Interweb Wanderlust

For the last two years (2009, 2010), I have taken time to document some reflection on the year prior. This is my reflection on 2011 :)

2011 Professional

There has been so much growth for Carrot this year - I am so proud. Aside from moving into our lovely new office (with killer views: 1, 2, 3), we had a number of talented new folks join us: Daniela, Nick, Alexis, William, Will, Dan, Jeff, Juliette, Steven, Bob, Sunny, Darryl, Bonnie, Kathryn, Sean, and Lee. It was particularly big news to have Darryl announce his departure from Humongo, the agency he founded, for the position of Executive Creative Director at Carrot :)

We won some big clients and did some killer work this year - Internally and externally. New Clients included, notably: Burton Snowboards, Jaguar, Bloomberg, Redbull, and some skunk works for eBay. Continued work for Ford, DMB, Her Universe and Disney was, as usual, a pleasure. 

We announced Carrot.is and Platlas: The Social Platform Atlas. We celebrated our 6th year anniversary in STYLE… and, the list goes on. Digital DUMBO enjoyed sponsorships from huge names like Microsoft, Google and AT&T.

For a better run down of work, press and some sweet client perks that were enjoyed, check the 2011 Carrot Creative Holiday Newsletter

2011 Personal

This year I fell in love again :) Coming off of 2010 with my personal life flipping upside-down, I am thrilled to have grown in many ways, not the least of which is in my relationship with Beth. I’m a much happier and fulfilled person since she and I have begun to build a life together. If 2010 was about survival, 2011 was about recovery and regrowth. I’m excited for 2012 to continue this adventure we’ve started together :D

We had alot of fun this year traveling and attending events like Lebowski-fest and NY Comic Con. We visited Beth’s family in Florida earlier in the year, also checking out UF (her alma mater) and the Wizarding World of Harry Potter at Universal while down there. For Beth’s 30th Birthday, we visited San Francisco - my first time out there. We celebrated with dinner at “Foreign Cinema” on Day 1, while exploring the Academy of Sciences and Golden Gate Park on Day 2, and the Piers, Bridge and Pacific Beach on Day 3.

We also twice traveled to a state that has embedded itself in my heart: Colorado. The first trip was for my sister Sara-Jane’s graduation from UCB in May, where we checked out Boulder on Day 1, Nederland on Day 2, and Red Rocks on Day 3. The second trip to Salida-area in October was for a weekend escape for hiking, nature and horseback-riding.

My long-time best friends Mike Germano and Victoria Iacobazza tied the knot in style, with most of our staff attending what was a fantastic celebration :)

Some client perk-fun was had with my second-annual trip to The Gorge for DMB and camping in George, WA, and Burton’s Fall Bash for staff/ friends in Stowe, VT. We also were at F8 for Facebook’s announcement of Timeline and the unveiling of an app we helped build, by Mark Zuckerberg himself!

This year was also another big year for concert-going in general (If I’m being honest, most years are ;). I was thrilled to see the following in 2011, in no particular order:

• Dave Matthews Band (Governor’s Island in NYC and The Gorge in WA State).
• Dave Matthews & Tim Reynolds (The Gorge in WA State, The Pavilion in Charlottesville, VA and United Palace Theater in NYC)
• Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeroes (The Gorge in WA State)
• Foo Fighters (Prudential Center in Newark, NJ)
• Sting (The Apollo Theater & Roseland Ballroom, NYC)
• Radiohead (Roseland Ballroom x2, NYC)
• Fourtet (Roseland Ballroom x2, NYC)
• God Is An Astronaut (Bowery Ballroom, NYC)
• Explosions in the Sky (Radio City Music Hall, NYC)
• Tycho (The Music Hall of Williamsburg, NYC)
• Black Taxi (Mercury Lounge, NYC)
• Thievery Corporation (The Williamsburg Waterfront, NYC)
• Fleet Foxes (The Williamsburg Waterfront, NYC)
• Bon Iver (Prospect Park Bandshell, NYC)
• Ray LaMontagne (Rumsfeld Playfield at Central Park, NYC)
• Tedeschi Trucks Band (Beacon Theater, NYC)
• Eddie Vedder (Beacon Theater, NYC)
• The Head and the Heart (Beacon Theater, NYC)
• Federico Aubele (Gramercy Theater, NYC)
• Julia Nunes (Studio at Webster Hall, NYC)

I enjoyed new music by Washed Out, Bon Iver, Eddie Vedder, Hammock, Tedeschi Trucks Band, and Gary Clark Jr. Hammock was overwhelmingly my most-listened to band of 2011, with DMB and Pearl Jam coming in 2nd and 3rd. Top Artist and Top Song stats provided by last.fm. Much of my listening this year was through rdio.

