NACS Show in Chicago

I got the pleasure to join some fellow BUNN employees at the National Association of Convenience Stores (NACS) show this past Monday. It was held at McCormick Place in Chicago. It is truly unbelievable what you will see at a NACS show. But just think of all the stuff you could pick up in a convenience store (c-store) and well.....they were pretty much all their in their glory (even a walking sperm passing out condoms).

In addition to some competitive product research I took away a few other things....








Me and The Grave Digger


Messin' with Sasquatch (with Bill from inside sales)


Me and Wee Man from MTV's Jackass

A Pat on the Back

Ok Ok so I am tooting my own horn. BUT, I must say it is nice to get praise for your work. I feel as if my creative talents are finally getting recognized and it feels wonderful! So here are some emails that our VP of the Marketing Department received, which she then forward on to me.

This one is from our VP of National Accounts and Strategic Marketing:

More praises for you! Great job.
Des

----- Forwarded by Desiree Logsdon/Bunn on 10/03/2008 01:13 PM -----

Margaret Heery/Bunn 10/03/2008 12:37 PM

Hi Desiree,
The ad is GREAT.

There are hotels that I no longer stay at, because I don't like their morning coffee.

This goes to what I said in the CREST review, which restaurant a consumer selects is dependent upon the quality of the beverages served.

Sincerely,
Margaret Heery
VP National Accounts & Strategic Marketing
Bunn-O-Matic Corporation

Here is the ad that they are talking about. Now I can't take all the credit. It is very much a team effort on certain projects. The actual ad template was created by Tony for the US market. The image was a group effort find and I came up with the copy "Forget the bed, I come here for great coffee.". Because let's face it....most hotels probably all buy their mattresses from the same distributor (except for The Westin of course ;-) The ad was designed for the Hotel F&B publication.


This email is from a consultant for BUNN:

Nichole & Melinda:

Here is a great reaction to our new hotel ad. Nichole, to let you know, Melissa Pugash is a consultant for BUNN on the Marketing side of the business. She has a lot of experience in the industry, so her opinion is very credible.

Des

Here is Melissa Pugash's reaction to the hotel ad.
----- Forwarded by Desiree Logsdon/Bunn on 10/03/2008 01:47 PM -----

Desi,

Thanks for sending me this ad.

This is excellent creative. It's going to be very effective with the target audience.
As we develop the editorial for hotel publications in 2009, we should try to integrate and expand on the same very timely key message.

Your traveler is man after my own heart!
Melissa

I really can't tell you how motivating it is when you receive some "credible" praise. In my field, my work is critiqued on a daily basis. I have many people to please and with that comes many different tastes...and I am not talking about coffee. As the saying goes, one man's trash is another man's treasure. Oh how true that statement is in the design world. Marketing and designing is all about pleasing your client. Just because I think it's great doesn't mean it is going to fly and sometimes that is a tough pill for a designer to swallow.

Have a great weekend everyone!

Nick

Welcome!

Hello Everyone,

I have decided to start a blog for Jaz and I. Through this site family and friends will be able to see how we are doing, what we are up to, and of course view recent pictures, and so much more. I decided to start a blog because I am horrible with sending thank you cards, and birthday cards, pictures, and all the like. I am just so busy and I have way too many sticks in the fire it seems like. But it has been like that for many years and I highly doubt it will be changing any time soon. So I figured this would be a great way to tackle the problem.

I invite everyone to subscribe to our blog using the links to the right. You can become a follower or subscribe to posts, as well as comments. This way you will be updated on when we have posted something new. Jaz will be making some posts too. I have a feeling they are going to be short winded.....just taking a guess. If anyone has gotten an e-mail from her you know what I mean.

For a quick update, Jaz has picture day today. She woke up before I did. By the time I got out of bed she was already dressed, ate breakfast, and took care of the dogs. She is growing up so fast. She is doing great in school. Stay tuned, I will be scanning in and posting some of school work as well so you guys can see how she is doing as well.

Jaz is almost done with her 2nd season of YMCA soccer on the Ladybugs. She is having fun, even though her team is more reminiscent of the Bad News Bears as opposed to the Ladybugs. ;-) I think she has three games left. She plays every Saturday at 1:30pm at the YMCA soccer fields out at UIS. She performs better for a crowd, so she says, so try and make it if you can.

As for me, I took a new job about 2.5 months ago for Bunn-O-Matic as a Graphic Designer. I am loving it. My department is a blast and I think there is a great opportunity for me here. For those of you who don't know, BUNN is the #1 Commercial Coffee Brewer manufacturer in the world and is headquartered here in Springfield, IL. I highly encourage all of you to purchase a BUNN home model. They are wonderful. :-)

Well that is all for now. I hope everyone is enjoying the change of the seasons. I know I am. Yeah leaves and long sleeves!


With Love,
Nick