The Collaboratory

This is a photo of some of our phenomenally talented writers in one of their many locations throughout headquarters.


This particular location is called The Collaboratory, and it's purpose is to facilitate creative brainstorming from a writer's viewpoint. Whether you need a name for a new collection of products, need copy for a niche product category, or just need some new ideas and thoughts, The Collaboratory is an excellent place to converse with poets, playwrights, musicians, improvisers, and more!

Plus, with it's home-like feel (much like my grandmother's living room), it's a place to relax and let the creativity flow (and, if you're lucky, you might catch one of the writers tinkering on the upright baby grand piano... love it).

Obama in Kansas City, MO

Yesterday Obama was right across the street from Hallmark at the National World War I Museum for the Change We Need Rally.

I couldn't go spend all afternoon outside waiting for him. I had crafts to do for Crafty Chicks craft show coming up. So I dropped my husband off for the event at 2:45p. Doors opened at 4p and he spoke at 6p.

When I dropped him off there were a ton of folks getting in line. I was nervous that he wasn't going to be able to get in!


He said there were SO MANY people he could hardly see. And there was every walk of life out there. Young, old, rich, homeless, and families. "A snapshot of America," he said.

My Grandpa turned 84 Friday. And when I called him to wish him a happy birthday he told me that he never thought he'd be alive to see a black man run for president. As a black man, my Grandpa watched his father struggle as a farmer, he's had to drink out of the black only water fountain, he's watched the civil rights movement and more. He's raised his family of six and us grandchildren and he told me he could never be more proud of us and happy to be alive to witness history.

Please vote!

WORD WEEK

It's the 10th annual Word Week at Hallmark. It's not all about designing pretty stuff here. There are writers that inspire the designs we create. Sometimes I feel like they get left out, so I'm glad that there is a week dedicated to words.

Actually this is my first time in the three years that I've been at Hallmark that I've attended Word Week. As a designer I thought that the presentations wouldn't pertain to me. What do I have to do with words?


However today's presentation by mommy blogger, Heather Armstrong, aka Dooce (one of the most visited blogs in America), was very inspirational to me.

First of all she was so funny! Her sarcastic, dark sense of humor had me laughing and intrigued during her whole presentation.

Just this summer I started going to her blog. But I never read it (I'm a designer... I don't read). I just glanced at her daily images. So I had NO IDEA that her daily entries of her life were so raw and humorous.

But Heather inspired me to share more personal experiences on the FIVE blogs I have. I tend to only say a product is cute or simply state what I did. I never talk about that I blog a lot, work a full day, figure out the next ATC trade topic, teach fitness classes (and still hate my thighs), keep up with my apron business, and a newlywed without a sofa and no time to post honeymoon photos on my Flickr page. I never talk about how people think I have it together and I'm SO organized when really feel like I'm going senile with the millions lists I have lying around trying to prioritize my life.

So from now on I'm going to be a little more personable on my blogs instead of just showing cool stuff.

Thanks for the motivation Heather!

ARTIST TRADING CARDS

This month's theme for the Artist Trading Card (ATC) trade at Hallmark was "fashion." Our inspiration was season 5 of Project Runway (congrats Leanne... I knew she was going to win when I 1st saw her. If someone is calling herself "the fashion assassin" she's gotta be da bomb -- no pun intended. But at the end I REALLY wanted Korto to take it).

Here are a sample of the ATCs.





You can see more at my ATC blog.

Kansas City Renaissance Festival

I've never been to a Renaissance Festival before, so I was excited when I found out that Kansas City had one. So this weekend I spent most of my afternoon on Saturday with a few friends at the KC Ren Fest. This was the last weekend of the festival, it's been running every weekend since August 30th.

I later learned that as employees here at Hallmark we get discount tickets to some events around town. The Renaissance Festival was no exception. :}

The festival is held in a really pretty wooded area (and it's HUGE). There was tons of funny characters walking around in costumes, interesting food vendors, performers in multiple stages, live jousting, and even an elephant you could ride! My personal highlight of the festival was entering the Medieval petting zoo, where I got to play with super friendly sheep (and a Mama & Baby Llama)

Oh and that's my friend Angelica eating a huge turkey leg. :B

TrendPlant ACTIVITIES

We, the TrendPlant group, went on our last retail outting 9/29.

