May 2008 Archives

THIS WEEK'S POSITIONS:

1. Web Designer
2. Flash Designer
3. UI Designer
4. Mobile UI Designer
5. Content Manager
6. Web Analyst
7. Sr. Event Planner
8. Script Copywriter
9. Environmental Designer
10. Production Artist

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1. POSITION: Web Designer

TERMS: Two-Month Freelance (On-Site)

MUST HAVES!:

• 3 years of professional experience
• Hands-on Flash animation skills
• Entertainment samples a must! (Music, films, gaming, TV, etc.)

PERKS!:

• Really cool team
• Get to work on Web collateral for TV shows
• Great samples to your book!

PAY:

• Up to $35 an hour

LOCATION:

• Burbank

CLICK HERE TO CONTACT AGENT

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2. POSITION: Flash Designer

TERMS: 6 to 8 Week Freelance (On-Site)

MUST HAVES!:

• 3+ years of Flash design experience
• Experience designing widgets, rich media, and/or games
• Experience optimizing video for the Web

PERKS!:

• This project is for a really cool brand (a have-to-tell-your-friends cool brand)

PAY:

• Up to $60 an hour

LOCATION:

• Westside

CLICK HERE TO CONTACT AGENT

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3. POSITION: UI Designer

TERMS: Freelance (On-Site)

MUST HAVES!:

• Strong design skills and heavy experience in UI architecture and interaction design
• Experience designing high-volume, high-profile, or award-winning transactional Web sites
• 8+ years of total industry experience
• Solid understanding of the software development lifecycle

PERKS!:

• Leading global software development company

PAY:

• Up to $49 a hour

LOCATION:

• West Valley

CLICK HERE TO CONTACT AGENT

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4. POSITION: Mobile UI Designer

TERMS: Freelance (On-Site)

MUST HAVES!:

• 5+ years of UI or Web Design experience
• At least 6 months of experience in mobile UI design
• Prior work on large sites

PERKS!:

• Project is working on the hottest mobile product on the market!

PAY:

• Up to $50 an hour

LOCATION:

• Glendale

CLICK HERE TO CONTACT AGENT

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5. POSITION: Content Manager

TERMS: Long-Term Freelance (On-Site)

MUST HAVES!:

• Extensive work with CMS tool(s)
• Experience managing on-line advertising
• Experience gathering and analyzing Web stats

PERKS!:

• Long-term, ongoing freelance job
• Solid, stable environment

PAY:

• Up to $30 an hour

LOCATION:

• West LA

CLICK HERE TO CONTACT AGENT

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6. POSITION: Web Analyst

TERMS: Permanent (On-Site)

MUST HAVES!:

• 1 to 2 years of experience in Web Analytics
• Experience developing reports and providing analysis on statistics
• Knowledge of Omniture, Google Analytics, and WebTrends

PERKS!:

• Innovative interactive agency
• Great studio with large accounts
• Creative freedom to work with clients and come up with best solutions

PAY:

• Up to $60K

LOCATION:

• El Segundo

CLICK HERE TO CONTACT AGENT

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7. POSITION: Sr. Event Planner

TERMS: Long-Term Freelance (On-Site)

MUST HAVES!:

• 7 to 10 years of corporate event planning experience (golf tournaments, hospitality tents at events, sports teams, etc.)
• Must be a Certified Event Planner
• Able to create complex strategies for events
• Background in gaining sponsorship for events

PERKS!:

• Full benefits through Aquent
• Newly created position with lots of opportunity
• Stable environment

PAY:

• DOE

LOCATION:

• Downtown

CLICK HERE TO CONTACT AGENT

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8. POSITION: Script Copywriter

TERMS: Freelance (On-Site)

MUST HAVES!:

• Must have experience writing script copy for infomercials or direct response TV commercials
• Financial industry experience preferred
• Must provide samples of scripts to show client

PERKS!:

• New division of a large, national direct response company

PAY:

• Up to $45 an hour

LOCATION:

• Westside

CLICK HERE TO CONTACT AGENT

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9. POSITION: Environmental Designer

TERMS: Permanent (On-Site)

MUST HAVES!:

• 3 to 5 years of experience in production and design
• Excellent hands-on skills in Adobe Illustrator, InDesign, and Photoshop plus an understanding of architectural scale
• Strong understanding of site analysis, municipal code compliance and programming for complex wayfinding environments
• Experience with AutoCAD a plus

PERKS!:

• A leading global architecture and design firm

PAY:

• DOE

LOCATION:

• Westside

CLICK HERE TO CONTACT AGENT

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10. POSITION: Production Artist

TERMS: Permanent (On-Site)

MUST HAVES!:

• Excellent hands-on skills in InDesign and Photoshop
• 4+ years of professional experience required
• Experience in studios and dealing with fast-paced environments
• This is a production only position, no design involved

PERKS!:

• Terrific corporate client with a great team
• Lot of variety of projects
• Very secure position

PAY:

• Up to $52K

LOCATION:

• Woodland Hills

CLICK HERE TO CONTACT AGENT

I'll admit it, I don't quite get Twitter.
But then again, I'm still fuzzy on the whole Starbucks Drive-Thru concept.

And the bidet.

But I digress.

And I'd hate to pass along something others may find useful that I don't.

Such as the fact that the folks over at MediaBistro's UnBeige are now Twittering.

If you're looking for up-to-the minute stuff like: "Spotted at SOFA opening: Niels Diffrient, Helena Hernmarck, Jack Lenor Larsen"and"Going to SOFA? Don't miss Shin Sang Ho's stunning "Fired Painting" (2006) at Loveed Fine Arts. Glazed ceramic never looked so good."
Then this is for you.
Hey, the UnBeige staff admit to not being fans of Facebook.
Well, guess they've never visited my page.
Maybe they're mad I didn't invite them into "my network".

Mr. Lawrence Wright, owner of Rainbow Plumbing, doesn't know why he's getting such a surge of new clientele.

"It just happened," Mr. Wright said, standing outside his work van, newly branded with a giant image of a multi-colored rainbow.

"I get all sorts of waving, and thumbs up from people all over town," the plumber stated. "Men in Miatas seem especially enthusiastic."

Mr. Wright, a plumber for over 38 years, had only recently changed his company's name from the one he'd had for decades: Mostly Reliable Plumbing.

The familiar 7-color prism of the rainbow has now replaced his old logo, a man in dirty coveralls scratching his head.

Wright said he thought rainbows "just sounded friendlier". He also hoped people would focus on the pot of gold rather than obsessing over the fact he "may have to come back 6 or 7 times" to complete a minor job.

"The change was my son's idea. I can't take full credit for it," Wright said. "But I thought it was time for a change."

What he didn't expect, though, was the public's enthusiasm toward his new image.

"People are just crazy about rainbows," said a surprised Wright.

"I was driving through West Hollywood last Friday and a whole crowd of people on the street started cheering and hollering. Some nice young man practically dragged me out of my van to go have a drink at a bar down there. It's a rush, I tell you. Now I know what it must feel like to be a superstar like Tom Cruise."

Wright's business has been booming since the rebranding, with his sales doubling last year's profits in 3 short months.

"I'm also getting invited to parties like it's nobody's business," said the entrepreneurial plumber. "It's great, though everyone always seems a bit surprised to see my wife."

His cell phone rings for what seems the fifth time during the interview, (the phone's ring, "Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go", was also his son's idea); Wright takes a moment to reflect on the new popularity of his twenty year old business.

"I really don't know why I didn't think of this much earlier."

HOT TALENT

What do Transcendental Meditation and our Hot Talent Newsletter have in common?

A great deal, surprisingly.

Both...

• reduce anxiety attacks when projects become overwhelming
• can be completed in candlelight
• leave you calm and refreshed after finishing
• make you much better looking

While we're working with the Aquent scientists to prove these claims, test our theories for yourself. See if you don't feel much better after you browse through these 6 outstanding Aquent Talent who are ready, willing, and able to make your work life more in control and relaxed.

Just follow the links for profiles, samples, and resumes.

Om!
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FEATURED TALENT THIS WEEK

Elliott L. - Senior Web & Print Designer
Jinah A. - Art Director | Senior Designer
Nicolas Z. - Jr. Flash Developer
Peter B. - Production Artist
Kelly M. - Proofreader & Copyeditor
John F. - On-Line Marketing Manager
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Elliott L.
Senior Web & Print Designer

Elliot wins the prize for working with more Aquent offices around the globe than any other Talent we know!

A highly skilled, hands-on Web & Print Designer with amazing ActionScripting skills (he nabbed a perfect score on our assessment in record time!), he has experience on both the agency and client side. Elliot has designed and built full sites, landing pages, mini-sites, banners, email campaigns and online flash quizzes and other interactive media, can hand code HTML, CSS, and JavaScript, and is proficient in InDesign, Photoshop, and Quark.

His impressive client list includes The Cimarron Group, Commonwealth Bank, Mazda, Cirque de Soleil, Fox Movies, Allergen, Toshiba, and Colossal Clothing (an American Apparel company).

As with all hot Web Designers, call us about him today, because we can't guarantee he'll be available tomorrow!

See his on-line Aquent profile by clicking here.

Desired Work: Freelance
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Jinah A.
Art Director | Senior Designer

A powerhouse Aquent Talent with a clean, beautiful design style, Jinah's an Art Center grad with tons of experience in print, packaging, and interactive design.

Her client roster, both as freelancer and staff, is as impressive as her skill set: DZN, DIRECTV, Warner Bros., Universal Music Group, Gaiam LIVINGarts, Samsung Electronics, New Line Cinema, Charles Schwab, and Coca-Cola.

Web sites, identities, packaging, promos, brochures, sell sheets, direct mail...

Click here to see her on-line Aquent profile for samples, then call us for more!

Desired Work: Freelance & Permanent
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Nicolas Z.
Jr. Flash Developer

Hit me with your best shot!

Nicolas is a remarkable Talent able to take images and assets to create some of the most amazing, interactive Flash sites you've seen.

He also scored incredibly well on our rigorous Flash ActionScript assessment in record time! His recent work includes complete site design, navigation, and interface for a number of entertainment businesses (please contact us to see his private URLs).

We believe Nicolas has an impressive future ahead of him, don't you want your company to be part of it?

See his on-line Aquent profile by clicking here.

Desired Work: Freelance & Permanent
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Peter B.
Production Artist

Peter's an incredible Production Artist who fits in any environment under the sun.

Not only did he ace our exceptionally challenging InDesign assessment, he has a great attitude and phenomenal Quark and Photoshop skills to boot.

Peter's extensive client list includes corporate (Ernst & Young and KB Home), entertainment (New Line Cinema and Disney), consumer (Laura Ashley, Nine West, and PetSmart), as well as agencies (Ad Marketing Group and Ambrosi).

His work includes direct mail, retail catalog, POP, one sheets, brochures, signage, and much more.

And he's available right now!

See his on-line Aquent profile by clicking here.

Desired Work: Freelance
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Kelly M.
Proofreader & Copyeditor

Kelly is an editorial superstar!

A Proofreader and Copy Editor with an extensive experience in the publishing industry (including scientific scholarly journals), Kelly FLEW through our proofreading assessment, nabbing top scores.

As Editor for the American Psychological Association, she oversaw a team of Production Editors and Editorial Assistants and their work on 10 journals. She was also in charge of hiring staff and training them on editing and production techniques specific to the manuscripts and scientific journals.

Her staff experience includes top work at the American Anthropological Association and the global law firm Debevoise & Plimpton.

With her amazing attention to detail and great attitude, Kelly would be a great fit for any freelance opportunity!

See her on-line Aquent profile by clicking here.

Desired Work: Freelance
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John F.
On-Line Marketing Manager

Recently Associate Merchandising Manager at DisneyShopping.com, John has 5 years of Marketing experience in both print and Web, plus great project management skills.

At DisneyShopping John executed 15 to 30 product launches a month, working with licensees to acquire new products, executing creative briefs, and managing multi-million dollar budgets. He was instrumental in integrating the Baby Einstein Online businesses into the team, then helping the Einstein line exceed sales and profitability goals.

