Benedict Advertising - Business Building Solutions

One of my co-workers has been asking me for some time now to write a blog for the company website, and up until now I have resisted doing so because I kept telling myself “people my age don’t blog” – but then I decided to give it a shot, so here it is “My First Blog”

My husband Marty, our ferret Teddy and I moved to Daytona Beach from New York a little over a year ago, which technically makes us “Transplants” (these are the people that are not born in Florida, but eventually move here). As a transplant, I probably notice more things in the area then the locals do, like take the beach for instance – have you noticed the beach lately?

If you haven’t it wouldn’t be surprising, because most people take the things right in their own backyard for granted. I know I did when I lived in New York, I hadn’t been to the Empire State Building or any of the museums since I was on a school trip and I have never been to The Statue of Liberty or Ellis Island – you just always assume that these things will be there and some day you will get there!

We like to go to the beach on a Saturday morning before it gets crowded and just walk up and down with the waves rolling around our feet. There is just something comforting and peaceful about being there. Now, I am by no means a religious person, but when you see something that beautiful, that powerful and that majestic, you just know that a higher power had a hand in creating something so wonderful for us to enjoy.

So, if the weather is going to be nice this weekend, grab the family, grab the one you love or just grab a friend and go spend some time at the beach. We “Transplants” will meet you there!

Well, now I’ve written “My First Blog” and who knows Chris, maybe next I’ll set up a page on Facebook!

- Cathy Schwartz

Having a Persian mother has given me the opportunity to share the cultures of two different worlds and enjoy the best of them.

Although like any culture, there are certain traditions that are passed down generation to generation and people follow them without thinking. Why? The real valuable reason and lesson is long lost and what is left is on the surface.

One of these old traditions is the Norouz Celebration, which is the celebrating of the new year on the first day of spring and renewal of life in nature.

As a child I watched my family gather around 7 different items that start with letter “S” in Farsi like ” sib, sir, serke, somagh,
samanoo, sekkeh, sabzeh”(apples, garlic, vinegar, sprouts…) in the last days of winter…all these items would be laid out in pretty dishes along with candles and a mirror, flowers and delicious specialty sweets. Back then I learned that each item represents a meaning which you should ponder to see if you had it in your life in the past year and try to apply it to your life in the new year. For example, “samanu,” which is a wheat based pudding that takes a few days to make, represents patience and persistence.

Keeping all that in mind, last year I decided to take a new approach to this ancient tradition and intertwine it with the lessons that I learn in my Sufi practices (Sufism is the school of self knowledge) to see what I can retrieve from it in the end.

So I thought of an idea and divided it in to different parts and planned my project so that each part would get done
throughout the year and be finished before March 21, which is the first day of Spring.

My idea included two big wings made of styro foam and real feathers, symbolizing the wings of the Phoenix (Phoenix died from his ego and burned into ashes to rise again as a young and beautiful bird in 3 days) which represents oneness with existence and harmony with the essence of life.

I also included 7 columns of different sizes - short, medium and tall - all painted with the sky and clouds scenery. This represented different stages of the inward journey, detaching from limitations and material boundaries, and flying free in the heavens of one’s inner being. I set the columns up in a way that each column would hold one of the 7 Norouz items on it to represent archiving one the virtues by constant concentration and inward practice of teachings which help you soften the harsh edges of self and polish the mirror of the heart.

I put together a mosaic mirror made of different of many mirror pieces of different sizes and shapes which represent the reflection of self in the past year and bringing the awareness back to one’s own being. All the separate and segregated mirror pieces, before being placed neatly next to each other, represented the human being’s mind and the thoughts and senses when they are all wandering toward different directions and get pushed and pulled by the insatiable and constant
desires and needs of the senses and natural pressures and variables. When all these scattered pieces are pulled together by the practice of concentration and meditation and neatly placed next to each other, one sees that they fit perfectly like a puzzle and present a whole unit - all one and now the only reflection that they have is
one reflection, presenting oneness and unity.

Throughout the year I taught myself to bake different old fashioned pastries for the event, rather than buying them. That was a
joy in itself and also made me more aware of what I eat and put in my body and what it takes to make nutritional meals or pastries. So again my awareness was brought back to my health and well being in a different way.

