BRAND STRATEGIST

Monday, October 29, 2012

ZOZI

Indulge @ ZOZI's Urban Interiors

October 25th 6:30-10:00pm 



I got a hold of this invitation that told me to "Indulge" so for this event crash I brought with me a crew to indulge too.  I made sure that we weren't recognizable though, so we all went incognito as the only people wearing masks that evening. With an open bar and a man who seemed to look like Santa Claus, it felt like Christmas came early this year as the venue was just filled with furniture to lounge on. We found ourselves on the most comfortable couch and with a few drinks in hand it started to feel like a scene from my living room -minus the lady coming around with shots, which is now an obvious element missing from my own house. Richard (the store owner) was in charge of running the show here and was just as fabulous as the furniture. As Zozi prides themselves on adding that contemporary touch, the staff also seemed to know trends as you could tell that this business was their passion. Zozi's loft is filled with stylish furniture and home decor and it's one of those stores that makes you want to walk out with everything -I'm just glad that I haven't been working out lately otherwise I may have tried. Instead, I stayed at this company event and crashed on Zozi's couch that night.



 





Friday, October 26, 2012

Johnnie Walker

House of Walker @ The Concordia-Argonaut Club

October 24th 7:30-10:30pm





I crashed this event to get closer with Johnnie Walker.  We shared some shots and a moment together as we tasted the differences between his black, red, gold and blue labels. I never was a scotch whisky drinker until this evening when I really had the chance to get to know him in this lovely venue called the Concordia. This premier private club was founded by Levi Strauss in 1864 and serves as a luxurious and comfortable "second home" to many of the Bay Area's most distinguished families. The Concordia contains a rich tradition and has turned into a symbol of professional and business integrity, so I blame this event crash on Johnnie and his new tag line, "Don't slow down. Don't look back. Keep Walking."- with that, I walked right into the Concordia to meet this Johnnie.

This is Me hanging out with Johnnie Walker... and Stephen Wilson (the U.S. Brand Ambassador).

Tuesday, October 23, 2012

Hipstamatic


The Preserved @ Haus of Hipstamatic

October 19th 8:00-11:55pm

 

 

 


I crashed this Hipstamatic house party and was welcomed in by a wall full of taxidermy. Throughout the evening I tried to understand the connection between the digital photography app and the dead animal theme, and as no one really seemed to know after a few drinks everyone embraced the stuffed animals anyhow. I particularly took notice of the baby leopard head who started to look a bit dehydrated so I decided to share my drink with it, when all of a sudden Ryan Dorshorst (the co-founder of Hipstamatic) and his wife jumped in with disguises and moustached me.  Throughout the evening multiple people were snapping photographs with their iphones and the moments were instantly being printed out hipstamatically -if that's actually a word. These photos would be instantly pinned up on display which made me feel like the night was literally happening through a hipstamatic lense, making everything look more beautiful and creative.

Whatever happens in the Hipstamatic house
stays preserved (forever) in Hipstamatic,
including this event crash.


 

Monday, October 22, 2012

Zendesk

Women in Tech @ Zendesk

October 18th 6:00-8:00pm



Lately these company parties have been dominated by men so I wanted to take a moment to recognize the women, by crashing one of their events. I would never consider myself to be a woman working in the technology field, but I joined this Women in Tech panel to see which women are. To all the men out there, this was an event you should regret missing. These are the power females in San Francisco, the ones that are learning to code and changing the game within the status quo of women at work. I was welcomed into Zendesk by the Buddha with appetizers and drinks to join these entrepreneurs and thought leaders in conversation. I left this discussion with a new found outlook on innovation as it being not just about technology, but a different way of thinking and approaching problems. This is me with two of the panel speakers, Sepi Nasiri (VP of Women 2.0) and Saroj Yadav (Sr. Software Engineer at Zendek) -and this is us, seizing opportunities and doing things differently.

An event crash dedicated to the women in SF -cheers to changing things.

Thursday, October 18, 2012

Trulia

Trulia's After-Party @ Trulia

October 15th 6:00pm-9:00pm








I never attended the Html5 Developer Conference but I did check-in to the after party, to check-out Trulia. I got the inside scoop from the lead engineer that night as he popped open his computer at the event to show me some of the best features on the site  He turned out to be a great representation of this very grounded workplace that literally was built from the ground up, starting off with one guy who was just simply looking to move but couldn't find a good go-to real estate site. Now seven years after inception, they're estimated to have more than 22 million unique visitors to the site each month, and one even more unique visitor at their headquarters crashing this company event. This online residential real estate site is a fast-growing company that just recently went public, but what was even more impressive was that out of all the business events that I've crashed, Trulia truly had the most down-to-earth people to talk to. While other events served fancy hors d'oeuvres and champagne, they had the good ol' fashioned pizza and beer routine. Somewhere between the darts, ping pong, beer tap and outdoor balcony they managed to create a perfectly balanced workplace built on intelligence and fun.

They're also hiring, so if you consider yourself smart and you think you could beat me at ping-pong you may just want to apply (after a quick game that is).

