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.
Labels: plaidsummertour, thisweekatPlaid
posted by darryl ohrt @ 8:01 AM
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this week at Plaid
Here's what happened this week at the world's most awesome design and branding firm:
Sara started! We'll formerly introduce her to you in a post next week. She's in the role of "producer", and basically keeps things moving, keeps people happy, and keeps our agency profitable. So we like her a lot.
Sara, Steph and RJ ordered business cards. We don't believe in titles at Plaid - so employees make up their own, when it comes to business cards. We've got some good ones in this batch:
Sara: Duchess of Awesome
Steph: Evil Genius
RJ: Assistant to the Director of Miscellaneous
I've also updated my title, to Internetologist.
Dave and I enjoyed a fun casting session for an upcoming video shoot. We met some pretty talented actors, and pushed them to their limits.
RJ went prop shopping, for a couple of shoots that are coming up. Which prompted a call from Citibank, about his new company credit card. "We've received a few suspicious charges on your card, that we'd like to confirm"
"A cupcake mousepad?"
"Security guard uniform?"
"Something from Woopass Enterprises?"
"A police radio?"
"Hotel room keychains?"
"Puma sneakers?"
We laughed as RJ confirmed the purchases to Citibank, and realized that wasn't even an unusual day of shopping at Plaid...just wait RJ.
David and Steph launched the first stage of the PlaidNation tour dashboard. This is where we'll broadcast every aspect of our upcoming Plaid summer tour.
Matt and Renato launched a video that we produced for crayon, and oovoo, to commemorate the MyooVooDay event that took place a few weeks ago.
Spring means the end of school - which brings happy and sad news. Katie has completed her internship at Plaid, and we'll be sad to see her leave. Although we did enjoy some vanillicious 'last day' cake (pic above). Katie doesn't do well with chocolate - so we baked a vanilla cake, with vanilla frosting, with a chocolate graphic. (And by "baking" we mean ordered it at a bakery.)
End of the school year also means graduation for former intern Brian Garofalo. Brian has done a plaid-load of cool things while at our agency, and even served as technical producer for last year's Plaid summer tour. We attended his portfolio show, earlier in the week. He'll be a real score, for any agency looking for new talent!
The weekend brings lots of grey skies. Just like every other day in New England. See ya next week!
Labels: thisweekatPlaid
posted by darryl ohrt @ 10:15 PM
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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.
Labels: plaidsummertour, thisweekatPlaid
posted by darryl ohrt @ 10:12 AM
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this week at Plaid:
Here's what happened this week at the world's most happy-it's-like-summer design and branding firm:
We launched Segway Social. This is a pretty amazing social site - that allows Segway owners to connect with each other, across the globe. They can find other owners in their area, create groups with owners they have things in common with, share photos, map their "glides," and so much more Segway goodness.
RJ and Steph, the newest members of Plaid, received their bobble heads. Once they're photographed, they'll get installed onto our agency's site.
A few of us went to check out Matt's band, Pop Heroes, last night. He rocks. Buy his music here.
I met the other Darryl Ohrt. Only he spells his name with one "r" instead of two. Twitter buddy Doug Meacham alerted me to his existence - and I still can't believe there's ANOTHER Darryl Ohrt. If that's not enough, we work in the same industry! He's a User Experience Lead at Avenue A/Razorfish. Hmmm. If I start acting like a zombie, be suspicious. I'm pretty sure he's a body snatcher, here to replace me.
Springtime finally came to the northeast. We celebrated with a good round of gumbdrop baseball. Basically, we hit gumdrops off the roof of our building, with a wiffle ballbat. (Don't worry - they're just gumdrops. It's not like they can break windows or kill people, or anything.)
We hired Sara! She'll replace Giuli, who's moving to Ohio. Who knows what Giuli will do in the middle part of the country. I think she's going to turn Amish, or something. More details about Sara are coming in about a week. We have a feeling that you're really going to dig her. We already do. (Giuli is sooo last week.)
The grey skies are gone, and Plaidsters are set for a fun weekend of mountain biking, drinking and Comic Con.
Labels: thisweekatPlaid
posted by darryl ohrt @ 11:54 AM
2 comments
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.
Labels: plaid, plaidsummertour, thisweekatPlaid
posted by darryl ohrt @ 7:09 AM
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this week at Plaid
Summer tour planning cranked up to full speed this week. We're officially looking for sponsors, who wouldn't mind having their brand in front of a couple hundred thousand early adopter/marketing types. Let us know if you're interested.
We've had a couple of tour planning meetings, and work has already begun on some of the tour sites. One may launch as soon as next week.
We pitched a smaller piece of business that we really, really, want - and that we'll be talking about a lot, if it happens. Fingers crossed.
RJ and Steph began their Plaid careers this week. Neither broke into tears, or threatened to harm other Plaid employees, so we may be good.
We started interviewing for the producer position that's open. Already met some stellar candidates, that we'd be honored to have on our team. More interviews in the coming weeks.