John has both B2B and B2C marketing experience, has an excellent understanding of the uniqueness of on-line customers (indeed, he helped exceed an on-line sales plan by over 15%), and absolutely loves what he does!

We're sure you'll love him, too!

See his on-line Aquent profile by clicking here.

Desired Work: Permanent

The slides from Aquent's recent webcast featuring Lance Loveday and Sandra Niehaus were "featured" on slideshare.net last week and have already been viewed over 8000 times. Indeed, we had over 2000 people sign up for the webcast in the first place.

Why is this topic so hot?

Could it be that, fourteen or so years into a business world increasingly dominated by the web, people are still trying to figure out how to make the web work for them?

Are marketers getting more pressure to demonstrate the value of web properties and tactics due to the economic situation?

Is it just that the web has required a lot of "I" without providing a lot of "RO"?

Why did YOU check it out?

The rumors of October's Adobe CS4 release apparently have been greatly exaggerated.

Photoshop Senior Product Manager, John Nack is saying the information of the release date, passed around by Gizmodo and TG Daily, is bogus.

"I didn't say anything about schedule...Someone pulled a date apparently out of thin air, and now everyone who can copy & paste is dutifully repeating it."

"The fish story grows with the telling, too. In addition to repeating the date, Electronista is inventing new details (e.g. 'CS3 has already had limited support for graphics processing units (GPUs) for certain filters'; sorry, no; 'An upcoming wave of video cards with special physics processing will also help, Adobe explains'; nope, didn't say that; and more). Where do people get this stuff?"

Electronista and Gizmodo both now have updates with Jack's info, though Gizmodo says to "take it for what you will."

(Either Gizmodo knows more than Adobe does, or....?) >Regardless, Beta versions of Dreamweaver, Fireworks, and Soundbooth are all at the AdobeLabs site.
If you have a CS3 license you can download and use these, otherwise, if you're just browsing, you can run the apps for In the meantime, Gizmodo will be predicting the Obama vs. Clinton outcome.
Stay tuned.

(From guest Blogger, Jenn Tran)

If you are not lucky enough to work in an office that holds hula hoop contests or has a started a building wide stair master craze, then the Wii Fit video game may just be just the thing for you.

Nintendo is targeting the growing breed of casual gamers who also have an affinity for eastern forms of exercise. Makes sense, whenever I feel I need to clear my mind I reach for my wireless Guitar Hero controller and battle with Slash (he usually wins though). But to trump my faux rocker meditation time, Wii Fit is also providing aerobic exercises on top of that.

I remember back in the day when I had to do the Downward-Facing Dog and had to force myself not to snicker during yoga class. Those days can now be long gone!

Here’s a really in depth review on the game from wired.com.

And the whole shebang on the Nintendo site.

Tim's note: I was at Best Buy this weekend and, lo and behold, no WiiFit display. Unusual, wouldn't you say? And, Jenn, if you thought Down Dog is funny, you should see Dead Bug pose.

Aquent is, first and foremost, a staffing company. If you are unfamiliar with that phrase, allow me to explain that a staffing company is what the lay-person might call a "temp agency." A temp agency will tend to call itself a "staffing company" when the people it employs object to thinking of themselves as "temps." This objection arises when the folks in question possess some sort of professional credential or when their skills are difficult to develop and in high demand.

Staffing companies are different from recruitment firms, in the main, as the former generally provide their clients with employees for a set period of time, whether they are working on the loading dock or re-designing a website, while the latter help companies find and hire permanent employees. As it turns out, many staffing companies offer recruitment services, though recruitment firms do not generally have staffing arms.

Staffing firms exist because hiring workers on a temporary basis can be challenging, especially when the workers in question are highly or uniquely skilled. First of all, these people may be difficult to find in the first place. Secondly, even when you do find them, they may be more interested in permanent work than contract work. Finally, if contract work is cool with them, they may already have gigs lined up and thus be unavailable when the manager needs them most (when you need temporary workers, usually it's not just for a set period of time, but for a specific period of time).

Staffing companies, at their best, provide a valuable service by maintaining a pool of talented professionals who are not only interested in working on a temporary, contract, or project basis, but are available to do so right now. The time that the staffing company invests in developing this pool is time that hiring managers save when they engage the staffing agency.

THIS WEEK'S POSITIONS:

1. Front-End Web Developer
2. Web Editor / Proofreader
3. Facebook Developer
4. Assistant Interactive Producer
5. Jr. Interactive Producer
6. Sr. Web Producer
7. Web Manager
8. UI Designer
9. Manager of Strategic Planning
10. Direct Mail Fulfillment Project Coordinator
11. Production Coordinator

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1. POSITION: Front-End Web Developer

TERMS: Freelance-to-Permanent (On-Site)

MUST HAVES!:

• Extensive hand-coding experience using HTML and CSS
• Web development experience working on large sites at a company/agency
• Content management system experience preferred

PERKS!:

• Leading non-profit company

PAY:

• Up to $40 an hour

LOCATION:

• Pasadena

CLICK HERE TO CONTACT AGENT

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2. POSITION: Web Editor / Proofreader

TERMS: Long-Term Freelance (On-Site)

MUST HAVES!:

• Experience proofreading and editing for Web sites
• Editorial quality control experience
• Must commit to long-term, on-site opportunity

PERKS!:

• Leading non-profit company

PAY:

• Up to $25 an hour

LOCATION:

• Pasadena

CLICK HERE TO CONTACT AGENT

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3. POSITION: Facebook Developer

TERMS: Freelance-to-Permanent (On-Site)

MUST HAVES!:

• 3 to 5 years of Web development experience
• Facebook application development experience
• Hands-on experience using HTML, CSS, and PHP
• Background working with database driven applications

PERKS!:

• Working on one of the best know brands in the world
• Developing something that millions of people will recognize/use

PAY:

• Up to $50 an hour

LOCATION:

• Westside

CLICK HERE TO CONTACT AGENT

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4. POSITION: Assistant Interactive Producer

TERMS: Long-Term Freelance (On-Site)

MUST HAVES!:

• 2+ years of experience producing or product management in the technology sector (media, gaming, mobile, etc.)
• Excellent skills or knowledge in Word, Excel, and PowerPoint
• Passion for technology and television
• Experience managing video-based software projects a plus

PERKS!:

• Fun, creative environment
• Possibility of growth
• Chance to work with best and brightest people in their industry!

PAY:

• Up to $25 an hour

LOCATION:

• Burbank

CLICK HERE TO CONTACT AGENT

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5. POSITION: Jr. Interactive Producer

TERMS: Permanent (On-Site)

MUST HAVES!:

• 1+ year of experience in an agency or interactive media environment
• Prior position in a Coordinator role

PERKS!:

• Working on number one account at an amazing agency
• Great growth potential

PAY:

• Up to $45K

LOCATION:

• Westside

CLICK HERE TO CONTACT AGENT

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6. POSITION: Sr. Web Producer

TERMS: Permanent (On-Site)

MUST HAVES!:

• 5+ years of experience producing large sites
• Strong background using a CMS
• Working knowledge of HTML, CSS, DreamWeaver, JavaScript and working on JSP-based Web sites

PERKS!:

• Work with an amazing team for a leading entertainment company
• Working with a team of 7 to 8 to deliver a world class Web site.

PAY:

• Up to $90K

LOCATION:

• El Segundo

CLICK HERE TO CONTACT AGENT

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7. POSITION: Web Manager

TERMS: Permanent (On-Site)

MUST HAVES!:

• 5 to 7 years of experience managing new Web features in a fast-paced environment
• Must have experience using ATG software
• Strong program management background

PERKS!:

• Work with an amazing team for a leading entertainment company

PAY:

• Up to $110K

LOCATION:

• El Segundo

CLICK HERE TO CONTACT AGENT

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8. POSITION: UI Designer

TERMS: Freelance (On-Site)

MUST HAVES!:

• 3 to 5 years of experience, 5+ design total
• Ability to work with wireframes
• Good use of space with heavy content
• Ability to create comps in Photoshop
• Must provide relevant samples for client consideration

PERKS!:

• Really popular food-oriented site!

PAY:

• Up to $45 an hour

LOCATION:

• Santa Monica

CLICK HERE TO CONTACT AGENT

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9. POSITION: Manager of Strategic Planning

TERMS: Permanent (On-Site)

MUST HAVES!:

• 5 years of experience at an advertising/marketing/services company
• Proven business development experience
• BA in Marketing, Advertising, Communications, or Business
• Knowledge of Asian culture is helpful

PERKS!:

• A full-service Communications Agency working with top Fortune 1000 clients

PAY:

• Up to $70K

LOCATION:

• Long Beach

CLICK HERE TO CONTACT AGENT

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10. POSITION: Direct Mail Fulfillment Project Coordinator

TERMS: Long-Term Freelance (On-Site)

MUST HAVES!:

• Experience managing direct mail fulfillment/working with fulfillment house
• Experience managing data integrity
• Able to manage customized direct mail fulfillment

PERKS!:

• Great team, great manager
• Use your love of detail and project management

PAY:

• Up to $28/hr

LOCATION:

• Pasadena

CLICK HERE TO CONTACT AGENT

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11. POSITION: Production Coordinator

TERMS: Freelance (On-Site)

MUST HAVES!:

• Understanding of broadcast medium and video formats
• Some post production experience required
• Must be detail oriented and able to work in a fast-paced environment

PERKS!:

• Work on a large, popular entertainment network

PAY:

• Up to $23 an hour

LOCATION:

• Burbank

CLICK HERE TO CONTACT AGENT

Leave it to the fine folks at CreativePro (Terri Stone in particular) to find this on-line competition, which is like Layer Tennis except with fonts.

Creatives go against each other in a "type battle". They start on Monday, end on Friday. There is "no panel of judges and no prize — only the ability to call yourself the best on the block."

Oh, and you must never talk about Type Club.

See the results and compete here at the Type Battles site.

If you're not into throwing down, then see how good you are at identifying type at The Rather Difficult Font Game.

As a follow-up to our webcast with Lance Loveday and Sandra Niehaus, I thought I would proffer my two cents on ways that the evolution of the web is and will affect careers in web design. It's the first time that I have recorded a podcast fueled solely by my own fevered thoughts and distorted personal reflections. I hope you find it edifying, or at least enjoyable.

If you don't have twenty-five minutes to absorb this podcast, my main thesis is fairly simple: As people and organizations expand and diffuse their web presence, and websites get boiled down to a convenient collection of links to points within this decentralized presence, site design as we know it will become less and less important.

I could be totally wrong, or, more likely, partially wrong, but I think I'm at least partially right. What do you think?

To hear the podcast, please click on the Flash device below. You are also welcome to download an mp3 of this interview by "right-clicking" ("control-clicking," Mac-wise) on this link. Finally, this and other Talent Blog Podcasts are always available on iTunes. (Note: At the time of posting, I was having a hard time pinging iTunes. If you can't find the podcast there now, it should appear within the next 24 hours.)

powered by ODEO

My own favorite quotation from the aforementioned podcast: "The Web is THE site."

IN THIS ISSUE:

Hot Talent

Featured Talent This Week

That Bit at the End - "Off the Beaten Trek"

Subscribe | Unsubscribe Information

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HOT TALENT

May is National BBQ Month!

To celebrate, this week's Newsletter features the folks you need to help get your business out of the cooler and back onto the fire.

Whether you need permanent staff to establish a new creative or marketing direction or a freelancer to fill in for a vacation or maternity leave, we've got you covered.

So before you take off on your Memorial Day weekend, have a gander at these 6 sizzling hot Aquent Talent, then give us a ring!

Follow the (hot) links for profiles, samples and resumes.

Sssssssss!

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FEATURED TALENT THIS WEEK

Anthony W. - Flash Developer
Michael H. - Front-End Developer | PHP
Jane A. - Proofreader | Writer | Copyeditor
Cathy N. - Project Manager | Editor
Barry F. - Director of Product Management
Sorim K. - Digital Brand Marketing Manager
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Anthony W.
Flash Developer

Need a hardcore Flash ActionScripter with brand-name streaming multimedia experience?

