Going to Des Moines’ sushi restaurants has become a frequent occurrence for many of us at Lessing-Flynn. We’ve turned non believers like Jess Held and sushi virgins like our former intern, Spencer Anderson into brand advocates of all things sushi.

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About six months ago, a few of us from Lessing-Flynn were having lunch at Sakari, a fairly new and fantastic sushi joint on Ingersoll. Chris Hanson, one of our creative directors was geeking out over the awesomeness of attending the Des Moines Blue Ribbon Bacon Fest – an event that celebrated bacon. “If only there was an event like that for sushi.” Hanson dreamed.

The rest, as they say, is history.

Introducing the first ever DSM: SUSHIBOMB presented by Lessing-Flynn. We’ll be celebrating the wonderful taste of sushi at Jasper Winery on September 19 with about 200 of our sushi brethren. And we’d like you to join us!

So why is an ad agency holding a sushi event, you ask?

1. Why not?
2. Someone has to.
3. We love planning events.
4. Des Moines needs this.
5. Duh, sushi!

Most important, is our passion for campaigns that merge traditional AND social media. Traditional media will include television spots thanks to our media sponsor, Mediacom, event marketing, POP (Point of Purchase) displays at sushi restaurants around town as well as a contest (we’ll release that information later). Social media will include a Website/Blog, Twitter, YouTube and Facebook. Lastly, any reporters, editors, bloggers or other influencers that want to learn more, we’re always up for a little PR.

We’re taking a cue from the 80/35 Music Festival playbook. Just as they slowly release the line-up of bands, we’ll slowly begin releasing the names of the sushi restaurant participants over the next week or so. Just know that there will be four of them, they’re awesome and they all contribute to the emerging sushi culture in Des Moines.

We don’t just want you to buy tickets, we’d like you to connect with the DSM: SUSHIBOMB in any of the following ways:

1. Visit the Official DSM: SUSHIBOMB Web site
2. Buy tickets when they go on sale on August 16 at 8 a.m. CDT- HERE (must be 21 or older to purchase and/or attend) Ticket sales are limited to 200 so set your alarm clocks!
3. Follow the event on Twitter and use the hashtag #DSMSB
4. Like the event on Facebook
5. Watch videos (you think we’d do anything without a video?) on our YouTube Channel. Although there aren’t any videos there now, there will be tomorrow!

Questions? Drop us a comment below – or better yet, ask on the DSM: SUSHIBOMB Web site

Thanks – we hope to see you there!

-Lessing-Flynn / Ad Mavericks
www.lessingflynn.com

Of all the various things I’ve written over the past year as Lessing-Flynn’s marketing intern I can say this is without a doubt the most challenging.  I tried making top-ten lists and other ways of collecting my thoughts, but they all seemed too cliche/corny. So here we go…

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To other interns/future interns:

Network. Network. Network. I cannot say this enough.  This should be your number one priority after your work.  Whether you network at events, online, or through your school it’s all vital to your growth as a professional.  I was able to attend several “Do More in the City“ events last summer hosted by the Greater Des Moines Partnership and I met many bright young minds and area professionals.

Also, take your networking online and beef up your LinkedIn account.  I know for a fact mine played a role in landing my first full-time job after college.

Get outside your comfort zone. I know I said I’d stay away from the cliches, but I couldn’t help myself.  Push yourself to try new things and don’t be afraid of falling on your face in the process.  Lessing-Flynn challenged me many times and I was always amazed at what could happen in the process.  You might even win a “prestigious” award with muffins.  See details of my honor here. (Side note: When Little Debbie didn’t quite deliver, social media saved the day and they totally redeemed themselves)

Be thankful. I’ve been given HUGE opportunities to advance myself professionally and I’m so thankful to everyone who has given me a chance.  I need to thank Jeff Caldwell and Betsy Freese at Meredith Corporation for allowing me to write for Agriculture.com in 2008. That opportunity has opened many doors for me and I’ll be forever grateful.

Some say the art of the handwritten thank you note is dead. I can’t speak to the truth of that, but I can’t recommend them highly enough.  It will leave a lasting positive impression and is one of the simplest forms of sincerity.

Have fun. I’ve been lucky to work with some real characters here at Lessing-Flynn.  They’re people who love what they do and have fun doing it.  Surround yourself with similar people and you’ll enjoy your work.  Trust me, I know I have.

