Doug Froutos
B.A.S.E. Jumper

Somewhere inside most of us is a basic animal instinct to survive, a primal tendency toward self preservation. And there there’s those guys — the ones who throw themselves off of buildings, and bridges, rock outcroppings and cell phone towers. Who are these people!?

Well, Doug is one of those people, and he came by Wexley a few weeks back to talk about what it’s like to fall, really fast. About the natural evolution of the BASE sport, the underground percolation and spread of it, the innovation of designs and techniques being shared across the globe. And, perhaps most importantly, what are the things you need to know in order to survive, and live to fall (really fast!) another day.

Doug brought his gear with him, and first took some time to explain the physics and mathematical realities of falling through the air. And then, just to make everyone squirm in their seats and feel really uncomfy, he showcased some incredible footage of insane jumps from fjords in Scandinavia.

He left us all inspired, a little bit breathless, and feeling like maybe Wexley wasn’t the craziest thing on the planet after all.

Ian Cohen held his weekly office-hour today, as scheduled, at 1:00pm Pacific Time.

“It went really well,” Cohen explained. “No one came by, so I kind of sat there and just listened to the Decemberists, Adam Ant, Juno, RUSH, LL Cool J, some Beasties, Beck and a few other songs. I also wrote my mother and wondered if I was going to be able to fit into my suit for Jamie’s wedding this weekend.”

Tuesdays are Cohen’s office-hour day. “I picked Tuesdays because of the whole ‘Two fer Tuesdays’ theme. Of course, I only offer one hour for my office-hour, but whatever.”

Thursday is Cal McAllister’s office-hour day at Wexley. Cal explains, “Thursdays are great. I picked Thursday because it was one day after hump-day, so people get that out of their systems and are ready to meet and talk.”

Together, McAllister and Cohen offer a total of two office-hours a week. To date, they have only showed up for two of them, but so far so good. Art Director, Michelle Crum, croons over the new format. “It is so great to have the possibility of seeing Ian or Cal. Even though they haven’t been in their offices for more than half of the office-hours, it’s nice to know they care enough just to think about having office-hours.”

Cohen expands, “We feel that if we act like we care about our employees, they will act like they care back.” And it is Wexley’s great acting that really separates them from other places. That and their good looks, chiseled chests, strong jowls, magical medulla oblongatas and stuff.

ROB GIRLING – Interaction Designer
Co-Founder of artefectgroup
www.artefactgroup.com

Hailing from one of the first Interaction Design (IxD) graduating classes from the Royal College of the Arts in London, Rob Girling carries over 16 years of deep curiosity, instinctual understanding, and a massive love affair with technology. All of which clearly made him the most technical minded individual in the building on the day of his symposium talk. Hands down.

Interaction Design is based on a focus of how people interact with a “thing”, be it an object, a system, or interface. With marketing and advertising moving more and more away from traditional mediums, and delving deeper into the digital space, and experiential space, the POV of a well trained Interaction Designer can mean success or failure in the hands of the consumer.

Rob walked us through some of the basic tenants of Interaction Design, the importance of understanding the core human needs and desires (latent and otherwise) that live behind consumer choices, as well as the belief in rapid prototyping to test ideas early and move quickly from iteration to iteration.

With digital messaging and executions often moving between screens (TV, Monitor, Phone, iPod) and into the real world (holograms, and projections), leveraging the unique POV of an Interaction Designers mind can illuminate new answers and opportunities not found in the typical agency playbook. And we like that. No, we heart it. A lot.

Finally Wexley has done it. Finally! After exhausting its supply of living, breathing, sexy day-walking interns Wexley has hired Brandon. A dead Brandon. Where did we find him? Beyond the grave! BWAHAHAHAHAHAH! (several loud peels of thunder)

Ok not really…but he did play a dead person in Pirates of the Caribbean III and in an episode of Bones. That’s right, Brandon double died. And it was mind-blowing. We don’t know how we did it, but we lured Brandon away from the luxurious lifesyle of an established F-list actor. Did you hear that Hollywood? Are you scared? You should be. We have Star Power now, and we’re going to use it to establish a fan base of screaming tweens and new accounts. You don’t believe us do you? Well we don’t believe you. Here’s proof unbelieving unbeliever:

Brandon about to feel the ropey sting of death in Pirates of the Caribbean III

Brandon and his brother, victims of murder and bad acting.

