Digital Directions - Columns

Bandy-Carroll-Hellige:
First in Louisville to
Ride the Interactive Tide

by Elizabeth Brown Lawler, January, 1995

Tim Hellige first saw how multimedia could be used for presentations at Videobred last summer. Bob Manning, Videobred president, had about five demos, including an animated Videobred presentation designed for sending out on floppy disk.
He copied the demo to his new Powerbook and took it to show his partners. "It was great," Tim said, "and it's the way things are heading." He decided to investigate using interactive multimedia for the agency's new business pitches and knew it was important to keep it in-house. He talked to Cindy LaRoy, BCH art director and top Mac guru, about doing research. She and Susan Consadine, BCH's promotion manager, went to a seminar on multimedia to learn about what was possible.
Then they contacted me to find about recommended software and get training. A storyboard was written, then revised, then revised again.
Cindy had some apprehension at first with the software, but she picked it up quickly. She said the hardest part of the whole thing was really the time factor because ownership wanted it very soon. "They weren't familiar with what it took to get it done, because it's not only putting it all together, but creating the screens and graphics. I had to devote my entire schedule from 7 am to 7 pm for almost two weeks just to design all the screens and buttons." And beautiful screens they are, as samples show on this page.
"Of all the things I've ever done, this was the most challenging... challenging creatively. I wanted to produce something that was original... this is a whole different part of the computer industry than I'm used to. I wanted it to be fresh, appealing, colorful and fun."
While Cindy was creating the screens, she also had several BCH portfolio pieces scanned and converted for the presentation. Once the scans and screens were ready, it was time to script the presentation.
Cindy and I got together frequently over the next few weeks. Day-to-day work demands would occasionally postpone meetings, but Cindy was very strong about getting the project done - admirable since so many in-house projects get pushed to the back burner. In training sessions, she did all the work with my coaching, so she would be capable of flying solo when it came time.
And finally, it was done. Cindy presented it to the entire agency one Friday afternoon. The response? "Extraordinary." "Outstanding." "Phenomenal."
"The biggest suprise was seeing it put together for the first time.. I never expected it to go as smoothly as it did, and was thrilled that it turned out the way it did."
When Cindy was told she was now among about five people who know this program in the city of Louisville, she said, "it's thrilling to have an edge on what's going to be the future."
And the future has finally reached Louisville. Investigating has shown that BCH is the first local agency to have an interactive capabilities presentation. Like many agencies, BCH has come a long way with technology over the past three years. And, instead of just keeping pace with others, Tim says the agency is really thinking ahead in many ways, including multimedia. "This is the way it's heading," he says, "and we've got to be on top of things."
Now, for new business pitches, Tim can pack up the Powerbook, projector and go. He says interactivity is so important for changing pace in the middle of a new business pitch. "It's another way to give you an edge."
Says Tim, "I'll never ever again use boards."

BCH also has a page on the Web! Click here to visit their site and play some advertising trivia!