Wednesday, March 10, 2010
ArtPrize 2009
Friday October 9, 2009 by HM Copywriter
And the winners are …
As a resident of downtown Grand Rapids, I was more than pleased with the buzz and other benefits ArtPrize has bestowed upon our great city.
For those of you not familiar, ArtPrize it is an open art competition that was designed to draw worldwide attention to Grand Rapids—and to “reboot the conversation” between the art world and the public.
The beauty of the contest is its delicate marriage of venue and artist. This genius coupling not only drew thousands from around the world to contribute and appreciate an eclectic array of art, but also brought attention and revenue to galleries, businesses and restaurants in which the art was featured.
The rules were simple. Any artist—from established to emerging—had the chance to show their work. Any visitor viewing the work could vote. The votes determined who would win the largest art prize in the world—$250,000.
The results are in. Please let us know if you agree.
Women in Business
Thursday July 9, 2009 by HM Copywriter
MiBiz recently interviewed 20 bright young female professionals for its West Michigan Business Women supplement. Our own Rebecca Dutcher just happened to be one of them.
Curious as to what make these young women tick, questions ranged from educational background and social networking habits to why West Michigan? Rebecca had this to say:
Question: As a young professional woman, what attracted you to work / stay in West Michigan?
Dutcher: I was born and raised here in West Michigan; most of my family is in the area. My family certainly is an influence to stay. I considered moving shortly after college, but there are so many great companies in the area and so much to do. I’ve worked full-time since high school and attended college around my work schedule. Having a solid work history here has provided a great network for me that is also a factor keeping me here.
Better living through Dairy
Thursday July 2, 2009 by HM Copywriter
What’s better than a holiday weekend? A holiday weekend that starts with a trip to the Dairy Queen, natch. Chris and Wendy took a little road trip to the DQ (Fulton Street, (just down the street from HM HQ) and came back with an armload of Blizzards. That coffee bar in the lobby works equally well for dishing up the ice cream.
The Hot 100.
Thursday June 25, 2009 by HM Copywriter
There are bike rides. And there are bike rides. Our San Francisco-based AD Simon Bucktrout (that’s Simon on the left) finished the latter this month, when he and his teammate-slash-brother Justin completed a 100 mile loop around Lake Tahoe.
An extremely talented designer (he’s not reading this, is he?) and avid cyclist, Simon learned about the event, called America’s Most Beautiful Bike Ride which is organized in conjunction with Team In Training, the national organization that raises funds and awareness for The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society.
“I lost my stepfather, David, to Leukemia and this was a way to give a bit back. I’ve seen the terrible cost of leukemia and I wanted to do my bit.”
HM was happy to support Simon and Justin. We even had jerseys made in the Hanon McKendry colors.
The ride took just under six hours (incredible!), which gave the guys “time to think about a lot of stuff,” says Simon. Like how thin the air is at 7500 feet above sea level. “Your legs feel okay, but you don’t have the oxygen,” explains Simon.So is 100 miles of mountainous terrain any fun? “Oh yeah,” says Simon, “I call it life insurance. it’s good to feel your heart beat.”
Everybody loves a cowboy.
Thursday June 25, 2009 by HM Copywriter
A passle of us hombres (male and female, of course) are big on the home improvement front. So we enjoyed the product launch for Yellawood Or should we say, “Yellerwood”? Yellawood is premium pressure treated pine and the launch rolled out earlier this year. By the way, Yellawood is not to be confused with Yellowood skateboard decks, which are also cool.
The flash games leave us cold, but the little movies are fun.
—Chia
Beautiful Day
Friday June 5, 2009 by HM Copywriter
It’s going to be a beautiful day. It’s the first day of Festival.
So here at Hanon-McKendry, we’re going to take a somewhat longer lunch break and immerse ourselves in music, art, and of course, food booths downtown.
To put in a plug for our friends at the GRAM, the Grand Rapids Art Museum has a great Ellsworth Kelly exhibit and a couple of beautiful Calder mobiles.
We’ll see you downtown.
The reason for Twitter
Thursday June 4, 2009 by HM Copywriter
When everyone working adults discover Twitter, their initial reaction is invariably, “What’s the point?” Which is the set up to any number of wry and/or rude remarks. But no longer.
It’s now clear that Twitter exists to generate always brief, sometimes glib and occasionally profound remarks. That infinite quantity of pith is screened (not unlike a baleen whale) and converted into… tee shirts
It seems to me that this is proof of the “infinite monkeys” theory. Stand on the beach long enough and eventually, something more substantial washes ashore. So instead of the minutia of your life being lost in the impermanent ether, it can be silkscreened onto a tee shirt, worn for a weekend and then tossed in the back of the closet.
A parting thought from Conan O’Brien, “Conan O’Brien:
“In the year 3000, YouTube, Twitter and Facebook will merge to become one mega social networking site called YouTwitFace.”
—Chia
Long live cheese!
Wednesday May 27, 2009 by HM Copywriter
I’ve always been a big fan of the rhyme. Although I will deny it till the cows come home and sing “Swanee River” in an arboretum of odd socks, I adore jingles as well.
I mean who can’t still recite the 1970’s classic, “Hold the pickles, hold the lettuce, special orders don’t upset us?” Come on; that smack is gold!
Denying the rhyme is like denying Shakespeare, Mother Goose, or even the long forgotten Andrew Dice Clay. In fact, there’s no doubt in my mind that everyone on the planet can recite at least a snippet of their collective work. No?
So, be warned all ye ad school heroes. Clio winners. Crispin cronies. The next creative who rolls their eyes, wrinkles up their nostrils, or utters the word “hack” within earshot of moi, best prepare to nibble numerous nouns. The time for retribution has come and it brought mad alliteration.
Read the whole story:
Cindi Walther: HM Copywriter
Head start on summer
Friday May 22, 2009 by HM Copywriter
Someone (you know who you are) had a truly great idea: let’s kick off the holiday with a cookout on Thursday. So we grilled burgers and dogs, and everybody brought their favorite dish (amazingly, jellied eels didn’t turn up). We enjoyed the fresh air, ate slighly more than we should have, and the gang of thirty-odd (not thirty odd) people just hung out for a bit.
HM Copywriter : Chia Racer
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