Thursday, October 29, 2009

GeekMeet Happy Hour at Blue Mesa -

You are invited to attend ...
GeekMeet Happy Hour at Blue Mesa - Nov 12
Come out to Blue Mesa for our monthly networking event. Blue Mesa will have a complimentary quesadilla bar until 7:30pm. I look forward to seeing everyone there!

I should also have pictures from the last event on our Facebook page soon. If you aren't already a fan, please go join - http://www.facebook.com/pages/GeekMeet/176631970695
See you November 12th at Blue Mesa!
Date
Thursday, November 12, 2009 from 6:00 PM - 8:00 PM
Location
Blue Mesa - Addison
5100 Beltline Road
Addison, TX 75254

Will you be attending? Attend Event

Tuesday, October 27, 2009

DSVC November Meeting:

November Meeting:
Dan Covert and Andre Andreev
of Dress Code, NYC

Date – Wednesday, November 4, 2009
Reception – 6pm Meeting – 7pm
Location – Cityplace (get directions)
Members – Free Non-Members – $20
Students – $10 (ID Required)

NOV 4 – At a combined age of only 53, Dan and Andre of dress code have already had the dream jobs of working in motion and print at MTV. They met while studying graphic design at California College of the Arts, moved to New York, got to MTV and left to start their own studio a few years later. Their work has been shown in 3 museums and graced magazines and annuals, including I.D., BDA, Communication Arts, PRINT, Graphis, Metropolis, the Type Directors Club, The Art Directors Club, CMYK, HOW, Adobe, STEP Field Guide to Emerging Design Talent, and Young Guns.

Dan and Andre also wrote a book called Never Sleep — a book about transitioning from school to work in the field of graphic design — which is in stores now. To add to an already impressive set of resumes, they also co-teach Design, Type and New Media classes at Pratt Institute in Brooklyn which led to their Fun Is Learning site — a resource for everything concerning graphic design students and young professionals.

See more of Dan and Andre's work at neversleepbook.com, funislearning.com and swishahouse.biz.

Monday, October 19, 2009

What a 30-Second Commercial Can Do For You

DALLAS (KERA) - In one of our recent Economy segments, we offered tips on the 30-second elevator commercial. We offered counseling if you who wanted to send us your own. A listener stepped up, and here's what happened. KERA's Bill Zeeble reports

Bill Zeeble, KERA reporter: For Dallas native and commercial art director Heather Ezell, this economy has taken a toll.

Heather Ezell: My situation is, I was laid off a year ago, & started my own business.

Ezell is confident she's good at what she does - helping clients advertise and market their products. But she admits she's not so good at marketing herself.

Ezell: I'm rotten at this. Most friends tell me. Heather - you can't sell yourself, girl.

So after hearing KERA's story, she emailed her job pitch for a review by Scott Peek. He is an experienced trainer of these personal, 30-second commercials. He says the goal is to start a conversation that could connect to a hiring manager and a job you want. Ezell's first try, he says, didn't offer enough specifics. He says the pitch should always start with your name and what you do.

Scott Peek: The second thing you do is you want to talk about the value you could bring or have brought to clients. The third thing you do then is how you would do that with future clients. The fourth one is where you want to do your work and the help you need.

Here is one of Ezell's first attempts.

Ezell: Hello, I'm Heather Ezell and I'm an art director and I specialize in branding and strategy. I brainstorm potent, creative marketing strategy to expand opportunities for my client's business. I mentor everyone involved throughout a project fostering a healthy enthusiasm for their new direction, and most importantly, results. I want to work with businesses big or small that have an appetite for effective ideas which stretch creative limits and wake up their audience.

Peek praises Ezell's commercial. Now he says she needs to include another element.

Peek: Giving the person you're talking to a way for them to help you. What are the areas of help
Ezell help that you can give me?
Peek: Yes, yes.
Ezell: And how do I ask that?

Working together, Peek and Ezell conclude small, young businesses in Southern Dallas, near Ezell's office, would be her ideal clients. She's now working with a specialty medical company and wants to build on that.

Ezell: And their primary goal is to get in front of surgeons. To get their message across. That's a hard nut to crack. And so I'm working with them to go in a bunch of different directions to get in front of surgeons.

Ezell reworks her script, this time adding that client information to the end.