The Holidays were spent between Brooklyn, Florida and Sparta. We checked out Prolific’s party, had a fantastic dinner with the staff on the Carrot side, and Beth and I attended her staff party for AC 360 at Anderson Cooper’s house.

2012

Professional Goals:

• Expand Carrot to new location(s)
• Expand offerings past those of a typical agency
• Hire more staff: with care and enthusiasm
• Keep Calm And Carrot On.

Personal Goals:

• Reconnect and spend more time with friends
• Read 2-3 books a month (facilitated by my new kindle :)
• Maintain healthier lifestyle
• Be more conscious of personal down-time an soul restoration

I enter 2012 completely excited for what is to come personally and professionally. I’m sure I’ll be tumbl’n all 365 days of it, so see you there.

This has been a year of UP for me professionally (Carrot Creative) and a roller coaster ride for my personal life. What a year…

2010 Professional

Carrot was started from nothing, in terms of how agencies are “supposed” to be born - we didn’t have funding, agency experience… but we had passion, talent and almost a blind motivation. We wanted to create the dream workplace and culture, for ourselves and staff, and change the agency world by doing things our way. 5.5 years later, I am happy to reflect on our best year to date!

Necessary growing pains is probably the best way to describe the last 12 months… while sometimes a challenge and difficult, they were integral to the continued learning and improvement of Carrot. We brought on some amazing new talent in 2010, who I want to thank personally for making this such a great year: Bridget, Mike P, Tom, Adam, Analee, Rianna, Jen and Billy. I’d also like to thank a few staff who have moved on from Carrot this year to new opportunities, most of them afforded by their time as Carrot employees. If Carrot greatly contributed to their value and made them ideal candidates for the agencies that they are now at, they also helped make Carrot the caliber of agency it is today. Thank you Jeff, Colin, Katy, Maury and Jacob for your time, love and hard work. And finally, our dedicated rockstars who have been with us for a bulk of the journey and whose digital blood, sweat and tears have continually provided Carrot with fuel to rock out at 100mph… I am grateful to our core four: Kyle, Steve, Kaitlin, Tony. To my business partners Mike and Bobby - what a brilliant year for Carrot. Cheers guys :)

We have been fortunate enough to work on some killer projects, with amazing, historical, and global brands to make true impacts for them this year. We started off 2010 with a relationship that has grown into a retainer for Disney Publishing. A major thank you to Digital Marketing Jedi Kieran Hawe for our continued relationship, and being a killer client. As a designer, it has been a thrill to drool over superbly high-res Disney Character artwork files to create and array of digital projects with my production team at Carrot. Projects included our own creative, Disney iPad/iPhone App promotion, and work on campaigns for Toy Story 3 and TRON.

We also worked on several Ford projects this year. The first, Fiesta Funnel, was a successful Ford Fiesta sponsored-project for Internet Week that aggregated social conversation. The project culminated with an exclusive rooftop party in Manhattan with live Dj and Band (Cobra Starship), to which Carrot Creative staff were VIP guests. Thanks to Greg Littley for his work with us on that! The next and by far most successful Carrot project of the year was the launch of the 2011 Ford Explorer on Facebook. We worked with Ogilvy and Team Detroit to bring about this launch that was a huge part in Ford being named “AdAge’s Marketer of the Year.” It may been the most successful Facebook campaign to date for a brand. It received tons of press for the brand. Just a few examples here, here and here. Our next Ford project, working directly with Team Detroit, was a successful contest to name the V6 package for the 2011 Mustang. We are slated to do more work in 2011 with America’s #1 Auto Company, beginning with the Ford EV line :D

A personal favorite project this year was the launch of the Her Universe Website and the design of their brand/ identity. An opportunity presented by apparel company Araca, we were able to work closely with the truly amazing and talented Ashley Eckstein of Star Wars: The Clone Wars fame (she voices Ahsoka Tano). My nerdom was heavily satisfied, and Ashley even helped adorn my desk with toys of her character, and a limited edition item she got and saved for months until I saw her at NYCC!

