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Meet Joel Gunz. And while you're at it, say hi to Liza.

Portland Advertising Federation events

Express Learning: Brand Integration
Get insider wisdom from two of media entertainment's biggest voices: Bob Schneider, EVP, Davie Brown Entertainment and Bill Barnett, General Manager of Entertainment Media Works.

When: June 19
More info

PAF's Battle of the Bands Presented by Comcast Spotlight
Got a guitar? Got a drum? Want to rock off some of that stank attitude for a chance to win notoriety and prizes? Here's the call for entry for all agencies to put together their best house band and perform live in PAF's First Annual Battle of the Bands.

This epic battle will be held at the Someday Lounge on Tuesday, June 26. Drum kit will be provided.

To enter or submit questions, send a note to Mike Terry
More info

Internet Strategy Forum Executive Summit
The theme this year is Web 2.0 and Social Media and the keynote speaker is Yahoo!'s Chief Marketing Officer. This event is for senior marketing, IT, and C-level executives, as well as Internet strategists and Internet vendors. Conference attendees will engage with executive speakers from Yahoo!, FedEx, IBM, WebTrends, Intel, Adobe, One Economy Corp. and more, who will share their insights and ideas on the latest Internet strategies, how marketing & IT can work together better, and the real-world benefits of integrating the Internet into overall business strategies.

When: July 19, 2007 / 8:30 AM
Where: Governor Hotel

More info
To register click here and select PAF from the drop down list to register.

Registration Deadline: July 19, 2007
Event Cost: PAF Members No charge / Non-Members: No charge

Let's blame it on the weather

Due to technical difficulties related to the demise of a beloved hard drive that was chock full of Noise, Hum, other Vox features and this author's almost finished book, this month's Vox is a bit late (we apologize) and rather abbreviated (sad to say). If you've submitted an announcement pertaining to your business, it will soon appear. Some very fine minds, including a 16-year-old computer whiz, a Tazo tea shaman and that trumpet player who wears Mickey Mouse ears are working like, well, madmen to retrieve the information. Not exactly sure what happened, but let's blame the weather.

Joel Gunz

Blogs I'm Reading

Web 2.0 Prep Assignment
The new look of the web is populated by 3D animation, virtual worlds and avatars who all have perfect figures and are aged 30. Before you head out to the PAF Web 2.0 event, check out Second Life and prepare yourself for a new online addiction.

-- Jg

People Movers

52 Ltd. Hums Theme Song to The Jeffersons
Creative resource company 52 Limited has made some big moves lately. They've moved into bigger offices at 514 NW 11th, Suite 209; they've launched a big, new brand identity and a big, new website at 52ltd.com; and their staff has gotten bigger, too. The new employees are, to wit: Elfe Cimicata and Ashley Findley. Drop by 52's new office, where, if you time it right, you might hear Steve shouting for "Lo-weezie!!"

New Business Wins

Overland Tests Online Lead Generating Waters for TSSI; Takes Home Web Awards
The Overland Agency has launched a new website for Beaverton-based software firm Test Systems Strategies, Inc. The new website utilizes an interactive platform for customer and sales feedback, and is already generating more leads for its product categories. ... Overland has also won two Best Website awards in the Web Marketing Association's annual Internet Advertising Competition. Their site for fitness company Soloflex won "Best General Interest Microsite/Landing Page," while their work for Ater Wynne law firm won "Best Legal Microsite/Landing Page." ... The agency has also announced the addition of Internet Strategist Kim Humphries to its team. This latest hire signals that the Overland staff has grown by 50 percent in the last six months.

Pacific Security Capital Banks on ID Branding; Agency Adds Four
ID Branding has been selected by commercial real estate firm Pacific Security Capital to rebrand the company, beginning with new identity materials and extending into a retrenchment of its position in the marketplace. ... ID has also added four to its staff, including: Christine Carter, Account Supervisor; Jamie Kaineg, Production Designer; Eva Miller, Information Architect; and Matt Neupert, Account Coordinator. The company expects the expertise of its new team members to add capacity and new creative ideas for its branding services.

Leopold Ketel and Others Breathe Fresh Air into OPB Brand; Raise Glass to Wine Country Development
Putting those pledge drive dollars to work, OPB has tuned into Leopold Ketel and Partners to refresh its look and feel with a new logo and lidentity suite. In addition, the agency worked with creative studio Incubate to create animated video identity elements and Digital One to create a new sound "mark." Another key component of the branding campaign was the creation of three television promotional "spots" to reinforce the "You can't not think" theme, created by filmmaker and director Rob Tyler. LKP has also added Springbrook, a major new hospitality, residential and retail development, to its growing list of Oregon-based clients. Springbrook will encompass 450 acres in northeast Newberg, featuring a luxury inn, restaurant, spa, retail village, and 1,200 homes and town homes. ... Terra Spencer, Chief Operating Officer and senior partner at LKP, has been named one of Portland's top young business executives. Spencer was one of the "40 Under 40" winners in the Portland Business Journal's annual quest to find what Publisher Craig Wessell calls "the most talented and committed young professionals we have in this region." ... LKP has also recently hired Brianne Hyder to serve as a public relations account manager.

