Podcasts about vcu brandcenter

The ad that has everyone saying, "whoa."Lyle Yetman | Co-CCOThe best thing that ever happened to Lyle's advertising career was not getting hired as an account person at BBDO. He would have sucked at that. Instead, he became a writer. After getting his master's at the VCU Brandcenter, Lyle left his Boston roots, moved out west, and started his career at BSSP, where he worked on MINI, Chipotle, and El Pollo Loco, created the Priceline Negotiator and made award-winning spots for Google, among others. His work has been recognized by the One Show, Cannes Lions, Clios, Art Directors Club, Communication Arts, and the Effies. At McKinney, he is Co-Chief Creative Officer, overseeing all the work from the Durham and New York offices, including Little Caesars, Puma, Popeyes, and ESPN, where he continues to do award-winning work. He's got a deep and abiding love of telling stories and finding the untapped potential in every brand. After 19 years in the business, he could probably hack it as an account person now. No, he couldn't. That's a lie.Kerry O'Connor | Group Strategy DirectorKerry started her career working in communications for the Navy in Washington, D.C., before deciding to pursue a career in advertising. She attended the VCU Brandcenter where she graduated with an MS in business and a concentration in branding and strategy. Kerry joined McKinney in 2015 and honed her passion for insights on brands like CarMax, Jared, and ESPN. She was promoted to strategy director in 2021 and is creating award-winning work using her strategy smarts on Sherwin-Williams and Little Caesars. Outside of advertising, Kerry is working her way through the NYTimes Cooking archives.

In this episode of The Unicorny Marketing Show, Professor Ben M. Bensaou of INSEAD Business School joins us to discuss how organisations can build a culture where innovation thrives. Bensaou shares real-world examples from companies like Starwood Hotels and Fiskars, showing how even established businesses can invigorate their innovation processes by involving everyone, not just the experts.• Understand how to foster innovation across your entire organisation.• Learn the significance of considering non-customers in your innovation strategy.• Discover ways to manage and sustain innovation beyond just the R&D teams.Don't miss out on this valuable discussion that could transform your approach to innovation in business.About Ben M. BensaouBen M. Bensaou is Professor of Technology Management and Professor of Asian Business and Comparative Management at INSEAD, Fontainebleau, France. He served as the INSEAD Dean of Executive Education from 2018 to 2020. He was a Visiting Associate Professor at the Harvard Business School for 1998-1999, a Senior Fellow at the Wharton School of Management for 2007-2008 and a Visiting Scholar at the Haas School of Business at UC Berkeley for 2013-2015. He was also a Visiting Professor at Kobe University for 2021-2022.Bensaou is a leading expert on Innovation and how to build, maintain, and enhance a company's collective innovating capabilities. He was nominated for the 2023 Thinkers50 Innovation Award and his book Built to Innovate: Essential Practices to Wire Innovation into Your Company's DNA (2021, McGraw-Hill) was selected as one of the Thinkers50 Top 10 Management Books for 2022. Bensaou explains in detail his systematic approach. It defines specific innovative practices and roles for employees at each level of the organization, offers tools and a process methodology for innovating, and presents a host of vivid case studies that illustrate the dramatic benefits possible.Links Full show notes: Unicorny.co.uk LinkedIn: Ben M. Bensaou | Dom Hawes Website: benbensaou.comSponsor: Selbey Anderson Other items referenced in this episode:Built to Innovate by Ben M.Bensaou with Karl WeberFiskarsHow gamers with disabilities helped design the new Xbox Adaptive Controller's elegantly accessible packaging by Deborah Bach, MicrosoftBlue Ocean Strategy by W. Chan Kim and Renée A. MauborgneUnicorny episodes Maja Gedosev from JetBlue AirwaysJoyce King Thomas' VCU Brandcenter graduation speech May 2019Chapter summariesThe state of creativity in businessDom Hawes explores

In this episode of The Unicorny Marketing Show, Professor Ben M. Bensaou of INSEAD Business School joins us to discuss how organisations can build a culture where innovation thrives. Bensaou shares real-world examples from companies like Starwood Hotels and Fiskars, showing how even established businesses can invigorate their innovation processes by involving everyone, not just the experts.• Understand how to foster innovation across your entire organisation.• Learn the significance of considering non-customers in your innovation strategy.• Discover ways to manage and sustain innovation beyond just the R&D teams.Don't miss out on this valuable discussion that could transform your approach to innovation in business.About Ben M. BensaouBen M. Bensaou is Professor of Technology Management and Professor of Asian Business and Comparative Management at INSEAD, Fontainebleau, France. He served as the INSEAD Dean of Executive Education from 2018 to 2020. He was a Visiting Associate Professor at the Harvard Business School for 1998-1999, a Senior Fellow at the Wharton School of Management for 2007-2008 and a Visiting Scholar at the Haas School of Business at UC Berkeley for 2013-2015. He was also a Visiting Professor at Kobe University for 2021-2022.Bensaou is a leading expert on Innovation and how to build, maintain, and enhance a company's collective innovating capabilities. He was nominated for the 2023 Thinkers50 Innovation Award and his book Built to Innovate: Essential Practices to Wire Innovation into Your Company's DNA (2021, McGraw-Hill) was selected as one of the Thinkers50 Top 10 Management Books for 2022. Bensaou explains in detail his systematic approach. It defines specific innovative practices and roles for employees at each level of the organization, offers tools and a process methodology for innovating, and presents a host of vivid case studies that illustrate the dramatic benefits possible.Links Full show notes: Unicorny.co.uk LinkedIn: Ben M. Bensaou | Dom Hawes Website: benbensaou.comSponsor: Selbey Anderson Other items referenced in this episode:Built to Innovate by Ben M.Bensaou with Karl WeberFiskarsHow gamers with disabilities helped design the new Xbox Adaptive Controller's elegantly accessible packaging by Deborah Bach, MicrosoftBlue Ocean Strategy by W. Chan Kim and Renée A. MauborgneUnicorny episodes Maja Gedosev from JetBlue AirwaysJoyce King Thomas' VCU Brandcenter graduation speech May 2019Chapter summariesThe state of creativity in businessDom Hawes explores

CJ Franzitta is an accomplished advertising professional and mass communications strategy consultant with over 20 years of experience. CJ Franzitta is the Founder of ⁠Chrome Horse Strategy⁠, with clients including Advance Auto Parts, CertaPro Painters, Meta, Fruit of the Loom, and many others. I witnessed his listening skills and passion to know others, though our YGuides Daddy/Daughter group that our families are currently in through the YMCA. He earned his B.A. in History from the University of Virginia and his M.S. in Mass Communications from the VCU Brandcenter. CJ started his career at Ogilvy New York where he worked with top brands such as Hershey Foods, SAB Miller, and Kraft Foods. In this conversation he shares why he is not that interested in himself, the reason he felt drawn to NYC, why he left, and the lession he has learned in starting his own consultancy. Enjoy this conversation and learn more about The CL Thomas Fellowship podcast at www.clthomasfellowship.org/podcast.

Dr. Graves joined the Brandcenter as executive director in 2018. He brings 25+ years of creative, business, and executive leadership experience, having worked with some of the world's leading global brands (Coca-Cola, Pepsi, MasterCard, Visa, GE, and M&Ms, to name a few). His work has been recognized with numerous industry awards, including Cannes Lions, a Grand London International Award, a Grand Clio, and a D&AD Graphite Pencil. Vann also serves as the Dean of the Cannes Creative Academy.Graves' military experience contributes to his approach to leadership; he puts a high value on collaboration and commitment to support innovation and high-quality creative work. Prior to the Brandcenter, he served as a Chief Creative Officer at J. Walter Thompson; EVP, Global Executive Creative Director at McCann New York; VP, Creative Director at BBDO New York; and CoFounder at FL+G, a full-service branding agency in Denver.A Fulbright scholar, Graves holds degrees from Howard University, the Pratt Institute, Harvard University, and the University of Pennsylvania.

In this episode of the Pitch Masters podcast, I speak to yet another one of my all-time pitching heroes, the legendary Peter Coughter, founder and CEO of Coughter & Company, Professor at VCU Brandcenter, and author of one of my favourite books - The Art of the Pitch: Persuasion and Presentation Skills that Win Business. In this episode, we discuss a lot of pitch material - the fear we all have, whether we need a deck, bringing the right people, and breaking the rules. But, best of all, Peter is a natural-born storyteller, and this episode is packed to the brim with pitch anecdotes that will make you laugh and cry. He tells me how he helped the Boston Olympic Committee win the honour of being the US City of choice to be put forward for the 2024 Summer Olympics, by employing a highly emotional and heartfelt story about the Boston Marathon Bombings. He tells me the story of how he used a scene from Conan Barbarian to win the hearts and minds of a business that were strongly opposed to his agency. He also tells me the hilarious story of a pitch that went horrendously wrong in a hotel when the slide projectors became effected by the pushing of buttons in the elevator. He tells me a lot of great stories. If you enjoy the show, reviews, ratings and shares are the best possible way to show your support and are always appreciated. Sign up for the mailing list for exclusive content at http://pitchguy.co.uk/ and follow me on social media for video clips of the episode. Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dannyfontaine/ TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@pitchguy YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@pitchguy/ Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dannyfontaine/   Sit back, grab a drink, and get ready to take notes…

In this episode of the Pitch Masters podcast, I speak to yet another one of my all-time pitching heroes, the legendary Peter Coughter, founder and CEO of Coughter & Company, Professor at VCU Brandcenter, and author of one of my favourite books - The Art of the Pitch: Persuasion and Presentation Skills that Win Business. In this episode, we discuss a lot of pitch material - the fear we all have, whether we need a deck, bringing the right people, and breaking the rules. But, best of all, Peter is a natural-born storyteller, and this episode is packed to the brim with pitch anecdotes that will make you laugh and cry. He tells me how he helped the Boston Olympic Committee win the honour of being the US City of choice to be put forward for the 2024 Summer Olympics, by employing a highly emotional and heartfelt story about the Boston Marathon Bombings. He tells me the story of how he used a scene from Conan Barbarian to win the hearts and minds of a business that were strongly opposed to his agency. He also tells me the hilarious story of a pitch that went horrendously wrong in a hotel when the slide projectors became effected by the pushing of buttons in the elevator. He tells me a lot of great stories. If you enjoy the show, reviews, ratings and shares are the best possible way to show your support and are always appreciated. Sign up for the mailing list for exclusive content at http://pitchguy.co.uk/ and follow me on social media for video clips of the episode. Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dannyfontaine/ TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@pitchguy YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@pitchguy/ Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dannyfontaine/   Sit back, grab a drink, and get ready to take notes…

Raquel Langworthy has been taking photos and telling stories since childhood. She earned a BFA in art history from the University of Michigan, as well as an M.S. from the VCU Brandcenter (a program that marries strategy, creative and business). After working in advertising as an art director for brands such as Chobani, Amazon Kindle, CNN, Denny's and Kotex she decided it was time to take a leap of faith and follow her heart to pursue visual storytelling through photography in 2011. Within three short years she had the pleasure of working with many commercial brands, including Discovery Channel, Boden Clothing, Canon Cameras, the TV show Cake Boss, and a host of other small business clients. Most recently she has worked with securing a niche in the the interiors and decor world by helping interior designers capture the essence of their designs both through photography and styling assistance. She has been published in print as well as a various web publication for her photos of interiors, children, food and decor. Raquel has always loved to to travel and forever learns from the people and places she encounters. In 2014 and 2015 she had the opportunity to tour the U.S. documenting the unique mornings and evenings of 30 different families. https://www.raquellangworthy.com/ https://www.instagram.com/raquellangworthy.photo/