I'm starting to get stoked for Blogger Social '08, taking place in NYC next week. I'm looking forward to getting together with some truly inspirational bloggers from across the globe, for a weekend of fun.
Labels: thisweekatPlaid
posted by darryl ohrt @ 1:17 PM
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this week at Plaid
FIRE! Some garbage in the back alley of the building next door caught fire. The sirens kept getting louder and louder, and then we saw smoke coming from the back of our building. Nothing says Friday like a good building fire.
Giuli celebrated her birthday, yesterday. We supplied a cannoli blast. What's a cannoli blast? Imagine a 50 pound cannoli that's filled with about 648 mini cannolis. Mmmmmm. We're still debating Giuli's actual age, but it's safe to say that her 20's are long gone. (I mean it's accurate to say - it's not at all safe to say this.)
We wondered what it would sound like if we rode our Segway over a roll of bubble wrap. There's only one way to find out - and you can see the video on Facebook.
Next week, two new employees start at Plaid! Both have us pretty stoked. Stephanie, (who we've already code-named Lisa Skywalker) will be writing some supreme code and developing sites, and Ryan (no nickname yet) will assist the project management team.
We've started the tour planning process. We'll be announcing an exact schedule and route in the next couple of days. We plan on knocking California right off the map. Or burning it down. Or doing whatever happens when a Plaid van drives down the fault line at full speed, leaving only a trail of empty energy drink cans.
May your weekend be conference call free, and filled with chocolate marshmallow bunnies.
Labels: thisweekatPlaid
posted by darryl ohrt @ 4:40 PM
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this week at Plaid
Here's what happened this week at the world's most 'don't mess with Texas' design and branding firm:
Today was Matt's birthday. I don't know how old he is, but he's freaking young, so he's got nothing to worry about. At Plaid, we love our birthday cake. Mmmmm. Some of the team is at SXSW, so we setup an ooVoo chat (pictured above), so that David, Rob and myself could sing the birthday song along with the rest of the crew. I'm sure that Matt's saving us each a piece of sweet cake.
So David, Rob and I are rocking out at SXSW. What an awesome time. (If you don't count the closing of Dallas airport, and the breaking of the iPhone.)
We found out that a poster David designed for Westport Playhouse is going to be used as a prop in a movie, A Kiss at Midnight with Annabella Sciorra. They actually sought out the poster, after seeing it, and wanted to feature it. I fully expect David to win an Oscar for this.
We began beta testing the most awesome project for Segway. Lots more on this one, soon.
We're interviewing like mad for a couple of positions, and should be narrowing the field down a bit next week. Can't wait to get new fresh faces at Plaid. We're all getting a little tired looking at Dave's ugly mug.
Stay tuned with what's happening at SXSW over at our SXSW Edition of BrandFlakes. David, Rob and I will be posting to the blog, and our individual Tumblr pages. Here's links to the Tumblrs, which are lots of fun:
Darryl Ohrt
David Plain
Rob Biddiscombe
Have a great weekend. If you're in Austin, please connect with us. There's still some Texas beer left in town, and we're not leaving till it's dry.
Labels: iphone, sxsw, thisweekatPlaid
posted by darryl ohrt @ 11:18 PM
2 comments
this week at Plaid
Here's what happened this week at the world's most "it's f'in freezing here" design and branding firm:
Giuli and I raced in the Polar Bear Challenge. Giuli was kind enough to slow her pace through the entire race, so that I wouldn't be running alone. I returned the favor by sprinting ahead of her, right at the finish line, to beat her by one second. (Still can't believe she fell for that.)
We launched a couple of live webcams in our office, so that you can keep track of what's going on in our office. We've set up one camera focused on one of our brainstorm areas, and another one monitoring our bathroom. The bathroom monitor should be interesting, because you'll be able to chart which Plaid employees take the longest bathroom breaks. Let us know if anyone takes too much time. There's some funky stuff going on in that bathroom.
Our elevator went out yesterday, giving us all some much needed exercise. Maybe more than some of us needed.
We've been interviewing like mad, for a couple of new positions here. Will be cool to see some fresh faces in Plaid.
Next week, a few of us head to SXSW! Getting totally stoked.
Labels: plaid, thisweekatPlaid
posted by darryl ohrt @ 5:44 PM
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this week at Plaid
Here's what happened last week at the world's most bitchin' design and branding firm. (Normally, we post this on Friday - but with the snowstorm and everything, I forgot.) So here goes:
Our office was closed on Friday, thanks to the big storm. We all worked from home. And even did our own ooVoo chat.
A design that we completed ages ago for the primary Capitol Records site just launched.
We did a bunch of conceptual design for another bigger agency, for two really big clients that we can't tell you anything about.
I got to join Irina Slutsky on her MyooVooDayWith day. Irina's that super cool host on Geek Entertainment TV, who gets to interview all the cool web 2.0 entrepreneurs. We talked about a bunch of stuff, and I even learned about the coolest pie shop in San Francisco. Making me hungry, just thinking out it.