Anvil Media Signs Five
The Anvil team continued its strategic relationships with ANG and eROI to land five new search engine marketing clients, including service a host of new clients, including garden tool company circlehoe, business finance firm Cornell Capital Partners, landscape services company Enhancescape and IT news publishers InfoWorld.

Portland Advertising Industry events

4.18 - pdxMindShare
Join Portland's hip, Web-savvy professionals for an evening of networking and education. Enjoy an extended happy hour food and drink menu.
Where: Masu West, 406 SW 13th Ave.
When: 5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m.

4.25-4.26 - eMarketing Summit @ InnoTech
eMarketing Summit will teach both beginning and advanced techniques with best practices from professionals directly involved in the development, execution, marketing, and business of internet marketing.
April 25-26: Oregon Convention Center
Register

Forward07: 2007 AMA Conference
At this year's American Marketing Association conference the theme is "Innovation, Sustainability, Creativity," and you'll be able to meet business leaders who are changing the way business is done.
Where: Portland Armory, 128 NW 11th Ave.
When: May 25, 8:00AM-3:00PM
Cost: Visit website for costs and discounts.
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Art Shows

Meet Blue Mitchell and view the artist's digital imagery during First Thursday in the Pearl District for a wine and cheese reception. All proceeds go directly to the artist.
Where: Filter/Talent, 733 NW Everett
When: May 3rd, 5:00-8:30 PM
Admission: Free

Book launch for author Ashod Simonian's "Real Fun: Polaroids from the Landscape of Indie Music." Recommended by "Spin" magazine, this book features 100 photos of such indie bands as Death Cab for Cutie and the Shins.
Where: Office, 2204 NE Alberta St.
When: April 26, 7-9 p.m.
Admission: Free

Portland Advertising Federation events

PAF Event PAF and OregonLive.com present 2007 Career Jam
This is PAF's annual extravaganza of at least a dozen of Portland's best and brightest advertising professionals speaking on the latest industry trends to the region's talented new professionals. College upperclassmen along with junior ad professionals will benefit from having access to these leaders. Held in conjunction with the AAF District XI conference at the Sheraton/Airport in Portland, there will also be "speed interviews" and portfolio reviews. All students who register online before April 20 will receive an annual student membership as part of their Career Jam registration.
When: April 21
Where: Sheraton Airport
Cost: Level I: $65 per student includes lunch and breaks Saturday only // Level II: $125 per student includes NSAC lunch and breaks for Friday and Career Jam Saturday.

PAF Event Web 2.0 Branding: Boldly Going Where Millions are Right Now
At Second Life, 5+ million members have created a visually sumptuous 3D online world where you can catch a movie, flirt with strangers, and spend, spend, spend. (Users exchanged over $1.5 million yesterday alone.) No wonder they're the poster child du jour for what has been alternatively dubbed "New Media", "Social Media" and "Web 2.0". Leaders of global brands like MGM and Coca Cola are convinced that Web 2.0 is going to change the way people interact with brands -- and they are proving it with their ad budgets. How well do you understand New Media? What are you doing to be a part of it? Catch this PAF event and learn the basics about this new phenomenon. You don't have to be a techno-geek. In fact, you'll walk away able to use tools you already have to take your brand into Web 2.0's new frontier.
When: April 25, 2007; 11:30am
Where: EcoTrust, 721 NW 9th Ave; Portland
Cost: $35 members/ $50 non-members

New Industry Events Section

The industry events section of this blog aims to be a fairly comprehesive, yet idiosyncratic, roundup of events that you could do worse than to scan. (After all, I can only promote events that come across my desk.) The section seems to get a bit longer each month. Design and advertising shops around Portland are increasingly aligning themselves with the arts community, collapsing many of the differences between their disciplines and hosting art events. Check out the Industry Events post, which will be announcing such shows.

Joel Gunz
Editor

Art vs. Advertising: An epic battle between art dweebs and advertising grunts

Art and advertising frequently intersect, and sometimes it's hard to tell one from the other. Many artists find this trend alarming and call their colleagues who seek a career in advertising "sellouts." But are they? If so, how? What does it mean to sell out?



Under the auspices of the Portland Advertising Federation, I conceived and developed a town hall style debate that sought answers to these questions.

I contacted performance artist/ad professional Andrew Dickson, who was developing a show for the Time-Based Art Festival that would also delve into these issues. Andrew agreed to host the debate and DJ Chris Rhodes put together a pre-event music and slide show that dealt with the uneasy relationship that artists have with advertising. The event took place at Disjecta and received additional exposure via podcast and its own blog so that the discussion could continue after the house lights went down. "Art vs. Advertising" sold out (no pun intended), response was extremely positive, and I was asked by the PAF Board of Directors to organize a series of like debates for the 2006-07 season.

