This past weekend I went to camp, WordCamp that is. Reno-Tahoe WordCamp promised that I would leave having learned something new, and I gotta say they delivered. I learned about plug-ins, widgets, helpful tools, coding. I also learned how crappy one can feel when one forgets to take allergy medicine for two days in a row. Perhaps the most important thing I learned is the importance of putting pen to paper and hash out a plan.

From designers to developers to everything in between, mostly everyone stated the importance of planning before starting out on a WordPress adventure. I think WordCamp speaker Russell Aaron said it best, “Changing Post-It notes is much easier than changing code.” Remember folks, work smarter not harder.

“I’m going on an adventure! But first I have to get Post-It notes”

Writing things down and having a plan will not only make your life easier but keep you focused on the most important thing for an ad professional, focusing on your client’s customer’s needs. If you keep focused on that more often than not you will have a successful product. Another speaker, Chris Lema, argues this point. Sometimes you ignore the needs and focus on the tools. Without a written plan one is more likely to meander from the needs to the tools. Developer or designer writing stuff down usually means that your first plan is the best plan. Meaning you’ll more likely be focused on the important stuff for your client and not the awesome tools offered by WordPress (let’s face it some of them are pretty awesome).

Well that’s what I found to be the most important thing I learned. Not to say that it’s the unanimous best thing everyone learned. I can only speak for myself. Part of the reason is that I’m a bit of rookie in WordPress (I can’t read code to save my life). You gotta learn to crawl before you walk, unless you’re my niece then you learn to walk before you learn to crawl.

I would like to thank everyone who was involved with WordCamp. All the organizers, speakers, volunteers, etc. It was extremely insightful and fun. I really learned a lot. All that’s left to say is: “When is the next WordCamp!”

This past weekend, Sarah and I traveled to the Coachella Music & Arts Festival to take in some good tunes, happy vibes, and creative inspiration to help get out of the springtime slump. As one of the largest music festivals in the United States, people around the country (Sarah and I included) turned to social media to upload their pictures, share their experiences, and check-in to the event.

Coachella itself was using social media to promote the event and its happenings (it even had a smart phone app that didn’t totally suck) to both festival attendees and viewers at home. Brands like Urban Outfitters, Heineken, Redbull, H&M, Playstation, Fruttare and the upcoming This Is the End movie with a nice 420 reference got in on the fun.

Ads like this one were all over the Coachella Valley during the festival.   This one was probably the best pf the bunch because they clearly knew their target audience and timed it appropriately. Whoever was behind this media buy, kudos.

Other in-air ads were banners promoting the clubs at both the Wynn and Encore casinos in Las Vegas and Geico.com.

As Coachella’s exclusive beer vendor, Heineken turned the beer gardens green and definitely stepped up its game in the Heineken Domes this year. The DJs in the dome engaged their fans via user-controlled iPads that allowed fans to control the lighting patterns to each set. The domes also had free Wi-Fi so all those over-sharers could stay connected and keep their thumbs busy. Like previous years, Heineken offered campers cold beer storage, for free. Priiiiiittty awesome.

If you chose to register your wristbands (we didn’t do this), y0u could check-in to each performance on Facebook and take a picture. There were little Facebook check-in kiosks at each of the six stages. You could also unlock an exclusive Coachella badge if you checked in using Foursquare. Sadly, I totally forgot to do this. Oh well.

Lauren Randolph, or better known under her photography handle Lauren Lemon, repped’ Fruttare both weekends using Instagram. She is originally from Reno and now is living in L.A. getting paid to go to Coachella. Not bad Miss Lemon.  Take a peek at her Instagram feed to see what I’m talking about: http://instagram.com/laurenlemon.

Urban Outfitters used the hashtag #FestBest on both Instagram and Twitter to preach to their hipster disciples.  Clearly, UO knows their demographic.

Festival essentials: #sunnies #bandana #fannypack. #festever #streetstyle instagram.com/p/YWcF7nsdFr/

— Urban Outfitters (@UrbanOutfitters) April 21, 2013

The best part of Coachella by far was being able to represent Ad2 Reno! (Thanks to Sarah for letting me wear her hat. I lost mine on the flight back from the Mid Year Retreat in Orlando. Booooo.)

The big game is finally over and with it so are some very memorable moments. The Niners almost pulling a miraculous comeback. The shortest Beyoncé concert complete with the shortest Destiny’s Child reunion ever. Joe Flacco dropping the F-bomb to cap off the night. Still what most people will talk about today at the water coolers will be the ads (the blown pass interference call will be a close second). During that conversation the subject of “who had the best ad?” will eventually come up. Well I’m here to tell you who had said ad.

