Hey look, it's the future! Third Degree Webcam Huddles

With the creative department growing across two cities, we're figuring out how to do our usual daily huddles across the distance.



We're using iChat as a temporary solution, but that only handles four people. We're also looking at Skype Premium, which is currently the leading candidate. Google Hangouts has a very nice pricepoint (Free!) and expands to lots of users, but we noticed a lot of lag. Our newcomer Kaylee suggested Talkbox, which we'll definitely investigate further.

Any recommendations for on-the-spot facetime?

New faces at the Third Degree Oklahoma City office!

We're super-busy these days, so it's nice when we can get some extra help in and out of the creative department. Next time you come around to the Third Degree Oklahoma City office, say hello to the new kids!


We met Jennifer at a recent AIGA portfolio review. Among a wide array of talented students and young professionals, Jennifer stood out for her strong type foundations, precise handcraft and clever concepting. That's a lot of jargon that only means something to design nerds. Which we so are.


Kyle comes to us from OU's journalism department. He actually first looked for an internship in the creative department, but his strength in research made him an obvious choice for the account service side. Above, he describes the stack of work we gave him on his first day.


Ah, and here's Kaylee. She interned for us over two years ago, but graduated and went off to the land of web startups. Now she's back from a three-month visit to Japan, full of stories about giant robots and questionable seafood. She's jumping into the creative department as a production artist.

Welcome to Third Degree! You're gonna be great.

Group Photo Shoot Outtakes

Because we're oversharers, we couldn't help showing off our outtakes from the impromptu group photoshoot this week. Here's the scene...

[INT: Third Degree Office. Early morning. No one's had coffee yet.]
Daniel: Hey, let's do the group shot before it gets too hot.
Liz: Yeah, this is your last chance before I fly back to Durham.
Brett: But who are we going to sucker into being our photographer?
All: Jared!



[EXT: Backdoor of Third Degree offices.]
Jared: Okay, just like the Bricktown engagement photoshoots.
Liz: You go here. You go here. You go here.
Adam: I'm having second thoughts, guys.



Daniel: Let's move out to the sidewalk a little.
Brett: Yes! Like an album cover. Everyone space out and look serious.
Jared: Okay, everyone. One, twooooo, three!



Liz: Did I blink?
Jared: No, but let's take another one to be safe.
Daniel: Places, everyone!
Jared: Okay, everyone. One, twooooo, three!



Jared: Got it!

They grow up so fast.

While everyone else goes back to school, we do things a little different here at Third Degree. Get your cap and gown, it's time for graduation!

(Clockwise from top left: Brett Grimes, Adam Lenaire, Daniel Solis and Liz Fabry.)

Brett Grimes (on the team 5 years) always brings his top game to design and art direction. That's why he's being promoted to Senior Art Director. Epic win!

Liz Fabry (4 years) pioneers our creative team in Raleigh-Durham. For the past year, she's grown as a writer, concepter, and grown our RDU team's profile. So, she's being promoted to Senior Art Director, too!

Congrats Liz and Brett! Two cities, two senior art directors. We're keeping it hot with double the creative firepower.

Oh! More good news! Daniel Solis (7 years) is now associate creative director. He'll keep the engines burning with social branding and innovative strategy. You'll hear more from the whole creative team here on the blog.

A Major Salute

Remember Megan? You should- she's pretty unforgettable.

Today we're saluting her continued bravery, general serve-it-up-titude and totally cute shoes with some kind words and silly pictures.


First, a bit of an explanation from CEO Roy:

"Well this week marked a first for me. For the first time in my fifteen year career as the CEO of Third Degree, I had to navigate the new reality of bidding a teammate good-bye – at least for one year. And I’ve learned more than I ever thought possible.

As leaders, we more often are required to be the teacher than the student. But not in this case. Megan, who I often endearingly refer to as “Major,” is indeed just that. Megan Miranda, account planner for Third Degree, is also a Major in the US Army Reserves. And last week our country called her to service for the third time in a decade.

Major Megan Miranda, as of today, will assume command of a PSYOPS company that will be deployed in Afghanistan in support of the US Marines. And while I hate to see her go, I know that our country needs her and that the Army picked a great commander.

I watched Megan embrace her responsibility. What struck me the most is that before assuming command of her company in the US Army, she made sure that her fellow troopers at Third Degree were well informed and that all duties were transitioned with as little disruption and stress as possible. (As if she didn’t have enough else to worry about.) She was committed through the final few minutes of her last day at Third Degree. Giving it all for the team until she walked out of her office.

Megan accepts her role, responsibility, and duty as a military officer. And while I know inside she would rather stay in her office in the renewed surroundings of the American Tobacco Campus in Durham, and her home with a vegetable garden, and a group of people at Third Degree who’ve become her family, she doesn’t have that choice. She has a high calling and duty to do her part in defense of our nation.

I will admit that while the War on Terror has raged on since 9/11, I never truly felt personally affected – until now.

