Well, it’s finally that time of year again. Actually, it isn’t.
We here at CPS have been incredibly spoiled with one of the mildest winters in recent memory. In fact, it’s been so warm that several of us were able to keep our bikes on the streets until early January. Some of us are continuing to ride even now.
With winter in Chicago it’s not a question of if it will snow, but when. Actually, it’s not even a question of when, but HOW MUCH. Several CPS’ers newer to Chicago have been anxiously awaiting this day, and are handling it in different ways. One girl showed up to class last night crying. She tried to hide it, but her tears were frozen to her face. Another guy wore mesh tennis shoes. He left in an ambulance.
Ok not really.
In all honesty, winter isn’t really that bad. And as Jeff always says, “In Chicago three seasons of the year are perfect, and the other is perfect for working.”
(This is the second part in a two part series about one CPS students’ journey through Budweiser’s Band of Buds competition. See part 1 below.)
The next hour and a half flew by fast and furious. Each crew was given a different starting point and an envelope: figure out the riddle at each spot and receive the next envelope with your clue. It was an all out race to the seven secret places in Vegas. Each crew was given a limo and driver, and our first destination was the legendary Neon Graveyard; the place where Vegas has retired all the old neon signs from the past. We quickly found the vintage Budweiser sign and took off.
The second clue was a retro video game arcade where we had to play a 1986 Budweiser arcade game entitled, Tapper. That is where I came through, beating the game in less than three minutes and sprinting out of the door. The next location was located just down the street, so we took off to find that we got to ride the zipline over old downtown Vegas. “We Are The Champions” came on just as we took off. I couldn’t have asked for a better moment.
The moment didn’t last long, though; as soon as we hit the ground it was a full on sprint back to the limo. We’re feeling pretty confident as we take off to spot #4 as our limo begins to smell of gasoline and starts to smoke. Five minutes later we are pulled over on the side of the road with Budweiser trying to figure out how they could get us a working limo. After ten harrowing minutes, we were back on track, but far behind now. The next clue led us to the exclusive, members only club in Mandalay Bay, The Foundation Room, where we America’s Got Talent winner and master illusionist, Seth Grabel, put on a small private show and handed us our next clue.
From there it was on to The Venetian, but not before we had to memorize an old Budweiser jingle and sing it while riding the gondolas around the casino. A speedy ride out to the “Welcome to Las Vegas” sign and back in town to our final destination at The Rok Club in New York, New York. On our way to the final spot, we begin hearing rumors that other teams had finished ahead of us. It was until we reached the finish line that we realized we were the last place team. Huge bummer. It took us a while to get over our loss, but we were still in the competition, so we put our game faces on and took over the after party.
Budweiser sponsored a spa day for the final day of the competition for the top six teams. All the women got hair and makeup done, and the men…pedicures and barber shaves. Pure relaxation. But we still knew that the final four teams were being announced before the final game show that night and we had to stay focused.
We arrived to the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino for the finals, the last call, the big show. It was all or nothing at this point. As the crowd began to gather, the emcees called all six crews to the front stage. This was the moment we find out if all our hard work payed off. “And the second team in the Band of Buds Final Four is…...The 80’s Babies!!!!” Excitement ensued.
So we were in. The Final Four crews in America, vying for $100,000. Game on. The last competition was the Bud Wise Game. A Newly Weds type gig where one crew member from each team sits downstage while the other three members of each crew sit upstage. The emcees ask five questions for three rounds and the three crew members’ answers from each team must match the one downstage for 10 points to be awards. The questions asked ranged from “What is your buds’ most embarrassing song on his/her iPod?” to “What was buds’ teacher crush in middle school?” to “What is the most embarrassing thing in your bud’s bathroom?”
Touch questions indeed. And we didn’t do too well either. As the questions drug on, we fell farther and farther from first place. In the end, first place came down to the last question and Team America took home the trophy.
All in all, it was such an amazing experience and, to bring it around to CPS, a true lesson in how to run a successful brand campaign. It was simply mind numbing the extent to which Budweiser went to make this a top notch event. I made some amazing friends from around the country, got closer to my crew and best friends, and know that this will be an event I will never forget.
Best friends. Everyone has one. Someone who they share everything and anything with. Someone who is there always, no matter what. But not everyone has a group of best friends. A crew, if you will, of friends so close that they know everything about each other and could prove it in front of the country. But that’s exactly what I did, along with three of my closest friends at Budweiser’s 2nd annual Band of Buds competition.