SEASON: 2 EPISODE: 14Episode Overview:Between consumer demands for more personalized and greater data privacy and competitive pressures to provide better omni-channel customer experiences, brands are faced with a dilemma. Build the foundation for the future of customer relationships or lose relevancy in a crowded market. Doing this, however, is not without its challenges.While many enterprises are engaged in digital transformations in order to modernize and anticipate future changes, these efforts are often fraught with challenges and many fail to deliver the results promised. To help us understand how to create a world-class customer experience, is bestselling author, speaker, and consultant, Greg Kihlström. Guest Bio: Greg Kihlström is a best-selling author, speaker, and entrepreneur, currently an advisor and consultant to top companies on marketing technology, customer experience, and digital transformation initiatives as Principal and Chief Strategist at GK5A. He is also the host of The Agile Brand with Greg Kihlström podcast. He has worked with some of the world's top brands, including Adidas, Choice Hotels, Coca-Cola, Dell, FedEx, HP, Marriott, MTV, Starbucks, Toyota, and VMware. He earned his MBA from Quantic School of Business and Technology and is a member of the School of Marketing Faculty at the Association of National Advertisers. He currently serves on the University of Richmond's Customer Experience Advisory Board and the Workhouse Arts Foundation Board as Chair of the Marketing Committee. Greg has had multiple best-selling books, including his Agile Brand Guides series on marketing technology platforms and practices. His eleventh and most recent book, House of the Customer (2023) discusses the 1:1 personalized customer experience of the future, and how brands can organize the people, processes, and platforms that enable it. Meaningful Measurement of the Customer Experience (2022), provides guidance on how to create a customer-centric culture that prioritizes customer needs while aligning internal teams around a common goal. His award-winning podcast, The Agile Brand with Greg Kihlström, launched in early 2019, discusses brand strategy, marketing, and customer experience with some of the world's leading experts and leaders.Greg is a contributing writer to Fast Company, Forbes, MarTech, and CMSWire, and has been featured in publications such as Advertising Age and The Washington Post. Greg has been named a 2022 Top 10 Marketing and Customer Experience Thought Leader by Thinkers 360, was named one of ICMI's Top 25 CX Thought Leaders two years in a row, and a DC Inno 50 on Fire as a DC trendsetter in Marketing. He's participated as a keynote speaker and panelist at industry events around the world including Internet Week New York, Internet Summit, DigiMarCon, Digital Summit, EventTech, MarTech, SMX Social Media, and VMworld. He has guest lectured at several colleges and universities including VCU Brandcenter, Georgetown University, Duke University, American University, University of Maryland, Howard University, and Virginia Tech.Resource Links:Website: https://www.gregkihlstrom.com Product Link:

Vann Graves was told early on in his advertising career — don't fall in love with your work, respect your work. As creators, we always need to balance our visions with what the client actually needs, so being fearless and open to new ideas is paramount to finding success in the business world. As the Executive Director of the VCU Brandcenter, Vann is helping develop the next generation of critical thinkers, problem solvers, and creative leaders, and in this episode of Brand Story, he's sharing his advice with our listeners.This is Brand Story, a podcast celebrating the stories of real people who are making an impact on brands, business, and the world around them. Episodes feature guests from a variety of backgrounds who bring their own unique perspectives to the conversation.Brand Story is created and produced by Gravity Group, a full-service brand and marketing agency, and is hosted by Gravity Group President, Steve Gilman.Links and Information From the Episode Here: https://www.gravitygroup.com/podcast/developing-creative-leaders/Continue the conversation on social:For more of Brand Story, check out our LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/company/gravitygroupmarketing), where we'll post previews and highlights of shows, behind-the-scenes sneak peeks, plus other marketing news you can use.We're also on: Instagram — https://www.instagram.com/gravitygroupFacebook — https://www.facebook.com/gravitygroupmarketingEpisode Chapters:(00:00) Introducing Vann Graves(02:27) The Brand Center at VCU - Training Students to be Creative Problem Solvers(04:13) Developing Creative and Critical Thinkers at the Brand Center(07:52) Vann Grave's Family History in Richmond(11:35) Advice For Professionals in Marketing & Branding: Travel, See The World(18:48) How Brand Agencies Need To Change(21:32) How To Be a Leader - Vann Grave's Military Service(26:16) Trust in Teams & Leadership(29:58) Prerequisite Qualities For Careers in Branding & Marketing(35:59) Vann Grave's Dad Humor Helped His Career(38:40) Vann's Kids Give Him Fresh Perspective(42:32) Vann's Advice to His Younger Self: Take the Leap

[Season 4: EP 59] Simeon Coker (Twitter) Creative Development Manager & Dorado Quick (The Springhill Company) Creative Director, Writer - Guest Co-Host Kendra D. Croft (Ten35) Associate Creative Director Simeon is an award-winning Creative Director, 21st Century People Manager, and DEI accomplice working to change how brands and marketers create and engage with consumers. He started his career working in media sales, then transitioned to advertising where he worked at various agencies on integrated campaigns. Simeon is now the Creative Development Manager at Twitter Next where he works to grow conversations on the platform through innovative ideas. Dorado seamlessly blends culture into branding, marketing, and advertising. His style of storytelling has taken brands further into culture than they've ever been before. Cannes Lions, Clios, Pencils, Effie awards, and more - his work has received international recognition on every stage. Dorado is an alumnus of the One Club Creative Boot Camp, the VCU Brandcenter, the Adcolor Futures program, Google AdByte, and The LAGRANT Foundation. Most recently selected into the inaugural class of the DC Comics Milestone Initiative, he is developing the craft of comic book writing, graphic novels, and screenwriting.

#41 Step into the game with the MA girls and Rick Plautz for an open discussion about Web 3.0, the future of the Internet, and all things crypto. Rick is an adjunct professor at the VCU Brandcenter teaching Experience Design and Art Direction. His background is in motion design and 3D design and he is currently navigating the Web 3.0 revolution that will change everything. Some topics discussed include:Web 3.0, crypto, death of the dollar, current events, rabbit holes, origins of the internet, future of the internet, social media, digital ownership, Web 1.0, Web 2.0, Blockchain, NFTs, smart contracts, Etherium, Bitcoin, OpenSea, the construct of money, scarcity mindset, personal value, inflation, modern day banking, taxation, relationships to money, future of crypto, Stellar Lumens, NFT scams, actionable steps to get into Web 3.0, play to earn gaming, Decentraland, social tokens, Chiliz (CHZ), universal basic income, energy tokens, Helium network, Internet of Things, digital monetization, existential crises, crumbling systems, life in unprecedented times, and so much more. FULL VIDEO EPISODES HERECHECK OUT OUR MERCH AND WEBSITE HEREThis episode is brought to you by Blushield– USE CODE MATRIX for 10% OFFThis episode is brought to you by Primal Alchemy - USE CODE "MATRIX10" FOR 10% OFF PURCHASE THE TRINITY HYDRO PACK HERE This episode is brought to you by Berkey Water Filters. Use our LINK for 15% offYou can find Rick Plautz HEREThank you for stepping into the game with us!To Connect with Us on Instagram click HERETo Connect with Us on Twitter click HERETo Connect with VLOW click HERETo Connect with Nicole click HERELINKTREESPOTIFY PLAYLIST

On Episode 136 of Bouncing Back, I interviewed Bryce Isaacson who was most recently a Senior Copywriter freelancing at TBWA. This is also my 94th episode in partnership with The Avail List.Bryce was born in Denver but raised in Buenos Aires which he credits for giving him a unique perspective on the world. Upon returning to the states he “ignored the career advice of his parents” and studied advertising at BYU & VCU Brandcenter. Bryce has built a career through freelancing but is ready for a full-time role with a partner and team. He's hard-working, brings naive innocence to briefs, and is always teaching himself how to get better. Outside of work, Bryce is a huge cartoon fan. In his spare time, he also reviews and critiques theatre. Reach out if you're looking for someone hungry to succeed. He's looking at you adam&eveDDBcargocollective.com/brycevimeo.com/654267460#BouncingBack #Covid19 #JobSearch #Advertising

A true legend of the industry, Rick Boyko joins Great Minds to discuss his career. From his early days at Leo Burnett and Chiat/Day, to his time at Ogilvy and as Director at VCU Brandcenter, to present.

Today on this very special episode of the Author Pep Talks podcast I'm actually interviewing two guests instead of just one. My first guest is Crystal Maldonado, the author of the Young Adult romance, Fat Chance Charlie Vega. Crystal Maldonado is a young adult author with a lot of feelings. Her work has been published in the Hartford Courant, Buzzfeed, and Latina Magazine. By day, she is a social media manager working in higher ed, and by night, a writer who loves Beyoncé, shopping, spending too much time on her phone, and being extra. She lives in western Massachusetts with her husband, daughter, and dog. Next up is Olivia Abtahi, author of the Young Adult novel, Perfectly Parvin. Olivia Abtahi is a film director and writer based in Denver, Colorado. Born to an Iranian father and an Argentine mother, she is a melting pot of distinct cultures. Growing up in the DC area, Olivia always had a passion for cinema and storytelling. She is a graduate of NYU Film School and VCU Brandcenter, and has lived in New York, San Francisco, Richmond Virginia, and Dublin, Ireland. She holds a BFA and MaSC. In her spare time, she enjoys watching music videos, laughing so hard it hurts, and hunting down gluten-free pastries. She currently lives in Denver, Colorado, with her husband and daughter. Today, we're talking about the absolutely monumental feat that is parenting during the pandemic, the intense stress of debuting, also during a pandemic, and making time for your creative practice when you're being pulled in a million different directions. I enjoyed every second of our conversation and loved the back and forth between these two fierce Mamas. I am so in awe of their strength, candidness, and sense of humor, and I hope you come away from this conversation feeling as liberated as I did. So steal some alone time if you can, kick up your feet, and then enjoy my conversation with Crystal Maldonado and Olivia Abtahi. Resources mentioned in this episode: AirPods Bullet Journaling Connect with Crystal online: Crystal's Website Twitter Instagram Buy her books! Connect with Olivia online: Olivia's Website Twitter Instagram Buy her books!

