eROI Days Email Agency » paf

PAF AE Bootcamp – A Cheer for the Creatives

Sydney — Thu, 16 Jul 2009 20:15:19 +0000

This past Monday the entire Account Department attended Portland Advertising Federation’s AE Bootcamp. Some of the best of the best of Portland’s advertising executive world (Peter Levitan, Phil Reilly, Jerry Ketel, Rebecca Armstrong, and Paige McCarthy) were brought together to share their wisdom, experience, and expectations on what is required to reach “Total AEness.” I thoroughly enjoyed each presentation and it was refreshing to have a PAF event topic that spoke directly to the accounts side of the agency.

In particular, I found Phil Reilly’s talk to be very interesting. He started off by posing the question, “how many of you have a difficult time dealing with your creatives?” There were many hands raised throughout the room but I was not surprised to see a that none of the ten eROI account executives had a hand in the air. I am proud to say this is something that we do not struggle with as an agency. This led me to ask the question “why?” The rest of the presentation brought up so many parallels, so why does this one piece not apply to the eROI team? What I think it boils down to is our collaborative process. From the kickoff meeting to launch, all project team members are involved; concepting, strategy, creative vision, Q/A testing are all a team effort. This collaboration from the getgo eliminates surprises and keeps the entire team in the know.

I must also give credit to the creative team themselves. I truly believe I have the pleasure of working with some of the most talented designers in the city. Their ability to take a brief and a meeting with a client and come back with a solid direction that meets every objective, and is also atheistically brilliant, is a skill that one just has to admire. There has never been an “us” versus “them” mentality across departments. We are all on the same team and advocates for both eROI and the client. This gives us the recipe for success – all the ingredients just work together.

I want to thank the Portland Ad Federation for bringing together these respected chiefs to speak to us. Many additional topics were thrown around for future sessions and deeper exploration. I found this workshop to be very valuable and will definitely be attending the next one. I will leave you with the words of Lynette Xanders “Be a cheerleader, not a policeman”- who’s with me?!

No Guts, No Glory

Ryan Buchanan — Sun, 14 Jun 2009 16:10:40 +0000

The Portland Creative Community took some bold steps with its launch of the Portland Ad Federation Rosey Awards website themed “Nothing Says I’m Better than you Like a Rosey.” The messaging has an East Coast directness to it that takes many Portlanders by surprise in a city that fosters friendliness to strangers, foes, and friends. However, I think it’s the perfect time for Portland to step up and talk with confidence about its creative talent here. Yes, we’ve recently been discovered by the NY Times, Wall Street Journal, and other publications as the destination for hipsters (employed and unemployed) to hang out. But, we aren’t getting much positive press for having the second highest unemployment in the country. Now is the right time to shout from the roof-tops that Portland creative agencies do kick-ass work! Kudos to Anthill Marketing for the concept, design, and messaging in the site and entire Roseys this year!

2009 PAF Rosey Awards site

I’m not so sure this site would work in most other industries as it is definitely edgy, controversial, and provocative, but I think it’s a shot in the arm that Portland needs. The true test is to see if agencies from other cities take notice. Then, an interesting dialog will begin.

You’ll start to see this campaign promoted more on Twitter (I love the “Rosey Smack Feed” section of the ‘Win Tix’ part of the site), Facebook, and other blogs in the upcoming months. I’ve got to sign off from this blog post to think of some good Smack Talk myself – submit your own here >>

Will eROI take PAF Battle of the Bands for 3rd Straight Year?

Ryan Buchanan — Thu, 07 May 2009 14:58:16 +0000

Alcoa presents (sorry, that’s the beginning of a TV commercial of “The Catch” in the 1982 NFL NFC Championship flashback when Dwight Clark levitated to grab a perfect pass from Joe Montana to lift the 49ers over the Cowboys). But, I digress. My mind faded to the dramatic music to Monday Night Football, but it’s now back on the prize – bragging rights to the Third Annual PAF Battle of the Bands at Someday Lounge in Old Town / Chinatown, Portland, Oregon where the creatives show their true colors after dark. If you want to take a look at videos from prior year’s Battle of the Band, now is your time to really soak in some entertaining video for 2008. It’s going to be almost impossible for eROI to win it for yet a third year in a row, but we’re going to bring our “A” Game. Check it (this is PAF’s main event email and all the info is below):

BATTLE OF THE BANDS

DATE:
Wednesday June 17, 2009

TIME:
6:00 pm

PLACE:
Someday Lounge
224 NW 5th Avenue
Portland, OR

COST:
$300 per band

Yes, it’s time once again for the infamous PAF Battle of the Bands. And if you haven’t guessed, the theme this year is the 90′s.