To everyone I’ve met while in Des Moines:

You’re smart, talented, and a downright awesome group of people that make Des Moines and Iowa a better place to work and live.  I’ve learned so much from blog posts, Tweets, and conversations.  Groups like the Social Media Club of Des Moines have allowed me to expand my knowledge and network, and I’m grateful I’ve had the opportunity to meet so many of you.  So to everyone I’ve encountered while in central Iowa, thank you.

To everyone at Lessing-Flynn:

I can’t thank you enough for letting me be your intern.  I’ve learned and experienced so much that will help me with the next stage of my career.  While after a year I still have no clue how to use the office phones you’ve given me so much to be proud of.  From standing out on Ingersoll in a cardboard box ( I did say “proud of”) to blogging, tweeting, filming baby turtles (more to come on that…), and being an integral part of so many things.  You’ve made me feel like a part of your family.  Tom, Connor, Bellana, Chris A., Chris H., Mike, Jordan, Sharon, Joel, Jess, Jim, Joe and Josh, I firmly believe you represent the best this industry has to offer. Again, thank you.

Spencer

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In order to do our part for Earth Day, we announced on Monday that we are starting a new national celebration in conjunction with Earth Day called “National Blog Post Recycling Day.” Other than the sentences you are reading now, we will be posting no “new” content on our blog. Grab your lap top, your smart phone or your iPad, sit under a tree and enjoy some digital recycling.

Ad Mavericks – What’s with the name? (Post 1) - Ad Mavericks

Ad Mavericks – What’s with the name? (Post 2) - Ad Mavericks

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Blendtec Brilliance - Spencer Anderson

Complimenting the Compliment Guys – Spencer Anderson

Do you know the right kind of bait? - Paul Lessing

Do you cut your own hair? - Paul Lessing

Everyone is a spokesperson - Jess Held

Fiat Gets It – Tom Flynn

Five Ways Twitter is Like a Chamber Luncheon - Tom Flynn

Google Gets Traditional - Bellana Putz

Got Muffins? - Josh Fleming

Hip to Foursquare? Me neither - Josh Fleming

It’s National Ag Week – What’s that mean to you? - Bellana Putz

Top I-Phone Apps for Women – Jess Held

Worst of the Week:  Lessing-Flynn – Ad Mavericks

When I was walking home from my noon class on Wednesday I checked Twitter and saw several @AdMavericks tweets about the arrival of Little Debbie muffins.  I don’t need to give you the complete run-down of this story, we’ve written and Tweeted about this before.  But what we’ve all been waiting for has finally arrived!  The “Intern Hero Muffin Mystery” has been solved.  Yes, the ten boxes of muffins were delicious (supplies are dwindling), but what impressed us more was how Little Debbie handled the situation.

Two minutes might be a stretch in describing the response-time to the “Worst of the Week” post written about Little Debbie.  A major hat-tip is in order to their Social Media Coordinator for being on the ball and beginning to rectify the problem in mere moments.  Once again this has shown us the effectiveness of social media in real-time.  I’m sure Little Debbie could say the same.

How many companies have you had a gripe with and it unfortunately goes unnoticed?  Consumers are talking about your product or service through social media.  Of course there will be those that have nothing good to say, but over time, brand-advocates will drown them out.  Clearly, close-minded marketers who won’t accept social media don’t work at Little Debbie and McKee Foods.

We’ll probably never know what caused the delay in the delivery of the muffins, and quite honestly it doesn’t matter to us.  The point I’m trying to make is that Little Debbie saw a problem, addressed it, and went above and beyond to make up for the mistake.  Granted I’m just a little intern in Des Moines, but Little Debbie treated me as far more than that.  So thanks again, and to quote the Dumb and Dumber scooter scene,  you’ve “totally redeemed yourself!” High-five!

Author: Spencer Anderson

Do you know the muffin man? … The muffin man? … The muffin man?  We thought we knew the muffin man ’til he dissed our summer intern! In this case the muffin man is a she … as in Little Debbie. Sure, she looks sweet and innocent with that cute little hat, curly red hair and that smile. But deep down, she sold us out.

This summer, (when our intern actually was here most of the week), Little Debbie ran an online promotion called “Intern Hero”.  The contest is closed now, but basically, if you were featured on the Intern Hero Web site, your office was going to receive free muffins courtesy of Little Debbie. We were pumped. Here is our “winning” entry.

The box that our intern is wearing reads, “You ain’t seen nothin’ till your down on your muffin.” Well, Little Debbie, not only are we down on your muffin, we’re down on your brand!

See, we entered your Intern Hero contest.  We were featured on your Web site.  We blogged about you. We tweeted about you. We followed you on Twitter and you followed back. You Retweeted our blog post. Out intern even did a presentation to an Iowa State University freshman class about how excited we were about Intern Hero, the Little Debbie brand and the impending muffins.

