Tim Donnelly: December 2008 Archives

Well, it was bound to happen, right? That I'd trade bad roads and traffic for bad roads, snow, and traffic caused by snow.

The blog is going to take a bit of a hiatus next week, to return full throttle (the energy drink) on January 5th.

Or sooner, if I can snag someone's computer, or actually come up with something interesting to write about on vacation while I'm in Omaha, Nebraska.

We'll see if either of those happen.

Well, here's wishing you a happy holiday season and warmer weather than me!

(Click here for current temperatures in Omaha.)

Hi to all Friends and Family!

Our holiday greeting arrives right on time this year, which comes as a surprise, since 2008 has been so hectic.

Both Wally and I continue to absolutely RELISH our retirement. We're so busy now that we have no idea how we ever found the time to work! (Though, truth be known, Wally wasn't doing so much at his job right there toward the end.)

I'm currently volunteering a few times a week at the public library and am getting down what the staff refers to as a "whisper voice." Even though no more than a handful of (rather cranky) patrons have ever been disturbed enough to actually leave the premises, it seems the library staff aren't particularly fond of "whistling while you work" or of good old fashioned hollering.

Wally's golf game is coming along well, thank you. If you must know, the man is simply obsessed! I'll let you know that I have no interest in learning to play a game that takes so much time and training. He's out practicing a few evenings a week and is out until 2 or 3 in the morning sometimes! My heart goes out to all you other Golf Widows!!

While cleaning out the attic this November, Wally and I thought we had located Jimmy Hoffa hiding behind our old cedar trunk. Unfortunately (or fortunately, perhaps) it was only an old paint-by-numbers piece Wally had done of the #1 Teamster a few years back. If anyone wants it, let us know, as we have no idea what to do with it!

Our children are all doing wonderfully. Chester, as you may have heard, is still awaiting trial for his failed attempt to breed pandas in his basement of his house in Cleveland. For the life us, we have no idea how he got hold of two 180+ pound bears. Or, for that matter, why he thought building them a "Panda Discotheque" would get both into a romantic mood. You may recall he graduated at the bottom of the online college he was attending and still spends much of his free time watching "Gilligan's Island" reruns.

Our other son James will also be standing trial in February on trumped-up charges of price gouging at his truck stop, Eat-N-Get Gas, out on Route 44. Though he has the paperwork to prove charging $98.99 a gallon was well within reason (especially this summer), our local prosecutor sees things otherwise.

On a related note, James's station had previously sponsored little James Junior's soccer team, the "L'il Gassers." Sadly. the team went without jerseys for the 2008 winter season. You can imagine how challenging it was for the little fellows once those Michigan winter winds started to blow! With any luck, Dave's Drink 'N Drive down in Old Town may put up the money in time for this winter's season, which starts in January. Keep your fingers crossed!

Our twins, Kerri and Shari, and all of their seventeen beautiful adopted children, were once again the stars at the town's annual Holiday Pageant. Though I find it unfortunate that the director (also our town's mayor) feels the need to incorporate all the holidays into one pageant for the sake of Political Correctness, the play turned out quite well. It opens in Bethlehem during Ramadan just as the local Synagogue is running out of oil for their sacred lamp. Three Wise Druids come from the East bearing Potato Latkes, a Crescent Roll, and Chicken Nuggets in the shape of Christmas trees. On the way, they manage to free Santa from terrorists, assist an African king in gathering the first fruits of the harvest, and help Sigmund Freud find the true meaning of the season. The kids were superb as tiny elfin Buddhists and the twins really shone as evolutionists Charles Darwin and Thomas Huxley. Broadway, look out!

They say that absence makes the heart grow fonder, but not so with our son Pat. We haven't heard from him all year and boy is that something to celebrate!

On a sad note, this year we lost Gus, our 1994 Chrysler LeBaron. Wally keeps insisting he left it on Parking Level 4 at the Arcadia Liberty Mall, but there has been no sign of it on that or any of the 18 levels of parking underneath America's 8th largest mall. Security has been on Orange Alert since July, but frankly I'm not even sure he parked it in the East Quadrant structures. We have taken to driving the golf cart around town and I'll let you know, it's a relief knowing that Wally's maximum speed is now 13 mph. Pedestrians rejoice! (Wally does go on and on about buying a Porsche Boxster with rear decklid shocks and a Maxfol exhaust system, but honestly, I don't even bother looking up from my book when he gets into that state.)a

We also said goodbye to "Cheeky" this year. He was the loveable squirrel who regularly raided our bird feeder, many of you may remember from past holiday newsletters. Unbeknownst to yours truly, our intrepid raider had a peanut allergy and passed away shortly after packing his cheeks full of the Stuckey's Peanut Log Roll I'd left out for him on the deck. Wally is partly to blame, as he refused to use his CPR training on the distressed rodent and continued to watch another Wheel of Fortune rerun instead of helping out. Just a word of warning to all you animal lovers and a call for everyone to get out this year and learn CPR!

2008 did not bring the 35th anniversary vacation to Paris that I had mentioned in last year's missive, due to the global economic situation, but happily we did manage to make it out to see Balancing Rock at Gorman State Park. By the way, if any of you were planning to go see it this year, I wanted to personally warn you that the rock was dynamited off its perch by some local pranksters and it will be a full year until it is cemented back into place. You can see still the rock, though it is unfortunately lodged in the hood of a 1994 Chrysler LeBaron near the visitors' center.

I am still waiting to hear from some of you in regards to my new fruitcake recipe. I'm guessing that you've eaten them by now, and I'm anxious to hear how you like the substitution of normal raisins with golden raisins. A bold move, I know, but I'm dying to know how it turned out!

Well that's about all for the Williams house.

Wally and I hope that 2000 finds you healthy, wealthy, and wise with lots of peace and love in your home.

(Well, actually I'm not sure what the heck Wally thinks because he won't turn that blasted TV off. But I'm sure if he could ever tear himself away from his best friends, Vanna White and Pat Sajak, he would send his regards.)

Let me know about that fruitcake!

Dolly and Wally Williams

HOT TALENT

Like many of your staff members, Aquent's Hot Talent Newsletter will be on vacation through January 5th.

If you need help during this week or next, know that many of our stellar Talent are ready, willing, and available for you! Please contact us at 323.634.7000 if you have any needs.

We also wanted to offer you this holiday-themed That Bit at the End. It's a family newsletter we found yesterday in a waste receptacle on Wilshire Boulevard.

Happy Holidays!

Let's face facts, putting together your 2009 marketing budget is not going to be a cakewalk. It's not even going to be a piewalk. With tighter company budgets than ever, chances are if you're in charge of the money spent on marketing next year, you're going to be walking over a bed of coals.

Which is why you should pop over to this special article in MarketingSherpa: How to Defend Your '09 Budget Without Arming Yourself and Walking From Downtown LA to the Beach.

Okay, I added that last part to make it more Hollywood.