Then you need Anthony!

Anthony came in and ROCKED out our ActionScript assessment. Not a big surprise since he's worked on heavy multimedia applications for BLT as Sr. Interactive Developer, freelanced on sites for ABC and United Artists, and is currently working on high traffic, large applications running on open source 24/7 servers.

Not only does he know his way around developing full lifecycle Flash applications, he familiar with PHP, Flex, AS3, and video-editing software. Heck, he even has a BSCS in Engineering.

Did we say he won't be available for long?

We should add that.

See his on-line Aquent profile by clicking here.
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Michael H.
Front-End Developer | PHP

A multi-discipline Developer, Michael has a broad skill set and a great track record of creating top notch projects using both client-side and server-side technologies.

Michael was most recently working on Kaiser Permanente's member health pages producing and documenting standards for Ajax/JavaScript and producing HTML for microsites and main site releases.

His extensive experience includes Manager of Web Development at Warner Bros. Records, Web Production Manager at GSCM Ventures, and Web Developer at NextClient.

He loves the creative process as much as the techie stuff and his skills are awesome, nabbing a near perfect score on our HTML assessment. His large bag of tricks includes XML, Flash/AS2, MySQL, Photoshop, and Illustrator, and (avid learner that he is) he's always adding more.

Michael's an awesome Aquent Talent and ready for his next challenge!

See his on-line Aquent profile by clicking here.

Desired Work: Freelance
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Jane A.
Proofreader | Writer | Copyeditor

Jane's a highly seasoned Aquent Talent with an incredibly strong background in health issues and journalism.

As Health Writer for the LA Times, she developed, reported, and wrote weekly news and feature stories in the medical and health realm. As Science and Medical Writer for The Associated Press, Jane was responsible for national and regional science and medical coverage.

Her recent freelance work includes work for O, the Oprah Magazine, MAMM magazine, American Public Media, and consulting work for the Annenberg School For Communication at USC.

Her extensive background includes proofreading and copyediting for print, on-line, and broadcast media.

We'd be foolish not to mention she also nabbed an unheard of PERFECT SCORE on our rigorous proofreading assessment.

Or that she graduated from Yale.

Foolish or no, you've got to meet this stellar Aquent Talent!

See her on-line Aquent profile by clicking here.

Desired Work: Freelance
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Cathy N.
Project Manager | Editor

An exceptional Project Manager and Editor, Cathy has over 12 years of project management experience (8 in the automotive industry) and an excellent understanding of Web, print, and fulfillment processes.

While at Sandy Corporation she was responsible for creating collateral and marketing communications for sales teams and staff members at Isuzu, Lexus, Toyota, Infinity, and Mazda. On- and off-line projects under her direction included brochures, monthly newsletters, sales guides, reward and recognition Web sites, internal communication letters, incentive programs, promotions and events.

Cathy is able to confer with clients to discuss business needs, work with Designers and Writers to create content and messaging, art direct photo shoots, then take the whole thing through the client approval process (including legal!) and to final production, press checks, and distribution.

And her customer service skills are second to none!

See her on-line Aquent profile by clicking here.

Desired Work: Freelance & Permanent
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Barry F.
Director of Product Management

Recently Director of Product Management on EarthLink, for the last 11 years Barry led EarthLinkÕs business strategy, product management, and business development sectors.

One of only 12 staff members elected to join their elite "Big Future" product strategy team, he's proficient in the development of new product business cases, product requirement documents, and bringing new services to market. His "mad skills" include financial analysis (NPV, ROI, CLTV), forecasting, conjoint analysis, vendor selection, contract negotiation, project planning, and lifecycle management. His stellar background includes a long history of working with emerging Web, Internet, and telecommunications technologies.

He's an enthusiastic team player and available right now!

See his on-line Aquent profile by clicking here.

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Sorim K.
Digital Brand Marketing Manager

Sorim comes to us with 10 plus years of experience in digital marketing, brand marketing, and international marketing management for global brand leaders Nike, BMG, Philip Morris, and Samsung.

As Brand & Marketing Promotions Manager at Phillip Morris in Seoul, Korea, she was responsible for brand marketing and local product development of their largest brand, Marlboro, as well as off-line event marketing activities for all the company's brands. At Nike she was the Digital Marketing Team Manager, directing all digital marketing activities, SEO, On-Line Ads, and e-commerce.

She has extensive hands-on experience (from drawing board to stunning execution) in digital marketing management, Web site development, and large-scale advertising campaigns, plus an in-depth understanding and experience in traditional marketing management.

She'll be the best friend your brand ever had!

See her on-line Aquent profile by clicking here.

Desired Work: Freelance & Permanent

Leave it to TreeHugger.com to not only cover dumb (and smart) packaging, but to have a commenting readership smart enough to know what ethidium bromide is.

Here's the product:

And here's the packaging:

There's so many people involved in the costs of packaging, and so many who could benefit from reducing it (you'd have more money for sales, marketing, overhead, and bonuses, for instance).

Remember that high school/college task for science/physics classes, to make something to cushion a raw egg as it fell off of a 5-story building?

Seems to me there's a lesson in packaging, and smart packaging, which might not be hitting the Creative roundtable at most companies.

The complete TreeHugger post, and debate, are right here.

Of Bike to Work Week (in case you weren't bored of hearing about it already).

Best:

Seeing my friend Edmond walking through Hancock Park and being able to join him for mile or so.

Not the kind of nice surprise you get in your car!

Worst:

Two blocks after leaving Edmond, seeing 4 policemen jump out of their cars and drawing their guns on a Cadillac Escalade 30 feet from me. One yelling, in that anxious-in-the-moment voice, "Driver, get out of the car with your hands in the air!"

That's also not the kind of surprise you get in your car.

(But seriously, if you saw the latter in your car, you wouldn't be able to just kind of scoot along the side, hope the bullets didn't start flying, and quietly wheel away.)

Bike 2, Car 0?

Results of 1st Aquent Hula Hoop Off

Longest hooping: Keisha (we stopped her at 15 minutes, she was intimidating the others)

Best Style: Danielle

But hey, everyone was a winner!

(Except, of course, for all the men in the office, who never learned to hula hoop.)

Sally Hogshead is the author of Radical Careering, a book that "helps you visualize your no-compromises future, so you can start to build it, piece by piece." I came across Sally's work via Ad Age where she writes a career-oriented column entitled, "Hogshead On."

I have not read Sally's book, though judging by the reviews on Amazon, people either love it a lot or hate it a lot. I have, however, read her blog and there were two posts that I thought may be of interest to readers of this blog.

First, there's a lengthy post on "translating your skills from traditional to digital media." Her main point is: if you haven't embraced "digital" in your advertising/marketing career, then you should get ready to embrace obsolescence.

The second post I'll point you to concerns the tyranny of THE idea. It's a plea for openness, plurality, and flexibility when it comes to generating and pitching ideas. It struck a nerve with me because, a few weeks ago, a friend asked me for help naming his play. I came up with one name I liked but, when sending it to him, couldn't help adding an alternate in case he didn't like my first choice.

Initially, I thought it a sign of weakness or uncertainty to muddy the water with options. Then, Ms. Hogshead provided me a moment of clarity by pointing out that the true water-muddy-maker was a dogmatic attachment to the notion of a single, best idea.

Presenting several ideas doesn't bespeak a lack of confidence in one's particular vision; instead, it demonstrates respect for the unpredictable and unavoidably social consensus that determines aesthetic value and creative efficacy.

Or something like that.

Thanks, Sally!

Image Courtesy of ninjapoodles.

By guest Blogger, Jenn Tran:

(A Lego depiction of what it’s like to be bloggin’ in a coal mine.)

I don't know about the rest of you, but the first thing I try to do when looking up an old college buddy or lost childhood friend is "google" them.

This is something I do before I even attempt to search through the myriad of social networking sites where I am a virtual card carrying member (MySpace, Facebook, LinkedIn, Meetup.com - you name it).

It seems as though Google has caught onto its popular use as a virtual friend finder with its very own social networking tool called "Friend Connect" which basically can make any mom and pop blog its very own Facebook.

I like how Google is capitalizing on the desire of winning the Internet popularity contest for the public at large.

But - wait a minute, last I checked, weren't they a search engine or something?

Here's an interesting Time article about the whole deal.

(Tim's note: Friend Connect is currently a preview release going to be offered to a limited number of site owners.)

Thanks, Jenn!

THIS WEEK'S POSITIONS:

1. Flash ActionScriptor
2. Jr. Web Editorial QA/Proofreader
3. Mobile UI Designer
4. Sr. Web Designer with Flash
5. Sr. Web Designer with Flash Animation Skills
6. UI Designer
7. Web Analyst
8. Sr. Event Planner
9. Copywriter

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1. POSITION: Flash ActionScriptor

TERMS: Permanent (On-Site)

MUST HAVES!:

• 5 years of professional experience as a Web Developer
• 3+ years of ActionScript experience
• Extensive work on interactive sites and rich media ads

PERKS!:

• They have Rock Band in the conference room!
• Oh, and they're a really hip boutique agency
• Who works with large entertainment and gaming clients

PAY:

• Up to $100K

LOCATION:

• Downtown

CLICK HERE TO CONTACT AGENT

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2. POSITION: Jr. Web Editorial QA/Proofreader

TERMS: Long-Term Freelance (On-Site)

MUST HAVES!:

• 1+ year of professional proofreading experience
• Excellent proofreading and quality control skills
• Score of 3 (or better!) on Aquent's proofreading assessment

PERKS!:

• Leading national non-profit company

PAY:

• Up to $18 an hour

LOCATION:

• Pasadena

CLICK HERE TO CONTACT AGENT

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3. POSITION: Mobile UI Designer

TERMS: Freelance (On-Site)

MUST HAVES!:

• At least 5 years of UI or Web Design experience
• At least 6 months of experience in mobile UI design
• Prior work on large sites

PERKS!:

• Project is working on the hottest mobile product on the market!

PAY:

• $50 an hour

LOCATION:

• Glendale

CLICK HERE TO CONTACT AGENT

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4. POSITION: Sr. Web Designer with Flash

TERMS: Long-Term Freelance (On-Site)

MUST HAVES!:

• 4 to 5 years of experience as a Web Designer working on major sites (entertainment or CPG preferred)
• Highly conceptual and strategic skills
• Extensive youth-oriented market experience!

PERKS!:

• Working with a team of top Designers in Southern California
• Great way to build your book
• Passionate for design? This is the place for you!

PAY:

• Up to $45 an hour

LOCATION:

• El Segundo

CLICK HERE TO CONTACT AGENT

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5. POSITION: Sr. Web Designer with Flash Animation Skills

TERMS: Freelance-to-Permanent (On-Site)

MUST HAVES!:

• 5+ years experience in design (Photoshop and Flash skills)
• Big brand eCommerce site samples
• Experience designing Flash banners and Flash enabled-pages

PERKS!:

• Awesome in-house agency environment
• Gym membership

PAY:

• Up to $85K

LOCATION:

• West LA

CLICK HERE TO CONTACT AGENT

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6. POSITION: UI Designer

TERMS: Freelance (On-Site)

MUST HAVES!:

• 3 to 5 years of experience, 5+ design total
• Ability to work with wireframes
• Good use of space with heavy content
• Ability to create comps in Photoshop
• Must provide relevant samples for client consideration

PERKS!:

• Really popular site on food-oriented site!