So while Megan does her duty over there, it is up to me, Third Degree and all who read this post to continue to do our duty here. And that is to continue our individual contributions to advance commerce, be thankful for the freedoms we enjoy, work as hard as she will for the next year, and never lose sight of the sacrifice that so few make for the benefit and betterment of so many.

Thank you, Major Megan Miranda. I would have picked you too."

– Roy


And now, to soften the blow- here are some light-hearted anecdotes from Megan's 1-year anniversary book:

"I love that Megan can talk marketing savvy and SHOES, all at the same time."
- Holly, Media Director

"Megan serves it up daily with her can-do attitude and team spirit. She’s the force you want working with you through anything - one that does it right and does it on time. She’s a force to be reckoned with and keeps the bar high for all of Third Degree and its clients."
- Natalie, Account Executive


"Megan is on it. She catches on quick, and lives the Third Degree brand daily. And she now has a smart phone so she can check emails. Oh wait, that’s not good… What was she thinking there?"
- Jared, Account Coordinator

"With nerves of steel when presenting, Megan leads with a velvet voice and grace under pressure. The only time Megan seems the opposite of calm are when shoes or coffee are involved. Then, her eyes beam and footsteps quicken as her coveted treasures are within reach! A tip for newbies: do not to interfere with her acquiring said shoes or coffee or I’m sure she’ll utilize some of her psych ops training and she’ll torture you with mind control. At least, that’s
what I hear from Roy (which explains a lot)."
- Amanda, VP Strategic Communications


Our hats (and shoes) are off to you, Megan. See you in a year.

The Calm Moments. And Coffee.

Every internal culture has them. Little pieces of, well... peace. Most of the stories coming out of Third Degree's walls are in full-blown technicolor. We tend to crank the dial all the way up to hot when it comes to expressing ourselves. But today I stumbled on some images that capture, dare I say, our more tranquil side?



Coffee Cup Eggs

Don't they just look like ideas about to hatch? This pic is from about a decade ago I'd say. Many of our ideas have hatched and grown to crowing roosters by now. Mostly the ones for clients. Some of our own ideas, like frying an egg on the sidewalk last summer? Didn't have as fabulous an outcome. And if it's the coffee aspect of this scene that makes you want to sigh, or just head out the door to a Starbucks, check out this video about the virtues of coffee I stumbled on the other day.



Roy On The Road

This is Roy in one of his Up In The Air reflective-while-traveling moments. Except his backpack is anything but empty (you've got to see the Clooney flick to get my meaning here). The point is that Roy shines when he's got a glass of... well, let's say a beverage that's on the other end of the indulgence spectrum from coffee and rhymes with "fine"... a quiet corner, and a head full of blazing ideas.



Notes

Oh, and if a laptop isn't handy to capture one of his epiphanies... one of these little fellas will do just wine. I mean fine... fine. This photo has been on my laptop background forever, but I don't think I've ever shared it until now. It's neat. When I myself use one to sketch out my ideas, I try to use more descriptive words than "neat."



This Old Elevator

This is a Shining-like photo of our building's elevator entrance before it was remodeled. I kind of miss the exposed circuit boxes and the seventies-trying-to-be-turn-of-the-century sign in powder blue. This "little elevator that could" may be a bit modernized today, but it still kind of creeps people out.



Hall Pass

Probably because Brett is creeping down the back hallway up on the second floor. All he needs is a twin, and then it really is The Shining. This is our coffee escape hall, bathroom escape hall, escaping to the bathroom because you've had too much coffee hall. But this particular stance Brett is displaying, really has no explanation.

Just a calm moment at Third Degree. Eerie calm. But calm all the same for now.

"Tricking Out" Traditional Print Advertising

So we've really been rallying around this idea of creating non-traditional executions for our client Pioneer as of late, even if the medium is, well, just plain old print.

Facebook and flash mobs may be the latest frontier of advertising, but for some markets – particularly rural ones – a postcard in a county road mailbox or a full-page ad in a town's main newspaper are still some of the most steadfast ways of getting a substantial number of people the message.

Not to say that you can't get creative with how you engage within a market be it urban, suburban or off the beaten path. We've definitely forged into non-traditional media with Pioneer, too. Their Hook Me Up grassroots phone booth and microsite for teens is a prime example.

But it doesn't matter how reliable the delivery channel or how attractive the offer if nobody reads it. And so often boring newspaper ads and ho-hum direct mail end up flipped past, tossed aside and quickly forgotten.

People should at least ...





smell it first ...



touch it first ...



or just frankly be unable to avoid it. (That's a really big postcard.)



But beyond direct mail with a twist, we've had an especially big success creating print ads that really push the medium by contrasting or working within the classic newspaper backdrop.





Engaging viewer interaction by inviting action in order to get "the whole picture" – having fun with the classic game, of you're getting warm, warmer, warmer...

Once we got started, we just started growing into it and now it's hard for us to stop.





Good for Pioneer because more eyes are spending more time with their message, good for the papers because they can demonstrate a forward-thinking approach, and just good for all of us to remember to entertain and engage our viewers – be it in their mailbox or over their morning coffee – even when they don't expect it.