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 GuitarHero 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!
Tim's note: I was atBest Buythis weekend and, lo and behold, noWiiFitdisplay. Unusual, wouldn't you say? And, Jenn, if you thought Down Dog is funny, you should seeDead Bug pose.
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."
I just spent the holidays back home in Nebraska with my family (and lived to tell about it) and I'd have to say that one of the unexpected pleasures was, weirdly, the Wii.
Both my brother's and sister's families both have the Nintendo Wii and it seemed like every time we got together (all 21+ of us), there were always a couple of folks playing Wii bowling, tennis, or golf.
What's amazing to me is how Nintendo invented a system that converts non-game playing adults into "gamers", thus opening up a whole new age range of consumers for them.
Not that I consider my mother a gamer, but there she was bowling on the Wii.
I think it must have something to do with the simplicity of the control and familiarity of the sports included with the Wii that really helps people make that jump.
It turns out the only problem with the Wii is holding on tight enough to the remote.
With any revolution there are bound to be casualties.
Okay, this doesn't really count as a post, but emails were flying around the office today about fun festivals going on around LA this weekend and I figured I'd pass them along...
Swerve Festival is a new annual festival dedicated to celebrating West
Coast creative culture and its community inspired by art, film, music
and action sports. The three-day celebration will be held in Los
Angeles to bring together a dynamic group of innovators and thinkers
and to spotlight some of the most exciting work to come out of these
creative disciplines.
Whenever we get together for our Back to School Training every year or so, there's a theme party at the end in which offices are encouraged to dress up.
Previous year themes have been: Dress to Represent Your City. College Daze. Dress Like a Trucker. (Wait, that last one was my birthday party.)
This year it was a question:
What will the people working at Aquent look like 150 years from now?
Many of you (who have good memories, read this blog, and are dying to know what I'm doing in my spare time since I don't watch television) may recall that I started the SharpBrains brain workout in late June.
SharpBrains, is a company focused on producing neuroscience-based products and programs. They make a program called MindFit that: "focuses on life abilities such as: working memory, visual and
auditory short term memory, planning, location memory, naming, time
estimation, divided attention, and hand-eye coordination."
So for the last four weeks or so (five? three? See, this already isn't boding too well) I've been spending 20 minutes three times a week at my home computer partaking in poorly illustrated games while the family is sequestered elsewhere.
The tasks I've been completing?
Following, with my mouse, a football down a path until the football and the path disappear and making sure I'm keeping my mouse moving at the same speed/direction
Listening to either a) two sounds or b) two visual signals and trying to determine which is longer (within milliseconds)
Trying to remember sequences of numbers forwards and backwards
Building a simple puzzle while the mouse keeps changing its setting each time (i.e., up is down, left is right, etc.)
I've been sending the results back to the SharpBrains office, but have yet to get feedback. Which is probably good, since there's a 30-day rebate on the program.
I'd love to update you whether or not my mind is any healthier, but I'm afraid I'm going to have to tell you absolutely nothing. I have no idea. I haven't woken up to miraculously discover my brain is working better than ever or that I remember where I put the paperwork to my upcoming trip to Boston (don't worry, it's an eTicket).
All I'm letting you know is that you don't need to rush out an buy this program at this point.
You could have, for instance, a coworker move your mouse the opposite direction when you try to type a letter. Or try to memorize all the phone numbers of your coworkers backwards.
I'll get back to you next month on whether this is worth buying or not.
Imagine for a moment you are a senior exec for a game manufacturer and you wanted to boost sales.
Then you write a press release that says, "Even though our game is popular now, if you see one, snatch it up, because by Christmas we're pretty sure they're going to be gone."
Imagine no more!
George Harrison, senior vice president of marketing and corporate communications for Nintendo of America put out exactly such a press release today about the Wii.
Dang it, and I wasn't even thinking about Christmas presents yet.
