Join us for the Groop Skool Executive Breakfast Series!

August 31st, 2010

Tuesday, Sept. 14th
7:30 am to 9:00 am

Akasha Restaurant
9543 Culver Boulevard
Culver City, CA 90232

Come join us September 14th, 2010 at the renowned Akasha Restaurant for Groop Skool’s Executive Breakfast Series: “Digital ADD” Breaking Through. A panel of experts from some of LA’s Top media and entertainment companies will be discussing how to break through the clutter of today’s complex digital media ecosystem.

The breakfast will be held at Akasha restaurant located in beautiful Downtown Culver City’s restaurant row. Enjoy a locally grown, organic menu to the insightful discussions of our talented and experienced panel. Come prepared to jump in the conversation as we intend to answer all your questions on developing digital products that reach and engage today’s hyperactive users.

For more information or to sign up visit www.executivebreakfast.eventbrite.com

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Jose Speaks! AIGA/LA & Adobe – Moving From Print to Web

July 21st, 2010

Jose Caballer and Channa Messer will be speaking at the Downtown Independent Theatre Thursday, July 22, 2010 from 6:30 pm to 10:00 pm to discuss and teach how to extend your print skills onto the Web. Held by the AIGA Los Angeles & Adobe, this series will cover Interaction Design, Planning and Presentation. They’ll be showing videos from Adobe Youth Voices and will be giving away a copy of Adobe CS5. This is the 3rd event in the series created by Kellis Landrum.

For registration and complete details visit

http://aigalosangeles.org/events/2010/07/aigala-adobe—moving-from-pri.php

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Church of Twitter Hightlights Video

December 21st, 2009

Some of the reviews:

“Jammed packed with info!”

“Honest testimony, passion, thoughtful information”

“Loved the open and informative atmosphere”

“Engaging speakers, relevant discussion”

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Bookmeat Fundraiser Post Video

November 30th, 2009

Thank you to all who participated in making Bookmeat a success. The Side Street staff, the board and the event committee.
And thanks to the Groopies who gave of their time to help with the event marketing, AV and nifty video below.

Visit Side Street

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Join Us Tonight for “Design Process Innovation” in Marina Del Rey

November 19th, 2009

Design is more than a pretty face.
Successful collaboration between designer and client is proven to improve business by many measurements.
Three designers and their clients present case stories demonstrating the value of design to the business enterprise.

Tonight November 19th, 2009
6:30PM to 8:30PM

Details Below.

“Ideas Hitman” David Brody from North Social to Speak at Church of Twitter

November 5th, 2009

When executives need a marketing catalyst to come in, challenge a “this is the way we’ve always done it” mindset, and inspire consumers to take immediate action, they ping Brody. Exploring and developing new innovative approaches to business is not a hobby for him; it’s a full time pursuit.

Brody arms North with over 20 years experience in venture analysis, brand strategy, product launches, retail promotions, consumer anthropology, and developing disruptive concepts in traditional and emerging mediums.

Before drinking the Virgin Kool-Aid, Brody wore just about every strategic leadership hat within the advertising industry; from Copywriter to Account Planner to Creative Director. He created and spearheaded the Concept Team for the Integer Group/TBWA, America’s 4th largest retail promotion agency with over 800 employees nationwide. The sole mission of this intrepreneurial project was to breed a higher degree of innovation and trigger breakthrough impact for new business and high-priority client initiatives; it resulted in putting more beers in hands, more butts in seats and game-changing thinking into motion for big brands like Coors and Coors Light, the NFL, EarthLink, Qwest Communications and United Airlines.

He first sharpened his experiential marketing chops as Director of Game Operations for the Sioux Falls Skyforce of the Continental Basketball Association, where he was recognized league-wide as a promotional innovator. Each home game he entertained the fans with a mix of stunts that included dropping pizzas from the arena rafters and showcasing on-court diaper derbies. He even taught the team’s mascot how to dunk (yes, “with authority”) off the mini-tramp. Brody graduated from the University of Arizona, and spends his free time pedaling bikes, tracking down the ultimate carne asada taco, and boasting about his prowess in Ping Pong.

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Sean Bonner Metblogs Founder and the Host of iPhun to Speak at Church of Twitter

November 5th, 2009

Sean Bonner lives in Los Angeles though is often spotted elsewhere. He’s one of the guys behind Metblogs, the host of iPhun and has previously been involved with art galleries and record labels of the punk rock variety. He also is a big fan of bikes.

“Sean Bonner is a pioneer of social software, Internet memes and online publishing. In addition to being an excellent and highly sought-after speaker, he is quickly becoming known as one of the celebrated icons of the modern Internet subculture – his mere presence attracting huge crowds of fans. I for one am a true believer.”
- Joi Ito, CEO Creative Commons

He has been featured in GOOD, Wired, Playboy, Salon, Forbes and others, been included in Yahoo!’s Best of the Web, and has spoken at conferences, events, and coffee shops around the world.

