We’ve always been known as the most fun company on the block, and at the same time we’ve always been just as serious about who we hire. Thankfully, those people that we now call Carrots helped us grow from a tiny startup to a small company to a global family. Our culture still feels like we’re that that small basement startup, but Carrot Creative has had the opportunity to grow and mature right along with our work, clients, and employees.
We’re trying to grow this family of ours with even more of the best so we want to make sure candidates know what they are getting when they apply to Carrot. From our application process, to culture, to offered benefits – yes, benefits like 401(k), health care, dental, vision, and your weight in Cheddar Bunnies. Carrot.is/hiring was created to do just that. Visit the page and you are taken to every possible open position, information about our culture (but you already know about that), benefits, and even an explanation of what to expect after you’ve put in your application.

We put a lot of consideration into each and every application and we wanted carrot.is/hiring to reflect that process. We respect each applicant’s time and effort and really wish we were able to respond to everyone. We predict that this will become increasingly difficult for us, but we are making efforts to improve that process. In the meantime, check in with Carrot.is/hiring, check in with the orange couch, and stay connected!

This article is copyright © 2012 

SXSW has come a long way since its humble beginnings. My music business friends have been going since the early days, and the veterans among them tell me about the times of a twenty band music festival. Today the festival is part interactive, part film and all music, pulling hundreds of thousands of people to the epicenter of cool in the Texas capital city.

I’ve gone to SXSW for the last five or six years. They’re all a blur, and it’s difficult to actually separate one from another. One thing is clear though – each year’s conference gets exponentially larger. There are so many people there, and every attendee has a very different agenda. It’s no longer possible to experience every panel, or every band, film or event at SXSW. And then there are a few hundred thousand people added to the mix…

People complain that “the khakis” have arrived, and that the festival is now filled with brands, CMOs and PR people who have no idea what the festival is all about, but who attend because “we keep hearing about this SXSW thing”. To some degree, there’s truth here. SXSW has indeed grown past what the city of Austin’s infrastructure can handle. Its constituency has exploded to include the uncool, the politicians and the people who don’t belong there. And this is life. And like life, SXSW can be overwhelming at times.

If I’ve learned one thing through my years at SXSW, I’ve learned that like anything, SXSW is what you make of it. You can go to learn. To have fun. To see great things. To eat BBQ. To make deals. To catch up with friends. What you get from SXSW is very much dependent on how you approach it, and what you desire as an outcome. Sound a lot like life? It is.

I’ve spent early years at the conference going to panels, meeting with friends, and making deals. And every year, came home smarter, more inspired and filled with business. Early on, I went without goals. Today, I approach SXSW differently. I approach the conference not too dissimilar from the way I approach a project, my career, and life. Set goals, aspirations and plans. And shoot for the best.

Before hopping on a plane to Texas, I’ve answered a few questions for myself:

• What would be a fantastic outcome to my participation?
• Who would I most like to meet for the first time?
• Who would I really like to catch up with that I don’t have time for in normal life?
• What kind of experience(s) would leave me inspired?

The answers to these questions (and the importance in the way they’re prioritized) will be different for everyone. Asking yourself these questions before attending SXSW…or any event in your life, for that matter…will directly impact the results of your approach, participation and success. (And finding great BBQ is pretty cool, too.)

The photo above is one that I snapped of St. Lucia immediately before interviewing them as a part of a video series that my team produced while at SXSW. This shot is reflective of my experience this year – outside of the conference center, surrounded by creative people, and filled with soul.

This article is copyright © 2012 

To make a long story short, my computer died. Yes, my precious little machine baby. The devastation! Oh, I’m sure it’s repairable and at some point I’ll lug it over to the Apple store to have it resuscitated in the most glorious and dramatic of fashions (imagine Anakin slowly rising in his Darth Vader outfit in the 3rd film after he rolls around like a jackass and gets all burned up on whatever planet that was), but for now, I’ll let it sit dead on my shelf because I noticed an interesting and important shift since it bit the dust.

Recently, I’ve been finding that an easy way to fall into a creativity rut, nay, abyss, is to succumb to the idea that constantly consuming content online will somehow translate to producing. It’s the mindset that if you look at enough pretty designs or scroll through countless pages of Tumblr posts or read enough blog entires that you’ll overflow with creative thoughts and ideas yourself. Does this help with the inspiration process? Sure it does. Is it necesarry to staying alert and aware in regards to thinking and making and being a Creative in this field? Sure it is. But there is a delicate balance. At a certain point, you overload yourself with things that others have made, and you yourself stop making. You aren’t consuming content that your mind can do anything with. The gears upstairs aren’t turning and instead it’s just a mindless intake of stale media. And it drains you.