I'm letting Emily take the heat for this one (well, she did okay with Olivia first...) But she sent this out to a some of the Aquent Talent today:
So, it is my co-worker, cube mate and best buddy Olivia’s birthday on Sunday. As some of you know, we are big on birthday desk demolition here at Aquent. If it is your special day, you best watch out, ‘cause your desk will be under 12 pounds of “decoration� when you come in. We try to match the demolition to the interests or something of importance to the person. But the longer you are here, the more creative we have to get because you run out of the obvious choices. Like for Olivia. We already did the French thing (because she lived in France), and this year we were hard pressed to think of a compelling theme for her desk. Until my co-worker, Tim, reminded us of a Halloween a few years past where Olivia dressed up like Joyce. Why you ask? Joyce had made a list of the worst album covers of all time. It really was a special day here in the office and we wanted to relive the glory, as she is still called Joyce to this day. So, for my Friday check in, I wanted to spread the joy(ce). In honor of Olivia’s birthday and her desk demo, I have attached two album covers that just can’t miss!
Happy Friday!!
If you need more information on Joyce, you need to go to Snobsite and you will laugh. You will cry.
Aw, happy birthday, dear Olivia..... Happy Birthday to YOUUUUUUUUUUUUU.
Doesn't that sound a little combative for a season supposedly marked by peace and joy?
Perhaps it has something to do with all those plans we're trying to accomplish before the holidays descend upon us like a Mongolian horde.
For example, getting a Corporate Communications Manager before November (oops). Or finding a Designer fill in while everyone else in the department is in Aruba (or Reseda).
Which is exactly why you should give us a call to wipe those items right off your To Do list in a jiffy.
And get onto other important holiday tasks, like fighting traffic or heatedly discussing where to get the best potato latkes (we're partial to Langer's).
Follow the links for profiles, samples, resumes, sour cream, and applesauce.
Frank H. - Corporate Communications Manager Michael P. - Senior Brand Manager Leslie C. - Marketing Communications Manager Rochelle L. - Writer | Editor __________________________________________________
Frank H. Corporate Communications Manager
Former Director of Corporate Communications and Senior Copywriter for GE Consumer Finance (previously WMC Mortgage), Frank has an extensive background in marketing communications, media relations, Web site content, public affairs, employee communications, event coordination, copy writing, speech writing, video production, presentations, and desktop publishing.
Aside from his on-site work, his freelance experience as a Writer and Event Coordinator includes top-notch work for Los Angeles MTA, City of Hope, Santa Monica Big Blue Bus, and USC School of Education on corporate and employee magazines, collateral, as well as management handbooks and presentations.
With his MA in Communications Management from USC Annenberg School, he'll make sure your company gets noticed!
A recently relo from New York, Michael has 8+ years of wide-ranging experience in product management ranging from P&L responsibility to new product development, marketing partnerships, and advertising.
At collectible trading card giant, Topps, he was responsible for creating and launching multiple products lines, packaging, and brand strategies and handling a sales operating budget of over $100 million. His stellar work includes developing creative briefs for advertising agencies, reviewing creative materials, managing budgets for each product, and training the Topps marketing staff. He's organized and led countless research studies including on-line surveys, in-product questionnaires, and focus groups.
If you want to significantly grow your top and bottom line through new product development, brand enhancements, and cost reduction initiatives, call us about Michael!
A Marcom/Account Manager with extensive background in the non-profit healthcare industry, Leslie has over 15 years of solid experience in marketing, team building, and vendor management.
At American Social Health Association, Leslie was responsible for overseeing all aspects of their marketing, public relations, and collateral production. As a freelancer, she's coordinated scores of marketing and communications projects for dozens of non-profit clients, creating marketing strategies, designing collateral and fund-raising efforts, conceiving content for newsletters and Web sites, overseeing print production, and running teams to hit high goals and on-target budgets.
She's a perfect fit at any company, non-profit or not!
Skills: Advertising/Account Management, Event Co-ordination, Event Management, Management, Marketing/Commercial Services, Marketing/Media & Entertainment, Marketing/Professional Services, Media Planning, Media Strategy, Business Development, Adobe Acrobat, Adobe Illustrator, Adobe PageMaker, Adobe Photoshop, Customer Service, Microsoft Access, Microsoft Excel, Microsoft Office, Microsoft PowerPoint, Microsoft Project, Microsoft Publisher, Microsoft Windows, Microsoft Windows NT, Microsoft Word, Office Management, PR/Account Management, Reception, Typing, WordPerfect __________________________________________________
Rochelle L. Writer | Editor
A Sr. Writer and Editor with unmatched proofing skills, Rochelle was most recently Editorial Director for the American Film Institute, responsible for writing, editing, and proofreading all the institute's printed, published, and online materials.
