R&R Partners: Moving Minds

For many of us, 2009 will forever be remembered as the year that sucked. Bad! I don’t need to go into why 2009 sucked, do I? You probably have 2,009 reasons why ’09 was garbage. So … I was feeling a little unlike myself the other day and asked some of the folks here at R&R to send me some of the most noteworthy things to happen in 2009 not related to war, the economy or lost jobs. Here is a little sample of what they sent (remember R&R is an ad agency and people who work in advertising are, well, a little interesting to say the least):

All Twitterpated for Twitter

Rob Santwer, a digital marketing consultant at R&R, cited the rise of Twitter as his noteworthy event. Rob likes getting his news and information quickly, and Twitter makes him happy because it’s another example of how America’s ingenuity can bring about change in the world (reference the medium’s impact on the political process in Iran). He’s not alone. According to eMarketer, 12.1 million people use Twitter and that number is expected to climb to 18 million in 2010. I found a great Twitter blog that details the top new events, hashtags, sports events, people, etc., on Twitter in 2009. It’s cool. Check it out.

K9 Cop Meets R&R Employee

We had an overzealous R&R employee come to work at 5 a.m. recently. He showed up before sunrise to prepare for a presentation. Sounds like a job in advertising, doesn’t it? The only problem: The building alarm had gone off before he got here. He walked in through the back door, sat down at his desk and started working. Little did he know the police were searching the building with canines. You know … big, mean dogs with really keen noses and razor-sharp teeth. Our employee heard voices and popped up from his cube to say hello. A very large canine cop came running down the hall and lunged at the R&R employee. A human officer, who was just as stunned to see the R&R employee as the employee was to see to the cops, reached out and grabbed the dog’s collar just as his hot kibble breath reached our employee’s nose. Pat Carrigan, our director of Production Services, was thankful for the officer who saved our employee from the mouth of the police doggy.

Gaga for Gaga

Robin Milgrim, an art director in our Las Vegas office, is clearly gaga for Gaga. I can’t say I blame her. After years of pop stars badly regurgitating someone else’s lyrics to dance moves someone else invented, 2009 brought us Lady Gaga. Robin says it best when she writes:

“I’ve never been a fan of pop music, but I think the rise of Lady Gaga stands out this year. As an art director, I am wooed by her attention to theater and fashion. Whatever you think of her, or her music, Lady G stands out as a true artist – aware and in control of every aspect of her image. I say again, in control. Her actions are considerate and calculated. In a celebrity-driven world where so many are just vying to get airtime at any cost, Gaga makes a focused effort to entertain us on every level. She’s not entirely innovative, and could not have existed without artists like Madonna, Cher, Bowie, Elton and MJ laying the pavement, but she has taken everything her predecessors have done and rolled it all into one solid package, giving it just enough of a twist to make her stand out and feel fresh. As someone who generally gives credit to the world of alt/punk for breaking new ground, she gains my props for not being afraid to be controversial and for successfully mixing weird and sexy. Hence the bloody climax at the VMA’s… She makes me want to dress up like I did in the ’80s and dance my ass off in a gay club. As advertisers, I think we can learn a lot from her.”

Tiger, Tiger, Woods, Y’all!

OK, 2009 sucked big time for Tiger Woods, if not more for his poor wife and children. There is so much to say about Tiger Woods – where do you start? Jason Bailey, R&R’s research manager, found it just too ironic that Golf Digest ran a cover pre-TigerGate issue dated January 2010 – which, as you know, is like 10 mistresses later. The cover reads, “10 Tips Obama Can Take from Tiger.” As Jason says, “The unintentional comedy is a hole in one … ba-dah-dum!”

Anonymous Giving

Up north in Salt Lake City, our creative director, Kyle Curtis, lives next door to a nice family who lost their 16-year-old in a car crash. Anonymous donors reacted to the tragedy by paying for the 16-year-old’s funeral and bought the family a new car. Not that it can ever replace the loss of a child, but as Kyle says, “+1 for humanity.”

Cronkite Signs Off As We Sign on

Tara LaBouff, our public relations account supervisor in Phoenix, wrote this regarding the passing of Walter Cronkite and what it means to news in America:

“The news model is changing frantically as traditional outlets accept that they must compete with citizen journalists and digital delivery formats. When Walter passed away, it truly felt like the last page of an epic novel. Journalism as we knew it for the past century is now being practiced so differently from before. There is rampant speculation rather than presentation of facts, chronic interviewing of reporters by other reporters (rather than true subject matter experts), and few outlets employ fact checkers. The up side? Citizens have more ability than ever before to participate in the news discussion and digitally broadcast their side of the story. Going forward, whether journalism experiences another Walter Cronkite is still unwritten. For the moment, who America turns to as the “most trusted voice” appears to be the person most like you with a screen name and profile pic.”

So as we wave goodbye to 2009 and say hello to 2010, I want to wish you a happy and healthy new year. Remember, even when things seem to suck, you can always find something to smile about. I learned from this little exercise that good people still exist, Twitter is both good and maybe a little evil, Tiger should not give Obama advice, Gaga is good for pop music, and to not come to work early. But most of all, I learned people will always persevere and that human nature compels us to move forward. And, moving forward is positive enough for me.

Until 2010 … this is R&R’s resident Web geek saying “stay classy” blogosphere.