I realized that after my computer died, I stopped coming home and hopping back online to mindlessly surf after having been in front of a computer all day at work already. As my MacBook slowly collected dust, I used this time to unplug. I read all the books I’d been meaning to get to. I caught up with people I hadn’t spoken to in awhile. I took walks around my neighborhood and checked out things I’d never seen before. I watched movies and actually saw them instead of just listening to them while I looked at random Facebook profiles for no apparent reason. (At this point I’m aware I sound like a recovering internet addict. That isn’t the case, I just like to use a dash of hypberole for dramatic/comedic effect.)

And joy of joys, ideas started coming back to me without much effort at all. I had, for too long, been sitting in front of my computer, consuming the creativity of others and hoping it would translate to ideas for myself. That doesn’t work. At least it doesn’t work for me.  I won’t say that people often ask me how to be creative because 1. it’s been written about to death and 2. no one asks me that anyway, but the answer (since you didn’t ask) is to take in as much real life as much as I possibly can. Go outside. Walk around. Listen to new music. Read new books. Visit new places. Talk to people. Ask them questions. Wonder about things. Write stuff down. Draw things. Appreciate everything. Notice everyone. Notice everything. Soak it all up. If you give yourself enough raw material to work with, your mind will make sense of it and do the rest for you.

For the record, I still love the Internet. It is a vast and magical land that constantly surprises (and often horrifies) me. It has affected and changed everyone’s life far more than most of us can appreciate and without it, my job and possibly this company wouldn’t exist. I’m not renouncing the Internet or computers, but I am emphasizing the importance of unplugging every now and then to appreciate the balance between consumption and creation.

This article is copyright © 2012 

Our hack was an attempt to see how the camaraderie of your social sphere could influence everyday consumption habits. Using the Tendril API, we allowed users to track their real-time electrical energy consumption data in comparison to that of their Facebook friends. In addition to being able to visualize trends in energy usage between you and your peers, users were able to commit to energy saving goals. These goals could then be shared on your Facebook wall in an effort to educate the public.

Above, you can see a screenshot of the energy consumption
comparison between you and your Facebook friends.

I am proud to say that our app took home prizes for Best User Experience and runner-up in the Tendril Energy Internet and Smart Home App Contest. It was also demoed by Tendril at DistribuTECH, the utility industry’s leading Smart Grid conference in San Antonio, Texas. It’s refreshing to see a company like Tendril taking advantage of opportunities like this Hackathon and is a testament to the fact that social media can really change the world.

The Green Carrot Team celebrating their win with Eric Shiflet of Tendril.

In addition to learning about how information technology could influence consumption habits, we also learned how an extremely limited amount of time could influence the workflow of our team. Rather than following our conventional methods for producing a web project, we chose to use a more organic approach. In the interest of saving time, our team utilized Google Drawings to create an interactive wireframe that allowed all of us to collaborate in real-time. Opportunities like this hackathon give creatives the ability to test out new methods of working together and if any part of this experience seems interesting to you I would highly recommend attending one in your local area.

This article is copyright © 2012 

And thus, Instacheer was born! Carrot designed and developed a website that pulls in holiday themed Instagram photos that fall in snowflakes over an animated snowy scape. You can easily toggle the various tags on and off. This way, if you have a hankering to only see photos of dogs dressed up as Rudolph, well… we wouldn’t dream of stopping you.

So check out Instacheer, share with the ones you love (and even ones you don’t love), and have a great holiday season from the Carrot Creative team!

This article is copyright © 2012 

While my favorite thing about Carrot is the people and being small enough to know everyone’s favorite food (note to self: pick up peanut butter filled pretzels for Dan), it’s still exciting that we’re large enough to offer great benefits that rival any New York agency. We’re still working on that free cafeteria, but we do have medical, dental and vision insurance plans. We prefer that our team members spend their time worrying about how awesome the work they’re creating is, rather than how they’re going to pay to get their tonsils out.