We launched a new version of BrandFlakes, devoted entirely to our upcoming trip to SXSW. Our hope is that this will be an awesome place to share ideas and experiences with our readers who decided not to go. And hopefully, Rob or Dave will do something really embarrassing in a drunken stupor. That's always awesome blog stuff. Stay tuned as SXSW nears, and we'll be posting lots of stuff.
Giuli, Diana and I have officially moved into the new addition of our office, and it rocks. We're moving furniture all around, and reconfiguring desks throughout our space. Once complete, we'll take loads of pictures and post them.
Have a great week!
Labels: thisweekatPlaid
posted by darryl ohrt @ 7:07 AM
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this week at Plaid:
Here's what happened this week at the word's sweetest design and branding firm:
We visited Segway headquarters!! Met some great people, had some productive meetings, and more important than anything...we got to see where Segways are born. The factory. They even let us test drive an x2. (Which Giuli won't stop talking about.)
I started using AskSunday. If you haven't already heard about it, check it out. Pretty awesome service. Basically, you get to outsource yourself. This week, I used Ask Sunday to research airfares, book airfares for SXSW, and renew a magazine subscription that had lapsed. All stuff that I didn't have time to do on my own.
Our CARPET ARRIVED!! If you've been following our remodeling saga, we've added a new area to our space. Construction has been completed, other than carpet, for what seems like 2 years. Today, the carpet installers arrived, and the space is ready for action. We start moving furniture into the joint next week!
Matt launched a site for A Fine Frenzy, just for Valentine's Day. You can still send your lover a sweet little Fine Frenzy message, if you'd like.
We've started to prepare for our trip to SXSW. We're going to be sharing our experience, with an eye toward what's cool for clients. We'll be blogging, twittering and broadcasting everything. Even when David gets really drunk and starts yelling at people. Should be a blast. If you're attending, please let us know. We'd love to share a BrandFlakes beer together.
We're off to enjoy a nice three day weekend, thanks to some dead presidents. You should too!
Labels: sxsw, thisweekatPlaid
posted by darryl ohrt @ 5:35 PM
0 comments
this week at Plaid:
Here's what happened this week at world's most awesome design and branding firm:
We launched some good work this week. David and Jeremy launched the first stage of WestportPlayhouse.org.
We produced a really cool site for Crayon, and their client ooVoo. We created My ooVoo Day With, the promotion and registration site for this incredible event. If you haven't already signed up for a session - do that now. You can video chat with some of the world's most interesting bloggers. This is a really rare opportunity. Design was done by Matt, and development by Paul.
We also produced a site for New York's premiere spine and sport pain treatment center. Work by Rob, Paul and Bob.
We started the interview process for a couple of new positions at our agency. Good timing, because the addition to our space is nearly done. We could move into it, if we only had carpet. This was supposed to be installed Friday, but got delayed until next week.
We've all been working really, really hard. We had scheduled a field trip for Friday (to go snowboarding and skiing at Mohawk Mountain) but had to cancel, in the interest of deadlines. We're stoked that some new hires will help us get back some fairly regular goof off and exploration time that is so important to the creative process.
Labels: thisweekatPlaid
posted by darryl ohrt @ 8:24 AM
2 comments
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.
Labels: plaid, plaidsummertour, superbowl, sxsw, thisweekatPlaid
posted by darryl ohrt @ 5:16 PM
3 comments
this week at Plaid
Here's what happened this week at the world's most lemonly delicious design and branding firm:
The week started with a day off, thanks to Martin Luther King. Awesome.
Construction continues on the addition to our space. They're painting the walls. Next week carpet comes, and they should install our custom wainscoting, which will look a little bit like this, on the back wall of the space. Because our space used to be an old theater, we want the wall to look like a classic architectural element that we uncovered in the process of renovation. That's the plan, anyway.
New desks for the new space arrived - but it's all just a tease, because we can't put anything in there yet. Our workspace is an absolute MESS, with furniture everywhere, plastic barriers blocking construction, and sheetrock dust. Oh, sheetrock dust. And did we mention that construction dudes really like to blast top 40 music on their radio?
We're hiring again! Two positions - a full-time programmer/front-end web developer, and a part-time office position.
It was really cold this week. In the teens every morning, as we drove to work. We should get awards just for waking up and adventuring to the office in such crap. Agencies in California suck a little more this week. :)
Labels: thisweekatPlaid
posted by darryl ohrt @ 5:12 PM
2 comments
this week at Plaid
Here's what happened this week at the world's most rockin' design and branding firm:
Giuli got promoted! We've created a new position, "Producer", that will be responsible for managing all projects at the agency. She'll be the point person for clients to get project updates, keep projects on budget, and work with our creatives to get them the tools and information they need. (Basically, she'll make sure that our agency actually pulls off what Diana and I promise to clients.)
We're also hiring. We've got two new positions to fill. The first is a part-time Office Assistant. And we're looking for a front-end web developer. (Details on that position coming in the next few days).
