We have many team members at MB whose jobs keep them occupied with a select few accounts, and we don’t often get the opportunity to introduce them to the rest of our clients and the world. As part of an ongoing weekly series, we’re sharing a fast, interesting Q&A with one of our people that will let you (and us!) get to know them a little better.

1. What is the most rewarding part of your job?

We’re constantly learning the ins-and-outs of an industry. I love understanding something beyond the surface – beyond what the typical consumer might know, like the logic behind a product’s design… or even who designed it. And since many of the clients I work with live in the building and design industries, I can apply some of that knowledge at home.

2. What did you collect as a kid?

I didn’t like playing with dolls as a kid and couldn’t stand Cabbage Patch kids. I did love the Furskins, though. They were a group of bears that lived in a Mayberry-esque depiction of the south. I used to hold fancy events for them. The Furskin wedding of ’86 was beautifully captured on a Kodak “Snappy” with a Holly Hobby-blanket backdrop.

3. Tell us about a funny or crazy experience from a family gathering or vacation.

I’m always running into small-world situations. The craziest one was running into my best friend from the fourth grade in a market in Tijuana. I ended up buying coasters for my mom in that market. This is an important detail to mention, as it kills any seedy visions of what I might have been doing in Tijuana.

4. Do you have a favorite quotation?

“No one can make you feel inferior without your consent.” – Eleanor Roosevelt

5. Are your movies alphabetized or categorized?

No, but I’d kill to have that kind of time on my hands.

6. What do you like most about your home?

My house was built in 1900, so I like the idea of a sordid past waiting to be uncovered from behind a wall. I’ve yet to find one, though. And, if I do, I hope it’s not of the American Horror Story variety.

We’ve started back at the beginning of our list! You can learn more about Whitney in last year’s profile. Check back next week when we profile a member of our operations team.

News junkies now have insight into the fastest online news sites in 2012, thanks to PageSpeed Online, the web-based version of Google’s tool for measuring site performance. If you are like me and enjoy getting a broad picture of the day’s news—but don’t have time to wait and watch pages spin and struggle to load—save yourself some time and check this list for the fastest players.

We have always known that different age groups use and consume media differently, but there have been very few studies that actually explored this area.  One of the best studies recently published was the Time Inc./Innerscope Research Biometric study, “A Biometric Day in the Life.”  The study shows how the proliferation of digital devices and platforms would affect the media consumption habits of consumers who grew up with mobile technology as part of their digital lives (Digital Natives) versus those who first learned about mobile technology as adults (Digital Immigrants).

It was astounding to learn that Digital Natives switch their attention between media platforms (TVs, smartphones, tablets, magazines) 27 times an hour, or about every other minute.  Frankly that wears me out, but it does explain why today’s children and young adults can’t sit still and pay attention for any length of time.  54% of these Natives say that they would rather text people than talk to them, compared with 28% of Digital Immigrants.  This behavior is causing issues in everything from relationships to employment for these Natives. Many are almost incapable of face-to-face interpersonal communication.

The main implication of these findings is that Digital Immigrants are intuitively linear; they want to see a beginning, middle and end to stories.  Natives want the same thing, but they will accept it in any order.  They are constantly subconsciously switching between platforms and can pick up bits and pieces of a story from different mediums in any order.

Certainly this creates challenges for marketers. In order to reach and engage these Natives, content creators and marketers need to think differently. They need to grab them from the beginning with snack-size offerings and give them multiple access points to every story.

Oh, and they’d better do it quickly.

A while back, @IndyDonutGuy started following me on Twitter. He’s local, he likes donuts, so of course I followed back—what more do you really need to know about someone?

After a short conversation, he became privy to the information that my birthday was quickly approaching, so as a kind gesture, he delivered donuts to my office. This gave my colleagues and I the opportunity to find out who the “man behind the donut” really was.

It turns out this individual created the Twitter handle a little more than a year ago, and he delivers donuts to one unsuspecting, special individual each week, but he also tries to accommodate birthday requests if time permits. His motivation behind delivering donuts, you ask? Not to gain fame or notoriety, but simply to build relationships with other business professionals. You can never have too many friends—or Twitter followers, for that matter.