Wednesday, October 17, 2012

Traackr

Traackr @ Press Club

October 15th 5:00-7:00pm  


I got social with the door guy doing nametags at Traackr. Simon Trigg is an Account Manager, although we joked around about him also being hired as "that person doing the nametags." The stickers were printed upside down though and I figured his stronger skills are in helping costumers get the most out of Traackr's platform. According to his company profile description of him, "Simon always finds ways to put a fun twist on his work" -right even down to the nametags. After I grabbed a drink they called me a social rockstar as I mingled at this event in an attempt to find the influencers that matter most. That's actually part of Traackr's mission statement, but I was also on that same mission because I know the power behind social media from an experiment I once conducted that involved creating a social media birthday (one that was different than my actual one). It turned out I received four times as many wishes on my virtual birthday compared to my real one. With this kind of proven power behind social media, it's no wonder Traackr focuses on the online influencer space to track everything.

I'm only left wondering though, if Traackr truly tracks, have they tracked this event crash yet?

Tuesday, October 16, 2012

Edelman

EdelUp With Edelman @ B Restaurant

5:30pm-8:30pm


Meet Mike... I'm about 99% sure this is Mike Kuczkowski, the General Manager of Edelman SF and one of the people that said a few words to the crowd at this private event that I just happened to be walking by (while on my way to a different event).  I crashed this gathering to enjoy a drink with Mike, and he asked if I was a felon before agreeing to take a photo with me. I assured him that I wasn't... but I'm just glad we got that question out of the way early. Edelman is the world's largest public relations firm with 65 offices and more than 4,500 employees world-wide. It's a top-ranked PR firm so if you love PR and Digital -Edelman is the way to go.

They're also hiring, but please no felons apply.

The other folks I took a photo with at this meet-n-greet event were these two Swedish men in red. Clad in bright colors with a giant brand logo across their back made me wonder who these classy men were, and why I felt like a little person standing next to them. It turns out they're from Mynewsdesk, and they admitted that they were just extraordinarily tall and that I wasn't in fact shrinking.


CRASHED IT... For the love of PR

Friday, October 12, 2012

Westfield Labs and Innovate SF


Innovation Celebration Launch Party @ Westfield Centre Market

October 11th 6:30-9:30pm 

 



This is Brian Chesky, the CEO of Airbnb... and that's his doppleganger, Joseph Nolan the Director of of New Media at Men's Warehouse. Joe apparently got confused for Brian throughout the evening, but admitted to enjoying the mistaken identity. Either way, I was there to celebrate with Joe/Brian San Francisco's inaugural innovation month, to embrace technology and catalyze greater job creation through innovation.  I grabbed a glass of chardonnay to help launch Westfield Labs (converging the digital shopper with the physical world) and Innovate SF (spotlighting SF as the innovation capital of the world).  It was a night of networking as I accumulated twelve business cards, however not one of them made it into my business card book though. A book that I started that contains the best business cards I've seen from these company crashings. From laser cut letters to plastic business cards -these are the people I meet and what I have left to represent them.



Wednesday, October 10, 2012

Hive Advertising

Hive Advertising @ The new office

October 4th 5:00-9:00pm




The hive has moved, and I got buzzed in their bigger and better abode. This advertising agency proudly represents its name from the bee artwork on the wall to the honey soap in the bathroom. I enjoyed some honey cocktails that evening as I met DeeAnn Budney, the CEO, who introduced me to everyone that night as "Jaime the first guest" -a title I was honored to have as I've always been known as timely. This smaller shop still has a wealth of experience though and an impressive client list that includes Gymboree and Whole Foods. I beelive they're success is wrapped in how they embrace the fact that we're all a bit weird, but finding that beautiful solution to a complex problem is what they really care about. I also met the agency dog, which just so happened to have his face on every cupcake that was being served. There was an abundance of sushi and Vietnamese tacos from the nom nom food truck, and a photobooth with a bee costume sitting next to it... All I could say now, is that somewhere out there is a picture of me dressed up as a bumblebee.

CRASHED IT... Hive, it's a sweet place to bee!

Monday, October 8, 2012

Oracle

Oracle @ the Mint Plaza

October 2nd, Noon-8pm


The perfect weather in San Francisco brought me out to this Oracle event that was held outside at the Mint Plaza. This day time party for the media mavens was filled with fashion designers, live music, artists and appetizers, which made it a great gathering for the conference attendees -and me.


Known for her urban jungle theme, Melanie Alves paints a lion in front of the stage. While enjoying the music and margaritas, I jumped into another photo booth before picking up a t-shirt that was being given out by San Fran Pyscho, a local lifestyle brand that features the talent and diversity of the city.  It was one of the most beauitful days in San Francisco and crashing this outdoor event made it even better.

Sunday, October 7, 2012

Keste

                       Dreamforce to Keste VIP Event @ Cigar Bar 

 October 2nd 9pm-2am


















The Openworld conference a week after Dreamforce makes it a crazy couple weeks with opportunities to crash company events. While I set out to experience it at the Moscone Center, I crashed this conference and even got myself a badge with my name on it. I did a quick market analysis and counted a 30 to 1 ratio of males to females, and the photos actually provide a nice representation of this. Well I do admit after a few drinks, one thing led to another... and I ended up dancing with a robot. It turned out to be quite the attraction amongst this technology crowd where I picked up a few business cards to crash Keste's VIP event for later that night, a tradition held at Cigar Bar. There, I watched the on-site cigar rollers and chatted with more Oracle employees (who all seemed to be quite drunk at this point).  Keste's platform is built around continuous improvement and innovation... Cheers to Keste for always improving, and providing me with a smooth Dominican cigar.