Yup, Brandon died alright. So did his brother. You know someone is dead when David Boreanaz holds up a blurry photo of them. That’s prime-time dying. That’s supernatural talent. And that’s exactly what Wexley was looking for…that and a nice deli-fresh panini sandwich. There ain’t nothin’ like a piping hot ‘nini. MMMMMMmmmmmm. Brandon makes that sound after he bites people. Our skin itches…

Here it is. Just in time to kick off the New Year, a tour of our new office space. The architectural details are simple to get out of the way — about 7,000 square feet (US), which is like 10,000 kilograms if you are using the metric system. We have two stories, creating a dangerously fantastic two-layer cake of awesome.

There is a crew of contributors too long to mention, but the key players know who they are and we’ll see you in heaven when we get up there. We’ve elected to keep them anonymous for fear of someone else encroaching on our quality time, but if you really really really need to know because you are putting in a back deck or even better a terrarium or rain garden, just give us a call and we’ll give you a suspect phone number.

Also, despite the best efforts of Eastman, Kodak and Thomas Edison, the true fabulosity [clearly “fabulosity” is a better made-up word than “fabulousity,” and is easier to pronounce as well] of the most amazing agency in the universe cannot be captured by any electronic, manual or pinhole device. You’ll need to come visit. Fair warning, though. If you think you may become pregnant (male or female), bring your own contraception. There’s every possibility you’ll leave here knocked up with an embryo of amazement in your uterus.

As you scroll through the pictures, let us answer some general questions before you even ask: Yes. Don’t kid yourself. Yeah, that’s what she said. No, you couldn’t, so don’t even try.
And now some specifics. Indeed, that’s a 9-foot tall chainsaw-art grizzly bear. Yes, those are workable desks as part of a 9-hole putt-putt golf course. Of course every desk in the sweatshop comes with a sewing machine. Uh huh, we did turn that baby grand piano into a conference table. Don’t be dumb, it still plays. We knocked down an exterior wall and put in a garage door, that’s how the camper trailer got in there. There are 78 rubber chickens in the Chinese restaurant. Other than that, all questions can be answered with “What did you think, this is Wexley, not (insert whatever other company you want here). Duh.”

The one thing you’ll notice is a lack of mirrors. Our own overwhelming sexiness caused us to be mesmerized by ourselves, so we took them down. Plus, when you are carrying the collective looks we display, a mirror is just a waste of time. We know how hot we are, and are long past the need for constant reaffirmation. Snap out of it. See, we almost lost you there just thinking about how hot we must be. Welcome back.

Now enjoy the tour.

It’s true, the amazingly brilliant people at the Wexley School for Girls this morning found the end of infinity. For years and months scientists and scholars have been baffled by inifinity and it’s apparent lack of ending, but no more. Wexley has found it. And the end is— Pi. “It all just made sense,” says Bryan Chackel one of the people who helped figure it out. “When you look at the figure eight infinity sign in its natural state, in your natural sate: naked, under black light in the back room eating carrot sticks, it looks different.” It was then that the astonishing discovery was made. “Yeah, it was like, I see something right there, and Jill was like, I see it too, and then Tom was like, it’s the end and Kristen was like, and it looks like Pi!” And that was that. It really wasn’t that big a deal, but since so many scientists and paleontologits have been seeking the answer for so long, we thought it would be wrong to keep it to ourselves.

If you want to get up close and personal with the Wex, you have your chance today. We’ve taken a break from working out and flexing in the mirror to help create some awareness for our partners Nau. You can find us out and about Westlake Center in downtown Seattle today rocking the Catwalk Crosswalk with our Nau models.

We just have to say something that may be tough for some people to understand. Stop it, clients! Yeah, we said it. Stop it. Stop trying to have sex with us every time we have a meeting. Stop gazing across the conference table and undressing us with those sexy, intelligent eyes. Do you even know how hard it is to consistently do earth-shattering plans and strategies and creative , only to look up at you and see you ready to pounce like a rabid tiger in heat ? It is unnerving. Look, we know, we get it. We’re hot. We are the most attractive agency you’ve ever worked with. We are smart and witty and sometimes speak with sexy accents even though none of us are from a foreign country, but please. We ask you now nicely. Stop it. Fantasize if you must. We’ll send you some 8 x 10 glossies of the agency presenting some creative boards if you want. But stop it in person. If you want our best, we’re gonna need your best Aretha Franklin. RESPECT. Ok. Thanks.