Her work at AFI included Life Achievement Award Tribute Books for the likes of Harrison Ford, Robert De Niro, and Meryl Streep, as well as annual reports, press releases, newsletters, and all content on the institute's Web site.
As a freelancer, she's been published by The Washington Post, Salon, Glamour, Movieline, Los Angeles Magazine, and many more.
You won't find a smarter, more professional Writer and Editor!
What if Charles Shultz pitched his script for "A Charlie Brown
Christmas" in 2006 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: This morning.
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. Shulz. 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 menswear.
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. And you end the whole thing ends 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"?
If you weren't one of the 100+ people at APALA's Bowling night at Lucky Strike Hollywood, I'll have to say you missed out on a pretty good time.
Well, aside from the abysmal Hollywood traffic.
The food was plenty and good (more deep fried mac and cheese anyone?), the company friendly, and the bowling... Well, let's just say one Aquenteer dropped the ball behind her causing peals of laughter from her teammates. Happily, she picked it up and quickly bowled a strike.
If you're interested, APALA is hosting a Holiday Party on December 5th (not on their site yet), which they said is going to be chock full of 500 of your favorite Print Production, Traffic, and Creative Studio Managers as well as quite a few vendors. Maybe us, too?
In the meantime, please enjoy some very amateur photography.
Just in case you missed all the orange that used to be on this blog, here are the results of last night's Aquent Staff Pumpkin Carving Night. Don't forget to vote for your favorites by e-mailing me!
If you've been hearing a lot about Flash lately (and hearing and hearing and hearing), that's because it is a very in demand skill these days.
Anyone who thinks I'm just making up this stuff as I go along (Mom...), simply go to the Aquent Job Search page, type in "Flash" for keyword and "Southern California" for location and you'll see a ton of Flash positions we're currently recruiting for. (I know, dangling participle.)
If you're interested at all in learning Flash,After Effects, or the like, the best place to get hands-on training is through the classes at the Rich Media Institute in Venice, run by our friends R Blank and Markus Almer.
Prior classes have been taught by:
Flash Bible Author Robert Reinhardt Definitive Guide to ActionScript Author Colin Moock
Adobe Community Expert (ACE) Chris Georgenes "Creating Motion
Graphics with After Effects" and "After Effects in Production" Authors Trish & Chris Meyer
In other words, not B-movie actors looking to pick up extra money.
These are cheap ($490) for two-day intensive workshops with really small class sizes.
You can still get into tomorrow's events if you want to. Saturday only ticks are $320 ($160 for students). For that low, low price you'll get presentations in "Creative, Technical, and Business areas, focusing on
cutting edge Rich Media trends and developments within the
Entertainment Industry" and "over 50 renowned design and technology presenters from around the globe".
Your eyes may just pop out from all the action.
R Blank from Almer/Blank is backing this, and he is considered a Flash Guru, so you know it's going to be good.
If you are going, be sure to save a few moments to stop by our booth. We'll give you an Aquent Cow, Aquent Beach Ball, or heck, maybe even a pen.
R Blank was also kind enough (via Shawn Pucknell) to give us a password to get into the parties on Friday and Saturday. Now that, my friends, is a nice guy.
Friday October 6th, 9PM Adobe Party Location: Café Tu Tu Tango inside Universal Studios Entertainment: DJ Eric Jerome and visuals by Born Magazine Saturday
October 7th, 9PM Media Temple Fast Time Party Location: Spider Club Address: 1735 N. Vine Street, Hollywood Entertainment: DJ Cody Peyote
Just say "FITC" at the door to get in.
Don't say "FTCI" or "TCFI" because they will boot you right onto your keester.
We just had our Q2 Staff Meeting last Thursday, followed by the Tour de Aquent bike ride on Saturday (from Marina del Rey to Redondo Beach and back. For most of us.) and boy are we all exhausted.
The theme for this quarter's staff meeting? Camp. Not as in Rocky Horror camp, but summer camp. Which was more HR friendly.