BGBS 072: Chad Hutson | Leviathan | The Business of CreativityAs Leviathan's co-founder and CEO, Chad facilitates creative strategy and all key business developments for the specialized creative agency, including managing the company's overall operations. His efforts have led to client relationships with Nike, Disney, Amazon, T-Mobile, Kohler, Universal, McDonald's, and Airbus among others.   Chad previously co-founded the digital creative agency eatdrink in 2002, which merged with Leviathan in 2012. Over the years, that firm produced breakthrough broadcast and interactive work for an amazing roster of brands and agencies. His prior experience includes highly productive stints with experiential marketing firm MC2 as an entertainment and technology project manager, and with leading Hollywood post-production sound company Soundelux as operations manager.   A native of the Southeastern United States, Chad earned his Bachelors of Recording Industry Management at MTSU. A past presenter at multiple SXSW conferences, Chad has also spoken at many other high-profile events, including InfoComm, TIDE, the American Marketing Association's High Five Conference, VCU Brandcenter's Friday Forum series, and numerous Society for Experiential Graphic Design (SEGD) events. In this episode, you'll learn... Quotes[4:49] "Leviathan is a specialized design firm. We like to transform environments into bespoke experiences using a lot of digital wizardry in the way of constant interaction to make people's jaws drop." [24:25] "I once had another agency owner telling me that, 'Hey, man, you're in the service industry. You are paid for a service, you are not paid to be an artist. So you kind of have to get over your self-righteousness of trying to be—always trying to create art. You're in your marketing. You need to just accept that." [25:10] "What do you see at a Disney or Universal theme park? It seems to be magical, and it defies reality. And those are the exact types of projects that we work on outside of, say, a corporate headquarters or a museum…So [we try] to focus on, what would make this special? What could no one else do? Or at least not do very easily that we could do from a technology perspective? And then how can we make that technology invisible, so you feel like you are experiencing something that is sprinkled in pixie dust, that is magical?" ResourcesInstagram@chad.not.work @lvthn Websitehttps://www.lvthn.com/ LinkedinChad Hutson Have a Brand Problem? We can help.Book your no-obligation, 15-minute Wildstory Brand Clarity Call now.  Book Your FREE Brand Clarity Call   Podcast TranscriptChad Hutson  0:00  I met another guy who was a creative director who had been a painter and sculptor in his previous life. And at the time, he was running another animation studio. So we all got together and start talking about why I have this company. It's kind of coming back to life. We all love building things for physical environments. We like doing things kind of going beyond what is what is expected within those spaces. So maybe we just take what's left of my old company, and let's turn into something new. And that's literally what Leviathan was my old Rolodex. I'll use air quotes for people who might still remember that term, but my list of contacts money in the bank and started over with with those assets. And that was the vibe.   Marc Gutman  0:47  Podcasting from Boulder, Colorado. This is the Baby Got Back story Podcast, where we dive into the story behind the story of today's most inspiring storytellers, creators and entrepreneurs. I like backstories and I cannot lie. I am your host, Marc Gutman, Marc Gutman, and on today's episode of Baby got backstory. You know those amazing set displays at concerts that have crazy visuals projected all over them are those three storey digital display walls with all sorts of content you might see in the lobby of a big fancy New York City media skyscraper. Well today, we're talking to the guy who makes those. Before we get into this episode, I want to welcome you to the summer edition of Baby got backstory. The pace is a little more laid back, and my feet are perpetually Sandy. My tan is starting to come in. And every episode is recorded in boardshorts. And if that doesn't get you excited to leave a five star review and rating over at Apple podcasts or Spotify, nothing will, Hey, I know it's summer. I know you're probably about six white claws in while you're listening to this, you're going on post pandemic crazy. But ratings really do matter. Apple and Spotify use these ratings as part of the algorithm that determines ratings on their charts. Even during the summer, especially during the summer. I guarantee you a better summer than Kid Rock if you leave a review. Oh, and we like the likes and the follows and ratings too. So thank you for all that. Thank you for your reviews. I do appreciate it.   Today's guest is Chad Hudson, CEO and co founder of the award winning Chicago based experiencial creative firm, Leviathan, Leviathan. Chad facilitates creative strategy in all key business developments for the specialized creative agency, including managing the company's overall operations. His efforts have led to client relationships with Nike, Disney, Amazon, T Mobile, Kohler, universal, McDonald's, and Airbus, among others. Over here, if any of those companies I'm thinking you have Chad previously co founded the digital creative agency he drink in 2002, which merged with Leviathan in 2012. And over the years that firm produced breakthrough broadcasts and interactive work for an amazing roster of brands and agencies. His prior experience includes highly productive stints with the experiential marketing firm MC two is an entertainment and technology project manager with leading Hollywood post production sound company sound Deluxe is operations manager, a native of South Eastern United States, Chad earned his bachelor's of recording industry management at mtsu and a past present or multiple South by Southwest conferences.   Chad has also spoken at many other high profile events, including infocomm tied the American marketing Association's High Five conference, VCU brand centers Friday forum series, the numerous society for experiential graphic design events. If that didn't impress you enough. This is his story.   I am here with Chad Hudson, the CEO of Leviathan and Chad, thank you so much for coming on to the baby got backstory podcast. Before we get started. Can you tell us a little bit about what is Leviathan cool name I know it's a you know, kind of historic, weird sea creature but in your context, what is Leviathan?   Chad Hutson  4:47  Thanks for having me on Marc, appreciate it. Leviathan is a specialized design firm. We like to transform environments into bespoke experiences using a lot of digital wizardry and The way of constant interaction to make people's jaws drop. So hopefully that's a apt description of what we do.   Marc Gutman  5:06  Yeah. And why don't we just get right to my burning question? Where's the name Leviathan come from?   Chad Hutson  5:12  Whew, that was a hotly debated topic, we went round and round for a few different reasons. So I'd say out of the 100 or so names that we had come up with, Leviathan kept coming, this coming full circle, for us, the game part because we want it to be being in Chicago. Architecture is such an important part of the city, very, very classic city in regards to architecture as well. So that led to, okay, what's the classic name and Leviathan, as you may have seen, goes back from the days of the, of the, when the Bible was written, or at least how it was translated to essay by Titan by Thomas Hobbes about the Commonwealth. And also, if you look at the dictionary, there's something definition, something enormous. And that just kind of spoke volumes as far as we want to be probably somewhat intimidating to our competitors. But we also want to create the field of something big and something something unique. So all those different factors combined contributed to why we call Leviathan Leviathan. Awesome. And so   Marc Gutman  6:23  as the CEO of a creative firm, like creative services firm like Leviathan, I mean, is this what you thought you'd always be doing? Like, you know, eight year old Chad, are you running around thinking you're gonna be, you know, running a creative services firm thinking big and doing big things?   Chad Hutson  6:40  No, I'm kind of a kind of a shy guy in some ways. And so I'd never really thought I would be the CEO of anything. But as far as interests go, when I was a kid, I, I'm dating myself now, but I had what was known as the Radio Shack Color Computer. So I guess if you had a personal computer as a kid, you probably either had an apple, two e, or something like that, or Radio Shack Color Computer. So that in early age, I love to play around with computers I loved. We live in the woods. So I've always be outside and wanting to experience what nature had to offer. So I suppose that part doesn't surprise me. Love going to theme parks loves understanding how how the sausage is made and how things were were done. So the Creative Services part, glad to have, I guess, tapped into those childhood roots, but but leading an organization that does what we do. Yeah, a bit of a surprise for me.   Marc Gutman  7:37  And did you grew up in the Chicago area?   Chad Hutson  7:39  No, I grew up in the southeast. For the most part, I lived in rural Georgia, in a valley, lots of mountains nearby, I had a stream that ran behind our house in less fields. So it's a pretty interesting place to be raised. But a lot of childhood in Georgia, spent some time in LA suburbs as a kid as well. And I was born in Nashville. But Chicago has been my home for the last 16 years now.   Marc Gutman  8:06  As a young kid in Georgia, did you were you a creative kid? I mean, were you into those types of pursuits? Or do you have other interests,   Chad Hutson  8:16  I love to draw even though I sucked at it. I loved being musician, also not necessarily my greatest accomplishment. But I've learned how to play with a variety of different instruments within all the school bands and was in a rock band as a teenager, and even went to college to study audio engineering, just taking walk work in the music industry, man, it could be a producer. And certainly picked up some of the technical aspects of it, but just was blown away by by the talent that would go to go to my classes and be incredible audio engineers, as well as great musicians, I just realized, oh, man, I just don't know if I have what it takes to cut it. But it's also one school that I picked up not only the technical side of the music industry, to a certain extent, but also the business side. So I had that sort of more of a, a free form degree program where you could pick up essentially any number of classes that interest you, and that would formulate your degree. So everything from artist management, copyright, law, Music Publishing, as well as a business minor as well. So the finance side mix with audio engineering, mixed with other forms of management is a pretty, pretty unique kind of program of study. So I think that was also fortuitous for my experience later on in life.   Marc Gutman  9:37  Yeah. And I imagine you into that program and that school so you could go out into the world and work in the recording industry. Is that what happened? I mean is, you know, did you get out and you just like, you know, we're here now, so something happened along the way.   Chad Hutson  9:57  Sure. Yeah, I did. I did. Live in Nashville. For a number of years and worked in the music industry never really climbed too many rungs of the ladder there. But I would say, I spent Gosh, about five years worked for a country musician named Alan Jackson, who was, I guess, kind of a big deal at the time. So I worked for his management company, I worked for a music venue development company that never quite developed the music venue, I worked in, worked in publishing, work for indie record label for an artist named john prine, who recently passed. And in all those times, I thought, Wow, it's so cool to be close to the creative people in the industry, I get to see, see how it's all done. But the downside was, you got to see how things were done. And any sort of, I guess, business of creativity has the side where, at least in the music industry at the time, and this was right before the dawn of the mp3 and how that really transformed the whole industry. But that's a different topic. But just seeing how artists were treated as a, as a commodity as a thing versus as a human, and just how hard they were pushed. That, to me was a turning point where I realized, anytime you have someone who is an artist who is creative, those people should be better protected. And that's something that I think really resonated with me in coming years, as I became more of a producer project management of multimedia projects, that I understood just enough of what they needed to accomplish, and what what the process was for that. And being able to, again, protect them to a certain extent, or at least explain that to the outside world of here's the process, here's what needs to be done, and trying to shelter them, or shield them from some of the some of the crap that they may normally do so but actually discovered down the road that there's a career in that, and that is being a liaison, or middleman or producer. So that's what I became   Marc Gutman  11:58  it was that what happened right away? or How was that transition from kind of bridging that dream. And that fallen dream? It's really interesting, because I have a lot of stories like that to where like the, the vision doesn't meet the reality. You know, like you get there. You're like, Oh, I mean, I had, I did the same thing. I went out to the movie business. And I was like, Oh, this is great. And I can have a career, but I'm not sure I want one. And you know, and we could talk about that at length, but it just didn't match my sort of fantasy revision of what that experience was like. So how did you make that then jump or leap into to marketing as a as a career?   Chad Hutson  12:36  Yeah, this was a moment of frustration to a certain degree, as I mentioned, the ladder was was really tall in the music industry. And most people never really make it above a certain level. So while I was hovering towards the bottom of the ladder, some friends of mine, their company had been acquired out Las Vegas of all places. And it was a Hollywood based company called sound Deluxe. And they had a a themed entertainment, audio, visual, and Creative Services arm of that company. So they were supporting, like the Hard Rock Hotel and developing that music library. There were a lot of other themed places, universal studios in Hollywood, where different attractions that had audio visual hardware and components, but also sound design and sometimes content to a vibrating theater seats to robotics. So it's pretty interesting mixture of these physical elements with with media elements as well. And then the nuts and bolts that kind of stitch it all together. So I think the transition out of the music industry was pretty Swift. Even though sound Deluxe had its roots. In an audio, I thought, well, I'm getting on Nashville and leaving the industry behind, and then jumping right into this field, which then led to another gig with an exhibit company that also had a division that focused on developing these media rich, physical environments. I was, I was pretty hooked. And that's when I realized, I can still use some of the education I've had over the years, both in school and in my short lived music industry career. But I mean, just the combination of everything that I love on the on the technology side, as well as seeing, seeing these people that I worked with, create magic and doing it within the physical environment was a special. So that's what really stuck with me and caused that transition happened.   Marc Gutman  14:32  Yeah, and when we started the show, and you kind of talked about Leviathan, you gave us you know, an answer that, hey, we do these big things, and this and that, and you've talked a little bit about multimedia. But I don't think people really are going to understand like, if we go to your website, we see these amazing installations. I mean, I'm I got a couple scrolling right here in the background and they're like blowing my mind. And so, you know, I want to also set the like contrast between That work and we'll kind of get into that. But so that's what we're seeing today. What were some of those early, big sort of multimedia projects back in the day that now you look at and you're like, well, maybe it's not so fantastical now. But at the time, it was groundbreaking.   Chad Hutson  15:16  I have to admit, some of the early stuff still really resonates me I'm biased. So naturally, I'm going to pick favorites. But I think some of that early work still resonates even today with with people outside of the organization. There was within I think, probably the first seven or eight months of after Leviathan open, which was in 2010, there was an electronic musician named Amanda Tobin. And on top it's been around for a number of years, he was performing at a music festival electronic music festival called New Tech, and I believe in Montreal, and a friend of ours, a DJ, by the name of velo workhouse, had done lots of you remember the genre EDM, he did lots of electronic musicians and DJs sets, doing concert visuals for them. But what what Amman Tobin wanted to do was something a bit different. A lot of DJ sets, or electronic musicians would literally just be sitting in front of either a computer or, or turntables. And I'd have the cups of the earphones on their head. And there may be some lights blinking and then they would shake their head back and forth in the crowd would probably go crazy. But his idea was, let's give him something more to react to you. I want to have a think in terms of like an IMAX movie, something very cinematic, had a narrative experience, which would accompany his album Isom, which I think it was somewhat of a concept album for him. So now he just having visuals, but having those narrative visuals projection mapped on two crazy stage set. And for those of you who don't know, project projection mapping at home, that's okay. It's a technical term, if you can imagine wrapping a three dimensional object in a projected image or in light, and having it seem to be very form fitted for that object. So this the stage that was a bunch of white cubes look like they were stacked, stacked on top of each other. And these crazy visuals were projection onto that surface, as as music played, and turned out that the crowd loved it. And the work garnered a lot of press in wired and Fast Company, New York Times, much of the publication. So that was really a watershed moment for us and helped build our career. So I'll flag that one as a as a favorite that I'd say, from a financial perspective, not our shiny spot, but it's okay and paid dividends over the years just being a calling card for us.   Marc Gutman  17:51  Speaking of holding up and still resonating, it looks like it still might be on your reel on your site. If I see it cycling through Is that right? Is that what I'm looking at?   Chad Hutson  17:59  Yeah, it's again, it's kind of a legacy project from from the early days. But we it's been pretty remarkable. We've had people from, again, 10 years ago when that show was going on tour. But whenever I have conversations with folks, and they see that clients even seeing that on our we'll say, Yeah, I went to that show a decade ago, and I'd never seen anything before. Like it just completely blew my mind and I'll never forget it. So when you hear compliments like that mean, even though it's not, it's not marketing or advertising in the traditional sense. There's not a brand logo associated with it or no Grand Prix award that comes with that. Being that is probably one of the best competency and get some people have their mind blown and that they remember even 10 years later.   Marc Gutman  18:48  That is incredible. You mentioned the early years Leviathan, let's let's go back there like how what was the, the genesis of the business like why Why? Why did you start this firm?   Chad Hutson  19:00  Wow, yeah, definitely going in the Wayback Machine. I had started another smaller, called a web and motion production company. We did work for other advertising agencies and other smaller groups, building websites did some for for record labels, and some for big agencies like DDP. We also had some motion designers or animator errs on our staff that had been going along from how the early days of 2002 up through about 2008 2009. And that's when one of the previous big financial crises hits hit the US, and we had to layoff everyone. The other partners that had they were not interested in sticking around. So there was this company that we'd built over the years and just kind of sitting dead in the water. I was the last man standing literally, in a lofty warehouse space in Chicago, thinking what The hell am I gonna do? We, we had the work wasn't coming in, we had had dead at that point. So I'll save you the sob story to say over probably about six, eight months, the work came back, had the company to myself and had cash in the bank. So then it became a matter of what, what do I do next? And how can I do it differently. So I had met another gentleman by the name of Matt Daly, he was freelancing with with my organization. And he just turned to be a brilliant fellow, he was not only really talented and in 3d, but he was also a crazy artist. in other respects, he had graduated from the school, the artists stitute, designed and built robots for like a touring robotics troupe in Europe. And he had some of these other crazy techniques he was trying out so very much, we call them the nutty professor just as a nickname, because he really was that, that brilliant guy, he could do his day job as an animator, but he really had passion for doing these other, more technically advanced things, then met another guy who was a creative director who had been a painter and sculptor in his previous life. And at the time, he was running another animation studio. So we also got together and start talking about why have this company, it's kind of coming back to life. We all love building things for physical environments, and we like doing things kind of going beyond what is what is expected within those spaces. So maybe we just take what's left of my old company, and let's turn into something new. And that's literally what what Leviathan was, was my old Rolodex, I'll use air quotes for people who might still remember that term, my list of contacts the money in the bank, and started over with with those assets. And that was Leviathan.   Marc Gutman  21:45  Was that hard? taken on partners? Was there any pause there? Were you? Was there any concern? Or was it pretty easy?   Chad Hutson  21:51  Oh, getting married is never easy. It certainly came with its with its benefits too, though, having having to lead my own organization for a while having some other strong personalities come into the organization was I think was, it can be challenging, but it's also a very healthy thing to happen to have a balance between the business side and just called pure artistic side. And then the technical side, we kept the organization honest, for a number of years, we were able to, to at least support ourselves, I have just had a someone in the finance industry Tell me like, hey, a business is not. It's not to support a hobby. But in some ways, it kind of was because we got to build beautiful work. Some of it was very commercial. But I think it was just a good balanced organization for a number of years. But I think as, as we grew in size, and as we just wanted to keep it going, I think that's where the diversion of opinions between partners can sometimes come into play. It's not necessarily a matter of there was misalignment. The no one was necessarily wrong or, right. But the the aspiration is to be a pure artist and do nothing, nothing commercial and still make a healthy living. That's not that's not always a common happening. So, so some wanted to just have stability in their lives, and others want to be artists. And I think that's where some of the complications came in. But being I'd say as, quote unquote, parents who got married and had a baby that is Leviathan, certainly, we'd all be proud of the Leviathan that that exists today because of that parenting, if you will.   Marc Gutman  23:39  Yeah, that's such an interesting topic of that you just brought up in that. I think a lot of creatives struggle with this, this tension between wanting to be an artist and wanting to make money. I mean, there's nothing wrong with that. I think sometimes we feel guilty about it, we're like, oh, there's some like sin and being commercial or getting money, or we've sold our soul or compromising our what we do. But at the end of the day, you know, we're one of times very fortunate that we can do this for a living and solve business problems and get paid, but like, how do you reconcile that what was what was the sort of the, the recipe Leviathan for balancing that, that need to to be an artist yet be commercial?   