Sundance Recap

For four days last week, we participated in a "style lounge" at the Sundance Film Festival - a pr event where you "gift" your products to celebs & industry insiders. In signing up for the event, I knew it would be part work, part fun since we usually try to get out to Alta every year to visit my brother-in-law & his family anyway and we could tag that on to the end of the trip. And thank goodness we did.

It's not that I didn't enjoy my time there - because I did. For the most part, everyone was very friendly, we met some uber-talented people, and we got great feedback on our work. But I was a little tired of the whole game by the end. We won't purchase the photos from Wire Image to use as "press" as most vendors do. Will people buy more of our new flats because Samuel L. Jackson is pictured with them? Perhaps, but that seems really fake to me. I was thrilled that Mr. Jackson b-lined it over to them & wanted more than one - and just hope that he gives them to someone who will use them or use them himself. But that's not really the point of these gifting suites & I think I've been a little naive to think that they are worth it without that being my point.

So as I was struggling with this during the event and getting a little uneasy over it - I realized more than ever that this is the way promotion works - companies pay for exposure - on small & large scales - whether it's for an ad in a local newspaper or on a blog or with a super star endorsement or a world wide ad campaign. We have a pr person ourselves - who I love - to promote our work and manage any pr initiatives. (And as a result, we get lots of inquiries on the heels of certain press.) People working at this event even told me that celebs really do have fake relationships to benefit their careers - which seems outrageous to me - but not that surprising. So pr really does run the gamut - something I guess I've known, but not actively thought about until recently. It's obviously important for companies to know when & how to use their money best to promote their business. And in doing this event, it became very clear to me that there are many ways to do that.

In the end, I'm happy we did the style lounge because unlike other products there, ours exist beyond the gift bag. Whether those people use our paper goods themselves or give them to someone else, they will be used (most people said they had thank you notes to write) & I hope that L&H filters through hands of others who like our paper goods enough to look us up. And that's pr - and pr that feels right for us.

Detour to Alta

Our stint at Sundance ended on Monday night & John and I came to Alta to ski with his brother & his family who live here while Katie headed back to L&H hq in Brooklyn. The transition from the event to mountain-side has been night & day, and without a doubt, this is more my element. I'll be posting more on this in a recap of our time out here on Friday. Until then, I'm going to try & get in some more slope time. I just love it out here!

Day Two

Day Two at Sundance was the first day of our event. Everyone who has come through the suite has been super-friendly and the response to L&H has been great. We're making note-writers out of these peeps! Or at least hoping:)

Hope you all are having a great weekend!

Photo 1: part of our little table set up
Photo 2 & 3: Main Street after the event. Seems appropriate that it snowed all day - & makes it feel even more like a little cozy little ski town.
Photo 4: horse shoe coat rack that caught my eye at dinner

Day One at Sundance

Day One at Sundance was less glamorous than "Day One at Sundance" sounds. Mostly because we were on the go since 7am and it went a little something like this: Pier 1, TJ Maxx, Whole Foods, ironed, phone with Budget for an hour, re-routed to automated customer service twice, exchanged our rental car for one that has a trunk that closes, loaded car, unloaded car, mexican take out, assembled gift bags, tv, bed.

Hoping for a little more excitement on Day Two today, the first day of the event. Otherwise, I'm really going to bore you:)

[photos above, top to bottom: me ironing our table linen, gourmet gum drops from Whole Foods (amazing!), singage for the style lounge taken from our invitation, and Main Street just as the sun went down]

Flight

I'm a really bad flyer - like, really bad. But after the bumps over Lake Michigan subsided & my Bravo tv shows turned into reruns, it was nearly time to land - and just in time for the clouds to clear. Our decent into Salt Lake City was simply gorgeous. It's been a while since I've seen these great big mountains & I was loving the seemingly small & simple lines and shapes they formed from 30,000 feet.

So, we made it safely. (Thank you, JetBlue!) And today is prep day - running errands (Peir 1, WalMart, Whole Foods are on the list) - and setting up - getting everything ready for Friday. There's a definite buzz in the air around here and we haven't even gotten to Main Street yet. I can't wait!

Off to Sundance!

We take off for Sundance today! By the time you're reading this, I am hopefully not scrambling to finish packing or copy files onto the laptop or stuff another pair of boots in my bag - all of which just exacerbates my Nervous Nelly travel alias. I'm hoping to instead take this day of travel to sip my coffee, sit at the table to eat my breakfast & catch up on my tabloid mags. (gotta know who I'm talking to!) I will try my best to post from Utah and look forward to tweeting our best sightings:) - so follow me!

Until tomorrow! At Sundance!

More Flats

I still can't believe we leave for Sundance tomorrow. And, I just found out from the PR firm we are working with that they're expecting about 600 people to come through over four days. Mamma mia! While I try to collect myself over here, I wanted to share some more flats we are packaging right now for the event. I'm so excited about these. They're printed in a flourescent orange on the front and an all-over gray pattern on the back. Not only do I want to use these for all correspondence, but I told Katie I want to stitch together a whole bunch of these to make a big paper carpet. Well, maybe not a carpet, but something.

