Throwback Ted Tuesday: Sir Ken Robinson

This video is one of the first from TED. I watched it last night for the first time in a long time and it really gets you to think about creativity. Would we as a culture be farther or more advanced if things in our society were just a bit different?

Tea for Two

Welcome to National Iced Tea Day. Yum! We just got a tea machine in our office for the summer and we are making a great use out of it. Check out some recipes below for a little tasty variation of your typical Arizona sun tea.

1. Apple-Tea-ni
   You can make this with a little extra something something if you know what I mean or you can keep it simple and sober. Start with half a glass of unsweetened tea then add half a glass of apple juice with a splash of lemon to taste. Enjoy.
   
2. Red Sea Tea
   They say the red fruits are energizing and hold anti-aging benefits. Can I prove that? No. I just love the way they taste. Start with half a glass of unsweetened tea then add pureed strawberries mixed with pomogranite-cranberry juice. Add skewered blueberries for an aesthetic touch.
   
3. Tropical Tea
   If you know me you know how much I love tropical fruit and citrus. It's really a weakness. Start with half a glass of unsweetened tea then add an extracted mixture of mango, pineapple, peach and apricot. Put your suit and glasses on and go sit by the pool with this one!
   
4. Watermelon Lime Refresher Tea
   This one is for my fancy friends. Start with half a glass of unsweetened tea and add extracted watermelon. Cut a lime in half and use one half to squeeze into the drink and the other half to slice and perch on the side of the glass. Serve with an accent.
   
5. Raspberry Arnold Palmer
   A nice twist to the traditional Arnold Palmer! Start with half a glass of unsweetened tea then add Raspberry Lemonade (1 Part Lemon, 2 Parts Orange, 3 Parts Raspberries). YUM! 

Sceloporus Magister

We had a visitor today. I had no idea what it was but thanks to Google found out it's a Desert Spiny Lizard. The most important question I have is . . . is it poisonous? The answer is no, but they will bite if they are picked up.

My little visitor made me curious to know more. So I will share what I have learned. 

They are native to Utah, Colorado, New Mexico to Arizona and can grow to be up to about 142 mm or 5.6" from snout to butt. The tail size will vary and make them, obvioulsy, longer.

Their color is close to camoflage in the desert shrubbery though they have speckles of yellow on their sides, wedges of dark purple on their shoulders. Boys have two large, bright, teal patches on the belly and a blue patch on the throat so I'm pretty sure the one hanging out on my fence was a man. 

They burrow and live in pack rat nests after basking in the sun on tree branches during the day. They also hibernate in late Fall and Winter. 

It says you will most likely find a male and female together. "Mating takes place in spring and summer and one or two clutches of eggs are laid in spring and summer. Clutch size ranges from 2 to 12 eggs. Hatchlings may appear as early as late May but usually begin to emerge in July."

They eat insects including ants, beetles, and caterpillars. The DSL also feeds on spiders, centipedes, small lizards, and some plant material.

I got all of this information off a great website by Thomas Brennan, it has a lot more information on all the reptiles of Arizona. It's intention is to educate and preserve the great species we have in the desert. Go nerd out here.

These are the photos I took through my kitchen window. 

This photo is off the website mentioned above. Tom's photo looks a lot better and shows the true beauty of this lizard. 

Here's a fun video of one of the lizards getting some tasty fly snacks.

National Donut Day

So today is full of delicious donuts. Rainbow Donuts for everyone. My favorite are the colored sprinkle ones. Anything else will not do. What's your favorite kind of donut?

PHX Fashion Friday - Linda

Okay so I am really into our office social media. I don't know if it's because I miss being enthralled in Facebook and Twitter as much as I used to or what. Whatever it may be I am trying to get my fix of social media, thus coming up with content for our agency's Facebook page.

My first installment is Phoenix Fashion Fridays. Our AEs dress so amazingly I felt it necessary to document it. So every Friday, until I get bored with it, you will see one of our amazing AEs and the clothes on their back that day.

