It was way back in 1994 when the $250 million promotional marketing firm Dugan Valva Contess founded its interactive division. Since then, they've acquired creative shop Muffinhead and techno-geek shop Viscient Technology. They also were voted promo agency of the decade by "Promo Magazine." Their holiday party on Thursday, December 16, brought together the mix of creative, technical and marketing from the respective firms' clients and friends. Steven Blinn introduced me around to a few of the key players, and I spoke with George Valva (Chairman/CEO), Chris-Anthony DeLellis (founding partner, Muffin-head) and Paul Ivans (group president). Paul told me how they apply the thinking behind promotion, which is behavior change. He also conveyed that not enough people understand the differences between on- and off-line promotion. Well this company certainly does understand the difference. They've got clients like Cdnow, Coca-Cola USA, Clarins and Prada.
Guests enjoyed getting to regroup before the end of the year and mellow out to the full visual and harmonic art installation that Skizum Muziks performed: Birgit chanting to classical guitarist Scott Bolden's musical mixes, with custom visuals provided by a Japanese video artist.
A chronicle of the people and events in technology, internet and media since 1997, mixed in with snapshots of musings and observations.
