Back in the saddle.

My first "advertising" work since returning from the heart attack. Was really a kick to work with a new partner, Nancy Hannon, one of my favorite new people in my life. Just a great energy and talented. Brad Silberling (http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0797869/) directed. Great touch with the kids. It's nice to be back at work, but boy, do i miss the campaign. Rick Lawley of Whitehouse/LA, editor. Jenny Kennedy, agency producer. Steve Bassett, Creative Director.

The joy.

This photo says it all. The joy on our faces, captured moments after CNN projected Barack Obama as the next President of the United State. To my beautiful wife: thank you for sharing the hours, weekends, ups and downs, rallies and finally, election night with me. We are the ones we've been waiting for.

The vols.

We supervised an Obama staging location from the deep Richmond/Southside for most of October through Election Day. So many things stand out about our experience. The dedication and passion of the vols are what I will most remember. Here's to all the volunteers who passed through our location, knocking on doors, talking to voters, hanging door hangers, getting the vote to the polls. To all of you: thanks for being the change you wanted to see.

The staff.

I had a heart attack in July. I'm recovered and back working. But the nearly 3-month break from my agency job allowed me to volunteer almost full time for Barack Obama's campaign in Virginia. What a lucky break. To work on this historic campaign and help turn Virginia blue for the first time since 1964. Amazing. I tried to take as many photos as I could, posting a few here. The paid staff at the HQ in Richmond was so inspiring. Most are going to work for the admnistration. Thanks to all for the chance of a lifetime.


Sean, my FO for Richmond Southside. 19-years-old going on 40


Kristen, Field Organizer for Richmond City and Church Hill. You will go far.


Ashley, Deputy State Field Director and her top assistant, Nick. Great job, guys.

The Obama creative explosion.

Wasn't it amazing to see all the unofficial Obama ads, music, video, paintings, viral, clothes, content? The guy unleashed so much creativity in so many around the world. We jumped in with this viral, via Oh Hello, a talented animation house in Seattle. I think it stands apart from much of the Obama work because it's grounded in the good old Constitution - a document our outgoing President didn't care too much for. Production Co.: Oh Hello. Creative Directors: Dan Brown/Thai Tran/Joe Alexander. Producers: Nathan F. Barr/Darbi Fretwell. Music: Matt Hutchinson

Taking the leap. Kinda.

I've been fortunate to direct a couple projects the last year or so. It's something I'd like to do more of. (Join the club, right?) I love the collaboration and process. Having 15 years of experience as a writer and CD, I think I bring an understanding of agency fears and expectations - from the first call to the treatment to the pre-pro and shoot. if I could pick a strength - and I'm using the word "strength" very loosely - it would be working with talent, bringing out performance, nuance, listening for the sweet spot in the script or idea. I guess I'm just looking to shoot boards I like and with people who care.

The fierce urgency of now.

I have been spending as much time as I can volunteering for the Obama campaign here in Virginia. I'm doing whatever they ask: phone banking, canvassing, making flyers, networking, organizing events. My boss Sean is 19. 19? These kids are my heroes. The work is hard, yet I can't think of more important work than this. There is an urgency, an importance. I guess I feel a duty - as corny as that sounds - to do my part.



Bike spoke cards we produced for a bike canvass in Richmond.


Working the phone in the Virginia Obama headquarters. The posters on the wall we produced early this year and are up in offices all over the state. Check them out under the entry "After 8 long years, hope."


Sarah and I have canvassed many weekends, going door to door registering voters. The work brings us to some of the most neglected areas in the whole South.

We are all connected.

Richmond is a pretty insular Southern town. But The Richmond Forum is an outstanding speaker series that attracts leaders and thinkers from around the globe. The Forum asked us to revise their outdated opening with a video that welcomes the audience. Something that sets the mood for the night and in a way, congratulates for being there. Our idea was quite simple, but not so easy to pull off on a shoestring. Thanks to huge donations from Corbis and Kyle Cooper with Prologue. Writer/Director: Joe Alexander. Producers: Steve Humble, Val Battenfeld, Holly Flaisher.

Kids say the greenest things.

Getting 450 people at an ad agency to become more green is challenging. Slowly, we're changing behaviors. We're recycling more paper and plastic. We're making less copies and more digital presentations. We just held our first Organic Market. We have new bike racks. The green kitchen is doing great. But we keep thinking: how can we persuade a pretty habitual bunch to care even more about the planet? They have enough life or death stuff to deal with - this is advertising, after all. Every year, we hold Take Our Kids Work Day at the agency. This year, we had a ton of kids participate. The theme, naturally, was "Being Green." Lightbulb!! What if the kids did our job for us? Maybe they can tap into the emotional benefits of being green. The result is posted below. Kids, well, they are fun to shoot. You expect little surprises and they happen every time. Producers: Darbi Fretwell, Norma Kwee. Writers: Norma Kwee, Joe Alexander. DP: Jim Vaile. Editor: Scott Malkie. Music: Singing Serpent. Director: Joe Alexander.

Where did you get those big ears?

A new web home for PING.

PING GOLF has been a client since 1996. The game has seen a lot of changes since then. (We were still selling wood "woods" back then.) The great thing is, this little family-owned company in Phoenix is still the same. Honest. Brave. Passionate. And above all, innovative. Designing a brand site for them was years in the making. But we just put up phase one. I think it fits their brand to a tee. It's elegant, simple, fun and full of stuff. We are in the process of designing and executing a community area that will offer a deep, rich and engaging area for PING players to have fun. Site link at right. Creative team: Pete Samuels, Ed O'Brien, Michael Reginelli, Dave Padgett, Joe Alexander, Sandra Nam, Eric Hansen, Brodie Rich. Production: Firstborn, PING, The Martin Agency, Filmcore, HUM.

