Hear that? If you listen carefully, you can make out the faint, trickling sound of the Baltimore-D.C. advertising community collectively pissing on the recession. It smells like success. And asparagus.
So, what’s the deal? What makes us so fucking special? Despite an overall unemployment rate that rose to 7.3% this month, Maryland’s still the richest state in the union, bitches. Businesses have money to spend. And we’ve got a collection of agencies, marketing firms, and special communications-whatevers ready to back the dump truck up to collect. Like the mighty Chesapeake Bay, a high-tide of salty business is flowing freely into the Land of Pleasant Living.
It too smells like asparagus.
Continue after the jump.
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Millennial Media
After a decade of predictions about a mobile’s break-though, the time may have officially come. Mobile marketing juggernaut Millennial Media just announced it’s hiring nearly two-dozen positions by 2011. That after growing its roster by over 30% in 2010. Two notable C-suite add-ons: Matt Gillis (Capcom) and Eric Hastings (Advertising.com). (via)
Advertising.com
After laying off hundreds of employees in previous year – thanks mainly to parent-company AOL shitting the corporate bed with ill-fated mergers, reorganizations, and generally just being AOL – Advertising.com is emerging from the ashes and getting its act together. They’re “refocusing” on shoring up their infrastructure and refining ad network packages to offer to companies. We’re not sure what that means, but as far as we can tell, the job hemorrhage has stopped. (via)
TBC
Actually, the most exciting thing we’ve heard out of this shop in recent days isn’t even about advertising. Josh Charles (of Don’t Tell Mom the Babysitter’s Dead and Sports Night fame) has recently gotten a lot of press locally and nationally for his role in the hit series “The Good Wife”. Based on what we’ve been told, it couldn’t have happened to a nicer guy. Which is all the more amazing considering his dad’s Allan Charles, Chairman of TBC and perennial contender for The Most Miserable Human Being in Baltimore Advertising Award. (via)
Marketade
Internet marketing company announced that it’ll become the Ty Pennington of search marketing by giving away a free SEO makeover to a small business in the D.C. area every quarter. Makes us feel all warm and fuzzy inside. No.That’s the asparagus again. (via)
The Washington Post
Via internal memo, the paper quietly announced that it will no longer post massage parlor ads. Apparently, they’re fronts for brothels. This is news to us. (via)
Expatriate News
The Baltimore Sun’s former general manager, Hilary Schneider, is stepping down from her post overseeing advertising and media sales at Yahoo. Word had it the company was trying to spin the event as an ouster, but sources say CEO Carol Bartz convinced her to stick around. She’ll stay on ’til the company can find more power-suited meat for its corporate grinder. (via)
The D.C. | Baltimore Egotist is the Mid-Atlantic region’s newest source for news, jobs, and talent found in the nooks and crannies of the advertising, media, and design industries – in the area and around these United States. Put that in your pipe and smoke it.