PAY:

• Up to $45 an hour

LOCATION:

• Santa Monica

CLICK HERE TO CONTACT AGENT

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7. POSITION: Web Analyst

TERMS: Permanent (On-Site)

MUST HAVES!:

• 1 to 2 years of experience in Web analytics
• Experience developing reports and providing analysis and statistics
• Knowledge of Omniture, Google Analytics, and WebTrends

PERKS!:

• Innovative interactive agency
• Great studio and large accounts
• Creative freedom to work with clients and come up with best solutions

PAY:

• Up to $60K

LOCATION:

• El Segundo

CLICK HERE TO CONTACT AGENT

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8. POSITION: Sr. Event Planner

TERMS: Long-Term Freelance (On-Site)

MUST HAVES!:

• 7 to 10 years of corporate event planning experience (golf tournaments, hospitality tents at events, sports teams, etc.)
• Must be a Certified Event Planner
• Able to create complex strategies for events
• Background in gaining sponsorship for events

PERKS!:

• Full benefits through Aquent
• Newly created position with lots of opportunity
• Stable environment

PAY:

• DOE

LOCATION:

• Downtown

CLICK HERE TO CONTACT AGENT

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9. POSITION: Copywriter

TERMS: Freelance-to-Permanent (On-Site)

MUST HAVES!:

• At least 3 years of copy writing experience
• Samples of medical or health materials
• Experience writing branded marketing material

PERKS!:

• Really nice office environment
• Great team with terrific medical benefits
• Great location

PAY:

• Up to $70K

LOCATION:

• Culver City

CLICK HERE TO CONTACT AGENT

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IF YOU KNOW SOMEONE WHO IS INTERESTED AND QUALIFIED:

Forward them this email, then have them drop your name to the Agent handling the position.

INTERESTED IN OTHER AQUENT POSITIONS?

Go here, my friend, then select Job Openings

* MyAquent users, use your UserName & Password to express interest in jobs. Everybody else, the registration is easy!

The JOB CENTER will track which jobs you've applied for and the current status.

CommArts is having its Call For Entries for "the most prestigious juried competitions for graphic design and advertising" with winning entries being published in their November 2008 Design Annual and the December 2008 Advertising Annual.

I believe, by using the word "prestigious" they are not referring to its archaic form: "of, relating to, or marked by illusion, conjuring, or trickery"

Otherwise it'd be a waste of your money and talent.

Regardless,here's the spielio:

"Juried by nine top designers and attracting entries from the USA, Canada, England and 40 other countries, the Design Annual features the best posters, brochures, packaging, trademarks, corporate identity, annual reports, catalogs, letterheads and signage, and is fully indexed for reference. Only 2% of the work entered is selected for the annual. Detailed captions provide the reader with an explanation of the project's scope, the concept and solution."

Past judges have included Saul Bass, Michael Beirut, Lee Clow, Hillman Curtis, Louise Fili, Milton Glaser, Jeff Goodby, Hal Riney, Sam Scali, Paula Scher, Michael Vanderbyl, Lynda Weinman, Fred Woodward and Jeffrey Zeldman.

Any design or advertising project printed, published or aired for the first time between June 3, 2007 and June 2, 2008 is eligible.

Deadline: June 2, 2008

All the details here.

Good luck!

Bike to Work Day? Success!

A whopping 10% of the office biked in today. Woo hoo!

Okay, okay, it was just Rebecca and I, but there are only 20 people on-site today, so there you go.

Meri got as far as a couple blocks from her Glendale apartment before realizing her 13-mile ride unprepared would be folly.

I give her points for trying.

Rebecca gets extra points by having one of the coolest cruisers around - it's a lowrider, I'm telling you.

Not quite last year's turnout (Becky is working in our DC office and biking in, Andy is OC today, Emily's bike was stolen, and Kerry's housesitting), but it was getting a bit crowded around here with all those bikes (see below).

Congrats to everyone else who rode in, too!

New from Golden Tamarind Studios!

Your all-time favorite films now available on DVD and Blu-ray Disc with exciting extras only a studio like Golden Tamarind can offer!

Other Hollywood studios can promise their DVDs and Blu-ray Discs offer behind-the-scenes action, but would they really include the Director's commentary telling you that you've wasted your money and how his dramatic vision of this film never really to came to light?

Well, if it came from Golden Tamarind Studios, you bet your boots it would!

On all our films you'll hear about everything that happened on set, from incidental bickering between actors to full descriptions of the snacks and varieties of Snapple available to the cast and crew.

You'll discover everything you ever wanted to know about a big Hollywood movie production from the people who aren't afraid to speak out:

People protected by their unions.

It just makes good sense. If you want to know which of your favorite actors has clogged pores, you've got to talk to their Makeup Artist.

And talk they do!

And talk and talk and talk and talk!

Sometimes well over the time they were allotted (all of which are available as 2 Disc sets).

Here's just a small sample of what you'll experience in the comfort of your own home:

First, the ACTUAL scene from our semi-critically acclaimed feature, "Whole Lotta Mafia".

Eddie: I thought you was gonna be on time.
Rocco: I got stuck in traffic.
E: Where?
R: Down on Lex.
E: By that Starbucks?
R: No, up North. Right where that beauty school was.
E: I know the place. Accident?
R: Someone hit a squirrel that run outta the park.
E: That's a shame. I like squirrels.
R: Me, too. People don't drive too careful down there.
E: Ain't that the truth.

That, of course, is only HALF the story!

Let's hear what Jeff, the Caterer, thought of the scene!

Jeff: I remember that guy who played Eddie, the one on the left. He wanted a dry tuna sandwich for lunch. "Dry?" I asked him. "Yup," he says, like he's Bill Gates. So I get out a can of tuna and put it, still in the can, between two slices of wheat bread. I tell him, "You can't get much drier than that!" But he didn't have much of a sense of humor and tried to complain to the Script Supervisor.

------------------

How about Jules, the Costumer?

Jules: They told me this whole scene was going to be shot outside on an Autumn morning in New York. I had chosen two beautiful cashmere overcoats and sharp gabardine slacks for both Eddie and Rocco. But look at this scene, it's a Summer afternoon! That idiot Director changed his mind at the last minute and no one thought to tell me. So I had to race through my wardrobe and grab anything I could get, which is what you see here. These guys look terrible. But it's not my fault, as you can see.

------------------

What about Capt. Robert Ellis, Off-Duty Policeman?

Captain Ellis: They hired me to make sure no one would walk through the scene and mess the whole thing up. Problem was, it was really hard to tell the actors and extras from everyone else on the street. Plus, my wife had just called me to say that our grandson Jimmy had the mumps and I had to pick him up at the elementary school. That's why you see this homeless guy crossing in here. The Director decided to leave it in because it was realistic, so I was thankful for that. Oh, and Jimmy didn't have the mumps, he was just faking to get some attention.

------------------

And Bill Jones, Summer Intern and NYC Film Student?

Bill: By this point I had no interest in helping anymore with this film, but they insisted on my staying on or I wouldn't get two credits. I've never seen a worse collection of Actors, Producers, or Union Joes. People were improvising their lines, we were lying to security guards to set up shots we had no permission to take - I thought I'd be working with someone like Scorsese, but this is what I got. I almost said, "Keep your two credits". Honestly, that's what I should have done. But nooooooo, I got my diploma and ended up working in the mortgage industry. I'm still paying for NYC Film School, by the way.

------------------

Don't forget J. Glick III, Extra!

JG III: You can't see me yet because I'm just out of the frame, right behind that building. I was doing my breathing exercises while these guys were trying to act. I was up for the role of Rocco, but they went a different direction. I guess that direction was "lame" because this guy reeks. Oooh, here I come. See, I've got my back to the camera as I'm walking through, that's what I thought my character would do.

------------------
And there's so much more, with every single release from Golden Tamarind Studios now available on DVD and Blu-ray Disc!

It's like actually being on the set without all that sitting and waiting around all day in an uncomfortable canvas chair.

So run, don't walk to your favorite retailer and snap up a copy of any of our Golden Tamarind hits for a Hollywood experience so authentic, you'll yell "Cut!" after every scene!

IN THIS ISSUE:

Hot Talent

Featured Talent This Week

That Bit at the End - "Consider the Source"

Subscribe | Unsubscribe Information

__________________________________________________

HOT TALENT

Well, today is officially Bike to Work Day!

We have two, yes, two official bikers who came in today under their own pedal power.

With only 20 of us working on-site today, that's a whopping 10% participation!

While you're pondering that remarkable spin on numbers, be sure to check out these 6 great Aquent Talent guaranteed to inflate your bottom line and have your customers and clients hearing ringing bells.

Just follow the links for profiles, samples, and resumes.

Ding ding!

__________________________________________________

FEATURED TALENT THIS WEEK

Fernando "Abel" G. - Flash Developer
Heyward B. - Interactive Art Director
Leslie S. - Interactive Project Manager | IA
Heidi W. - UI Designer
Christine M. - Copywriter
Anita C. - Marketing Research Specialist
__________________________________________________

Fernando "Abel" G.
Flash Developer

Abel is an awesome Mid-Level Flash Developer with both agency and client side experience who came in and nabbed a PERFECT score on our arduous ActionScript assessment!

In his most recent position at Dentsuamerica he has handled full lifecycle development and updates of interactive sites for major clients such as Toyota, Canon, and Bandai (Power Rangers and Jungle Fury), and Sage 360. As Flash Designer/Developer for BCBG Max Azria, he designed, developed, and animated three major sites and created email campaigns.

Abel has experience in both front-end and back-end development and has a very strong AS2 background (and one AS3 project under his belt).

In addition to his amazing ActionScript skills, he's well versed in HTML, CSS, JavaScript, XML, and some awesome multimedia development know how!

Call today to arrange to meet him (he's available Monday), because we know we don't have to tell you how hard guys like him are to find!

See his on-line Aquent profile by clicking here.

Desired Work: Freelance & Permanent
__________________________________________________

Heyward B.
Interactive Art Director

Looking for an Interactive AD who specializes in developing cutting-edge solutions and lives on the frontiers of multimedia and Web development?

Meet Heyward.

Over 10 years of experience in the Web, print and Flash worlds, he's created sites for a wide array of high-profile entertainment industry and corporate clients like NBC Universal, Walt Disney Theme Parks, Yahoo!, Touchstone Pictures, Sega, Sony Pictures, Jack FM, lynda.com, and dozens upon dozens of others.

His most recent work includes work on both the Disneyland Resort and Walt Disney World sites, developing and producing interactive site features to showcase attractions, accommodations, and dining options.

His extensive background includes developing long-term creative goals, business goals and strategies, and overseeing design staff.

Check out his terrific on-line Aquent profile by clicking here.

Desired Work: Freelance & Permanent
__________________________________________________

Leslie S.
Interactive Project Manager | IA

With over 20 years experience in database programming and 10+ years building e-commerce solutions and Web sites for entertainment companies, Leslie has the mad skills to help you create the Web presence you crave!

Working on social networking site Godtube.com and sites for Marvel Comics, Tickets.com, and major film sites (including Toy Story, A Bugs Life, and Enemy of the State), she's done everything from project managing systems and site launches to setting up 1000+ products into an Oracle database solution.

Her experience runs the full gamut: micro-sites, full sites, on-line games, sweepstakes, online communities, e-commerce, B2B, and B2C. She's also well versed in site architecture and user interface design as well as Visio, MS Project, FileMaker Pro, and HTML.

Able to seamlessly work with back-end teams, creative teams, and clients, she's a can-do Aquent superstar!

See her on-line Aquent profile by clicking here.
__________________________________________________

Heidi W.
UI Designer

Heidi is the Rocky Balboa of UI Designers!

Former UI Designer at heavy hitting Internet companies like LowerMyBills and Edmunds.com, Heidi was most recently throwing knockdown punches as CD at mobile advertising company Blowfish Works. She created the look and feel of their corporate site, mock ups for WAP (mobile) sites, Facebook and MySpace widgets/UI interfaces, high-end PowerPoint presentations for clients and managed the development team.

Her 15+ years of professional experience include client interaction, creative design, programming, and project management.

She has a stellar understanding of UI/UX for large high traffic Web sites and has a great sense of design (and design management) to boot, which you can see in her work for Clear Channel, UCLA, gifts.com, and ceiva.com.

Available on May 19th (and probably not long after that), she's ready to line up her next position now!

See her on-line Aquent profile by clicking here.

Desired Work: Freelance
__________________________________________________

Christine M.
Copywriter

A Copywriter with extensive experience in the financial and medical industries, Christine's a pro at short- and long-form projects including brochures, print ads, direct mail, and Web sites for both B2B and B2C.

