Hey folks,
I am dialing in this week’s Report from the beautiful Bath County, Virginia, and more specifically, holding my iPhone at a 45 degree angle towards a cell repeating station somewhere South/Southwest of Warm Spring, Virginia on top of a peak in the George Washington National Forest. Thank goodness I have Verizon. If I still had AT&T I would have thrown myself off this cliff.
Yes, I am M.I.A., AKA “Missing in Action.” I left town in the wee morning hours to do a little fishing and camping with Jack and a few friends. M.I.A. might be the theme this week, as Lindsey was frolicking in Aruba, Kara was soaking up the sun in South Carolina and Sarah was applying the 50 block in America’s sunniest city, St. Petersburg, Florida, which gets an average of 361 days of sunshine each year. 362 on leap years.
Despite having so many talented team members M.I.A. “Down South,” we were able to bang out a lot of projects and welcome some new clients.
Monday (5/19) – I worked really hard Monday morning…for a couple of hours. Designer Kaity Byrum and I left at lunchtime to join our friends at the Village Bank Charity Golf Tournament at Brandermill. I am proud to say Madison+Main was a sponsor of the tournament and we raised a nice chunk of change for FeedMore. (Summertime is a tough time for kids in Central Virginia, especially when kids in need do not get regular school lunches in their diet. Your donation to FeedMore can really make a difference this summer.) Special thanks to Jared Crowder, Vice President at Techport Thirteen — a brand new Madison+Main client — and Bill “Long and” Foster, CEO of Village Bank who filled in as “ringers” for Team Madison+Main.
Jared, Bill and yours truly had fun at the Village Bank Charity Golf Tournament. Thanks to Kaity for taking this photo.
Tuesday (5/20) – On Tuesday, I worked with AM Kelley Miller on editing the new Village Bank TV spot. We have enough footage to make a 19 minute ad, and somehow I have to cut it down to 30 seconds. #toughjob
We were pleased to announce on Tuesday that Riverside Turf has just signed Madison+Main for some branding and marketing initiatives. The Charles City, Virginia-based company grows turf for some of the finest golf courses and collegiate and pro athletic fields in the Mid-Atlantic.
Scott Hawthorne and Tad Davis from ESPN Sports Radio 910 dropped by on Tuesday afternoon to give us all the details regarding Redskins Training Camp and other sponsorship opportunities on RVA’s top sports station. My wife Sue is British and has no idea how the game of American football is played, but even she knows the New England Patriots’ Tom Brady will be in RVA this summer and is already hounding me for tickets.
I guess I couldn’t stay away from coaching. As many of you know, Jack is not playing baseball for the first time in seven years (since he was five) and I have missed being out there. I was stopped at Martin’s last weekend by a mom of a kid I used to coach and it really sunk in when she asked me, “What time is practice this week?” and I told her, “I’m not coaching this year.” But, I’m happy to tell you that Sue talked Jack into playing for Richmond Lions Rugby, 13-U, and yours truly is back to coaching. Too bad, I don’t know how to coach rugby.
Wednesday (5/21) – The highlight of my Wednesday was seeing Jonathan and Melissa Ballof Ball Office Products. Thanks to Melissa for introducing me to Greek Grill Cafe; we had a great and productive lunch and look forward to providing more services for Ball Office Products. By the way, who do you buy your office supplies from? Staples? Quill? Why send your money to Massachusetts or Illinois? Buy local from Ball. Better stuff, better service and the price is the same. Besides, your dollars stay in RVA and Melissa gives you free cookies with every order. 🙂
Thursday (5/22) – On Thursday morning I dropped by CanCan and had coffee with my new friend Katie Lackey of The Frontier Project, and I enjoyed learning about all of the wonderful things happening in their world. I left our meeting impressed, but with two lingering questions: 1) why aren’t we working with Frontier Project, and 2) why don’t I have coffee at CanCan every morning?
In the afternoon we worked on some kick butt TV concepts for a new client down in Virginia Beach. We’ve known the Marketing Director for years, but we can’t announce who the client is just yet. #staytuned How do we get so much work done at Madison+Main? We hire elves.
Graphic Designer Colleen Festa always listens carefully to client feedback
Friday (5/23) – This morning we left Art Director Geoff Glisson in charge because he was the only one left in the building. #justkidding Even though I skipped town early for a looong Memorial Day Weekend, the guys and gals back at work were busy. Or at least that’s what they told me.
By now you already have plans for this weekend, and I hope you have an excellent Memorial Day. Next weekend, the Madison+Main-iacs will be in Centreville for the Commonwealth’s mega wine festival, Vintage Virginia. Most of the crew is going up Saturday and I need a designated driver for Sunday…any takers? Get your tickets here and click here to see the TV ad we produced for them. (By the way, pre-sale tickets are up 300% from last year. #humblebrag)
This afternoon Sammy and Colleen sent me some photos from Virginia Women’s Center’s new experiential marketing project at Chesterfield Towne Center. Everything looks great. VWC is moving to Midlothian and we’re taking over the area’s biggest mall all summer to spread the good word about these good docs. If you drop by the mall, take a look and let me know what you think of the campaign.
A shopper doing exercises from Virginia Women’s Center’s floor graphics
Virginia Women’s Center is taking over Chesterfield Towne Center
Virginia is for lovers…of wine,
David Saunders
President & Chief Idea Officer
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