Archive for the ‘Smart Stuff’ Category

96 hours In Austin with Stephanie.

March 14th, 2012 | Posted By Stephanie Smirnov

Friday 11 AM:  Heading to Austin for the inaugural Dad 2.0 Summit and the South by Southwest conference (SxSW.)  I’m trying to find suitably Austin-ish outfits in the sea of Manhattan black that is my wardrobe.

Friday 11:05 AM: Give up and throw eight black outfits in suitcase.

Friday 3 PM: Settled into my flight awaiting take-off. Bob Greenberg, the founder of R/GA and an industry legend, is seated one row up. Everyone boarding stops in the aisle to pay their respects, slowing boarding process considerably.

Friday 6:30 PM: Arrive in Austin during a nasty downpour. Seeing loads of tweets about two-hour lines at badge pick-up at the Austin Convention Center. Struck by wave of SxSW anxiety.

Friday 6:32 PM:  Pass Gina Gershon as I de-plane. Almost as exciting as seeing Bob Greenberg.

Friday 7:30 PM: Ask driver to detour from hotel to Convention Center so I can deal with badge situation. SxSW registration is like going through immigration at JFK, except with tattoos and iDevices.

Saturday 8:00 AM: Busy day: must schlep 40 minutes outside Austin to Dad 2.0 Summit to speak on a panel about the business of blogging. Next, ensure that social media rock star Guy Kawasaki gets from Dad 2.0 (where he’s keynoting) into my car on time so I can deliver him to the Guy Girl Party back downtown where our Sam Adams client is debuting B’Austin Ale, the crowd-sourced beer Guy helped them create. Find out my bloggy pal Liz Gumbinner of Mom 101 and Cool Mom Picks is at my hotel: we share a car out to Dad 2.0 and swap working mom war stories.

Saturday 8:15 AM: Still raining. Email from colleague Lindsay who’s dealing with party set-up at Stubbs BBQ with Sam Adams clients. “Mud” and “rain boots from Walmart” are mentioned. Wondering if SxSW community can crowd-source an ark.

Saturday 4 PM: Dad 2.0 panel goes well. Thrilled this conference is supported by high-profile sponsors (including our Tide client.) Strikes me that Dad 2.0 is more than a blogging conference: these guys are deep into a cultural conversation about the state of modern fatherhood, masculinity, and domestic roles. Inspired by everyone I meet and really happy for conference organizers Doug French and John Pacini.

Saturday 4:15 PM: Pile in to car right on time, headed for downtown: me, Guy and more bloggy friends Kristen Chase and Julie Marsh.  Fun conversation in car ranging from the future of Google+ (Guy insists it will survive) and what smart phone Guy favors these days (give you a hint: it has a stylus.)

Saturday 5:15 PM: Arrive at Stubbs BBQ: the outdoor areas have been tented, the first band on the bill is sound-checking and the B’Austin Ale is free flowing. Pretty soon the Guy Girl party is in full swing, and we’re happy to see tons of media and industry friends stopping by.

Saturday 10 PM: Back at hotel and in bed. I am old.

Sunday 2 PM: The sun is out! I’m meeting PR pal Kerry for brunch on South Congress, a stretch of road full of funky vintage stores, food trucks and cafes. The weather and SxSW spillover have filled the sidewalks with tons of people, but the mood is chill. Two girls stand in a doorway playing their violins for the crowds.  I have a blackened tuna taco here that makes me swoon.

Sunday 5 PM: Kerry drags me to a Google panel at the Convention Center, which turns out to be mind-blowingly great. It showcases the Re:Brief Project, an experiment in which Google reinterpreted iconic ad campaigns from the 60s and 70s using the digital assets and technologies available today. They did so in partnership with the original creative teams and the results were insanely inspiring. The live demo of an updated Coke campaign (“I’d Like to Buy the World a Coke,” 1971) in particular brought the house down. The Google presentation reminded me we haven’t even begun to scratch the surface of what’s possible with digital engagement.