Growing sprouts was a simple act yet so amazing…we take for granted every day all the amazing phenomenon that happens constantly in our environment. When I saw that a tiny little seed of lentils with just a little bit of water transformed its being to a pretty and green plant, I realized that everything is alive and life is constantly moving and nurturing everything around us. Yet it made me wonder this about myself, a small and tiny lentil seed is so concentrated and ready that with a tiny bit of water sprouts it to its fullest potential to give fruit, what about me? As a human being with all the capabilities that have freely been given to me, am I in that constant concentration and preparation to grow to my fullest potential and bring something new and valuable to life? Or am I constantly in a state of dispersion with my mind and thoughts in a million different places and my senses pulling me to all directions and my life just a repetition of action and reaction and cellular interactions? If a seed of lentil served its fullest purpose and gave fruit but I as a human being only served my material and physical needs of sleeping,
eating, reproduction and social interactions and never attempt to go beyond that, what does that make me in comparison to the lentil seed? Have a I served my purpose or have a degraded from what I need to represent?

I must say at the end I had a lot to present for a year of working on this ancient project and I learned a lot. Now I understand
why thousands of years ago the ancient Persians started this tradition, the true knowledge and essence of human being knows no time or limitations. They had discovered their inner purpose and the presence of a hidden ageless knowledge within the core of every human being and by designing this tradition they gave their fruit to humanity. A
valuable lesson that even now, thousands of years later, served its purpose for me and brought my awareness back to I.

May we all live in the tranquil and stable source of life - our hearts!

Happy New Year!

- Kerry McEachern

I have never been into karaoke bars, rarely ever going, and rarer even to actually get on the stage and belt out a few tunes. So something new came as a surprise to me, Rock Band for the Wii. While at friend’s house for dinner a few weeks ago, my wife and I were introduced to the “band life” and became instantly addicted. We went out and purchased a band for ourselves that week and have been jamming since. We now have jam sessions with our band, Boobanation (after our daughter, sort of), which is a family affair as of now. My wife is the lead singer and leader of the band, my brother-in-law is lead guitar and I pick up the sticks and beat the drum all day long, moonlighting as bass when we have a guest spotlight artist joining for some jams. Not sure what it is about the “game” but we have a blast playing. We also think we are better than we are. Case in point, we invited our neighbors over late one night to check out our new purchase, and they came over and watched. When we were finished, they looked at us, said thanks for inviting them over, and they were going back home now. Lesson learned. Keep it between us and those who are about to rock. I salute you.

- Michael Benedict

We all take for granted that we will be here tomorrow…but that is a definete uncertainty.
We can be snuffed out in the blink of an eye.

Recently a fairly young friend, an energetic, full of life man fell over with a heart attack and died on the spot.
He ingested vitamins daily and took reasonably good care of him self and did not ever suspect his heart would give out on him.
His death blew me away and shocked me as well as other people too. I did not know him that well but I am so happy I got to see him not so long ago. He came into the office for a meeting with Pam.
This is why we have to appreciate every moment with the ones we care about, because it just may be the last time you will see them.

None of us know when our time is up.
And….
I believe there is so much reason to live life to the fullest.
We live in a wonderful place. Daytona Beach is so beautiful. I come across the bridge each morning for work and thank God that I have sight to see such vast beauty.
Most people take life for granted…they do not even look at the beautiful sky, or feel the breeze on their face or listen to the birds sing. So many things we take for granted until we don’t have them anymore.
Our existance should never be one of those because something could happpen suddenly to change everything, like with my friend.

My children are grown and live in other states but I make a point to hug and say “I love you” when I leave them. They will never get too old for me to do that.
We should value our life and really try hard to appreciate what we have today because TOMORROW IS NOT PROMISED.
And…if it is cut short, like my friend’s, people will think of us…and they will smile.
We will miss you Denny!

