world's most famous design and branding firm:

Sara was featured on CNN! She's the star of a piece about tattoos in the workplace. Turns out we're one of a few rare places that welcomes body art. There are at least four Plaidsters well decorated with ink. Do you know who they are? Matt's also planning an awesome tattoo, that we're going to have to talk him into while we're on tour. San Fran is the place, Matt.

We're hiring a designer! See all of the details here. Send us a link to your work, and maybe we could hang with you.

I'm guest blogging on the world famous Todd And blog. Look for my spectacular, world changing post on Wednesday. In the meantime, you can enjoy some really great guest blogging from:

+ Yesterday: Leo Bottary of Client Service Insights
+ Today: Kami Huyse of Communication Overtones
+ Monday: Gavin Heaton of Servant of Chaos
+ Tuesday: Drew McLellan of Drew’s Marketing Minute
+ Wednesday: Me! Me! Me! Me! Me! Brand Flakes for Breakfast

The Plaid tour is exactly 30 DAYS AWAY. So many preparations are being made. We've scheduled Tweetups in Seattle, San Francisco, Los Angeles and Las Vegas. Sign up on the tour dashboard. First five to register (it's free - just do it) get a free PlaidNation tour t-shirt!

You're going to want to completely avoid work from July 21 through August 2nd - so start delegating jobs now. In preparation, you'll want to:
+ Follow the Plaid van on Twitter.
+ Join the Facebook fan page.
+ Tell the world you're going on the tour (virtually, of course) on Facebook.
+ Tell the entire world about PlaidNation - where you'll see us sharing Plaid love from Vancouver to Vegas.

Plaidsters are off for a summer weekend of fun. Surfing, sun, bbq's and fun. Or something like that. Have a great weekend.

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posted by darryl ohrt @ 8:48 PM   0 comments




how to get people to asheville



While on Plaid's summer tour last year, some of us ended up spending a weekend in Asheville, NC. Coworker Ryan and I can be seen welcoming the locals, above. We all fell in love with this really cool city. (And had some of the most awesome veggie food. And beer. And beer. Did I mention beer?) Anyway - that's not the point.

Asheville is this little gem in North Carolina that most people don't know about. A challenge for the state's tourism department. How do you inspire people to explore Asheville?

Ask Luckie. Advergirl has an excellent synopsis of the tourism campaign that agency Luckie produced for the city. Tourism campaigns are typically filled with the most horrifically boring creative - and Luckie did a fab job of breaking out of that mold with a multi-faceted campaign. Really nice work.

(One of the other things that I'll always remind Ryan and Rob is that while in Asheville, with too many beers in my system - I kicked their ass in pool. They look really cool, but I'm still the boss. Proof here. Good times, Asheville)

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posted by darryl ohrt @ 8:23 AM   1 comments



Friday, June 13, 2008
this week at Plaid



Here's what happened this week at the world's most awesome design and branding firm:

Steph came to work on Monday with the oddest sunburn. She went surfing over the weekend, and removed half of her wetsuit in just a way that she now has an upside down sort of sunburn. We laughed, of course, because that's how we treat coworkers.

We survived the heatwave. Our space is on the top floor of our building. Heat rises. Our A/C system was crying.

A handful of us are competing in an agency running contest, through NikePlus. Girls against Boys. So far, the boys are winning. (Likely to change over the weekend.)

We're hiring!! We're going to be looking for a new full-time designer. Details in a new post, soon.

37 days until PlaidNation is in full swing! The biggest, best (and only) rolling celebration of creativity, ideas and social media. Can't wait. Tour buttons arrived today (pictured poorly, above.) We've launched a couple of new exciting things for the tour:

+ You can now sign up for Tweetups on the dashboard, for Seattle, San Francisco, Los Angeles and Las Vegas. If you're on the tour route, we want to meet you!! The first five people in each market get a free tour t-shirt, so hurry it up.

+ Subscribe to the Plaid tour Twitter stream. This will be picking up steam a little more with every day.

+ Become a fan of Plaid on Facebook, and we'll keep you updated with stuff from the road.

+ You can now buy the PlaidNation theme song on iTunes! The song was written and produced for us by Pop Heroes, the coolest band in the entire nation. Which makes us cool by association. By the time we get to Los Angeles, we'll probably have paparazzi.

Half day Friday's are in full effect, so we're all off enjoying a wonderful summer weekend in the one place without floods, tornadoes or wildfires. So far.