Above is Linda. She is great. Super bubbly and a little clumsy (okay a lot) she makes the office super bright with her great personality and giant smile. Hope your Friday is as fun as ours.

Creative Throwback

So check out how cute we were as children. Now learn a little about us.

Ashley J. George, Senior Art Director – She was born with one blue eye and one brown eye.

Ken Pham, Copywriter – He has three dogs that look like characters from the Lion King. 

Stefan Swenson, Designer – He speaks fluent Hungarian.

Ana Cordova, Designer – She has 45 cousins.

Conversation: MD and a Designer

Our MD ordered us food so we could stay in the office for some tight deadlines.

MD: Food in the front, creative out the back.

AC: Have you ever been to outback it's australian food . . . ?

ME: is it really?

#Thicke

This song is so fun! We had it on all day in the office and it puts you in such a great mood. Good job boys, but next time you wear the plastic outfits.

UPDATE: It was brought to my attention that the above video was the PG version. So below is the "Explicit" version. For some of you it might not be suitable for work. Honestly though I think it's WAY better than those plastic outfits!

Facebook & Verified Accounts

Today Facebook rolled out verified accounts. The addition of Facebook Pages in November 2007 you would think they would follow in Twitter's footsteps offering verification soon after they did in June 2008 . . . nope. 

Welcome to the party Facebook, only five years later (that's a lifetime on the internet).

Even though Facebook is late to the party, it is a much needed feature. Besides the recent and abundant hacks in the last few months, there are too many impostors on the internet. Some of the impostors are funny and help your brand, though a lot of them pull down the strength of your brand voice/reputation.

It's amazing the power this little blue/white check mark has. It tells customers they are in the right place. It helps them feel at ease and opens their hearts and hopefully their wallets.

Currently Facebook is only verifying big brands. Oreo and Target are a couple of the first brands to receive a verified mark. Twitter is still extremely strict about its verification process. Will Facebook pass them by and allow small businesses and entrepreneurs verify their companies first?

Story via AdWeek

Conversation: Creative and an AE

Creative: Do you have the itinerary?

AE: No.

Creative: What time is breakfast?

AE: 8:30

Creative: You just said you didn't ahve the itinerary?

AE: I don't, but I know what time everything is.

Creative: What time is the presentation?

AE makes a scrunched face

Creative: Are you pooping?

Shop On During Lightrail Construction

Did you know that all the businesses along the new Lightrail construction route are open and accessible the entire time construction is going on? If not, you do now. Make sure to frequent your favorite businesses and show them some love. 

Also, check out some of the work we did to get the word out about it. 

Creative Director Visiting

The amazing thing about working with a company that has satellite offices that work so closely together is that you get visitors all the time. It's like having a spare room all the time, except in this case it's a spare desk. Ron Lopez, one of our CDs out of Vegas stopped by today and it was great to finally meet him in person and have a fresh set of eyes on some work.

She's Crafty: Happy St. Paddys Day

Hope you are all having a very happy St. Patrick's Day! Check out this great wreath I made with four simple supplies. 

Leroy's Funny Dog Toys

I might be guilty of purchasing my dog toys that make him look a little silly. Oh well. 

Damn Good Advice - George Lois

Damn Good Advice is just that, a book filled with advice from advertising great George Lois. Below are some of my favorites.

2: I am what I am.
8: Always go for the Big Idea.
13: The computer won't come up with the idea.
23: Never listen to music while concepting.
37: Ideas won't sell themselves.
53: Don't work for bad people.
54: Never eat shit.
60: 80% is showing up.
94: The only thing that gets better when it gets bigger is a penis.
105: Do something productive.
110: Work comfortably.
119: Be courageous.

These are just a few. I suggest you pick up the book and spend an hour learning from such a great advertising creative. 

Photograph: Lonely Car

Happy Valentine's Day!

