United Adworkers 208 » Letter from the president

The board member who wouldn’t leave finally is…

admin — Wed, 23 Dec 2009 17:10:50 +0000

For the past six years I’ve had the honor of representing my peers as a United Adworkers Board member. Over those years I served under three different Presidents, three different Directors and too many fellow board members to try to remember. It’s a group I’ve been proud to be associated with and will truly miss. Probably not a whole lot, though. One thing I know about being on this board for so long is that old board members never really go away, they just don’t have to attend the meetings.

I’ve also been proud to serve as your United Adworkers President for the past two years. I’ve enjoyed nearly every minute of it. The MKE 99 Shows, the golf outings, the trivia nights, the speakers like Madmen, J.J. Sedalmeier, Google, all good stuff and plenty more to come. In fact, next year there are already a couple high profile speakers booked, the return of our Battle of the Bands, and several other events, as well as a newly formatted web site. I’d love to go into more detail, but I don’t want to steal the thunder of our incoming president, Nick Pipitone from Jigsaw. I’m excited to watch from the sidelines as Nick takes the reins leading the best advertising club in the country.

Speaking of changes to the board, we’ll be welcoming new board members with the New Year. Special thanks to Heather Aldrich from Serve for her service this past year, and Steve Farr from Purple Onion, for his dedication these past three year. Getting to know them and all the other board members over the years has been a highlight of my service.

Joining the board are a couple of new faces and a couple of old ones. Scott Lynch, Co-Owner/Creative Director from Arsenal Advertising and Mitch Markussen, a Creative Director from BVK will return for 2010. Both spent time on the board in the past, Scott was a former President in the club’s infancy. Travis Knutson, ACD from Thirsty Boy and Joe Sutter, Chief Creative Officer from GMR will also join, bringing a fresh energy and perspective the club.

I would be remiss if I didn’t take this opportunity to thank our Director, Heidi Sterricker, for a great couple of years working together. Thank you for all your energy and dedication to this club. You’re a true asset to its continued success and a consummate professional and a dear friend. To borrow Dorothy’s departing line to the Scarecrow, I think I’ll miss you most of all. It’s been a great ride.

There you have it. As they say, “Everything old is new again.” New board members, new president, new events, new web site and more great speakers. As for me, I’m going to return to civilian life. I bid you farewell, adios, sayonara, au revoir, auf wiedersehen, doviđenja, Godspeed. For longer than half this organizations existence I have been a part of this board. Not being involved will be strange to say the least. Especially paying for my membership and events. Wait, maybe it’s not too late to stay?

XOXOXO,

Joe Ban

Trivia Roundup

admin — Thu, 03 Sep 2009 18:50:33 +0000

Adworkers Team Trivia – Dog Days edition has come and gone and it was Sirius-ly fun. Once again the collective minds of the Milwaukee advertising and design community did not disappoint on their knowledge of all things useless. “Webster’s Dics” from Laughlin Constable took the trophy, although had there been a spelling category, I doubt the outcome would have been the same judging by their name. A close second was BVK’s “Theresa’s Team”. What their team name lacked in creativity was made up for in penmanship as they had the neatest answer sheets of the bunch. Third place went to Independent’s “Nothing To Prove”-who oddly enough, did prove they can’t win first and second place like they did last time without Randy Bobo and Jerry Riedel, I’d blame substitute Nick Pipitone. Finally in last place was BVK’s “Beer Makes Us Smarter”, who apparently decided not to drink any that evening since they scored a paltry 23 points-that’s out of a possible 64 (plus a few bonus points I’m not going to mention here cause I’d hate to make them feel worse). But don’t feel bad, BMUS, the winning team only scored 46. FYI, for those of you who were kind enough to correct me on the first credit card issued by showing me your wikipedia pages stating it was Diner’s Club and not American Express as I stated, as it turns out it wouldn’t have mattered since there were no teams within one point of each other in the top four. The lesson here: Don’t trust the Shake-A-Fact app on the iphone for your trivia questions. I’m still going to research further to see if perhaps AmEx issued their cards earlier in 1951 than Diner’s club since the question was, “In 1951, this company issued the first credit card.” So in your face, Diner’s Club! Wait, they’re owned by AmEx so it’s still legal the way I said it. Well, I do know Sears is NOT the answer, Laughlin boys, who along with the Sultry Monsters was the only team not to answer Diner’s or AmEx.

