PlattForm People

On August 4th 2009 my cousin (apparently we look more like sisters) Lindsay and her traveling bake sale “Gus’ Goodies” came to Plattform to share their knowledge on Autism and delicious treats! They had anything from Chocolate Chip cookies to Monster cookies, and of course it wouldn’t be a bake sale if Rice Crispy Treats weren’t involved! YUMMY- my mouth is watering thinking about the great goodness!

Lindsay, who is a 3rd Grade Teacher at a local elementary school, started the traveling bake sale to raise money and awareness for autism, as well as improve the social and communication skills of one of her students (Gus) who has autism.

Once I heard about what Lindsay was doing, I suggested she should have Gus and his goodies come to Plattform. The people here are so nice and it is a great environment for Gus to be around – I mean c’mon, we have a WII! Boy was I correct! Not only did we raise $400 worth of donations, but one person in particular made an impact. A woman came up to Gus- who at the time was more intrigued by the red balloons than the bake sale- knelt down to his level and said “Hey Gus, how are? Can you tell me more about Autism?” This unknown person was wearing a gray cardigan and had “cute” short black hair (can you tell that this is the portion of the time I was not there?). This really made an impact on Gus. Anyhoodles, to the gray cardigan, cute-haired girl, as well as the rest of the great employees of Plattform, myself and Gus’ Goodies say thank you for your generous donations and participation! It was definitely a successful event – Gus got to play WII, while the Plattformer’s had a sugar overdose and expanded their knowledge on Autism!

Yanni?
Yawn-y, right?
Surprisingly, no! And I’m the newly-eyes-opened witness to tell you why.
Until last Tuesday night, all I really knew about Yanni was that he produced some distinctive New Age CDs, keyboards mostly, awhile back and that his trademark look was long-hair. My only example of his work went MIA when I left it in the CD player of a car I traded off—two vehicles ago.
So, when an Email popped up offering two tickets from Danny Pumpelly to the Yanni Concert at KC’s Sprint Center that night, I mused aloud, “Hmmm….Maybe I should go get those tickets.”
It was already after five, but my ICD compatriots still at their desks, Erin Sullivan and Tracy Benbrook, urged me on–with equal parts ridicule and ‘we dare you’—to risk it for the tickets.
I shoved my way into Danny’s office to discover only one rival for the tix: Shana Kreikemier. She had them in her hand, waving them thoughtfully. “Oh,” I said, not sure if I felt deflated or not, “I guess they are taken.”
Shana offered them to me, saying, “Actually, I’m not sure I can make it to the concert tonight.”
From that moment on, the musical planets aligned. En route to change clothes, I called a friend, who stunned me by saying, “Yes, I’m available for the concert tonite,” despite not knowing the first note about Yanni. We readily found parking and our seats, bought a tee shirt (at Danny’s request)—all good.
The concert itself, styled Yanni Voices, started off with a long, slow bluhh number performed behind a transparent curtain. “Gonna be a long night,” I thought.
It wasn’t. Once the curtain rose, the tempo did, too. The voices: Nathan Pacheco, Chloe, Leslie Mills and Ender Thomas—seen and heard on at least one PBS special of the same name—stunned. The staging turned clever, the camaraderie among performers zoomed to the height of the top tier seating and the level of musicianship astonished. World class!
One highlight—a performance progressing through every Latin dance I could name and a couple I couldn’t—featured Chloe (I think) dancing and singing and vamping through a 10-minute segment that took my breath. (How she had the pipes to keep singing I’ll never know.)
By the second half of the show, audience members were on their feet, moving, grooving and keeping the beat, rapt at the variety of music ethnicities that Yanni and his troupe so powerfully displayed.
I stood, applauding and whooping, for two curtain calls.
In the bathroom, I ran into an exotic woman with a heavy Cuban accent, from Miami. She purred, “I first saw Yanni in MeeAHme (she rhymed) nine years ago and wherever I’m near a concert of his, I go. I just happened to be in Kansas City this week, and look, here I am.”
Indeed. And so was I. Amazed. Thankful that Danny Pumpelly couldn’t make the show. (And yes, Tee, I really WAS sorry that I got those tickets instead of you, but only for two seconds Next time you need to work late so you too can scramble for the tickets…..)