Construction dudes made a ton of progress on our new addition. You can watch a video of before the wall came down, and see David and Justus actually pull an entire wall down. (After Joe and his construction crew pre-cut the boards and removed everything dangerous.)
Our office is an absolute mess, due to the construction. Plastic sheeting is covering half of our space, my desk no longer exists, and we're all struggling through conference calls to the sound of reciprocating saws.
Meanwhile, furniture is starting to arrive. Everyone's pretty stoked about the egg chairs, pictured above.
We started experimenting with our Chumby. It's pretty cool, and we've already got some fun ideas for clients. We'll share more next week.
We lost our internet for a few hours this morning. Seemed like an eternity.
We're off to enjoy a three day weekend, thanks to the wonderful Martin Luther King!
Labels: thisweekatPlaid
posted by darryl ohrt @ 7:57 PM
2 comments
this week at Plaid
Here's what happened this week at the world's most awesome design and branding firm:
We got our Chumby!! We broadcast the unboxing on Seesmic. You can see that here. And here. We're experimenting with this really cool device, and playing with possibilities and ideas that might be useful for our clients. We've already got some fun stuff we're thinking about.
Construction continued on our addition. They've made a ton of progress. Insulation and sheetrock this week. And insane hammer tricks. Since construction dudes don't have YouTube, they need something to entertain themselves every once in a while.
Katie, our intern, got to go to her very first video shoot. We were shooting an exercise device, and the model got the workout of her life. Exercise is wonderful until the director asks you to do it over and over and over again. She's stronger because of it.
I've been experimenting and falling in love with Seesmic. Unfortunately, it's not open for public participation yet - but ask your Twitter friends for an invite. I was featured in one of their "SeesmiX" wrap-up clips this week. Awesome.
Lots of shipments arriving daily. A new server, and furniture for our new space is beginning to arrive. Kind of exciting.
We've got some new virtual running mates in our agency's NikePlus challenge. I'm getting my butt kicked by media buying Ben. What an asshat. At least I can still run circles around Giuli, Justus, Rob and Katie. Especially Katie. Think you can kick Ben's ass? Contact Giuli AT ThinkPlaid DOT com, and we'll get you in our next challenge.
I believe we've talked Ryan into entering into the Burton Challenge. If you've ever met Ryan, you know that he's destined to win first prize. More later on this one.
Have a great weekend!
Labels: seesmic, thisweekatPlaid, workplace
posted by darryl ohrt @ 4:54 PM
1 comments
this week at Plaid
Here's what happened this week at the world's most freezing cold design and branding firm:
What a weird week. We came back from a sweet vacation just a little disoriented, but well rested. I think Wednesday was getting our bearings day, yesterday was digging into work, and today was all about 'damn, it's Friday already.'
The electrician came and wired our new addition for electricity, phones and ethernet. Windows arrived, and a crane is coming next week to deliver sheetrock and insulation. The space should really start to take shape next week!
We're discussing some fairly significant organizational changes that will allow us to take on more work and provide better service to our clients. We may also be hiring a couple of new people. Exciting things on the way.
I started experimenting with Seesmic. If you're already on and participating, please look me up, and share your love of what's cool with this incredible tool. I'll report more once I've got some experience under my belt.
We're looking for NikePlus Challengers! Are you a NikePlus user? We'd like to create a virtual challenge against another agency or firm. Got a handful of people at your place that want to take us on? We've got 4 - 6 users that are ready to beat your ass. Or at least walk really fast. If you're up to the challenge, contact Giuli AT thinkplaid DOT com.
Have a great weekend! Lots of busy fun stuff next week.
Labels: thisweekatPlaid
posted by darryl ohrt @ 8:22 PM
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this week at Plaid
Here's what happened this week at the world's so-ready-for-the-holidays agency:
Construction on our addition continued. They pretty much finished the roof, so we can now get a sense of the full space. We met with the electrician, and decided where all of the lights, switches and ethernet terminals would go. We've also begun shopping for furniture, which is awesome.
Deadlines, deadlines, deadlines. We completed everything that we needed to (as far as we know) so that everyone could cut out early today.
MMMMMMMMM. So many loads of sugary goodness. And just enough alcohol. Special thanks go out to Brian, Katie, Bill, Diana, Paul and Chris, Derek, RMI, White Light, Ben, and the master of all things sugar, Eliza. And I'm sure I've forgotten someone. Safe to say we've all put on a few pounds this week.
Plaid offices are closed for the holidays, giving us all time to stay up late, sleep late, and do untold things. We're back in action on Wednesday, January 2nd.
I'll blog periodically (probably) during this period.
Happy Christmas, Happy New Years, and Happy whatever you might celebrate to all of our BrandFlakes friends!
Labels: holiday, thisweekatPlaid, yummyfood
posted by darryl ohrt @ 4:41 PM
0 comments
this week at Plaid
We produced a really fun online greeting card for client RMI Direct Marketing. Check it out, and see what a bunch of no-talent singers sound like when you put them together in a chorus. It's really bad. No really. Bad. (We've advised them not to quit their day jobs.)