What else did we learn? Well, I learned every team is pretty adept at recognizing logos, even when it’s just part of one. I also learned fonts are hard to recognize-even for BVK’s Renal Jerky team who knew only 3 of the eight. I’m not going to mention how many art directors made up that team, but you know who you are, Rich Kohnke. Lastly, I learned “Chachi” is Korean for “Penis” which explains the crazy high ratings for “Joannie Loves Chachi” in Korean speaking communities, like Korea.

It was great seeing you all, I hope you enjoyed it despite your final scores. It was especially nice to see new teams participate from Hanson Dodge, Hoffman York and Serve. For newbies, they all did fairly well, coming within 2-4 points of placing in the top three. Special thanks to C2 Graphics for prize donations; Splice Audio for speaker/mic donation; C-K for a prize donation, Heidi Sterricker for putting it all together and GMR for the entertaining doodles on your answer sheets. Now you can all let your brains return to their mushy state of being. Thanks for playing.

Who wants to get nuts?

admin — Fri, 21 Aug 2009 14:21:14 +0000

The Harley Davidson Museum may have a different kind of rumbling September 17th. Rumbles of “Where’s my work?!” “That got in?!?!” and “Look at that jag!” might be heard among the praise and accolades of the top 99 pieces. As an eternal optimist, I’m thinking more of the latter, but I don’t like make false promises (Perhaps I’m in the wrong business? Don’t answer that.) Aside from a new venue, we’re doing things a bit differently with tickets. First, you can pay online. Second, the first 400 ticket purchasers will receive our award-winning book with their paid ticket(s). I don’t have a third thing, just click here to get to the reservation page. Procrastinator? Then arrive early on the 17th because the remaining books will be distributed on a first-come, first-served basis. I guess I did have a third thing.

We look forward to seeing you all at the Milwaukee 99!

Click here to pay for tickets online.

You can also pay for tickets by check or faxing your credit card.

Are all the scorecards in?

admin — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 15:08:18 +0000

The weather held. There were no golf cart “incidents”. The nudity was almost non-existent. I would call that a successful Golf Outing. Here’s a brief recap…One of the teams from BVK took the title of Best Best Ball foursome, consisting of Rich Kohnke, Mike Holicek, Ross Lowinske and Mitch Markussen. Consider it your official “Welcome Back To The Market”, Mitch. A close second was the other BVK team, which included Seth Gordon, Gary Mueller, Mike Scalise and Ryan Smith. Raffle prizes were plentiful, including, but not limited to: stays at The Iron Horse and Chula Vista Resort; golf packages; Noah’s Ark passes; Wisconsin Dells Gift Card; Brewers tickets; and the grand prize of a Trek Bike from our friends at Trek, which went to Chris Bishop. I can’t recall who won the longest putts, drives and closest to pin, an afternoon of drinking free Horny Goat Beers might be to blame. Perhaps you too have a foggy memory of the day’s events. Take a look at the photos Nick Collura captured, they should help clear things up.

Thanks again to all our golfers, sponsors and prize donators. We couldn’t have had the fun without you. We also wouldn’t have been able to try to hit a rep with our drives, enjoy an ice cream craft service table, goof in a photo booth, indulge in carrots and Gatorade, and be mesmerized by belly dancers. Thanks again!

I am embarrassed to say I missed one important “thank you” the evening of the Outing–but hopefully I can make up for it here to a larger audience. Very special thanks to Heidi Sterricker for all her work putting this together. It is far from easy and extremely frustrating at times, but she always presses on with a great attitude making sure everyone enjoys themselves. As I mentioned to a member who emailed us regarding the Outing and its success, we’re extremely lucky to have her not only as our director, but also in this market in general. Thank you, Heidi. I’m looking forward to working with you on the 99!

