Hail brave crusaders! Brian Marr from Wexley School for Girls

Last evening, the American Advertising Federation of Greenville, South Carolina hosted Brian Marr, Managing Director for the West Coast marketing agency Wexley School for Girls, at the lovely Westin Poinsett in downtown Greenville.

Well known for their innovative approaches in engaging customers for Microsoft, Nike, Seattle Sounders and Seahawks, Copper Mountain and others

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Much love to and from The Children’s Playhouse

A creative play space for families, and a powerful force for community goodness in Boone, North Carolina, USA

After helping my wife Beth Darnell, and her sister Ann Kiefert, their comrade Kathy Parham, and many others from our then-new hometown of Boone, North Carolina, open The Children’s Playhouse in November of 2002, I am very proud to see how Kathy has led the venture in countless ways which continue adding precious dimensions to our community. The video featured here was produced by our friend Beth Jacquot in 2003, and much has happened since then. I invite you to visit the official site www.GoPlayhouse.org and explore the Facebook group, and I also wanted to share news from a recent event that reveals a lot about our community, and Kathy.

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Southern California welcomes A Nice Set

Inhouse Creative in Venice, California, is the creative agency for S.L.A.T.E., the progressive streetwear section of the famous MAGIC fashion tradeshow held twice yearly (next one is Feb. 16-18) in Las Vegas. On behalf of my clients at creative studio We Are Plus, it’s my sincere pleasure to thank the Inhouse team for organizing the Pop-Up Shop @ AK1511 and hosting A Nice Set for its U.S. debut. Since 2008, this acclaimed DJ slipmat art exhibition has attracted taste-making crowds in Tokyo, Paris, New York, Hong Kong, Madrid, Melbourne, Singapore, and Shanghai. The exhibition will now run through Jan. 17 at AK11 in Venice, featuring unique retail pop-up stores for Orisue, Aerial7 and 9Five open every day (Mon-Sat 11AM-7PM, Sun 11AM-4PM).

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Tommy Ewasko, Imagemaker Extraordinaire…

This Friday and Saturday nights, and by private appointments thereafter, The Wine Cave in Montrose, California, will proudly host Artist’s Receptions and Charitable Fine Art Sales honoring master Getty Images imagemaker Tommy Ewasko and his work, and benefiting Amazing Grace Children’s Foundation. On display and available to collectors on a first-come, first-served basis are numerous … Read moreTommy Ewasko, Imagemaker Extraordinaire…

Lessons on professionalism, persistence and “Endurance” from artist Theresa Ortolani


Two years ago, I attended a publishing workshop hosted by Kiki Bauer, senior designer for powerHouse Books, at the powerHouse Arena in Brooklyn. Six of us attended, each eager to discuss our very specific idea for a brilliantly conceived, beautiful and riveting coffee-table book like those famously published by powerHouse. Theresa, Lori, Brad, Debra, John-Michael and I all presented our pet projects to Kiki on that day, and I’ll bet the rest of our classmates are as proud as I am to see that Theresa has persevered in seeing hers through, and getting it into print: “Endurance” published by powerHouse Books, is now available for purchase. In fact, the official launch party is happening at powerHouse Arena on Thurs., Dec. 3. More information on Theresa Ortolani, “Endurance” and this very cool upcoming event follow below.

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Joining iParticipate.org in honoring Veterans today and tomorrow…

In my humble opinion, iParticipate.org has been doing an outstanding job of promoting its very important mission and inciting us all to consider volunteering to support members of the military who have done so much for us all through their military commitments. The above public service announcement (PSA) was released back in September, and I wanted to share it, and also include its transcript.

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We Are Plus relaunches, drives positive brand movement worldwide

Since first launching Plus et Plus in New York City in 2002, company founder Jeremy Hollister, co-creative director Judy Wellfare and their colleagues have built a reputation as a go-to company for fashion brands seeking to create sexy, marketing-savvy visual content for high-profile promotional uses ranging from live and in-store events to online, offline and traditional broadcast marketing campaigns. Recently relaunched as We Are Plus, over the past several months the company has delivered innovative projects for AMC, Shu Uemura Cosmetics, and Kidrobot, among many others.

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Editors from “Stand Up to Cancer” broadcast earn Creative Arts Primetime Emmy

Last September, “Stand Up to Cancer” (https://standuptocancer.org) was broadcast live and commercial-free simultaneously on ABC, CBS and NBC, and was seen in over 170 countries. During the broadcast, which was produced by Laura Ziskin Productions and Seligman Entertainment, and hosted by Halle Berry, Jessica Alba, Sheryl Crow, Charles Barkley and Melissa Etheridge, the event raised more than $100 million in an unprecedented effort to end cancer’s reign as a leading cause of death. Meanwhile, last Sat., Sept. 12, 2009,

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Kevin McMahon: Thanks for the Documentary

At some point over the past several weeks, my eyes were opened to the global water crisis, but I see now that I’m only beginning to get the full picture. Last week, I posted an entry on Irena Salina’s “FLOW,” and last night, my wife and I had another chance to see that amazing film thanks to it being repeated on the Sundance Channel. This morning, we found it there again and watched more of it with our 8-year-old daughter. After these viewings, I realized that there was a second powerful film I had recently seen (thanks again to Sundance Channel) on this subject: filmmaker Kevin McMahon’s “WATERLIFE.”

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