Oreo had the best ad. Plain and simple. It was really no contest. Before it’s Whisper Fight ad Oreo had around 2,200 Instagram followers. Shortly after the ad air its followers sky rocketed to 20,000 and is now reaching 30,000 followers (Thank you Mashable for those stats). Even so this wasn’t the best ad of the night. Their best ad wasn’t even featured in the Super Bowl.

Quick! What was the most memorable thing at the game? If you answered the power outage give yourself a pat in the back. While the network scrambled to fill time by showing Rave’s highlights and I scrambled on continuing Ad2 Reno’s #Ad2SB tweet chat going, Oreo released this little beauty.

 Instantly our Twitter feed changed from “who forgot to pay the electric bill jokes” to everyone sharing this. Sure some other companies did the same thing but this got the most reactions. I wanna say that this was more talked about than any other Super Bowl ad. Sure it benefited from a freak incident that gave it the spotlight for thirty minutes, but all other advertisers had the same opportunity. The difference was that Oreo not just pounced on it but made the perfect ad to along with the situation. In other words they killed all other competitors. Their ads completed what they set out to do. Sky rocket Instagram followers, BOOM! Done. Have thirty minutes of people talking about your product, BOOM! Done. Ladies and gentlemen say hello to the lights out winner of Super Bowl Sunday, Oreo.

One last thing, I would like to thank everyone and all Ad2 chapters that tweeted with us. If you want to see all Super Bowl ads like the Whisper Fight check them out here.

The biggest television event of the year is here! That’s right, it’s SUPER BOWL SUNDAY! Although we have quite a few members who are sports enthusiasts, I for one specifically watch for the Super Bowl for the ads. Don’t get me wrong, the game this year is extra special for those of us in Reno because our former college QB is now the starting QB for the 49ers in the big game. That’s right, I’m talking about Kaepernick.

Reno loves Kap. A lot. So, although I’m not a huge football fan, you can bet that a few more Ad2ers will be watching the game and not just the ads. Maybe.

But, we know Advertisers aren’t the only ones who wait in anticipation for these advertising gems. The Super Bowl is not only likely to be the most watched TV show this year, but  according to ADWEEK, 99.3 percent of its highly targeted audience watch the commercials.

There has been a trend of posting “teaser ads” leading up to the ads featured during the big game. You can see most of them here.

We’ll be live tweeting the ads as they roll out today on Twitter using #Ad2SB. We hope you join in on the fun and give us your thoughts/first impressions/comments/ratings of the ads right along with us. Be sure to follow @Ad2Reno and get your thumbs ready for some excessive ad tweets.

Sometimes you start out as a graphic designer and end up a cheesemaker

By @nicolerosedion

In deciding what to write this blog about I thought about the obvious: talk about all the advertising wisdom Bob shared over drinks and also during his lecture at the AAF Reno luncheon. But then I thought, oh how boring? I’m not going to lie, the conversation I had with Bob really started to get interesting once we stopped talking about advertising.
It was myself, Megan Duggan (aka Megan Stanphill- also a current Ad2 member), three AAF Reno members and Bob Hoffman. The conversation started off with us (the audience) asking Bob (our entertainer) what his career has been like, how his clients are to deal with, what he think about specific advertising campaigns…etc. It was definitely interesting, but not different from much of what he talked about during his luncheon speech (although he did give us some juicy details about McDonald’s executives but I’m sworn to secrecy so don’t even ask). Everyone but Megan and I left and then it was three. Bob asked Megan what she wanted to do with her life and Megan said, “Honestly, I just want to be happy,” which led to a much more interesting conversation than the one we were having prior. From that conversation (after most people had left) I learned a few life lessons that I think can also be applied to advertising.

1. Life is unpredictable
Sometimes your company gets bought, or your concept gets scrapped or an employee screws you over. No matter what it is, be able to adapt to your scenario and shine. There will always be changes in the advertising world but as long as you stay true to your core concepts, you’ll be able to stay steady during those times.

2. Do what makes you happy
Sometimes you start out as a graphic designer and end up a cheese maker. Bob’s daughter went to school for art, interned at his company, did very well and now works on a farm as a cheesemaker. This is what makes her happy. Maybe your idea isn’t working? Don’t try to force it. Do what makes you feel good and your work quality and life happiness will benefit from it.

