Before the production began, no one who knew Adam Castle envisioned him as a grisly-voiced, face-contorting FBI bad ass. But now it’s hard to see him any other way.
The soft-spoken marketing consultant for Beauty Schools Marketing Group competed in this year’s 12 Hour Video Contest. With his performance in the winning video, 24, he crafted a new persona as comedic actor with a striking impersonation of hard-as-nails cop from television, Jack Bauer.
Castle’s experience exemplifies the magic of 12 hour videos. In the upside-down world of employee self-made video making, the unexpected is the expected … and the expected is as edgy as company videos should ever be allowed.
12 hour video teams consisted of 8 to 16 employees, including a camera person, an editor and a production assistant/grip/writer-editor. Each team was allotted 12 hours to write, shoot and edit a video that follows a given theme. This year, the themes were: Fear, Revenge, Joy and Anger. Beginning at 3 p.m., the teams were allowed to film until midnight on Fridays and then come back to edit the material into a cohesive production on Monday morning.
What happens behind the scenes of a 12 hour video is not unlike what happens when the camera is rolling. The silliness and the camaraderie that spills out when topics are being brainstormed and loose scripts are being developed often makes the transfer to the scenes that are filmed. And, that is the magic of the process. Contributors who take a leadership role in the group are often at the forefront of the shooting process.
In a company-wide vote, employees made 24 by far and away this year’s winning video, which earned it a showing at PlattForm’s annual meeting. Given his unexpected stardom, Castle said the experience wasn’t too of course from what he had envisioned.
“My 12 hours video was basically what I expected,” Castle said. “I was expecting that we would be working on the video until midnight, but we had a pretty defined idea, so we were able to finish up early. Our team didn’t drink as much beer as we thought we would either … it makes me wonder what that says about my expectations of Plattformers? Just kidding … kind of.”
The 12 Hour Video experience was the same across the country as PlattForm’s New York office got in on the act. Jason Penta, who worked behind the camera channeling what he called his “best inner-Spielberg,” helped create the visuals for “Land of Confusion.”
“We definitely all brain-stormed together as a group,” Penta said. “Everyone had great, creative ideas. And of course, everyone was willing to ham it up for the camera. It was also the day of our First Friday/Cinco De Mayo party, so there was a lot of excitement in the office all day. As the margarita count got higher, the video definitely got more interesting.”
Castle said the only other time he ever acted was in ninth grade drama class. He said he had no idea what role I would play in the video before the production began. His teammate, Brandon Gregory, conceived a spoof of the 24 television show starring Keifer Sutherland, and that was all it took.
“Once we had the idea, the whole team was really into it as soon as we started brainstorming,” Castle said.
Castle is the antithesis to the Bauer character, which made it 10 times funnier to see him in the roll.

And Lori is practically famous.

Recently, she was hand-selected to be part of the Chevy Traverse Kansas City Mom Squad. Along with four other KC mommy bloggers, Lori was chosen to test-drive a brand new Chevy Traverse for eight weeks.

In return for these two months in a free car, Lori just has to pimp it online and enjoy perks like free massages at Massage Envy, grocery store gift cards, Royal’s games, and a Flip video camera … man, being a celebrity is rough.

But so far, Lori hasn’t let fame go to her head: “Hearing my name on Q104 the other day was so surreal! I was like ‘Skyler! That’s me, that’s me!’ But she couldn’t care less, so I was frantically trying to find someone to call. So of course I called my mom.”

Oh, Skyler. She’s just jealous. After all, it’s thanks to HER that Lori started blogging in the first place.

Lori began mytwo.wordpress.com over two years ago, as a way to keep her friends and family updated on her pregnancy. Since then, Lori’s blog has blossomed into a place where she can showcase her photography, vent frustrations, and record her life with 20-month old daughter Skyler and husband Ronnie.

Now that the Oswalds have the Traverse; life has already gotten easier. 2 weeks into the 8-week test drive, Lori says: “It’s been super fun driving the Traverse so far – and it’s been a new creative outlet for me to work with video blogging that I’ve enjoyed much more than I expected (despite my first embarrassing attempt - see “Awkward Interview” on the list of videos)”

So – here’s the thing. Like all celebrities, Lori is only as famous as you make her. She doesn’t expect to be the top Google search for 2009, but she expects her fans friends to vote for her. So check out Lori’s entries at www.mommymadnesskc.com and vote for her as Kansas City’s favorite Mommy Blogger! She’s been known to bribe people with rides to Happy Hour in return for votes.