Christine's most recent freelance clients include Kaiser Permanente, Premier Lighting & Production, HomeWorks Sourcebook, and Healthcare Success Strategies. As Marketing Writer at Wescom Credit Union her work included creating newsletters and marketing materials. For Medical World Communications she developed copy for more than 100 campaigns, including brochures, direct mail, and print ads.

Her background includes project management experience from her work at tradeshow company MAGIC International and a stellar list of clients!

See her on-line Aquent profile by clicking here.

Desired Work: Permanent
__________________________________________________

Anita C.
Marketing Research Specialist

A recent relo from Massachusetts, Anita is already making her mark on LA!

And removing marks from others.

As Manager of Local Marketing for Dr. Tattoff's trendy line of tattoo removal clinics, she developed and implemented guerilla-style local marketing plans (including a street team) and conducted industry and competitive research resulting in a 42% increase in sales in a brief 6 months!

As Market Research and Competitive Intelligence Analyst at Harvard Pilgrim Health Care, she planned, design, and managed responsibilities of qualitative and qualitative primary research studies which involved customer service, branding, market performance, consumer perceptions, sales, and strategic initiatives.

When you need to know What, Where, Who, When, and Why, and most importantly, What's Next, you need Anita!

See her on-line Aquent profile by clicking here.

Desired Work: Permanent

A conversation with Lance Loveday and Sandra Niehaus

Lance Loveday and Sandra Niehaus are the authors of Web Design for ROI, and will be featured in a webcast hosted by Aquent on May 22. Their approach to web design, while theoretically informed, is relentlessly pragmatic. As they put it, "Our work is about more than just getting people to think about web design. We want them to act."

If you want to improve the performance of your site, read their book. If you want a glimpse into their approach, read the rest of this post!

1. Web Design Isn't What You Think It Is

"Everyone thinks of design in terms of 'graphic design' - colors, fonts, logos, etc.," says Sandra. "We're working with a more strategic and multi-disciplinary concept of design, one that takes business goals as its starting point. Designing from this perspective allows you to determine whether or not all the elements truly support those goals."

"Our notion of design is really about problem-solving," adds Lance, "and goes beyond interface design or even experience design, because it doesn't just involve the creative folks. It involves all the different people on the team, from the business owner on down, and making sure everyone rallies around the objectives of the site."

"We decided to write this book," he continues, "because we were frustrated at the money being left on the table by under-utilized sites with a lot of potential. Design needs to be about helping a company succeed as a business, and that means thinking about costs, customers, and results. Ultimately, we want to take the discipline up a notch."

2. Small Changes Can Bring Big Results

"People are always surprised when we tell them they can improve site performance with relatively small, inexpensive changes. Well, it's true," Sandra explains. "Consider buttons. We've seen people increase check-out throughput by 40 percent just by increasing the size of the check-out button.

"Now, stop reading this and look at your buttons. Are they large enough? Are they legible? Are they placed appropriately? Do the most important buttons stand out? Adjusting these elements can cost next to nothing and can have a major impact."

"Another quick fix we recommend," Lance says, "is adding a functional tag line to your home page. That can solve one of the web's most common problems: 60 percent home page bounce rates.

"Web users have two questions when they arrive at your site: 'Is this what I expected to find?' and 'Does this site have what I'm looking for?' Your tagline should answer those questions instantly. I'm talking simple text, less than 10 words, that is descriptive, explanatory, and intuitive."

Greg Kuchmek, who is represented by Aquent's DC office, has been working on the web since 1994. That's when he was hired to help produce a webzine, Stim, started by Prodigy. [Editor's Note: For an interesting flashback to 1996, read Ty Burr's review of Stim, which he gives a B+, and Slate, which he gives a C+]. When that gig ended in 1997 he discovered that, "3 years web experience was amazing. I was 'senior' automatically."

Flash forward to the present and Greg now has 14 years web experience. If you want to hire someone like Greg (assuming you can find someone like him), what do you have to offer him? He has a broad range of in-demand skills: in addition to ground-up experience with the full suite of web technologies, Greg is also an able photographer, animator, illustrator, and writer. When he goes on a job interview, the pressure is on the interviewer.

What is Greg looking for and how can you convince him to work for you? Listen to his words:

1. Trust

I'm looking for an employer that respects that I have my skills and trusts me to use them. They hire me because I can do something and they can't. It's great when they let me do it.

It's not always like that. I've done jobs where the client was really looking over my shoulder and micro-managing. I understand that everyone's got their personal style, but when that's happening, I don't feel free to be creative and really do what I'm capable of.

2. Flexibility

I don't wear a tie to interviews anymore. I don't need to dress up at this point. I've also got a full studio at home, so I'm even kind of shocked that I have to leave the house! I guess I've been spoiled by working in places like Boston or New York where it's more flexible.

More than flexibility about where work happens, though, I appreciate it when there is flexibility around how things get done. There have been countless little jobs where they needed a photograph and I've told them, "Look, I can spend the day combing through stock or I can go take one." It's great when people are more open to the "I can do this right now" approach, than they are attached to the "this is the way we have to do it" approach.

No, there isn't really such a thing.

So if anyone offers you a trip on one, beware.

But on the subject of Webcasts, Aquent has two upcoming ones you may be interested in:

The first is Managing Your Excel Addiction given by Dan Neff, president of Aquent IT Solutions.

Is your marketing department addicted to spreadsheets? Overwhelming majorities are admitting that the answer is yes. While Excel spreadsheets are the preferred choice to segment, merge, and analyze marketing data, Excel was not designed as a data management tool. In this free and informative Aquent/AMA webcast, Dan Neff, president of Aquent’s IT Solutions, will illustrate how conflicting marketing data is more often the result of a process problem, not a technology gap. Neff will also provide practical examples for working your way out of a spreadsheet nightmare so you can improve your marketing efficiency.

It's on Thursday, May 29th at 10am (PDT) and absolutely free, as usual.

Details here.

Next up Web Design for ROI: How Design Impacts the Bottom Line with Lance Loveday and Sandra Niehaus from Closed Loop Marketing.

Learn how to prioritize your design efforts by identifying which elements have the greatest impact on Web page effectiveness. Using a practical, how-to approach to design, Lance and Sandra will discuss the most important concepts and elements for effective landing pages, home pages, category pages, product pages, forms, shopping carts, and checkout processes. They will share guidelines, show case studies, and look at current examples to illustrate what works—and why. When it's your job to make a site beautiful and profitable, you'll want to start here.

This will be on Thursday, May 22nd at 10am (PDT) and is also incredibly free.

All the details and registration here.

So, I'm on Day 3 of biking to work and I do not yet look like this.
Which is good, because chains make me look fat.

The thing I'd forgotten about biking to work? That everyone you meet in the lobby of your building tells you, "Man, I wish I could bike to work." (Except the woman who told me, "I was going to say you look like an ad for REI, then I saw your REI shorts".)

So, if you're looking to spend tomorrow as a superstar to everyone in your office lobby, which I know has been your secret wish all along, there's still time to sign up for prizes on the MTA site and join in the fun.

This bike routing map is probably the best tool you can use to map out your ride to work. (Seems to be working very slowly today

Let me know if you do? I may have an Aquent water bottle in it for you!

Thanks to Google, I was alerted to an Aquent reference on a blog called, "Give, Get, Take, and Have." I don't know much about it, but, astonishingly, "This blog has often been found swimming miles from shore in the Indian Ocean." Go figure!

Anyway, the (possibly Canadian) author of this blog posted a link to an Aquent mini-site called, "The Business of Touch," which provides the world with annotated animations illustrating the proper mode of greeting people in a variety of countries from India to Czechoslovakia.

To that blogger, I say, "Thanks for sharing this with your readership!"

To everyone else I say, "If you or someone close to you is going to be meeting anyone in or from another country, please consult 'The Business of Touch' in order to avoid a potentially unpleasant and/or embarrassing international incident."

Image Courtesy of s.lowrie.

I'm not exactly the Grammar Police here (just ask any of the Proofreaders who read my blog), but isn't "Gotta" slang for "Got to" (i.e., "She's Gotta Have It" and "Something's Gotta Give")?

So why is BK telling me, "Got to buck"?

Buck what? My intense aversion to Whoppers?

(Thanks to Matt&Katie for spotting this too. And taking a picture, of course

And bike that.

It's Bike to Work Week, home of Bike to Work Day and Bike to Work Month.

(Somewhere, I'm guessing, 2008 is Year of the Bike. Oh, yup. Here.)

Once again I'm going to try to fulfill my promise to ride to work (and back) all week.

If you've got a bike, you should at least try to work in Bike to Work Day, this Thursday.

Don't feel up to biking the 11 miles from your house to work? Hey, it's okay to Bus and Ride, where you put your bike on the front of the bus and ride part way - over 14 bus lines are free to bikers on Bike to Work Day

I drop my kids off at school (and there is no way around that without leaving my house at 6am), so for this week my bike is on my car for the 6 miles to the school. After dropping them off I bike the other 4 miles into work.

Cheating? Well, non-bikers might consider it cheating. But:

a) I'll be riding my bike 8 miles a day, which is technically biking (I think everyone would agree)

b) My car will be driven 40 fewer miles this week

c) I won't endanger everyone on the road by trying to balance two elementary school children on my bike while riding to their school

If you're at all concerned about the crazy LA traffic (and you should be) remember that you'll be taking "slow streets" instead of main thoroughfares to get to work. These streets are only "slow" to drivers who want to go 40mph, which is why drivers prefer the bigger streets. You'll be doing 10mph on a bike on streets long forgotten by car commuters.

You can check out the bike maps, guide to biking to work, sponsored pit stops, and more at the MTA Web site.

And if your Bike to Work Day is terrible, no worries, you can take your car for the other 239 (or so) days you'll go to work this year.

Let me know if you're joining in!

THIS WEEK'S POSITIONS:

1. Web Designer
2. Web Producer
3. UI Designer
4. Marketing Project Manager
5. Marketing Project Manager
6. Marketing Research Analyst
7. Sr. Director of Marketing
8. Product Development Coordinator
9. Traffic Coordinator
10. eLearning Instructional Designer/Tech Writer
11. Production Artist
12. Technical Writer

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1. POSITION: Web Designer

TERMS: Two-Month Freelance (On-Site)

MUST HAVES!:

• 3 years of professional experience
• Hands-on Flash animation skills
• Entertainment samples a must! (Music, films, gaming, tv, etc.)

PERKS!:

• Really cool team
• Get to work on Web collateral for TV shows
• Great samples to your book!

PAY:

• Up to $35 an hour

LOCATION:

• Burbank

CLICK HERE TO CONTACT AGENT

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2. POSITION: Web Producer

TERMS: Permanent (On-Site)

MUST HAVES!:

• 7+ years of interactive experience
• Prior work on eCommerce sites and Mobile WAP sites
• Experience with Omniture and DART
• Knowledge of industry trends
  

PERKS!:

• Innovative interactive agency
• Great studio with large accounts
• Creative freedom to work with clients and come up with creative solutions

PAY:

• Up to $90K

LOCATION:

• El Segundo

CLICK HERE TO CONTACT AGENT

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3. POSITION: UI Designer

TERMS: Freelance or Freelance-to-Permanent (On-Site)

MUST HAVES!:

• 2+ years of UI design experience working with Web, games, and/or electronics
• Great sense of design and nice clean, concepts (position entails concepting and design)
• Excellent UI and flow design
• Please send wireframes and flowchart samples

PERKS!:

• Working for a major electronic and entertainment company
• Position is designing really cool TV screen interfaces (think: Playstation)

PAY:

• Up to $45 an hour

LOCATION:

• Westside

CLICK HERE TO CONTACT AGENT

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4. POSITION: Marketing Project Manager

TERMS: Long-Term Freelance (On-Site)

MUST HAVES!:

• 3+ years of project management experience
• Print and on-line experience
• Excellent attention to detail with numbers, charts, etc.
  
• Insurance or financial experience helpful!