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posted by darryl ohrt @ 9:55 PM   0 comments



Monday, June 02, 2008
let us take your brand on a social media tour



We're about to embark on our second annual Plaid Summer Tour.

What's it all about? A fun, summertime road trip that greets brands, marketing geeks, internet workers and creative people in markets from Vancouver to Vegas. We'll be visiting brands, having Tweet-ups, and broadcasting every minute over the internets.

This year, we're opening the tour up to sponsors. Anything from banners and ad placement, product placement, or even a title sponsor - where the tour is as much about your brand as it is about ours.

PlaidNation will include features on two of the world's best blogs (BrandFlakes and Make the Logo Bigger), live video (van cams!), video recaps on YouTube, daily vidcast, Twitter stream from the van, photostream on Flickr, and a live GPS/Google map that lets viewers check the van's location minute by minute.

It's a rolling celebration of creativity, ideas and social media. And just a little bit of Plaid love. With bloggers on board. See the action begin to unfold at the tour's dashboard, PlaidNation.com.

Interested in becoming a tour sponsor? Or maybe your brand is on the route and you'd like us to stop by? Give me a shout at darryl (AT) thinkplaid (DOT) com.

Just want to watch the tour? Check in on the dashboard, become a fan of Plaid on Facebook, and follow Plaid on Twitter. You're all set. See you on the west coast.

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posted by darryl ohrt @ 8:19 AM   0 comments



Saturday, May 24, 2008
this week at Plaid



Here's what happened this week, at the world's most awesome design and branding firm:

Sara got bobbled. Her official Plaid bobblehead arrived, so now she's committed to Plaid forever. The bobble version of Sara will get photographed next week, and then added to the "Meet the Staff" section of our website.

If that wasn't enough Sara love, she was also interviewed by CNN! We're not allowed to talk about the story, but stoked, and can't wait to see it.

Rob, Paul and Matt completed an awesome presentation for Timex. We all learned a lot about technology and innovation, and some stuff that Timex is doing, that we can't tell you about. Or they'll send the black helicopters, and have us erased.

We completed a ton of planning for our upcoming tour. Getting more and more excited about the west coast, and some of the things we have planned. Hotel Motel arrangements are being made, and we're beginning to map out some of the brands that we'd like to visit. Are you on the route? Want us to visit your brand? Drop us a line (darryl AT thinkplaid DOT com).

Rob's off to enjoy a vacation on some secret island next week, Steph is enjoying an extra extended weekend, and the rest of us will be BBQing our asses off for three days of Memorial Day fun. See ya Tuesday.

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posted by darryl ohrt @ 8:41 PM   2 comments



Saturday, May 10, 2008
this week at Plaid



Here's what happened this week, at the world's most sweet-as-chocolate-frosting design and branding firm:

Rob, Sara and I enjoyed a really long drive to New Hampshire. The only state with a slogan that you might consider wearing on a t-shirt. Admit it - "Live Free or Die" just rocks. We participated in a worldwide brand summit for Segway. This is a really good idea, for any brand. Pulling together all of the players from across the globe, to learn, discuss, share and brainstorm. Always a pleasure to share the room with other creative and marketing people. And this time - we even met the product engineers/designers for Segway. (More on that, soon.)

Plaid pre-tour shirts arrived. We'll be sharing pics and details over on the Plaid tour blog, momentarily. We also launched the Plaid tour dashboard, PlaidNation. Still very much a work in progress, but if you take a peek, you'll get an idea of some of our plans for this summer's tour.

I was profiled in a regional business paper, the Fairfield County Business Journal. Somehow they saw fit to include me in their series "Profits and Passions", featuring entrepeneurs, and their passions outside of the office. You can learn all about my infatuation with pop culture. And sneakers.

Lots of props coming into the office, for a couple of photo/video shoots. Everyone's really having fun with the night-stick. RJ can actually twirl it around in his hands, without hitting himself in the head. (Can't say the same for other Plaid-workers.)

Steph got a new, cool haircut. And then bought a surfboard. Maybe not in that exact order. Something really fun and crazy happening, over in Steph-land.

We welcomed a new intern, David, who we'll formally introduce on BrandFlakes, next week. Safe to say there's a whole lot of sh*t-work just waiting for his attention.

We welcomed a couple of new clients to the Plaid roster this week - and we can't wait to show you what we're working on. Lots of fun stuff, in the works.

Have a great weekend, and say hi to your mommy.

