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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.

Labels: van

posted by darryl ohrt at 7:53 AM 1 Comments

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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.

Labels: las vegas, technology, van

posted by darryl ohrt at 5:42 PM 0 Comments

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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.

Labels: tour route, van

posted by Make the logo bigger at 10:43 PM 0 Comments

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Here's a few things we learned while crossing the Canadian border twice in two days:

+ When they ask what you're going into Canada for, don't answer "to meet with a blogger."

+ Don't greet border patrol with a video camera. Taping.

+ When they ask if you captured their facilities on video, don't answer "no."

+ Don't smile, or be jovial if the guards are frowning.

What an experience getting into Canada. We happened to arrive at the border just as every Canadian on earth decided to return to their country. So there was a very entertaining 65 minute wait to get to the gate. And then the real fun began...keep in mind that the van is wired with cameras, equipment, powerpacks, laptops, plus loads of luggage and five gnarly guys.

"I have an idea. Renato, get in the back seat, and video tape the guard as we approach the gate!"

Guard: "Why are you visiting Canada?"
Plaid: "We're here to visit a blogger!"
Guard: (Grimace) "Are you video taping me??" Please pull the van over to bay one."
Guard 2: "Get out of the van."
Guard 2: "How much of our facility and guards did you video tape?
Plaid: "Not much, really."
Guard 2: "Why are you here?"
Plaid: "To meet with a blogger."
Guard 2: (Super grimace) "What's a blogger??"
Plaid: "Ummmm"
Guard 2: "Go wait inside while we search your van."

Renato was pulled aside and questioned further, and then reviewed all of our video tape with the guards. We erased any offending footage. The van was searched in detail. Luckily Matt left his firearm collection at home.

We're pretty sure that we're on watch lists, permanently now.

Labels: bloggers, van, vancouver

posted by darryl ohrt at 9:13 PM 0 Comments

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GEEK ALERT: This post is all about cameras and technology. Politely ignore if those types of things bore you.

Here's proof that even with advance testing and preparation, things can go wrong.

We've planned for three live webcams when the van is rolling. Each camera has a laptop dedicated to it, to maximize streaming. Of course we're rolling with Macs. Since Mac laptops come with a webcam built in, they're picky about which webcams they'll recognize.

Apple made a webcam years ago (the iSight) that works seamlessly with Apple laptops. Only one problem. Apple stopped producing iSights many years ago. We had purchased two of them on eBay prior to the tour, and had another Logitech camera in the office, successfully running off a Mac. Figured that would be no problem.

Luckily we arrived in Seattle with a pre-production crew so there was time for one last road test. After wiring the van, we fired up all of the cameras for a test broadcast. But the Logitech camera wouldn't work.

Made a quick stop at BestBuy, for another "mac friendly" cam. Which didn't work. Next stop: the Apple store in SouthCenter Seattle. Purchased another Logitech that is guaranteed Apple friendly. Nope. Two hours and two Apple "geniuses" later, we're all stumped. After attempting many scripts (thanks Brian!!), drivers and patches, we've concluded that the iSight is the only camera guaranteed to work for our situation.

We put out a tweet to our Twitter friends. Asked the Apple fanboys at the store in Seattle. And called the team at home on the east coast.

Sara found a used iSight in Derby, CT. And spent her Saturday evening on a wild adventure through Connecticut purchasing a camera from who knows who. It's on a JetBlue flight with Matt as we speak, who joins the tour this afternoon.

So tomorrow morning - we'll be live. With three cameras. We'll dedicate the dashboard cam to Sara. The SaraCam. Thanks Sara, for saving the day!!

Labels: dashboard, technology, van

posted by darryl ohrt at 10:28 AM 0 Comments

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Today, the van was wired and tested with three cameras:
1. Pointing to the road, so that you can keep an eye on where we're going.
2. Monitoring passengers in the front two rows
3. Monitoring passengers in the last two rows

There's also DC power, and a wireless router so that everyone on board is rolling with WIFI. We've used the exclusive duct tape mounting system, as shown above.

The crew flies into Seattle on Sunday, and we head to Vancouver to kick everything off on Monday morning. Two days and counting!

Labels: van

posted by darryl ohrt at 10:39 PM 0 Comments

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Keith and Shane over at Sir Graphic and CarWraps.net hooked us up with some sweet graphics for the van.

The process started at 7am pacific time and took about six hours. It's a painstaking process that requires exact placement, detailed cutting and a blow torch. The best quote from Shane, our installer: "This is a rental van?? You didn't tell me this was a rental van." This, after he plied the Ford F350 silver logo thingees off the back.

Tomorrow: The van gets wired with cameras, internet and power transformers.

Labels: van

posted by darryl ohrt at 10:03 PM 2 Comments

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The Plaid van officially exists! Only right now, it looks pretty much like an Avis rental van. We're fairly sure that Avis won't mind if we wrap it up with sweet graphics, and completely wire the vehicle with cameras, internet and power packs.