Chad Hutson  24:25  I once had another agency owner telling me that like, Hey, man, you're in the service industry, you are paid for a service, you are not paid to be an artist. So you kind of have to get over your self righteousness of trying to be not always trying to create art now your, your in your in marketing, you need to you need to just accept that. So that was a moment where I had to pause and wanted to push back and say, well, that's, that's a bunch of crap. But the more I thought about it, I think it did resonate. So that being said, we wouldn't Next Leviathan or at least what made Leviathan great in the early days was really trying to push the boundaries of what? what is possible within the physical space. If you think about, what do you see at a Disney or universal theme park, it seems to be magical and it defies reality. And that's those are the exact types of projects that we work on outside of, say, a corporate headquarters or, or Museum, we love working in the theme space as well. So in trying to focus on if it's not, well, we try to make it beautiful as well. But what would make this special? What could no one else do? Or at least not do very easily that we could do from a technology perspective? And then how can we make that technology invisible, so you feel like you are experiencing something that is sprinkled in pixie dust that it is magical, but there's no reason why we can't make it beautiful as well. So I think just always trying to recruit the right talent that understands what is what is cutting edge, but feasible. Avoid the bleeding edge so that you don't fall on your face from trying technology, it's not been tried and true. And then also making sure you have people who are who value design above a lot of other things. And so therefore, you don't compromise you make it make it bespoke and unique in its execution, and you make it as beautiful as you can, and as beautiful as a client's and branding will allow and you can't nail it every time. But as long as you strive for that and you do have some some end results that meet that criteria, then I consider that a win for sure.   Marc Gutman  26:44  A common question I get all the time is Mark, can you help me with our brand? Yes, we help companies solve branding problems. And the first step would be to schedule a no obligation brand clarity call, we'll link to that in the show notes, or head over to wildstory.com and send us an email, we'll get you booked right away. So whether you're just getting started with a new business, or whether you've done some work and need a refresh, or whether you're a brand that's high performing and wants to stay there, we can help. After you book your brand clarity call, you'll learn about our brand audit and strategy process. we'll identify if you need a new logo or just a refresh, will determine if your business has a branding problem. And you'll see examples of our work and get relevant case studies. We'll also see if branding is holding your business back and can help you get to the next level. So what are you waiting for? Build the brand you've always dreamed of. Again, we'll link to that in the show notes or head over to wildstory.com and send us an email. Now back to the show.   As a hearing you speak it actually took me back to my very first job, which was I was working for Disney Imagineering in Cali. You were an Imagineer. I Well, I don't think I don't know if I was technically I worked there I was on the payroll. I don't think I was an Imagineer though I was like a runner. Right. And for your total projects. Yeah, for different projects. But I would report to this total skunkworks kind of warehouse in Van Nuys that was very nondescript, and you'd walk in through different security and you know, and then there'd be like, look like the land of Misfit Toys with robots and welding. And then I go through all that. And then I'd actually walk into a private theater that had three panels, 70 millimeter, and we'd be screening, screening movies for Epcot and stuff like that. But as we're as we're talking, I was like, wow, do they have their own version? Because I'm looking at your website like work? Where are these things fabricated? And do you have like your own sort of secret Imagineering Leviathan lab, if you will, where these were these projects are assembled? What's that? Like?   Chad Hutson  29:07  Yeah, I wish we had a gigantic fabrication facility where you could 3d prints something the size of a human being or to have tons of robots that are at our disposal. For the most part, we do have a a an engineering space where the team can work on prototyping things. We have other partners that will work with where they can fabricate other physical structures. But as far as like hooking computers up to that and projecting onto the wall and setting up different monitor arrays or testing out augmented virtual reality, any sort of installations that we might work on, we always try to set up a working prototype for that in our space. And it's, it's absolutely necessary that imagine designing a product and never really testing it and then just like sending out to the market and saying, Well, here it is. We really have to test out Those kinds of prototypes long before we get to the point of trying to roll it out or even showing it to the client. So it's been, it's always intriguing to see what, what works and what doesn't. When you just when you think you have the right plan, that plan is foiled by reality. And then you have to pivot. But a lot of important learnings come out of those, those mistakes. same can be said about live, as well as business. But prototyping, I think it's really important for us to test testings out, we learn new tricks, new processes from that. And, again, I love I love seeing much like those who work in in film, like you have looking behind the scenes and seeing how it's all made is, is intriguing in and of itself. So I love that process.   Marc Gutman  30:47  Yeah, absolutely. And you're talking about like prototyping and getting it right. I mean, are there any projects that like, you just wish you could have had to do overrun? Or wish you're never even took on? Like, do you have any that just didn't? didn't quite work?   Chad Hutson  31:01  I certainly I'd hate to bring up the the names of the of the innocent or the client names, either. But yeah, I mean, we have absolutely had some projects where, if anything, it's probably usually just a shortage of time. And when you, we don't have enough time to get something right. Even if it's less about being a perfectionist, and trying to do it over again, and maybe doing it even better the second or third time, sometimes you just don't have the luxury of finishing the work at all. So it's, you feel like you're stringing it together with with duct tape at the very end. So I would say sometimes those those projects happen. And all you can really do is stick with it, and work with clients and have them be as understanding as I possibly can. And you as much as you want to go back to them and say, Hey, we told you so we told you we needed more time, and still didn't happen. All you can do is let them know that, hey, we want to avoid what happened last time, right? So we need the ample time to to not only prototype this, but to install it and finish it out. So yeah, I can't really say a specific project. But I would just say time can be the enemy of of that kind of work. And anytime perfect.   Marc Gutman  32:19  Yeah. So what do you want clients to know about this work? Like? Like, how do how do we get it? Right?   Chad Hutson  32:25  Great question, I could probably come up with a pretty long list. So I'll just think of a few key points, I think that might be might be important for for future clients. No. I think for one, sometimes the the bells and whistles are not what makes these experiences as good as we all want them. technology's absolutely an important part. But if you are in a corporate headquarters, and you have a, say a gorgeous, giant display, floor to ceiling goes three storeys high. I've seen those where clients have cnn running on those screens versus having something that can be a valuable branded moment. So they invested all that money into probably millions of dollars in these gigantic view displays, and they don't think about what what the content is that goes on those. So that is that's kind of marketing 101, right, you need to have the right message to the right story. So I'd say think less about the technology and more about those, those immersive branded moments, you have to get that right. And you have to balance out the investment in, in the content in the story and in the design as much as you are on the technology side. If not, then you have a big expensive TV in your living room that you don't even have Netflix to play on. And you have a big screen that plays a screensaver. And that's, that's not doing anyone any great service, I'd say something else that's important about about these kinds of moments is that if you if you want to have a an environment that is cutting edge from a technology standpoint, you you have to understand that that comes with an investment of time and you have to experiment and some things you aren't always going to get right and it kind of comes back to the time aspect you need time to prototype and test and think that's what groups like, like a Disney or universal get right is they they spend a lot of time developing new technology new IP before they release it out into the world. So that's not always possible in the in the call the brand environments. So So I'd say maybe to come first. So first full circle on that point. It is clients sometimes want to push the envelope further than then should be possible and you need to kind of work with solid state technologies and techniques that that we know will work over the test of time and and can't always push the envelope as far as we'd like. There we go. That narrative first and foremost, and investing in content over technology, and then just kind of being realistic with expectations and what you can do within a branded environment.   Marc Gutman  35:12  Yeah, totally. And so when you think about all that, and you're talking about solid state technologies and tried and true, let's flip it and kind of go the other way, like, what are you most excited about in terms of technologies that are coming up in ways that can be applicable to how you work with your clients?   Chad Hutson  35:30  Yeah, I'd say, a lot of what we've been doing lately is I try to use a simple term real time content. This could be anything from say data visualization to artificial intelligence or computer vision, it's it's kind of taking taking some these technologies and putting it on steroids and making the content not just playing back a video, but having having real time aspects to it having data that's refreshed at the very, in the very second that you're looking at a screen. other technologies like game engines, so unity, or unreal, are the same kinds of technologies used to build console video games. And that kind of engine can also be very powerful with creating beautiful graphics, and affecting it real time, either through cards, sensing physical gestures, or using other external controllers. But I think the evolution of all that real time content has been pretty remarkable. And it's a cornerstone of what we do. And when you have that in the Brandon environment, I mean, you can have different types of industrial simulations or, or different types of data visualizations helps communicate to, to your organization or to your clients. Just how dynamically something can change. And it does it in a way that's compelling and beautiful. And that's what honestly, that's what creating all the these experiences is about. Much like in a, in a theme park as a kid, those kind of magical moments resonate with you for a long time. And that's what that's the kind of tools that we build for our clients is create an experience for them that they're not seeing, gonna forget. And for for those clients, it leads to, to either engage employees or transactions with clients. So those real time technologies, I think, are, are very exciting for us, and adds levels of personalization as well. So that if, if you enter to a space, this is an overused analogy of Minority Report, if you recall that film, but the the moment where Tom Cruise is running around, he has someone else's identity, but everywhere he runs within the retail space, these ads pop up that that speak his name, and supposedly cater to what his interests are. So while that's a bit, can you say it's a bit far fetched anymore, but Well, that would be a bit intrusive in real life, I think, when applied in the right way, if you share that kind of information, much like you would with a website or an app, to share it in the right way, within the physical environment, the real time personalized experiences that can come with that I think are it can almost be worth the worth sharing information. And to get that kind of payoff for that experience.   Marc Gutman  38:29  Yeah. And so I think about that, and I think about it's like using data for good versus data for bad. And it's, how do we do that? Because Because I want to be a part of that world where I get the personalized, customized experience that you just described. That sounds amazing, right? Like sounds like but like then there's always this like, other shoe that will drop of data being used against us. Is there a way to, to live in that cooler world without the dark side?   Chad Hutson  39:00  Yeah, it's a difficult question to answer. I would say, I know, I keep throwing out these Disney theme park examples. But I'd say it's a good model to think about what what Disney had created a few years back is something called the magic band. And I think they've since pivoted more to using mobile devices if people don't want to use the magic band, but it's more or less an RFID wristband that is that identifies you as a person. And when you register for the magic band, you also attach a credit card or a bank card to that so that when you go into the park, yes, you can use the park to get in to get in kind of recognize you and say okay, yeah, they've paid to their admission fee. But when they're going to a restaurant and they want to, to order a pick up their food, they know Okay, well this is this is Chad, he picked up the hot dog he ordered from his mobile device. But then there's also moments where if you're going through a ride and I think we worked on this for for the Haunted Mansion, which is an attraction, as you're riding through. It's called the dune buggy. There's an identifier where knows if you're sitting in a certain seat within the the buggy and the ghosts that's projected onto a surface in front of you hold up a science, that's Chicago or bust, it knows that I'm from Chicago. And it pulled that information and and displayed it, which made it a pretty remarkable move for me like, hey, how did they they know that they know us from Chicago. So that's a one specific case. I suppose that happening. But are they using that information for marketing purposes? Very likely. But again, I think it kind of comes back to the debate of a customer paid for this experience. Did it make it a better experience? for them? It's is it more remarkable? Is that more amazing or magical? I think the answer is yes. Then the customers are okay with that. But But that said, I think whenever whenever the question of ethics comes into play is transparency is key. So if you don't know what you're signing up for when you're sharing that kind of information, then yeah, that's one of the bad things start happening. And you don't always want to read through a 45 page agreement to see if, like, Am I really giving up information that I shouldn't? That's an invasion of my privacy or not. But that's our perspective. If it's, if it's worth the trade off to the customer, then I suppose it's okay. Question mark.   Marc Gutman  41:33  And I haven't been to Disney in so long and made me want to go back. Sounds awesome. And you sold it like it sounds great. I want the personalized experience. I want my magic band to work. So that sounds that sounds great. And a few years ago, you actually went through was it an acquisition or a merger with with the envoy group?   Chad Hutson  41:51  Yeah, absolutely. There's a group called envoy, and it's based in Southern California, specifically Orange County. And we had worked together with them. If you've ever seen a Vizio television, it seems like there's one in almost every household. But when Vizio first came on to the scene, as an electronics manufacturer, Ondoy was like their first digital agency. And at the time, they were doing a ton of work for them. And they'd collaborated with us on doing some 3d animation, software products. So what started as a successful collaboration some years ago, and the continued relationship, it just evolved into conversations around, hey, on voices, we're, we're trying to build something bigger. And we were looking for the right family members. So with them being a phone call, called a traditional digital agency, where they were focused more on creating websites and apps and digital products for their clients. And we were doing more of the call to digital spaces or environments. It just seemed like a great match. So they, when they purchase gas in four years ago, and now it's, yeah, I'm really glad to happen, especially in light of pandemic, having a larger family with with a greater resources, it's certainly been very, very important for our organization to, to stay strong and, and even thrive in those times. So it's been a, I'd say much to my comment earlier, sometimes when it comes to marriage. It's not always easy, but I think that we are like minded individuals, and we're making something bigger and better. That's been great.   Marc Gutman  43:36  Was it difficult at that time? I mean, I know, I know. Now looking back, you're like, this is great. And we got through the pandemic, and we're part of this happy family. But at the time, was it hard to think about giving up your autonomy and doing that and becoming a part of a different group?   Chad Hutson  43:53  very fair question. I would say there were mixed emotions that they're there and how was a boss of sorts, whenever you are, whenever someone buys you for what you have, I think that their hope is to, to make more money off of that. And that's the fair assumption. That's what when you run a business, you want to be profitable. And as I described, in our earlier years, we were probably more focused on making great work and at least supporting ourselves and not really going beyond that. So I think it was an important lesson to learn if you you can make great work, but you also have to if you want to grow if you want to have more stability, you need to need to earn money for your shareholders. So I think that that was while it was difficult to shift the mindset of being more businesslike versus being more suppose creative. I, the other part of my brain completely got it. And I think that was also the other part of my brain is what wanted to learn more about the Beside of how do larger businesses operate? What? What are the better financial models to pursue? And how can we be more efficient at doing things, we can't always just be the experimenters at some point in time, okay, we have to move on to the next project, we can't always just fund experimentation ourselves. While we try to do that, when we can, I think learning on the job shouldn't necessarily be something that that you have to pay for, you can build that into projects. So, so there were definitely some adjustments. But again, I feel like it's built a it's helped us to build a better operation, all the way around. And we serve a wide range of clients now. And they're still really good about giving us enough autonomy. If anything, they're there in Southern California, we're in Chicago. So even though everything is virtual, at the moment, it's still a good a good balance of letting us to what we do best and being a support system. And, and I guess a boss when, whenever needed.   Marc Gutman  46:05  Sometimes a little accountability doesn't hurt, right? Like I talked about this morning with someone I was like, wow, like not being accountable, because I have my own thing, but like I fully can recognize that some accountability will also go a long way.   Chad Hutson  46:19  Yeah, I mean, we all push ourselves, right? If we're business owners or operators, we push ourselves, but sometimes you need the outside influence. And that's, that's a bit of, yeah, I think we're on the same page.   Marc Gutman  46:29  Yeah, that's really cool. So as you look to the future, what do you what are you most excited about these days? What what are you looking forward to?   Chad Hutson  46:37  I don't think the Android had acquired Leviathan, as well as another company called Bulldog Drummond. And I don't think they're gonna stop there. I think they are certainly looking to find other like minded organizations that fit the mold. So having a bigger family having greater capabilities, it'll allow our team the ability to cross pollinate that much more. Our different offices have definitely started to team up more. And we're learning from those experiences and growing from them. Not only does it give our clients get some more, more offerings and more support, but it just gives our other employees opportunities to try new things and work in different offices. That that kind of growth, I think, is what's really exciting for us. But I'm also excited for, for the world to start opening up again, because everything we do is pretty much centered around physical environments and physical environments have been taboo for the last 1518 months almost. So having having theme parks, museums, reopen corporate headquarters, that are reopening and being able to put experiences in those spaces, because we've remained very busy during, even during the lockdown. But as the world opens up, and there's experiences that we've been building, have have also opened with them. I just think that, that people are going to be so excited about getting back into spaces and experiencing things that it's going to be a very busy next few years for us.   Marc Gutman  48:14  Yeah, I for one, I'm very excited about reemerging into the world and experiencing life once again. So Chad, as we come to a close here, I'd like you to think back to your time growing up in Georgia young boy and plan along the stream. And you know, if he was able to see you now, what do you think he'd say,   Chad Hutson  48:38  wow. Now what I just see today, or what I see the whole movie of the last 35 years or so.   Marc Gutman  48:47  That's up to you. What are you going to share with them?   Chad Hutson  48:51  Oh, no, I think I would have to say I want to take a moment to at least say You know what? We did all right. But I think the one important ones, important things that I always try to remind myself of is to is to not be so hard on ourselves. Now to say that good enough is truly good enough. It's not just it's adequate. Like No, I did. I did well, it's good. And we don't always have to keep flogging ourselves to say could have done better should have done better. Because we you try you fail and you learn from it. And so I guess I would just say that. Hey, man, you've done pretty well for yourself and be proud of it. But now get back out there and and do more do better. So yeah, I would just tell myself that it's going to be okay, and hang in there and don't give up and just know that you tried your best. Probably not the strongest answer I could give them but that's that's honestly what goes through my mind a lot of times some maybe you could have done more or could have done better but you did pretty well. So be good with   Marc Gutman  50:07  that is Chad Hutson, CEO and co founder of Leviathan. I've always wondered who made all those amazing digital experiences, I would interact with it performances, theme parks and office buildings. And now I know it's most likely Leviathan. I can't stop thinking about what Chad said that sometimes good enough really is good enough. Throughout my career, I haven't always agreed with that sentiment. But coincidentally, this summer my personal theme is, be content, not complacent, but be content with the good things. lean in. Remember why we're here to enjoy this experience. I also really resonated with Chad's notion that we should invest in content over technology. After all these years and all the technological advancements we've seen, from film, to radio, to television to the internet, one thing has remained constant, great and compelling storytelling wins above all else. A big thank you to Chad Hutson and the team at Leviathan. We will link to all things Chad and Leviathan in the show notes. And if you know of a guest who should appear on our show, please drop me a line at podcast at wildstory.com. Our best guests like Chad come from referrals from past guests and our listeners. Well that's the show. Until next time, make sure to visit our website www.wildstory.com where you can subscribe to the show in iTunes, Stitcher or via RSS see you'll never miss an episode. A lot of big stories and I cannot lie to you other storytellers can't deny