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posted by darryl ohrt @ 8:01 AM   0 comments



Saturday, April 26, 2008
this week at Plaid



We had a proper send-off party for Giuli, who's leaving us, and moving to Ohio. Eliza invited everyone over to her house (on a lake!!). Yeah - pretty bold thing to do. Not only could we have burnt the place down, but everyone knows where she lives now. Trouble.

Eliza: don't be surprised when Rob knocks on your door one night at 3AM, in a drunken stupor, looking for a ride home. Or when you see flyers downtown, promoting a show for Matt's band..."live at Eliza's."

We got some good press and blog coverage. The Fairfield County Business Journal is doing a profile on me, and my obsession with sneakers. Should be pretty pathetic. The social site that we launched for Segway got a nice piece in AdWeek, and some sweet blog coverage.

Plans for the summer Plaid tour are well underway. The tour dashboard will launch (first stage) next week at PlaidNation.com. The tour's blog is live. We're already scheduling a handful of meetings, and even arranged to meet a certain very well known internet blogebrity who will be profiling us. His name might rhyme with "roble". More soon.

If you're from Ohio, please, please, please reach out to Giuli. Show her and her almost-cool husband the town. Let her turn your agency around, into a profit rocket. You can still contact her through her email here: Giuli (at) thinkplaid DOT com.

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posted by darryl ohrt @ 10:12 AM   0 comments



Wednesday, April 23, 2008
how bloggers vacation.



At Plaid, we love road tours. We're just a little bit partial to them.

So I think we've found some love for Patrick Curl and his wife, who plan on touring 50 states, in 50 days, and visiting a blogger in each state. Wow.

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posted by darryl ohrt @ 7:52 AM   0 comments



Monday, April 14, 2008
last week at Plaid:



Damn. Two weeks in a row where we forgot to post happenings at the greatest agency in all of the land. Here's what's happened in past days:

I attended Blogger Social '08, and met a few of my favorite bloggers from across the world. A truly inspirational event that took place in meatspace, not internet space, so I was a little uncomfortable.

We normally have a strict policy that says khaki wearing geeks aren't allowed in our studio. But the marketing and brand people from Duracell were so nice, that we made an exception. They included Plaid on their scavenger hunt field trip, that had multiple teams of marketing geeks traversing the area to complete challenges. (Winning team of Mark, Mark, Greg and Dan, pictured above.) We had them navigate a Mac, in our conference room. Hilarity ensued.

RJ is in the midst of making hotel arrangements for our summer tour, which has us totally stoked. Matt's designed the first batch of tour t-shirts. Can't wait to hit the west coast.

We interviewed for some of the open positions here. Interviewed, and interviewed, and interviewed. Almost there. We've met some really awesome, talented people, and it's going to be tough to narrow it down.

We're casting for a part in a video we're shooting, and having a tough time finding just the right person. David, Giuli and RJ continue to work through demo reel after demo reel.

This is going to be a busy week, so stay tuned for more awesome fun.

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posted by darryl ohrt @ 7:09 AM   0 comments



Friday, March 21, 2008
Plaid tour '08. We need sponsors!



It's official. We're doing another Plaid road tour. Last year had us traversing down the east coast into the deep south. This year, we're headed WEST.

The Plaid tour kicks off on July 21, in VANCOUVER. We head south, and make stops in Seattle, Portland, San Francisco, Los Angeles, San Diego and ends in LAS VEGAS. Vancouver to Vegas, with California in-between.

Here's the tentative schedule:

Monday, July 21: Vancouver
Tuesday, July 22: Seattle
Wednesday, July 23: Portland
Thursday, July 24: driving day
Friday, July 25: San Francisco

Monday, July 28: San Francisco
Tuesday, July 29: driving day
Wednesday, July 30: Los Angeles
Thursday, July 31: San Diego
Friday, July 31: Las Vegas

All along the way, we'll be visiting brands and other agencies, and sharing our love of the latest social media tools. (If you're on the route, and want us to stop by, let us know!)

We need sponsors! We'd love a hotel sponsor, and/or cash sponsors to help cover at least some of the ridiculous expenses. (You have no idea how much it takes to feed a Plaid van with fuel, and a Plaid staff with food.)

So - if you're working with a brand that could benefit from an audience of over 250,000 blog readers, would love the social media coverage on our blogs, our dashboards, our videos, Twitters and more - let us know. You're welcome to reach out to me directly at darryl AT thinkplaid DOT com, for more details.

Just four months to go!