We also worked with agency Anomaly on a “Grab Some Buds” Budweiser Campaign, a project for Comcast that launches soon, Android, iPhone & iPad apps for MTV’s “The Meter,” a Pepsi Refresh project, and many more.

2011 is looking to be incredible for Carrot - we will be hiring more, expanding to a beautiful new office (currently under construction) in NYDD, and continuing the success of Digital DUMBO, which wrapped up 2011 with an AOL-sponsored event!

2010 Personal

I entered 2010 engaged to be married to my girlfriend of 5.5 years, a wedding planned for August 28, 2010. The end of that relationship in the spring of 2010 was THE hardest, most difficult event I have ever experienced. I am so, so grateful to have such caring, supportive friends and family. They helped me make it, gave me a place to stay, and kept me going past what seemed like the end of everything I knew. Mike and Victoria, two of my best friends in the world, took me in with every measure of caring and support possible. My sister Marybeth also provided an immense amount of local support, opening her apartment to me when I needed it. My best friends Ryan, Pat, Tina and Mike in Connecticut, who have known me since I was a kid, kept me going with calls and texts nearly everyday. I am so grateful. I am grateful to Matt for encouraging me to take time for myself, to travel and experience new things this summer… more on that in a minute. There are countless other people who stepped forward with genuine care as well… they include Jason, Kaitlin, Katy, Ellen, Jen, Christy, Wendy, Eric and Carla. This summer I also met my beautiful girlfriend Beth, who is probably THE most patient person I know, considering what she has been through with me. She has been dedicated, supportive, understanding and simply incredible, and I love her for it.

Before this major life event, I had decided to make 2010 another big concert year, and this theme continued through the fall, proving to be a very important series of experiences for me. This year the shows I saw, in no particular order, were:

• Kaki King (Bowery Ballroom)
• Pearl Jam (Madison Square Garden, both nights)
• Mumford & Sons (Webster Hall in March, Terminal 5 in November)
• Edward Sharpe & the Magnetic Zeroes (Webster Hall, my second time seeing them- previous show was in summer 2009)
• Sting and the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra (Camden, NJ)
• Peter Gabriel (Radiocity Music Hall)
• The Album Leaf (The Bowery Ballroom)
• The Black Crowes (Nikon Theater)
• The Black Keys (Summer Stage in Central Park)
• The Avett Brothers (Radio City Music Hall)
• The New York Philharmonic (Central Park)
• The 21st Century Orchestra performing LOTR: The Two Towers score (Radio City Music Hall)
• My Morning Jacket (Terminal 5)
• Dave Matthews Band (Virginia Beach, Citi Field, The Gorge, MSG, and JPJ Arena in the band’s hometown of Charlottesville, VA)

Music has always made me happy. Experiencing it live is where I truly feel at home, and at peace. It’s a pure experience for me. For the last 10 years I have wanted to see DMB at The Gorge, arguably the most holy of pilgrimages for any fan of the band… but have had (legitimate) excuses for not doing so - largely money and time. This year, with the band announcing their first break from touring in 20 years to be in 2011, and with the aforementioned push from Matt, I decided to make it happen. My best friend Ryan was instantly in, so we booked flights and I requested tickets from the band’s management (who has generously taken care of me with lounge passes and tickets over the years). A new friend, introduced via Matt in a professionally capacity initially, immediately volunteered to transport us the 4.5 hours from the Portland airport to the venue. Jen and her husband Dan live in Oregon and without second thought incredibly offered their time during Labor Day Weekend, so I requested a few extra tickets and we had a caravan to what became one of the best weekends of my life. I won’t go heavily into detail, but the experience more than satisfied my soul :). The new friends we camped with and everyone we met are beyond my capacity to describe. Photos are here and here.

