Retreat Day. Addy Night.

This weekend was a busy one for the Third Degree team. Friday was our all-day, off-site, annual agency planning retreat.



Which means break out your Third Degree t-shirt.

Okay, granted only the new guy broke out the Third Degree t-shirt. (Ah... youthful enthusiasm is so cute.)



It also means break out the brainstorming toys and warm up exercises.

Everyone had to draw a picture on their name placeholder of something that was going on in their lives at the moment. So that not just the coffee, but the conversation could get flowing at 9:00 am.



And I broke out my cheat notes for a presentation I had to help give to kick off the day.

It's strangely harder in some ways to give a big speech for your peers instead of clients or prospects. Maybe because I can't pretend I'm a character from an advertising TV show or movie when I'm presenting to them.



The day was full of information. But skipping ahead, the afternoon was all about... you got it... crafts. If you remember our retreat from last year, we are not people who are afraid of pipe cleaners or pom poms, oh no.



And neither is our president Roy.

The task given this year was to illustrate the one thing you were most proud of (professionally that is) from 2009. We each got to decide if our accomplishment should be themed "fresh," "hot," "friendly" or "right." We got thirty minutes to "make it happen," and the tissue paper and magazine clippings started flying, while the fights over scissors and scotch tape got heated.



Then we each presented our square and it's deeper meaning. Some were "fresh."



Others were "hot." (No surprises with this one.)



Some embraced their "friendly" side.



And whoa boy, a bunch of us were damn "right."



But the most entertaining surprise of the day was Roy's performance art moment.

You know, most CEOs would deliver a state-of-the-union style address with bulleted slides, the onlookers perhaps trying tactfully to stifle a yawn. Not Roy. He promptly cranked up Van Halen's anthem "Right Now," and started furiously drawing his vision on a row of flip charts right before our eyes.



When his multi-colored markers stopped flurrying and Eddie's electric guitar let out its final peal from the iPod station, Steve Jobs did not come walking out from behind the curtain, and Michael Scott did not jump out from under a table. (But we were kind of waiting for it, a little bit.)



There was a lot of laughter and cheers. The new guy realized, wow, this place is kind of different, huh?! Roy caught his breath and then... shared his bulleted slides. But no stifled yawns from the crowd.



No, we saved the stifled yawns for Addy night which was the next Saturday.

I joke. The Addy theme this year, "We Are The Storyteller's," was really cool. We had lots of great wins including Cosmetic Surgery Affiliates and our Fight On campaign. It was just a very late program this year, wrapping up past 11:00 pm. And anyone who knows me, knows my bedtime clocks in right around 9:30. So my theme for the night was, "I need to go to bed 'Right Now.'" Play it Eddie.

If you want to see photos of Tara actually out on the town for a change (or photos of any of our fabulous and festive team, click here).

Why They Love Us Anyway

Alas, the holidays are over. Which means dragging our significant others to agency social events is almost behind us. But the agency Christmas party is a perfect example of why our other halves probably cringe when we tell them a Third Degree event is afoot. Especially when there is, yep, a theme. This year it was "I'm Dreaming of a Black & White Christmas." Everyone had to come wearing black and white.



It's easy to see the second reason they love us, is we also make them take ridiculous pictures.



With like props and stuff.



Some of them were enthusiastic.



Truly good sports about it.



Others a bit more reserved.



Some of them still aren't talking to us.



Some of them were never talking to us in the first place.



See, if you haven't guessed yet. We're not too camera shy here at Third Degree.



We crave the limelight.



A little bit of drama.



Art directing our own shots.



And using blurry photo effects that make us look bad ass.



Then we post them for the world to see.



And hope our spouse's coworkers don't see them.



Because then they'd be so jealous, of course.



And wish they were a Third Degree wife-husband-boyfriend-pet-kid-parent-neighbor too.



So here's to the agency "others."



May you rest easy for a while.



That is until the Addy's.



