Anniversaries and Milestones

Congratulations are in order for a couple of shops that are celebrating anniversaries today:

• Wirestone is officially nine years old today.
• Mitchell + Palmer marks one year in business today.

Congratulations to both.

New Client for Wirestone

Health & Disability Advocates (HDA) has selected Wirestone, including their office in Boise, as their lead agency following a competitive review, according to Adweek and other media outlets.

HDA is national nonprofit organization leading a group of state health and human service agencies to develop a campaign about the benefits of hiring people with disabilities.

Wirestone was selected over seven other agencies in the pitch for the HDA business, which will include branding the new national initiative, as well as developing and executing its entire integrated marketing strategy that is expected to include print and broadcast advertising.

Congratulations Wirestone.

Technorati tags: health & disability advocates, wirestone, adweek

Job Opening: Marketing Information Analyst

Wirestone in Boise has an opening for a Marketing Information Analyst:

As a Wirestone Marketing Information Analyst you’ll have the opportunity to work with cross-functional teams to analyze, restructure and deliver actionable business intelligence that drives marketplace success. You’ll use your broad base of knowledge and experience to test methodologies, influence decisions and change the status quo. And you’ll do it all for an impressive roster of world-class companies.

More information about this position can be found here.
(Courtesy of CareerBuilder)

Technorati tags: wirestone, marketing information analyst job, careerbuilder

Broken Barker Bash

The Broken Barker Bash, which was originally scheduled back in November, has officially been rescheduled, and by all accounts is proceeding as planned.

From the organizers at Wirestone:

You're invited to a fantastic celebration of life!

Jeff Barker, a dear friend, gifted designer, and all-around great guy, was involved in a near-fatal motorcycle accident on October 2, 2008. Please join Wirestone and friends as we toast Jeff's new lease on life with a great night of music, a silent auction and tons of fun.

Details about the event are as follows:

Date: Friday, January 23rd, 2009
Time: 7:00 pm
Location: The Linen Building, 1402 W. Grove St, Boise, ID
Cost: $10

For tickets or more information, call Brie at Wirestone: 208-343-2868.

Tickets can also be ordered online.

The music begins at 8:00, featuring performances by:
Bill Coffey & Ned Evett
Travis Ward & Hillfolk Noir
Soft Gong
DJs from the Vinyl Preservation Society

All proceeds from the Broken Barker Bash and silent auction will help to pay Jeff's medical and recovery expenses.

Technorati tags: broken barker bash, wirestone, jeff barker, the linen building, bill coffey, ned evett, travis ward, hillfolk noir, soft gong, vinyl preservation society

UPDATE - The Broken Barker Benefit

I just got word from the Wirestone folks that the Broken Barker Benefit has been postponed, and will not be happening this Friday, as originally planned. It seems that there was a setback in his recovery, so they've decided to push it back.

At this point, I know that a decision will be made later this week, and as soon as I have more, you'll know as well.

Technorati tags: wirestone, jeff barker, broken barker benefit

Upcoming Event - The Broken Barker Benefit

Well, I'm horribly late to the game with this one, but still...

As some of you may know, Jeff Barker, a designer at Wirestone in Boise, was critically injured in a motorcycle accident caused by a suspected drunk driver trying to evade police. While the news media reported the injuries as non life-threatening, they were serious nonetheless. Here's a quick rundown:

• Broken Scapula
• Broken Collar Bone
• Broken Mandible
• Several teeth were damaged
• 10 Broken Ribs and punctured lung
• 3 broken vertebrae
• Extensive abrasions and bruising

The folks at Wirestone have been organizing a benefit party to help pay expenses that were not covered by insurance, but more importantly to celebrate the fact that Jeff is alive. And as such, the Broken Barker Benefit was born.

While the details are still sketchy, the date has been confirmed: November 14th.

As soon as I know more, I'll share those details here.

Technorati tags: jeff barker, wirestone, broken barker benefit

Job Openings at Wirestone

Wirestone in Boise has a few job openings these days:

Junior Web Analyst
Java / Solutions Architect
.Net Technical Developer

Full details about each position can be found by clicking on the respective title.

Technorati tags: wirestone, junior web analyst job opening, java architect job opening, .net technical developer job opening

Giving Back - The United Way

For the past several months, a group of folks from several different agencies and the local creative industry in the Treasure Valley have been working to make the United Way of Treasure Valley's latest campaign a success.

The end result: an integrated campaign that features a four-minute video, three television spots, newspaper ads, a microsite (HelpTheMostPeople.com), radio, online ads, collateral materials and more. This effort will benefit the United Way Community Campaign, which, in turn, allows the United Way to help over 30 local charities with funding each year, such as Big Brothers Big Sisters, The Idaho Foodbank, Girl Scouts, and more.