Eric from Segway talks about the project we're working on in the SegwayToday podcast. This is going to be awesome. Should be launching early next year.
Construction continued on the addition to our space. All the walls are up, and they've installed the roof rafters. We can really get an idea on how the space will feel now.
Today, we met a significant sales goal - and celebrated by getting the crew new Nikon Coolpix cameras. They're the first digital cameras with WIFI on board. For real. We can now shoot pics and upload them right from the camera to Flickr. Or email. Or whatever. Expect lots of action on our Flickr page in the coming weeks.
Some skiing, shopping, movie watching and snow shoveling planned for the crew this weekend. Next week's going to be a MADHOUSE.
Labels: holiday, plaid, thisweekatPlaid
posted by darryl ohrt @ 8:02 PM
3 comments
this week at Plaid:
Here's what happened this week at the world's most plaidalicious design and branding firm:
They started construction on the addition to our space. Lumber was delivered (with a crane!) and they began the process of framing the floor.
Bill, Diana and co-hort Ben and I visited Washington DC on Monday, to present to an exciting new potential client. Fingers are crossed, and we're ready to change the world. Or a little piece of it, anyway. LOVE DC, and would like to spend more time there.
I was interviewed by Inc. Magazine! Totally stoked. I've been a reader for years, so it was a pleasure to talk to them about blogging. I'm expecting nothing short of the cover, but I'll probably get edited from the article entirely. Funny thing - I mentioned the interview to coworker Rob, and he thought I meant Ink Magazine - about tattoos. Obviously not everyone in our office subscribes to the business pubs.
We've got exactly two weeks to finish everything up before we close for the holidays. There's soooo much to do - so there are definitely some long days ahead.
We (mostly Katie and Ryan) were busy like elves on meth getting holiday mailers together. The Plaid holiday greeting hit the mailbox today. If you're on our list, keep your eyes on your postman next week. We're also preparing a nice holiday surprise package for Plaid clients. That should hit the streets later next week.
Major shout-out to Morgan Williams for hooking me up with American Hardcore on DVD. (It's a punk rock thing, not a porno thing.) Gonna be great to reminisce about the old days this weekend. Thanks Morgan!!!
Have a great weekend. It's snowing here.
Labels: holiday, thisweekatPlaid
posted by darryl ohrt @ 10:18 PM
1 comments
this week at Plaid:
Here's what happened this week at the world's most glorious design and branding firm:
We produced a fun video about how Plaid we are, for a pitch that's happening next week.
Our holiday delights department is preparing the annual Plaid holiday greeting, and special client giftness. Lots of holiday joy to come for all.
We're absolutely completely buried in deadlines. Loads of stuff that we need to complete before the holidays. Speaking of the holidays, Matt created a fun little e-card generator for the band Relient K. (Can't remember if I've already shared that or not.)
I know there's a ton of other stuff that I could probably be posting about or linking to, but it's Sunday, and I just remembered that we never did the 'this week at' post. So this is the best I can do. ;)
Most importantly, Eliza and I share this week as a birthday week. When you're our age, you need a whole week to celebrate. The Plaid crew hooked us up with a sweet CookiePuss cake. Nothing better than CookiePuss, in the whole entire world.
Labels: thisweekatPlaid
posted by darryl ohrt @ 10:31 AM
1 comments
this week at Plaid:
Here's what happened this week at the world's most magically delicious design and branding firm:
Lots of photo shoots. Rob and I had a shoot at an incredibly unique spine and sports medicine facility in NYC earlier in the week. And today, the majority of the Plaid team got together for a really awesome shoot for our upcoming holiday card. All that I can say is there were some silly outfits and embarrassing positions.
Katie brought her dog Taco to the office. Taco rocks. He's got his own Facebook page, and he's already getting popular. Everyone loves Taco.
Giuli used our Segway for an interesting experiment. She rolled out a long strip of bubble wrap, and then rode the Segway over it. So much fun. We're already planning on buying one of those huge bubble wrap rolls, and doing a bubble wrap glide on the sidewalk in front of our office. Should be fun.
Someone sent us a bunch of beer (always appreciated) and some summer sausage. Sausage jokes were flowing all over the office. David discovered that he could shoot pieces of sausage from an air gun that was in the office. So David was shooting his sausage all over the place.
There's some amazing work going on at our shop. Lots of really big stuff is getting close to launching, so we'll be sharing soon.
We met with an architect to discuss some ideas for the new addition to our space. Construction should be kicking off in the next couple of weeks. We need the space bad, so we can't wait.
Next week is Thanksgiving here in the U.S., so it's a short week, which we're all looking forward to.
Have a great weekend! Hope you're somewhere warmer than we are.
Labels: plaid, thisweekatPlaid
posted by darryl ohrt @ 9:22 PM
1 comments
giuli won the ny marathon
Since Rob and I left the office early to get drunk on knowledge, I totally forgot to write a "this week at Plaid" post last week. Yes, lots of stuff happened at the agency last week, but none more important than Giuli running the NY Marathon.
