Plaid Summer Tour

2009: Plaid visits middle America

2008-08-08T07:53:00.000-05:00

It's official. We're already counting down. On July 20, 2009, we will kick off the third annual Plaid summer tour. PlaidNation 2009 will take place in the midwest.

We haven't yet planned a route - so if you live in the land-locked states and would like a visit from Plaid, just let us know. (darryl AT thinkplaid DOT com)

We've got a vanload of super cool ideas for PlaidNation III that we're nearly wetting our pants to tell you about. But we'll have to wait. Until at least 2009. Start paving the roads, mid-westerners. Plaid is coming to town.

2008 is complete. Just wait for 2009.

2008-08-04T20:48:00.003-05:00

The van has been de-plaided and returned to Avis (what they don't know won't hurt them) and the Plaid team has returned home to rest and empty their inboxes.

We're uploading final photos in the next few days, editing a couple of final videos for the dashboard, and then we start putting together the details for next year. We've already got a load of fun ideas to push the tour past anything that's ever been done. Just wait for 2009!

Thanks to everyone who wrote about the tour, emailed, tweeted or called us with input and accolades, and especially to those on the west coast who graciously gave us their time.

See you next year!

Vegas ain’t for work.

2008-08-02T16:07:00.006-05:00

No kidding. Deals may get done over drinks and strip clubs, but when it comes to having to get some work done in the room, not havin it. Yeah, I know Vegas ain’t for work, but when your flight is cancelled and you decide to catch up on some posts and stuff, it quickly becomes a PITA. It’s not just Vegas either. A few extra plugs close to a table makes a big difference in half the places we stayed. An ice machine less than an hour away would be nice too. And of course, wireless.

It’s easy to take that last one for granted, but it’s still an iffy proposition at many places on the road. If we didn’t have the USB sprint cards, we would’ve easily lost a third of our uploading ability at night. It’s ironic the first time on tour we stay at a ~~motel~~ hotel and there’s no wireless, only an ethernet connection on some sort of vaccum cleaner cord Retract-O-Matic thing. (You can see how far it reached in the photo, just to the right of the laptop.)

Just close enough for me to work on some chairs and peer out at the future Darwin Award winners poolside.

You are your brand.

2008-08-02T15:29:00.003-05:00

Now there’s a guy with a call to action. Snapped quickly as we walked by with an iPhone was one of the people in the ‘old’ Vegas casino area responsible for saving Vegas and mankind, possibly in that order. He’s probably known as ‘The Jesus Guy’ by locals. The sign in his right hand has a list of everyone Jesus hates. The usual suspects like: Homosexuals, Muslims, bloggers, etc. Say what you will, but the overall messaging is direct. And with two foot letters, he didn’t have to shout a single word. (He also had Jesus schwag like flyers and shirts.) Always be branding people!

That's a wrap!

2008-08-01T17:42:00.000-05:00

Today we completed the last meeting of the tour, and disassembled the van. This van could write a book about its travels, and it's only a few thousand miles old.

We've removed webcams, power and internet connections. We've discarded about a dumpster full of garbage. And shipped leftover swag back to the Plaid headquarters.

And then we removed the wrap. A little bit depressing, and a whole lot hot - as we de-plaided the van in 108 degrees of Las Vegas love. Professional grade heat, as Bill calls it. Watch the entire de-plaiding process in the wrap up video, tomorrow.

After a few hours of uploading, blogging and editing, we're headed out for some end of tour celebratory fun. Watch out, Vegas. The web cams are off.

Plaid meets Zappos

2008-08-01T17:20:00.001-05:00

Our last meeting of the tour was at Zappos!

Plaid was treated to the ultimate tour of the Zappos facility, which is unlike any corporate workplace that we've ever visited. Anywhere. This is a firm with hundreds and hundreds of employees, yet they've managed to keep a culture and vibe that's consistently ZAPPOS.