The first part of the report (sans the guns) can be found here at the MarketingSherpa site.

(With extensive apologies to anyone associated with the film "Falling Down".)

You know a great magazine should be like that friend you admire, you know?

I'm thinking of the way The New Yorker is put together or (though not really my cup o' tea) Martha Stewart Living.

If you're a design creative, then you should absolutely be signed up for CreativePro's newsletter.

I mean, the price of admission is FREE and they run articles such as Ten Free Online Design Tools, where they (not you) go around hunting for the best stuff, then come back to you with the results.

What's not to love?

Here's the dope on the tools articles. There are two different ones, the first covers an invoicing and invoice tracking service, a project management tool, font identification service, and (awww) the Aquent sponsored Design Calculator. All online, all free.

Ten Free Online Tools Every Designer Should Know

The second article grabs sites like an online database of logos and brand marks, Twittering Designers, and a place to help you calculate your hourly rate.

Ten (More!) Free Online Tools for Designers

If you'd like to thank me, send me a free ecard.

It'd be fitting.

Archives of their newsletters can be reached by clicking here.
 

It's true, I'm not a big shopper. In fact, I don't like to shop much at all. So you can imagine how much fun it must be to hang out with me around the holiday season.

And why exactly, Tim, did you move to the second most populace city in the US?

I'll get back to you on that one.

Now it's been awhile since I've written about poor customer service, but I started thinking this last one was such bad, that I should comment on it.

The question of the day, am I expecting too much from BevMo? Here's my missive to their customer service folks:

I'm writing to let you guys know the poor service I received from your West Hollywood store.

We'd bought $230 worth of wine for a party we were throwing for 200 and during the party we realized that 9 bottles of white we purchased at your store were moldy. My manager and I had to run down the street and find wine as good as the white we'd bought from BevMo, that would also be chilled for the party which was in progress. Which we bought, of course at a premium.

I'd spoken to V____ in your West Hollywood office who said she'd call me back to straighten out, but she never returned my call. I checked back a couple days later and was able to explain our situation to her, which was that, even though we ended up buying some of these on your nickel sale, we ended up spending $6 more a bottle because the wine BevMo sold us was undrinkable. I asked if we could be credited for the full price of the bottles, to compensate us for the time, inconvenience, and cost of the extra 9 bottles of wine, which tallied up to somewhere around $60.

She said she had to okay it with a manager, and then called back and said that'd be good. She said whoever bought the wine would need to bring in their Amex, so I sent my manager to BevMo to take care of it. Unfortunately, V_____ was not there, nor did any other manager on duty know anything about the issue, even though we'd been guaranteed that everyone would. The other manager, was rude to my staff member, and said he had to come back when V_____ was around, and said he could credit the bottles for what we paid for them, take it or leave it.

I can tell you how great I looked at that point, with a manager from my office getting yelled at over $60 worth of wine. He took the credit and told me he's never going back to BevMo again.

I called V____ again to discuss, left a message and never heard back. I called AGAIN, got her during work hours, and she said she'd tried to call me and tell me that she couldn't do the credit after all.

At this point I really didn't feel like discussing the matter.

Or dealing with anyone at BevMo again.

I throw multiple parties over the year for my company, and was thinking this might have been a good deal to use BevMo to supply wine and beer, but after seeing the level of service (which also included wine listed as "in store" on your site that, in fact, was not) I think I'll stick to other shops.

Thank you very much for your time.


So, what do you think? Expecting too much from BevMo? Because I really would have thought they'd be embarrassed that they sold me 9 bottles of moldy wine for a party, which they weren't. In fact, no one at the company ever used the word sorry until the last conversation I had with V_____. Which is really the first step in good customer service.

Thoughts?

(Photo of BevMo checkout line by *Robert*)

In the spirit of the Season of Giving.... Career Resources for YOU from US.

(Print it out to read when Uncle Bob starts talking about the Nixon administration. Again.)

AQCareerResources.pdf

If you have anything to add, please email me and we'll put it in!

Merry Everything!

THIS WEEK'S POSITIONS:

1. UI Designer
2. Junior UI Designer
3. Marketing Designer
4. Sr. Graphic Designer with Packaging (CPG preferred!)
5. ACD
6. Licensing Manager
7. Senior Marketing Analyst
8. Web Analytics Manager
9. Director of Search
10. Account Manager
11. Associate Brand Manager

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

1. POSITION: UI Designer

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

MUST HAVES!:

• 3+ years of UI experience
• Mobile experience preferred
• Wireframe samples are a must for client consideration!

PERKS!:

• Brand name mobile company
• Great work environment!

PAY:

• Up to $80K

LOCATION:

• West LA

CLICK HERE TO CONTACT AGENT

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

2. POSITION: Junior UI Designer

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

MUST HAVES!:

• 1+ years of UI design experience 
• Mobile preferred
• Clean look-and-feel
• Must submit portfolio samples for client consideration!

PERKS!:

• Brand name mobile
• Great team!

PAY:

• Up to $60K

LOCATION:

• West LA

CLICK HERE TO CONTACT AGENT

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

3. POSITION: Marketing Designer

TERMS: Long-Term Freelance (On-Site)

MUST HAVES!:

• HTML and CSS hand-coding skills
• Experience and samples of HTML email templates
• Ability to handle large volumes of work and quick turnarounds

PERKS!:

• Work for one of the largest social networking sites in the world!
• Cool team

PAY:

• Up to $35 an hour

LOCATION:

• West LA

CLICK HERE TO CONTACT AGENT

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

4. POSITION: Sr. Graphic Designer with Packaging (CPG preferred!)

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

MUST HAVES!:

• 5 to 8 years of professional conceptual design experience
• CPG packaging demonstrated in portfolio
• Strong production knowledge from dielines to press checks
• Illustration skills a strong plus

PERKS!:

• Fun, energetic team!
• Opportunity to work on products with high visibility

PAY:

• Up to $39 an hour

LOCATION:

• Northridge

CLICK HERE TO CONTACT AGENT

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

5. POSITION: ACD

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

MUST HAVES!:

• 8 years of experience in design roles, with at least 3 years in an Art
  Director role
• Wide-ranging design experience (style guides, POP, packaging, product
  design, brand identity, and more!)
• Experience in corporate environments

PERKS!:

• Great work life balance
• Great benefits package and perks!

PAY:

• Up to $95K

LOCATION:

• Century City

CLICK HERE TO CONTACT AGENT

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

6. POSITION: Licensing Manager

TERMS: 6-Month Freelance (On-Site)

MUST HAVES!:

• Must have extensive experience working with licensed consumer products
• Prior work with major CPG licensees
• Able to leverage franchise to increase retail placement and promotion

PERKS!:

• Well-loved international CPG company

PAY:

• Up to $45 an hour

LOCATION:

• Burbank

CLICK HERE TO CONTACT AGENT

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

7. POSITION: Senior Marketing Analyst

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

MUST HAVES!:

• Strong knowledge of data analysis and prototyping tools (SAS, SQL,
  advanced Excel)
• Degree in Math/Statistics, Marketing, Finance, Behavioral Sciences, or
  equivalent
• Knowledge of Web analytics tools a plus (e.g., Omniture, Google Analytics,
  DoubleClick/DART)

PERKS!:

• Work for a top tier Ad agency!