Yet, another reminder of the season…

admin — Mon, 06 Apr 2009 19:25:44 +0000

I was looking out my window the other day and saw a couple of squirrels playing in my backyard. Well, I thought they were playing, I think they were actually foreplaying, since one quickly mounted the other and started going to town. It got me to thinking, spring is finally here! Which means two things: watching animal sex is not as fun as I had heard; and there are only a few months before the call for entries for the Milwaukee 99. So consider this your second reminder to get that next great piece of work finished and out the door prior to the due date (which will more than likely be the end of May, or early June) so you can see if it’s among the 99 best in Milwaukee! As a board, we are refining the categories, choosing a date and venue, and contacting judges, among other things. All we need from you is the work, and perhaps some advice on getting squirrels to be abstinent, at least in my yard.

When is it too early to start thinking about the Milwaukee 99?

admin — Mon, 09 Feb 2009 20:49:46 +0000

Well, as a board, we start thinking about the next one as we tear down the work the night of Milwaukee’s biggest advertising event. While it is still seven months away, this is a reminder that if you have work you would like to submit, it will need to run, air, be published, or exposed to your audience by the end of May. That’s really only about 4 months away and knowing what it takes to get great work produced, I may be writing this a month late. So let’s get those big ideas pushed through, and continue the bar of excellence that is the Milwaukee 99. Questions? Contact heidi@adworkers.com or joe@adworkers.com

A tearful goodbye…

admin — Wed, 07 Jan 2009 22:30:37 +0000

Sorry, you’re stuck with me as president for one more year. The tearful goodbye I am referring to is the send off to board members Steve Clementi, Sandy Derhovsepian, Andrew Norquist, Mike Holicek, and Steven Wold. Yes, that’s a lot to lose in one year and they will be missed. But the good news is, we are welcoming a great group of replacements: Nick Pipitone, CD from Jigsaw; Scott Schwebel, CD from Hanson Dodge; Dione Baker, Senior Writer from Hoffman York; Heather Aldrich, Executive Director from Serve; and Chris Jacobs, ECD from CK. They will be joining returning board members Brett Liljegren, Steve Farr, and Peter Kim. And of course, Heidi will be returning as our executive director. As a board, we meet every month (sometimes more), so if you have an idea for a speaker or event or wish to bring something to the attention of our membership base, please contact me (joe@adworkers.com) or Heidi or any board member you feel comfortable with.

I bid you a fond farewell, Steve, Sandy, Andrew, Steven and Mike. Thank you for your dedication, sacrifices and sharing your talents these past 2-3 years. We return you to your families, jobs and interesting hobbies. By “interesting” I mean “kinky”, right Steven?

Membership Renewal

admin — Thu, 11 Dec 2008 16:05:28 +0000

As one might expect, I am not going to tie the timeliness of United Adworkers membership renewals to the holiday season. I am going to fight the urge to say it’s a great gift for employees, spouses, lovers, interns, whomever, for Christmas or Hanukah or Hanukkah or Chanukah or Chanukkah and end the list with Kwanzaa because it’s so hilarious to have Kwanzaa in a holiday list. Instead, I’m going to take a tried and true method that always garners results—a threat. Please take a look at the video produced for your amusement and our cause, fill out your membership form and submit it to Heidi so you can be part of one of the most envied advertising clubs in the country. Also, be sure to take a look at the credits at the end of the video. A lot of your fellow Adworkers donated their time and talents to help us spread the word in a most unique way. Thank you all. Happy Holidays. Kwanzaa! Download the 2009 Membership Form.

A Milwakuee 99 Wrap Up, From Joe.

admin — Wed, 17 Sep 2008 20:56:38 +0000

Some people gauge time by calendar year. Some, by fiscal year. While others follow a religious calendar. As Adworkers President, it all revolves around the Milwaukee 99 and as of September 12, we’re back at day one. Our annual awards show took place the evening of the eleventh, which means you all have about nine more months until entries are due for Milwaukee 99 2009. Or “9 to the 3rd” (it’s a working title).