Caley Cantrell is the strategy guru over at VCU Brandcenter. In this episode, Caley gives us a glimpse into one of the more trusted graduate school options for passionate aspiring advertisers, VCU Brandcenter. Caley tells us about their strategy track. I believe that strategy is tough to break into within advertising. However, this program will shape you into a junior-level strategist that agencies will want to hire. Hear about the details in this episode! Interested in strategy or not, Caley has excellent advice as she has taught plenty of students in her life. To see her resources and to connect, head to our IG @EnteringAD. --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/breakenter/message

The longer one spends in the industry, it seems it gets easier to get more skeptical and cynical about the ad business. However, if you want a different take- talk to people who are just embarking on their careers in the business and see nothing but positivity and hope. I recently interviewed Payal Pereira and  Shannon Gerety who are recent strategy graduates from the VCU Brandcenter.  I was taken aback by their maturity, pragmatism, and good old-fashioned enthusiasm for the business and craft of strategy. What impressed me most was their desire to be part of the changes that the industry needs to make and how well they understood the importance and potential impact of these changes. There's a lesson here for those in management- the world you see isn't the same one that your new employees see and it's therefore imperative that you listen and learn. Reverse mentoring can be a powerful thing. 

This week, I interviewed the humanistic and hungry Hamza Ali, 2nd Year Art Director from VCU Brandcenter. Tune in to hear how he went from documentary filmmaker to art director, why figuring out what to eat has been the most challenging part of being an ad student, and why he thinks side hustles can be toxic. Hamza Ali: hamzaali.work instagram.com/hamzaawadia linkedin.com/in/hamza-ali-036133164 Thanks so much for listening! As always, cover art is made by this week's guest. Podcasts come out weekly, but to stay up to date on all things Just Getting Started follow instagram.com/jgspodcast & follow my personal account at instagram.com/emilydelius_ad #advertising #portfolioschool #creativecircus #ad #design #studentlife #vcubrandcenter #miamiadschool #denverad #denveradschool #chicagoportfolioschool #artdirection #graphicdesign #creative #creativity #graphicdesigner #designer #copywriting #copywriter #webdev #css #coding #photo #photography #passion #student #webdevelopment #art #artist #podcast #gradschool

This week, I interviewed one of the co-founders of The Carriage House, Chrissy Boals, 2nd Year Art Director at VCU Brandcenter. Tune in to hear about how her passion for dogs turned into a dream project in school, how she surprised her mom with a children’s book for Christmas that she made from scratch, and why she thinks students should strive to make campaigns for the work they want to get hired for. Chrissy Boals: chrissyboals.com/ linkedin.com/in/chrissyboals/ instagram.com/chrissaysay/ (send dog pics here) chrissyboals@outlook.com The Carriage House is VCU Brandcenter’s first full-service creative co-op. You can check out the work they do here: carriagehousebc.com Thanks so much for listening! As always, cover art is made by this week's guest. Podcasts come out weekly, but to stay up to date on all things Just Getting Started follow instagram.com/jgspodcast & follow my personal account at instagram.com/emilydelius_ad #advertising #portfolioschool #creativecircus #ad #design #studentlife #vcubrandcenter #miamiadschool #denverad #denveradschool #chicagoportfolioschool #artdirection #graphicdesign #creative #creativity #graphicdesigner #designer #copywriting #copywriter #webdev #css #coding #photo #photography #passion #student #webdevelopment #art #artist #podcast #gradschool

IS PORTFOLIO SCHOOL WORTH IT? Myka Betts, 2020 Miami Ad School NY grad and Art Director at The Bam Connection in Brooklyn, Beth Hughes, 2017 VCU Brandcenter grad and Senior Art Director for Capitol One in Richmond, VA, Rachel Carlson, 2011 The Creative Circus grad and Creative Director at Mekanism in Seattle, and I figure it out. We talk about choosing a portfolio school and why the wash out rates are so high. They discuss the importance of having a specific end goal before starting and the doors opened by the network you make in portfolio school. Myka and Beth open up about the reality of long hours and harsh critiques, while Rachel brings up the lack of diversity and homogeneous perspective of portfolio school graduates. Lastly they discuss the importance of side projects and a well written “about me” section.