And I think she won. Because all of the people ahead of her don't really count. AND - more importantly, she kicked Katie Holmes' ass. By 20 minutes. Giuli says that "if Katie had worn a sports bra, maybe she would have done better". Damn. Beat Katie, and then kick sand in her face. This competitive thing has really changed Giuli.
Thanks to the thousands of people who stood on the streets and rooted for her, so that we could stay home and avoid the traffic and crowds. (Dave still swears he can beat her, once he puts his mind to it.)
Labels: newyork, plaid, thisweekatPlaid
posted by darryl ohrt @ 7:37 AM
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this week at Plaid:
Here's what happened this week at the world's most fit design and branding firm:
We re-recorded our very first Plaidcast. The first one sucked too bad to actually release. This one should be available for your viewing pleasure next week.
We carved pumpkins! And then threw them off the roof. You can watch the video here.
Giuli is the only person at Plaid brave enough to run in the NYC Marathon this weekend. You can see her above, from when she ran the NYC half marathon in August. Judging by the size of that gold medal, I'm guessing that she won it. Which probably means that Lance Armstrong is crapping his pants right now, worrying about how to beat Giuli in the race. Either that, or he's doping.
Anyway, if you're in the city this weekend, and totally annoyed at all of the road closures she's caused, we suggest that you throw a water bottle at her. Or a tomato. We think that will encourage her to run faster. While you're at it, let her know that those sunglasses are way out of style, and that only dorks wear their ipods on their belts.
Have a great weekend, and root for Giuli to kick ass at the marathon.
Labels: thisweekatPlaid
posted by darryl ohrt @ 4:58 PM
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this week at Plaid:
Here's what happened this week at the world's most plaid design and branding firm:
Lots of Segway gliding. Pretty much everyone is looking for any excuse to do the most mundane errands around town, on the Segway. You've never seen so many people excited about the possibility of going to the Post Office.
We recorded the first ever Plaidcast. It's a video podcast. And it totally sucks. But it's a fantastic proof of concept, and we know exactly what we need to improve on. We'll post it soon. And we'll probably record our new and improved Plaidcast #2 next week. Should be fun.
Dave went on vacation. Totally cool dude vacation. Went mountain biking in Utah, Colorado, and some other square states. Meanwhile, everyone else (especially Rob K) picked up his slack.
We're getting building estimates on an addition to our space. If everything works out, we're going to have a super cool new work area, to house some of our new hires. If not, we'll all get more cramped in the existing space.
We hired Katie, our new intern, pictured above. You can see her video interview here, and find her on Facebook here. We've got her totally convinced that boring intern work is really a load of fun. She seems really nice, and so far hasn't been corrupted by the team at Plaid. (Give us a couple of weeks.)
Fall has officially kicked in for New England, and we're pulling out our plaid sweaters. Have a great weekend.
Labels: thisweekatPlaid
posted by darryl ohrt @ 10:06 PM
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this week at Plaid:
Here's what happened this week at the world's most gliding design and branding firm:
We returned Monday from our annual Plaid Planning Trip, pumped and ready to go. We've got some incredible ideas for the next 12 months, and can't wait to get some of our plans into action. You can see the wrap up and drunken video clips on our agency blog.
We're hiring. We need a tech lead. Please tell your friends. This is the ultimate position for someone with the hot programming skillz, and some good project management talents.
We did loads and loads of work this week. Some stuff for Segway, Sony Music, Relient K, Danbury Hospital, Powderhouse Productions, Spherion, Iron Horse Bikes, K2 Bikes, and a few other fun companies.
We're talking about putting an addition onto our space, to accommodate some of the new hires we're making. Still waffling back and forth as to whether this is necessary - but things are starting to look a little cramped at the Plaid headquarters.
Which - today we moved all of our furniture out of the way....because our first Segway arrived!!! We are soooo stoked to have an official Plaid Segway PT. Watch me prove that it's important to wear a helmet, in the video clip above.
Labels: thisweekatPlaid
posted by darryl ohrt @ 9:31 PM
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this week at Plaid:
Here's what happened this week at the most screw-fall-summer-lives-forever design and branding firm:
Wow. It's Saturday, and we haven't posted the weekly update. I'll keep it short.
You'll notice a new guest blogger posting to BrandFlakes. It's Wilson Cleveland, from CJP, a kick ass PR firm that totally gets emerging media. And that PR stuff. So we like them. Wilson's going to be posting regularly here, adding some cool new flavor to BrandFlakes. I have a feeling you'll really dig his sense of humor. That's him, pictured above, looking all serious, like he's ready to anchor the evening news or something. Definitely in need of a Mojito, by the looks of that shot.
The rest of this week was filled to the gills with work, meetings and conference calls. We're trying to get a load of stuff done prior to our annual planning meeting, next week.
If you didn't notice the earlier post, we're also looking for an intern. If you know a college student who loves abuse and lots of crap work for low wages, please send them our way.