Off to prep!

From the Desk Fridays: new!

We are bringing a few new items to Sundance next week. I can't wait to share them with you all, but until then, here is a little sneak peek at one of them. Can you tell from the image what's printed in the aqua color? My brother-in-law failed the test. (Still love you, C!) But you know - boys!

Have a great long weekend, everyone. I'll be back on Tuesday & Wednesday with two posts from here & then the rest of the week, into the following from Utah!

OK Go Video

OK Go - This Too Shall Pass from OK Go on Vimeo.

Loving the new OK Go video for This Too Shall Pass, featuring the Notre Dame marching band. Click on the video to watch or go check it out here.

Dear Neighbor by Alex Bogusky

Another post image showing words. And words I've read. I must be growing up.

I came across this on Alex Bogusky's blog yesterday & thought it was funny, clever and something I'd never do but wished I had. I would be so sad to get this note on my door. Upsetting a neighbor this much? Even if they're crazy, it would feel like a little life failure to not be neighborly. Although this would never happen here in Brooklyn - because if you don't tidy or sort your garbage, you just get fined. And I think I'd rather get a $50 ticket & an anonymous city worker to be peeved at than have a neighbor who hates me.

Alex Bogusky is the Co-Chairman of ad agency Crispin Porter + Bogusky.

[image courtesy of alexbogusky.posterous.com]

Poem: To be of use

I came across this poem last night that immediately resonated with me. There are some lines in here that I could pull out & stare at forever. Like these:

I love people who harness themselves, an ox to a heavy cart...

The work of the world is common as mud.

And of course the last line, The pitcher cries for water to carry and a person for work that is real.

Read the full poem here.

[To be of use by Marge Piercy]

Elle Sweepstakes

There's an L&H giveaway happening over at Elle! Go check it out here.

From the Desk Fridays: Lone Star

Instead of sharing work on my desk this From the Desk Friday morning, I'm going to share work on my desktop. I've been doing a little research on quilts & quilting patterns for a few weeks now in preparation for something we'll be giving away at the Style Lounge out at Sundance. I have three quilts from my mom's family (Aunt Lorraine, maybe you know where they came from?) and I rotate them on our bed. They make our bedroom seem like a little sancuary. Maybe that has more to do with the comforting memory of my mom than with the actual quilted fabric. But whichever it is, I like it. And I'm excited for this little project. Each time I look for patterns, I have gone back to this same Lone Star design. For this project in particular, I really like the one central image. Loving it in wood, too:



Before we leave for Utah, I'll be sure to share the final product. Until then, I'm going to get back to work on this.

Have a great weekend!

[images, from top to bottom, courtesy of Quilts Today, Boise Art Museum, Texas Quilt Appraiser, Sheboygan County Quilt Show, Prairie Wood Quilts & Wood Mosaics.

Mailing

Headed out to the post office this morning with a boat load of invitations for the Style Lounge. I always feel a little sense of accomplishment when I slip letters into the mailbox. This will feel good.

Sundance

Two years ago, we were asked to do the invitations for a Style Lounge (fancy name for gifting suite) for the Emmys. In exchange, we got a spot at the event where we gifted celebs with L&H goodies. It was such a departure from what we do day to day, to say the least, but it was so much fun to experience LA a bit, get some new business, meet a now L&H team member, and of course the thrill of meeting people who exist on a rectangle in your living room or local theatre - or in 140 character spurts.

So, we were so excited to get the opportunity to do another one for the Sundance Film Festival in Salt Lake City at the end of this month. I've been working closely with the pr firm presenting the lounge for months now and have been labeling the envelopes this week with some big name peeps, so let's hope they come! Here's a sneak peek at the final invitation. We're doing some exclusive products for the event that I'll preview in the next couple weeks. Hard to believe we leave two weeks from today. We can't wait!

Wilco comes East!

Hooray! Wilco announces their East Coast tour. Last time I saw them, Fiest came out to play this one.

Love this montage of photos taken above by Autumn de Wilde, which includes Jeff Tweedy's son Spencer. So cute.

Can't wait for April.

Home & Happy New Year!

We spent the last week enjoying the wintery wonderland of Vermont. Getting there (above) was a little hairy with an average speed of 20mph. But we made it!


We went cross country skiing every day with Kingsley - who pretty much had the best week of her little life. Downside to that: She no longer gets her trail snacks. And I think she resents us for living in a city:(


Wore my big snow boots that made my feet feel like they never left the fire.


And had lots of warm yummy food along the way. This place (above) was a little cabin tucked into the woods where you had to snow shoe or ski to get to. Could have hung out there all day - a fireplace, some soup and a magic bar - perfect.

Anyway - feels good to be back home & slowly getting back into the swing of things here at L&H. Hope you all had a nice holiday & happy happy new year!!