BTA Blog
BlaineTurner Advertising, Inc. -- a name; one familiar to so many as the agency behind some of the most compelling campaigns and marketing services in the tri-state area. But who are they (as individuals)? What passions move the hearts of the agency's staff, what motivates, captivates and invigorates them? Read on -- read often -- gain insight.
February 8th, 2010
Snow Storm and Pizza Make for Interesting Monday | Galen
WOW! Did it snow in 2010? Did the Saints FINALLY win a Super Bowl ring? The answer to both is a resounding -- YES!!
While Becky is on cloud nine today as she celebrates the win of her beloved Nor-linz (New Orleans) Saints, and we're having pizza from the infamous "Pizza Al's", I am reeling in the beauty of a snow storm that brings back memories of the mid-to-late seventies. 1977 in particular. So, I thought that looking back to 1977 and what was known as the winter that would not end in "my neck of the woods", might be a bit of fun...
In 1977:
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The Oakland Raiders faced the Minnesota Vikings in Super Bowl XI |
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Apple Computer is founded by Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak and introduces the Apple II personal computer, color graphics with a 6502 CPU, 4K of RAM, an Apple Basic compiler, and game paddles |
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David Soul of Starsky and Hutch fame had a number one hit with "Don't Give Up On Us Baby" |
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"Star Wars" (the original that started it all) was the number one movie of the year followed by Close Encounters of the Third Kind and Saturday Night Fever with John Travolta at number three |
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The font Frutiger designed by Adrian Frutiger was in use by a lot of designers |
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Laverne & Shirley was the top TV show in the U.S. |
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Michael Jackson was 19 and in early January the Jackson Five released the album "Music's Taking Over" |
The Winter That Would Not End - 1977 |
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Below is a photo taken in upper Buffalo, NY near Lake Erie during the infamous winter siege of 1977 that gripped the east coast from Florida to Maine. |
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A book, written by the owner of the print shop where I first interned during my senior year in high school, aptly titled: "Did It Snow In '77?" documented the events and record snowfalls in Preston County, WV with first hand stories, photos and news clippings. After a brief search on the internet, I was able to find references to the book, but no photos or even a copy available for purchase on E-Bay could be found. Sadly, I can't quote data or personal accounts of that winter since the statistics are not readily available, but my memories of that winter are still quite vivid. Accounts of snow banks and drifts over 20' tall in the area, National Guard troops bringing heavy equipment in to remove the snow from roadways and school parking lots, and helicopter rescues of people I knew who lived in remote areas whose power had been out for days. While some people talked of "The Blizzard of 1977", I remember a non-stop series of storms that closed schools for weeks. It seemed like one major storm would dump 24+" of snow, then three days later a new one would come in with high winds and deposit 2-3 more feet of snow -- and this went on until mid April! So with another storm approaching North Central, West Virginia tomorrow (2-9-10) - I am feeling rather reminiscent of days, now 30 years past. Memories that have been close to my heart for decades have come flooding back -- and it makes me only miss my parents, and other family members who were a part of that time in my life even more. Funny how a snow storm and pizza can do that. (**NOTE: I just heard from the NOAA Weather Reporter in my former hometown of Terra Alta, WV - they have received over 139" of snow this winter as of 2-10-10) |
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Snow Removal on February 8th, 2010 |
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Krinstin Moore - Shoveling the stairs by the mail box near BlaineTurner's front door |
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Sherea Mercure- Shovels snow and takes a moment to laugh at Kristin |
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Sorry for the picture quality - cell phone images -- zoomed. And -- oh yes, believe it or not -- I took over shoveling after I snapped these photos :-) |
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January 29th, 2010
New Year. New Opportunities. | Galen
It's hard to believe that it is already the end of January, 2010! We had decided to concentrate our efforts internally so that our new web site would be completed by December 15th 2009 some time back in October of last year. Obviously we did not make that deadline. As with everything you want to do for yourself, it often takes a back seat to all that you "have" to do for others. I have often wondered how so many agencies have found time to fulfill their client's needs and keep up with their own social marketing and blogging sites. There have definitely been disadvantages to not having a web site that goes beyond the old cliche "coming soon". Sure we have had people with tongue-in-cheek say to us; "I noticed your website is 'still' not finished:, or "I was showing my boss who we were going to use for developing our new website but 'your' site wasn't even finished" -- OUCH!
O.K. -- in our defense, we "have been" a small company handling some of the biggest accounts and most demanding project requirements and deadlines in the area. Our priority has always been meeting client needs first. We have even borrowed the story of the cobbler's children. While the cobbler fixes old shoes and makes new shoes every day, his own kids run around barefoot. That has worked in some cases with a thought provoking "Hmmm - I never thought about it like that before." But that only works for so long.
NOTE: EVEN NOW - I AM HAVING TO STOP THIS BLOG ENTRY TO QUICKLY DEPLOY A MARKETING SURVEY FOR A CLIENT ... MORE TO COME...
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OK - BACK TO FINISH THIS (3-3-10)...
See what I mean? It has been three working days since I have been able to get back to entering the rest of this blog post. We have been chosen to present to a rather large organization - and part of the research and development behind this presentation has taken deeper into the realms of social media - OOHHH! (More on that unique experience later)
Today's agenda is full of animating an ending for our presentation in After Effects and preparing all of the slides for the PowerPoint presentation (and I'm talking more than 40 slides -- all with custom graphics - of course). So, as usual -- not much time to blog -- I just wanted to at least finish this first entry. More to follow about the outcome of this unique opportunity.
