Preston (2)

Author Archives: Preston

May 24, 2010

Miners Versus the Volcano, Part II

Greetings from Switzerland!

Good news. After their original honeymoon plans were postponed following the eruption of Eyjafjallajokull, our creative director, Scott Miner and his new bride, Julie, have arrived safely in Switzerland.

We’ve been keeping up with their travels via Scott’s blog, Lager and Luggage, and judging by the pictures, their quest to find “the perfect pint” may very well be realized before their return. Santé!

Even without lava and ashes, the trip got off to a shaky start. The Miners flight was cancelled, and then, after re-booking, Scott was nearly cavity searched, following a call from Preston while Scott’s phone was in the x-ray machine. Finally, after two long days of travelling, the weary couple made it to Zurich, and had all of us back home salivating after reading about their dinner at Baz’Art Café in Lausanne.

While the Miners are enjoying their well-deserved honeymoon, back at Technekes, we’re doing out best to keep up maintain the high level of work Scott would expect, including rearranging furniture in our new office space.

We feel sure Scott would approve of our decision to move his desk and Mac out onto the main floor, so we can turn his office into a creative lounge.

Author Preston

May 21, 2010

Always On Target, Always Giving Back

It was bound to happen.

After all, targeted database marketing is what we’re known for. And it’s true that no one gets a bigger kick than we do out of helping our community. And, finally, as luck would have it, one of our founders, Jack Ross, is a nationally ranked shooter.

Add it all up and we were a natural. Of course we agreed to be one of the presenting sponsors of the Red Shoe Shoot Out fundraiser, a sporting clays tournament to benefit the Ronald McDonald House of Charlotte, scheduled to open in early 2011.

The Ronald McDonald House of Charlotte will be one of the more than 280 Houses operating worldwide today, providing needed services, loving support and comfortable housing for the families of hospitalized children. The Charlotte location, on Morehead Street, will serve families of patients at the Presbyterian Hemby Children’s Hospital and the Levine Children’s Hospital at Carolinas Medical Center.

Several similar clays tournaments have already been held nationwide, but this will be the first in Charlotte, taking place this November at Fork Stables. Given our history with the Ronald McDonald House (we contributed $10,000 just a few months back), we’re optimistic that, with the support of our staff, clients and friends, we can make another sizable donation.

We’re looking for additional sponsors now – and even starting to assemble some teams (no experience necessary). Interested? Contact Erin Faucette or Jan Burlee at Technekes (704.342.2900) for more info.

Author Preston

May 19, 2010

New Offices For Us = New Furnishings For Those In Need.

For too many years, we’ve heard, “when in doubt, throw it out.” An admirable aspiration, perhaps, if you’re cleaning out a kid’s school locker or Aunt Millie’s stocking drawer, but at Technekes, we know a lot old stuff still has plenty of life in it.

For example, when we moved into new offices in the Research Triangle Park, we were left with a lot of unneeded, but still usable, office furniture. Truckloads, in fact.

It would’ve been easy to just drag it to the curb and leave it. (OK. Not that easy, but you get the idea.) However, that’s not the way we think at Technekes. In Wake County, NC alone (seat of the state capital and one of three counties represented in the RTP), nearly 80,000 residents (8.8%) live at or below the poverty level. No question, the need is great. Furthermore, according to the EPA, furniture accounts for over 9 million tons of landfill every year.

What a waste.

Our old furniture, however, is being put to good use by The Green Chair Project, a newly formed non-profit corporation created to be a donation receptacle for gently used household furnishings to be given back to those in need throughout our community.

In fact, we’re proud to say that we were The Green Chair Project’s very first donor.

If you’d like to know more, visit thegreenchair.org. And as always, if you’ve got other ideas of how we can do good, we’d welcome your ideas.

Author Preston

May 18, 2010

Christmas In May. (We Just Couldn’t Wait Until July.)

Can you spot a few familiar faces in our 2008 holiday card?

It’s supposed to reach the high 70s here in Charlotte today, but it seems that a lot of folks already have Christmas on their minds, so by special request, we’ve posted images of our infamous Technekes holiday cards on Flickr.

Take a peek. You’ll likely recognize the illustrator’s work. He’s Dean Macadam, who’s produced work for Kraft, Nickelodeon, Disney, The Village Voice, Rolling Stone and many other standout brands.

The cards are a Technekes tradition, and from what we hear, it’s a tradition our clients and vendors look forward to every year. Instead of the usual gift baskets, we pick a worthy charity, call Dean, and get a little nutty in the process. Last year, we were able to contribute $10,000 to the Ronald McDonald House of Charlotte on behalf of our terrific clients.

Ideas for 2010 are already in the works, but in the meantime, check our gallery. We’d love to hear what you think and if you’ve got thoughts for the coming holiday season, be sure to let us know that, too. Some of our best ideas come from clients!

Author Preston

April 15, 2010

Open House in Charlotte

Technekes welcomed 100 friends from the Charlotte area to celebrate our 10th Anniversary and christen our new headquarters location this evening.

Great food, wine and an extensive selection of our very own “Gear Beer*” were enjoyed by all.

The evening featured interesting antics with bobble-head dolls, a quasi-official ribbon cutting ceremony, and a Technekes original party favor, tins of Create Demand® Thinking Putty.

Yee haw!!!

*A special Technekes thanks to Luke Williams, our Marketing Interaction Center Director and official Brewmaster!