Sidebar: Vote for Lori at www.mommymadnesskc.com, and visit her at mytwo.wordpress.com.

Sidebar: Want a taste of the celebrity life for yourself? Get your own free massage by visiting your local Chevy dealer! Just test-drive a new Traverse and receive a Massage Envy 1-hour gift card!

The MIA Award: Accounting – who somehow, miraculously managed to avoid doing a skit this year. I don’t know which was worse – Accounting getting off scott-free – or hearing Phil yammer on about EBITDA.

The That’s Whack Award: Turns out Steve Booth was pretty fly for a white guy. Who knew he could rap so eloquently? Although he did oversee the editing process from start to finish so as not to look foolish. As if.

The Gritted Teeth Award: Tricia Cooper who looked like she’d rather be enduring childbirth or a root canal than talking to the masses. You did fine, Tricia. At least you didn’t have to rap.

The Justice Is Served Award: Aaron Edwards was bludgeoned to death. Well, in a dragon costume, anyway. Townspeople, peasants and paupers rejoiced. I secretly did a little happy dance as well.

The Sugary Goodness Award: Mike Joseph hurled stale Peeps to the peeps in the audience as part of his routine. Kari Fajen lost an eye. And that was just because she stabbed herself with a pencil to go home early.

The NKOTB Award: Caleb Brattrud, who has quickly become the most popular boy in the whole school. Who the hell is Caleb Brattrud? I’ve never seen anyone so adored in this building since Sarah Dehart worked here. It’s nauseating really. Stephen Kent – take notes.

The Clutch The Pearls Award: There was an audible gasp from the audience when Dave Admire announced we’d be getting the entire week of Xmas or New Years off. Yes, it’s like Xmas came early.

The Charm ‘Em If You Got ‘Em Award: The oh-so clever Kevin Kuzma and Jenni Valentino managed to wrap everyone around their little fingers. They’re comedy gold. Like Cheech and Chong. Or Abbott and Costello. Or Shields and Yarnell.

The Most Improved Award: Sales/Marketing brought their A-game to the table this year. Who doesn’t like a rousing game of Family Feud? It’s like one big family around here anyway. The feuding part comes naturally.

After a nearly month-long coma, Brant started to stir. Of course, no one knew the extent of his brain injury or what to expect. One minute Brant was minding his business driving to work on a snowy January morning. The next minute this father of three was fighting for his life.

Brant’s condition continues to improve every day. He’s awake, alert and is constantly trying to hug his kids. He’s also becoming a bit more chatty as he starts to remember things. If there was ever a poster child for a miracle — it’s Brant — or as his family calls him “BB”.

Brant’s wife keeps friends and family (and the entire ad agency) up-to-date about Brant on a website. It’s a novel and new fangled approach to giving status updates. You can read more about Brant at http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/brantburt.

From my time working with him at PlattForm, I found him to be a social, gentle spirit with an extreme passion for his family and all things outdoors. Brant has months and months of recovery ahead of him. PlattForm continues to help in any way they can. And the family is holding a massive fundraiser on May 16 to raise funds for much-needed therapy and continued rehabilitation. A slew of PFormers will be involved and yours truly is emceeing the event. It’s just reinforces how close-knit our agency really is.

If anyone can survive a horrendous car accident and live to tell about it … it’s Brant. The man has a lot to live for. His brain spent nearly a month re-wiring itself. And now the prognosis for recovery looks promising. So we’re all keeping our fingers crossed and wishing the best for Brant. We miss you! And, for the record, I’ll never look at a mountain biker the same way again. The next time I think I have a hurdle to overcome, I’ll think of Brant. Everyone appreciates his amazing strength and fortitude. Looks like this is just one more mountain he’ll tackle and overcome.

Every year, the Career College Association brings together the who’s-who of career colleges to rub elbows with our nation’s senators and congressmen.   It’s a chance for school groups to have their voices heard and ensure students get what they rightfully deserve.  Is there upcoming legislation that could affect today’s career college sector?  Well, with more than 1,300 accredited postsecondary institutions in the U.S., many of them could feel the affect of any changes in the law.  That’s why Hill Day 2009 was of the utmost importance.