This week, I interviewed the exuberant & elegant David Ligon, 2nd Year Art Director at VCU Brandcenter. Tune in to hear how this ex-ballerina went from en pointe to on pitches, why he’s been able to become his most authentic and peculiar self in advertising school, and how Twitter may just be the elite networking platform over LinkedIn. David Ligon: dligon86@icloud.com instagram.com/van_ligon twitter.com/VanLigon Thanks so much for listening! As always, cover art is made by this week's guest. Podcasts come out weekly, but to stay up to date on all things Just Getting Started follow instagram.com/jgspodcast & follow my personal account at instagram.com/emilydelius_ad #advertising #portfolioschool #creativecircus #ad #studentlife #gradschool #vcubrandcenter #artdirection #graphicdesign #creative #creativity #graphicdesigner #design #designer #copywriting #copywriter #webdev #css #coding #photo #photography #passion #student #webdevelopment #art #artist #podcast

To kick off the new year, I interviewed our first ever guest from VCU Brandcenter, Michelle Greeley, 2nd year Art Director. Tune in to hear how portfolio school has helped her express herself in a way that touches others, how her houseplants are her best critics, and why she loves cross-stitching profanity. Michelle Greeley:
 michellegreeley.com 
instagram.com/michellegreeley greeleymv@mymail.vcu.edu Thanks so much for listening! As always, cover art is made by this week's guest. Podcasts come out weekly, but to stay up to date on all things Just Getting Started follow instagram.com/jgspodcast & follow my personal account at instagram.com/emilydelius_ad

Benita Conde is the founder of Create Radical Love, LLC a life coaching and consulting approach for people who want to radically love their whole life experience, not just compartmentalized parts of it.  Benita joined me on the podcast to talk about her journey of alignment with her true purpose, creating radical love in her own life, and how she is actively and passionately helping others do the same. Benita is an advertising industry expert with 20 years of experience supporting and guiding the careers of creative people. She held leadership roles in resource management, project management, recruiting and talent development at agencies such as Fallon NY, BBH NY and Anomaly NY and led creative recruiting for North America at the global executive placement firm, The Talent Business.  Benita has experienced the coaching process as a client, ​completed the year-long Tier 1 Civilization Upgraders Leadership Training program led by Bentinho Massaro in 2019​ and has been sober for 13 years.  Her first professional role was that of classical ballet dancer in NYC. She brings that discipline, devotion and her love for choreographic movement, creative collaboration and creative passion into all that she does. In July of 2017 Benita left her most recent agency role at Anomaly NY, jumped into the unknown and launched Create Radical Love in October 2017. She now works with individuals globally as a holistic coach guiding each client to lead with intuition, define a calling and take action from that aligned, excited and Infinite place across all aspects of their life experience.  She also works with creative businesses, educational institutions and industry groups as a coach, consultant, workshop facilitator and speaker. In addition, she now also sits on the communications committee of The Innerwork Center in Richmond, VA and is the Wellness Strategist for VCU Brandcenter. There is nothing that lights her up more than to see people step into their true excitement, their true freedom and watch them wake up to what is infinitely possible for themselves and their businesses. If she can create and live a radically loved life, so can you! Connect with Benita at CreateRadicalLove.com and follow her on Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Benita Conde is back for part two of our conversation.  In this episode we talk about stepping out in faith even when it feels like no one else around us understands the decisions we are making and the actions we are taking.  We talk about staying connected to our higher power and staying in alignment with our true self while acting in faith and staying in purposeful action. Benita Conde is the founder of Create Radical Love, LLC a life coaching and consulting approach for people who want to radically love their whole life experience, not just compartmentalized parts of it.  She is an advertising industry expert with 20 years of experience supporting and guiding the careers of creative people. She held leadership roles in resource management, project management, recruiting and talent development at agencies such as Fallon NY, BBH NY and Anomaly NY and led creative recruiting for North America at the global executive placement firm, The Talent Business.  Benita has experienced the coaching process as a client, ​completed the year-long Tier 1 Civilization Upgraders Leadership Training program led by Bentinho Massaro in 2019​ and has been sober for 13 years.  Her first professional role was that of classical ballet dancer in NYC. She brings that discipline, devotion and her love for choreographic movement, creative collaboration and creative passion into all that she does. In July of 2017 Benita left her most recent agency role at Anomaly NY, jumped into the unknown and launched Create Radical Love in October 2017. She now works with individuals globally as a holistic coach guiding each client to lead with intuition, define a calling and take action from that aligned, excited and Infinite place across all aspects of their life experience.  She also works with creative businesses, educational institutions and industry groups as a coach, consultant, workshop facilitator and speaker. In addition, she now also sits on the communications committee of The Innerwork Center in Richmond, VA and is the Wellness Strategist for VCU Brandcenter. There is nothing that lights her up more than to see people step into their true excitement, their true freedom and watch them wake up to what is infinitely possible for themselves and their businesses. If she can create and live a radically loved life, so can you! Connect with Benita at CreateRadicalLove.com and follow her on Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On episode 36 of Bouncing Back, I interviewedTreasure Brown who recently graduated from VCU Brandcenter with a focus on experiential design. This is also my 12th episode for The Avail List where Treasure is currently being highlighted.It should be obvious to anyone who watches this episode that Treasure is a true treasure. She's an introvert who is empathetic, laid back, and motivated to create work that amplifies racial disparities in our society.She loves pushing ideas beyond low hanging fruit and is always advocating for those not in the room.She's a serial entrepreneur who has already sold one company, loves building foundations and brand strategy for new companies, and also has her own design podcast called 'Just Us'.You won't regret reaching out to Treasure and hearing how she can help your agency. Take a look at her portfolio treasurebrown.com

On episode 28 of Bouncing Back, I interviewed Meosha Jupiter who was most recently a freelance UX designer. This is also my 7th episode with The Avail ListMeosha recently graduated from VCU Brandcenter with a degree in branding & experiential design. She can get along with anyone, is ready to think of big ideas, and is hoping to one day blend her love for animation with UX Design.She's recently been doing some ProBono work for local brands in the Richmond community as her way to stay busy and give back.While she loves to design beautiful apps and websites, she's ready to start ideating around big ideas and is hoping to surround herself with other great designers wherever she ends up.Check out her portfolio here and you'll see how talented she really is. www.meoshajupiter.com/Enjoy

Genie Gurnani is Head of Creative, Asia-Pacific, at Vice Media. Genie grew up near Yosemite National Park, a relatively isolated part of the States before then attending UC Berkeley and VCU Brandcenter, and working in agencies such as David&Goliath, TBWAChiatDay, and Leo Burnett. In this chat, we discuss Genie's push from a small town to elite schools, from planning to creative, from the US to Asia, and from behind the camera to in front of it. This episode is for everyone who's been told to bring themselves to work but doesn't know what this means, and for anyone who feels they have to leave a huge chunk of themselves at home every day. You can find Genie here https://www.instagram.com/wishforgenie/ For more strategy talk: Newsletter: http://www.markpollard.net/email-newsletter/ Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/markpollard Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/markpollard Facebook - join 9,000+ strategists: http://www.sweathead.co The deskbook “Strategy Is Your Words” is out soon http://www.strategyisyourwords.com

Has AI raised the floor but not the ceiling with marketing? Have we over-indexed on having content at scale? And is there a way for marketers to understand when hyper-personalization will cross the line into creepiness? In this episode of thinkPod, we are joined by Kate Bradley Chernis (Founder & CEO of Lately) and Joey Camire (principal & founding team of Sylvain Labs). We talk to Kate and Joey about whether AI will replace human marketers, where we are currently with AI and marketing, the difficulty of getting marketers to write, and how AI can bring delight to consumers. We also get into the hot debate around a company’s responsibility with user data and imagine a future where each cup of yogurt is tracked. Connect with thinkLeaders and our panelists: @IBMthinkLeaders @JoeyCashmere @outlandosmedia Kate Bradley Chernis is the Founder & CEO of Lately, an AI-powered marketing dashboard that’s reinventing the marketing process to give individual marketers the power to create and scale smarter, more consistent messaging. With Lately, Davids become Goliaths. As a former marketing agency owner, Kate, initially created the idea for Lately out of spreadsheets for then-client, Walmart. Well, not just Walmart. It was a partnership between Walmart, United Way Worldwide, National Disability Institute, and tens of thousands of local, small business and nonprofit affiliates who were all using her spreadsheet system – because they all had the same problems: a lack of coordination, widespread redundancies, no visibility and no organization. With Kate’s spreadsheet system, they achieved a 130%, three year, year-over-year ROI. In fact, Kate found similar success with all of her clients, regardless of industry or company size. So, along with one heck of a superhero team, she created Lately to organize the mess, automate repetitive processes and eliminate the "overwhelming" feeling that every marketer she'd ever met had complained about. Prior to founding Lately, Kate served 20 million listeners as Music Director and on-air host at Sirius/XM. She’s also an award-winning radio producer, engineer and voice talent with 25 years of national broadcast communications, brand-building, sales and marketing expertise. After escaping from neuroscience and psychology, with a layover at the VCU Brandcenter, Joey Camire moved to New York to join the founding team of Sylvain Labs. Here, he leads innovation and brand strategy work for bluechip clients such as Google, GM, AB Inbev, Bloomberg, and more. Joey spearheaded several cultural projects including the documentary Instafame, as well as writing The Dots, a book deconstructing influence for brands and institutions in contemporary culture. Along with a team at Sylvain Labs, Joey produces the weekly podcast Critical Nonsense, digging deep into cultural ephemera to inspire interesting conversations. A respected authority on the realms of social influence, strategy and cultural change, Joey has written for numerous publications including Wired, The Drum, McSweeney’s Internet Tendency, PSFK, The Egoist, and shots.

In this special episode recorded at the VCU Brandcenter Recruiter Session, we sat down with three Brandcenter alumni—Lizzy Hopkinson (2017), Copywriter, Nitin Dua (2016), Senior Strategist at Fallon, and Brandon Viney (2012), Creative Lead at Google Brand Studio—to talk about the start of their careers, early lessons, and their best advice for graduating seniors. Huge thank you to our friends at 22squared, who helped make this trip and episode possible!

“People tend to see strategy and design as two separate things.” As the founder and CEO of Sylvain Labs, Alain Sylvain sits at the intersection of strategy and design. We discussed this including several examples of design thinking at work on this week’s episode of the On Brand podcast. About Alain Sylvain Alain Sylvain is the founder and CEO of Sylvain Labs, a strategy and design consultancy that helps companies seize the reality and potential of their business, products and brands. Clients include, Google, American Express, Airbnb, Spotify, Blackrock, Samsung, Pepsico, AB InBev, Jet, IKEA, GM, Sonos, the NBA, and others. Founded in 2010, the company is headquartered in NYC, with offices in Amsterdam and Richmond, VA, and a Certified B-Corporation. In addition to Sylvain Labs, Alain is a partner and investor in several ventures, including Master + Dynamic, a design-driven, premium audio brand, So Choice Softworks, a mobile gaming company, Lilo, an açai bowl company, and PetMio, a smart pet food startup. In addition, he has served as executive producer on short documentaries, including Some Kind of Quest and Instafame. He has been featured in various news outlets and is a current board member of Plus Pool and the VCU Brandcenter. Episode Highlights The trouble with strategy and design. “People tend to see strategy and design as two separate things — maybe we’re part of the problem because we list them together!” Alain laughed. Design means many things. It can be “at the Adobe level” (graphic design) but it also means design thinking. With a plethora of definitions, what does design thinking actually mean? “It’s really more of a statement about what it’s not. It’s not graphic design. It’s about channeling the end user as you think and design.” We also talked about how business can corrupt words and phrases like design thinking and story. Where does Alain see design thinking at work? "Look at any major category — in mattresses you have Casper, in eyewear you have Warby Parker, in insurance there’s Oscar. Design is at the core of all of these.” What brand has made Alain smile recently? “There’s something magical going on at Spotify. It’s a brand — despite their best attempts! But is has utility in my life.” To learn more, go to the Sylvain Labs website. As We Wrap … Did you hear something you liked on this episode or another? Do you have a question you’d like our guests to answer? Let me know on Twitter using the hashtag #OnBrandPodcast and you may just hear your thoughts here on the show. On Brand is sponsored by my new book Brand Now. Discover the seven dynamics to help your brand stand out in our crowded, distracted world. Order now and get special digital extras. Learn more. Subscribe to the podcast – You can subscribe to the show via Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, Google Play, TuneIn, and RSS. Rate and review the show – If you like what you’re hearing, head over to Apple Podcasts and click that 5-star button to rate the show. And, if you have a few extra seconds, write a couple of sentences and submit a review. This helps others find the podcast. OK. How do you rate and review a podcast? Need a quick tutorial on leaving a rating/review in iTunes? Check this out. Until next week, I’ll see you on the Internet!