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posted by darryl ohrt @ 5:11 PM   3 comments



Friday, February 01, 2008
this week at Plaid:



Here's what happened this week at the world's most superbowl-ready creative agency:

They nearly finished our addition. It's pictured above. The custom wainscoting and lights were installed. All that's left is some staining, and carpet. All due for installation next week, if we're lucky. It's looking AWESOME.

Big news: We've decided to embark on another Plaid road tour, this summer! It's looking like we're coming to the west coast, for a couple of weeks in July. Brian's already mapping out potential routes. We'll begin sharing details real soon.

We were featured in Inc Magazine! Well, if you can call a paragraph in an article on blogging a feature, I guess. Maybe that's a stretch of the word - but we're proud anyway.

A few of us are going to SXSW!! We're totally stoked, as none of us have ever gone before. And we've never been to Austin, Texas, either. Should be a Texas size load of fun. We're planning on sharing the entire experience with you. We're setting up a special edition of Brandflakes, and will be blogging, Twittering, and more live from the show. If you're going, please let us know - we want to buy you a drink!

We're off for a weekend of beer guzzling, SuperBowl watching, and ad criticizing. Happy SuperBowl, everyone.

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posted by darryl ohrt @ 5:16 PM   3 comments



Monday, December 24, 2007
your place looks just like our place



We experienced this big time, while on PlaidNation social media tour this summer. Wherever you go, anywhere in the U.S., certain ugly roads look just like home. The same Burger King-McD's-KFC-Subway-Mattress shop-Supermarket strip malls all across the land.

In fact, that was one of the most disappointing things about Graceland. My expectations were for this wonderful Elivis Presley Blvd splendor. But instead, it's just Graceland, surrounded by fast food joints and diners. (Then again, maybe that's appropriate.)

Anyway - now, there's someone who wants to do something about it. There's a non-profit organization called Scenic America, trying to preserve and enhance “the visual character” of the U.S. It's detailed in this great story from the NY Times about the uglification of America.

My favorite quote:

"Sitting here, suppressing the urge to flee, you begin to notice how the shopping center’s off-white walls and copper-colored top recall a minimum-security prison, and how readily the layout encourages acceptance of small absurdities. For example, people who leave the CVS with a desire to shop at Marshalls pretty much have to get back in their cars and drive across acres of parking lot."

That's so true of suburbia.

(Photo by Ángel Franco/The New York Times)

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posted by darryl ohrt @ 9:42 AM   2 comments



Thursday, November 15, 2007
plaid: home of the hot guys



Be sure to pick up this month's Cosmo Magazine. Because inside, you'll see Ryan, as the 'Hot guy blooper of the month.'

You may remember Ryan from the PlaidNation tour this summer - who not only shot all of the awesome footage from the road, but entertained everyone with the most amazing stories you've ever imagined. He's a walking book. We want to turn him into a TV show. And now Cosmo has found him.

Now the rest of us will have to submit photos to the ladies magazines. And the Plaid girls can submit photos to Maxim. I'm sending mine to Better Homes and Gardens today. Hat Tip to Bill's daughter, who reads Cosmo. (That's what he claims, at least)

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posted by darryl ohrt @ 7:25 AM   0 comments



Friday, October 26, 2007
donks rock.



When we were on the Plaid nation tour this summer, fellow tour mate Ryan taught us all about the details of donks.

And we saw a few while on tour. While cruising around on Current, I found this sweet video all about donks. Nice. (C'mon Current - why no embed feature??)

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posted by darryl ohrt @ 7:52 AM   0 comments



Monday, September 10, 2007
let's all be on tv




Oh my. I thought that I had let go of Justin.TV. I thought that I was free from having a webcam watch my every move at the completion of our tour.

Well, Make the Logo Bigger has found my new favorite activity. Watching everyone. On BlogTV. I never imagined that watching some dude sit on a couch drinking Budweiser and drunkenly reply to IM's could be so entertaining. But it is.

Make the Logo Bill is onto something. This internet thing is changin'. Used to be, that we all surfed anonymously, and viewed whatever we were into. Now we're all connecting, sharing, and broadcasting our lives like never before. Bring it on.

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posted by darryl ohrt @ 7:49 AM   0 comments



Tuesday, September 04, 2007
hotel tomo. not like the hotels we saw on tour.



While on tour this summer, we experienced some of the crustiest, skankiest, most unsightly motels. That's the breaks when you're a small firm paying for almost 100 room nights.

But here's what we should have had. Hotel Tomo, in San Francisco. It's a BEST WESTERN. Which of course begs the question - should style really cost extra?

Thanks Eliza!

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posted by darryl ohrt @ 7:56 AM   3 comments







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