He’ll stop and chat with the employees at his latest stop, but he won’t talk about his job or company unless asked. As the “Indy Donut Guy,” his goal is to spread delicious donuts across town, while learning more about the community and local businesses.

We can all take a page out of the Indy Donut Guy’s “recipe” book for building relationships and capitalizing on them.

In a strange (not-so-cinnamon) twist to this story, the Indy Donut Guy’s own employer doesn’t even know about his second identity, and we’re not about to tell!

Thanks for the treats!

We have many team members at MB whose jobs are more behind the scenes, and we don’t often get the opportunity to introduce them to our clients and the rest of the world. As part of an ongoing weekly series, we’re sharing a fast, interesting Q&A with one of our people that will let you (and us!) get to know them a little better.

1. What do you do at MB? 

I work in design and production. Currently, a few clients I am working on include: Delta, Beckman Coulter, Rinnai and Stanley.

2. What were your extracurricular activities in middle or high school?

In high school I took part in just about everything from football to art club to ultimate frisbee. I also took part in having bad haircuts. True story.

3. What is one of your most memorable experiences shared with your grandparents?

My most memorable experience is sitting in an old 1970s-style kitchen as a young lad, watching my grandfather prepare home made goetta for me. If you do not know, goetta is a German-American inspired breakfast dish that is very popular in Cincinnati. It is a combination of pork and steel-cut oats that gets fried up like a sausage patty…and it is delicious.

4. What recent movie did you see and enjoy?

“Drive” with Ryan Gosling and Bryan Cranston. Most people haven’t even heard of it, but it’s one of the best movies I’ve ever seen.

5. What is your average night’s sleep on a weeknight?

On a good night, I’ll get eight hours, unless I’m hooked on one of my favorite sports blogs or ESPN.com right before I’m supposed to go to sleep. In that case, I may get five or six hours. The Internet is addictive.

6. What is the best thing about growing older?

In 35 years I’ll be able to watch my grandchildren grow up.

Next week, we’ll return with some new questions for one of our earliest profilees in account management! Until then…

My husband recently finished his 11^th marathon, and it was on one of the world’s largest running stages: the 116^th Boston Marathon. This is world’s oldest annual marathon, welcoming more than 500,000 spectators each year.

Over the past decade, I’ve traveled with my husband to nearly 30 half or full marathons, but during this most recent race, I was curious to learn what makes the Boston Marathon so special, and why the community seems so involved. We’ve attended races in other large cities, such as Houston, Atlanta, Charlotte and even Disney World, but nothing comes close to the crowd and community support shown during the Boston. For example, a marathon is 26.2 miles, and in most races, it’s common for runners to come across sections of the course with no spectators, just peace and quiet. However, during the Boston, the entire course is lined with people.

The Boston Marathon starts at 10 a.m., and I arrived at my chosen spectator location—about 100 yards from the finish line—by 8:15 a.m., and the street was already lined with people. By 10 a.m., there were three or four rows of people behind me. Before noon, the crowd on my side of the street was at least 10 or 11 rows deep — that’s a lot of people to watch a bunch of people run. What’s especially interesting is that most of the spectators were from the local area. (Participants in the Boston Marathon must qualify within a certain time for their age group. It’s pretty competitive, so not all runners are from the surrounding areas.)

While waiting for my husband to pass, I kept wondering, “What makes everyone come out to watch this race in virtually any weather conditions?” (This year’s Boston Marathon was the third hottest on record.) After a few hours of making friends with the locals, I learned that this race isn’t just a race; it’s a community event. Everyone in Boston and all the towns along the race route feel as though they have some kind of ownership of the race; this is a time for them to shine on the world’s premier running stage. The communities near the start line spend months finding ways to enhance the runners’ experience, welcome visitors and engage the community.

Bringing community engagement to marketing events

Several of our clients participate in trade shows and host various events either at their showrooms or in the community, but are they really in touch with all their key audiences in a way that makes them feel involved or have ownership in the event? It’s easy to bring employees to an industry event and ask them to talk about a product, but it’s more difficult to provide those employees—and visitors—with a memorable experience that makes a lasting impression. I’m not suggesting adding water stations around a trade show booth or passing out finisher medals to anyone who completes a showroom tour—but what would happen if employees and/or visitors felt as though they had become part of a larger experience and had a say in what the organization was doing?