PAY:

• Up to $70K

LOCATION:

• LAX area

CLICK HERE TO CONTACT AGENT

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

8. POSITION: Web Analytics Manager

TERMS: Freelance (On-Site)

MUST HAVES!:

• 5+ years of Web analytics experience
• Strong knowledge of Web analytics tools (e.g., Omniture, Google Analytics,
  DoubleClick/DART)

PERKS!:

• Well-established online company!

PAY:

• Up to $45 an hour

LOCATION:

• Woodland Hills

CLICK HERE TO CONTACT AGENT

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

9. POSITION: Director of Search

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

MUST HAVES!:

• 7+ years of B2C online experience
• Deep technical understanding of search engines
• Must be an organic search expert!

PERKS!:

• High exposure within the company

PAY:

• Up to $130K

LOCATION:

• Westside

CLICK HERE TO CONTACT AGENT

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

10. POSITION: Account Manager

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

MUST HAVES!:

• 5+ years of experience in Account Management
• Must be a self-starter, analytical thinker, and team player
• Advanced proficiency in Microsoft Excel, PowerPoint, Access, and Word

PERKS!:

• Growing company with a great team environment
• Opportunity to work with different departments and to add great
  experience to your skillset

PAY:

• Up to $70K

LOCATION:

• San Fernando Valley

CLICK HERE TO CONTACT AGENT

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

11. POSITION: Associate Brand Manager

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

MUST HAVES!:

• 2 to 3 years of experience
• Well-balance CPG experience (client is looking for many industries!)
• An MBA  

PERKS!:

• Amazing company working on several launch products
• Great benefits and opportunity to work with a cool team!

PAY:

• Up to $85K

LOCATION:

• Northridge

CLICK HERE TO CONTACT AGENT

What if Charles Shultz pitched his script for "A Charlie Brown Christmas" in 2008 instead of 1964?

We explore that very theme in this week's edition of:

"SCRIPTS OUT OF TIME!"

The setting: Two TV network executives meeting with Charles Schulz at their office.
The time: Present day.

1st Network Executive: Well, Mr. Schulz, we like your script. We really like it a lot.

2nd Network Executive: Love it.

Charles Schulz: That's excellent news! So we'll make it into a TV special then?

1st Exec.: Of course we will!

Charles Schulz: That's just terrific. I've slaved over this thing for 2 solid years.

1st Exec.: And it shows, Mr. Schulz. Now, we only have a few changes for you. Your script is THAT solid. These are minor changes, really.

2nd Exec.: Negligible.

Charles Schulz: Hey, I had to expect some changes, right? Go right ahead.

1st Exec.: Good! Now starting with your choice of font...

Charles Schulz: WHAT?

1st Exec.: Just a joke there, Mr. Schulz.

2nd Exec.: Ice breaker. Sans serif and all that.

(The two executives exchange a laugh.)

1st Exec.: Now, our first item is this Charlie Brown fellow. Great character, by the way. Terrific name.

2nd Exec.: Good old Brownie.

1st Exec.: He's down. He's down about Christmas. I understand where he's coming from. Who doesn't get down about the holidays every once in a while? The shopping, the traffic, the throngs of crazy people at Fred Segal... You know that I couldn't even valet down there last Saturday?

2nd Exec.: Madness.

1st Exec.: You ever go down there, Schulzy? To Fred Segal?

Charles Schulz: Not really.

1st Exec.: They have great menswear.

2nd Exec.: Phenomenal sport jackets.

1st Exec.: Where was I?

2nd Exec.: Depressed round-headed kid.

1st Exec.: Oh yes. The point is, I know he's down, but does this Charlie Brown kid have to be SO down? I mean we practically open the whole special with him sticking his round head into his empty mailbox and remarking: "I know nobody likes me, why do we have to have a holiday season to emphasize it?"

2nd Exec.: Where's that?

1st Exec.: Page 2.

2nd Exec.: First Act. Not good.

1st Exec.: Here on page 6 he says, "I guess I don't understand the true meaning of Christmas and that's why I'm so depressed".

2nd Exec.: Wow. Guess I skipped that part.

1st Exec.: Just a short page and a half later you have the Lucy character telling him, "Look, Charlie, let's face it, we all know Christmas is a big commercial racket."

2nd Exec.: Little ingrate.

1st Exec.: In fact, during the entire length of the 32-page script, Charlie Brown and his friend Linus spend most of their time complaining that Christmas is too commercial.

2nd Exec.: Probably not going to help us sell a lot of those Dolly Madison pies...

1st Exec.: Now, Charles. Can I call you Charles? We don't want to rewrite you or anything, but is there a way you can tone it down a little? I like a depressed kid. In fact, I have 2 or 3 of them at home worrying that we'll run out of gas before they get their hands on my M-Class Mercedes. That's normal.

But you've got this little kid who has virtually no friends, is suffering from chronic depression, and is dependent on a money-grubbing "psychiatrist" for help. You end the whole thing by having him humiliate himself by bringing a twiggy little tree into the auditorium for the Christmas school play.  Page 30 has every person in the cast laughing at him, including his own dog.

2nd Exec.: I like that part where the kids are dancing.

1st Exec.: Honestly, as much as we like this script, if you don't change this stuff, we're going to have to pass.

2nd Exec.: Find another network. Maybe Lifetime.

Charles Shultz: Well...

1st Exec.: Look, Chucky, this isn't art. This is a half-hour cartoon. 22 short minutes without the commercials. It's not like anyone will be watching this 30 years from now.

2nd Exec.: Short attention span.

1st Exec.: So what do you say, Chuckster? Do we have a deal?

Charles Schulz: I guess I could incorporate a few of your changes...

1st Exec.: Fantastic! I'll have my girl get you the papers.

2nd Exec.: Latte?

1st Exec.: Lattes all around! This is great news, really.

Charles Schulz: Terrific.

2nd Exec.: Perfect for the holiday season.

1st Exec.: Oh jeez, thanks, I almost forgot. We do have one more minor change...

2nd Exec.: A trifling.

Charles Schulz: Which is?

1st Exec.: Can you rewrite this thing without using the word "Christmas"?

HOT TALENT

This season all of us at Aquent encourage you to enjoy our newsletter responsibly.

Reading our Hot Talent Newsletter may cause intense feelings of attentiveness, euphoria, and extended periods of proactivity resulting from reading about the perfect Talent for your staffing needs.

All of which can prevent you from operating machinery for up to two hours.