The competition began online, with Budweiser posting video and photo challenges that we had to complete and upload, which you then got points for. Your crew was also awarded point for having fans and Facebook ‘Likes.’ At the end of that portion, the top ten teams in each of the 20 regions were awarded a spot in the regional casting call parties, which consisted of a red carpet walk, text voting, and various other games to determine the top team in each region. We ended up in 2nd place for our casting call, but luckily Budweiser chose five wild card teams from all the casting calls and The 80’s Babies were chosen for the top 25 crews in America.
The finals took place in Las Vegas, Nevada, where Budweiser flew each of the teams and put us up in the Mirage Hotel and Casino. Each team member was also given a $400 cash card for any extra expenses. We arrived Wednesday to a limo waiting to pick us up at the airport. Right away it was all glitz and glamor as a camera and sound crew followed and interviewed us on the drive to the hotel. As we stepped out onto a red carpet, camera men began shooting photos. Did I mention we had a Budweiser in our hand the second we sat down in the limo? That evening the welcome party took place, where each of the crews began to get a feel for everyone.
Thursday morning marked the official very early start to the competition as we boarded buses to take us to a breakfast and interview session hosted by the competition emcees, Covino and Rich from XM Radio. Afterward, we were all hoarded back on the buses, destination unknown. As we drove farther into the desert, military planes from the nearby airbase flying around, the Las Vegas Speedway began to rise. An hour later and we were all suited up, learned up on pit crew techniques, and speeding around at 180 MPH in a full on Nascar race with our professional driver. Twenty four laps, six laps for each crew member while the other three had to pit crew the car. We won our heat, and came in second overall; it was intense to say the least.
Dressing to the nines and spending lots of cash was the theme Thursday evening, as Casino Night was the second challenge in the competition. The crew with the most coin wins. Simple. Four games were played: Craps, Blackjack, Baccarat, and Roulette. Again, we placed well.
Friday was our day to sleep in before challenge #3. The Budweiser Run of the Buds relay race saw us in bad form. The race consisted of a mini putt golf hole, charades, wheel barrow race, bottle cap toss, and finally a foot race serving bottles of Budweiser. Despite all our preparation, we got stuck in charades.
Come Friday night,every crew knew it was time to cut the top 25 teams to the six. We drive out to the Stratosphere and waited on the deck of the bungee jump as they announced The 80’s Babies as the sixth team! After one of our crew members got to bungee jump, we had to literally sprint into our next competition: the scavenger hunt.
Normally, I’m not one to miss parties. At CPS though, sometimes you have to make a tough choice: Do I go to the 4th Quarter’s Stand-Up /End of Quarter Party? or do I stay at CPS until 10pm working on comps for tomorrow’s class?
I chose the latter. Luckily, my good friend (and fellow 1st quarter copywriter) Matt filed this report:
I was asked to write this post about the end of quarter party. Being a 1st quarter, I wanted to see for myself what this whole stand-up act class was all about. The free alcohol may have also played a role in my decision to go.
The CPSers who took the stage blew me away. I was expecting some screw-ups and some jokes that left only ‘crickets,’ but that wasn’t the case. You could tell they were all well prepared; which says a lot about the teacher, and also for the students themselves.
A couple things I took away from the night: Everyone has a crush on Maria. Also, not knowing Jake at all, I found out his dad was Rick Reilly. I’m always amazed by celebrities and sports icons, and being from Texas, finding that out was really cool.
Coincidentally (thanks to some of the other routines), I learned a couple of things about Jake’s mom as well!
One of the coolest things about going to CPS is that all of your fellow classmates are reading, doing, seeing tons of super groovy things. Early on, our quarter set up a Facebook group as a way of sharing all of the neat-o nuggets we find with one another.
I recently came across it again, and let it marinate a little longer. Not only is it beautiful, it’s important! Interactive Design is the bridge to the future. What will it look and feel like? It’s crucial that today’s design students understand the power they hold in their… well, you get it.
If you were to walk up to a random CPS student at any given time and give them the old elementery school shake-down, you would find two things: Landon (a third quarter) carries McDonald’s Sweet and Sour sauce on him at all times, and the rest of us, have bags, backpacks and purses comprised of 98% Sharpie. You see, at CPS, we love Sharpie. We love Sharpie so much we can’t bare to throw them away even after they’ve long since dried up. Sharpie is the wick in the candle of our creativity cat’s mouth. It’s the lighting bolt that strikes our creativity kite. It’s the lifeblood of our creative machine.