Industry events are an excellent opportunity to gauge an organization’s awareness among stakeholders, and they provide an outlet that allows target audiences to become more intimately connected to a brand. Next time your organization signs up for a booth at a trade show, consider what you want the employees working the booth to take away from the event, as well as the experience left with the visitors. You might find great opportunities for increased engagement farther up the course, waiting near the finish line.

We have many team members at MB whose jobs are more behind the scenes, and we don’t often get the opportunity to introduce them to our clients and the rest of the world. As part of an ongoing weekly series, we’re sharing a fast, interesting Q&A with one of our people that will let you (and us!) get to know them a little better.

1. How long have you worked at MB?

Five years in May. I can’t believe it!

2. School: did you love it or hate it?

I actually loved it. Even high school was great, and college was… awesome!

3. What member of your family do you feel closest to, and why?

Ooh, that is a hard question. Probably my sister, because after our dad died, we spent several weeks sitting in lawn chairs going through everything in his storage unit and alternating between laughing and crying. It was August and hotter than blazes! I’m sure people who saw us probably thought we were crazy, but it was a great bonding experience.

4. What were the last three books you bought?

“Unbroken,” by Laura Hillibrand
“The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime,” by Mark Haddon
“Still Alice,” by Lisa Genova

5. What was one of the most unusual meals you’ve ever eaten?

My dad passed away in San Luis Potosi, Mexico, where he was living with his wife, Sylvia. He died very suddenly, and my sister and I flew down for several days. Sylvia spoke very little English, as did most of the other people we met, and we spoke very little Spanish. We ate several meals at homes of their friends, and I really have no idea what we ate. It was all really good, but let’s just say it wasn’t like El Rodeo!

6. What was the worst travel experience you’ve had?

I was pregnant with our third child, and we took the two girls, who were 3 and 1 at the time, to visit friends in Omaha for a long weekend. We left late at night, and my husband drove all night so the girls—myself included—would just sleep in the car. Everything was fine until after we stopped for breakfast. We still had a couple of hours to drive, but the girls had had enough! Kelly, who was 1, cried nonstop. Haley, who was 3, decided to join in the fun, and no matter what I did, they both just wanted O-U-T! Gary was tired and wanted O-U-T, as well. I was honestly sure he was just going to crash the car to end it all! (He didn’t, though, and we had a great weekend.)

We’ve started back at the beginning of our list! You can learn more about Vicki in last year’s profile. Check back next week when we profile a member of our studio team.

As a complete, utter and wholly self-proclaimed TV junkie, I always get a little (OK, a lot) excited in the spring. Why? Because it’s upfront season, of course.

For those of you outside of the advertising and media world, the “upfronts” are the week in May when the networks trot out their fall schedules to national advertisers then try to sell boatloads of expensive advertising essentially on spec. By teasing advertisers with new shows, existing shows and lots of audience research, the hope is that advertisers will invest heavily before a show is proven to be a success. Thus, upfront. Pretty nifty, eh?

I totally love the upfronts. Though I’ve never been, I envy my friends and colleagues who have had the opportunity to attend. The event has expanded beyond the traditional networks. Of course, CBS, NBC, ABC, FOX and The CW give big presentations, but now TNT/TBS, ESPN, USA and other cable networks have joined the fray. Everyone wants a piece of the advertising pie. TV audiences have become very fractured, and the main networks no longer have ultimate power to guarantee enormous audiences. The broadcast network is still a great, tried-and-true way to blast your message to a lot of people, but cable is taking dollars and eyeballs from the networks.

In a nutshell, each network hosting an upfront will present its fall and spring schedules to their advertisers in elaborate and fancy-schmancy presentations. They will tease new shows, or if a show is particularly exciting, they may even show the whole stinking pilot! Could you imagine? Having a sneak peak of the fall’s must-see show before anyone else? What could possibly be more exciting? NOTHING. That’s what.

