Trip images

Posted a few more images from the trip on Flickr.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/dmac24/

Back to my kitchen table office

Well, I'm a two weeks removed from returning from my cross-half-country jaunt.

I enjoyed time with some friends. I met some new, very nice folks at some great agencies.

I return to where it started. My kitchen table office.

My hard drive is fixed. Though I lost all my music when it died a week ago.

KEXP is playing on iTunes.

I'm finishing up a freelance project I picked up on the trip.

I'm finally getting back into pocket.

So what has everyone else been up to?

Oh, here are some images from the trip. I'll post more on Flickr when I get a chance. I'll let you know when they're up there. Oh, and pay no attention to the dark black corners. Realized that it was the tape holding in the batteries for my flash. I'm going to take care of that once I pull them into photoshop.




While hiking near Red Rocks in Colorado.



The left "wall" of the Red Rocks amphitheater. Impressive.



The building Neal and I stood outside of for three hours waiting for a phone call to "come on in". DDB, Chicago.



On the road from Colorado Springs to Wichita.



A farm on the the highway between Denver and Colorado Springs. Pikes Peak is way in the distance.

Denver on a Tuesday

It was cloudy this morning. Snow cloudy. I've holed up in a great bookstore called Tattered Cover Book Store. It's near Union Station in the LoDo (lower downtown) section of Denver, I believe. It's three floors of exposed timber, iron braces, and duct work. I can imagine spending an entire snowy Saturday here in the warmth of wooden booths, creaking wood floors, and printed words.

This morning, I met with agency owner Mike Suckle of Sukle Ad & Design. He was a nice guy. Liked a lot of the work. Especially the new PBA work. Have yet to hear bad word about the new campaign. Hope this continues.

I have a meeting at 4pm with a small agency called Amelie. A friend from the Circus recently started working there. But between now and then, I'm trying to line up another meeting, as well as, calling a couple agencies in Austin, TX.

I thought I would work my way back to Memphis by going a completely different direction. South. If I can line something up there, I'll drive through Kansas to Wichita. Spend the night. Then turn right and head further south to Texas. It'll add a day an a half to the trip. But it could be worth it.

Well, it's 1:30 right now. I should probably get a bite to eat.

Denver

Got into Denver last night. The ride here was longer than expected. But beautiful. Snow and ice from a passing storm made the trip about an hour longer. That, plus a lot of construction on the highway 80 and highway 76.

Made a number of stops to take some photos. Got one of an original Pony Express outpost somewhere in Nebraska. Forgot the name of the small town. But it was cool to see that kind of history.

This morning, Lee and I headed to Red Rocks, and then for a hike. Got to see a show at Red Rocks at some time. That has to happen. We hiked close to Red Rocks. I'm not embarrassed to tell you, I was sucking wind. And I'm not blaming it on the altitude. Sure the air is thin. But I'm also lugging around a hefty amount. But it felt good to get out. It was a bit chilly. Roughly 30-degrees. But the views were incredible.

Oh, we also drove through Evergreen, CO, a small town in the foothills of the Rockies. As we went along, I looked out the window at a small park. Chilling there was about 15 elk. Including a 14-point bull! This animal was majestic. The kind any hunter would have loved to have seen in their scope, instead of noshing on some grass next to a kiddie playground.

Again, images of all this will come soon. Once I get them developed after returning to Memphis.

Milwaukee and the road

Spent yesterday showing work in Milwaukee. Went to Laughlin Constable in the morning, and C-K in the afternoon. Then to my friend Mitch's agency, BVK, in later afternoon. I met some great people all around. Good feedback from all. The new PBA campaign is getting good feedback in particular. Which I'm definitely psyched about.

Today, was spent driving. Got off to a late start. 10AM. But I bought an audio book – Dan Brown's new fluff, The Lost Symbol. It's amazing how audio books make a trip make driving less boring.

I also stopped a few times to shoot a few images. So I'm excited to see how they turn out.

But for now, I'm holed up in a Marriott Courtyard watching the Red Sox. Gonna hit the bed early tonight. Got another 7-8 hours of driving tomorrow with stops to take more images.

More later.

Three Little Pigs, Let Me In

Well, what can I tell you. The Three Little Pigs sandwich at the Silver Palm restaurant in Chicago did not fail. Ingredients: Double smoked ham, pork tenderloin, bacon, gruyere cheese, a fried egg and an onion ring on top.
It was a sandwich made for immortals. And I ate it.

Tuesday

Very good day today.
Met with Craig Likhite at C-K. Very cool guy. Had a good conversation with him.
Look forward to meeting with the folks at C-K in Milwaukee on Thursday.

Also, got into DDB. There Neal joined me to meet with Susie Steinberg. She was great too. She liked a lot of the work, which is always a good thing. She gave us the rundown of DDB. Not hiring. Which we knew going into it. Regardless of that, it was really great to meet with her, and to show her my face.

All in all, a good day. Now I'm gonna go to the Silver Palm restaurant. It was featured on Anthony Bourdain's No Reservations show on the Travel Channel. They have a ridiculous sandwich there called The Three Little Pigs. Check it out here: http://www.thesilverpalmrestaurant.com/Menus.php?theSource=Specials

Oh yeah...

Uneventful day 1 in Chicago

Spent the entire afternoon walking around town, trying to get in touch with folks at DDB. Finally when we did, we waited around until 5pm for a call back. Never happened.
Kinda sucks.
But we're gonna try again today. After my meeting with Cramer Krasselt at 11am.
Slao going to try and get into energybbdo today or tomorrow. Then out of town Thursday morning. Up to Milwaukee to see, hopefully, two agencies up there.
Well, I should jet.
I'll keep you posted.
-d

Crowdsourcing

Is it just lazy creatives who:
1) can't think of anything else
2) don't want to think of anything else
3) say they want to get consumers in on the action – to feel more a part of the brand.
Well, I know that's how I'd sell it to the client. But then I would feel dirty all over and wouldn't feel like I earned my paycheck.
The latest version of crowdsourcing can be found here:
http://creativity-online.com/work/mcdonalds-honor-angus/17501
Though it's a tame example, compared to CPB's attempts of opening up an assignment to any designer to craft a logo for a client (with the winner receiving a paltry $1,000).
So crowdsourcing to me is just plain lazy.
C'mon people. Are we out of ideas just like Hollywood?

the new site is complete

I finished the site and have uploaded it.
After doing so, I realized I could change a couple things.
So this'll be an ongoing effort.

www.dkmacdougall.com