PERKS!:

• Great manager
• Terrific small team within a larger organization

PAY:

• Up to $30 an hour

LOCATION:

• Pasadena

CLICK HERE TO CONTACT AGENT

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5. POSITION: Marketing Project Manager

TERMS: Freelance-to-Permanent (On-Site)

MUST HAVES!:

• 3 to 5 years of professional experience as a Marketing Project Manager
• Must be able to create marketing collateral
  
• Must have strong project management skills
• MS Project and financial experience a big plus

PERKS!:

• A new department with lots of opportunity to excel and grow
• Fortune 500

PAY:

• Up to $65K

LOCATION:

• Downtown

CLICK HERE TO CONTACT AGENT

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6. POSITION: Marketing Research Analyst

TERMS: Freelance or Freelance-to-Permanent (On-Site)

MUST HAVES!:

• 1 to 2 years of prior experience in marketing research or marketing analytics
• Heavy Microsoft Access experience
• Interest in a career in marketing research a plus
• Entertainment background a huge plus

PERKS!:

• Entertainment-based marketing department
• Fantastic fun, consumer products team

PAY:

• Up to $25 an hour

LOCATION:

• Burbank

CLICK HERE TO CONTACT AGENT

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7. POSITION: Sr. Director of Marketing

TERMS: Freelance-to-Permanent (On-Site)

MUST HAVES!:

• 8+ years of beauty industry experience a MUST
• Experience with product development, product launches, and sales strategies
• Knowledge of industry trends and forecasting

PERKS!:

• Work on new product line and run a team
• Well-known beauty brand

PAY:

• Up to $125K

LOCATION:

• San Fernando Valley

CLICK HERE TO CONTACT AGENT

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8. POSITION: Product Development Coordinator

TERMS: Freelance-to-Permanent (On-Site)

MUST HAVES!:

• 2 years of experience in brand marketing or product development
• Experience in beauty or cosmetics industry required
• Project management skills

PERKS!:

• Well-known beauty brand
• Position is a part of an idea generating team
• Work with new and existing consumer products
• Opportunity to grow
  

PAY:

• Up to $60K

LOCATION:

• San Fernando Valley

CLICK HERE TO CONTACT AGENT

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9. POSITION: Traffic Coordinator

TERMS: Permanent (On-Site)

MUST HAVES!:

• 2 to 5 years of experience managing on-line campaigns
• Print production experience
• 1 or more years working in an agency environment
• Excellent hands-on skills in Microsoft PowerPoint and Excel
• Comfort preparing files and gathering estimates a plus
  

PERKS!:

• Really successful on-line company
• Dynamic work environment
• A fast-paced and rapidly growing company

PAY:

• Up to $45K

LOCATION:

• $45K

CLICK HERE TO CONTACT AGENT

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10. POSITION: eLearning Instructional Designer/Tech Writer

TERMS: Freelance-to-Permanent (On-Site)

MUST HAVES!:

• 5 to 10 years of experience managing the development of learning projects (including instructional design, technical writing, course development, and project management)
• Experience developing Web-based learning programs
• Hands-on skills developing and delivering learning and knowledge management projects

PERKS!:

• Leading national non-profit

PAY:

• Up to $45 an hour

LOCATION:

• Pasadena

CLICK HERE TO CONTACT AGENT

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11. POSITION: Production Artist

TERMS: Freelance-to-Permanent (On-Site)

MUST HAVES!:

• 5+ years of professional experience as a Production Artist in corporate environment
• Strong hands-on InDesign experience
• Burning production skills!

PERKS!:

• Repeatedly voted one the best companies to work for in LA
• High employee retention (great team environment!)
• Stable Fortune 500

PAY:

• Up to $60K

LOCATION:

• Downtown

CLICK HERE TO CONTACT AGENT

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12. POSITION: Technical Writer

TERMS: Freelance (On-Site)

MUST HAVES!:

• 3+ years of technical writing experience
• Experience working with Developers and Producers to create technical documentation and update existing manuals
• Prior work in a technical support environment
• Experience testing and troubleshooting computer systems

PERKS!:

• Working on video games division at a major studio

PAY:

• Up to $40 an hour

LOCATION:

• Burbank

CLICK HERE TO CONTACT AGENT

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Well, the fun's over it seems.

One of our favorite Marketing campaign pundits, Liz Goodgold, is putting her Tah-Duh! Awards newsletter to rest.

Awarding Marketing gaffes such as Sears' recent email campaign that addressed each one of its customers the same way ("Dear Donna Robinson") to Wendy's restaurants, trying to up the good coffee ante, announcing that they've started serving Folgers ("Yum, hon. These Folgers crystals are dynamite.")

And, being the ever transparent Marketing Maven that she is, gave a three-point reasoning in her last newsletter why she won't be continuing (#1: All brands must evolve - myself included. As more of my business comes from corporate consulting, speaking and training, many an executive is none too thrilled to be DUH'd by me, and less apt to turn around and hire me!)

You can access the last of her Awards newsletters by clicking here and Liz, if you're listening, we'll miss you.

And for all those Bad Marketers of the World, rejoice!

Photo by by peasap

You know how I wrote the other day that "people make the difference" at Aquent? Well, a week later, I still think it's true!

But you know, it's not just me. When we ask Aquent employees what they like best about Aquent, they consistently respond, "The people I work with." Guess what? I would say the same thing. I feel peculiarly fortunate to work with a bunch of people who are smart, funny, and friendly.

For example, take our creative director, Mark Saperstein (that's a picture of him in his incarnation as an undead warlock). Mark is a talented and funny guy who actually proposed to his wife via a job posting on our website (she accepted). He's passionate about zombies, cannibals, and Conan the Barbarian. He's also an articulate, detailed, and sometimes harsh, I mean, "frank," critic of creative work.

Aside from frequently asking me to be less boring, blogwise, he's overseen some of our endlessly clever direct mail and marketing pieces like the ever-popular "furry" card, the infamous "valium" card, the mirror card, the cow, the beach ball, and the Kim Jong Il: "I Ate the Big Slab at Aaron's House O' Ribs" card.

Mark's sense of humor has sometimes been too "out" for corporate consumption -- like when he wanted to advertise our interactive staffing capabilities with a pixelated rendering of a hand making an obscene gesture -- but it's never been too "out" for me, and, gosh darn it, I love that MMORPG-playin', kimchee-eatin', plaid-shirt-wearin', anime-watchin', erstwhile-astronomy-lovin', "what art school did you go to?"-askin' guy.

Announcing: The Greatest Yard Sale in the Long and Tenured History of Yard Sales

Is this your normal, weekend yard sale? Sir or madam, it most certainly is not. Did you even read the intro? This will be, without question, the best yard sale you've ever attended or heard tell of on a bleak Monday around the water cooler.

When is it? It's this Saturday and Sunday from 8am until our doors close (well, not technically our doors, but until I place a sturdy neighborhood kid to guard the stacked tables so I can shuffle everything back into my less-than-secure back yard).

Where is it? It's centrally located near YOU, my friend, where 3rd meets Melrose on a rather characterless lawn that my landlord has no intention of watering, much less mowing.

What will be available at prices so low that your head will try to spin off its axis? Oh so many, many things!

As an aging hipster moving into a new apartment, I have nearly a decade of accumulated garbage to foist upon you, the ready and buying public. Here's a little peek at some items so compelling that you'll wish the sale started today instead of Saturday. Not to worry, you'll have plenty of time to stop by your bank or savings & loan so you can withdraw enough cash to have on hand for this veritable Carnival of Cast-Offs.

VIALS OF MYSTERY. Two small glass vials with plastic screw caps. Were they once used in a nefarious scientific experiment? Could they have held a Potion of Invisibility? They're both exactly the right size to hold a fountain pen, much like the one that once leaked on an airplane and ruined a perfectly good shirt, the inside of a suit, and an entire day. They hold 30ml, which is almost exactly one shot. Probably a coincidence. 25 cents for both.

VIDEO CASSETTES. Before there were flimsy, easy-to-ruin DVDs, home entertainment was conveyed by these bulky, easy-to-ruin VHS tapes. A wide selection available: incomprehensible Japanese animation, popular movies of the 90's purchased under duress, and well-ignored fitness tapes. Buy a dozen and get a free soda! $1/each.

UNASSEMBLED ELECTRONIC KITS. What kind of idiot buys geegaw after geegaw from popular catalogs like Edmunds Scientific, yet can't muster the follow through to put such things together? Probably the same kind of guy who'd switch his major 8 times over a 5-year college stint. Build Your Own Crystal Radio, Robotic Hand, Ultrasound Receiver, they're all here, each taken out of the box only long enough to discover something really, really interesting on cable. $3/each.

AUDIO COMPACT DISCS. Personally collected by someone who gave no consideration to the opportunity of placing their money into a 401(k) or tax-free IRA, this vast selection of music including popular (Warrant), ironically purchased (Olivia Newton John), and obscure (Okinawan folk music) is sure to delight young and old alike. Due to bizarre personality defects on the part of the former owner, these do not come in their original packaging. $1/each.

FLINTSTONES NOVELTY GLASSES. Imagine the Flintstones were real. Imagine that they somehow managed to win the lottery. Imagine that, as a result, they replaced the bone-and-hide drinking glasses they normally use for fine crystal replicas of the bone-and-hide drinking glasses they normally use. Imagine no more and buy instead! Perfect for nerds, pointless nostalgia enthusiasts, and cavemen with exquisite taste. $1/pair.

"HIP" BLENDER. This perfectly functional blender is either an authentic antique or is trying very hard to convince us that it is. Real glass bowl, smooth space-age Bakelite frontispiece, and quad blades that come within a few yards of being sharp all included. Perfect for serving frou-frou tropical drinks to your insufferable hipster friends. $2.50.

PUNK ROCK SKATEBOARD. Whether you're a hardcore grinder, a person with an annoying little brother, or an aging punk rocker desperately trying to recapture your faded youth, this is what you've been looking for. This sturdy skateboard comes festooned with stickers championing no-longer-existent punk bands and capable of supporting even the heftiest of sullen teens. A mere $5.

UNFASHIONABLE CLOTHING. A vast selection available, featuring tattered and out-of-date dress shirts, decades-old 'ironic' t-shirts, and denim jeans that remove all doubt regarding how heavy I've become. 50 cents each.

GERMAN-LANGUAGE "ILLUMINATI" CARDS. If you are like most people, you have a dear friend from Switzerland, Austria, or Germany who greatly enjoys playing conspiracy-based collectible card games. So you know how hard they are to shop for! Well, worry no more: this is the ideal gift for the Nordic game nerd in your life. $2 for a full set.

FOOD PULVERIZER. Hailing from the fashionable Hamilton Beach area of southern Wackamolia, this motorized dingbat in delicate off-cream is designed to receive edible foodstuffs and reduce them to pulverized, blended, sliced, chopped and/or julienned states of nature. Perfectly functional, but aesthetically marred by the presence of a melted plastic corner, the tragic legacy of a failed relationship with an abusive toaster. $5.

LOVE METER. Hard to believe anyone could ever part with this exotic bit of hand-blown glass filled with vibrantly colored liquid that boils within a minute of handling. Perhaps it would make sense if you'd already broken one and discovered that it eats the finish off of and permanently discolors kitchen tile. Great gift for that person who hates getting their security deposit back! $4.

COMPLETE OUTDOOR WEATHER STATION. Ever wonder what the weather is like on your porch? You know, the place a mere sliding glass door's distance away from your breakfast table? Wonder no more! The maharishi of weather forecasting will let you know whether it's blazing hot, wet, muggy, or hailing bullets. Of course, you will have to step onto the porch to get a gander at the thermometer, barometer, rain gauge, and windsock, but it's a small price to pay to be "in the know"! Locked for reasons long forgotten, you'll need to purchase a bolt cutter at your local hardware store for immediate access to the instruments of prognostication. $7.

Come one, come all!

Buy enough items and I will most likely give you free food and a beer.

Tell your friends, relatives, and anyone else standing near the ATM where you are withdrawing your hard-earned cash.