We pick names out of a hat at the end of every staff meeting and whoever gets their name drawn has the wonderful job of picking a theme, organizing all the presentations, selecting the food, and making sure all the numerical info is passed along in a fun and easy to understand manner.
Joyce (pictured below as Camp Counselor) did a magnificent job, complete with BBQ (from where else? JR's), camp chairs, Native American lore, and games.
In the How Would You Survive? game, each Aquent staff member learned if they were stranded in the woods they would perish in a matter of hours. Which shines new light on coming to work every day.
The second game, LOST!, had each team lead a team member around, under, and through a number of obstacles like a tent, roaring rapids (large bowls), and forest (dying plants from around the office). Oh yeah, and there was a bear (Paul) you had to throw a rock (beach ball) at. Paul left the meeting relatively unmarred.
Best of all, next staff meeting is hosted by Ozzy!
It's weird, sometimes you go into a store and you get surprised by the things they sell.
Case in point, the car wash on Santa Monica Blvd. that I pass every day. While getting my car washed and checking out their sunshades, iPod holders, etc., I couldn't help but notice these nice (and very realistic) BB handguns and shotguns:
The lucky kid who gets that last one won't have to be bothered by that pesky orange tip that alerts the police that it's not a real weapon.
I stopped taking pictures when I got to the 3-tier glass case full of knives, assorted pipes, and high-powered binoculars.
I mean, if this is just the stuff on display, what's the guy packing behind the counter?
Or anyone else in the place for that matter.
I wish I could tell you they did a great job on my car, but it was about the job you'd expect from a guy loaded down with knives, throwing stars, an Air Soft pistol, and assorted glass pipes.
Wasn't it those Whos down in Whoville that sat on a large bike and played "noisy games like zoo-zinger-car-zay -- a roller skate kind of lacrosse
and croquet"?
In an effort to stop the rampant and wanton eating of candy in our office (chocolate in particular), we have introduced The Sweet Machine.
Made entirely of plastic and featuring a grabbing claw (as seen nabbing aliens in Toy Story), this previously unloved Yankee Swap gift has been put to good use keeping unecessary calories away from great big greedy hands.
All candies previously located by the printer have been reassigned to The Sweet Machine.
It's working well so far, as no one has yet mastered even the simple task of picking anything up much less delivering it to the prize chute.
However, the machine being both light and not bolted down have been drawbacks, as particularly hungry staff members have been turning the machine over and cursing until candy comes out.
The basic idea in chess boxing is to combine the no.1 thinking sport and the no.1 fighting sport into
a hybrid that demands the most of its competitors – both mentally and physically.
In a chess boxing fight two opponents play alternating rounds of chess
and boxing. The contest starts with a round of chess, followed by a
boxing round, followed by another round of chess and so on.
You can even check out their cheesy video (hope your German is good).
Speaking of which, hard to believe this is coming out of Germany, ya?
Welcome to everyone migrating over for the Hot Talent Newsletter and the ASAP Job List. Both can be found over to the right under This Week's Hot Talent and ASAP Job List.
But you can also take part in our second Aquent Blog Quiz!
The first three correct respondents will recieve a lovely Aquent Springy Clock (and early earthquake warning device), pictured below.
Two questions this week on a Johnny Depp movie theme, reply by email to me!
1) Which of the following is not a character Johnny Depp has played?
George Jung
Raoul Duke
Brom Van Brunt
Constable Ichabod Crane
Dean Corso
2) Which rock star inspired Depp when he was playing Jack Sparrow in Pirates of the Caribbean?
Roger Daltrey
Keith Richards
David Bowie
Clay Aiken
Tim Curry
Reply to me by e-mail. Aquent employees and family of Aquent employees ineligible.
When my wife Wendy and I went to New York years ago, we spent the night in our friend John's room which was stacked top to bottom with vintage Halloween collectibles.
It brought about the question, Why would anybody collect this stuff?
Apparently, it grew on us, because he gave us two pieces of Halloween crepe paper (yes, someone is saving crepe paper from 1942) which we framed and bring out each October.
Gene Gable at Creative Pro has a terrific article with a bevy of images from a bygone era and even an explanation of why kids go trick or treating.
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