Just a handful of the thousands of things that make them awesome:
+ A nap center, with those super-future nap-pods.
+ Employee groups decorate each zone of the office. There were jungles, tents, and more themes than I can even remember.
+ Tony, their CEO, and all the Zappos executives work side by side all other employees, in a cubicle.
+ There's an employee coach, masseuse, and a mayor.
+ Employees have created their own original greeting for any visitor to the Zappos facility. This has to be seen to be believed.
+ Employees (and guests) are treated to free books for continued learning. There's a library in the lobby of books that Tony has suggested, all free for the taking.

The Zappos workplace is a more creative space and culture than most creative agencies of their size. A testament to the fact that you don't have to be in the creative business to have fun in the workplace.

Look for video of the Zappos headquarters on the wrap up show. If you live in Vegas, this looks to truly be one of the best places to work in the country. Thanks to Tony, Jerry (the Mayor of Zappos), and the entire crew for showing Plaid the ultimate Zappos love.

When bloggers are attacked

2008-08-01T15:55:00.002-05:00

We stay at some pretty damn skanky motels while on tour. That's part of the adventure, and part necessity for a small agency footing the bill for a national tour. Stays at the Motel 6, Super 8 and Travel Lodge will usually yield some pretty good road stories.

So we were all pretty stoked to check in at the Excalibur in Las Vegas, for our last couple of days on tour. And had no idea that it might turn out to be the most dangerous night of all.

Here's how it went down:

Dead asleep in my room, I was woken by someone knocking on my door during the middle of the night. Figuring it was a drunk who couldn't find his room, I ignored for a minute. And the knocking turned to pounding. I jumped up, peeked through the security hole, to see a complete stranger. I yelled out "you have the wrong room", thinking that when he hears someone's voice that he doesn't recognize, that he'd move on. Instead, he begins screaming "LET ME IN" and literally begins to KICK DOWN THE DOOR. Full force kicks, doing everything he can to knock it down. Now I'm scared for my life - literally - and call security.

Meanwhile, a couple of doors down, Bill (who is of much larger build than I am) OPENS the door to the dude. Because Bill is more man than Chuck Norris. Bill discovers that he is indeed just a drunk, who believes the best way into a hotel room is by force, and moves him along.

I'm still a bit upset with how Excalibur handled this situation, and won't be staying here again. I'd even love to press charges against this individual - but security indicates that 'he got away.' The most secure place in America (other than the Canadian border) and you can literally kick in the doors of any guest, and drunkenly walk away.

Lots of brand love lost for Excalibur at 4:16AM this morning. Anyone looking for a good bodyguard should get in touch with Bill.

Plaid does Mojave.

2008-07-31T20:17:00.002-05:00

While en route to Las Vegas, we stopped at the Mojave desert for a really fun photo shoot. Timed it perfectly for awesome sun, sand and van. We needed some b-roll footage of the van, so Ryan offered to see how fast the van would go on an old empty road. Answer: pretty fast.

See the full set of shots here.

Brand consistency—on the road.

2008-07-31T19:05:00.001-05:00

One of the things about the tour is staying at places you might not normally stay if budget wasn’t an issue. Places you probably wouldn’t take your family on vacation, but for a business trip by yourself, they’re fine. Take the motels we’ve used so far: Travelodge, Econo Lodge, Super 8 and Motel 6. So far, Motel 6 has been the most consistent. Sure it’s not the Hyatt or W, but we’ve found they pretty much are about the same: clean, inexpensive and dependable. The others? Not so much.

Could it be that people don’t expect much in this category at that price? Possibly. Thing is, traveling the way we have been, we don’t need a lot of frills. But what we do need - wireless, decent size room and minimal freakage outside at 2:00 am, they’ve delivered for the most part. However, Travelodge and Super 8 have varied greatly. Having also used Super 8 exclusively on the first tour, the same held true over the three weeks we stayed there as well: From merely okay rooms to downright nasty.

It’s a small thing, but consistency at all levels and across multiple channels makes all the difference.

Aptera and Plaid: which is cooler?