I hope those of you who attended liked what you saw. We had a great turnout, and from the looks of the bar bill, everyone seemed to enjoy themselves. What’s more, the entire 99 was comprised of a wide range of advertising agencies and design firms. I read this as an increase in competition—great work is coming out of more and more places in this town and that’s a good thing. Take a look for yourself. In the previous post are a list of the Milwaukee 99 and the the Best In Show winner. But I encourage you to contact Heidi or me to get your hands on a copy of the show book. It includes the work, as well as the people behind it. For a mere $10 (plus shipping) you’ll not only have all the work in easy-to-follow book form, you’ll also have a list of the creative directors to whom you may want to send your books. Or if you are a creative director, a list of talent you may want to try to steal—which I do not encourage or condone.

Thank you all for a fantastic show. After all, you provide the content. We merely put it together.

One last thing, if you were not in attendance, I would like to reiterate my thanks to the following people who all helped make the evening a success:

Special thanks to the folks at Purple Onion (Steve Farr, Andy Gorzalski and Jack Davidson) for shooting our announcement video and the show’s opening.
John Elmendorf, Eric Arsnow at Civilian Edit, for editing the videos as well as animator Dave Myszewski.
Bob Donnelly and North American Camera for the use of his camera equipment.
David Conner and John Tanner at Tanner Monagle for audio sweetening and original music.
Freelance Producer Michael Joyce for lending his production talents to the videos.
Steve Comeau at Splice for recording, editing and mixing
Brian Mitchell, our wonderful voice talent on the evening’s 99 presentation.
At GS design, Steve Radtke and Jodi Jozwowski and Alison Ban for putting the book together (still for sale for a mere $10! Just contact us!)
Brian Malloy of Malloy photography for shooting the cover art and page dividers.
Jeff Ericksen, Sean Holpher, and Jordan Hart for at C-K for their “I Promise” concept, posters and videos.

And of course, Heidi Sterricker. You have no idea how much she puts into not only the show, but all our Adworker events. Her dedication is beyond remarkable and her commitment to the club is downright inspirational. She never ceases to amaze me and it has been nothing short of a pleasure working with her. I’m extremely proud of the work she has accomplished and even prouder to call her my friend. Thank you for all that you do, Heidi.

The hiatus has ended!

admin — Fri, 01 Aug 2008 20:51:05 +0000

Summer is almost gone and I’ve heard rumor that people thought I took the season off since it’s been nearly that long since I’ve posted a new letter. I apologize; perhaps I just wanted to see if anyone actually read them. Am I that needy for acceptance and validation? Well, I am a creative in advertising, you tell me. Not that I’m making any excuses, but we’ve been kind of busy these past couple months with the golf outing and preparing for the Milwaukee 99. That, and rewatching the last season of Mad Men in preparation for season two. If you’re not watching it, you should be. And not just because it’s an interesting portrayal of our unique industry – that you could get from old Bosom Buddies or Thirty Something episodes. It’s the rich characters, the intricate plots, the sharp dialogue, and how beautifully it’s produced that returns me to the same feeling of want I had after a Sopranos episode. And the conical bras of 1960, of course. One episode from last season that stood out to me was when Don Draper (he’s the Creative Director for those of you who have been sleeping under a rock for the past few months) and his staff were pitching Kodak. The product was the slide projector wheel. The presentation was simply a slideshow in the conference room with Draper’s personal slides, reciting an emotional monologue about life and how moments are captured on film to be relived again and again. It was great. A simple presentation communicating a simple idea. It not only showed the benefits of the product, but it made an emotional connection with the user. It reminded me of something Plato once said, “Nothing is learned without emotion.” Incidentally, I stole that from a speech from one of those Crispin Porter fellas, but since he stole it from Plato I’m not going to lose sleep over using it here. It got me thinking about all the great work I had the privilege of seeing submitted for the Milwaukee 99. As the judges whittled down the entries to the top 99, it was evident the pieces that spoke to their emotions remained on the tables. Whether it was joy, sadness, surprise, whatever the pieces evoked, they certainly did their job. I then started to think about the presentations that took place to get to those final pieces. I wondered how difficult it was to present those simple ideas. Do clients need a big show with all the bells and whistles? Or do they understand that the only thing that matters is the core idea. As you peruse the work the evening of September 11th and see all these great ideas in their final form, ask the creatives behind the winning work how it came to be. I have a feeling it wasn’t much more than a simple slide show since great ideas sell themselves. Well, a guy can dream, can’t he?