Review in The Oregonian, June 26, 2006:
From 'eBay Power Seller' to the trendy art of selling out
By Brian Libby
Last September, Andrew Dickson's unusual combination of performance art and business seminar, "AC Dickson: eBay Power Seller," was one of the most talked-about works at the Portland Institute of Contemporary Art's Time-Based Art festival.

Dressed in thick glasses and a cheap tie, Dickson played a character named AC, who offered tips on online auctioning via eBay, using a PowerPoint presentation, that ubiquitous tool of bland business presentations. Part fiction, part himself, Dickson created a satirical character study in "Power Seller," but what made Dickson's work particularly fascinating was trying to figure out where Andrew ended and AC began.

On Thursday evening, Dickson was back in command of a PowerPoint projector for an event called "Art vs. Advertising." This time the host was solely Andrew -- AC apparently was taking the night off. Held at the decaying Templeton building, an old warehouse adjacent to the Burnside Bridge terminus that is set to be renovated as home to the budding arts organization Disjecta, the performance was lit by a sunset that shimmered through the warehouse's broken windows onto blemished wood floors and concrete columns, a kind industrial-chic picture postcard.

Sponsored by the Portland Advertising Federation (no doubt attracted to the street cred of the dusty, rusty locale), "Art vs. Advertising" consisted of a brief, quarter-hour lecture about the intersection of creativity and commerce. But Dickson began by describing his own recent crisis of conscience.

Soon after the TBA festival, the artist was approached by local advertising agency Wieden+Kennedy to create a persona similar to AC for use in a Nike commercial. "AC got paid!" Dickson told the audience, prompting a laugh. "For one month's work, I got more than I ever had made in a year -- and more than as an artist I made in 10 years."

Still, he second-guessed the decision. Growing up a punk rock fan in the Washington, D.C., suburbs, Dickson had idolized local rockers Fugazi, who were acclaimed as much for shunning offers from major record labels as for their music. But it's easy to be pious, Dickson ultimately reasoned, when you're selling millions of albums.

After telling his story, Dickson let the audience take over. In a game he called "Sellout or no Sellout?" the faces of famous artists from The Beatles to Blue Man Group appeared onscreen as Dickson invited audience judgment. Was Andy Warhol a sellout? "He turned selling out into an art form," one audience member quipped. Furthermore, Dickson reasoned, "Andy Warhol was also a great brand."

Next up: musician Sting, who licensed his song "Desert Rose" for a Jaguar car commercial (in which he also appeared) after it was ignored by radio stations. The song then became a hit. Was Sting 1) a sellout 2) merely clever, or 3) both? A song by the internationally popular Portland band the Shins played in a McDonald's commercial. "I happen to know," Dickson argued, "that they used that money to build a recording studio they made their next album in. It's a lot about intent."

Toward the end, Art vs. Advertising transitioned from philosophical questions of artistic integrity to a more practical consideration of how artists and advertisers could work together. One almost expected an exchange of business cards.

Dickson continues to succeed by enlivening dreary, familiar office communication methods with self-reflexive wit and a vast reservoir of pop cultural references at his disposal. Thursday's topic also seemed particularly relevant considering Portland's current influx of young creatives, many of whom will face similar quandaries.

"People should get over the taboos of selling out," the artist said wryly. "This is a good time to be a CEO." It's because one senses Dickson will never be completely sure about such a conclusion that his exploration resonates.

Interview with Andrew Dickson, The Portland Mercury, June 22, 2006:
Art vs. Advertising Debate
By John Motley
When the Portland Advertising Federation made plans for a town hall-style discussion between artists and advertisers, they drafted the Portland/LA-based artist Andrew Dickson to host it. It was an obvious choice. Dickson's performances, such as AC Dickson: eBay PowerSeller, skewer corporate culture with mock seminars that often employ PowerPoint presentations. Then again, that performance landed him a gig working on a Wieden+Kennedy ad campaign for Nike. When he plays a "Phil Donahue-like moderator" this Thursday, he'll be incorporating components from his new performance, Sell Out.

What got you thinking about Sell Out?
It really came from thinking about how to balance one's personal ambitions and the reality of adulthood. The reality of how many artists this society is willing to pay for is very miniscule. I began to wonder, "Do artists deserve to make a living?" If so, then the future of arts funding has to be through corporations.

Can corporations really aid in art making?
Look at an organization like the Portland Institute for Contemporary Art, which receives a tremendous amount of corporate sponsorship. They simply couldn't do what they do if they refused that support or maintained a DIY approach.

I'm thinking of advertising now. Do you think good art should be overtly manipulative?
Some argue that it has to be. Think of Picasso's "Guernica." It's accessible and emotional to the point of being manipulative. Bad art is that which isn't manipulative, that doesn't have a strong point of view.

Where do you see the lines between art and advertising being blurred in compelling ways?
I see artists straddling that line in modern photography and documentary filmmaking. For example, Errol Morris did a Miller campaign. I think what is ultimately important is that these artists maintain a distinct voice and point of view, whether they're doing a shoot for a magazine or showing photographs in a gallery. In both settings, they're still looking for consumers.