3. Do the right thing
In talking to Bob, I kept asking him what it’s like to be a CEO. Have you fired people? What’s it like? Bob told us some stories about bad employees and how he had to deal with them. From this I learned that it’s important to do the right thing, to show compassion but don’t get taken advantage of. Although this is mostly about dealing with employees, I think the same thing can be applied to coworkers and client relations in general. [Side note: on my way to listen to Bob’s talk at the AAF Luncheon I found a person’s wallet in the parking lot. I turned it into the Atlantis lost-and-found. I hope that lady found it!]

4. Don’t get caught up in the “next big thing”
In life, if you’re always worried about “the next big thing” you’re never really living in the now. This will only make you constantly worried for the future or nostalgic about the past. That’s no way to live. The same applies to advertising. Trends will come and go, new technologies will arise, but good advertising has remained a constant.

Position:

Grassroots Web Specialist

Contact:

If interested in this opportunity please send resumes and letter directly to Alison Gaulden

Full Description Download

Nevada Advocates for Planned Parenthood Affiliates utilizes the Internet in three ways: through our activist website  www.NevadaAdvocates.org, through our social media on Facebook and Twitter, and through direct email communication with our supporters, donors and activists. The Grassroots Web Specialist Intern develops and implements online strategies designed to recruit, educate and mobilize a vibrant community of supporters.

Primary Duties:

• Redesign, maintain and update the  www.NevadaAdvocates.org website, likely on a new platform
• Implement the Online Strategy and ensure that goals are met regarding marketing, advocacy and recruitment.
• Design and layout HTML formatted email messages.
• Establish, track and manage e-activist membership. Involve e-activists more deeply in the organization’s mission, strengthen current mechanisms for involving e-activists (i.e. action alerts), increase the total number of e-activists by reaching out to new audiences, and explore ways to increase both the quality and quantity of e-activism.
• Ensure timely topical updates to websites. Suggest ideas for content, make sure events and media coverage are being posted to the website(s), attain copyright permission for articles/letters to the editor/op-eds as necessary, and promote the inclusion of technology into grassroots outreach plans.
• Promote websites to increase traffic through strategic partnerships and creative guerilla tactics. Conduct regular analysis of activity logs and report success of online marketing, recruitment, and advocacy activities.
• Ensure the strategic use of the email activist list and voter ID list and national lists with appropriate list agreements. Keep databases as clean and up-to-date as possible by importing new data on a timely basis and removing duplicates. Compose and send alerts, produce e-newsletters, and coordinate direct mail pieces as appropriate.
• Promote, when possible, the use of new and innovate media such as audio/video/interactive projects.
• Coordinate with other departments on projects where appropriate, such as assisting Development with training and execution for online fundraising coordination, providing assistance as appropriate with combined Public Affairs and Marketing online projects, and with the Education team as new media outreach relates to educations goals and projects/grants require.

Secondary Duties

• Adherence to policies, procedures
• Monitor and respond to the opposition
• Perform other duties as assigned

Qualifications:

• Technical acumen and experience producing creative, effective on-line communications. Experience working with vendors, including on-line graphic designers and other web professionals.
• Detail-oriented individual with strong proofreading, writing, communication, computer and interpersonal skills.
• Demonstrated ability to handle complex and controversial issues and to translate information about them for broader audiences.
• A solid understanding of web site content development and management, database management, and email list management.
• Process oriented project manager with the ability to juggle multiple demanding projects at a time.
• Undergraduate Degree in Graphic Design, Business, Communications, Journalism Women’s Studies, Political or Social Science or related fields.
• Sense of Humor

Requirements:

• Web savvy – a solid understanding of current and emerging online trends and tactics.
• Excellent organizational and decision-making skills (ability to initiate work and set priorities independently).
• Proficiency in Word, Excel, database management, PhotoShop, Dreamweaver and manual HTML coding.
• Experience developing interactive viral marketing campaigns.
• Ability to work as a member of a team, manages multiple assignments, and retains a positive outlook under pressure.
• Vision for the role of technology as an advocacy tool.
• Ability to maintain confidentiality.
• Commitment to the mission and philosophy of Planned Parenthood.

(For purposes of the American with Disabilities Act (ADA) the term “Primary” represents “Essential” and “Secondary” represents “Non-essential”.)

Full Description Download

The NV Diabetes association is offering an internship for social/traditional media relations. Interested parties should contact Mylan Hawkins and submit resumes to ndaca@diabetesnv.org.