Hope you are having a great Valentine's Day! My little man is my Valentine so I got him a love bug. . . I think he likes it.

Sending Love to Afghanistan

A buddy of mine is in Afghanistan right now and I like to send him care packages every once and a while. Meet George. I know, I know good name right? Please excuse his creeper 'stache. I'm chalking it up to being in the middle of no where.

      

I met George the summer of 2005 while I was working at Virginia Tech. I was running rugby drills half ass attempting to stay in shape for the coming Fall. Out of no where here comes George and some other rugby guys. Let's just say my half ass attempt went to a full ass attempt trying to keep up with them. That Fall I went from a Loose Prop to an Outside Center.

Anyway, that's how I met George. After VT he decided to up and join the Marines. Even though we are a Navy family, I like to send George care packages when he's on tour. It's what friends do.

This last package I sent was a little late for Christmas but it arrived safe and sound. I shoved as much shit in this box as I could. There was the normal cleaning supplies, Kleenex, hand sanitizer and such. There was a bunch of food, cookies, crackers and the much requested Twizzlers. A movie, magazine and goodness. I included miniature bows on everything and tucked notes on almost everything.

It's not any fun being away from family during the holidays, so you have to make sure they know how much they are missed!

If you don't know someone serving overseas but would like to send a care package, there are a lot of organizations that send packages all the time.

Operation: Hang Huge Whiteboard

Whiteboards are how I keep my life together. If I didn't make lists, I would probably be running in seven different directions trying to figure out which way to go. Whiteboards give me the flexibility to scribble things down, erase and see the bigger picture without wasting paper or needing a charged iPad.

When I worked at Y&R we moved to the 9th floor while our 8th floor was being remodeled. After moving back to the 8th floor, they allowed us to scavenge the 9th floor and take furniture that would otherwise be disposed of. I found a giant whiteboard that was a little beat up, along with some other things.

Now that I have purchased my own house it was time for that whiteboard to find it's permanent position in the office. There were a lot of screws taped to the back along with some funny looking fixtures. Everything I've ever hung either used a good old nail or those ridiculously expensive removable sticky tabs.

Enter YouTube. This is where I find the best how-tos so that I can do it right the first time and not waste a lot of time. Here is the video I used to learn how to correctly hang a whiteboard. It's not a great video, but it completely did the trick. I had the fixtures they had in the video and then smaller hooks for the top.

I used a Zircon Stud Finder to find my wood studs because it was too hard to tell the difference in my walls. It was quick and a lot easier than drilling/filling a bunch of holes. 

Mark the center of your studs next with a pencil. A white rub eraser will get the pencil off your wall the cleanest. 

These are the hooks for the top. I was nervous about them not being strong enough but once they are screwed into the wall I was fine. They weren't going anywhere.

I use masking tape instead of a chalk line. I have a light tan carpet and do not need any colored chalk all up in that. Too messy. Measuring from the ceiling ensures a straight and level mount.

Time to secure the bottom brackets. Make sure to measure where the holes are on the bottom of the board so you only have to drill one hole.

Make sure not to secure the screw too tight, the fixture has to be able to be scooted up to the bottom of the board.

Once the whiteboard is on the wall, push the bottom mounts up to the whiteboard and screw the secure screw into the bottom. This makes sure the board doesn't rock and ruin the walls.

Ta-Dahh, a beautiful and securely mounted 60 inch whiteboard for all my organizational pleasure.

Happpppy New Year!!

This holiday season has been incredibly busy for us at the agency, but the one thing I have learned and am incredibly grateful for is the team work in this place. I know that if I need something or nothing, there is going to be someone on my team right there with me.

You hear a lot about how creatives and account people don't get along, that couldn't be farther from the truth at this place. We eat lunch together, we make fun of each other and we laugh together. Soon we will be playing ping pong together. We are one big family.

To my office family, thank you for making me feel so welcome in such a short amount of time. I can't wait to see what 2013 has in store for us.