2008-07-31T17:53:00.003-05:00

Today we got the opportunity to visit Aptera. Haven't heard of them? You will. Imagine a vehicle that rides entirely on electricity and runs for 120 miles on one charge. Or mostly on electricity, and a little fuel - getting around 300mpg. Now imagine that this same vehicle looked HOT. You've just imagined the Aptera. The Aptera comes in your choice of either all electric, or hybrid. Gullwing doors. Zero gas. Top speed exceeds 85 mph. Design like nothing you've ever seen on the road before. Ever.

Want one? We do too. You can pre-book them now, and get the first ones off the line in November. For now, they're only shipping to California (yet ANOTHER reason to put a Plaid office on the west coast.)

Aptera welcomed Plaid with a tour of their facility, showed us their earliest prototypes, the "fishbowl" (where the brainiac stuff happens), and we even got a ride in the Typ-1 vehicle. Yeah. For real. AMAZING. Check out the photos on our tour's Flickr page, and look for some sweet footage in tomorrow's wrapup video. Thanks Reed!

Plaid does Pink's

2008-07-30T20:50:00.000-05:00

Our friend Rob turned us onto Pink's. Like no other hot dog joint on earth. Surrounded by production people, production assistants and Hollywood deal makers, we cued up to a line that was well worth the wait.

Especially if you like hot dogs with guacamole, chili, special sauce and other delicious goodies that you've never imagined on a hot dog before.

The best part was that while we waiting in line almost 45 minutes to order our dogs, it only took us about 4 minutes to scarf them down. The long drive to San Diego should be interesting...

Plaid + Sony Pictures. Major film deal?

2008-07-30T19:14:00.000-05:00

Our last meeting in Hollywood was at none other than Sony Pictures Animation. We pitched them on a feature length animated film of the Plaid tour. Before they could call security, we chatted for real. And we learned about some of the incredible people and projects that Sony has in the hopper.

A true awesome host, Andrea even set us up with a secret beach and pizza tip for when we make our way down to San Diego. Thanks Andrea!

Plaid meets Leads 360

2008-07-30T18:46:00.001-05:00

One of our visits in Hollywood took us to Leads 360. This is a company that gets it. Many, many months ago, on the very first day that we announced our tour, Avi contacted Plaid and invited us for a visit.

Here's a business who is not an agency - not a production company - but a software solution. They're working on doing all of the right things (including an open API solution). They've even put themselves into one of the coolest spaces in Los Angeles, and have outfitted an old photo studio into one sweet office space. High ceilings, exposed trusses, and filled with cool.

We chatted, traded swag, and hit the road for lunch. At Pink's.

Plaid sees dead people.

2008-07-30T18:27:00.001-05:00

After a quick visit to Westwood Village Memorial Park, we took photos with Merv Griffin, Marilyn Monroe, Dean Martin, Jack Lemmon, and Burt Lancaster.

We met the cemetery's groundskeeper, who had the most amazing stories (and who's working on a book.) Did you know that the guy who is buried on top of Marilyn Monroe (!) was exhumed to be turned around and facing her?

We decided that Westwood would be the perfect location for the 11:40 show, and set up for broadcast. 3...2...1...and, we're live! Fifteen seconds into broadcast, a fiery beast came squelching across the cemetery "stop taping! You have no business here!" It wasn't a ghost. Just a really mean lady who trounced across all the graves to stop the 11:40 show. We continued the broadcast, but moved to the inside of the van. Until the mean lady came by and insisted that the Plaid van was not welcome anywhere near the cemetery. (Real friendly cemetery lady.)

We finished the 11:40 show from the van. You can see it in it's entirety here. We're hoping that the mean cemetery lady gets locked in at night.

Yari Films welcomes Plaid to Hollywood

2008-07-30T17:01:00.001-05:00

We started our first day in Hollywood meeting with Hollywood types. Only we didn't have any scripts to pitch, didn't have a film concept, or even headshots. Just an awesome van filled with Plaid creatives. First stop: Yari Films. Here's a really cool firm that's produced some incredible pictures that you've probably seen - like Crash, and the Illusionist. We talked shop, and traded swag.