Please no early birds or people who stand around asking endless questions while their husband blocks the busy street with their late model Cadillac.

I mean it.
__________________________________________________

HOT TALENT

Get ready, next Thursday is Ride Your Bike to Work Day!

Last year we had 6 bikes (and their riders) make it to the office under pedal power alone.
And, unlike Ride Your Harley to Work Day, by the end of the day our office carpet was virtually free of stubbed out cigarettes, crushed beer cans, and teeth.

We encourage you to participate and won't guilt you if you Park 'n Ride (free all day on MTA busses). Promise.

Get details by clicking here.

In the meantime, check out the best Creative and Marketing Talent in LA right below, without filling up your water bottle, putting on a helmet, or wearing funny shorts.

Just follow the links for profiles, samples, and resumes.

Ding ding!
__________________________________________________

FEATURED TALENT THIS WEEK

Peter W. - Creative Director | Art Director
Shona G. - Web Producer | Marketing Pro
Joe Q. - Art Director
Kelly R. - Operations Manager | Database Marketing
Janet L. - Web Content Coordinator
Joseph S. - Editor | Proofreader
__________________________________________________

Peter W.
Creative Director | Art Director

We could go on and on about Peter.

Say regarding his over 20 years of experience working with international and national ad agencies and design studios in both the UK and USA, including AGI Media/TM, Ajax Media/Paramount Studios, B.D. Fox & Friends, and Foote, Cone & Belding (in both London and LA).

Or the stunning work he's recently done for Disney Store like directing a 10+ person in-house creative team and charged with the design and production of all packaging materials for their toy, apparel, home decor, soft, and hard lines. Not to mention work done for entertainment clients such as Buena Vista Home Entertainment, Disney, Sony, and Paramount (including key art, DVD packaging, POP, and in-store marketing materials).

Or the awards he's won (Clio Advertising Award, Art Directors Club of LA)...

But we think you should just click below to take a look at his samples and resume on-line.

We think they speak for themselves!

See his on-line Aquent profile by clicking here.

Desired Work: Freelance & Permanent
__________________________________________________

Shona G.
Web Producer | Marketing Pro

A professional, well-spoken Producer and Marketer, Shona combines the best of both worlds for any company needing savvy marketing plays, on-line and off!

As Producer and E-commerce Manager at Mattel, she led the on-line strategy and implementation of Barbie.com, which quickly became the #2 entertainment site for girls 3 to 8 and averaged 20 million visits a month. She was also a key member for the spring launch and overall strategy of the Barbie Girls Multiplayer On-line Community and product integration resulting in 3 million registered users to date and a Webby!

At Meat and Potatoes, she was responsible for exceptional strategic and tactical Internet marketing and on-line Web development for clients such as Capitol Records, Mattel, and Viking River Cruises.

Shona has her MBA from Peter Drucker School of Management, as well as extensive experience in account management, business development, branding, and licensing.

And she's available now!

See her on-line Aquent profile by clicking here.

Desired Work: Freelance & Permanent
__________________________________________________

Joe Q.
Art Director

A recent relo from NYC, Joe is an ADDY award-winning, hands-on creative with extensive experience in art direction, design, commercial production, corporate branding, and publishing.

Most recently at The Parkside Group, Joe managed freelance Artists and created (or directed the creation of) direct mail, print, interactive, television, and radio campaigns, and Web sites. His book is chock full of terrific pieces for DIRECTV, DIRECWAY, Catalina Magazine, Tantra Capital Investment, Baumans, The Agency Inc., Citigroup, and many more.

Take a look at his stuff and call us today, because we're pretty sure he'll be gone in a New York minute!

See his on-line Aquent profile by clicking here.

Desired Work: Freelance & Permanent
__________________________________________________

Kelly R.
Operations Manager | Database Marketing

Working for companies such as TEQUILA TBWA Chiat Day, DDB Direct, Kaiser Permanente, Omnicom, and Blue Shield of California, Kelly excels in yielding proven marketing results.

As Director of Operations at media giant Omnicom, he oversaw the Mission department consisting of over 30 clients, as well as heading up production teams and Account Executives.

At TEQUILA Kelly managed 13 accounts and was responsible for all business database marketing, list purchase, telephony, as well as analytics for new clients. He leveraged all information bi-coastally across accounts to increase profitability and improve processes.

If you seek a strategist who can focus on the big picture but maintain a Crime Scene Investigator's interest in detail, call us about Kelly!

See his on-line Aquent profile by clicking here.
__________________________________________________

Janet L.
Web Content Coordinator

With over 9 years in the franchising industry, 8 years in the entertainment industry, and 3 years in the finance industry, Janet's background is more than comprehensive!

As Web Specialist at Dunkin' Brands (Dunkin' Donuts, Baskin-Robbins, and Togo's), Janet created their first ever Franchise Recruitment site, handling functionality diagrams, site structures, navigation systems, and wireframes. Working seamlessly with IT, outside vendors, and cross-functional teams, she created targeted email campaigns, Web advertising content, and a streamlined process for more than 82% of all applications received by the company, resulting in a huge time and cost savings.

Her background also includes test development to ensure full coverage of system functionality, execution, and results analysis as well as proficiency in Photoshop and HTML hand-coding.

Don't go live on the Web without her!

See her on-line Aquent profile by clicking here.

__________________________________________________

Joseph S.
Editor | Proofreader

We have a great new Editor and Proofreader at Aquent!

And man, is he going to be mad if we misspell anything.

At Vivendi Universal, Joseph worked for their educational games division, Knowledge Adventure, and Vivendi Universal Games. For scores of games including "Math Blaster" and "Jump Start" lines, he created, edited, and proofread on-line and print manuals, teacher support materials, sales and marketing materials, packaging, and company documents. His exceptional work also included QC and click-thru testing for games.

As Lead Proofreader at Arthur Anderson, he supervised proofreading and review of client financial statements and company documents, and reviewed financial documents for legal and mathematical accuracy.

Summa cum laude from USC, you won't find a more accurate (or nicer) Proofreader and Editor in all of LA!

See his on-line Aquent profile by clicking here.

If Customer Segmentation gives you goose bumps and Email Opt Out Preferences keeps you from paying close attention to Flavor of Love 3, then the DMA has just the thing for you.

Yes, a full 8 virtual seminars on everything you wanted to know about Direct Mail and Marketing in general.

No, they're not free.

But they're virtual, so you don't have to pay for parking.

Isn't that neat?

Get all the details, and a discount code, here.

And I'll look for your stuff in my inbox!

I am so switching to Pepsi Ice Cucumber.

Well, once they release it in America.

(Special thanks to Rebecca who pointed this out!)

I saw this video on DeanHunt.com. Well, actually, Dean posted a slightly earlier version of it. The one below dates from June 2007:

The main point seems to be that the world is bigger, more connected, and changing faster than we realize. It's interesting in part because it illustrates at least one of the points it is trying to make: originally created for a presentation to 150 people, the various versions have collectively been viewed over 5 million times on YouTube.

There are a lot of thought-provoking tidbits in here and I encourage you to find them for yourself. To save you a fraction of time, I'll share these two with you:

- By 2013, supercomputers will exceed the computational capacity of the human brain;
- By 2049, a $1000 computer's capacity will exceed that of the human race.

As the authors point out, it is very difficult to predict what will happen between the first date and the second. One reason for this unpredictability is something Vernor Vinge dubbed, "The Singularity," way back in 1993. As he wrote then, "Within thirty years, we will have the technological means to create superhuman intelligence. Shortly after, the human era will be ended."

In other words, once an intelligence greater than our own appears on Earth, the possible futures ensuing become as unknowable as the events occurring beyond the event horizon of a black hole.

Action Item: During your next job interview, ask the interviewer what plans the company has for The Singularity and the need to serve super-intelligent customers.

Via the ubiquitous LA Taco Truck.

In case you hadn't heard, the City of LA is cracking down on taco trucks.

According to the LA Times an existing law requires trucks move every 30 minutes, but "because the fine is only $60, many truck owners view it as a cost of doing business."

New restrictions "would increase the penalty for violating the law to a misdemeanor punishable by a $1,000 fine and/or a six-month jail sentence. To soften the blow, however, she would extend the time a catering truck can be parked in one place from 30 minutes to an hour."

Apparently certain restaurant owners around town have been pressuring the city to increase the fine, because the trucks take customers they might otherwise have eating in their restaurants.

The folks at SAVE OUR TACO TRUCKS.ORG disagree, countering that "Taco Trucks are a special facet of Los Angeles, and something we don’t want to lose."

They made May 4th Taco Night LA and encouraged everyone to visit their favorite taco truck and encourage folks who love trucks to sign a petition at their site.

Never been to a truck? Visit Bandini at The Great Taco Hunt to read reviews and start salivating.

And remember, Cinco de Mayo is not Mexican Independence Day (Sept. 16th), but a commemoration of The Battle Of Puebla.

I know, I know.

Just giving you something to talk about over a round of carnitas and margaritas.

(Special thanks to Aquent's eagle-eyed Jim Feighny, who spotted this from Boston. He knew this issue was near and dear to our hearts as he attended our Taco Truck Night in '07.)

Our good friends over at Kernspiracy are holding a Designer Garage Sale.

You can never have enough Pantone books, can you? A great place to pick up those and some tasty bbq.

The deadline is Monday if you want to sell some of your design stuff currently gather dust.

All the details here.

THIS WEEK'S POSITIONS:

1. Web Content Specialist/SharePoint
2. UI Designer
3. Blu-ray Author
4. Web Production Coordinator
5. Production Artist
6. Account Executive
7. Ecommerce Marketing manager
8. Copywriter
9. Traffic Coordinator
10. Sr. Marketing Manager

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1. POSITION: Web Content Specialist/SharePoint

TERMS: 12-Week Freelance (On-Site)

MUST HAVES!:

• 2 or more years of development experience with Microsoft SharePoint technology
• SharePoint 2007 user interface, object model development, workflow foundation, and deployment
• Understanding of HTML, JavaScript, MS Visual Studio, ASP.NET, and SQL
• Experience with Web development and front-end user interface design

PERKS!:

• Dynamic in-house corporate eBusiness team
• Great manager
• Excellent potential to leverage into addition projects
• Exposure to working with SharePoint templates and many internal stakeholders

PAY:

• Up to $40 an hour

LOCATION:

• Downtown

CLICK HERE TO CONTACT AGENT

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2. POSITION: UI Designer

TERMS: Freelance (On-Site)

MUST HAVES!:

• 3 to 5 years of experience (5+ design total)
• Ability to work with wireframes
• Ability to create comps in Photoshop
• Must provide relevant samples for consideration

PERKS!:

• Incredibly popular Web destination
• Love food? This position is for you!

PAY:

• Up to $45 an hour

LOCATION:

• Santa Monica

CLICK HERE TO CONTACT AGENT

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3. POSITION: Blu-ray Author

TERMS: Freelance-to-Permanent (On-Site)

MUST HAVES!:

• Experience authoring DVDs on the Blu-ray format
• Familiarity with Java programming for games
• Able to manage the development, production, manufacturing and engineering of Blu-ray products from original concept to final master

PERKS!:

• Get to work with major studio on high visibility products (major titles)

PAY:

• DOE

LOCATION:

• Burbank

CLICK HERE TO CONTACT AGENT

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4. POSITION: Web Production Coordinator

TERMS: Freelance-to-Perm (On-Site)

MUST HAVES!:

• 2+ years of Web production experience using Photoshop
• 2 to 3 years of on-line Marketing experience (coordinating on-line marketing projects)
• Knowledge of HTML and CMS
• Experience working with Web banners

PERKS!:

• Great team and great benefits
• Well-known and respected non-profit!

PAY:

• Up to $55K

LOCATION:

• Downtown

CLICK HERE TO CONTACT AGENT

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5. POSITION: Production Artist

TERMS: Freelance-to-Permanent (On-Site)

MUST HAVES!:

• 3+ years of professional experience
• Great hands-on skills in InDesign and Photoshop
• Stellar ad layout skills (flyers, etc.)
• Please note that this is a pure production opportunity, no design involved

PERKS!:

• Perfect job for someone who LOVES production!
• Permanent perks include: work/life balance, college reimbursement and scholarship fund, and gym membership discount
• Stable company (over 137 years old!)

