by Maria Luci
On October 19th Ben and I met at the airport with four loaded cases of portfolios and flew out west. We had a crazy whirlwind trip ahead of us, with 11 portfolio events in Vancouver, Portland, and Seattle. This is going to take a few posts, so here’s part one of our journey.
After many hours of flying from one end of the country to the other, we landed safely in Seattle. We quickly picked up our rental van and headed over to the Zig Zag Café for drinks with our Seattle photographers.
From left: Maria, Jose Mandojana, Justin Gollmer, and others.
We had a great time and a great turnout at the Zig Zag. All of our Seattle photographers showed up, and some even brought their significant others to join in on the fun. There were drinks and laughs while discussing the photography industry, post-processing, and fun things to see in Seattle. The overall impression was that the industry in Seattle is going well. Though there are peaks and valleys, generally, it seems the work is flowing more than last year, and things are looking up.
After saying goodbye, collecting books from our Seattle photographers (and picking up Portland books that had been mailed to Patrick Barta’s studio), we hit the road to Vancouver. Following a surprisingly easy pass through the Canadian border, Ben and I scurried to our hotel rooms and quickly zonked out for the night.
In the morning, we sorted our books and headed for our first meeting at TAXI, an advertising firm with offices in Toronto, Montreal, Calgary, Amsterdam, New York, and of course, Vancouver. Some of their clients include Mini, Aviva, and the Vancouver Aquarium. Their office is very hip, with a café open to the public on the first floor. Quotes and text on the wall point out objects in a witty fashion, and polished concrete, white walls, and black text give the office a very sleek vibe.
We laid out about 12 books and delicious breakfast cuisine catered by Savoury City in the TAXI café. Soon a big group of creatives shuffled in and started flipping through books and munching on a breakfast of hard-boiled eggs, delicious cheeses, and assorted juices.
We got some good feedback at TAXI, with a few books standing out in particular. Clark Vandergrift’s new book with his Tree People project wowed the group. They were impressed with both the photos and the printing of the book. Erik Johnson’s interior shots also received some nice compliments, while Andy Reynold’s photo of two indecent chipmunks got some enthusiastic laughs. All in all, most everyone’s leave-behinds were scooped up, and it seemed the TAXI clan was excited about what Wonderful Machine has to offer.
After things started slowing down, we packed up and headed to our next meeting at Rethink, an ad agency with clients including A&W Food Services, Egg Farmers of Canada, and BC Automobile Association. They were interested in Canadian landscape shots for an upcoming project.
Rethink’s office had a wall for a door that opened when you stepped close enough. This was the highlight of Ben’s trip, as he was very excited about a wall opening up for him. The rest of the office was just as stimulating, with old-fashioned “private eye” style doors and parking cones for lights.
Once we were led to the meeting area for what they called a “Lunch and Learn,” we set out gourmet sandwiches and about 15 books that we felt matched their style. After we were all set, the creatives started pouring in. Many were very talkative and excited to learn more about Wonderful Machine and our photographers. They enjoyed Walt Denson’s landscapes and Derek Blagg’s processing techniques. One creative mentioned that Derek’s photos looked almost like paintings. A couple of people were drooling over Hank Drew’s hamburger shot, saying it would be perfect for their A&W account.
The group was also excited to hear that we pass along stock requests to our photographers. We actually got a stock request right there on the spot and sent it back to Sean to keep him busy at the office.
We wrapped it up at Rethink and had packed up almost all the books when a lone straggler, art director Scott Maddox, wandered into the room. He asked if he could look through a few of the books, so we pulled out about five and had a one-on-one with him as he carefully flipped through the books and talked to us about his former life in the UK and New Zealand. He was also fond of Hank Drew’s book, commenting that the burger shot reminded him of a past project he enjoyed working on.
Once we bid farewell to Scott, we packed up for good and had about an hour of free time before hustling over to DDB. We decided to spend this time getting to see Vancouver a bit, so we loaded up the van and drove to Stanley Park. It was absolutely beautiful, and it was a nice way to relax between meetings.
After sightseeing, Ben and I made our way to the DDB office. DDB is a worldwide advertising firm considered one of the leading creative agencies in the world. Some of their clients include Subaru, the Canadian Tourism Commission, and Capital One.
When we got inside the office, we met the delivery driver for Savoury City, who was talking with the receptionist about a “Maria Luci” who had him running around town all day. I introduced myself, and we all had a good chuckle.
Zara Thomas, their creative resource manager, set us up in a room with a great view, a pool table, and a few creepy mannequins. The creatives came wandering in. It was definitely a different kind of review, with one DDBer’s Justin Bieber stories leading to a dougie dance party. We were happy to find out they liked the books we had brought, with comments focusing on Scott Areman’s “gritty” style. We ended up getting two stock photo requests from them, and we learned a new dance move. I’m sure this will continue to grow into a fruitful connection (and hopefully more moves).
Ben speaking with DDB creatives.
In short, Vancouver was a beautiful city with a lot of fun people. After meeting some great creatives and seeing three cool offices, we loaded up the van and started our road trip to Portland, thus beginning the sleepless portion of our trip. Stay tuned for parts II and III of our trip out West!
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