Nate Ludens • Creative Communications

Wow. My head is spinning with so much new info. It seems like Thursday’s sessions were a month ago.

I’ll keep this short, because I’m hardly an aficianado for BlogWorld09, it was my first year attending, after all. Personally, I went to bwe09 to learn about social trending, get some help with a few problems, and peek into what’s next for new media. Each of these were answered, and I think my company is on target for big success. Being a corporate blogger, with B to C (Business to Consumer) priority, there were few courses aimed at us – didn’t matter. My team was able to flex and see many other sides of our next phases into social networking. Moving ahead, I’m interested in trending for travel, retail, entertainment and gaming (Vegas, remember), and I got a great insight into some other areas, as well.

If there were any repeating trends, it’s a very positive report for consumers. Maybe because it has to be. Consumers hold a ton of power now that well, hasn’t been the case in recent memory. Conversational, Two-way marketing initiatives are the way to go, if your company isn’t doing it already. Getting to know your _________________ (insert: segment, demographic, target, guests, clients, customers, etc) is now easier than ever using blogs, facebook and twitter. It seems like the only big fat losers are the poor market research companies who do used to organize focus groups and get paid handsomely for it. Oh, and MySpace. (Who?)

What was missing? Not much. It would have been nice to see a keynote from Facebook or Twitter representatives. Perhaps it’s not the proper place. Maybe I just don’t know where that convention is yet. I would love to see a Facebook Damage Control panel, but that might make it seem okay to violate Facebook Policies.

I picked up a ton of new followers on Twitter this week, which I appreciate. I also picked up Chris Brogan’s book, Trust Agents, and I’m tearing through it this week. I’m only about 40 pages into it, and I can say this: Buy the damn book.

Here’s a fantastic recap of Brogan’s very inspiring Keynote Presentation at BWE09.

I’ll have a few more updates as soon as I can get to it. Hey, cut me some slack! I’m sorting through 29 pages of notes!

… If that’s not a testament to conference, I’m not sure what is.

Congrats to my friend and favorite Photographer’s Assistant, Ally, on the launch of her new portfolio website:  http://www.alessandraavellanet.com/

Ally helped me with multiple sessions in recent years and I’m thrilled to see her doing well as a very talented makeup artist in LA. If you need someone who is skilled, savvy and has a great time on set with the talent, call and book Allessandra Avellanet.

Cheers Ally!

An article in last Friday’s Review-Journal could turn out to be a really timely effort from McCarran Int’l Airport. Hopefully, the revenue from billboard leases will trickle down to some of Las Vegas’ hungry creatives. This will lie entirely in the hands of the winning bidder, and I’m cautiously optimistic.

There’s tons of complex reasons why the creative industy here is hurting. Some are internal issues at companies who were/are  managed poorly, but most are directly related to gaming cutbacks. In this case, I think it’s a chicken-or-egg system. Sales are down, so companies have stopped spending on marketing. It’s the only “controllable expense,” they say…. I disagree, to an extent. Blindly pulling the plug on marketing is effectively selling off your entire brand investment. Hey – cut where you need to cut, but keep in mind the work and expenses that have led up to your sales slide. Not to mention the jobs for the people that stay late and work weekends for thankless campaigns that shift millions of dollars around town. I always try to buy these guys a beer or a pizza whenever I can.

On a similar note… Yesterday, while returning from Utah, my wife and I counted at least 10 consecutive billboards with nothing on them. I think billboard companies should have stock templates with general feelgood campaigns instead of running blanks. Hell, why not? I’ll even volunteer to design them. If you know someone who is in a position to make decisions on something like this – please email me. I’m curious to see the benefit of running a white blank board vs. a message reminding people to drive courteously, hang up their cell phones, or spend time with their kids when they get home.

Recently, my work has shifted into a more fun speed – as you can probably tell from the new tone of this site (thanks for all of the kind words, by the way, to those who are enjoying the more laid-back style) and this winter is going to be a fun one…

There will be some updates in the coming weeks about upcoming action sports events, new apparel designs hitting the streets, as always – concert coverage, special events and other exciting adventures.