(Not sure if I mentioned all of that to my Avis rep above, when I picked up the van.)

Labels: seattle, van

posted by darryl ohrt at 6:45 PM 1 Comments

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And, we're off to Seattle. Four days until the Plaid tour lifts off!

Seattle will be our staging area for getting a van, getting it wrapped with the sweetest graphics ever designed, and wiring it to broadcast the tour to the world. There's a lot to do over the next couple of days, and we'll document it all here!

The rest of the crew will arrive in Seattle on Sunday, and we'll head to Vancouver to get things started. Things are in motion!

Labels: seattle, van

posted by darryl ohrt at 1:33 PM 0 Comments

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Our 2008 tour buttons have been designed. Pretty much anything with a surfboard on it rocks, so these rock extra hard. Design by David Dellinger (nice job, David!!)

The real Plaid van won't have a surfboard on top. Although what happens on tour...nobody can really predict.

We'll be giving these away to everyone we meet along the way. Friends, internet workers, mayors, California Highway Patrol officers, and whoever else we get to meet.

Labels: swag, van

posted by darryl ohrt at 7:36 AM 0 Comments

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Matt completed the design for this year's van graphics. (For reference, here's a photo of last year's van.) We all think they look hot. Lightning bolts rock. We're of the opinion that every vehicle should have them.

This is guaranteed to be the ultimate chick magnet. Or guy magnet. Or rock machine. Or whatever you call a Plaid van with blue lightning bolts. Coming to a town near you, real soon.

Labels: van

posted by darryl ohrt at 8:05 PM 0 Comments

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Is de-plaided a word? After a really fun night at the Bar of Soap bar, and many Lone Star beers, we removed the Plaid from our van. Video coming shortly.

Surprisingly, no marks were left on the Avis van. The only remark from the Avis employee upon its return on Saturday morning was "4,068 miles. That' can't be right." Oh, it's correct, Mr. Avis. That's 4,068 miles of Plaid.

UPDATE:
Here's the video.

Labels: Day 19, van

posted by darryl ohrt at 4:05 PM 3 Comments

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Take a three minute, eighteen second break from cubicle boredom and enjoy the Plaid car wash. Just because.

Labels: Day 14, lifeontheroad, van

posted by darryl ohrt at 6:57 AM 0 Comments

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We could definitely use a food truck to follow the van. I vote for Krispy Kreme.

I’m thinking this kind of caravan would be strangely appropriate as we approach Graceland next week.

Labels: Day 11, van

posted by darryl ohrt at 12:37 AM 0 Comments

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Today, Ryan declared the last row of seats in the van as "Ryan's Zone."

Giuli discovered a massive pile of Jolly Rancher wrappers and sticky stuff, while taking that seat on the way back from dinner tonight.

Ryan says that what happens in Ryan's Zone stays in Ryan's Zone. And the "throw your wrappers in the garbage" rule doesn't apply there. Keep out.

Labels: photos, ryan, van

posted by darryl ohrt at 11:31 PM 0 Comments

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In no particular order:

+ When in the hotel, staying in separate rooms right next door to each other, we still use IM to communicate. Very weird to IM the person in the room next to you. Love the internet.

+ Spending an entire day in a van leaves you with a sense of being disconnected from the world. Even with two wifi connections, three laptops, live video and an iPhone.

+ Ryan has the most bitchin' t-shirt collection. He's pictured above wearing a shirt that matches his meal tonight at the BBQ place.

+ I got lots of flack at our office for being a sneaker whore...yet I packed fewer sneakers than anyone in the van so far.

+ Giuli drives like a freakin' race car driver. I'm having panic attacks about her next shift driving. Really hope that I can just fall asleep. Kind of like closing your eyes on a scary roller coaster.

Labels: giuli, ryan, van

posted by darryl ohrt at 1:49 AM 0 Comments

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Just uploaded a video synopsis of our first day on tour. Ironically, the van is barely pictured in the video. We instead went for an approach that makes marketing peeps the star of the show. Marketing people as rock stars. (As long as they're giving us projects, that's my line, and I'm sticking to it.)

Labels: van, video, webisode

posted by darryl ohrt at 1:25 AM 4 Comments

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If you're curious, here's what our first day on tour costs us:

Gas $75
Henry Hudson Bridge 2.25
Drinks from street vendor 7.00
Starbucks: $10 (gift card from Gina. Thanks!)
Parking in Manhattan: $33.00
Midtown tunnel: $4.50
7-11 snack stop: $6.56
Lunch at On the Border: $51.38
Ferry from LI to CT: $61
Dinner at the Steak Loft: $42.99
Four rooms at the Super 8, West Greenwich RI: $362.04

Price of blogging, twittering and internet broadcasting from a van in mid-town manhattan, Connecticut and Rhode Island all in one day? Priceless.