Vann Graves, Executive Director of the VCU Brandcenter, brings stories, learnings, and vision from his highly-awarded career working with some of the world's biggest brands. Hear about how being asked to create a Christmas card for (then CCO and Chairman of BBDO) Phil Dusenberry's dog taught him a lesson about being a great creative, his enormous goal for making Brandcenter more accessible to students and diversifying the pipeline to the industry, what the industry should know about the next generation of advertising, and why you shouldn't "fake it 'til you make it". Subscribe & leave us a review on iTunes to help others discover the podcast! For more guidance from the industry, subscribe to our Weekly email—it's a small dose of advice, delivered Mondays. Or search for a specific topic in our ever-growing Stash of Advice.

On this episode of Render Time I connected with VML Senior Art Director, Ryan Dowling. Ryan and I met back in 2013 when we were both attending the VCU Brandcenter. After graduating from the Brandcenter Ryan was an Art Director at Crispin Porter + Bogusky where he created work for Kraft Macaroni & Cheese, Hotels.com, Aspen Dental and others.It was also great to hear Ryan's perspective on the work that he has been involved with and how technology will continue to influence things. I also really enjoyed hearing his opinions on where commercial production is headed and how it is impacting agencies like VML. Learn more about Ryan here:http://ryandowling.com/Learn more about VML here:https://www.vml.com/

In the latest episode of Render Time I connected with Allison from To The Wolves. Alison and I met when we were both studying Art Direction at the VCU Brandcenter. Since graduating she has worked at some of the biggest agencies in the world including Walrus, Y&R, DDB. She has recently left agency life to focus on her own creative endeavors with To The Wolves. During our conversation we discussed what motivated her to leave her 9 to 5 and start To The Wolves. We also discussed the challenges that she and her husband have faced along the way.

Yasmine talks to Helayne Spivak, a pioneer for women in leadership in advertising. She rose through the ranks during the Madmen era and has held such leadership roles as Chief Creative Officer at Young & Rubicam, Saatchi & Saatchi Wellness, Hal Riney and J. Walter Thompson. She is currently Executive Director at the VCU Brandcenter.

In episode 03 of Render Time we talk with Scott Witthaus. Scott is a professor at the VCU Brandcenter and an editor at 1708 Editorial in Richmond, VA. In this episode we talk about the latest updates from Apple, Adobe and Microsoft and what it means for editors and post-production professionals.