As in years past, the Career College Association, the flagship organization for career colleges in the U.S., put together the two-day event in Washington, DC.  The meetings aligned career college officials with their state’s local decision-makers.  And there I was in the middle of all of it taking stock.  I had an easy assignment this year – I got to hobnob.  Last year, I was traipsing all over Capitol Hill reporting on the day’s events.

Who knew school groups had so many concerns?  There were a wide variety of issues to be discussed – which similar to last year – included changes in student loans and lending issues.  And that’s why these annual face-to-face discussions have become so important and popular.  It’s an opportunity for all parties to understand everyone’s respective points of view.  With the recession and the credit crunch in full swing, lenders have resulted to tightening their belts.  That’s problematic if you’re trying to secure student loans nowadays.

I think it would be interesting to talk to the new guy in charge of education and pick his brain.  I’m going to put that on my to-do list.  I’m going to secure an interview with Secretary of Education Arne Duncan if it’s the last thing I do.  He seems smart and affable.  And me thinks after this week, he’s got his hands full.  Maybe I’ll wait a couple weeks before I invite him to lunch.

More than 63 percent of consumers research products and services online before buying. So doesn’t it make sense to have a broad, comprehensive presence on the Web? Having your own Web site is fantastic, but nowadays, alone it isn’t enough to make a real impact online. Fortunately, the Internet is booming with exciting and new opportunities to capitalize on the “I want to know now” mentality and people’s desires to interact with one another online. Why not update your online package with access to social media technology and tactics?

So many of our education clients are perfect candidates for interactive and social online features like blogs and micro-blogging, social bookmarking and video. Social by nature, the education trade is chock full of working professionals and potential students itching to find out more and start conversations. How about a brief overview of some of the handy interactive and social media tools?

Blogging: A great blog does not simply push company specials and products, but instead covers a range of topics in the field –news and commentary, how-to information, interactive quizzes and polls related to the field and other topics that are important to your audience. All the great content makes it easier to plug your stuff from time to time without putting your audience off! In fact, blogging is a great way to find and create enthusiastic advocates for your brand in the average user! Another excellent, similar tactic is micro-blogging on sites such as Twitter to send out quick bursts of updates and information to readers.

Social Networks: By participating in social networks such as Facebook, MySpace and LinkedIn – where users can create custom profiles, share links and media and have conversations – you create a public forum for people to discuss your brand, and even better, for you to see what they’re saying and apply it! The social network space is great to connect with people, learn their business needs and respond quickly and simply.

Social Bookmarking: Social bookmarking allows visitors to tag or bookmark your site to return to later. Social bookmarking also helps them share your site with other users as a “favorite” and encourage them to visit. Many sites have even “gone viral” and spread like wildfire as a result of social bookmarking!

Video: There are numerous video uploading sites available where you can place commercials, how-to videos, video blogs and any other video component you can think of. The big social component, though, is that people can search for, comment on and rate your videos! The most viewed videos on YouTube have even been viewed more than 115 million times.

This is only a tiny glimpse into the world of social media, but these innovative strategies can be put to use quickly and cost effectively to deliver a great experience to customers. Not to mention, it can help reach new levels of ROI for your brand. We at PlattForm are super excited about the implications of these new media, and love getting our hands dirty for our clients.

My grandfather was a pretty smart guy.  Aside from being pretty much the definition of awesome, he gave me the best advice I have ever received.

On February 27th the Plattform Interactive department was treated to the Big Fuss Party Buss (©Justin Gill) to celebrate an amazing January.  We managed to grow business in record breaking strides and (being the awesome people they are) John VanFleet, Mike McHugh, and Justin Gill booked two party buses to celebrate.

In truth, I hadn’t given much thought to what they would look like (the buses not Gill/McHugh/VanFleet) but I can honestly say I wasn’t expecting two school buses to be parked in front of the building.  Everyone started laughing- all the build up for a “party bus” and we were rolling out in a Dunham Special.

Of course, inside was another matter completely.  With nightclub seatin, lighting and sound system- things started looking up.  Certainly once the booze made its way on board- that helped too.