Ezell: For example I've worked with a company called medCAD, and their goal is to reach surgeons. I work with them to go in very unusual directions, to get in front of surgeons to get their message across.

Scott : So what help do you need?
Ezell: I need help finding those different small businesses that have a little bit unusual need in their marketing.
Peek: So let's take this further. So if you had a target area, what geography would you be targeting first?
Ezell: Downtown and Oak Cliff.
Peek: See how the conversation starts?

The whole session between Peek and Ezell lasted about half an hour. Ezell says she now feels more prepared to sell herself.

Ezell : I'm going to take what I learned here. And obviously refine my statement. So that it is a conversation when I state it, it is a "Hi how do you do," ...and this is what I do.

Peek gives his student high praise. Ezell is feeling ready to go, hoping these new skills lead to more people who could then lead to good job prospects. Bill Zeeble KERA news.
Bill Zeeble (2009-10-19)

Wednesday, October 7, 2009

Threadless Design Contest

(click to enlarge)

For more information, check out their site!
http://www.threadless.com/loves/tatepoplife

10 Reasons to Politely Decline a Web Design Gig

When you’re in that first round of meetings with a potential web design or web development client, there are certain statements, revelations or bits of information that serve as huge red flags.

Here’s a list (submitted by a designer friend who shall remain anonymous) of the biggest all-time deal-breakers:

10. He can’t stop telling you about how horrid his last developer was.

9. He wants to make sure you can build his site so it will show up first on Google.

8. He’s already got a list together of 100 words for his meta tags.

7. There isn’t much money for this job but it could really lead to a lot more work down the road.

6. He wants to know if you are flexible about your deposit.

5. He explains that you will be responsible to his organization’s “website committee.”

4. He wants to know if you know how to “do Flash.”

3. He wants his start-up site to be “kinda like eBay.”

2. He could actually build the site himself but he just doesn’t have the time.

1. He’s looking for a new “webmaster.”
By Michael Calore July 17, 2009

Tuesday, October 6, 2009

DAL November Happy Hour -

The DAL invites you to its monthly happy hour. The more the merrier so bring a friend, colleague or client along. It's sure to be another great social and business networking event! Great drink specials and appetizers!

Location:
Margarita Ranch
Mockingbird Station
5321 E. Mockingbird Ln.
Dallas, TX 75206

Date & Time:
Thursday November 19, 2009
5pm-8pm

SPONSORED BY:

DSVC Meeting -

Oct. Meeting: Advertising Madwoman, Nancy Vonk

Date – Wednesday, October 7, 2009
Reception – 6pm Meeting – 7pm
Location – Cityplace
(get directions)
Members – Free Non-Members – $20
Students – $10 (ID Required)

OCT 7 — Nancy Vonk has been the Co-Chief Creative Officer of Ogilvy Toronto since 1998 with partner Janet Kestin. They have won Cannes Lions, One Show Pencils, Communication Arts and Clios. They are the creative directors of “Evolution”, winner of two Grand Prix at Cannes in 2007 and “Diamond Shreddies”, winner of a Grand Clio in 2008.
She has judged awards shows including Communication Arts, The One Show, Cannes, the Clio Awards, D&AD and the Creativity Awards, and has chaired shows in the U.S. and Canada including the 2008 Art Director’s Club of New York 87th annual awards, where she was the first female chair in their history.

Nancy was included in Creativity magazine’s Top 50 creative people of 2008 list and ‘boards magazine’s “It List” in 2006 and 2007. Nancy and Janet were named advertising women of the year by the WIN Awards in Los Angeles and by the AWNY Awards in New York in 2007. They are on the AlwaysOn 2009 Madison Avenue IT list.

Nancy and Janet have a widely read advice column, “Ask Jancy”, on ad site ihaveanidea.org. They penned a critically acclaimed Adweek Book, “Pick Me” in 2005, which has become a staple in advertising schools. They were the keynote speakers at the 2009 “Women of Influence” event. HarperCollins has commissioned a business book based on that speech (due on shelves in 2011). In 2006 Nancy co-founded “Been There”, a group of top North American female creative directors that offer online mentoring on creativeskirts.com. She is on the advisory board of the Ontario College of Art and Design and a mentor and lecturer at VCU Brandcenter. Nancy was elected to the board of the One Club in 2009.