We thought, “Little Debbie is a brand that gets it.” We were all about loving on the Little Debbie brand! We were your brand advocates and it was all good in social media land.

Then one month passed.

Then two months passed.

Then three months passed.

Guess what? No muffins. Hmm. Our intern hero? Well, he’s back at school full time. Sure he comes in a couple of times a week, and each time he walks in the door, we have to tell him, “Sorry dude, no muffins.” Our intern hero tweeted about you, politely. “Haven’t seen our muffins” was the jist, included the @littledebbie. No response.

You would have been better off never running this campaign than not living up to your promise of sending muffins. I mean, doing nothing would have been better than promising something then not delivering. As for the AdMavericks, we’re hunting for other companies to fulfill our muffin needs. We’ll link to them for our reader’s benefit. Maybe one of them would be nice enough to send us some muffins! That’d make us fans.

“Muffins that probably won’t leave a bitter taste in your mouth”

Uncle Wally’s Muffins
Otis Spunkmeyer Muffins
Hostess Mini Muffins
I’m even posting “Corn Muffins” – Jiffy Mix

I doubt local food companies in Des Moines like Palmer’s Deli or Gateway Market would fail if they promised to deliver. “Yeah, I’d like my muffins” – “Be there in three months, maybe.” They’d be out of business.

Everything about the Little Debbie Intern Hero campaign was done well. Except the last step. The most important, easy to do fulfillment step.

Shame on you Little Debbie. You’re our Worst of the Week.

Author: AdMavericks
www.lessingflynn.com

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Hey blogworld, I’m the Lessing-Flynn summer intern, as you probably know from yesterday’s post. I took the opportunity to Google my hometown, Bay City, Wisconsin. Be sure to check out the June 13th event on the calendar. (Caution: this may take some time to load!) Yes, I did grow up on a farm so I’ve been literally knee-deep in “it” before, so I’m somewhat prepared for any situation I may have to wade through.

They haven’t held back either, I think it has something to do with the “give and take” that Josh talked about. It’s been a lot of fun here already in the first week. Although I’m convinced several of them might be somewhat crazy, I think I’ll fit in just fine. And you won’t believe it, but Creed Bratton of the TV show ‘The Office’ sits one office down from me.

Separated at Birth?

To my knowledge they only have one PC in the building, which I couldn’t be more happy about. Anywhere you get to work on a Mac, with people who understand Mac, is a place where I want to be.

The first Tweet I got as I turned on my computer today said that China had blocked all Twitter usage. I’m convinced without it I wouldn’t be sitting here today writing this. That’s why I stress to so many of my friends to start Twittering, here’s how! I mean look where it landed me! (You should still use it.)

I was also completely shocked when I read that only 22 percent of 18-24-year-olds are using Twitter. I joined only 96 days ago and I’ll admit I didn’t even know what to do, but I’ve seen its benefits first hand. So for all you non-Twitterers, what are you waiting for? Just jump in and say something, who knows what will happen?

Well until next time, follow me on Twitter @spenceanderson, and feel free to leave a comment and some recommendations for me here. Check back again, because I guarantee this will be an interesting summer.

Author: Spencer Anderson

So we hired an intern for the Summer. Spencer Anderson is a strapping young man who hails from Bay City, Wisconsin (Google it, we had to also) and is a junior at Iowa State. He grew up on a farm and has the agriculture background we were looking for. He is also highly interested in all things interactive and social media.

The internship experience is different for all. But at LF we like to do a little give and take. GIVE him a lot of work to do and TAKE advantage of his naivety. Actually, we try to help our interns as much as they help us. Skills acquired as an intern can lead to future opportunities in your career. A good opportunity for both Lessing-Flynn and Mr. Anderson.

Spencer has hit the keyboard running and seems to be enjoying learning new things. Even if new things involve building charts in excel. Hey, kid, life isn’t all that glamorous all the time.

In order to give Spencer some of the experience we think he should have, we thought letting him guest blog for the summer made some sense. And, since he is getting credits towards his degree for being here, he ought to be doing something! So look for his first post tomorrow, and once a week throughout the summer.

We would appreciate your feedback on Spencer’s blog posts by commenting. While it won’t be as interactive at the Mentos Intern Web site a few summers back, it should be interesting to get the take of a young man in the ad agency world. Also, feel free to give him some things to do and he’ll try to accommodate you.

Mr. Anderson, the floor is yours.

Author: Josh Fleming