As co-founder and CEO of Bode Media Inc, Sean helped create Metblogs, the worlds largest network of local media blogs. As a consultant, he has helped The Groop, Jack In The Box, LAPD, Suicide Girls, Obey Giant, Shopzilla and others interact with their customers, clients, and fans online. He also speaks frequently at conferences covering blogs, media, networks and grassroots journalism. Recently he’s spoken at IzeaFest (Orlando, FL), SXSWi (Austin, TX), Roboexotica (Vienna, Austria) and Re:Publica (Berlin, Germany). As an event organizer, Sean brought BarCamp to Los Angeles, produced the first art exhibition comprised solely of phonecam images, ran art auctions and benefits for the West Memphis Three. Sean is also a guest blogger/contributor for BoingBoingVideo and the host of the iPhone game review show iPhun.

You can find out more about Sean at his blog:
http://blog.seanbonner.com/

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AIGA LA Presents Tomato – The Pictures

October 1st, 2009

Last nights AIGA event was awesome. Tomato was awesome.
If you missed Michael Horsham, Dylan Kendle, and John Warwicker below are the pictures.
This is just one small example of the Awesomeness that an AIGA membership brings you.

If you are a designer and you are bummed that you missed it. Make sure that you don’t miss the next one.
Become a member and they will hook you up. I just renewed my “lapsed” membership. I was able to do the $79 a quarter version to save on the cashola – as you know times are rough…

Click Here to Become a Member

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[ AIGA LA ] Presents An Evening with Tomato in Downtown Los Angeles

September 20th, 2009

7:00 pm – 9:30 pm / 30 Sep 2009

Downtown Independent Theater

251 S. Main Street
Los Angeles, CA 90012

Two Blocks from The Groop offices

View Map
Register Now

Wish you could get the coolest event tickets in town? Ever wonder what graphic designers from the U.K. are doing to revolutionize the graphics and media world? What happens when you combine art, media and music? Join us for “An Evening with Tomato,” presented by Michael Horsham, Dylan Kendle, and John Warwicker. Tomato members Horsham, Kendle, and Warwicker will cross a continent and an ocean to share their secrets on all aspects of art ranging from commercial print to music and sound to architectural design. This is a once in a lifetime opportunity to meet and gain insight from an amazing group with valuable experience with cross-platform art. Horsham will present a general selection of work, Kendle will present film work and Warwicker will discuss process – Tomato’s philosophy and approach to making work.

Time
7-8pm Cocktail reception
8-9:30pm Presentation

Tickets
Members $20
Non-members $30
Student members $10
Student non-members $15
Tickets will be an additional $10.00 extra when purchased at the door.
(no cancellations or refunds)

Parking
Paid parking lot for $9 north of the theater is available as well as street parking.

About Tomato
Tomato, formed in 1991, also includes members such as Karl Hyde and Rick Smith, dance music idols of Underworld. While Tomato members are from various arenas, many collaborations and blending have resulted from such creative diversity. Recent works of Michael Horsham includes branding work for a new art museum in Italy, rebranding of the UK government body design for London, and a campaign for Chevrolet with Simon Taylor. Kendle, designer/film director, has directed numerous commercials, music videos, and film title sequences including Danny Boyle’s Trainspotting. His recent print work includes campaigns for Ford and the French act Nouvelle Vague. Warwicker, one of the original founders, has directed several film projects and consulted for the governments of Britain and Sapporo on creative industries. He has also written and designed two books with Underworld’s Hyde. Warwicker is the first foreign member of the Tokyo Type Directors Club and adjunct professor of Architecture & Design at UTS Sydney.

www.tomato.co.uk

AIGA LA

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Art Opening Saturday September 5th at The Groop’s Neighbor Art Space – LM PROJECTS: Cause & Effect

September 2nd, 2009

Featuring Nova Jiang, Len Lye, Robert Rauschengerg, Jacob Tonski, Peter Fischli & David Weiss

LM PROJECTS (Formerly know as Bank) is please to announce its first exhibition, “Cause and Effect,” showcasing a collection of video based performances and kinetic sculpture from the mid 1960’s to the present.

Though the discourse surrounding each of the selected works diverge from one another and their classification as kinetic art, they nonetheless are linked through their mechanical, temporal, and movement based components. Glenn Kaino’s “In Revolution” and Len Lye’s “Trilogy: A Flip and Two Twisters” serve as a point of departure for the rest of the exhibition as performance and theatrics commingle with art and engineering. Rauschenberg’s “Open Score” and emerging artist Jacob Tonski’s “Balance Study, Threshold” are performative works dependant on the action of participants, while Peter Fischli and David Weiss rely on the chain reactions of common place objects and combustibles in “The Way Things Go.”

Read Full Press Release