The crew at Yari told us about Hollywood's most famous cemetery, located directly behind their building. Marilyn Monroe, Merv Griffin, Rodney Dangerfield, Carroll O'connor and a bunch of other famous people are currently staying there. They had us at Marilyn - and we decided to head there for the taping of the 11:40 show.

Thanks Yari for allowing Plaid into Hollywood!

SLOCAMA: the place where the cool people are.

2008-07-29T17:49:00.001-05:00

When we were planning our tour we easily pegged San Francisco and Los Angeles as markets that we wanted to visit. And we knew that we needed something in between. A look at the Google map pointed us to San Luis Obispo. But we had never heard of this magical place that they call SLO. Who could we visit? What could we do?

A quick call to the Chamber of Commerce turned us to Missy at iiiDesign. Missy and the iiiDesign crew told us all about their market, and introduced us to SLOCAMA, the San Luis Obispo Creative and Marketing Alliance.

They scheduled a SLOCAMA meeting at the iiiDesign Studios for marketing, creative and internet workers. To meet and greet with the passengers of the Plaid van. What cool people. Super friendly, engaging and full of fun. We traded road stories and agency shop talk. And made new friends in a place where we all now want to live.

The iiiDesign space was super. They've moved in with Big Images and Delicious (not that delicious, but another delicious), and renovated an old garage/mechanic building, turning it into the ultimate creative studio. It's a group space, shared with all three firms. The end result is a sweet place filled with inspired creatives and a collaborative work environment.

If that weren't enough, after directing us to an awesome location for the 11:40 show, then treated us to a BBQlicious lunch at the Firestone Grill.

Thanks everyone in SLO for getting a little Plaid today!!

Plaid tweets it up with the locals in Silicon Valley

2008-07-28T23:01:00.004-05:00

Our tweet up tonight took place at the British Banker's Club. Kind of appropriate for a town living on loads and loads of VC cash.

Really cool people stopped by to chat about good times, bad times, gossip and technology. Plaid love was shared (through swag and free drinks), contact info was exchanged, and potato chips were eaten.

We met Brian Shaler, Ryan Kuder, Shel Israel, JJ and a bunch of other really cool people.

We snapped some pics and then hit the road for a long drive to San Luis Obispo. Thanks to the Social Media Club for setting this up and making it all happen!

Google—the new local.

2008-07-28T22:43:00.002-05:00

The tour is creating a new axiom for us: When it comes to directions, never trust a local, unless it’s one you know, because Google maps has bailed us out more than the ‘locals’ have. It’s rare that we have time to wonder around and discover new places. Usually, there’s just no time for it, and that means calling up Google quickly as we drive around lost. (We nixed the idea of a Garmin since we’re already on laptops anyway doing a bunch of stuff, besides, typing is easier that way rather than reaching for something on the dash.) For the most part, Google’s been 99.376584% accurate, especially when you’re bouncing down the streets of San Francisco or Vancouver on the fly and need to find gas, a diner or laundromat. It can be your worst enemy too when one way streets magically appear that weren’t on the map.

But compared to the ~~hotel~~ motel ~~concierge~~ front desk woman? It’s waaaaaaaay better. Like when the nearest (insert thing you need) is supposed to be “Up the diagonal street” and is actually in the opposite direction—two blocks over. And the one she first said turns out to be a dry cleaners. Google? Had it like that. (*snaps hand in, um, snapping gesture*)

Better than Google though are still the locals you know, like friends of the Plaid crew, many of who live in the area, and who told us all the places to go. More importantly? They told us the places not to go. Especially, the truly ‘sketchy’ places. The definition of which someone you don’t know in a Yahoo! forum exaggerated and which actually turns out to be fine.

Leave your desk.

