BlackOutDesign

BlackOut Takes Manhattan

It’s been a very busy few weeks here at BlackOut Design HQ. Part of our team recently spent three days in New York City,  enjoying great food (and wine), beautiful weather, and networking with some very experienced people!

Jack, Noelle and Jess were lucky enough to attend The Next Web (TWN) Conference on November 18th along with 1,500 other marketers and technologists from around the globe. Held at the Manhattan Center in midtown, the conference featured 33 speakers from numerous backgrounds and professions including John Lunn, the Senior Global Director of Paypal; Julie Ask, VP and Principle Researcher at Forrester, Adam Leibsohn, COO of Giphy, and more. During this day-long event, our team learned about ways technology is being used by companies to drive revenue and customer growth as well as the impact mobile technology is having on company’s marketing strategies whether they’re a mom and pop or Fortune 500.

When we weren’t at the conference, we were resting up at the beautiful Soho Grand Hotel and enjoying everything the city has to offer. On Tuesday, we had dinner at DBGB and Jess officially set the World Record for fastest burger inhalation and on Wednesday, we dined at the James Beard House. A cookbook author and teacher, James Beard was a champion of American cuisine who helped educate and mentor generations of professional chefs and food enthusiasts. Today, the Beard Foundation continues in the same spirit by offering a variety of events and programs designed to educate, inspire, entertain, and foster a deeper understanding of culinary culture. We absolutely loved the Mexican- inspired 5 course tasting prepared by Chef Alex Stupak!

Last but not least, on Thursday morning, we were fortunate to meet with Jack’s friend and fellow Marywood University alum, Peter Nish. Peter is the Operations Director at J. Walter Thompson New York. JWT is an international advertising agency headquartered in New York. With more than 200 offices in 90 countries, they boast Ford, Johnson & Johnson, Macy’s, Rolex, and Nestle as clients… just to name a few! Peter was kind enough to give us a tour of their offices as well as talk to us about what working at such a large agency is like. While there are obviously many differences, it was interesting to see just how many things are the same!