Sunday 7 PM: Fun dinner at Vspaio hosted by our partners at FLOW Nonfiction, with whom we’ve teamed for three client projects. They specialize in branded documentary filmmaking, helping cause marketers mine for the human stories that bubble up during their campaigns, and convey them cinematically. Joined by my P&G client Sarah, we’ll be speaking with them the next morning on our Branded Documentary panel at the Convention Center.

Sunday 11 PM: Back at the hotel and in bed. Have I mentioned I am old?

Monday 11 AM: Show time: we deliver our Branded Documentary panel to a packed room. The live tweets and Q&A are lively and positive.  We have to vacate the room quickly afterwards because Kevin Smith is next up and the line to get into his session is already snaking down the hallway.

Monday 7 PM: Back at the airport, headed for JFK. Every person on my Jet Blue flight looks familiar, cool, important or all three. I spot Bonin Bough from Pepsico, big-deal PR blogger Brian Solis, a trio of pals from Daily Candy and Willem Dafoe (who is surprisingly tiny.)

Tuesday 1 AM: Home. New York is cold, and I am clad in wrinkled SxSW linen. I am exhausted and my back hurts from the flight (have I mentioned I am old?), but thrilled with my 96-hour whirlwind and eager to hit Austin hard next year.

Stephanie Smirnov is the President of the agency and can also be found at her personal blog LiketheVodka.com

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From the Trenches of New York Fashion Week.

February 17th, 2012 | Posted By Erin Serrano

The lights, the runways, the models, the clothes! This is what one thinks when you say New York Fashion Week. For this PR girl, my mind goes to – the boxes, the vendors, the spotlights, the signage, the caterers, the press, the wine! Not exactly the most glamorous of images, is it?

For the past six years, I have had the pleasure of working on my client’s big NYFW program – the Ecco Domani Fashion Foundation created by Ecco Domani Wines. It is an amazing program that gives the best and brightest emerging designers the chance to present their collections on fashion’s biggest stage. The fun part for me is getting the unique peek behind the curtain of glamour.

Making your mark…

Now there’s no question why a brand would want to be a part of this major event. You’re getting your product in the hands of highly-influential fashionistas and connecting your brand to the world of style. But making that happen and making it memorable is more than just pouring wine. For Ecco Domani in 2001, it was about leveraging the brand’s modern and stylish brand image and making a footprint in fashion that would create a lasting impact on the industry as a whole. Enter DeVries and the Ecco Domani Fashion Foundation!  For 11 years, we have helped launch the careers of some of the biggest names in fashion like Zac Posen, Derek Lam and Alexander Wang to name a few.

It’s more than just pretty clothes…

My friends look at my job and think – “Oh wow! Fashion Week – it must be so glamorous!” What they don’t see is the months of work that goes into building a program that will grab the attention of the most sought after editors and writers all within a sea of other glitzy brands.

From stalking showrooms and new designers to sifting through over 200 applications to make sure each one qualifies – my team’s work begins almost a year before the lights go up on the runway. During Fashion Week, we are working with seven different designers (and personalities) to make sure their shows are ready to go while coordinating catering teams to pour that oh-so-important wine at each event. Not to mention, is the gobo spotlight working? Did Women’s Wear Daily get their invitation? Are the signs where they need to be (yes that was us walking down 10th Avenue carrying an eight foot tall step-and-repeat because there was no time to messenger it!)?

But when it all comes down to it and you take a step back to see all the hard work pay off, it’s a great feeling. When I meet the designer who, with tears in her eyes, tells me that this program has changed her life, I’m proud of my work. When my clients are all smiles as they walk into the event that my team has worked so hard to put together, I feel glamorous, on the inside.

Erin Serrano is a Senior Account Supervisor here at DeVries. You can find her talking all things wine and travel on Twitter.

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Loads to Learn From KJ Dell ‘Antonia of the Motherlode

February 16th, 2012 | Posted By Cassie Boorn

A couple of months ago the New York Times announced that KJ Dell’Antonia would be taking Lisa Belkin’s place at the popular Motherlode blog. Recently, I sat down with KJ to chat about her career path and how she became the new lead blogger at the Motherlode. Here’s a snapshot of what we can learn from KJ’s career path.