Let's all enjoy the holidays, so be sure to call (and not drive over to) the Aquent office if you are interested in any of the candidates below.

Ring!
__________________________________________________

FEATURED TALENT THIS WEEK

Ben M. - Flash Developer
Paul G. - Design | Production
Marz C. - AS2 Flash Designer | Rich Media Senior Designer
Jonathan W. - Senior Marketing Manager
Cesar M. - Senior Print Designer
Janene A. - Marketing Coordinator
Erica L. - Account Executive
Brooke B. - SEO Specialist
Kelly M. - Proofreader
Tait C. - Marketing/PR/Promotions Manager
Seamus P. - Print Designer
Ari S. - Publicity Coordinator

__________________________________________________

Ben M.
Flash Developer

Ben is a recent transplant from our Portland office.

He is the hard charging, "Die Hard" Bruce Willis of Flash Developers!  (From the first "Die Hard," we'd like to point out.)

In his last position through Aquent, he was the lead Flash Developer for Nike. He worked on a complete rehaul of the niketeam.com site, a really cool Flash application that provided teams with previews of their custom uniform orders.

Ben's created many interactive sites for corporate clients on his own and his technical know how goes WAY beyond AS2 and AS3. His career started in application development as a C# Web Application Developer for a large financial institution and he has heavy experience with back-end, front-end, and database driven applications.
 
He's ready for action the week of January 5th, but you'd better book him now, before someone else does!
__________________________________________________

Paul G.
Design | Production

One of our most popular freelancers!

Paul is an incredibly fast learner, has an original fresh creative style, and is a master of all the latest software. Paul has directed design teams and photo shoots, written copy, and carried myriad projects from concept through completion single-handedly.

He is, without a doubt, one of the fastest people we've ever seen on the computer.

Paul is easy to work with and has years of real experience with branding, ads, packaging, collateral, books, logos, Web, video, audio, and music.

His staff positions and client roster include American Honda, Higher Fire Media, Campbell Mithun, McMonigle & Associates, KB Home, DynaMedia, William Mercer, Grupo Gallegos, and many more.

If you need a rock star, then call us about Paul!
__________________________________________________

Marz C.
AS2 Flash Designer | Rich Media Senior Designer

Just finishing up an outstanding job at the Designory, here's a Senior Flash Designer with astonishing experience.

She has freelanced with Ignited, Trigger, Deep Focus (formerly Media Revolution), createthe, Schematic (in LA and NY), and many, many others.

At Ignited, they called her "The Integrator" because she can work with code and knows how to integrate Flash Developers' work into Flash design and animation. She has experience creating branded skins and HTML newsletters for sites like Pandora, Gawker, and TVGuide.com and has designed applications for social networking sites like MySpace.

Marz has designed sites for giants in many industries including Gucci (where she created the User Interface for a touch screen kiosk, e-cards, and screensavers), Warner Bros, Dewar's, MTV, Cadbury Schweppes, Sony PlayStation, Nestle, Cingular, Honda, Nokia, and, if you can believe it, more.

Deliverables include: full sites, microsites, e-commerce sites, Flash and Rich Media banners, applications, widgets, skins, touch screens, e-cards, newsletters, and emails.

You've got to call us about Marz!
__________________________________________________

Jonathan W.
Senior Marketing Manager

Jonathan is an extraordinary Senior Marketing Manager who has 15 years of overall experience and a long, fruitful partnership with Aquent.

He was most recently at Volkswagen, AG as their Head of Entertainment Marketing, where he specialized in branded entertainment, product integration, licensing, and original content opportunities in television, feature films, home video, and new media. While onboard he managed a $200M marketing partnership with NBC Universal and Universal Studios theme park.

At A&E Television Networks, he realigned brand strategy, established channel personality, and renovated the on-air look of the Latin American channel. Jonathan has international marketing and domestic Hispanic experience and is fluent in written and spoken Spanish and proficient in Portuguese.

Jonathan was previously Regional Marketing Manager for DIRECTV Latin America and developed strategic alliances with key marketing partners such as Sony, HBO, The Walt Disney Co., Warner Bros., Major League Baseball, and the NBA and NFL.

Jonathan is a super creative marketing Talent, ready to add direction and outstanding leadership to your team!
__________________________________________________

Cesar M.
Senior Print Designer

Here's a Print Designer with a fantastic portfolio!

Most recently freelancing at both Ignited Minds and J Walter Thompson, he's most recently been crafting beautiful key art for entertainment and video games, as well as creating marketing collateral and entire campaigns for Boeing, U.S. Army, and Activision.

His smart, imaginative work ranges from urban/street to clean/corporate to fun/trendy. He's created brochures, packaging, events, ads, banners, apparel, press kits, and so much more for the likes of Avia, Kawasaki, Lexus, and American Racing.

Cesar has excellent hands-on productions skills and is available right now!
__________________________________________________

Janene A.
Marketing Coordinator

Janene is a Marketing Coordinator who has terrific experience with internal and external communication materials including marketing information kits, press releases, sell sheets, information kits, and customer newsletters.

At Rhinotek Computer Products, she was responsible for partnering with the marketing team to develop collateral pieces and internal promotion materials. While discussing marketing initiatives with the team, she realized that the company unquestionably needed a newsletter to tell their customers about new products, maintenance, and tips for their businesses. After presenting her idea to the Director, she was given full reign of the project and executed the newsletters beautifully, making use of her savvy writing skills to craft each one. The customers (and her Director) were elated!
 
Looking for an incredible (not to mention hardworking!) Marketing Coordinator who can really bring it?

Well then, Janene is your talent!
__________________________________________________

Erica L.
Account Executive

Erica is an Account Executive with great experience in the Big 3: print, Web, and radio/TV.

At Ricochet Partners, an agency in Portland, she not only managed integrated marketing plans including viral, print, and Web, but also managed all event marketing and promotions for clients such as Nike, Adidas, ROCKSTAR energy drinks, and Evergreen Bank.

Her biggest success (to date) is a national campaign for her client MW Windows & Doors. She was responsible for all tradeshow logistics, collateral, media coverage, and the Website. Her hard work paid off in over 1 million hits (leads) to their site!

Erica is detail-oriented, has incredibly strong communication skills and is ready to jump start your projects!!
__________________________________________________

Brooke B.
SEO Specialist

Brooke is a standout SEO Talent with over 3 years of impressive experience leading search strategies, optimization, and reporting functions. 

She began her career as a SEO Specialist for Shopzilla, where she optimized pages for both Shopzilla and BizRate e-commerce sites. Prior to her arrival, Google had actually blocked Shopzilla from their rankings, tagging them as a duplicate site for BizRate. Brooke and her team were able to reverse the status through extensive keyword copy changes and rigorous link-building to diversify the content on each. She also successfully reached #1 Google results for such highly searched terms as "online shopping" and "laptop computers."

