Seat At The Table

It's funny how our agency's CEO began using the term "seat at the table" nearly a year ago, and now the idea has taken off like hot cakes. Curious if he's responsible for coining the term (?).

Anyway, Kate Rutter blogs about the theme, discussing the justification and opportunities available for a Creative to change a client's organization. I would agree that instead of the safe and traditional reactive position advertising professionals take, a strategic pro-active approach proves far more effective. I might add that it also stems from having the right client relationships, high up enough within an organization.

Go download your own "seat at the table" template. Cut it out, and you have your virtual table at your disposal. You've got to fake it before you make it, right?

Lady Clown Brings Live Music to Brooklyn

Hoping to check out the acoustic, "intellectual" live music of Lady Clown next month. Benjamin Scheuer, part of the scruffy NY-based band, says they're hosting a concert series every Friday in August at I-Beam in Brooklyn. Lady Clown will take to the stage each August Friday around 10pm, accompanied by an eclectic range of acts each night. Get this: admission is free, wine will be served, and byob. This has got to be good. I'll be sure to post pics after my wife and I check out a show.

FYI: I-Beam is a new musician-operated performance and teaching space located in Park Slope at 168 7th St, between Second and Third Aves.

Extending Brands on Flickr

AKQA London's Geoff Northcott recently wrote about using Flickr as an extension of a brand into the social media space. His post is packed with great examples of companies who are using Flickr to do this well. What may be most valuable: Northcott's analysis of do’s and dont's for brands considering incorporating Flickr into their social media strategy. Full article: http://geoffnorthcott.com/blog/2008/07/brands-on-flickr/

'Wary' point number 4 is relevant to much of social media in general, but rarely is adhered to: "Attempting to start a community space without a passionate user base in place or cred to start one." Love it.

WDDG: War-Time Design Propaganda

Besides a brilliant company name (WDDG is short for World Domination Design Group), the smart execution in the style of WWII government propaganda videos is a load of fun. WDDG didn't take any shortcuts when producing content for each of their site's categories, continuing the vintage slideshow theme throughout. Sure, it's a bit cumbersome when trying to fetch a quick bit of information (a new video cues), and I'm sure SEO presents some challenges - but the site is a fun, playful and simple way to demonstrate their creativity. For an added bonus, view source: they even have fun with code!

Note: had WDDG linked in my favorites long ago, but finally getting around to writing about it now.

LEGO cupcakes -- brilliant!

Mix and match cupcakes for fun? That will only last so long, once the pieces become consumed. These will disappear faster than leaving a small child with actual Lego pieces.

My wife was inspired by this artist (Naomi), baked cupcakes last night and attempted to create fondant for her own designs. But the result was a gooey, slimy icing-like result that didn't resemble the dough-like consistency she was looking for. After further investigation this morning, 2 factors were the cause: not enough sugar, and not enough time to set. Only 16 ounces of sugar and 20 minutes to set just didn't cut it. However the results were still delicious.

She's welcome to continue to try, try, try again... I'm ready and willing to sample the results.

FriendFeed is a Friend Indeed

This week I aggregated all of my social networks into a single source on FriendFeed. It's an interesting way for me to broadcast everything from my blogs, Twitter, Pownce, YouTube, etc. And it's easy to view all of my friends' postings at a quick, dashboard level.

The Cool Hunter Now Offers Consultancy Services?

I'm a reader of The Cool Hunter, an online art/music/fashion/design destination written by and for trend setters that are in-the-know. One of their latest spin-offs is The Cool Hunter Platinum, a self-proclaimed 'world trends consultancy,' targeting ad agencies and premium brands.

Something interesting about their authenticity is that they brag: "We don’t talk marketing-speak. In fact, we loathe it and its often meaningless jargon superfluous."

While this interesting new direction is fine and good (uh, maybe even considering giving them a ring), I really hope that new affiliations don't influence their otherwise non-biased listings.

Spy Hunter Brought Back as a Pontiac? No...

Pontiac's new G8 commercial brings back memories of playing the old game Spy Hunter on Nintendo. While I appreciate the classic 80's videogame reference, I never envisioned my spy-driven armed sports car to be a plastic-clad Pontiac.

If I had to imagine a modern-day car that would fit the role in Spy Hunter, it would be more along the lines of a Nissan GT-R or Acura NSX. These cars were designed by the guys obsessively playing Spy Hunter in their youth.