I would be remiss without mentioning a specific thanks to Jason- DMB’s project manager turned close friend- who invited me down to a killer show at Jones Beach Amphitheater for my 27th bithday, and the band’s epic, final 2 shows in Charlottesville, VA. So much fun, just what I needed :)

Also on the music front, I discovered some new music this year, largely via last.fm. Some ambient highlights include H.U.V.A. Network and Carbon-based Lifeforms. New releases by Hammock, Great Lake Swimmers and previously-discovered albums from favorites like Mumford & Sons, Sting, Edward Sharpe and lots of Pearl Jam and DMB were soundtracks to my year, particularly during difficult days. My officially-logged top artists of 2010 can be seen here.

This year I also attended NY Comic-Con for the first time, with Beth, and had an absolute blast! We saw panels for “The Thing” (2011), “The Women of Battlestar Galactica,” hungout with Star Wars/ Star Trek legend Dan Madsen, Ashley Eckstein, and had a blast immersed in nerdom overall. If you have interest, I highly recommend catching it next year in San Diego or NYC! The night previous, I was invited by my friend Christy to see The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers at Radio City Music Hall - a live symphony performed the soundtrack LIVE as we watched the film! Incredible.

I visited Zurich, Switzerland (and surrounding countryside) with my sister and dad for the wedding of a member of my extended family in Italy. It was an incredible 5 days - while a quick trip, being immersed in family and beautiful landscape was more than worth it. I hadn’t spoken Italian in 5 years yet quickly picked it back up! Photos here.

Thank you…

I am sure there is plenty I left out, for all the good things I experienced in 2010 it’s hard to know what I might have overlooked… I will be sure to edit /add if anything comes to me! Despite some personal hardship, I still managed to have quite a year, largely thanks to my company, dedicated friends, and family. I am thrilled that people actually read/ enjoy the content I post here and on twitter. Thank you :) Looking forward to 2011 and hopefully meeting more followers and friends. Feel free to continue to ask me anything- cheers!

Some of the personal highlights for me:

- Brought on some truly talented and awesome folks at Carrot Creative. In order (as far as I recall): Kaitlin Villanova,  Jeff Brunelle, Katy Kelley, Colin Murphy. Shout outs to Tony Briceno and Jacob Cass (both joining us in January) and Asa Alger (summer intern).

- Finally did a good round of work for Dave Matthews Band (formerly it was sporadic projects) for their stellar  2009 release “Big Whiskey & the GrooGrux King,” and enjoyed some great perks from their generous management including passes and tickets to Jones Beach on my birthday.

- Did CD Artwork for Tim Reynolds and his band (TR3).

- Moved to Brooklyn and finally enjoying life full-time with my fiancee, Lisa. 2+ years of intense travel between Rochester and Brooklyn on a near weekly basis = FIN. Enormous thanks is due to Mike & Victoria for opening their home to me for the better part of last year and the first half of this.

- Discovered loads of new music artists, including: Edward Sharpe & the Magnetic Zeroes, Avett Brothers, Phoenix, Hammock, One EskimO, Mumford & Sons, Passion Pit, Kero One, CéU, City and Colour and more. Several of those thanks to Ellen.

- Enjoyed some excellent new albums by: DMB, TR3, Hammock, Pearl Jam, Zero 7, Tycho, Imogen Heap, Jay-Z, Sting, and more.

- Got to see some amazing live shows including: DMB, Zero 7, Edward Sharpe & Magnetic Zeroes, One EskimO, Liam Finn, David Byrne, Fool’s Gold, The NY Philharmonic, Tori Amos (I’m a good guy to my gal), Ani Difranco (ditto), Loudon Wainwright and others that will com to me, I’m sure.

- Made some new friends and met countless new people, many through the continued success of our Digital DUMBO event. A few particularly awesome new folks of 2009 include: Carla, Ellen, Katy, Matt, Rachit and others without links handy.

- Misc: Learned to enjoy Bourbon/ Scotch, Got rid of my TV and found more time to read, did 95% of gift shopping via online retailers (mainly Amazon), bought my first couch, got an iPhone (3GS), thought about planning our wedding and decided it was best left til 2010 to sort out (though we did book a place for the reception, at least), caught up with old friends, spent time with some great new ones, and didn’t kill our two cats (who do not extend the same courtesy to our apartment and nice things). My Macbook Pro somehow survived another year with me, as well.

That’s all I’ve got for now and I need to nap before we have fun tonight - but it was a good year, and I doubt these even begin to cover the full extent of it. I intend to do even better in 2010 :D