Plaid™: October 2007

Here's where you get a behind-the-scenes glimpse of how we do what we do at the
world's most Plaid design and branding firm.

Friday, October 26, 2007

Meet Katie.

Our new intern, Katie started this week. We've convinced her that we're the hottest agency in all of the land of agencies. And that all of the cool agency people like to do crappy work like filing, and photo research and building other designer's conceptual comps. So far, she's on board.

Here's a little something about Katie...

I overheard her telling someone else at Plaid that she's single, and 'accepting applications.' We suggested she share her Facebook profile. She was previously boycotting Facebook (college students sometimes do silly things like that), but we've convinced her otherwise. You can friend her here. If you're lucky, she'll accept. :)

Unlike our previous intern, she doesn't own a Zune. We like that. (Sorry Brian)

She's already had a great week:
+ She's done some production work for Talbots and a bank's website,
+ Got a lesson on how to ride the Segway PT,
+ Sat in on the first ever recording session for a Plaid podcast (Plaidcast)
+ And some other boring stuff, too.

Please welcome Katie to the Plaid crew and be nice to her on Facebook. :)

Labels: plaid, plaidteam

posted by darryl ohrt @ 5:07 PM 5 comments

Friday, October 19, 2007

Our new Segway arrived!

We received our new Segway today. Eric from Segway came down to the Plaid offices and gave us personal lessons and orientation. He can pretty much rock a Segway over anything. And as you'll see by the clip above, I'm still learning how to ride. :)

Labels: plaid

posted by darryl ohrt @ 9:34 PM 0 comments

Tuesday, October 16, 2007

We're hiring.

We're hiring a Tech Lead at our agency Plaid. Send this job description to your coder/geek/tech friends who kick your ass in Halo3:

Tech Lead
An agency full of creatives needs a geek to be our friend. We'll make you
cool, you'll make us error free.

As the interactive lead for an uber-hot agency, you'll:
+ Manage all programming and development for our interactive business.
+ Interact with outside developers and coordinate/manage all details of
projects.
+ Coordinate with designers/art directors needs, changes, and requirements.
+ Perform some programming for projects
+ Communicate with client IT personnel, to review needs and implementation
plans.

Skillz you've mastered:
+ Intimately familiar with html, javascript, PHP, Ajax, Flash and other current internet programming tools.
+ Ability to write code. The old fashioned way - not just with wysiwyg tools.
+ Project management master. Capable of pulling together (and scheduling, coordinating) multiple team members to get the job done.
+ Great communication skills, with ability to explain any of the above to designers and clients and people who generally won't know what you're talking about.

Plaid is the coolest agency in all of the world, sporting clients from entertainment industry to action sports to consumer brands and b2b. Name brands you know, and stuff you've never heard of.

Extremely relaxed and fun work environment, where you'll never wear khakis. (Unless you're into that sort of thing.) Profit sharing, 401(k), 100% paid health benefits, and a salary lower than you'd get at the big stressful agency.

Interested? Send resume to:

darryl(AT)thinkPlaid.com

posted by darryl ohrt @ 5:10 PM 0 comments

Monday, October 15, 2007

Planning Meeting wrap up

The Plaid team is back from four fun-filled days in Mexico. While there were hours and hours of meetings that took place, we thought you might be more interested in these more entertaining highlights:

+ Before leaving, the design and branding crew received their own Flip video cameras. This is the beginning of a video blog experiment for us. We hope to be posting here regularly, with video clips of whatever happens at the agency. Mexico was a good start.

+After just a few margaritas and cervezas, Rob says (as we're crossing a bridge over a slimy water lagoon), "how much will you give me to jump off this bridge?" Three people quickly responded "I'll pay $20 for that." And Rob jumped. Didn't even give Justus enough time to start his camera. You can see him getting out of the water here.

+ Later that same evening, David was intent on earning his $20 back. Rob told him that if he could finish four tequila shots (this is after several other drinks), that he'd give him his $20 back. David obliged. And not very long after, went on a drunken rant. Later that night, Rob managed to talk a bartender out of a brand new bottle of Tequila and margarita mix, so that we could close the night out on the beach. Nice.