Enjoy an amazingly warm 'fall' weekend.
Labels: thisweekatPlaid
posted by darryl ohrt @ 3:35 PM
2 comments
this week at Plaid:
Here's what happened this week at the world's most Rob-riffic design and branding firm.
We discovered Rob's wallet. First - it's totally cool, because it's made from duct tape. Rocks. But then....it's also MASSIVE. It's seriously a filing cabinet for Rob's entire life. We discovered that he actually has every student ID he ever owned, still in his wallet. Even better - the photos on those IDs. Made for a great laugh at lunch today, and now you can enjoy them, too. Dig his groovy haircuts.
Speaking of Rob - he launched a new site for K2 Bikes. And he came close to completing a project for Pink Floyd's David Gilmour. Loads of other work for the rest of the team, too. A church campaign (we'll share next week), direct marketing print campaign, some interactive work for a hospital, print collateral for a playhouse, and a bunch of other stuff that I can't remember right now.
We buried ourselves in new work - including a new project from Segway. We'll be producing something pretty amazing for them, of course - but more importantly, we're getting a Segway for the office. Speed tests coming soon.
We're looking for a new intern, after Brian retired to the life of a student. More on this in a separate post soon. If you know of any college students willing to pimp themselves out for low wages, send them our way.
Have a great weekend.
Labels: thisweekatPlaid
posted by darryl ohrt @ 4:43 PM
1 comments
this week at Plaid:
Here's what happened this week at the world's greatest design and branding firm:
Matt and I started the week off with a shoot for Westport Country Playhouse. A shot of a couple, a rabbit, and a noose. Typical day in theater, I guess. I got to play the role of Production Assistant, and hold the end of a noose up. Basically, a contest between the model/client and myself, to see whose arm will get tired first. (The client is a former Navy dude - so you can guess who won that contest.) Oh, the exciting things we get to do.
Rob nearly completed a sweet online promotion/contest site for David Gilmour. If the client supplies the last components (this means you, Lars), we'll be launching next week. Can't wait to share. He's also working on a new web 2.0 style tool that's going to totally rock.
Justus finished a couple of rough cuts for online videos, and Chris (new freelancer) produced one as well.
Bill wrote several strategy documents. Eliza put lots of words together, and Paul and Chris played with 0's and 1's. I have no idea what Matt or David did this week, but they sure seemed busy.
Giuli wins best person of the office this week. Because...she booked our planning trip....to MEXICO! We're all totally, totally stoked to go to the land of burritos and margaritas. Mmmmm.
Later in the week, I had the pleasure of meeting the crew at Powderhouse Productions. (Don't worry - that site will be totally rockin' in just a few weeks.) Most awesome group of people ever. I mean - not counting our existing clients, of course. Because once you've gone Plaid, you're pretty much awesome. Just a sea of awesomeness all around us. I don't know where I'm going with this - but they're super fun people that would have a blast drinking beer with our crew.
Last weekend of summer! And it's actually going to be nice. Plaidsters will be enjoying the rare New England sun. Have fun.
Labels: thisweekatPlaid
posted by darryl ohrt @ 11:14 PM
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this week at Plaid:
Phew. Loads of work this week. But who cares about work when you're out on the open seas?
We'll devote this week's wrap-up to today only. Just because...
We closed the office today, and the crew from CT went deep sea fishing. A little bit of beer, a little salty air, and pounds and pounds of fish. Plaid setup a $100 prize for the biggest fish, which David managed to capture. Matt caught the biggest fish that got away. Probably half the size of the boat. Probably the biggest fish to ever be measured in the history of fishing. But it got away, so David is $100 richer.
I was stoked that the boat had cell service, and that photos could be posted to Facebook. And email could be checked. And Twitter. To hell with life jackets - never leave shore without the internet. And I learned that Cap'n Pete was a Mac lover. Nice.
Nobody talked like a pirate. That makes me sad, in retrospect. But then again, if we did, I'm sure that First Mate Gordy would have cut us to pieces with his fillet knife.
You can see pics of the winning catch, salty First Mate Gordy, and some of the fun on our Flickr page. Have a wonderous weekend.
Labels: plaid, thisweekatPlaid, workplace
posted by darryl ohrt @ 11:23 PM
1 comments
this week at Plaid:
Here's what happened this week at the world's greatest design and branding firm:
We tried really hard to cram seven days of work into a four day work week. We're all exhausted.
David, Chris and Brent launched a new site for the bariatrics division of a hospital. This is some beautiful design work with some very well thought out content for patients considering this surgery. We believe it's the first site of it's kind with this kind of depth and insight from real patients.
Matt nearly launched another site for the same client. Next week.
Justus finished a rough cut for a direct marketing client, and some production work for Talbots.
Rob got approval from David Gilmour's management on a new contest site we're working on, and began to dig in. He's also doing conceptual work for a couple of other clients.
We had several really cool brainstorms - including one for a church. Yep - a church - that's willing to do some awesomely creative new branding things. This is going to be fun work.
