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Today we met the crew at SmashLAB, and genius blogger Eric Karjaluoto of Ideas on Ideas.

They have some beautious office space in one of the cool neighborhoods in Vancouver. They immediately friended us, with shout outs from their 4th floor digs, to our van, as we were attempting to parallel park the Plaid beast.

And then they bought us donuts. Yep. The one thing Plaid likes more than big projects with big budgets. Donuts.

It's always cool to hang with other creative people, and especially another independent shop. SmashLab does some fantastic work - and they even have a pretty sweet side project, called MakeFive. You have to check this out, if you haven't already heard about it. You can make your own top five list. On anything. Or read others. And become a part of interesting conversation. These guys not only GET social media - they're producing new tools for all of the internet.

We met the entire SmashLAB crew and fell in love with their ULTRA NEAT offices. We're still convinced there's a big closet somewhere, filled with all of the junk that normally sits on desks in messier offices (like ours.) You'll see Eric, Eric and the rest of the SmashLAB crew on the wrapup video later tomorrow.

Right around the corner from SmashLAB was none other than Andy from A Million Monkeys Typing. Andy was watching the tour from the dashboard, and saw on the webcams that we were around the corner, getting ready to broadcast the 11:40 show. He popped down to say howdy to the Plaid crew. Totally awesome.

Labels: agencies, vancouver

posted by darryl ohrt at 9:49 PM 0 Comments

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A few thousand miles is never too far to travel for a good cupcake. So today we visited Cupcakes Online.

Cupcakes online in Vancouver is one of those really sweet places. Sweet because the entire facade is pink and frilly. With pink furniture on the sidewalk. And the inside is filled with more pink magic and super sugary goodness. It's the type of place that makes a guy who'd rather be at a Yankees game (not naming anyone) a little uncomfortable.

But Plaid has a sweet tooth. And the Plaid van must stop at every awesomely delicious donut or cupcake joint along our journey. (And we promised the cupcake queenie, our coworker Sara that we'd at least get some yummy photos for her.)

While enjoying the most scrumptious cupcakes on earth, sitting on pink frilly furniture, we happened on a suburban mom and her little girl.

Mom: (pointing to Renato, with a shaved head and kick ass goatee) "See?? Even tough guys like cupcakes."

And there you have it. Our quote of the day.

Labels: vancouver, yummy food

posted by darryl ohrt at 9:23 PM 1 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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We're here. In Vancouver!

It was a long night at the border, but we're finally here. Canadian border guards don't quite share the same sense of humor as Plaid employees...more on that on this morning's 11:40 show.

We settled in to the glorious Travel Lodge - which to our surprise was actually really nice. We're not accustomed to "nice" on the Plaid tour, when it comes to hotels motels. The view from my room is pictured above.

Today we're meeting with another sweet creative firm in Vancouver, and talking to Eric Karjaluoto, the awesomely intelligent blogger from Ideas on Ideas. There are some other fun meetings and activities planned, too. And we'll be eating the most delicious cupcakes in all of Canada. If you're in Vancouver, please join us.

Stay tuned for so much more!

Labels: travel lodge, vancouver

posted by darryl ohrt at 9:39 AM 4 Comments