She's worked as an SEO consultant at a search agency and has managed large social networking initiatives and SEO program roadmaps. 

Brook is fluent in Web analytics tools such as Web Trends, Google Analytics, Keyword Discovery, and others and is open to either contract or permanent opportunities.

A top find!
__________________________________________________

Kelly M.
Proofreader

Kelly is an editorial superstar!

A Proofreader and Copy Editor with 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!

__________________________________________________

Tait C.
Marketing/PR/Promotions Manager

Tait is a FANTASTIC PR/Events Director who has 10 years of executing large-scale marketing programs for clients such as Absolut, Ikea, JetBlue Airways, Lola Cosmetics, Samsung, Smashbox Cosmetics, E! Television, and many more.

While at Hudson and Harper Public Relations, she was responsible for all creative planning, program development, contract negotiations, vendor management, and execution of big budget events. Productions included celebrity events, MTV Music Video Awards events, a Saab charity event, fundraisers, and more.

Tait recently served as the Regional Event Director for Gen Art, the country's leading arts and entertainment organization dedicated to showcasing emerging fashion designers, filmmakers, musicians, and visual artists. She worked directly with the West Coast Sales Director to sell and develop custom events for Acura, Bailey's, Beck's, Blackberry, W Hotel, Sonya Dakar, and more. 

She's most recently been contracting for Los Angeles Magazine, Teen Vogue, and Lucky Magazine, and is now looking for the next great company to lend her signature marketing touch! 
__________________________________________________

Seamus P.
Print Designer

Seamus is a Print Designer who also has some great experience in motion graphics.

He was most recently at Flow Motion, where his projects in print design and production included book design and typesetting and packaging for CDs and DVDs. He also created motion graphics, DVD menu designs, and title designs.

Seamus has strong publication skills from his role as a Designer at TML Publications where he designed three publications published each month. He's intimate with print from layout through production as very familiar with tight deadlines and lots of copy.

In addition to his STELLAR hands-on production skills (he got a near perfect score on the arduous Aquent assessments), Seamus has a unique illustration style and an amazing sense of color.

With his breadth of print experience and great outlook, he'd be the perfect addition to any creative team!
__________________________________________________

Ari S.
Publicity Coordinator

Ari is an outgoing and talented Publicity Coordinator with a strong background in entertainment.

While at New Line Cinema, he designed and implemented a delivery system for digital assets from the vendor to their Websites, saving both a lot of time and overhead costs. His role included maintaining and establishing a media list for broadcast and print and administering quality checks for film prints.

Ari did an incredible job designing digital press kits, supervising production of press kits and developing publicity plans and budgets for each campaign.

He has exceptional organizational skills and is looking for his next great opportunity!

Reality Goes Web

Mogo Media has issued a "casting call" for creatives to take part in a Web-based reality TV series that'll take place right after the Macworld Conference in San Francisco.

Apparently to apply you'll need:

• Familiarity with digital cameras
• The ability to manipulate and enhance images in Photoshop
• The ability to work with InDesign layouts
• To be in the city of San Francisco on January 9 - 11

Familiarity with Flash desired, but not necessary.

(You know this is starting to look a lot like a job posting...)

Interested?

Check out the full details at the CreativePro site.

Give me a call when you make it big!

If all the Aquent and Aquent sponsored Webcasts were in the same place?

They are, my friend, the are!

If you're looking to educate yourself without paying to park at UCLA (and walking across campus), why not sit back, relax, and listen to some of the top people in their field talk about Social Media, Leveraging Email Marketing, Technology Trends for Creative Managers, and so much more.

And I'm not just saying that. There are more.

And newsletters, salary surveys, guides, and (if you're lucky) a picture of our Minister of Enlightenment Matt Grant and a spider monkey.

Unless he already found it and took it down.

Everything's linked right here.

Enjoy!

THIS WEEK'S POSITIONS:

1. Director of SEO
2. Web Designer with Email Experience
3. HTML Coder
4. Senior Web/Email Designer
5. Data Analyst
6. Web Designer w/ Beauty Experience

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1. POSITION: Director of SEO

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

MUST HAVES!:

• 7+ years of online B2C experience
• Marketing and search engine marketing experience preferred
• Strong analytical skills, with a demonstrated ability to leverage data to
  drive strategy and decision making
• Experience with technical aspects of search engines

PERKS!:

• Great client, plenty of exposure within the company
• Position reports directly to VP and owner

PAY:

• Up to $130K

LOCATION:

• Westside

CLICK HERE TO CONTACT AGENT

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2. POSITION: Web Designer w/Email Experience

TERMS: Freelance (On-Site)

MUST HAVES!:

• 2+ years of email design experience
• Client interface experience
• Must have great corporate samples in your portfolio!

PERKS!:

• Big brand
• Good work/life balance

PAY:

• Up to $35 an hour

LOCATION:

• West Valley

CLICK HERE TO CONTACT AGENT

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3. POSITION: HTML Coder

TERMS: Permanent (On-Site)

MUST HAVES!:

• 3+ years of Web development experience
• Hands-on experience in HTML, CSS, and JavaScript
• Knowledge of ASP.NET

PERKS!:

• Small company with great work environment
• Fun and casual

PAY:

• Up to $80K

LOCATION:

• South Bay

CLICK HERE TO CONTACT AGENT

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4. POSITION: Senior Web/Email Designer

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

MUST HAVES!:

• 10+ years of heavy HTML, CSS, and JavaScript and Flash experience
• Prior experience managing a team
• Incredible design sense

PERKS!:

• Great group of people
• Get to take ownership of fun projects

PAY:

• Up to $80K

LOCATION:

• West Valley

CLICK HERE TO CONTACT AGENT

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5. POSITION: Data Analyst

TERMS: Freelance (On-Site)

MUST HAVES!:

• Experience with data interpretation and analysis
• Minimum 5 years of experience in Microsoft Excel and/or Access
• Experience in banking or financial
• You must be able to calculate the data as well as tell a story around it!

PERKS!:

• Small company with great work environment
• Fun and casual!

PAY:

• Up to $40 an hour

LOCATION:

• West Valley

CLICK HERE TO CONTACT AGENT

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

6. POSITION: Web Designer w/ Beauty Experience

TERMS: Long-Term Freelance (On-Site)

MUST HAVES!:

• 5+ years of professional design experience
• Experience in the beauty, fashion, or cosmetic industry preferred
• Solid understanding of Web design and strong knowledge of UI

PERKS!:

• Stable, long term contract until July 09!
• Large brand name

PAY:

• Up to $ 35 an hour

LOCATION:

• El Segundo

CLICK HERE TO CONTACT AGENT

I don't watch much TV anymore (well, if you count watching a DVD of a 30-year-old British show "All Creatures Great and Small" this week as television, then yes, I watch TV), but I'm missing so much, it seems.

One is the feeling of superiority over everyone who watches, then buys the following product...




Looks like work is finally fun again!