Ahhh, remember Jon Bon Jovi, Dee Lite, Madonna, Nirvana and the most wonderful of all, M.C. Hammer?

So put on your pantaloons or your plaid shirt (or both) and sign up your band for a chance at glory.

Sign-up Deadline is May 30th

Do you know your membership status? Join the dynamic men and women of Portland’s Creative Services
Contact the PAF office, 503.224.2623, or jamie@portlandadfed.com.

PLEASE WRITE A HAIKU COMMENT ON YOUR LOVE OF 90′S ROCK BANDS, RAP, POP MUSIC, ANY OF IT. CONTINUE THE INSPIRATION!

PAF Roseys a big success!

Ryan Buchanan — Sat, 22 Nov 2008 18:27:15 +0000

Holy crap – I was exhausted last night – crashed at 8pm. I think it had something to do with the Portland Advertising Federation (PAF) Rosey Awards on Thurs night at the Performing Arts Center. Aside from hearing from other agency owners in town how brutal the economy is, it was clear that everyone has been working way harder than normal and was looking to blow off a lot of steam (translation: a perfect excuse for a night of heavy drinking, loud music, and overly-honest conversations). One of the highlights of the Roseys was the hosts – 3 guys who pushed the envelope in a big way – nicely done! If you watch the second video, you might agree with me.

Rosey Awards 2008 Part Five from Dylan Boyd on Vimeo.

Rosey Awards Part Nine from Dylan Boyd on Vimeo.

Greenlight Greater Portland – I’m Inspired

Ryan Buchanan — Wed, 10 Sep 2008 14:43:34 +0000

Yesterday, I joined the Board of Greenlight Greater Portland, an economic development group represented by Portland’s private-sector business community. Greenlight’s goal is to recruit and retain growing companies in the Greater Portland region. I was inspired by Greenlight’s mission and the approachability and competence of the Board – titans of industry in this town – I was inspired to write a thank you email to them last night. It went something like this:

From: Ryan Buchanan
To: Tim Priest ; Mark Ganz ; Malia Wasson ; Eric Parsons ; Pat Reiten ; Peggy Fowler ; Steve Stadum ; Roger Hinshaw ; Bill Stoller ; Bob Jesenik ; Wes Lawrence ; Jim Mark ; Dennis Rawlinson ; Keith Leavitt ; Lindsay Desrochers ; Wally Van Valkenburg ; Don Krahmer ; Alan Johnson ; Randy L. Miller ; Scott Campbell ; John Bradley ; Jay Platt
Sent: Tue Sep 09 23:51:47 2008
Subject: RE: September 9 Greenlight Board Meeting: thank you

I wanted to thank each of you for welcoming me onto the Greenlight Board today. Truly, I’m honored. I knew a few of you before today’s Board meeting, but was really encouraged to meet and connect with many of the rest of you. It goes without saying that it is an incredibly prestigious group of individuals and I’m the young guy in the room – willing to listen, learn, and be mentored. I think my initial role will primarily be the voice of the scrappy entrepreneur who I think is Greenlight’s likely target audience from a company recruitment standpoint. And also, I can be a liason to key partners in the community whether it is SAO, OEN, PAF, PDC or other groups.

But, most importantly, I’m in love with this city, the people, the business community here, its proximity to the awe-inspiring outdoors. We, as Portlanders, define ourselves by what we enjoy doing, not solely by our occupation. It is this powerful emotional connection to the region we represent that differentiates us most from other business communities and I am a huge advocate of bringing that passion, positive energy, and relationship-building to the table so that we collectively can be the magnet that draws and retains “A” talent, innovative entrepreneurs, companies, and entire divisions of companies to and in Portland.

Again, thank you. We all get wrapped up into the hundreds of things happening in our companies, community involvement, and families, but you should all take at least 30 seconds of time to be proud of creating a new organization that has gained significant early traction and will, with its partners in the region, be the driving force behind taking the Portland business community to the next level over the next 10 years.

I almost forgot, I know many of you are inundated with emails, so this will be my only “reply to all” email unless requested.

Thx,

Ryan

Ryan Buchanan | CEO
www.eROI.com | Inc. 500 Company
505 NW Couch, Suite 300, Portland, OR 97209
TEL 503.290.3199 FAX 503.228.4249