Dylan Phillips discusses the importance of formative research in brand communications, the power of storytelling, how to use specific online resources at just the right time, and the VCU Brandcenter experience. ---- Welcome to Better PR Now, Episode 1. I’m Mark Phillips and today we are talking with my son, Dylan Phillips. Now, before you start thinking this is just going to be one big bag of nepotism, there’s a reason I wanted to talk with Dylan, particularly at this time.                    When this interview was recorded, he had just finished graduate school and was just starting his career. I wanted to explore his experiences as a student and intern, as well as his hopes for a future working in communications.                    We’ll explore the importance of formative research in brand communications, the power of storytelling, and how to use specific online resources at just the right time. I think you’ll find this interesting. Let’s jump in. Mark:         I wanted to save this very first interview for Dylan, because it’s a special occasion. He just finished graduate school just a week ago, and I wanted to give him the absolute first interview. So Dylan, you just graduated from the Brandcenter at Virginia Commonwealth University; tell us about that program. Dylan:        Well, it’s a two-year graduate program for advertising. It’s really intense, sort of boot-camp style. There are different tracks that people take, whether you’re more art direction, or copywriting, or someone like me who is a strategist. They also have an experience design track, which is essentially creative technology. The program is two years, with lots of presentations and a lot of student work for big brands, small brands, and sometimes live clients. Mark:         So why did you pick the Brandcenter? There are a lot of graduate programs in advertising and marketing around the country; why the Brandcenter? Dylan:        Well, I was really interested in getting into advertising strategy. There are a lot of options for people who are looking to get into art direction or copywriting, whether it‘s The Creative Circus or the Miami Ad School, but Brandcenter is the only place that has a full program for strategy. Mark:         Tell me a little bit about the strategy track; what does that entail? Dylan:        We do things like ethnographies, where we go to people’s homes and learn about how they use products. We do things like digital anthropologies. We are professional Googlers, but there are ways to be more affective at that.                    We make subculture documentaries and really get entrenched in a subculture that we aren’t part of to learn as much as we can about those sorts of people. And really, the whole point of the track is to learn how to learn about people, to think strategically, and how that applies to advertising. Mark:         So tell me a little bit more about this idea of thinking strategically from a marketing and advertising perspective; what does that mean? Dylan:        Well, a lot of it has to do with asking “Why?” So you need to understand what the essence or the soul of a brand or company is. You need to figure that out and if that’s already defined for you, then you need to figure out who cares about it and why they care about it.                    And so, when you can understand both who, on a DNA level, the brand is and who the people are that love it, or could potentially love it, then you can see a bigger picture of what you need to do to make a commercial. But it needs to be based on knowledge that you have that that will connect with audiences you want to connect with. I think that pretty much sums it up. Mark:         So that knowledge gives you insight into the connection that the company or its products have with the people that might be consumers of those products or customers of that company? Dylan:        Yeah, usually you figure out who the people are that love it, or who the people are that you want to love it, and that way you can not only figure out where you want to talk to them, whether that is on the Internet, television, or channels like newspapers, but also how you talk to them. It can inform, and this is the side that I am more interested in: it can inform the creative decision that goes into the communications.                    And a lot of advertising is heading towards a lot more content creation that’s actually less advertising and more just entertainment that happens to be connected to a brand. So if you can figure out what people love, then you can create things. Content is such a buzzword, but you can create value that can add to their lives, rather than just trying to distract them for a minute to get their attention about a sale or something. Mark:         That’s interesting. So you’ve talked about this understanding, this insight and you’ve talked about being professional Googlers; how do you go about doing that and, in addition to using Google, talk about different ways to use tools like Google. How do you go about doing this research or getting this insight that you are able to help a brand better understand and make those important connections? Dylan:        Brand planning or strategy came about in the late 80s I believe, but it came over from Europe. And so there have been strategists for you know a number of decades now that didn’t have the Internet at their fingertips to do this stuff. So a lot of it was focus groups, man-on-the-street stuff, just trying to get people’s opinions. What’s amazing now is that everybody has a voice, and people really don’t hesitate to use it.                    One good thing to do is just go on Amazon and read reviews, because that’s where people feel the strongest is in reviews. Also, if something is just sort of happening trend-wise, you can almost guarantee that you can find something about it on Reddit. I mean it’s called the front page of the Internet for a reason. It’s funny there is a cycle that sort of happens that if you find something on Reddit it might have not yet happened on Facebook, or Twitter, or BuzzFeed.                    But it’s sort of like a cycle and it starts on Reddit and then you’ll see some stuff happen. On Twitter usually is more quick with the uptake, and then you’ll see it on Facebook trends on the side of your wall. And then there’s a BuzzFeed article about it, and then the people that are the most late to the event or whatever it is will be sharing the BuzzFeed article more likely. Mark:         So if your business involves being sensitive to, or being able to spot, emerging trends, Reddit’s a good place to be? Dylan:        Definitely. I mean obviously you’re not just going to be searching for whatever your company is, but themes and trends surrounding that. Say you owned a mountain bike shop, you would look at what people are talking about within the mountain biking forums and other outdoor forums and chats. Mark:         So what about the old-style types of traditional research, like doing focus groups or doing man-on-the-street interviews, or those intercept-type of interviews; is that way of research dead in your mind? Dylan:        Not at all. I think it’s very, very important. I like to use the Internet to formulate an idea at first, and then when I get a concept and I’m able to talk intelligently with people that - so let’s go back to the mountain biking example. Say I’d never had a mountain bike before. Mark:         Which you have. Dylan:        I mean I have, but imagine that I hadn’t, and so I would go to Reddit first. Go on the Internet first try to figure out what’s the lingo, what’s the sort of language that people use, what are the trends, and what do people like about it, what do people love about it. That way, when I do talk to people who are involved in that activity, I can speak intelligently enough to spark conversation. Mark:         If you were in product development, would you be also looking for pain points or where people are having problems, or where they are expressing frustration as potential problems that your company could solve or offer solutions to? Dylan:        Yeah, I don’t think that’s just a place for somebody working in product development either. I think that looking for pain points is a great way to figure out how any company can fit in or brand can fit into someone’s life. So if I was working at an ad agency doing communications for a mountain biking brand, we might be able to figure out, that, wow mountain bikers really hate getting hit in the shins with their pedals, it hurts.                    So say that’s a common problem and maybe that shows up in an ad, then that way it’s a little piece of truth that when mountain bikers see it, they’re like, “They get what I care about, because that happens to me all the time and it sucks.” Mark:         So the truth resonates. Dylan:        Yeah, for sure. I think if you can show people that you’re not faking it, that is important. Mark:         So it allows you to be genuine? Dylan:        Right. Mark:         Things like Reddit allow you to survey the landscape and see trends that are emerging, to identify opportunities. Dylan:        You can also find people on Reddit to talk to. Mark:         Tell us about that. Dylan:        Not only does it paint a picture with conversations that are already happening, but you can get involved as well. So you could say, “Hey, can we talk about this?” You can pose a question that people will respond to, and then if the answers are something that you’re interested in, or particular answers are interesting to you, you can reach out to that person and send them a message.                    It’s interesting that the community on Reddit seems more willing to help each other than a lot of other communities online. And so if you’re just straightforward with them and say, “Hey, I’m working on a project and I would really like to talk to you about A, B or C” then more than likely, and I’ve had this happen a bunch of times, people will say, “Okay, yeah, definitely.”                    And whether it’s just a series of emails or whether they want to Skype with you, you get to talk with somebody who is actually entrenched in what you’re trying to learn about, which is you know way more valuable than just reading. Mark:         Right, historically we’ve been told to define demographic personas or avatars of our perfect customer, stakeholder, or public that we’re trying to engage, does Reddit allow us to go beyond that … and actually go to real people and allow us to dive deeper and go specifically. They’re not extractions any more. They’re real, living breathing people we can go to and ask, “What do you think about this? If this was a product would you be interested? If you had shin-guards for your mountain bike would you wear them or would you think it was dorky?” Dylan:        Right, I think that it definitely allows for that. But I don’t think enough places are taking advantage of that. It’s really easy to turn to a statistic and say, “Well, this kind of says this, so we’ll just do this.”                    It is much more compelling to say, “Well, this guy’s name is Tom and this is what sucks about his life.” Or, “This is what he doesn’t like about this product,” or “This is how this product makes his life better.” Those are some of the best ads: When you see real people and how they’re affected. As human beings, we’re story driven. As much as numbers can tell a story, that doesn’t resonate with us the same way that telling about how an actual individual interacts with something does.                    It’s actually like reading the numbers of people that have died in a war. At some point it just becomes a number and statistic, and it’s like I can’t even imagine that. But if you hear one story about one person and you get details about them dying, it’s a much more impactful way. Mark:         It sort of becomes relatable when it’s one person’s story. Dylan:        Yeah, for sure, or even a groups of people, maybe more than one, but it’s a human story, rather than just numbers. Mark:         So what’s a take-way lesson from this for companies that offer products or services. How might they be able to use this deep-dive approach to better understand how their customers, or how their stakeholders, or how their publics think about things, and how they might better anticipate their needs. Dylan:        What it really boils down to is conversation. I think a lot of times things get lost within organizations, whether you know people just sort of playing email tag or you know just passing off documents, rather than actually having a conversation about what they want to do. And also that’s within an organization, but I think it’s really important to get to know who your stakeholders are, who your audience is. And treat them like people rather than just numbers on a page because, at the end of the day they feel a certain way about your organization and that’s linked to an emotional connection. And so if you can figure out how to strengthen that in a non-salesy sort of way and an organic sort of way, it can be invaluable for you. Mark:         Fantastic. Let’s go back to the Brandcenter for a moment and look at how it works. It has multiple tracks in addition to strategy; what are the other tracks? Dylan:        Art direction, copywriting, creative brand management, and experience design. Mark:         So why did you pick strategy? Dylan:        Strategy seemed like a good mix of problem solving and creativity, which I really enjoy and it allows you to really get into culture and think about that sort of stuff. I’m really into all of that, so it just seemed like a good fit. Mark:         At the Brandcenter, you work in teams, you function as an ad agency where you work on actual problems, real world problems, sometimes for real world clients. Tell us about some of the projects that you worked on while you were there. Dylan:        Oh, we worked on such a wide variety of things. Some of them are more hypothetical, whether it’s the first semester we worked on a project for Marvel coming out with a new superhero and marketing that. But then, we also have real-world clients.                    We worked on one project that was this cheesecake company. It was interesting, because most of us went and tried it and didn’t know what to think about it really. But it was trying to be sold as a high-end luxury sort of dessert, but they are in, essentially, baby food jars. Mark:         Is this a startup? Dylan:        I guess it was a startup. It wasn’t brand new though; it’s been around for a while. And it was interesting. Working with a live client was a little bit more difficult, because he was very, very strict on what we could change and what we couldn’t change.                    And in the class, the teacher expected us to change everything and do whatever we wanted, so we did. But at the end of the day, he had the final say in what happened. And what ended up happening was he stuck with his old stuff. Mark:         Which is the client’s privilege right? Well, it’s their prerogative. Dylan:        Yeah, but a lot of the stuff that got made ... Mark:         That were working on this same project? Dylan:        Yeah, and you know a lot of the stuff that got made was really good. And you know some people recommended repositioning it, trying to change who we were talking to. Some people just changed the logo and the visual language of the brand. But he decided to stick with the same stuff that he came up with himself, which I guess is all right, but there was a lot of good stuff that he just turned away. Overall, though, people had an interesting time working on it. Mark:         So, with experiences like that, do you think those prepare Brandcenter students for life in real agencies and life in the real world? Dylan:        I think so. Even if we’re not working with a live client, the professor acts as a client and they are usually, in my experience, much tougher than any live client that I’ve ever interacted with. Obviously, they give their feedback in class in front of all your peers. But then you also get to sit down with them and hear about where you went wrong, or where they think that you could have pushed it further. A lot of times, for a strategist that criticism that you get is that you didn’t push it far enough or you didn’t think it through all the way. You know, they critique all of it, so the art directors might say, “Well, this isn’t very well-designed” or “This doesn’t make sense for who you are trying to talk to.” So if the strategist and the creative team aren’t meshing well, then that sometimes comes through. The live clients that I’ve interacted with in Brandcenter settings or at an agency this summer have always been really nice, at least compared to my experience at school. Mark:         Right, did you come out with thicker skin than you went in? Dylan:        I think so, especially about presentations. That’s something that you just get a lot of reps in. First semester, you’re presenting almost every week and it tapers off a little bit towards the end. But by then, you’ve given so many presentations and talked in front of so many people that something that a lot of people get nervous about seems normal. And by the end of Brandcenter, that is definitely something that almost everyone gets over and gets better at. So, yeah, I think so; definitely tougher skin. Mark:         Any tears shed, either you or your classmates, over the course of the two years? Dylan:        Oh, I never cry! But yeah, there’s definitely some crying that happens there every once and a while. It gets stressful. Mark:         But overall? Dylan:        Overall a great experience. Mark:         So for students who finished their bachelor’s, are considering grad school, and are definitely in a marketing track, would you recommend the Brandcenter? Dylan:        Yeah, 100%. My advice to them would be to have a good idea of what you want to do before you apply. I see a lot of people realizing about half way through that they wanted to be in a different track and it’s very difficult to switch. Some people do it, but you know, if you really really love writing and you want to be a copywriter, then you should apply as such. The acceptance rate isn’t super high and it’s kind of difficult to get in, but it’s totally worth it. The application is long and the program is a lot of work, but the experience is definitely worth the effort if you put it in. Mark:         Great, so let’s go back to some of the projects that you worked on, what are some of the most memorable ones? Dylan:        Well, we worked on one where we had a side project working with a live client, working under a grant from the Department of Energy. We branded nuclear energy. Mark:         What was the task? Dillion:     The nuclear Department in VCU approached Brandcenter and said, “We have this grant money and we want to have Brandcenter teams compete to rebrand nuclear energy.” Basically, what they had found out is that nuclear energy in general has a negative perception, they really weren’t sure why, and they were looking for creative solutions on how to talk about it, how to even brand nuclear energy, and how could that improve the perception.                    About 20% of the US electricity comes from nuclear power currently and there is a ton of lobbying that goes on from gas companies. That basically keeps nuclear from advancing and becoming more of a predominant form of energy for our country. Mark:         So your team won. Dillion:     My team won, yeah. Mark:         And what did you come up with? Dillion:     Well, it started off with what I talked about before with my process in strategy. I did a lot of reading and a lot of talking to people. I found out a few key things, one was that, in general, people didn’t really like nuclear energy that much, but most people were very uninformed. They couldn’t give me a good reason why they didn’t like it; it was just a sort of a gut reaction.                    Another thing I realized was that people don’t really care where their power comes from as long as when they flick the switch, it turns on. Another thing I realized was that there was just one small key difference between people that were for nuclear energy and people that were against it; that difference was the way they view risks.                    So the people that were for nuclear energy were more likely to do their own research or do their homework. Whereas the people that tended to be against nuclear energy were more “gut reaction” sort of people. Very similar to the sort of people you would see a story on Ebola on the news, see that it was in the US, and freak out like, “Oh, we are are all going to die of Ebola.” When in reality, that is not actually something that’s going to affect your life here in the States.                    So then I dug more into the idea of risk and started thinking about actual risk that affects American lives everyday. Things like texting while driving is really dangerous or eating fast food regularly is really not good for you, and over time is really dangerous as well. But people don’t really think of those as a risk, whereas people think about Ebola, or nuclear energy, or ISIS and they freak out and get scared. I wanted to know what’s the difference between these two different types of risk.                    I realized that people don’t care about the fast food, texting while driving sort of risk, because it’s domestic and mundane and sort of ordinary. Whereas these other things are more foreign, we don’t understand them, and they’re complicated, so they’re scary. So we realized the most exciting thing we could do for nuclear energy was to make it boring, just like those other risks.                   And we realized it would be a monumental task to try to shift people from hating nuclear energy and not knowing why, to being huge fans of nuclear energy and knowing everything about it. So we realized that it would be much more realistic to shift people to from ‘I don’t like it’ to ‘meh.’ So that’s what we did. We came up with a campaign called “Nuclear Is.” Basically, it’s just a way for people to see how nuclear fits into their lives. So it could be like nuclear is doing your laundry, or nuclear is watching your favorite show on HBO, or nuclear is driving your Tesla.                    Any time you’re using electricity in your life that could potentially be a moment where nuclear energy is interacting with you, and so that’s what we came up with. We ended up winning and went to South by Southwest as the prize. Mark:         That’s excellent, so looking back on the whole process at Brandcenter, are there things that you know now, that you wish you knew when you started? Is there advice that you wish you could have given to your younger self before you started? Dillion:     Yeah, I think the most important thing that I probably learned, and it would have been helpful at the beginning, was how I view the idea of ownership. When I first started, I thought I was the strategist and I’m going to come up with this idea and everybody is going to like it and the creative team is going to follow that idea and then execute based on that and it’s going to be great.                    But in reality, a lot of people have ideas and directions that they want to go in. I realized that a strategist’s role is not about coming up with the one and only idea and then forcing people to stick to that; what it’s really about is coming up with a lot of ideas, facilitating other people’s thinking, and providing context for that. So what I would tell myself, if I could go back now, I’d say, “Listen more.” Mark:         Last summer, you had the opportunity to intern at Goodby Silverstein in San Francisco. You worked on a number of different projects and accounts there, tell us about that experience. Dillion:     Yeah, it was awesome. I got to work on so many different things as an intern. I got to work on Häagen-Dazs, Sonic, Milk, and Comcast. I also got to work on two separate pitches, which was some of the most exciting work, because it’s all new ideas and thinking and trying to figure out what the agency can do for a brand. Which reminded me a lot of how Brandcenter operates, because you kind of look at everything as a pitch there. Mark:         What were you most surprised about? Dillion:     How casual everything is. Mark:         In an agency environment? Dillion:     Yeah. I had never worked in an agency before and it’s okay to go and talk to whoever you want to go talk to. I mean people are busy, but you know no one is closed off in an office so that you can’t go and talk to them. Everyone kind of wears what they want to wear and does what they want to do. Work still gets done and, obviously, the work there’s great, the people are great, and it’s a very comfortable environment. Mark:         People working very hard? Dillion:     Yeah, but not to the point where they seemed stressed or uncomfortable. It was like people were working hard because they like what they do and are passionate about it. Mark:         Right, a very creative environment. Dillion:     Yeah, definitely. There’s open office space that kind of promotes collaboration, creativity, and all that. Mark:         What were some of the most important lessons you learned? Dillion:     I think being in brainstorming sessions where they kind of solidified that lesson I was talking about before about the idea of ownership. I also learned more about how decisions are made; you think about, for example, this CEO just got hired for this brand, what do you know about this guy, what is he like? Because if you’re working for him now, he’s your client, you’re providing work to him that ultimately he will have to sign off on. That is something that I never really thought about before: Learning individual people’s preferences. Mark:         So what’s next for you? You just finished grad school, been working really hard, now you’re job hunting; where do you see yourself in a year or five years? Dillion:     Working hard at an agency, most likely in California. I think I’ll probably be trying to move up as a strategist, trying to create awesome campaigns and work with really creative, talented people. Mark:         Great, one last question: What’s the best piece of advice you’ve ever gotten? Dillion:     One that’s been the most memorable for me was when I was talking to a creative director and I was trying to figure out where I wanted to work. He said that where you want to work doesn’t really matter. I asked, “Do you mean in the agency, or city, or what are you talking about?” He said either one; it doesn’t really matter. What really matters is who you work for. Say you want to work for an amazing guy who lives in Washington, but you hate the rain. Well, it rains a lot there, so put on a jacket!                    That got the point across to me: Who you work with and for is more important than the name on the door or the city you live in. Mark:         Very cool, good advice. You’ve got a really cool website; what’s the address and how can people get in touch with you? Dylan:        http://www.dylanrussellphillips.com/ Mark:         Awesome, terrific interview, Dylan. Thank you very much. I really appreciate the time. Why don’t you play us out. Dylan:        Sure. Mark:         There you have it; a view from someone just starting his career. You know, I’d like to check back in with Dylan down on the road about his professional experiences and whether his perspectives have changed.                    Thanks for spending a little time with us today. I hope you found it entertaining, but more than that, I hope you found something you can use in your career.                    I’d love to know what you think about the podcast. Who would you like to hear on the show? What questions would you like answered? What challenges are you facing? Drop me a line at mark@betterprnow.com and check out Better PR Now, where you’ll find links to all the resources mentioned in today’s episode and so much more. Well, that’s it for today. I hope you’ll join me on the next session of Better PR Now. To benefit from every episode, please subscribe. See you soon!

Notes on Doing's NODcast Episode 005 where Jenna interviews Rick Webb, a writer, tech advisor, venture partner, angel investor, marketing and sales consultant, board member of the VCU Brandcenter, former co-founder of The Barbarian Group, co-founder of Archenemy Record Company… (we can continue but we’ll leave it here). Here’s what Rick had to say about growing up in Alaska, the story behind his enviably awesome career, and his thoughts on life, death, work, and economics. Notes on Doing is a series of conversations with people who love what they do. www.notesondoing.com

It’s the end of August, which means it’s the start of a new school year. It’s Mason’s first graduate semester at the VCU Brandcenter, and it’s Dylan’s penultimate semester of […]

It’s the end of August, which means it’s the start of a new school year. It’s Mason’s first graduate semester at the VCU Brandcenter, and it’s Dylan’s penultimate semester of undergraduate classes at VCU’s School of Engineering and School of Business. We talk about our classes and things that professors do that frustrate us. Other topics include the Fig crowdfunding platform and their awesome logo by Cory Schmitz (not Schulz) and Press Play’s voting system and how we’d like to implement something similar to our site. We also discuss the counterintuitive approach of increasing employee work hours in an attempt to increase productivity and profits. Ludum Dare 33 is fast approaching, and the Metal Gear Solid V hype continues to build. Games include Pac-Man 256. Got a question for the show? Join us on Discord or email us at contact@ward-games.com!