(Many thanks to Emily for watching hours upon hours of YouTube to dig this up.)

This may be the hardest letter I have ever written.

Not just because my hands are tied together or that I'm using a piece of burnt wood to write with, but that breaking up with someone is always difficult.

Rhonda, I've done a lot of good, hard reflecting these past 36 hours, and I can only come to the conclusion that I am no longer in love with you.

Don't get me wrong, it's not only because you shoved me out of the Jeep while doing a pretty good clip or have left me out here in the woods to perish, though I did take both of those into consideration. I truthfully feel you and I have not been seeing eye-to-eye for some time now, and this time spend alone in solitude among the trees has finally allowed me to see just how far apart we've grown.

I hope you aren't upset by this news. Gosh knows, I never wanted to hurt you. And I suspect you never wanted to hurt me, either, even during those times you actually did physically injure me.

(I will tell you, whoever your Girl Scout leader was, she should be proud. These knots are never going to give. It's just now that I am starting to wish that I had paid more attention to my Scout leader when I was younger, instead of daydreaming.)

Oh, Rhonda, Rhonda, where did we go astray?

When did we stop sipping champagne and start downing "40s"? When did our comical games of paint ball turn into full-scale warfare?

Remember the first time we met at that really, really out-of-the-way club in Pacoima? My friend Troy convinced me to go. Now wish I hadn't. Because if I hadn't, then I would never know the pain of being apart from you.

There are so many questions why, Rhonda. Why did you kill my Lucky Bamboo plant? Why did you sell my Jockey shorts on eBay? Why did you find "Silence of the Lambs" so darn funny?

I guess I'll never get an answer to any of these questions. Maybe they are for the Universe to answer.

Or the police.

Who knows?

Rhonda, I am not scared to be alone without you. I wanted to take a moment to thank you for providing me with that. Having become so preoccupied with my own demise, being alone hasn't even come into the equation.

You were always a giver, Rhonda. I hope you'll always stay that way, even through the pain of our breaking up.

In light of my current status, I hope you will feel comfortable taking custody of Bootsie. He's adored you since you enrolled him in that special training. (Anyhow, as of late he's taken to attacking me whenever I grab for the remote.)

It's wonderful that we will not have to go through that heartbreaking process of dividing up our mutual possessions. Oh, how that task seems to turn ex-lovers into bitter enemies.

Feel free to make use of my collection of 8-track Country and Western tapes and Wayne Newton standee.

Relationships come and go, but I don't think anyone could ever call ours anything but extraordinary.

We are two unique souls who must continue on, no matter what the future holds.

And though I'm pretty sure I know what my future holds, I never want you to give up on yours.

Please don't think ill of me, even if I am breaking your heart. I think in a few years, you will come to realize this was for the best for both of us.

So, please don't come back here and try to convince me that we should try and start again. It's for the best.

If, however, you would like to come back to give me a ride to a hospital emergency room or even to the nearest ranger station, I suppose I could bear it out until I am delivered to safety, and we part forever.

You can still keep all of my stuff.

Be good to yourself, Rhonda.

Love always,

Robert

 

IN THIS ISSUE:

Hot Talent

Featured Talent This Week

That Bit at the End - "Help Me, Rhonda"

Subscribe | Unsubscribe Information

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HOT TALENT

We're doing it again!

Just in time for the holidays, Aquent announces FREE SHIPPING on every order!

Yes, our boss is feeling "in the Holiday mood" and that means you can have a fabulous Flash Designer, astute Art Director, or marvelous Marketing Manager come straight to your office without those unpleasant shipping charges!

But even without FREE SHIPPING, any of this week's amazing Talent would still be the best find of your entire holiday season.

But FREE SHIPPING!?

Your CFO may just kiss you.

So keep the mistletoe handy (and the number of your Human Resources person) and then get ready to give us a call!

SWAK!

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FEATURED TALENT THIS WEEK

Van S. - Interactive Creative Director
Steven S. - Senior Copywriter
Rebecca W. - Director of Interactive Marketing
Michael A. - Web Producer
Gelber G. - Front-End Developer
Debbi F. - Marketing Project Manager
Tatiana L. - Analyst
Alex N. - Brand Strategist
Michelle M. - Associate Web Producer
Brad S. - Sr. Print Production Manager
__________________________________________________

Van S.
Interactive Creative Director

Van is an award-winning Interactive Creative Director with an impressive background in the ad agency world.

He was most recently Interactive CD at J. Walter Thompson, where he handled large clients like Children's Hospital, UCLA Healthsystem, and Boeing, as well as taking care of new business. 

As ACD at the interactive agency, Genex, he worked on their largest account: Acura and Honda, as well as Purina, Alpo, and Mighty Dog. He worked closely with the Creative Director to create concepts and comps that their clients loved. He was also at Rubin Postaer and RPA Interactive for 10 years, handling accounts such as Honda Motorcycle, Cathay Pacific, ARCO, ampm, and many others. 

Van has experience managing large teams of Designers, Copywriters and Producers and knows how to bring out the best in the people he manages. His strength lies in concepts, creating comps, online advertising campaigns, Flash and Rich Media, and reaching the target demographic.

Please contact us ASAP if you want to see his amazing portfolio!
__________________________________________________

Steven S.
Senior Copywriter

Steven is a Sr. Copywriter with experience in all forms of media including direct marketing, broadcast, print, collateral, sales material, outdoor, trade shows, educational material, Web content, and more!

While at Grey Direct, he handled clients such as Princess Cruises, Cunard Lines, and EA Games. His healthcare experience includes Kaiser Permanente, Health Net, MaxiCare, BlueCross, BlueShield, and WellPoint, just to name a few. He's also written for pharmaceutical and medical devices. Nintendo Games and EA just loved his contribution of digital content for their email campaigns and landing pages.

Steven is a top Writer who knows his way around agencies as well as corporate environments.

He's an Aquent Talent that stands far above the rest with talent and personality!

_________________________________________________

Rebecca W.
Director of Interactive Marketing

With a background in HTML coding and content, Rebecca is THE Director of Interactive Marketing that you do not want to pass up!

She was most recently at Universal Studios, where she was responsible for leading a team to create, execute, manage, and track all online marketing and advertising programs to include new content creation and email marketing.

Her experience includes executing an online ticketing store, controlling Website content, and post-program analysis. She can talk the talk AND walk the walk when it comes to managing a creative team and interfacing with Coders, IA/UI, and Database Gurus.

Did we mention that she has experience with overseeing a new database implementation and selecting vendors? Well, she does!

Rebecca thinks outside of the box, is up-to-speed on interactive marketing, and is ready to ROCK and ROLL!

__________________________________________________

Michael A.
Web Producer

A hands-on Web Producer with big brand names AND agency experience!

Michael can hand code HTML and regularly rips up the keyboard developing, QA'ing, and producing innovative Web sites for a ton of clients. He's a creative who loves to get down to the nitty gritty of programming to make sure his sites go off without a hitch.

