Recently I attended a San Diego Ad Club event called “Mingle Bells.” This was not the first event I’ve attended that the Ad Club has put on and this is not the first time I’ve been to one with out encountering any other “creatives.”
What’s the deal?

We can’t be the only shop in town that sends people to these things. We went to see Alex Bogusky speak at USD this summer and Jeff Goodby this fall and really the only people there were advertising students and voice talent.

Let me just put it this way… there was nobody there who made me fear losing my job except for maybe the free Moltsons and the possibility of me asking an absurd question like, “Why did you give us free drinks for an hour and lock us in this room without beverages for 2?”

Anyway, back to Mingle Bells and its lameity; I suppose I was under the impression that I was going to finally walk into an ad event and meet some other creatives. This is important – it’s like seeing basketball players chum it up before the game. It’s nice to know what the happenings are around town in the world of advertising. This is normal. It happens all over the place. Usually when any kind of ad event is thrown creative people show up. I just moved here from Minneapolis where that happens. A lot.

I guess I sound like I’m complaining about the events that the Ad Club throws for its advertising community… When really I’m complaining about the community the Ad Club is trying to throw parties for. So I would like to thank the Ad Club for all of their efforts and as a creative agency we’ll be sure to show up to support the cause.
San Diego; I’m calling you out. Next time an ad event is thrown, you can guarantee Bailey Gardiner will be there rocking out! Here’s a little taste of what goes on when BG shows up to the party.

When will you represent?

It’s getting very tiring to pretend here in San Diego; the fake snow, the scarves and sweaters making us sweat, Christmas trees from dirt lots and Target Garden Centers. It’s time to stop pretending and embrace San Diego’s true holiday spirit.

So while we don our flip flops, tanks and T’s, so will Seaport Village’s Santa Clause, because you know, nobody likes rockin’ all that red fur in 70 degree weather. Even Santa needs a break. He’ll make his arrival to Seaport Village this Sunday, 12/14 by sailboat on the San Diego Harbor. Then he’ll pose in his board shorts on his giant surfboard and wave for free pictures with the kiddies from 12 - 4 p.m.

So if you’re from out of town, or you’re a local and want to rub it in to the out-of-towners, grab a free picture this Sunday then go online to http://blog.seaportvillage.com to send it to your cold family out in the Northeast. They’ll reek of jealousy!

With the way the economy has been going, I’ve noticed a lot of companies have been cutting back, especially when it comes to pro-bono work. Not Bailey Gardiner. A lot of pro-bono projects allow you work outside the box, and that’s exactly what our creative agency did with Sushi, A Center For the Urban Arts.

By taking on a client like Sushi, it allowed Bailey Gardiner to design a logo, a membership brochure, postcards and more in a way so like nothing else we had ever done before. Francis Floro, the designer working on this project (and who also has a background in the Urban Arts) created pieces that are both BG portfolio and award winning worthy.

On a side note, I am happy to announce that Sushi is having their pre-opening event at their new performance space in the East Village in Downtown San Diego this weekend. After being “homeless” for five seasons, their new sushi space on Eleventh and J is bigger and better than ever. The pre-opening event, Jordan Fuchs Thicket, features a sonic environment in which the audience, wearing headphones, watches dancers and becomes part of the movement itself. It’s about the entanglements of human interactions that come from a glance, an embrace, a memory.

We all are looking forward to a great welcome home season and many more seasons to come!

Ever felt so stressed-out or angry that you could just break something?

Now there’s a place you can do just that.

The Smash Shack—located at 1353 6th Ave. in downtown San Diego—is a unique business that allows you to throw, break and destroy your favorite fragile items in one of their two rooms devoted to “constructive destruction.”

Each participant chooses their smashable items from a menu, is outfitted with safety gear and given a private room where the demolition takes place. Wanna synchronize your smashing to your favorite tunes? No problem. Each “break room” has an mp3 player hook-up so you can bring your favorite songs along with you.