I will go on record right now, as saying that Eric Dahlstrom’s home brew that he shared with us on the bus was amazing.  That guy can make some beer.  I would buy it if it were in stores.

After sampling some of D-Storms brew, the serious matter of getting to happy hour was at hand.  I mean, partying on the bus is all well and good- but then what?

The Levee- that’s what.

Well…the restroom at the Levee.  I mean- we were drinking the entire way to the plaza from Lenexa.

From the Levee we made our way to Baja 600- except that Justin Gill and I almost got left behind.  We couldn’t find the buses.  I don’t know Justin’s excuse- but I blame Joe Mulvihill.  More on him later.

At Baja John had scored us a fajita buffet.  And at this point- I think we all needed a bit of food.  Apparently Dan needed more than most of us- or maybe it was the ten dollars he was offered to plant his face in the plate of guac.

I said I would speak more about Joe, well this pertains to Webster Jorgensen too.  Apparently I thought it would be a good idea to hand over my phone to them and let them text my girlfriend.  What follows is a list of some of the messages my girlfriend received.

·    Hi I am joe?a
·    You are my friend
·    I just hot sauced myself to a tree

That is the last time I buy Irish Car Bombs for Mulvihill.

The last stop before moving on to power and light was a stop-over at Granfalloon next door.   Most of the team had split off and were talking at booths, and some were back playing pool.  However I used my slightly more courageous state to talk to Mike McHugh and John Van Fleet.  After a month I hadn’t really talked to them yet, they are the CIO and VP of Internet Marketing, respectively.  A bit intimidating right?  I should have known at Plattform that wasn’t the case.

Both of them have come up through the ranks here at Plattform and were more than happy to take the time to talk with me.  John told me that after 9 years, you can’t really see how the company looks through fresh eyes, and it’s important to get the input of new people in order to stay relevant and vibrant.  That’s not talk I am used to hearing at a company- which is part of what makes Plattform such a great place to work.

Around that time, we were departing- one bus heading back to Plattform, and one on to the Power and Light District.  Well for those of you wanting sordid details about the goings on at P&L… you aren’t getting them from me.  I was on the first bus.  But I was there long enough to know- I work with some awesome people.

And in case you were wondering- we had several designated drivers- and no one was allowed to drive that wasn’t sober.  Was I sober?  Yes.  Able to drive?  That’s questionable in any state.

Till next time-

BE CHAMPIONS.

Positivity/Passion
A senior has to be someone that loves his or her job. A lesser-known role of the senior employee is keeping employee morale in the positive, and leading by example in this area. For this reason, seniors must connect with the vision of the company and refuse to speak ill of co-workers.

Also, an energy and charisma in the workplace can be infectious. A culture of excellence often stems from a positive and productive work atmosphere. A positive impact can carry a good idea further than the idea alone can travel, and employees in positive, passionate workplaces are more prone to creativity and pro-activity.

Representation
A senior has to be a representative for his or her team. The rule of thumb is that a senior should be able to adequately represent his or her team alone in meetings. This involves knowing the ins and outs of the team and its members, knowing the limits of one’s team, and knowing how to get answers for any question that can be asked of the team.

Autonomy
While no employee is an island, seniors must be able to operate with minimal supervision. This requires a sound judgment and a degree of basic leadership skills, as the senior may be required to step up and lead the team in a pinch.

Confidence
A senior is called upon to be a leader in a variety of situations. This includes facilitating calls when conflict arises, communicating a point effectively, making decisions on behalf of one’s team, and standing up for one’s team and ideas. A senior has to have the confidence to be able to speak with authority on these and a number of other topics. This goes back to a senior’s need to be very good at his or her job. It extends well beyond that, but excellence is the basis for senior confidence.

Tact
A senior must be able to tactfully and diplomatically handle a variety of situations. This is important in interdepartmental relationships, but doubly important for our team, since we spend such a large amount of time talking to (and negotiating with) our affiliates. A high degree of professionalism is required to execute this effectively.
A big part of this is maintaining a level head when problems arise. A senior needs to have the appearance of urgency without losing the calm demeanor. A senior does not get overly-defensive when conflict arises.