Previously a full-time contractor at Sun Microsystems, Rothstein & Memsic, and Xceed, he takes a heck of a lot of pride in everything he does and enjoys tackling new technologies in Web and multimedia. He's done work on a multitude of sites for Kaiser Permanente, including their main site, client sites, and small project sites for physicians around Southern California.

As Interactive Producer/Project Manager at Direct Partners, he worked on social networking sites for Sony Playstation, Bowflexownersclub.com, and Clubchandon.com and managed daily email blasts for Playstation.

Plus did we mention he's FAST?
_________________________________________________

Gelber G.
Front-End Developer

New to LA, Gelber is a terrific interactive Talent with strong hands-on HTML and CSS skills, a keen eye for design, and ready to jump into designing and developing in our City of Angels!

He nabbed a perfect score on our arduous front-end assessment and has mad skills in PHP, mySQL, and open source platforms such as Joomla and PHP-Nuke.

Gelber's owned his own Web development firm and has worked with a variety of clients designing and building their sites, content management systems, e-mail campaigns, and much more. For one of the largest banks in Guatemala, Bolsa De Valores Nacional, he created their intranet site, acted as Webmaster, designed software applications, and managed all their e-mail campaigns!

A Hot Talent to be sure!
__________________________________________________

Debbi F.
Marketing Project Manager

A superstar Marketing Project Manager who knows how to make project happen!

While at Robbins Brothers, the world's largest engagement ring store, she implemented procedures, put strategic plans of action together, and executed them with phenomenal results!

One of her biggest challenges was a re-branding project. At the time, the company was known by their radio commercials, which consisted of the two brothers making jokes and not talking about products. Not only did Debbi take the bull by the horns by defining a style guide that made more sense, she also managed the marketing pieces that were once going through limbo and came under budget by $40K. The result? Traffic increased by a whopping 12%!!

Debbi's experience includes managing budgets of up to $10M, direct mail campaigns, B2C and B2B Websites and newsletters, developing promotions, and account management. She's worked with Sony Pictures, Kaiser Permanente, and The Walt Disney Company.

She's available now, but won't be for long, so give us a call!
__________________________________________________

Tatiana L.
Analyst

Analyze this!

Tatiana is a top Talent who has worked with both our Los Angeles and Minneapolis offices with astounding results!

Most recently at Walt Disney Studios' Home Entertainment Division, she managed vendor inventory analyzing and replenishing DVD and Blue-ray products for stores across the US and Canada. She also created, tracked, and maintained customer orders. As a Configuration Analyst, she focused on configuring DVD/pre-pack bill of materials, working with vendors and other departments to resolve questions and issues. 

Tatiana also has financial experience from Peterson Milla Hooks Advertising where she worked with clients such as Ruby Tuesday, Budweiser, and Target, creating and maintaining the job estimating process.

A terrific Aquent Talent!
_________________________________________________

Alex N.
Brand Strategist

Imagine this...Your company has an awesome product (say Coke Zero), that consumers are not purchasing. Your advertising and marketing campaign is AWESOME, and you wonder what the problem is.
 
Sound like a nightmare? Well, don't fret. This real life situation was turned around by our amazing Talent, Alex!! By providing consumer insights to his client he was able to position Coke Zero and correct consumers' perception of the brand. Sales soared and the VP became a very happy person, to say the least.

Alex received his MBA at the UCLA Anderson School of Management. While attending, he interned at Added Value, one of WPP Group's largest brand development and marketing insight firms, and was a key team member for brand development for projects with Honda, British Airways, CNBC, and Lacolline.

Prior to that he worked at Electra Marketing as a Marketing Consultant. In this role he was responsible for developing trade marketing strategies, product positioning, brand image, and action marketing for clients, such as Lexmark, Electrolux, and Allied Domecq.

Is your brand suffering?? Call us about ALEX!
__________________________________________________

Michelle M.
Associate Web Producer

Michelle is an Associate Web Producer with serious gumption!

She was most recently an associate at Media Arts Lab (a division of Chiat Day), working under two Web Producers and assisting in the execution and trafficking of online advertising projects for clients (including widgets and Flash banner campaigns).

As Associate Producer at Neoganda, another interactive agency, she produced and helped conceptualize sites and microsites for motion pictures for clients such as Lionsgate, Universal Pictures, and Saatchi & Saatchi.

Michelle doesn't break a sweat in fast-paced hectic environments and knows the interactive world like the back of her hand.

She's ready to go and totally dominates the interactive playing field!
__________________________________________________

Brad S.
Sr. Print Production Manager

One of the best Print Production Managers we've seen all year!

Brad stands above the rest as a PPM who is well versed in every aspect of the print world. He's worked for companies like Roll International, Campbell Mithun, Creative Domain, and DZN, where he has run the gamut directing print in 2D and 3D applications. At Campbell Mithun, he managed the Verizon Wireless account, which was the largest advertising account in the country. The project included billboards, transit shelters, bus wraps, building wraps, and even train wraps!

At Creative Domain, his clients included entertainment giants such as MGM, DreamWorks, Warner Bros. and Universal. He managed a team of 19 spearheading 'Batman Begins' promotions worldwide and produced extensive game packaging. Not only did he create outdoor awareness for entertainment, but within movie theaters he produced everything from 3D movie displays and banners to posters and popcorn boxes!

While he can manage print collateral, direct mail and advertising with his eyes closed, his specialty is outdoor advertising, custom signage, and large-scale graphics. He's worked on events for Live Nation and is seasoned in collaborating with engineers and architects to create brilliant experiential design.

Brad's wealth of experience, resourcefulness, and expert team management make him the crown jewel on any print team!

 
(from Jenn Tran or, as she's locally known, "JT")

With all the social networking sites out there in addition to all the networking events we've been attending recently, I've found myself thinking a lot about how selective I am with  the JTQT hours spent per person in my various social networks (JTQT = JT Quality Time).

Tim pointed out a really cool article in the LA Times about the social phenomenon (and contagion) of happiness "spreading" through social relationships. Apparently, happiness like the common cold is more likely to spread when you're within close proximity to someone!

Here's an interesting stat from the article: "Knowing someone who is happy makes you 15.3% more likely to be happy yourself, the study found. A happy friend of a friend increases your odds of happiness by 9.8%, and even your neighbor's sister's friend can give you a 5.6% boost."
 
Since it's the season of giving, I'll be sure to spend some extra out and about social time to spread the good spirits (I'm usually pretty chipper). 
 
Check out the full article here.


(From Tim: You can also check out an interview with one of the authors on NPR's Science Friday Website here.)

You know, some people wait for January 1st to watch the ball drop, but you can have it right here on this blog!

"When's Tim going to do another entry?", "Why am I still seeing Thanksgiving stuff?"