+ Throughout Mexico, the Plaid crew enjoyed some wonderful art and architecture. We loved the grass roofs, and the hand painted signs. Even the mens and ladies restroom signs were typically hand painted pieces of art.

+ We toured the Mayan ruins Chichen Itza, and our guide Eric taught us much about the Mayans. Like how the world will likely implode, explode, or fall off its axis in 2012.

Our apologies to:
The masseuse dudes who had to see Darryl and Rob naked.
The general public who witnessed any male Plaid employees without shirts at the beach.
Any fish that were killed as a result of Rob's plunge into the lagoon.
The drunken lady who farted at the hotel, and who Dave proceeded to make fun of.

Viva Plaid!

posted by darryl ohrt @ 8:52 PM 2 comments

Jet Blue officially endorses Plaid.

Before we left JFK Airport for our annual Plaid Planning Meeting, JetBlue made an official announcement. JetBlue loves Plaid. So much so, that we believe they may be planning to wrap their jets in plaid. And change the flight attendant uniforms to plaid skirts and slacks. Yep. Plaid never goes out of style.

Labels: plaidteam, plaidtv

posted by darryl ohrt @ 7:28 AM 0 comments

Friday, October 12, 2007

Internet spotty in Mexico. Blog posts coming to a halt.

I'm in mexico. At a very nice resort where we were assured there is Internet. Gahh! No wifi. No Ethernet In the hotel room. I am pretty certain that dudes locked in American prisons have more internet access than I do.

I am sending this post from my iPhone, through Paul, one of our programmers still In the states (sorry Paul) . Blogger unfortunately doesn't work on the magic iPhone.

We're taking loads of fun video in the meantime, and if i can hitch- hike my way to wifi, I'll be back with plenty of posts.

Meanwhile, I'm attempting to take the advice of some co- workers..."relax dude. Think of how productive our planning meetings will be."

I've always imagined hell as a really hot place without Internet. But the beach and margaritas have me confused.

More later.

posted by Paul Reilly @ 8:46 AM 0 comments

Wednesday, October 10, 2007

The big Plaid video experiment

We just purchased the Plaid design and brand crew these really sweet video cameras. Flip video cameras that record 640 x 480 digital video (60 minutes of video, without tape!) with built-in usb plugs. They fit in your pocket. Basically, a video camera designed for the YouTube generation. AWESOME IDEA.

Anyway - we're embarking on an experiment of sorts. Everyone's now armed with these cameras. So we're going to try video blogging. Not the vidcast-shot-from-the-laptop that everyone else is doing - but sharing our experiences, as they happen. (You can't carry your laptop camera into the Bodega, can you?) Funny, stupid, creatively inspiring, or people falling asleep at their desks. Low production, no edits, no soundtracks, just video clips. Whatever happens when we're recording.

The experiment kicks off tomorrow morning, as a bunch of us leave for Mexico. Should make for some fun video. We're traveling tech-lite (only ONE laptop!!), so we won't be uploading every hour, but I promise some good regular video. If we like the results of the experiment, we'll get cameras for the extended Plaid team, across the country. This could really be a cool, creative group video blog. Or a complete waste of time.

Stay tuned.

Labels: plaid, plaidteam, plaidtv

posted by darryl ohrt @ 11:19 PM 0 comments

Monday, October 1, 2007

Now hiring: intern.

Our last one got away. Brian, our old intern has escaped. He's pictured above, skooling the crew in Guitar Hero. If you see him, please kick him for us.

Interested in this most sweet position? Know someone who's interested? Spread the word. If you're the college student that we choose to take advantage of, here's some stuff you'll probably be stoked about:
+ Make your own hours
+ Build your resume and portfolio
+ Get paid to play around on the internet
+ Be involved in all aspects of agency life

And, some things you'll have to deal with:
+ Work for the ridiculously low wage of $10/hour
+ Loads of crap work
+ Need to work from our CT office
+ Dave.

Interested? Send a resume (or entertaining links) today, to GiuliATthinkplaid.com.

Labels: plaidteam

posted by darryl ohrt @ 7:29 AM 1 comments