This is going to be a fun Fall and Winter season. And, from the looks of this story, it’s coming quick.

This is a sweet machine, and I hate to get rid of it, but I have opted to keep my Mac Pro Dual 3GHz instead.

If you, or someone you know is in the market for a slightly-used iMac with 2GB RAM, please send me an email and I’ll get you the details. I will reformat it so its brand new OSX will be as if you just opened the box.

you can DM me on twitter @natevegas, or email me at info -at- blackdiamonddigital.com.

Thanks!

This week marks a very important event in the creative community – and one that I have discussed like a broken record with my local AIGA board of directors past and present (sorry, guys and gals) – spec work. I have spoken out against Spec at events, hoping to educate designers from participating in glorified poster contests for a – ahem – living.

I am excited to see my AIGA investment continuing to pay itself off. Aside from the countless friends and colleagues, job interviews, client leads and awesome continuing education opportunities – the AIGA leadership has finally put its foot down against Spec work. Yesterday, Catherine Wentworth from NoSpec! interviewed new AIGA president, Debbie Millman. The resulting interview, seen here, is fantastic. It outlines new mandates for the 100-year anniversary of The Professional Association For Design – each of which are more progressive (and aggressive) than I have seen from this organization to date.

I cannot thank these two leaders enough for supporting our industry, and I can only hope creatives – from the AIGA or not – will support each other and follow their lead.

I cannot stress enough the importance of having good friends in your industry. For years, I have offered to bail out anyone who needed a spot to hang out and check their email, work for a few hours (or weeks), make a handshake happen or find the name of a missing font. I’m always glad to do these things to help out friends in a jam – or even friends of friends. I’m sure most people are the same as I am – with a few bad check writers and client stalkers in there, of course .(Karma works both ways).

Over the last month or so, I have had some bumps in the road with software, hardware and an exciting new endeavor or two or three. Thankfully, some of the people who I have helped out of jams in the past have come to my aid – and these things call for a Humongous Thank You.

You know who you are, and you know I’ll bail you out of your next jam. Cheers, Nate.

Dear Adobe: I’ve been furious to the point that I’m sick to my stomach today because of this technical glitch DISASTER with Lightroom 2.4 and CR2 raw files. I recently upgraded to 2.4, and I wish I didn’t.

Though I take the responsibility for not making immediate CD copies of these files, I was holding for an order from the client, and moved on to other projects. There were 343 CR2 images, and now I can use about 5 of them.

I have posted questions and images below. Please – someone give me an answer?

1. Why were these files mysteriously moved to the trash?

2. Why were these files corrupted?

3. Why can I preview in Bridge, but the data is corrupted when I open the file?

4. How can I prevent this and tell others to do the same?

5. When can I stop feeling like puking?

Hi, and thanks for reading. This has been one Hell-Hot summer here in Las Vegas, and things are all shook up! Without getting into the dirty details or getting too dramatical (use ‘86 KRS-ONE voice), Black Diamond Digital has gone through some serious changes. Here they are in no particular order:

1. New site. You’re riding the ride. It’s 100% Wordpress driven. Feel free to leave comments on everything and let me know if there’s something you dig, or something’s broken.

2. No rush jobs. It’s a quality of life thing. Sorry. No fries with that, either.

3. Yes to fun projects, charitable projects, and helping friends out when they need it. (#2 still applies).

4. Follow me on Twitter. —>

5. Be good to people in this crazy economic rut. Karma’s out there.

Enjoy the new site. Let’s get together and work on something!

Cheers,

Nate

Varaluz Lighting assignments are some of my favorite projects. There are always unique challenges when shooting lighting – reflections, lens flares, wires, prototype issues, etc. Here are a few samples of recent work that I shot for Varaluz. Check out their website and read their manifesto: “We stand for fun, approachability, and originality.”