First we went to Ten Thousand Villages in downtown Overland Park. They work with artistan groups around the world for quality and authentic goods. I believe some of the money from your purchase goes back to the country the item came from.

I thought the place was a great spot to get unigue gifts. The prices were reasonable too.








Then we went to Dean & DeLuca for lunch. Didn't have much time to look at all of the goodies because we were off down the street to West Elm.


A fall masculine theme was definitely present.


I'm sad that this was our last outing. Being in the group was such a privilege and I learned so many new research skills to apply to my job and personal projects.

Hola! Bonjour! What's Up?

It’s nice to meet you. Most people call me Keion because that’s my name. I’d appreciate it if you followed suit.
I’m a new hire at Hallmark and I’m loving every minute of it; with the exception of the few that come right before lunch time. I get a little antsy when I haven’t had my lunchable.
Anyway, I’m a writer in the Humor Studio and I’ve gotten the chance to work on lots of fun and interesting projects. Needless to say, my new job is the bomb. So much so, that I don’t mind using outdated nineties slang to describe it.
However, I must admit that I’m in the process of adjusting to Kansas City. Seeing as though I recently graduated from the illustrious Clark Atlanta University and I was born and raised in Louisiana, Missouri is quite the change of pace. A good one, though.
There are plenty of great things to do in the city that I would have never expected.
I’ll be using this blog to hip you to all of the goings-on in Kansas City. We can uncover more great things about KC together. That’s what I call teamwork!

Day Trip :: Weston, MO

On Saturday, my boyfriend and I took a day trip to Weston, MO (about 25 miles north of Kansas City) for some fall bike riding and to visit this historic town we'd never visited. What we happened upon was far more amazing than you'd ever expect from this town of slightly more than 1,500.

Each year, the local pub, O'Malley & Sons and the local brewery, Weston Brewing Company host an Irish Fest. There are a lot of these types of festivals around KC. I'm no historian, but I'd imagine it's because of a large number of Irish immigrants or possibly because we simply have multiple microbreweries with good beer. Whatever the reason, this festival was a lot like the rest: live entertainment, little shops set up in tents with Celtic jewelry and art, food, and of course, frosty beer of multiple varieties.

As we walked around, we decided to duck into the pub, O'Malley & Sons, and see what it was like. Here is the unassuming exterior of the building:


We walked inside and saw nothing but restrooms with long lines to our right. But, in front of us, a line of people was moving up and down a long staircase. My thoughts: Cool. Must be a basement bar. So, we followed the line of people down a long flight of stairs....down a ramp.....through a small room with a few tables..... down some more stairs....through a tunnel (my thoughts: Ok, really?? A tunnel? Is this a dungeon? There better be something cool at the end... my ankle [which is not fully healed from a recent sports injury] is killing me...

Finally, we arrived at this:


My thoughts: I haven't seen anything like this anywhere in the U.S. [I'm pretty well-traveled, having been to 3/4 of the states]... I haven't seen anything like this since my friend Michelle and I went to Germany and happened upon a small pub under the street near our hostel! Here are a few quick stats:

-O'Malley & Sons is the most sought-out pub by Irish musicians traveling the U.S.
-The Weston Brewing Company was built in 1842, and the three cellars that made up the original brewery are now home to O'Malley & Sons Pub
-The lower cellar of O'Malley's is nearly 60 (yes, sixty feet underground (the lower cellar is where we sat and had a beer and listened to the Irish band, pictured above)!
-The ceilings in the lower cellar are 20 feet high.
-O'Malley's is Weston, MO's tallest building, 6 stories, all located underground.
-The brewery, Weston Brewing company brews 5 beers year-round, and also brews special seasonal beers, including my favorite from our visit, Dropkick Ale.