2008-07-28T22:43:00.001-05:00

Trying to catch up on the 50,000 blog posts and came across a great find from David at Ad Pulp on problems the traditional vs. interactive media crowds have. Regardless of what people call themselves now, and whether you’re an interactive freak or TV dude, something this tour reinforces applies to both worlds: Leave your desk.

Get out and see places. Flyover country. The smaller markets. Places where you’re a minority for a change. The people on brands who don’t have TV money to spend, let alone do a ‘cool’ Flash site. See what customer service is like in other states or how small companies compete for business using untraditional methods. See a car in a Super 8 with a cam, a helmet and a log in the rear window. All of it. How can you be better at what you do if you don’t fully understand things you try and convince your clients to do?

Leave your desk—and go sit in a van. You will not have a better time, I promise.

quote of the day: "don't judge me by my thumbnail."

2008-07-28T22:41:00.000-05:00

Overheard in the van, while driving from Menlo Park to San Luis Obispo.

Seesmic gets totally Plaid

2008-07-28T22:27:00.003-05:00

Our second meeting for today led us to Seesmic, the ultimate video conversation tool. Want a real explanation about what it's all about? Check it out - or listen to the one and only Cathy Brooks talk to us about how people are using Seesmic and how brands are integrating it into their social media plans. The full interview will be available tomorrow on the Plaid tour dashboard.

We also got to see their space, meet their dog Truman (who knows how to obey crosswalks!) and trade swag.

Live from Robert Scoble's lawn.

2008-07-28T22:24:00.001-05:00

We've made visits to some awesome companies while on tour so far, but today was the first time that we made a stop at someone's house. Not just anyone. Robert Scoble.

Robert invited us in, and we chatted about Twitter, search engines, social media, the iPhone, the Nokia phone, and oh, so much more. We also got some great insight into personal brand building. We'll have the interview in its entirety on the dashboard soon.

Because we were there during the 11:00 hour, Robert invited us to broadcast our 11:40 show from his front yard. Pretty sure the neighborhood association is going to write him up on that one.

Thanks Scoble!

Happy Birthday, Sara.

2008-07-25T17:50:00.000-05:00

Birthdays are pretty special at Plaid, because we usually celebrate with cake. And everyone that works at Plaid loves cake. Tomorrow is coworker's Sara's birthday - which means that back at the home office, Plaid employees were sinking their teeth into some sweetalicious cupcakes. (Sara is known across the globe for her love of cupcakes.)

Not to be left out, we had our own little Sara celebration. With cupcakes and all. You'll see the whole party (a must see) in today's wrap up video - which should go live over the weekend.

Happy Birthday Sara, from Matt, Renato, Ryan, Bill, myself and the Plaid van!

Plaid chats with Twitter

2008-07-25T17:41:00.000-05:00

One of our first meetings in San Fran was with none other than Biz Stone, founder of Twitter. This is a tool that's become a part of our everyday lives, so we were pretty stoked to meet him.

We got a peek at the spankin' new Twitter offices (which totally freakin' ROCK) and then sat down with Biz to chat. We talked about the origination of the Twitter illustrations (and where the fail whale came from), and what it's like at their offices when Twitter goes down. (Do alarms go off? Are people running around?) We'll have a video of the interview posted soon.

Biz was so cool that he let us onto the roof of the Twitter building to shoot today's 11:40 Show. We were treated to some awesome views of San Francisco which made for an excellent backdrop for the morning's show.

Thanks Biz!

rest stops: best place to discover new bands

2008-07-24T18:21:00.000-05:00

Colorful vans have a magic ability of attracting interesting people. You should just paint your car like a rainbow today, and drive around.

While at a rest stop off freeway 5 somewhere near exit 603, we met Mad Tea Party. (Ironically, they're from Asheville, NC, a favorite stop of ours on last year's PlaidNation tour.)

The Mad Tea Party plays Uke-abilly. Or Retro-Pop. Or Rock 'n' Roll. Or whatever you call a duo that plays drums with their feet while strumming a guitar and singing.

Check them out in San Francisco on Saturday, at Amnesia or the Sonoma County Fair on Sunday 7/27.