If you are looking for a great opportunity to network with other people in the advertising community, learn more about the industry, and help out with some events, I invite you to check out the American Advertising Federation. I’ve been an active member of the American Advertising Federation-Kansas City, formerly the Kansas City Ad Club, for about three years. Along the way, I’ve made many friends within different parts of the advertising industry. As a part of AAF, I’ve had the opportunity to participate in, and assist with, some of AAF’s major events. I’ve been on the planning committees for events like Art of the Deal — AAF’s casino night that raises money for a specified charity — Battle of the Ad Bands — an event where members of the advertising community who happen to be in a band can showcase their talent — and Ad Wars — AAF’s advertising trivia night. I do my best to attend the monthly happy hours to catch up with friends and meet new members. I have recently been elected to serve on the ad2 Board. Ad2 is a special interest group of AAF-KC for members age 32 and under. I’ve enjoyed my time with AAF, and encourage everyone to come out to an event and see what we’re all about.

Brant Burt is the manager of the Web Design team here at PlattForm. He was involved in a horrific car accident on January 27. Brant’s injuries were so severe that the police had started filling out the death report at the scene. Miraculously, Brant survived … but with serious head trauma.

After a nearly month-long coma, Brant started to stir. Of course, no one knew the extent of his brain injury or what to expect. One minute Brant was minding his business driving to work on a snowy January morning. The next minute this father of three was fighting for his life.

Brant’s condition continues to improve every day. He’s awake, alert and is constantly trying to hug his kids. He’s also becoming a bit more chatty as he starts to remember things. If there was ever a poster child for a miracle — it’s Brant — or as his family calls him “BB”.

Brant’s wife keeps friends and family (and the entire ad agency) up-to-date about Brant on a website. It’s a novel and new fangled approach to giving status updates. You can read more about Brant at http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/brantburt.

From my time working with him at PlattForm, I found him to be a social, gentle spirit with an extreme passion for his family and all things outdoors. Brant has months and months of recovery ahead of him. PlattForm continues to help in any way they can. And the family is holding a massive fundraiser on May 16 to raise funds for much-needed therapy and continued rehabilitation. A slew of PFormers will be involved and yours truly is emceeing the event. It’s just reinforces how close-knit our agency really is.

If anyone can survive a horrendous car accident and live to tell about it … it’s Brant. The man has a lot to live for. His brain spent nearly a month re-wiring itself. And now the prognosis for recovery looks promising. So we’re all keeping our fingers crossed and wishing the best for Brant. We miss you! And, for the record, I’ll never look at a mountain biker the same way again. The next time I think I have a hurdle to overcome, I’ll think of Brant. Everyone appreciates his amazing strength and fortitude. Looks like this is just one more mountain he’ll tackle and overcome.

Human Resources? Rules drudges or paperwork drones, right?

Not so at PlattForm!

To even a casual observer, PlattForm Advertising’s HR staff rises above, not unlike a warming spring breeze, freshening the dark and muddied surface of the cold pool of the usual to enable the rest of us to fly on gossamer dragonfly wings……

Sorry. I got carried away.

In other words, HR here is a bouncy and smiling (except for one, who knows who he is) bunch of facilitators. Chief among the smiling ones is HR Director, Dory Winn.

Her motto is,” Share and Cher alike.”

Yep. That’s Cher, as in ‘Sonny &.’ As in the Fresno High School dropout whose birth name was Cheryl Sarkisian LaPiere.

Our own Dory is a confirmed Cher-ophile. She’s ‘Moonstruck.’ Because, she says, “Cher has a very distinctive voice. It’s a different sound—she really stands out in the crowd.”

Sometimes, so does Dory. In defense of Cher, Dory once jumped onto the stage at a drag queen performance of Cher to correct the ‘butchered’ lyrics of one of Cher’s number one hits, Dark Lady.

In case you are wondering, Dory’s fan-turn towards the outré, fashion-plate and pop artist started early. “I remember hearing my parents play Dark Lady from an album they had, and watching reruns of The Sonny and Cher Show.

“Even though my parents were eclectic in their musical tastes, listening to Neil Diamond, Bread, Abba, the Allman Brothers—those bands of the 70s and 80s—they ask, about my attachment to Cher, ‘Where’d you come from?’”

It’s not where Dory came from; it’s where she’s headed, to follow the next act in the four-decade stardom of the singer/actress/style icon. After seeing Cher perform at Kansas City’s Kemper Arena a few years back, Dory is packing her glossiest duds to catch Cher live in Las Vegas.

Will she be dressing like Cher? Oddly enough, although Dory is the recipient of a long, dark, straight-haired wig from fellow PlattFormer and Cher groupie, Brian Hubbard, she’s never worn it in emulation. Nor has she paraded in cognito as Cher for Halloween.

Dory, now that we know you Believe, we are posting a star-watch for October 31. On that day we fully expect to see Cher sitting in your chair!