Labels: van

posted by darryl ohrt at 8:54 PM 0 Comments

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After getting some tech issues fixed, we kicked off the tour today. It was what we expected, and at the same time, not what we expected at all. Part fear, part, wtf are we doing? Tonight though, we sit here in the lobby of a Rhode Island Super 8 digitizing video, blogging and reviewing the schedule for tomorrow’s fun. Even after a CT > Manhattan > Long Island > CT via Long Island Sound > RI, things went well where it counted: the brands we visited.

For now, let’s just say that they were into it in a big way. At some point, we’ll share the whole ROI case study of this trip, but as of right now, we’re feeling really good that this can work.

More non-blog stuff will be added like video clips and Flickr pics, but for now, here’s a recap of the day, followed by any post(s) that cover general things and issues that play out:

Morning: Got into Sony, hooked up with our contact in the interactive space, who then turned us on to some new bands (and free CDs of course.) Since there’s a whole lotta musical taste in the van, we listened to a lot of it and dug most of the stuff. We also got someone to give us the finger in NY. Not hard to do really. Seems like it’s too easy for some New Yorkers actually.

Afternoon - Took us to Long Island and Iron Horse bikes. Up and coming national bike brand. Readers of the our blogs as well. If ever the phrase “It’s a small world” fit, this proves the point. Someone you didn’t know showing the love for what you blog about. VERY NICE! We’re also receiving positive feedback from readers and well-wishers.

Word comes down that the dashboard cam antics may be making a few people queazy. We don’t seem to care. We keep it up. We will continue to keep it up. Why? Queasy is our middle name.

Evening - Across Long Island sound to CT and then on up into Rhode Island. (Man, I miss living near the water.) It was a good chance to review and take ideas discussed earlier one step further. It becomes a very long first day, but the postive energy from it also keeps you going.

Labels: Day 1, tour route, van

posted by Make the logo bigger at 3:22 AM 0 Comments

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We're ready! The Plaid van is gassed, packed and ready to go.

In the van:

+ Two wifi connections.
+ Multiple power connections
+ Live webcam
+ Digital SLR for stills
+ GPS tracking device
+ Loads of goodies for friends that we meet
+ Lawn chairs and umbrella
+ One bottle of Febreze

Thanks to Brian who hooked us up big time with all of the gear. He's been spending money and testing equipment for weeks now. And Matt's van graphics have created the most bitchin' van ever to grace the freeways.

We take off at 7:30am on Monday morning. Get ready to get Plaid with yourself.

Labels: van

posted by darryl ohrt at 11:18 PM 0 Comments

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Giuli and Brian got the van wrapped in Plaid today. It looks awesome! Brian took photos of the entire process, which we'll share later. You can see the before and after above.

Next, Brian will be outfitting the van with internet, GPS and cameras, and taking it for some sweet test rides. We'll also need to add some interior bling/decor, as the inside is a little bit "standard rental van" look and feel. Got any ideas?

Labels: van

posted by darryl ohrt at 9:20 AM 4 Comments

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Today, Giuli and I went to Newark, New Jersey, and picked up the Plaid van. Yeah. Newark. While on the way back, waiting in line to get on the George Washington Bridge, I was sure to call Matt (our newest employee, just relocating from New Jersey) to let him know how much New Jersey sucked.

Anyway. The van. A particularly helpful Avis lady rocked us out with a brand new Ford van, and then sold us all kinds of insurance and stuff, too. Even better - Avis offers mobile wifi as an option with their cars. We signed up, and will now have TWO wireless connections on board the Plaid van.

We forgot to mention to the Avis lady how we're totally going to pimp out the van in Plaid, webcams, electronics, and gear. We're pretty sure she'll be alright with that.

So tomorrow, Giuli and Brian head to Yonkers, NY, where the Plaid van will be wrapped in Plaid.

Labels: van

posted by darryl ohrt at 10:24 PM 0 Comments

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Matt just completed production on what will be the show intro to our Plaid tour webisodes. AWESOME stop motion animation. The piece is comprised of 125 individual still photos, brought to life as animation.

Brent Meyer and Todd Lester wrote and produced the custom "Plaid Van" theme song. (Which totally rocks, btw.) You'll eventually be able to download the full version of the song for your iPod. Or iPhone. Or other iDevice.

We'll be video taping everything that happens on tour, and producing regular webisodes that document all of our adventures. The tour kicks off on July 16 - so keep it tuned here for the latest updates!

Labels: dashboard, van, webisode

posted by darryl ohrt at 12:13 PM 1 Comments

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Brian setup the webcam, that will eventually be mounted in the Plaid van. We went with a Logitech camera, and Brian is working out the windshield mounting system.

While on the road, you'll be able to watch our every move. Who's sleeping, who's working, who's staring out the window in a fog. Hopefully at least one person will be attentive, and at the wheel. That's the plan anyway.

Labels: dashboard, van

posted by darryl ohrt at 12:23 AM 0 Comments