1. Don’t be afraid of change.

After 9/11, KJ was laid off from her job in the legal field. Rather than frantically updating her resume and sending it out to law firms, KJ took a moment to reassess and decided to focus on an entirely new career as a professional writer.

Change can be incredibly scary, but by taking on a new challenge KJ was able to build relationships with some of the most well-known traditional publications, and build a career that allowed her to stay home with her family.

2. Say yes more often.

KJ said that it took years to build relationships with well-known editors. The key was to say yes to opportunities you might not otherwise take and broaden your expertise. “If I wanted to write for a publication I would write about whatever they wanted in whatever voice they wanted. To get the good work you have to prove that you are willing to do all of the work.”

In sticking to this philosophy and saying yes to a position reviewing children’s media at Slate magazine she was able to eventually land the job at Slate she was really interested in. “It was one of those stories that saying yes to other things leads you to what you really want.”

3. Build yourself a niche.

It was at Slate that KJ learned the ins and outs of blogging about parenting for a traditional media outlet. “There aren’t many parenting blogs that are topical, political and cultural all at once.” When the position opened up at the New York Times KJ was one of the few bloggers that was writing in the way that the Times was looking for. In building a niche in this traditional parenting blogging space KJ was able to stand out from the rest when the position opened up.

KJ had some great advice for aspiring writers and freelancers who are interested in writing for publications like the Times. You can find the full interview over at She Posts.

Cassie Boorn is the Social Media Coordinator at DeVries. You can also find her writing regularly at her personal blog.

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A Brit’s Take on the Super Bowl.

February 10th, 2012 | Posted By TomGoodwin

I’ve always felt like I’ve had some kind of damaged central nervous system, I’m not sure what the issue is, but somewhere between my eyes and my hands there is a problem.

Everywhere from sitting in corporate boxes at the Rugby world cup in France to crowded pubs in London watching England in the vital stages of the World Cup, each time a goal is scored, the reflex action of punching the air, jumping for joy and yelling just doesn’t quite happen for me, I do well to muster a smile. The thing is I just don’t care.

It’s not that I don’t love sports. I thrive on playing them. I just don’t get supporting it, I don’t have that urge. Supporting individuals makes a little more sense to me, they are people, and they do have personalities, backgrounds and thus are somehow relatable.  I can see how the stories of someone like the Golfer John Daly, make me feel a certain fondness and if say Roger Federer went to my school again it would make sense. But not teams, and least of all teams that have no obvious connection to each other or me.

It’s for these reason I was a bit reluctant to watch the Super Bowl with a big group of people. I thought my muted chants and my badly timed and apathetic cheers would make me stick out a bit, I was worried about feeling awkward (a permanent English fear). So we decided to watch it at home, on a pleasantly large American sized TV and with the sound up so I could try to understand what was happening.

Within minutes I loved it, the MASSIVE ads, the big sound, the amazing stadium, even across the country, in the heat and sunshine of LA I felt transported to the seats of the Lucas Oil Stadium.  A few minutes in and I was both transfixed but also roused into strong support of my now beloved New York Giants.

The quarters went on, points were scored and by the end of the game my voice was hoarse with support and I was thrilled by the win.

I have no idea what happened, but I loved it. I am not sure why but here are some thoughts.

The game seems more approachable, accessible and open than Football in the UK.  I had no idea of the rules but it seems like I was not the only one. It seemed more like a tide of enthusiasm and energy engulfed everyone. Knowing how points were scored or what offside meant seemed like a bit of distraction from the real fun of big ads, big hits, big music.

In fact, at times the game seemed irrelevant, and was more about the joy of consumerism and sponsorship and humor. Even when the teams won, the first focus of the interviewer seemed the owners and not the actual players.

A lot of fun, at this rate my ability to celebrate may develop. Bring on the basketball matches – I think New York has a team—and maybe my once incurable lacking of the celebratory nerve may be cured all thanks to sponsorship, family fun, good ads and an excuse to cheer, eat and be merry.

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