It’s so cool to see how the networks pick and choose between the myriad of pilots that have been ordered. The pilots are viewed, tested, retooled and then either picked up, shopped to another network or dropped altogether.

Last year, there was a pilot for “Wonder Woman,” but it wasn’t picked up. In the end, it was a complete mess. But then there’s “Revenge.” Who would have thought that a very retro soap opera in the vein of “Dynasty” would become so popular? ABC, that’s who! Now it’s a buzzy, well-rated show moving forward with a second season. CBS was so excited about “Person of Interest” that they give it the plumb Thursday timeslot at 9:00 PM. It’s now a top-rated show. And it’s awesome.

But selecting a winning show is a complete crapshoot, and the gambling aspect is kind of what appeals to me the most. (Though I am not a gambler in any way and think that Las Vegas is quite possibly the worst place in the world.)

Executives sit around with mountains of research and demographic information to try to create the best schedule to bring big ratings and even bigger advertising revenues.

What will be the break-out hit of the 2013 season? Will NBC be able to bring itself back to Must See TV glory? Will CBS continue to bet on more crime procedurals? What will ABC do to fill the void of the departing “Desperate Housewives?” These are all the questions that the upfronts will answer. It’s just around the corner and I can’t wait.

Further reading: The future of Hulu: Will announce original content at upfronts

We have many team members at MB whose jobs keep them occupied with a select few accounts, and we don’t often get the opportunity to introduce them to the rest of our clients and the world. As part of an ongoing weekly series, we’re sharing a fast, interesting Q&A with one of our people that will let you (and us!) get to know them a little better.

1. What job at MB would you like to try for a day?

For one day, I would like to assume the role portrayed by Mrs. Libby Boulais. It’s less about the work, because she and I do the same thing. Essentially, I would just like be a fly on the wall in her home, because her kids crack me up. The Boulais household is unparalleled for comedy gold.

2. Which foreign language would you most like to learn, and why?

I need to learn Spanish. My partner is from Mexico, and he has been harping on me for nearly eight years that I need to learn Spanish. I can navigate my way around a menu and can certainly order a drink, rest assured. Food and cocktails are certainly the most important first step in mastering any foreign language.

3. What toy do kids have now that you would like?

I am horrendously out of touch when it comes to toys. There are some pretty sweet kid-friendly apps for the iPad that I would have enjoyed in my formative years, but frankly I still enjoy them now, so that probably speaks loads about me and my personality. I am the real-life version of Big starring Tom Hanks.

4. What was the last live performance you saw?

As a theater nerd, I am often seeing live performances. I recently took a weekend in Cincinnati to attend a production of Merrily We Roll Along at the Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park. Merrily is a terribly obscure musical by Stephen Sondheim and is performed very rarely, but I simply love it, so it was a MUST SEE event.

5. What is your favorite temperature?

I like my coffee hot. I like my beer cold. That sums up two very important aspects of my day. The start and the finish.

6. What is something you have not yet done that you would like to accomplish in your lifetime?

I would very much like to host a talk show in the vein of “Chelsea Lately.” Or at the very least be a member of her round table for one episode. I think I would be a riot.

We’ve started back at the beginning of our list! You can learn more about Eric in last year’s profile. Check back next week when we profile a member of our operations team.

I ran across an article in Marie Claire that provides some food for thought: Everything in your office inspires a snap judgment, even if it isn’t really true about you at all.

For example:

• Messy desk = lazy
• Shrine to your kitten = serious dating issues
• Shot glass = well, you get the idea…

For those of us in advertising, let’s just say I think the rules are a little more lenient. Still, we all need to be aware of the vibe that we are intentionally or unintentionally giving off.

To me, your workspace should include things that give you inspiration. Things that motivate you. But based on this article, my office might be telling people that I am “counting down the hours until quitting time” due to the many displayed photos of my children. (I actually counted, and there are 12 photos of my kids. Yikes.)  However, I also have a photo of Don Draper posted, as well. I am hopeful that might make up for my slacker perception.

Whether you believe these judgments or not, this article should make you stop and think. What does your desk say about you?