In 2008, DCS was honored with the Newcomer of the Year award. This year, we congratulate a whopping 15 DCS members who were nominated for various Mercury awards:

• Brian Ward (DCS) – Unsung Hero
• Bridget Oaks – Unsung Hero
• Britni Marcum (ProMatch Solutions) – Best Printer Rep
• Dan Johnson (school of advertising art) – Educator of the Year
• Elizabeth Riley (Insignia Signs) – Best Sign Company Rep
• Geoff Stump (Real Art Design Group) – Newcomer of the Year
• Janette Dywasuk (Ferguson Construction) – Unsung Hero
• Jeff Jamieson (CQ Printing) – Best Large Format Printing Rep
• Jeff Jamieson (CQ Printing) – Best Printer Rep
• Jessi Watters (Five Rivers MetroParks) – Best Print/Specialty Buyer
• Matthew Flick (school of advertising art) – Educator of the Year
• Patrice Hall (DCS) – Newcomer of the Year
• Patrice Hall (DCS) – Unsung Hero
• Rick Stull (Media Explosion) – Best Video/Film/Post Production Rep
• Rob Anspach (DCS) – Unsung Hero
• Ryan McCoy (Atomic Interactive) – Best Web Provider/Host
• Scott Waggoner (Fleet Graphics) – Best Large Format Printing Rep

Congratulations to all the nominees, and the best of luck to you all!

Captured: An Artist’s Perspective

Join DCS and 25,000 of our closest friends at Urban Nights! We’re hosting Captured: An Artist’s Perspective, an exhibition of professional and amateur photography at the Excelsior Lofts.

DCS is celebrating an amazing first year of “creative syndication” and we’d love for you to join us! While browsing our one-night-only photography exhibit, you can enjoy drinks, hors d’oeuvres, and live musical entertainment from Adam Haroff.

The exhibition will also be judged by Jack Holtel of Photographik, and 3 best-of-show winners will be honored.

Details

• Friday May 15, 6-10pm at the Excelsior Lofts
• 207 East Sixth Street in the Oregon District (Google map)
• Admission is FREE
• Live music by Adam Haroff
• Photography judged by Jack Holtel of Photographik
• Drinks and hors d’oeuvres will be served (donations encouraged)

If you would like to submit your own photos for the exhibition, the deadline is May 12. Learn more.

You can also help us promote the event by downloading, printing and hanging our promotional poster.

If you have questions about this event, please email social@creativesyndicate.org.

Other upcoming DCS events

• May 12 – Adobe User Group meeting: vector illustration
• May 19 – Guest speaker: Accidental Creative
• September 24 – Guest speaker: Modern Dog

Bézier curves rawk! And if you’re wondering what a Bézier curve is, you’ll want to join us on a little trip through Adobe Illustrator. This program offers some serious illustration power and scalable graphics, but has a steep learning curve. If you’ve ever wondered how to better illustrate a logo, illustration, or shirt design, you’re in luck!

Join the DCS Adobe User Group at our May meeting, where we’ll be discussing vector graphic illustration with Ryan Clark. Take a trip through his latest project from pencil sketch to finished mock-up, with tips and tricks about Abobe Illustrator along the way.

We’ll also have some great door prizes and exciting announcements about upcoming DCS events. Bring any questions you have, and a sketch pad in case you feel inspired to go vector-crazy on your own!

Details:

• Tuesday, May 12 @ 6pm
• School of Advertising Art – 1725 E David Rd
• Door prizes courtesy of Adobe Systems and O’Reilly Media
• No cost for DCS members or non-members

Please RSVP at our Adobe User Group website
(Must be signed in to RSVP. Not a member? Join today for free!)

Feeling creatively burned out?

One of the biggest struggles in a creative industry is STAYING creative. After pouring hours of hard work into projects, it’s easy for your creative well to run dry.

Luckily, Todd Henry of Accidental Creative is coming to help us with that problem. "Create or Die: Thriving in the Create-On-Demand World" is a presentation that will cover the phases of creative growth, the basic daily disciplines of healthy creatives and some "assassins" of personal and organizational creativity.

You don’t want to miss this chance to learn tips and tricks on how to consistently bring your A-game to your designs.

To keep the creativity flowing, one lucky attendee will win a free copy of Adobe Creative Suite 4 Design Premium!

Details

• Tuesday May 19, 6:00-7:15pm
• School of Advertising Art – 1725 East David Road
• Door prizes provided by Adobe Systems and O’Reilly Media
• Event sponsored by the DCS Adobe User Group

Pricing

• $10 for DCS members (Not a member? Join today!)
• $20 for non-members
• $5 for students (student rate only available at the door, must present a valid student ID)
• Register online today to guarantee your seat, or you may also pay cash at the door

You can also help us promote the event by downloading, printing and hanging our promotional poster.

If you have questions about this event, please email programming@creativesyndicate.org.

The resource fair, part of the event, featured an entire room full of organizations in the Dayton area. The Young Creatives Summit focused on issues specific to the Dayton region. Topics that were discussed in small group breakout sessions included: job opportunities, entrepreneurship, entertainment options, school systems, livable communities, and civic engagement. These topics were selected as focus issues based upon results from updayton’s Fall 2008 research initiative.

The event ended with bringing all of the breakout groups back into one room to vote on which initiatives should be tackled first. Updayton is currently working on the action plan to launch the initiatives that were decided at the summit.

There was great weather and a great flow of people who visited the exhibit throughout the night. With refreshments to enjoy and good photography work, it was an overall success lead by the Social Committee for DCS.

DCS thanks Adam and Micah for playing music throughout the night and to Tracy Westendorf for creating the hors d’oeuvres and Connie Parrish for the amazing cookies.

Thanks to all the participants who submitted their photos and to Jack Holtel of Photographik for judging the photos as well.

Please check out all the photography work that you missed!

Todd Henry of Accidental Creative presented his answer to those struggles on Tuesday night at SAA in his presentation, “Create or Die: Thriving in the Create-on-Demand World.”

We had a crowd of about 65 attendees who had a chance to ask Todd a lot of questions when he was done. We’d like to congratulate Lindsey Kellis Meredith of Link Creative for winning Adobe Creative Suite 4 Design Premium in our door prize raffle.

Thanks to all who attended and especially to Todd Henry for taking time to help inspire and educate the Dayton creative community.

Check out our pictures below!

Louie, Louie

Join us for our happy hour at Bar Louie @ The Greene this Monday, June 15th. We’ll be toasting to the success of all our May events, and looking forward to some exciting months ahead. Be sure to bring your business cards and a friend!

About Bar Louie

This casually cool neighborhood restaurant & bar features warm, upbeat surroundings with contemporary photography, mosaic tiling, wood-paneled walls, modern lighting and plasma televisions, making it a favorite gathering place for family and friends. Specializing in oversized sandwiches and artfully concocted signature cocktails, Bar Louie also offers an extensive selection of appetizers, pastas, entrees and a wide assortment of interesting beers, microbrews and wines by the glass or bottle.

Details:

• Monday June 15 @ 6:00pm
• Bar Louie @ The Greene (Google map)
• Happy hour specials from 4-7pm: $3 drafts, $5 martinis, $4 wine, half-price appetizers

Save this event to your Google Calendar:

If you have questions about this event, please email Patrice Hall.

We are planning to have some DCS fun at Mudstock on Saturday, July 11: If you want to join the DCS mud volleyball team, please send an email to DCS president Patrice Hall by Wednesday, June 17.

DCS has been happy to help out this great cause. Our Public Service team created a poster to help them get the word out. The final is below, designed by Tessa McDaniel.