Meet Megan.

Meet Megan. We recently hired her as an account executive in our fancy new Raleigh-Durham office. She is one smart lady.


If you haven't noticed already, Third Degree is a pretty lady-centric company. And we're just as apt to talk about shoes in our morning huddles are we are to brag about our latest campaigns (ahem…).

So we knew Megan was going to fit in just fine when she started coming to work rocking these babies:


and these:



Shoes say a lot about a person, don't you think? Sometimes I like to imagine them fighting for my attention when I'm deciding what to wear in the mornings. Some pairs just don't get along.



But there's one pair of shoes Megan hasn't worn to work yet:


Though she does rock them from time to time outside of Third Degree. You see, when she's not serving it up to our east coast clients, Megan serves as a Major in the Army Reserves. That's right, Major Megan. Best nickname EVER?!



Not only has she valiantly served our great country by doing two tours of duty in the Middle East, she's also currently the Commander of a Psychological Operations Company (which is basically like integrated marketing supporting U.S. objectives in other countries, though with another cool nickname: PSYOP).



Megan's experience in the Reserves made her the right woman for the job at Third Degree. She's already brought a lot of insight and strategy to our new east coast ventures. She's fitting in great. Because like everyone else here, she'll be wearing lots of hats… and… wait for it… shoes.

Welcome, Megan!

Ah, I see she went with the strappy wedge sandals today:




(Yeah... I was trying to go for something conceptual here, like, a portrait of her many different identities as a modern, multi-faceted career woman. But the final product just looks like her shoes have gained zombie-like consciousness and are mindlessly attacking her feet. Not so successful. Though it kind of makes me want to re-watch The Birds. So. That's a plus.)

Tara. Two Days. Durham.

Touchdown at Raleigh-Durham airport and am greeted by my escort with the shady shades...



... Liz. The adventure already seems full of danger and promise.



First step of the journey. Must cross a raging stream (okay, like a bubbling brook) to gain entrance to the highly anticipated North Carolina Third Degree office.



My guide leads the way unhindered.



I survey my surroundings. Red, orange and gold carpet squares, familiar, familiar... so I feel at home. But offices with walls?! I can't adapt! I must spread my crap... er, I mean... lay out the tools of my trade in the most open environment I can find, the glass-walled conference room.



My guide lets me know it's lunch time.



I'm hearing what she's laying down.





We decide to skip the smoke break.

The new office is located in Durham's American Tobacco District (hence the Lucky Strike water tower). Similar to our Bricktown home-base in Oklahoma City, it's a renovated industrial area from the turn of the century that now houses businesses, restaurants and crazy hot agencies like us, Third Degree.



And partake in what the locals call... toast. Strange, yet delicious.



All's well that ends well as the "shades" are drawn on this little adventure.

Strategic Creatives. Makin' The Moves.

It's true, at Third Degree we spread the strategic thinking around. Every department has to flex their noggins beyond typical daily duties on a regular basis. But the creatives are thinking extra hard these days, formulating their next strategic...



... well, move.



They have gone game crazy. And not in a normal geeky online fantasy game sort of way. Like in a seriously old-school, "someone break out the chinese checkers" way.



These are literally four "active" games that reside on each of their desks. So anytime someone randomly walks by, they make a move. There's some sort of system involving flipping the Third Degree patch backwards or forwards to let them know who's turn it is.



Adam, one of our newest designers ("hi Adam"), has embraced this wholeheartedly, and allowed some considerable square footage of his desk to house the playing field. Yep, no room for personal items here. Pictures of his dog, or trophies from his school days will have to find another place to reside.



Though they do have their own trophy of sorts. The traveling totem for the player with the current highest wins is the coveted dice paperweight. Brett's the current champion. But Daniel's thinking working hard to dethrone him.



Actually, Daniel is more than a board game enthusiast, he actually just designed his own interactive game for kids (not online interactive, like face-to-face interactive). Happy Birthday Robot, was just officially published and distributed to elementary classrooms all over the place.

Go Daniel. (But Brett still has the dice... no, die... er... that's a weird word... I think perhaps I need to go flex my noggin some more.)