Giuli and I had a shoot with Derek Dudek, that got us at least a half day in a beautious park. Wish the whole day could have been outside. (The second half was spent in a conference room.)
We received a new flatscreen for our conference room, and are moving the old one out into our lunch/brainstorm2 area - to become an official Guitar Hero "work" station. (So that Giuli can kick everyone's ass in the game.)
OH YEAH - GIULI TAUGHT EVERYONE IN THE OFFICE A NEW SLANG WORD FOR FEMALE GENETALIA. While "researching" the Facebook Scrabble application.
Tonight, a bunch of us went down to Pepe's Pizza - to fill our bellies with the best pizza on the east coast. And some beer.
Labels: thisweekatPlaid
posted by darryl ohrt @ 11:52 PM
2 comments
this week at Plaid:
Here's what happened this week at the world's most magnificent design and branding firm:
Rob finished concepts for a promotion we're doing for David Gilmour, and also for a media buying agency's site.
David launched the first stage of a 2007 site for Iron Horse Bikes, and finished concepts for an entirely new site for K2 bikes. He also nearly launched a beautious website for the bariatrics division of a hospital - which should go live next week.
Matt had a busy week with a photo shoot, a video shoot and loads of design work for a new microsite he's working on. He also did conceptual work for a theater's brochure. He's pictured above at the video shoot, with Brian McAward, Director of Photography.
Justus edited tons of video, and worked on some title movements, for five different video projects that are in-house.
Brian the intern returned to college. Thursday was his last day. Before leaving, he was sure to show the entire agency how he could kick everyone's ass at Guitar Hero. His chops were indeed impressive, but the big surprise was when Giuli rocked the game. Seriously. Guns and Roses may be calling her for their next tour.
Today was Justus' birthday. Since he sooo loves broadway shows, Brian made him a custom Justus version Lion King cake. Justus danced like a little girl in delight. (And he's gonna kick my ass for saying so.)
Off for a sweet, three day weekend. Enjoy.
Labels: briantheintern, thisweekatPlaid
posted by darryl ohrt @ 1:25 PM
2 comments
this week at Plaid:
Here's what happened this week at the world's most awesome design and branding firm:
We discussed physics. No, really. During lunch on Thursday, the conversation turned to physics. Sounds really intelligent, but in reality none of us could figure out the basic laws of gravity. I think we're better suited to discussions on psychics.
Matt finished some work for J. Holiday, which should launch in the next week or so. He also completed some spectacular work for the Westport Country Playhouse, and a hospital. David, Rob and Leigh continued work on new sites for Iron Horse Bikes and K2 Bikes. Justus completed a rough cut for Harris Connect. Rob launched a blog for Spherion, worked on a new web 2.0 tool, and completed conceptual work for another agency's site.
Giuli eliminated the clumsy PC from her life, and went Mac. Our office is now 100% mac, with the exception of a couple of platform testing machines, which we hide in a corner.
You may remember that we completed a re-branding of our agency. One of the last items with the old name is the entrance from our elevator vestibule. Today, Jeremy (pictured above), began installing the new Plaid components. Actually, more than anything, he removed the VIA stuff. And wrapped the elevator doors in Plaid. We'll hopefully complete the install next week.
The entire office has been pooling together and buying Lotto tickets. And with each drawing, we lose. The next drawing is tomorrow night. Today, three of us got tired of feeding money to Lotto. So if the office wins on Saturday, you can expect to see Brian, Matt and myself working hard on Monday. While everyone else is flying first class to a beach somewhere.
David took his first vacation days of the year, and headed to New Hampshire. Justus is enjoying a nice three day weekend camping. Can't imagine Justus fitting into a backpacking tent, but who knows.
Oh yeah - summer finally returned to the northeast, as the rest of the week felt like fall. (yech.) Have a great weekend!
Labels: thisweekatPlaid
posted by darryl ohrt @ 10:02 PM
0 comments
this week at Plaid:
Here's what happened this week at the world's greatest design and branding firm:
This is the week dedicated to the toilet. Specifically, the Plaid FlushMaster 4000. Our plumber says "that toilet will flush anything." We say "our office will be a test of that statement." It's got so much power the room vibrates on flush. And it's Plaid. See Brian's special install here. I've had the gnomes moved, because I swear they're staring at my private parts.
Lots of almosts this week. Almost launched a site for the bariatrics division of a hospital. Almost completed something for J Holiday. Almost completed concepts for a print ad campaign. Almost launched a couple of blogs. So next week - that should bring a bunch of closure to our week of "almost".
We're also working on two really fun 'skunkworks' projects. Things we'd like to tell you about, but people would have us killed.
The Intern Brian installed a webcam in one of our brainstorm areas. Now you can keep an eye on us. I'm pretty sure some funky stuff happens on that couch.
Have a plaid-tastic weekend!
Labels: thisweekatPlaid
posted by darryl ohrt @ 4:18 PM
0 comments