Full Description (Doc)

Responsibilities and Duties:

• Create, implement and evaluate strategic plan for media relations and publicity for all organization activities.
• Research, compose, and submit news, features, PSA’s to appropriate media as necessary.
• Write appropriate social media posts to on identified topics within the recommended social media guidelines related to time and content
• Monitor analytics of social media and adjust to address needed improvements or enhance quality content.
• Create media packets as needed for events, press conferences, camps or other services
• Maintain knowledge of current policies, procedures and objectives within the agency as a whole.
• Update media contact list as needed.
• Media includes traditional, online, bloggers, etc.

Full Description (Doc)

The Reno-Tahoe Open at Montreux is seeking an intern to assist with marketing, promotions and social media.
Full Job Posting and Additional Information

Reno-Tahoe Open Overview:

The Reno-Tahoe Open at Montreux is an official PGA TOUR event held July 29 – August 04, 2013 at Montrêux Golf & Country Club in Reno, Nevada. Celebrating its 15th year in 2013, this internationally-televised tournament broadcast in 224 countries draws top golf professionals from around the world. The Reno-Tahoe Open tournament is managed by the Reno-Tahoe Open Foundation, a 501(c)(3) which has to-date given back over $2.5 million to nonprofit organizations.

Overview of Internship:

Work with Director of Marketing & Special Events to gain real-life experience within a PGA TOUR event and nonprofit organization, providing day-to-day support on all marketing activities within a fun and open-communication style environment.

Contact:

To apply, please submit resume, cover letter and three (3) references to:
Candee Candler, Candee@renotahoeopen.com by January 23, 2013.

Full Job Posting and Additional Information

The Reynolds School of Journalism at the University of Nevada, Reno seeks a half-time Communication Specialist. Reporting to the RSJ dean, this person will be responsible for various types of marketing-based writing, including writing for the Web, promotional materials, advertisements, video and other persuasive forms. The position assists with web publishing, media relations and social media.

Full Job Posting

Position Type:

• Half-Time
• Administrative Faculty
• Non Tenure Track

Required Qualifications:

Candidates must have a Bachelor’s degree from a regionally accredited institution and two years of experience in marketing-based writing.

Contact for this Position:

Andrew Johnson

Special Instructions to Applicants:

Please attach a resume, cover letter and contact information for three professional references.

Full Job Posting

Truckee Meadows Water Authority (TMWA) is a not-for-profit, community-owned water utility, overseen by elected officials and citizen appointees from Reno, Sparks and Washoe County. TMWA has a highly skilled workforce who ensure the around-the-clock treatment, delivery and availability of high-quality drinking water for more than 330,000 residents of the Truckee Meadows.

Application and Details

Communications

Truckee Meadows Water Authority has an immediate opening for a Communication Specialist.

The Communication Specialist is responsible for coordinating all Truckee Meadows Water Authority external communications. Develops, coordinates and implements communication strategies. Works closely with TMWA’s Customer Service group to help ensure all customer communication needs are met. Promotes customer understanding by providing opportunities for customers to learn about TMWA programs, services and operations. Includes development and implementation of communications through a variety of channels, organizing and participating in public education and outreach, coordinating response to media inquiries, and working with the Director of Customer Relations on items of a controversial nature.

The Communication Specialist is required to manage, edit and update all communications channels, including website, social media, brochures, topic papers, bill inserts, etc, as well as recommend / implement systemic improvements.

Drug-free, EOE

Education

A bachelor’s degree in communications, public relations, journalism or a related field preferred.

Social media implementation.

Certifications:

A valid driver’s license and the ability to meet TMWA Department of Motor Vehicle report criteria.

Experience

• Minimum of three years of progressively responsible experience in communications, preferably in a utility or government environment. Experience with public education and presentation skills required.
• Must have strong interpersonal, written and verbal communication skills.
• Computer literacy in Microsoft Office Suite, including Word, Excel, PowerPoint and Outlook.
• Experience and ability to communicate clearly and concisely both orally and in writing, tailoring the message to the intended audience.
• Experience writing correspondence, memoranda, administrative summaries, reports, etc.
• Knowledge of web maintenance including knowledge of HTML and computer generated graphics.
• Knowledge of the principles, procedures and practices of mass communications and public relations.
• Knowledge of the principles and practices of copy writing, editing, video production, news gathering and journalism.
• Ability to coordinate strategic communication plans to address TMWA priorities, including developing and implementing corresponding public information materials and campaigns.
• Ability coordinate public information, outreach and education programs designed to ensure open avenues of communication and promote customer understanding and support for TMWA activities and objectives.

Application must be received by 5:00 p.m. PST on Sep 24, 2012

Application and Details