This work was done entirely on a pro-bono basis, and those involved sacrificed a great deal of time -- often their personal time, before or after business hours -- to make it happen. At the very least, they deserve some recognition for their efforts. In no particular order, the group involved includes:

David Cook, Stoltz Marketing Group
Paul Carew, Carew Co.
Dave Sloyer, Wirestone
Kristy Weyrich, W Design
Doug Gneiting, Stoltz Marketing Group
Lorena Davis & Crew, North by Northwest
Todd Meier Photography
Robbin Gibson, Drake Cooper
Snake River Technology

The campaign is also benefiting from media donations from The Idaho Statesman, Journal Broadcast Group, and companies such as Citi, who donated funds toward the media buy.

David Cook provides even more detail about this project on the Stoltz Marketing Group website, if you'd like to read about it further.

At the end of the day, however, the goal is to drive as many donations to the United Way as possible. If you can donate, please do. If you'd like to learn more about the how's and why's of the United Way, take a look here.

UPDATE:
Here are PDFs of the print ads -
Print #1 - Time and Money
Print #2 - $10 a Week
Print #3 - $19 a Week

Technorati tags: united way of treasure valley, big brothers big sisters, idaho foodbank, girl scouts, stoltz marketing group, carew co, wirestone, w design, north by northwest, todd meier photography, drake cooper, snake river technology, idaho statesman, journal broadcast group, citi, david cook, paul carew, dave sloyer, kristy weyrich, doug gneiting, lorena davis, todd meier, robbin gibson

Job Openings at Wirestone

Wirestone in Boise has had a few job openings as of late, including:

Senior Interactive Designer / Flash / Animator with an in-depth working knowledge of Flash and Actionscript 2 and 3. The job description puts this opening in California, but they are also looking for developers here in Idaho.

Junior Web Analyst with 1-2 years experience with web analytics, analytics tools, content management systems and such.

.NET Developer - This is an unposted opening at this point, but the folks at the Boise office are on the hunt for talented .NET developers.

Techorati tags: wirestone, interactive designer job opening, flash designer job opening, web analyst job opening, .NET developer job opening

Around the Horn with New Hires

It's been a while since I've caught up on new hires around the area, and some of these are older than others. But here goes:

Matt Stevens has joined Drake Cooper as an Interactive Designer.

Jesse Murphy is now an Assistant Account Executive at Red Sky PR.

Wirestone has added Stan Smith to their staff as a Flash Developer.

Are there others that I've missed? If so, shoot over an email and let me know.

Technorati tags: matt stevens, drake cooper, jesse murphy, red sky pr, wirestone, stan smith

Promotion at Wirestone

It's been announced that Tim Cox has been promoted to Creative Services Manager in the Wirestone Boise office.

He was previously a Producer/Art Director, and has been with the agency since 2004.

Congratulations Tim.

Technorati tags: tim cox, wirestone

New Hire at Wirestone

Wirestone in Boise has added Traci Hiebert to the staff, as Marketing Communications Manager. She'll be responsible for managing corporate messaging, supporting sales and new business, and strategic communications programs, among others.

Prior to joining Wirestone Traci was a self-employed marketing consultant.

Congratulations Traci.

Technorati tags: wirestone, traci hiebert

Job Opening - Creative Services Manager

Wirestone in Boise has an opening for a Creative Services Manager. This person will serve as the leader and voice of the creative team in the Boise office, will work with peers at other Wirestone locations, will assist with business development and more.

Candidates should have at least ten years of experience with creative services in an agency or interactive environment, as well as a history of working with Fortune 500 clients.

Full details about the position can be found here.
(Courtesy of Craigslist)

Technorati tags: wirestone, creative services manager job, craigslist

Job Opening - Motion Graphics Artist

Wirestone in Boise has an opening for a Motion Graphics Artist. This person should have experience with, and a solid working knowledge of the standard tools of the trade, including After Effects, Final Cut Pro, DVD Studio Pro, and Adobe Creative Suite (Photoshop, Illustrator).

Full details about this position can be found here.
(Courtesy of TalentZoo)

Technorati tags: wirestone, motion graphics artist job, talentzoo

Job Opening - Web Analyst

Wirestone in Boise currently has an opening for a Web Analyst. This person will be responsible for generating any number of reports from internal and external data, utilizing and customizing web analytics tools, and a whole slew of other things.

This position requires someone with 1-2 years of experience with web analytics, metrics or online marketing, as well as experience with one or more web analytic tools. Full details about the position can be found here.
(Courtesy of Web Analytics Association)

Technorati tags: wirestone, web analyst job, web analytics association

Job Opening - Flash Developer

Wirestone in Boise has an opening for a Flash Developer, with advanced skills in Flash and Director.

There's a laundry-list of skills that they'll ask candidates to demonstrate, but it looks to be pretty standard fare for this type of position. Full details about the job can be found here.
(Courtesy of Creative Hotlist).

Technorati tags: wirestone, flash developer job, creative hotlist