• by Richard Whitman , Columnist, November 14, 2013

Could you do this? Could you live without the internet for a week? In reaction to Internet Week London, Mother London launched No Internet Week. A few agency employees and several others will go without any sort of internet connection for a week and report their experiences. Included in the group are a Mother executive, a teenager, a fashion blogger, a former print magazine editor and an online editor. A stunt for sure but if everyone's honest and reports back their experiences, it could be quite insightful.

Have you heard of Laser Cat? It's all part of an Art Directors Club promotion for its 2014 Festival of Art and Design in Miami on April 8. Creatives worldwide are encouraged to submit their artwork (drawings, sculpture, painting, photography, cat photography and more) to Laser Cat through the end of November. The more art Laser Cat gets, the bigger he grows. The promotion was conceived by Hungry Castle and constructed by ADC Hall of Famer and SVA teacher Kevin O’Callaghan and will make its debut at the festival in April. Depending on the number of submissions received, Laser Cat will either project its collection on a wall (requiring 100 submissions), on the side of a building (requiring 1,000 submissions) or on the moon (requiring 1 million submissions). So get submitting people! Don't you want to see a cat on the moon?

Wait, what? An advertising agency doing something out of the goodness of its heart? Yes, it's true! Manhattan-based ad agency The Horn Group is giving free office space to unemployed advertising professionals. Of course, these out of work Adlanders could certainly look for work from home but they have formed a community and are helping one another with leads, contacts and referrals. Agency Founder Ariel Horn discusses possible projects with those using the agency's office space and if an idea clicks, there may some work waiting for one of the job seekers. Hey, it's much better than sitting home alone pecking away at one's resume and trolling social media for leads.

Oh...good God. Here's yet another silly acronym invented by an ad agency. You've all heard of SaaS, right? It's software as a service. Well, Colorado agency Madwire Media gives us SaSH or software and service hybrid. It's intended to make up a category for its yet-to-be launched digital marketing software that the agency superciliously declared in a press release, "will set the standard in digital marketing.” (Say no more, please!). Adding to the pompousness, Madwire Media Co-Founder JB Kellogg said, “We felt the SaaS model was lacking an important element. We want to give our customers more value by giving them access to our certified digital marketers, ad specialists and creative team as well as our marketing software." So...Madwire Media employees are hybrids? Like a Prius with plenty of rear exhaust. Kellogg bumptiously added, “We know this will forge a new path in digital marketing that others will start to follow. We intend to do it first, and do it best.” Make him stop or KMN.
 
The creative community loves this one. Or, well, maybe they don't. You may have heard Draftfcb has hired Lee Garfinkel as the agency's New York office CEO. Garfinkel comes to Draftfcb from Havas Worldwide where he was chief creative officer of global brands and chairman of the New York office. So, yes, a creative has become a CEO. It's not the first time but it's refreshing to see. But will Garfinkel's creative juices be stifled dealing with all the crap a CEO has to deal with?  Draftfcb Global Chief Carter Murray thinks Garfinkel will do just fine. “Some of the best agency leaders have come from creative backgrounds and I believe that Lee, with his strong creative reputation, is absolutely the right CEO for our New York office," said Murray. Garfinkel will start his new role in January .