Two students, Tori and Jake, set out to profess the school’s love for the brand to see whether or not they loved us back. They built a website, CPS and Sharpie Forever, made a video (see below)
then went directly to the source (Sharpie Headquarters in Oak Brook, IL) to drive traffic to the site. Stay tuned for updates on the project and to see whether Sharpie is “The One” for CPS.
I found Jake where most people find him these days: on the fourth floor lab, second computer in. This has become his de facto home for the last 90 (or so) days. He learned early on during his experiment that life would be much easier if people knew exactly where to find him. And while not having a phone, email, or Facebook hasn’t always been the easiest on Jake’s friends and partners, he seems to have taken a real shine to it.
I spoke with Jake for a bit about his experiment, what’s surprised him, and what he’ll take away with him when it’s all over. He said his project initially came from the realization that he, himself, was never fully present in his personal relationships anymore. Looking his friends in the eyes while his fingers replied to tweets on his phone finally got the best of his conscience. Something had to be done.
The technology shut down was to initially only include his cell phone. However, after some more thought, all modern-day forms of communication were added to the pile. At the beginning, Jake said he was most concerned with the overall idea of what he’d be missing by not being “plugged-in.”
Nowadays, he doesn’t miss much. His personal relationships have flourished, and his quest has taken on a spirituality he never expected. He writes notes on giant pieces of paper, pumpkins, and just about anything else he can that makes sense. All in all, Jake’s life now has less stress and more happiness than it has in years.
Maybe we could all learn something from the Jake Project.
It was on odd feeling as I stepped through the door to the building where The Post Family Art & Design Collective is located. Ten foot white walls, no directional signage, and fluorescent lighting all make for an eery experience. But the Sunday we spent with The Post Family was anything but eery. In fact, it felt right at home.
Our guide and mentor came in the form of David Sieren, Post Family member and master at not getting his hands smashed in the antique, one-ton printing press. With his tutelage and a good serving of inspiration from the beautiful, lofty design studio, we were off setting our own type in no time. By the time we finished setting our 50 pounds of lead type, David was busy coating the ancient press with ink. Old as it was, the press worked quite well as we watched the rollers soak up the ink and deposit it with graceful strokes onto our waiting paper.
The end results were anything but ordinary. Experimenting with different papers, thicknesses, and type allowed for some truly amazing layouts. As amazing as my description of the day is, you can see the whole process for yourself in this CPS student-made, feature film. Make sure you check it out, the cinematography is top notch. Our thanks go out to The Post Family for a great creative learning experience.
It was a chilly, big city morning when the creative fires began to warm up the Chicago Portfolio School as advertising and creative professionals from the surrounding areas gathered for the world renowned Creative Mornings breakfast lecture series. Needless to say, every morning is a creative morning at CPS, but this sunrise had a little extra creative power packed into the room.
A big heaping of that creativity was duly laid on us by non other than illustrator Jay Ryan; part comedian, part human, and the full on creative genius behind The Bird Machine print shop. After the wonderfully delicious (and free) breakfast and coffee, Jay tore into his life work with fascinating details. And the devil is in the detail, as we learned through Jay’s painstakingly thorough process. There is so much more that goes into the process of printing one of Jay’s beautiful illustrations and it was very interesting to get a peak behind the curtain. In the magician’s profession, it is seen as career suicide to share your trade secrets. And even though some might call what Jay does magical, we are glad to have had the opportunity to learn some of his tricks.
The morning ended has it started, as people drifted around chatting with one another and finishing the last of their breakfast, satisfied with the boost of creativity they received. The lecture was a huge success and I can not wait for the next Creative Mornings. In the end, we shared some laughs, we shared some insight, and most importantly, we all had a reason to go into work a little later that day. What more could you ask for?
Somewhere at CPS there’s a guy named Jake, and I’m trying to find him.
Normally, this task wouldn’t be very difficult. I’d probably send him a Facebook message or an email asking to meet up, and if that didn’t work I’d ask someone for his cell phone number. But there’s the rub. You see; the whole reason I want to find Jake is the very reason I can’t.
Jake is on a technology boycott. He’s not on Facebook. He’s turned off his cell phone. And from what I understand, he’s even ignoring Twitter. CPS students have taken to leaving him messages the old-fashioned way: Notes in the elevator. When asked where I could find him, the guy outside 7-11 said, “Who’s Jake?”
I guess my detective skills could use some improvement.
When I do find Jake, I’m very curious to hear about his experience. What’s the hardest part? What has he learned? Has it changed the way he’ll use technology from now on? And most importantly: How’s his fantasy football team doing?
