Traveling in the U.S.A is nothing new for the TZ1 Business team, however for this New Zealand zoner it is a truly unique experience. So sitting here at Sydney airport, waiting to mosey on back (something I learnt to do in the U.S) to the creative hub, I thought it would be a good time to reflect on what has been an interesting time.

First off, it was a real shame my luggage was lost somewhere in the void which is LAX. It put a dampener on my first couple of days as I stressed out over having lost everything I had bought with me. My t-shirt collection would never been the same and the small matter of 50 odd cricket shirts for the TZ1 Fenders Cricket Team lost was enough to send the Chicago office into despair. I won’t mention airlines, but thankfully I was re-UNITED with my luggage with 2 days left of my trip. Luckily Boulder, Colorado had plenty of shopping to offer and I made it through the week without offending too many noses.

Pretzels! Why, why, why! Of all the things to be offered on an airplane they give you the one thing that tastes like cardboard, and are bound to leave you dehydrated if you don’t partake in the beverage service. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not complaining. I love flying the friendly skies as much as anyone else, but one tip… eat before you get on the plane, and then spend the time on the plane worrying if your luggage made it, better yet carry-on, but note you will have to make a mad dash to the front of the queue to ensure you get overhead baggage space as it is almost as valuable as gold. Well enough of the moaning (sorry if I have bored anyone), and on to the highlights…

Boulder , home of Crocs and Mork and Mindy . It was my second visit to Colorado, and this time I got the chance to have a walk around and take in the sights. Having now done that I can say Boulder is alot like Christchurch, and because of that I felt right at home. This Zoner could easily live and enjoy life there as it is a friendly, easy-going place. For anyone planning a trip to the USA, Boulder would be a great addition.

Chicago, as ol’ blue eyes Sinatra would say – my kind of town. Again this city was like a home away from home for me. Having lived in the big smoke before (Sydney), I am used to big cities and don’t find them intimidating. I probably did too much work and not enough sight-seeing while I was there (entirely my fault) but from what I did see it is one of the truly great world cities and one I would like to visit again (hint, hint, Zoner Business Team!) For anyone visiting I would recommend skipping Sears Towers and instead visit the Hancock Observatory , walk the magnificent mile, get down to the lake side, and visit Navy Pier . This is only a small part of a huge city but alot of fun.

All in all I had a great time and would do it again a million time over, but I am looking forward to getting home, sleeping in my own bed, and seeing the team in NZ.

So thanks to the Business Team for having me and I see you back there again soon (hint, hint, hint!)

Homeward Bound Blogger Tim.

P.S. To everyone in the creative studio… Australian Customs confiscated all the American candy I was bringing back, so sorry no Baby Ruths, Reeces Pieces, or Twinkies this time.

This is a new category I have introduced to the friday blogging, think of it as “entercation” for your weekend. Brought to you by the dance floor disaster himself.

Most of the creative team will be practising these moves to some whitesnake and starship on the balcony eagerly awaiting Kim’s Birthday party on saturday. I hope the same is goin on in the business team as we are a global company, we should all be skilled in some “couger” hunting manouvers.

Moves of the week: “The Bacon high speed foot shuffle” and “parrellel arm rocket lift”.

This video in my opinion is pretty much what turned Kevin Bacon, from a nobody, to one of the greatest actors/dancers of the millenium, or dare I say greatest of all time.

Does any one feel an ad coming on?

Brett “the freshmaker” King

Two times winner of employee of the week and current affairs trivia master David McLeod has drawn my attention to the recent decision of the New Zealand Olympic team to wear Crocs as part of their official uniform.

All athletes will wear the classic Beach, with female athletes donning the more directional sueded Alice to trip through the intricacies of the opening ceremony.

New Zealand fashionistas are predictably horrified while Kiwi Crocs aficionados are delighted.

Crocs are one of our clients, and we at TimeZoneOne are proud that New Zealand Olympians will be shod in such colorful comfort. Our award winning team of extremely fit creatives wear Crocs every day, and we walk miles to and from the printer on a daily basis, so we can vouch for their practicality.

Posted by Elizabeth, Blog Maitresse du Jour

Today’s color is green. For those of you not in the know, it is the color of St Patrick’s day and TimeZoneOne. Everyone in the office has come to work wearing TimeZoneOne green Crocs adorned with four leaf clover and leprechaun jibbitz whilst indulging in some pantone 802 green colored Captain Cook Spruce Beer. St Patrick’s day has to be the most widely celebrated national day in the world, with Christchurch and Chicago both joining in the craic. Every year the Chicago river is died green to celebrate this Irish day, whilst all the Irish pubs in Christchurch dye the beer green. For the sake of authenticity, yes I am (a tiny bit) Irish. My great great grandparents were from Northern Ireland and I visited the ancestral home at Lough Muck, County Tyrone while on my OE (more on this kiwi tradition later this week). I didn’t have enough warning of my blogmastership to bring some of my own photos, but I did manage to find a slideshow posted by a fisherman of the Lough on youtube.
Rose ‘blogsaineolaí‘ Carson

Today I had a dig through the TZ1 archive to see what we were up to on this day last year. This day last year was a Sunday in New Zealand, so we would’ve been relaxing eating pavlova, but we got back into doing awesome stuff on Monday the 12th. Here’s a snapshot of some of the awesome things we were up to this time last year…

Blogmaster McLeod, TimeZoneOne

It is an exciting day today at TimeZoneOne. It’s a big “welll donnneee” to us and our client Crocs as we have just found out that we are a finalist in the 2008 EFFIE Awards for advertising effectiveness. This is for our campaign “Crocs – take a closer look”. The EFFIE judges have advised us that “becoming a finalist signifies that your campaign is among the most strategic and creative examples of how brands are successfully connecting with their customers, and your team should feel proud of your success.” We do indeed feel very proud today and could not agree with the judges more! We are all slapping ourselves on the back for a job welll donnneee!!! The results will be out mid March…imagine the celebration if we won!!! Nigel Foley, TimeZoneOne.

Well-known for their community support, it came as no surprise when Crocs embraced their Rocky Mountain roots, stepping up as Official Sponsor of the inaugural Honda Ski Tour (HST) in February and March 2007.

To get Crocs’ sponsorship off on the right foot, TimeZoneOne stepped up too, developing an innovative 30-second TV commercial to air on ABC during its HST coverage.

Remaining true to Croc Art, the creative style we’ve originated for Crocs worldwide, the commercial introduces several 2.5-D animated characters. While the colourful skier, snowman and kid on a sled celebrate winter’s wonderland, viewers are invited to share in the frosty fun too – look carefully: every figure is sculptured from Crocs™ shoes, right down to the trees and snowflakes!

2.5-D, I hear you ask? The Crocs™ characters are not flat, but they’re not exactly three-dimensional either. However, with the quality of the build, we’ve effectively achieved 3-D quality.

Click to view the commercial for yourself: