First Generation President, Alexandra Shade, presents donation to Lou Cinquino, Chairman of the Young Playwrights Festival Committee and Amy Meleck, Director of Development at Touchstone Theatre.

Touchstone Theatre’s Young Playwright’s Festival, Gala Dessert Reception & Live/Silent Auction Fundraiser are taking place on May 19^th at Zoellner Arts Center, and we want to see you there!

As a creative ad agency, the local arts community is very important to FG. In support of this, we were pleased to make a contribution on behalf of our First in Giving campaign to the 2012 Young Playwrights’ Festival, which will feature plays written by students during Touchstone’s Young Playwrights’ Lab (YPL). YPL is an eight-week afterschool playwriting program offered in collaboration with Bethlehem and Allentown public school teachers. In YPL, Touchstone Theatre teaching artists use theatre and writing exercises to teach playwriting fundamentals such as monologue, dialogue, character development, plot, and conflict—culminating in each student writing his or her original one-act play. Seven of these plays were selected from more than 90 after-school program submissions and will be performed in the 2012 Young Playwrights’ Festival. The Festival is also a fundraising event for the program that features a Gala Dessert Reception & Live/Silent Auction being held immediately following the play showcase.

“First in Giving allows us to give back and we are so thrilled to support Touchstone Theatre and their Young Playwrights’ Lab,” states First Generation President Alexandra Shade. “It gives an opportunity to children who may never be exposed to the arts to experience it first hand with the chance to have their plays performed on stage by professional actors. Supporting this event allows FG to support Arts Education in our schools and our community.”

Tickets for the Festival are $10; tickets for the Festival & Gala are $75. Tickets can be ordered over the phone by calling Touchstone’s box office at (610) 867-1689 or online at www.touchstone.org. Proceeds from the festival and gala go to Touchstone Theatre and their arts-in-education program.

Come support our local arts and students on the 19^th! We hope to see you there.

Actors performing in 2011’s Young Playwrights' Festival.

Central Elementary (fall program) young playwrights participate in the "Circle Check-in" game.

2011's Young Playwrights' Gala Dessert Reception & Auction

Young playwrights from Broughal Elementary School

About Touchstone Theatre

Celebrating over thirty years, Touchstone Theatre produces and presents original productions, works to foster collaboration on a local and national level through educational and youth empowerment programs, and by using theatre as a community-building tool. Learn more about Touchstone Theatre at www.touchstone.org.

It’s no secret that many MadMen fans work at First Generation! So it shouldn’t come as a surprise that many of us tuned in to AMC’s The Pitch this past Monday. Described as a docuseries and modern day companion of MadMen, The Pitch follows different ad agencies competing for the opportunity to provide advertising services to large national companies, such as already featured Subway and Waste Management.

FG works with an impressive portfolio of clients, ones we’ve worked hard to build up over the past 25 years in business. Many of these clients require formal bids and pitches for their work, often against other ad agencies. How does The Pitch compare to our pitching experience?

Make it camera ready. While pitches are normally prepared in a short amount of time, often just 1-2 weeks, you want to put your best foot forward in providing high quality work that could be printed or published with minimal revisions. Clients want to visualize their products coming to life, so campaign pitches should be engaging and interactive, incorporating mood boards, video samples, and sample print collateral that highlight their products and services in tangible ways. First Generation reiterates the client’s goals and identifies how our presented work incorporates those messages through professionally created and executed mediums.

FG preps for a client pitch

Differentiate. In this past week’s episode of The Pitch, SD+K of Las Vegas presented a print ad to Waste Management that used a mobile augmented reality app to have celebrities say their campaign tagline, “Turn Waste into Wow!” Their developers geeked out and developed this crafty tactic, which in our opinion, “wowed” the Waste Management team and won them the account. The competing agency, The Ad Store, only shared a short video and on-screen ad creative. First Generation offers one of the 10 largest production studios on the East Coast, plus a team of editors, producers, media planners, web and print designs, interactive developers and more, all under one roof. Our studio and breadth of in-house capabilities is our differentiator at pitches! We are able to provide a wide variety of strategic solutions, and we present tactics that play to our strengths and those of our potential clients.

Rehearse & Test. Repeat. The same agency mentioned above, SD+K, kicked off their presentation with a video in which the audio didn’t play properly.  After a bit of on-the-spot trouble shooting that made the clients’ eyes roll, it worked. Thankfully they still won the pitch, but it looked very unprofessional. Being entrenched in the Live Event and Presentation business, FG finds it vital to rehearse pitches, knowing who is speaking when, and testing videos and any multimedia portions of the presentation. We request an early arrival to set up our presentation, which isn’t always possible for the client, but it doesn’t hurt to ask! They see the pay off when the presentation runs smoothly.

While FG has no intentions of being featured on The Pitch, we like to think we offer plenty of television-worthy pitches. If your company is in the market for a new agency, we invite you to give us a call at 610-437-4300!

It’s no secret that the Lehigh Valley is home to not only brilliant creative minds, but also wonderful history and breathtaking architecture. With that in mind, the Society of the Arts (SOTA), in conjunction with the Allentown Art Museum, has chosen Three Chimneys Farm, and its charming Victorian farmhouse, in Coopersburg for their bi-annual Showhouse.  And, in concert with local designers and landscapers, SOTA has transformed this 1876 property into a true work of art.

When it came time to produce a web presence for this one-of-a-kind work of art and craftsmanship, SOTA turned to First Generation to produce a website worthy of its beauty—and FG was happy to deliver. SOTAShowhouse.org stands as an online brochure for the event, offering information and history on SOTA, Three Chimneys Farm, as well as ticket information, an interactive map, and a full listing of all of those that made the 2012 SOTA Showhouse possible.
So, browse the website, and then take a trip to beautiful Three Chimneys Farm for a taste of history, beauty, and craftsmanship right here in the Lehigh Valley.

The 2012 SOTA Showhouse runs from April 28th through May 20th, and ticketing information can be found at www.SOTAShowhouse.org. Proceeds benefit the SOTA Print Fund and educational programs of the Allentown Art Museum of the Lehigh Valley.

In 2011, First Generation created several charitable giving opportunities through our 1G for Good contest and 12 Weeks of Christmas program. We truly enjoyed learning more about our Lehigh Valley community’s citizens and organizations, and well, just doing good things! It is in that spirit that we are delighted to announce the First Generation First in Giving campaign.

Through the First in Giving program, First Generation will give $1,000 every month to charities and individuals in need, in an ongoing effort to support our community.

David Beedle presents FG’s first First in Giving donation.

“We met many extraordinary people throughout the 12 Weeks of Christmas program last year,” said Robin Carmody, FG Director of Community Affairs. “While we intend to uphold that same program in 2012, we wanted to make an impact all year round, not just during the holiday season.”

On Sunday, April 1^st, David Beedle, FG Motion Graphics Designer (and avid ice hockey supporter), had the pleasure of handing out the first First in Giving donation in the form of the annual Bill and Robin Carmody Dedication Scholarship to Nikolai Kuchinos of the Lehigh Valley Flames. Nikolai just completed his final year with the Flames, one of the largest youth ice hockey organizations in eastern Pennsylvania. Nikolai will be attending Penn State in the fall.

If you want to become involved with FG’s First in Giving campaign or would like to nominate an organization to receive a donation, please contact Robin at rcarmody@firstgencom.com with the subject line “First in Giving.”

Art Director Drew Frantzen raises eyebrows as he channels his inner Don Draper. Note the requisite Whiskey Sour in hand. A man of detail, for sure!

This week the First Generation office has been ‘a-zou-bisou’ about the season 5 premiere of Mad Men and the swinging 60’s shenanigans at Sterling Cooper Draper Pryce.

Perhaps the show resonates with us because of our mutual advertising agency settings or maybe it’s the outlandish behavior that we find so amusing, but in either case, there are always lessons to be learned from our stylish fictional counterparts. So here are our top 5 Mad Men-inspired lessons, martinis optional:

5) Equal Opportunity: When a competing agency is shamed for their part in dropping water bombs on civil rights protesters, the SCDP folks pull out a mock ad claiming to be an “Equal Opportunity” employer. But when African-American jobseekers approach the agency for work, the partners quickly learn that this is no laughing matter and it’s time for them to open their doors. Lesson: It’s never too late to right a wrong.

4) Belle Jolie Lipsticks: When testing lipsticks for a Belle Jolie ad, then secretary Peggy Olson coins the phrase, “A Basket of Kisses”. While the client eventually goes with another idea, this creative copy gets Peggy noticed and eventually helps her say goodbye to the secretary pool and hello to the shark tank as the Junior Copywriter. Lesson: Seize opportunities – you never know where they may lead you.

3) Honda: When Roger Sterling’s drunken big mouth almost kills all chances of landing the high-profile Honda account, Don employs some smart thinking to beat the competition. The team pretends to shoot a video pitch, seemingly spending far beyond the strict $3,000 limit imposed by Honda. This leads the competing agency to up their ante and pull out all the stops. When Don goes into the pitch meeting with Honda, he tells them that he knows that the other company has broken the spending rules and since his conscious couldn’t allow him to do the same, he cleverly returns their $3,000. Impressed with his integrity, they tell Don that SCDP still has a shot at winning the bid. Lesson: Know your client and know what they believe in.

Our ever-so-chic Integrated Marketing Producer, Andrea Coyne, shows the ladies of Mad Men how it's really done. Move over, Joan! This lady has work to do.

2) Sugarberry Hams: In order to drum up some much needed excitement for Sugarberry Hams, Peggy and Pete employ some Barnum and Bailey-inspired antics to generate some free publicity for the normally less than exciting pork product. Peggy hires two actresses to “tussle” over the last ham at the grocery store. But what starts as a fun gag ends up as a full-fledged brawl with arrests, hair pulling and newspaper coverage.  Lesson:  Contrary to popular belief, sometimes all publicity isn’t good publicity.

1) John Deere: When Account Executive Ken Cosgrove lands the John Deere account, the office celebrates with yet another wild party. But what happens when you mix lots of booze, a secretary who can’t drive and a pompous executive with bad reflexes? The answer: Gross, dark and hilarious television comedy. Lesson: If you’re going to drive a lawn mower at work- take out the blades.

Facebook has announced that their company page templates are changing again. This new change called Timeline, which has already been introduced to personal pages, is going to affect the look of your company page, apps, posts and advertisements within the site. Timeline requires page revisions, so get familiar with the requirements now to be prepared for the mandatory change on March 30^th!

Here are some tips for creating and using your new Company Timeline:

Last night’s ADDY Awards Gala brought out the best of the best in Lehigh Valley’s advertising scene. Representatives from agencies and organizations across the Lehigh Valley came together to celebrate the creative spirit of advertising at this year’s awards ceremony and reception at the Hotel Bethlehem, hosted by the Lehigh Valley Ad Club and sponsored by First Generation.

The ADDY Awards are the nation’s largest awards competition, awarding excellence in advertising through over 200 American Advertising Federation member clubs across the country.

First Gen truly represented itself as a creative force to be reckoned with at this years ADDYs,  not only sponsoring the event, but arriving with a total of 19 attendees (all looking quite sharp, I might add), providing our A/V services through our Hotel Bethlehem A/V partnership, and leaving with a total of 11 awards – including 2 Gold!

I wouldn’t expect any less from the amazing team at First Generation. As Creative Director, I’m proud to represent such a talented and committed group who consistently puts forth an incredible effort to create award-winning work for our clients.

First Generation congratulates all of this year’s winners, and sends out a big thank you to the Lehigh Valley Ad Club for hosting the event. We also thank all of our clients, who know that working with us is a “win-win” situation!

Check out our winning entries:

GOLD Winner: New World Aviation 'Go' Mailer

GOLD Winner: Carpenter Knife Box

B|Braun Perifix Video

MTF Biologics.org Launch Campaign

Olympus Dealer Sales Kit and Catalog

B|Braun Infusion Systems Space Pump Video

Carpenter 'Natures Energy' 2012 Calendar

B|Braun 'Changing Lives, Saving Lives' Video

Olympus TruePic VI Video

Carpenter 'Tactical Advantage' Video

First Generation '1G for Good' Video

Heather Beardsley, Mariclare Rauss, and April Ruggiero

A trio of First Generation full-time consultants at Sanofi Pasteur – Heather Beardsley, Mariclare Rauss, and April Ruggiero – recently received recognition from the Association of Marketing and Communication Professionals for their work on Sanofi Pasteur’s internal communications publication Discovery. The three MarCom awards included:

Gold award, Employee Publication/Special Edition category, January 2011 edition

Gold award, Employee Publication/Internal Newsletter category, July 2011 edition

Honorable Mention, Design (Print)/Newsletter category, July 2011 edition

Heather manages the writing and editorial content, while Mariclare and April are responsible for the design of Discovery.

The MarCom Awards are born out of an international competition that honors outstanding creative achievement. This year included entries from throughout the United States, Canada and several other countries.

Congratulations!

First Generation is pleased to announce that we’ve recently expanded our team of experts to include Michael Mannicci as one of our Account Managers and Jack Grover as an Audio/Visual Consultant.

Michael Mannicci, a former Account Executive at The Morning Call, Adams Outdoor Advertising, Yellowbook 360, and Citadel Broadcasting, will manage the growth of current and new business accounts, applying his many years of professional sales experience. He brings a plethora of knowledge about advertising and media tools, which he will utilize as he offers complete marketing services and campaigns to clients of First Generation.

Michael holds a BA degree from Kutztown University and is a proud member of the Bethlehem community, serving as a board member and Co-Chair of Fundraising for the Hanover Township Memorial Golf Tournament and as a volunteer at Second Harvest Food Bank.

Jack Grover joins the First Generation team as an Audio/Visual Consultant, and will be working on-site for a global organization headquartered in the Lehigh Valley. There he will manage the daily audio/visual equipment and set up needs for both internal and external meetings and events.

With over 15 years of production experience, Jack is a phenomenal asset to the expanding Audio/Visual Services department of First Generation, which also services Hotel Bethlehem and The Holiday Inn Allentown as the in-house A/V provider.

The whole team at First Generation extends a warm welcome to our two new members!

Do you want to be a part of the First Gen team? We’re Hiring! Learn more about our Corporate Communications Manager position HERE.