We're just finishing, if you can believe it, cleaning up after our wildly successful holiday Talent party last Thursday (there's still a vacant cubical filled with island decorations), getting together our gifts for our clients (more on that this week), and doing all those other things we do around here to get people jobs.

I still order incense for the holiday season from the same company that my parents and grandparents bought it from, this little place in Maine.

When I was growing up, we got a message from the company owners that they would not be providing incense that year, as their factory had burned down.

We always joked that though the town agreed it was a tragedy, the city smelled good for years afterward.

This is a company that still has one of those original Web sites, that someone built from a You Can Build A Webpage! kit years back.

I have to admit getting a kick out of the Not For Sale Family Dog featured as a line item.

In a rare interview from his palatial home in Pacific Palisades, California, noted celebrity and concealment expert, Waldo, was kind enough to take some time for an afternoon interview with Aquent.

-------

(A)QUENT: Waldo, I'm sure you know that people have started to ask, after not seeing you for so long, "Where's Waldo?"

(W)ALDO: Ironic, isn't it?

A: Yes, especially for a man who made a living, in fact, became famous, for his work in concealment among crowds, even in your trademark hat, glasses and sweater. What people are asking, really, is "What happened to Waldo?"

W: Well, I'd have to say that it all became too much. The non-stop parties, the film openings, the galas, the ribbon cuttings at mini-malls, the Where's Waldo groupies...

A: Surely you could have kept a low profile.

W: That was the problem, people were always on the lookout for me. I grew tired of the jokes. You know, every time I was in line at the grocery store someone was bound to shout, "There's Waldo!" That joke just wears thin after awhile.

A: I can imagine.

W: In the summer of 2000 I realized I'd just had it. I went to my eye doctor, got some contacts, then went down to the Santa Monica pier and ritualistically burned my trademark hat and sweater.

A: Sounds liberating.

W: It was. But the police arrested me for setting a fire on the beach. I didn't know they had laws against that sort of thing.

A: Me neither.

W: I told them, "Don't you know who I am?!"

A: Did they?

W: Not without the hat and sweater.

A: Then what happened? What did you do with your life?

W: I took a couple months off. Read a bit. That Carl the Dog series is really good. I did some work for the government, mostly on the stealth bomber and fighter. Then things went into a downward spiral. I mean, no one was looking for me. Absolutely NO ONE! Anyone could find me, telemarketers, old classmates via that Web site, those kids with blue boxes of candy standing right by ATM machines... That was the true irony, anyone could find me, but no one really wanted to find the capital "ME", Waldo.

A: Sounds terrible.

W: Yes, it took a long time and a bit of therapy for me to get back to the real Waldo. When I finally got around to going to see a therapist, the first thing he asked me was: "Who are you hiding from?" What an insightful question! Who WAS I hiding from? More importantly, what did I have to hide?

A: What did you have to hide?

W: As it turns out, absolutely nothing. The discovery of which made my the rest of my therapy sessions probably much easier than most. I was done in something like four visits.

A: And what's next for Waldo? What are your plans for the future?

W: I'm putting the Waldo outfit back on and going to do some work for the good of the community. I'm going to do a tour of grade schools to let kids know the importance of staying in school.

A: Were you a drop out?

W: No. But they should really stay in school.

A: You're probably right.

W: I'll also be in the Broadway touring company of Fiddler on the Roof. I'll be playing someone called "Tevye".

A: That's the leading part.

W: Hey. Good for me.

A: Well, we wish you the best of luck. And thanks so much for your time.

W: No problem, Oprah's not on for another half hour.

Aquent wishes to thank Waldo for his time and his help figuring out the microphone on our mini-cassette recorder.

THIS WEEK'S POSITIONS:

1. Web Producer
2. Information Architect
3. Graphic Designer
4. Creative Director
5. Product Manager

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1. POSITION: Web Producer

TERMS: Permanent (On-Site)

MUST HAVES!:

• 3+ years of professional experience as a Web Producer
• Hands-on knowledge or Web production knowledge
• Agency experience preferred

PERKS!:

• Growth opportunity 
• Cool, hip agency

PAY:

• Up to $85K 

LOCATION:

• West Hollywood

CLICK HERE TO CONTACT AGENT

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2. POSITION: Information Architect

TERMS: Freelance (On-Site)

MUST HAVES!:

• 5+ years as an Information Architect
• Large site experience
• Recent wireframe and documentation samples

PERKS!:

• Brand name company
• Highly visible project!

PAY:

• Up to $60K

LOCATION:

• Mid-Wilshire

CLICK HERE TO CONTACT AGENT

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3. POSITION: Graphic Designer

TERMS: Permanent (On-Site)

MUST HAVES!:

• 5+ years of experience as a Graphic Designer
• Able to work in Windows environment: InDesign, Photoshop, and Illustrator
• Previous legal or healthcare experience required

PERKS!:

• Stable environment
• Great work/life balance
• Great benefits and compensation!

PAY:

• Up to $80K

LOCATION:

• Downtown

CLICK HERE TO CONTACT AGENT

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4. POSITION: Creative Director

TERMS: Freelance (On-Site)

MUST HAVES!:

• 5+ years of Creative Direction experience in the publishing or editorial industries (this is a must have from the client!)
• Experience creating large, high-end publications or books
• Experience managing a large team to meet deadlines

PERKS!:

• This is an 18-month project with full benefits while you work!
• High-profile project to be distributed to retailers throughout North America

PAY:

• Up to $72 an hour

LOCATION:

• West Hollywood

CLICK HERE TO CONTACT AGENT

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5. POSITION: Product Manager

TERMS: Freelance (On-Site)

MUST HAVES!:

• 5 years of experience with new product development, sample merchandising,
  competitive analysis, data management, and managing timelines and schedules
• 3 of 5 years interfacing with design and development teams 
• 3 to 5 years of experience working with hat/head wear products

PERKS!:

• Great location and environment
• Ideal opportunity for someone who wants to put their expertise to the test!

PAY:

• Up to $35 an hour

LOCATION:

• Los Angeles

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.

You know, every morning NPR wakes me up (well, my clock radio is set to NPR... but you get my drift) and over the last several months it hasn't been incredibly happy news.

Which is probably not news to you.

In light of that awful (mostly monetary) news that's stuffed down our gullets daily, I'm so incredibly impressed at the thoughtfulness and generosity of so many Aquent Staff and Talent who attended our Island Holiday Party last night and contributed to our Toy Drive.

We had two big boxes by the front door and had to empty them over 3 times




It's really sweet to see the Season of Getting turned so wonderfully back into the Season of Giving.

Now I just have to figure how this is all going to fit in my car so I can take it to Alexandria House for our group donation.

We're in recovery mode from the party (we had nearly 200 here) and in preparation for Flashapaloozastock III tomorrow.

If you're in Venice from 10a to 7p, stop by our booth and take in a lot of the free trainings being offered on what has to be the hottest app right now.

Directions and more here.

Aloha!