Initiative
A senior doesn’t see problems without soon seeing solutions. If there’s a problem, a senior solves it, whether or not it is his or her direct responsibility. Seniors also have to be able to identify and tackle problems that have gone on unaddressed for some time. If a senior does have to go to the higher-ups with a problem, he or she comes with a proposed solution as well. If a senior sees an opportunity to improve team performance, he or she does the same.

Character
A senior needs to be trusted, both by management and other employees. One can’t be counted on if there’s a doubt as to his or her willingness to take responsibility for his or her own actions, and coaching simply does not work if the coach cannot be trusted to keep what’s said in the coaching sessions private. Other employees need to feel comfortable sharing their conflicts and struggles with their coach.

Also, seniors are likely to be privy to official information before other employees; sometimes, other employees will not be told at all. They need to be trusted to keep this information private until it has been made public.

Employee Focus
A senior is directly involved in the personal and professional growth of fellow employees. This includes assessing strengths and growth areas in individuals, coming up with plans to help others grow, delivering constructive and effective feedback to others, and connecting personally with others. This obviously has to be something the senior has a genuine desire to do, because it’s pretty easy to tell when they don’t.

Each of the seniors on our team is coaching other employees on our team. The seniors are in turn coached by the director, who equips us to guide and nurture the rest of the department. It’s a good system, as it frees up the director to focus on larger department issues and it allows more effective coach/coachee pairings based on personality traits.

Reliability
A senior has to be consistent. This includes simple things like meeting deadlines and exceeding expectations of quality and quantity. (Well, they’re simple on paper, but much, much harder in practice.) A senior can be counted on to accomplish any task that could be thrown at the department, whether by doing the work or by delegating it.

Selflessness
A senior is someone who will consider the needs of others before his or her own. It takes patience and great care sometimes to help a fellow employee grow, and it often takes a significant commitment of time as well. A senior will offer help to others, even to his or her own inconvenience.

So that’s our list. This list may differ slightly for other departments, but many of the core values will remain the same. Obviously, nobody is perfect at all of these qualities—each of our seniors exemplifies a few of these traits more than others—but all seniors should be at least good at all of these things.

Not so at PlattForm!

To even a casual observer, PlattForm Advertising’s HR staff rises above, not unlike a warming spring breeze, freshening the dark and muddied surface of the cold pool of the usual to enable the rest of us to fly on gossamer dragonfly wings……

Sorry. I got carried away.

In other words, HR here is a bouncy and smiling (except for one, who knows who he is) bunch of facilitators. Chief among the smiling ones is HR Director, Dory Winn.

Her motto is,” Share and Cher alike.”

Yep. That’s Cher, as in ‘Sonny &.’ As in the Fresno High School dropout whose birth name was Cheryl Sarkisian LaPiere.

Our own Dory is a confirmed Cher-ophile. She’s ‘Moonstruck.’ Because, she says, “Cher has a very distinctive voice. It’s a different sound—she really stands out in the crowd.”

Sometimes, so does Dory. In defense of Cher, Dory once jumped onto the stage at a drag queen performance of Cher to correct the ‘butchered’ lyrics of one of Cher’s number one hits, Dark Lady.

In case you are wondering, Dory’s fan-turn towards the outré, fashion-plate and pop artist started early. “I remember hearing my parents play Dark Lady from an album they had, and watching reruns of The Sonny and Cher Show.

“Even though my parents were eclectic in their musical tastes, listening to Neil Diamond, Bread, Abba, the Allman Brothers—those bands of the 70s and 80s—they ask, about my attachment to Cher, ‘Where’d you come from?’”

It’s not where Dory came from; it’s where she’s headed, to follow the next act in the four-decade stardom of the singer/actress/style icon. After seeing Cher perform at Kansas City’s Kemper Arena a few years back, Dory is packing her glossiest duds to catch Cher live in Las Vegas.

Will she be dressing like Cher? Oddly enough, although Dory is the recipient of a long, dark, straight-haired wig from fellow PlattFormer and Cher groupie, Brian Hubbard, she’s never worn it in emulation. Nor has she paraded in cognito as Cher for Halloween.

Dory, now that we know you Believe, we are posting a star-watch for October 31. On that day we fully expect to see Cher sitting in your chair!