My quick snapshots don't do this hidden gem justice. I am sure that I will soon return: the 25 mile drive is worth it to feel like you are in a different time and place... And, we spent the whole day at the pub -- there are many more attractions in Weston to visit, including antique stores, winter candle-lit home tours, shopping, a winery, and several bed and breakfasts. I'll be back!

P.S. As if having an awesome environment and tasty beer is not enough, Weston Brewing Company has some nicely designed labels on their beers, too:

Green :: Double-bonus!

It's on everyone's mind: the economy, high gas prices, the environment, global warming... The list goes on. But starting October 1, Hallmark employees can rest a little easier with some help from the powers that be here at our World Headquarters.

To help offset continued high gas prices and encourage mass transit, Hallmark is offering financial incentives for employees who choose to take a bus or vanpool to work. Hallmark is now subsidizing half the total cost of a monthly bus pass for the Kansas City Area Transportation Authority (The Metro) or Johnson County Transit (The Jo) for employees who opt to use these methods of transit. Vanpools are also available to employees. Here are some sweet details:

-Kansas City employees may purchase one monthly bus pass for their personal use using payroll deduction (yay!)
-Vanpool riders pay a monthly fee, also payroll deducted, that varies based on mileage and the number of van passengers. (sweet!)
-Employees who drive a van commute for free and may use the van — which Hallmark provides — for personal driving as well (wow!)
-Hallmarkers who commute by bus or vanpool also are guaranteed two free taxi rides home each year in the event of emergencies or illness. (awesome!) This benefit also is available to carpool participants or bicycle commuters. (excellent!)

Double-bonus: Hallmark helps pay for mass-transit and We lessen our impact on the environment! Gosh, we work for a great company!

Hello! From the New Blogger

Hi! I'm Marcos! :B 

I just started working full time here at Hallmark (this just happens to be my 3rd week). But I'm not entirely new to this creative community, I actually had the pleasure of working as a Creative Intern in this summer's Hallmark Internship, and was offered a position at the end! Wooh. My home department is Greetings Innovation, (the same department as Josh), working with Light, Sound and Motion.

I am a Graphic & Interactive Designer born in Puerto Rico then transplanted to Florida, and I graduated this year from Ringling College of Art and Design in Sarasota. This has been my first time ever in the Midwest, and I've had a great time so far, I really enjoy exploring Kansas City!, and finding hidden gems. I'm really into the local art scene, thrifting/antiquing, music, doodling, Frida Kahlo, and astronomy. 

I hope to blog about all my adventures around town. 

Yay I'm happy to be part of cre•a•tiv•i•ty!

Vote for the Shoebox Blog in the Pixel Awards!

Hallmark's humor card line, Shoebox, has an excellent blog. I do believe that it was the first Hallmark-related blog on the internet, so it has a long standing tradition of being a hilarious daily dose of funny to thousands of people each day. In fact, it has recently been nominated for a 2008 Pixel Awards in the People's Champ "funny" category. Check out The Shoebox Blog and if it's makin' you crack a smile or even laugh out loud, Vote for Shoebox!

An all-star evening

So, Tina Turner was in town last night performing the first concert of her 2008-2009 World Tour. I have been hearing rave reviews all morning, mostly from my Editorial Director here in Licensing, who went with several other Hallmark Licensing leaders. They are super-cool ladies who I would have loved to see dancing to What's Love Got to Do With It -- they had entirely too much fun, I'm sure.

The Power and Light District, which is right across from Sprint Center (where the concert was held), was hoppin' with all kinds of people from several different eras. After the concert, the crowd grew even larger, and people began to twitter with excitement: Tina Turner was rumored to have rented out popular KC restaurant The Bristol for her concert after-party!

Her guest list was rumored to include Michelle Obama (who was in town for a speaking engagement [see photos of the event here.] at the Historic 18th and Vine Jazz District), Samuel L. Jackson, and Oprah Winfrey!

Now, we have never intended for this blog to be a gossip column, but wouldn't that have been awesome to have these fab famous people here partying it up in KC?! Anybody got any dirt??