- Gail Moore

Well, it is that time of year again! Basketball fans across the nation will be glued to their TVs and computers for the next 18 days. It is said that over $1 Billion dollars worth of productivity are lost in the workplace due to this madness, but not in this office. ☺
I, myself, am not very involved in the insanity this year, as the Florida Gators did not make it to the NCAA tournament, but nonetheless, I still completed a bracket in an attempt to take home the Ugly Dog Trophy! As I’m sure most of you are not aware, my family loves games and contests of any kind. My family has been doing a March Madness bracket contest for many years and a few years ago we decided we needed a trophy for the winner. We didn’t want to buy a trophy, so we decided to search my Dad’s house for the ugliest thing possible and the winner must display it in their living room until the next winner is crowned. My Dad’s house is straight out of 1985 so we knew we could find something good there, especially since my Dad has stockpiled anything we’ve ever made or won and any toy we ever played with (he says our kids can use them haha). There were a few good ones like a troll doll, an old spirit stick from dance camp, some kind of Indian Tomahawk, but the stand out winner was a hideous lump of clay my sister made in the 1st grade that is supposed to be a dog.
So, it may mean nothing to you and it may just look like a random, multi-colored blob of clay sitting on my mantle, but if you come over to my house after April 6th and spot the Ugly Dog, then you know I am the proud winner of the Lorentzson Family March Madness Contest!

Let the Madness begin!!

-Annika Lorentzson

If you own a television or a radio you may have heard of the new buzzword on the airwaves TWITTER. Social networking sites are becoming more mainstream and branching out beyond the college set. Twitter is a new website that is gaining use among celebrities and main street Americans alike. I dare to ask the question “WHY?!” To me, the website looks like a constant stream on AOL Instant Messenger ™ away messages, with no other interaction. This perceived weakness is one of the website’s bragging rights. Twitter claims to “solve the information overload” by asking only one question “what are you doing?” Twitter allows users to answer this question by integrating your PC, phone, and or instant messenger with the ability to answer. But if that is all Twitter has to offer I say “no thank you”!

Obviously I do not own a Twitter page, although don’t cast me to the dark ages. I do have a facebook page and was once on myspace. I also cannot seem to find the use or time in maintaining both sites. As a user I found a great purpose to the multimedia aspects of these websites. Posting pictures videos and pictures, sharing friend notifications all in attention to status messages. I keep in touch with relatives, classmates, friend-of-friends at a much more qualified cyber experience than telling them “What am I doing”.

As an advertiser I keep expecting more reports of potential placement on the website. Although current they are not accepting any. My media gurus at the agency have looked into the origins of the website and there are many media source discussing Twitter. Read this Los Angelos Times article on the topic: http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/technology/2009/02/twitter-creator.html

Help me find out why Matt Lauer keeps mentioning it! Is there a Twitter advocate out there that can explain to be why? Why do I only get to hear what you are doing? Why should I care? How do you share your Twitters? Why can’t I advertise to that every evolving 18-34 demographic that is Twittering? Or is it all chalked up to the word is buzzworthy because it is just so much fun to say?

Twitter…I’m out.

-Brenna Lewis

Woooo whoooo…. so I guess I’m becoming official as I just completed my Benedict Advertising Super Hero Generator Questionnaire. If you’ve spent any amount of time on our website (and obviously you have  - probably even exhausted all the good stuff and now sort of scraping the bottom of the barrel looking for your next BA fix - don’t count on finding it here, sorry), then you are keenly aware of our corporate mission to improve the world one FSI at a time by reverse superheroing ourselves. Unlike most masked crusaders that don their dreary day to day life to save the world we are superheroes by day and ordinary people by night, tasked with saving the world from unimaginative, ineffective and generic advertising.  

There is a wall in the office that displays all the official super-portaits and I can see a pretty good chunk of it from my desk.  The questions are semi-secret to us new people so I won’t provide the full list but the answers are used to help develop the costume, attributes and overall finished look of our super-selves.  So while I was filling out my form, and when I got to question 10, while thinking of my answer I started to play a little game.  You can play too, here it  is; Question 10: If you had to choose between never washing your towel and never washing your bed sheets ever again, which would you choose?  Now just match our superheroes to who is a towel washer and who is a bed sheet washer. The rationale behind your answers may astound you! There were a few I went back and forth with, mostly Nicole’s since she has a very wet super-persona (I went with towel-washer).  I’ve actually played a similar game called Caught Prostitutes and Caught Soliciting Prostitutes which is similar in concept but fun for a little different reason.
- Tim Blair