Of course, there's a lot to be said for going stag.

Scary Good: Buck The Norm Parade Part II

Well, after Kathleen and I tag-teamed applying makeup to 24 zombies in our agency parking lot (a mix of Third Degree and TFCU staff volunteers)...



...(yes, Will, you have to put on that green lipstick)...



... our corporate zombies for the Buck The Norm float entry in the Ghouls Gone Wild Parade turned out fantastic.



We even had enough time (just barely) to do our own makeup.



Everyone really got into character while waiting for the parade to start. (Growing even more popular this year, with 80 float entries and close to 50,000 attendees!).



So much into character that we had to divert them from eating their props...



...eating other parade participants...



...and even stopping them from eating the mimes (we were on the fence about letting Thurman go through with that one).



Kathleen represented for the indebted and undead by giving an interview.



We quickly brushed up on our zombie choreography.



And then we were off.



It wasn't all ugly, though. We had our brightly colored, multilayered, spirited and sassy Buck The Norm revelers as well.



Their task was to march in the wake of the zombie troop, waving huge speech bubble Buck The Norm signs, shouting out "Buck It!" and passing out glow sticks and candy to the crowd...



... and to just generally look fabulous.



We were all completely hypnotized by our media buyer, Jentry's, fake eyelashes. We told her she should wear them to work every day because everyone was crushing on her.



Especially these guys.

Thanks everybody for all the hard work! Can't wait 'til next year. Buck the norm!

Want to see more pictures from the parade? You can see more here of our Buck The Norm pics and here of the Ghouls Gone Wild parade in action (including us) on Flickr!

When Art Directors Get To Go Outside

They go to the HOW Design Conference! This year Third Degree sent Kathleen and Liz to see what's-what in the world of design at the national conference held in Austin, Texas this year.



Every professional creative person from inhouse designer to big bad agency art director drools to go to HOW. At Third Degree we try to budget for two creatives to get to attend every other year or so.



One thing that helps make it affordable is sharing a hotel room. What the budget does not cover is a hotel bill for trashing the room.



Kathleen and Liz kept me posted on their experience in real time with frequent texts. The first outing upon arrival was an agency tour of a quaint bungalow-style house that was home to Creative Suitcase a local Austin agency. The girls felt right at home.



A particularly inspirational session was one by Kate Bingaman-Burt of obsessiveconsumption.com, a blogger/illustrator/design influencer in her own right, and a big believer in handcrafted design, which is something both Liz and Kathleen feel passionate about, as well.

Craft + Activism = Craftivism by Kate Bingaman-Burt of www.obsessiveconsumption.com



A more serious session was all about staying organized and the importance of actionable steps in an "idea" world. It's not all troubled genius and late night brainstorms. It's actually a lot of being organized, consistent and just responsible with your energy and focused on the right things. Kathleen was a front-rower at this one – the kind that nods at everything the speaker is saying. This was presentation was given by Behance, and was so on the Third Degree train, Kathleen almost jumped up and yelled "testify!"

www.behance.com



Kathleen's notes from Living a Curiously Creative Life breakout session by Von Glitschka.

In fact, having been to HOW myself, I would compare the experience to something probably not unlike a revival. So we just started ending all our texts to and from the conference with "revival! testify! hallelujah!" This doodle-note is one of Kathleen's... hmmm, looks like she is already being inspired by that handcrafted session she attended earlier in the conference.



Now that they are back to the daily grind, we hope that a little of that inspiration lingers.

Liz at the agency tour of fd2s in Austin.



Not that it's ever too dull around here. Case in point: just a week after their return from HOW, and we see what really happens when art directors get to go outside – especially when they get their hands on a client's used outdoor vinyl, coat it with baby oil, stake it to a hill, and.. yes...



... turn it into a slip and slide.


TFCU's Get Going promotion may be over. But that didn't stop some of our more inventive minds from inventing another way to get going (and get grass burns).