Want to throw your objects at something? The Shack will frame your favorite poster or picture as your “target.” They also have markers available for you to write on your breakable items pre-throw. And they even offer group discounts—I’m thinking Bailey Gardiner PR & Advertising retreat 2009.

And yes, in anticipation of Election Day angst, the Smash Shack will be open late on November 3rd. Until all the votes are counted (or later if need be).

Last Saturday my husband and I were downtown celebrating two of our friends birthdays. At around 8pm I discovered that my license was no longer in my back pocket. I was more annoyed than anything because it meant that I was going to have to backtrack to every place we had been to so far (and there were many) to find it.

After an hour of searching, I was forced to accept that fact that it was gone - lost on the streets of downtown San Diego, or so I thought.

This past Tuesday I received a letter in the mail from someone who had found my license on the street and took it upon themselves to ensure its safe return to me.

This act of kindness was so refreshing.

To know that there are people out there who would take the time to do something like this for someone they don’t even know warmed my heart; so much so that I felt the need to share it.

Back in 2006ish, local economists claimed that San Diego would be the first market in the country to experience the bursting of the housing bubble. Those same people also said that we would be first to recover. The Union-Tribune published a report that supports the growing belief that it is now time that San Diego to lead the charge out of this downturn.In 2005, San Diego was the 29th most overvalued market in the country. Now, the report says that San Diego is the most under-valued.So please, everyone, find a deal and buy a home, or two. I’m kinda over this downturn.

Public relations is easy when you have something to say: the first, the only, the biggest, the best, the unusual, etc. But after a client gets through that initial announcement, what news do you have left to tell? Sometimes very little, and in a competitive market, that can be a scary ailment.

Our team faced a similar predicament this year with the 69th season of the Del Mar Racetrack in San Diego. While there’s always a lot going on with the track, we didn’t have a compelling answer when media asked, “What’s new?” Instead of letting that hinder our ability to garner news, we used a few PR tools to keep the community buzzing about Del Mar.

Here are my two favorite from this year’s meet:

1) Build your reputation with the blogging community– While this should always complement your PR campaigns, use slow news periods to expand your online conversations into new (and still relevant) categories and dig deeper into the blogger list. Not only will you see instantaneous results, but these results will continue to work for you through the long term.

With Del Mar, our team continually communicated with family, mom or dad, travel and “scene” bloggers. This year we expanded our list, spoke with them more often and extended free tickets to the track.

Not only did we earn coverage from this, but we even developed strong sponsorships with editorial-for-link exchanges.

2) Look back– Measuring impact and comparing “then to now” often make great pieces for media, but writers may not know enough about your product or service to put it together themselves. Lucky for us, Del Mar compiles economic impact figures every year, and we get to use them. Instead of pitching local media on “look at what Del Mar is doing this year,” our team pitched “look at what they’ve done.” We discovered that many writers didn’t know this, and we got to help several of them “discover” the facts.

Here’s an abstract from a Rancho Santa Fe Review article:

A strong public relations team should look at your product or service and see it from every angle possible. It is this creative thinking approach that will maximize your coverage in media, especially through the news droughts.

What creative angles have you used to garner media?

I have been invited to join the board of Sushi Performance & Visual Arts.  Sushi was kicked out of its downtown home about four years ago while its historic building was rebuilt into a mixed use condo. They will move home in the fall and start their performance series in November.

I’m excited about it because BG will get to work on its brand. With Sushi, our creative team will get to stretch its wings very wide. I’m also psyched because I believe Sushi is an important part of San Diego’s art community. I may not always “get” what their doing, but I know they are pushing the art envelope in a way that no one else in town really does. He’s only given me the slightest smile as indication, but I think our resident ‘dancing truck driver’ and designer supreme, Francis, is stoked. This combines all the stuff he loves into one account. Has Sushi done anything with an 18-wheeler yet?