JFK wins at The Kelly Awards.

The 30 best magazine campaigns of 2007 have been selected and the "Ticket" campaign for The JFK Presidential LIbrary has been chosen as the best single page winner. Go to kellywardsgallery.org (link to the right) to view all the finalists. Pretty nice company. Art Director: Lee Dayvault. CD/Copywriter: Joe Alexander

After eight long years, hope.

Finally, it looks like Obama will survive Hilary and begin his campaign against John McCain. What a blessing to have a leader of his grace, vision and intelligence at this time in history. I have been lucky enough to have worked on the John F. Kennedy Library and Museum for the last 12 years. I've read close to a 100 books about JFK. I understand the man and Obama possesses many of the same attributes. Optimism. Grace. Reason. He is also coming along at a very similar nexus in our history. The world is ready for change. We need a leader that inspires us to be better people, parents, students, leaders and citizens. January 20, 2009 will be an exciting day in our planet's history. AD: Lee Dayvault. CW/CD: Joe Alexander

Saving the planet on a budget.

It's not easy. Just Google Wal-Mart and let the bashing begin. Making commercials for a brand like this is not for every creative. Some just can't get past the reputation. But I'm an optimist. I don't see a bad company. I see a force for positive change. So I jumped at the chance to work on the Earth Month campaign. It's not One Show gold. But I think it moves the ball forward for the brand and helps move the conversation from "I hate Wal-Mart" to "I didn't know Wal-Mart did that." Read a review here: www.brandweek.com/bw/search/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003798259 Art Director: Ron Villacarillo. Writer: Lee Remias. producers: Dan Kaplan, Katie Chirgotis CD: Joe Alexander.

Lucky to be there.

The first spot I directed for MASN, the regional sports cable network, has won two Gold Awards in the Baltimore Addys. It now heads to the Regional and National sections. (It also picked up a Bronze in the Richmond Show.) The spot was created by Elevation in Richmond and done through The MVP Group at the Martin Agency. Writer: Aaron Dotson. Art director: Frank Gilliam. Producer: Melanie Cox CD/Director: Joe Alexander Production Co: Trademark Films, FLA/LA

The anti-ad school.

Nancy Rice, One Show Hall of Fame member, has a pretty novel thing going in Minneapolis. She is teaching the advertising craft to undergraduates at MCAD. Basically, these kids are getting world-class mentoring from great professionals - minus the 30k it costs to go to more celebrated ad graduate schools. We created these posters for Nancy with the idea being how you think and craft an execution can sometimes be even more important than the idea itself. In my opinion, at least, kids in the graduate schools spend so much time "power-pointing" their ideas with planners, account people, etc. that they never learn finishing skills. Art director: Daniela Montanez CD: Joe Alexander

Putting ideas to good use.

Printouts. Ink. Packaging. Toxic materials. Waste. Ad agencies leave an incredibly large carbon footprint. About a year ago, a group of us at the agency set out to reduce our emissions. The first thing: implement single-stream recycling at every desk. Cans, bottles, plastic, paper, newsprint, etc. all in one container. Now, we pick up trash on odd days only. The result has been a reduction in our waste and more recycled materials. Of course, we had to create some great posters to tell everybody about our new program. Art director: Jenny Lui. Writer: Rex McGubbin. CD: Joe Alexander

More than a book about an ad agency.

Mike Hughes is the President and ECD at The Martin Agency. He is my boss. He is a 2-time lung cancer survivor. A couple years ago, Mike gave a stirring commencement address at a college graduation. The topic was "work, life and balance in this crazy business called advertising." I read it and thought it could be much more. With the help of David Grindon, a young AD at Martin, we re-tooled the words for a broader audience, added some great photos and design, and created "Welcome to the beautifully imperfect company." We have given it to all of our employees. And every new hire will receive a copy. But what I love most? It's now on sale at Hennessy & Ingalls in LA. We hope to make it available to a wider auidience soon. I will keep you posted.

Brown. The new green?

UPS is an amazing company. I've been lucky enough to have worked on the account now for a couple years and have written all of the Whiteboard TV spots with the star and my partner, Andy Azula. What I find most amazing about UPS is their relentless pursuit of efficiency. Here's a spot that illustrates just how far they'll go to reduce their operational carbon footprint. See all the latest spots at ups.com/whiteboard

The good news.

The news hasn't been very good lately. Meaning, not many newspapers, editors, reporters and networks have been doing enough to uphold their constitutional "watchdog" responsibilities. Gossip is not news. Maybe the Newseum, now open in D.C. can help rekindle our love for reasoned, skeptical and objective reporting of the news. Writer: Kevin Dunleavy. Art Director: Amy Elkin, Mark Brye, David Grindon CD: Joe Alexander

Play the ball as it lies.

In January, we shot a series of "letters" for PING Golf. The letters were submitted by PING players all around the world. We shot 12 of the letters in various locations around the PING campus in Phoenix. We used Tour players and employees on camera reading the letters. What I like most about them is they show just how much golfers LOVE the game of golf. You can see more at pinggolf.com/stories. Art director: Dave Padgett, Michael Reginelli. Producer: Darbi Fretwell, Sandra Nam. Director/Writer/CD: Joe Alexander

A greener shoot.

We recently shot a TV campaign about earth-friendly products sold at Wal-Mart. I think the work is nice. But I think we're most proud of the production of the commercials. We tried to reduce the carbon footprint of the shoot as much as possible. Attached is behind-the-scenes look. I know. I know. Wal-Mart. The big bad wolf. Don't judge too quickly. They are capable of much good, too. Writer: Lee Remias. Art director: Ron Villacirillo. Producers: Katie Chirgotis, Dan Kaplan CD: Joe Alexander