PAY:

• Up to $60K

LOCATION:

• City of Commerce

CLICK HERE TO CONTACT AGENT

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6. POSITION: Account Executive

TERMS: Freelance-to-Permanent (On-Site)

MUST HAVES!:

• 3 to 5 years of experience
• Experience with full marketing campaigns
• Client-facing experience
• Background in real estate ideal

PERKS!:

• Incredibly successful (and growing) on-line company
• Dynamic work environment

PAY:

• Up to $80K

LOCATION:

• Westlake Village

CLICK HERE TO CONTACT AGENT

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7. POSITION: Ecommerce Marketing Manager

TERMS: Freelance (On-Site)

MUST HAVES!:

• 3 to 5 years of experience
• Mobile marketing experience
• Experience driving traffic to storefront
• Extensive background with SEM and SEO 

PERKS!:

• Company is a leader in their industry
• Rapidly growing interactive company!

PAY:

• Up to $35 an hour

LOCATION:

• West LA

CLICK HERE TO CONTACT AGENT

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8. POSITION: Copywriter

TERMS: Long-Term Freelance (On-Site)

MUST HAVES!:

• Extensive experience writing Web content, product descriptions, and marketing material
• Experience writing for the mobile space desired 
• Please send relevant samples for consideration

PERKS!:

• Company is a leader in their industry
• Rapidly growing interactive company!

PAY:

• Up to $30 an hour

LOCATION:

• West LA

CLICK HERE TO CONTACT AGENT

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9. POSITION: Traffic Coordinator

TERMS: Permanent (On-Site)

MUST HAVES!:

• 2 to 5 years of experience managing on-line campaigns
• 1 year of working in an agency environment
• Print production experience (comfort prepping files)
• Gathering estimates a plus

PERKS!:

• Incredibly successful (and growing) on-line company
• Dynamic work environment

PAY:

• $45K

LOCATION:

• Westlake Village

CLICK HERE TO CONTACT AGENT

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10. POSITION: Sr. Marketing Manager

TERMS: Freelance-to-Permanent (On-Site)

MUST HAVES!:

• 5 to 7 years of marketing experience
• Working knowledge of direct marketing promotion and print production
• Experience overseeing production and fulfillment processes
• Direct mail coordination and collateral management background

PERKS!:

• Room for growth, opportunity to work with a lot of different departments
• Creative environment at a well-established company

PAY:

• Up to $31 an hour

LOCATION:

• Santa Monica

CLICK HERE TO CONTACT AGENT

Some quick stuff for today, May 2.

Customer Service

I had a little problem with my iTunes account so I sent a message to their support center. The first response I got concluded with:

"Good luck on downloading the song Matthew! Again, please let me know if I can do anything else for you in the near future. I am so happy I was able to help you today with your item. Have a fantastic day and take care! Cheers! Brittany"

I replied: "Thanks! Much appreciated. Now having a fantastic day, Matt"

To which she (Brittany) responded: "Thank you for your kind words and you are so welcome! Nothing makes me happier than to hear that I have pleased our iTunes family members."

I practically blushed when I read that.

Blowing the Job Search

Having some PR responsibilities here, I often respond to ProfNet queries, particularly when they apply to careers and job hunting. Because my responses are thoughtful, but do not always see the light of day on the other side of the querying reporter's in-box, I thought I would quickly share the helpful hints I provided a writer putting together a piece on how people damage their job search:

1) Not doing enough or any research on the target company or the hiring manager. What do they do? What are their goals? Who are their competitors? etc. You better know!

2) Not leveraging your network to get an introduction, a recommendation, or anything else to differentiate you from the pool of applicants. Related problem: Not having or cultivating a network in the first place.

3) Swearing or almost swearing (ex. "friggin'") in the interview.

4) Forgetting you are being interviewed. In other words, acting more casually if the interviewer takes you to lunch, etc. Remember: Until you get that offer letter, you are being watched!

Hello.

Back here.

Yes, it's the orchid you left to die in this back room.

Hey, little missy, did you REALLY ever think that you were going to remember to come back here and water me? Seriously?

Like the way you remembered your sister's birthday? Or that yesterday was the day to leave the gate open for the Meter Reader?

Have you even started thinking about Mother's Day?

Then you can imagine why I'm hardly surprised.

Or thirsty.

Just so very thirsty.

Can we go back down memory lane a moment?

Remember the day I arrived at your desk with those three beautiful blooms? How everyone came by and admired me, asked who gave me to you? Wasn't that nice? Didn't that make your day?

Do you remember a little while later when the petals started falling off and you started asking around the office to see when an orchid would bloom again?

I can tell you that answer is "never" if you stick one in a back conference room and don't water it.

Do you sense anger? Rage?

Good!

You can count me as one outraged cymbidium nagifolium!

And though the cleaning crew comes in every night to dust me, they never think to water me. Perhaps they think someone is watering me weekly. Perhaps they are afraid I'll be over watered.

Fat chance!

I am an orchid, people. My ancestors lived in the Okefenokee!

Would someone just throw the day-old coffee on me? Please?

Do you know what it's like to see a bunch of people laughing and drinking their 32-ounce containers of Smart Water and be shriveling up and dying of sunstroke?

Not that I blame it all on you, as most of this blame lies squarely on the shoulders of florists.

How those people can raise us in ideal humidity, get us to bloom, then knowingly send us off to our certain deaths by shipping us to some clodpoll who doesn't know a forsythia from a hole in the ground, is beyond me.

Oh perfidy, thy name is Enchanted Florist!

But back to you. Dearie, when you visit other desks and see a warm, happy philodendron, spiky marginata, or leafy golden pothos, don't you ever stop to think, "Say, that's funny, plants are supposed to be green?"

Or even begin to wonder what's become of me?

I've even stopped photosynthesizing.

It's like plant menopause.

No wonder you don't have pets. You are a nuisance to all living things who step in your wake.

Step carefully. The day will come, madam, when the plants will exact their revenge on you. Perhaps you will find yourself alone in the woods and wonder what that odd creaking sound is. And you may find out too late when an elder Sequoia falls with the force of ten thousand men, crushing you under its blood red bark!

Hah!

Take that, bush butcher!

In the meantime...

Water me. Please.

I'm not just kidding around here.

Seriously.

Yours truly,

Mort, Your Forgotten Orchid in the Back

It's time once again for the Annual Aquent Chili Cook Off!

Hard to believe since we're not allowed to cook on premises. Or own a stove.

But you'd be amazed how perfect a big bowl of cold Cucumber and Kiwi Chili is on a hot day. Or Chicken Caesar Salad Chili, for that matter.

We'll announce winners next week.

But if you're in the mood for something hot, just call us about any of these Aquent Hot Talent, ready to heat up all your Marketing and Print and Web Creative projects.

We ga-ron-tee!

Just follow the links for profiles, samples, and resumes.

Enjoy!
__________________________________________________

FEATURED TALENT THIS WEEK

Neille I. - Senior Information Architect
Stephanie T. - Senior Designer
Angela D. - SEO | SEM
Julian E. - Art Director | Graphic Designer
Carrie S. - Copywriter | Editor | Proofreader
Stacie S. - Marketing Manager
__________________________________________________

Neille I.
Senior Information Architect

We have an awesome new IA/UI wiz, and her name is Neille!

Most recently at American Public Media, Neille managed the creative and editorial vision for the Weekend America Web site. Her work included rearchitecture and redesign of their site, integrating original content, functionality, user testing, and statistical analysis.

She's done both IA and UI for large brand sites like Tylenol.com, Novartis, AOL / Time Warner, Schering-Plough, and the SXSW award-winning MrPicassohead.com. Her staff and freelance positions include Deutsch, Zentropy Partners, Ukibi Inc., Ruder Finn, and The Chopping Block.

She can beautifully handle site redesigns, heuristic evaluations, usability, and behavioral testing; creation of wireframes, sitemaps, and content management systems/strategy; and work seamlessly with cross-functional teams.

Just now available, don't let this incredibly talented IA pass you by!

See her on-line Aquent profile by clicking here.

Desired Work: Freelance
__________________________________________________

Stephanie T.
Senior Designer

A recent relo from the City of Brotherly Love (that's Philadelphia), Stephanie has an impressive client roster that includes Bristol-Myers Squibb, Johnson & Johnson, Dupont, and The American Red Cross and agencies such as Creative Strategy Group, Domsky & Simon Advertising, and The Konkordia Group.

Her beautiful, clean design includes food packaging, brochures, Web sites, HTML e-mails, catalogs, tradeshow event signage, magazine layouts, logos, financial reports, and anything else you can imagine.

For Rubicon Resources, she handled art direction and design of consumer food packaging for lines including Bubba Gump, Asian Temptations, and Perfect Prawns. As Art Director for medical publishing company, HMP Communications, Stephanie was responsible for all design and editorial content for their monthly 60- to 100-page publication,

An excellent Aquent Talent who fits in well with any conceptual team working from start to finish, just take a look at her on-line profile then give us a call!

See her on-line Aquent profile by clicking here.

Desired Work: Freelance & Permanent
__________________________________________________

Angela D.
SEO | SEM

Angela is a search engine optimization and marketing expert with terrific experience at both Yahoo! and Google.

As Creative Lead at Yahoo!, Angela held a copyediting and keyword specialist role, optimizing on-line ad campaigns running across Yahoo! networks and ensuring all relevant keywords were matched.

Working in a client-facing search marketing strategist role at Google, she was responsible for optimizing, copyediting, and copywriting on-line campaigns across vertical markets to ensure their maximum performance and ROI on AdSense.

With expertise in DART, DoubleClick, Google Analytics, and Yahoo Analytics, she's the perfect key to developing your next successful on-line marketing campaign!

See her on-line Aquent profile by clicking here.

Desired Work: Freelance & Permanent
__________________________________________________

Julian E.
Art Director | Graphic Designer

Julian's impressive list of clients include AOL Latino, Budweiser, Telemundo, Discovery Channel, FedEx, and Kodak, just to name a smattering.

A recent relo from Florida, he's a great hands-on Designer with both client side and agency experience and his portfolio is bursting with well-designed media kits, brochures, Web sites, ads, logos, and almost every imaginable type of print campaign under the sun.

Fluent in both Spanish and English, we know you'll love his stuff in any language!

See his on-line Aquent profile by clicking here.

Desired Work: Freelance & Permanent
__________________________________________________

Carrie S.
Copywriter | Editor | Proofreader

Ever meet a four-eyed fish who flies?

Carrie (aka C.J.) is a rare breed: 14-time ADDY-winning Copywriter/Creative Thinker and accomplished Editor/Proofreader with an Author's sense and an Editor's sensibilities.

Make sense? If not, try this:

Her extensive portfolio of work includes Toyota, Lexus, Scion, Milken Family Foundation, Carlson Marketing Group, and many more. She's written copy for every format possible: direct mail, newsletter, press release, radio, TV, tech brochures, posters, and yes, even magnets.

If that's not enough, she also Plays Well With Others.

Just so you know.

See her on-line Aquent profile by clicking here.

Desired Work: Freelance & Permanent
__________________________________________________

Stacie S.
Marketing Manager

Stacie is a Sr. Marketing exec with a unique combination of advertising expertise in print, Web, outdoor, and radio.

As a Marketing Manager for Clear Channel Malls, she supported a team of 10 national Account Executives in daily sales initiatives, oversaw marketing campaigns, coordinated and delivered training sessions, and developed strategic marketing plans for national clients.

At Clear Channel Radio she was in charge of the daily management of content, ad sales, and promotional marketing features for 5 NYC radio stations as well as station branding campaigns and strategic events.

She has a strong understanding of creative (having been a Creative herself) and can ensure your next campaign goes off with a bang!

See her on-line Aquent profile by clicking here.

Desired Work: Freelance & Permanent