In truth, there’s only one thing missing from Carrot — you. We’re growing steadily and, in case you hadn’t noticed, we’re right smack-dab in the middle of taking over the world. We can’t sail this pirate ship without a full crew, so check out the positions below that we’re looking to fill. Think you’re a good fit? Drop us a line/email/pigeon/parrot/baked good.

Developers
Carrot does things a little different than the average agency. We’re looking for devs who will have an opinion and cringe at the phrase “code monkey”. Everyone is a creator at Carrot, and we mean that.
Check out the full description here (PDF).

Strategists
Did you play Risk as a kid? Are you the bomb at Connect Four? If so, we want to talk to you! Carrot is looking for a strategist who geeks out on data, has experience managing marketing/sales funnels, and relishes the idea of being measured on ROI.
Click here for the full description (PDF).

Assistant Account Executive
Do you have to-do lists for your to-do lists? Have others referred to you as their lifesaver, the one that helps keep everything together and running? Carrot needs support from a note-taking, calendar-scheduling person like you. Think you can help a brother/sister out?
Check out the full description here (PDF).

If Carrot sounds like a place you’d fit in, we want to hear from you.
Go ahead, fill out an application!

I may be one of the younger Carrots on the team, but I’ve had a lot of jobs at a lot of different companies. In my experience, Carrot Creative is the single most amazing company I have ever had the honor of being a part of. It’s not just that I feel like a part of a team when I come into the office, but I feel like I’m part of a family when I leave the office. We look forward to hearing from candidates to help our family grow!

This article is copyright © 2012 

This article is copyright © 2012 

This article is copyright © 2012 

Large Corporation = Oatmeal Raisin Cookie

Large corporations are generally what people really know, or are familiar with, when they think of “business”. You may think the large corporation is good for you (and for some people it is), but let’s be honest… few people really want to work for a large, staunch corporation. It’s sort of like oatmeal raisin cookies — you think they should be delicious but those raisins are ruining the whole thing. Let’s just say raisins equal red tape and move along, shall we?

“We Have No Money and Only Three Employees” Startup = No-Bake Cookies

There’s a lot to like about joining a real startup. I’m talking about a boot-strapped, let’s spend as little money as possible for as long as possible type of startup. Things are so exciting. You have control of the vision of the company, small victories are so satisfying, and it’s amazing to be part of the startup scene. You’re constantly surrounded by inspiring people who believe in their ideas, and it makes you want to push that much harder. But, you don’t have any money. Every expense hits hard. You’re often lacking resources…. sort of like missing an oven. Thus the comparison to no-bake cookies. Look, they’re good. Really good in fact. But at the end of the day, I want to be able to bake my cookies. I want to be able to have a little crunch when I take a bite. The no-bake cookie is satisfying, but only for so long.

Startup Funded by a Large Company = Peanut Butter Kiss Cookies

These companies seem perfect… at first. You’re part of this exciting startup environment and you have money. I know, it sounds impossible. But it does happen! So here’s the thing — once your fun and exciting startup gets acquired by a much larger company, things start to change. Suddenly there are restrictions on your work and the company culture becomes stunted. It’s sort of the good with the bad situation. You have this little peanut butter cookie, which on its own is good, but certainly not the best thing you’ve ever had. In the middle of this cookie you have the Hershey’s Kiss. Dare I say one of god’s greatest gifts to man. But you have to bite through a lot of the boring peanut butter cookie to get to that chocolate. Like I said, the good with the bad.

Perfectly-Sized New Media Agency = Funfetti Nutella Cookie

These companies… these are the ones you want to work for. Now I may be a bit biased given my love for working at Carrot Creative, but here it goes anyways. These agencies are less than 50 people, everyone has the opportunity to contribute to projects, and you have control over the work you do. Companies like this are exciting… and I mean exciting in the sense that things are always changing and challenging you, making it so you love the work you do. With companies like this, it’s about fit. It’s the perfect harmony of great work and great people. This is not unlike funfetti cookie sandwiches with Nutella in the middle. Each bite  is amazing, your taste buds flaring up while you sit there and think “Could it get any better than this?”. Well, the answer is no. No, it can’t.

This article is copyright © 2012 

I’m not afraid to say that Blogs with Balls is my favorite conference — and I’m sure you can guess why. The founders are amazing, the panelists always blow me away, and the conferences are held in the coolest locations with the best after parties. This year it will be back in New York at one of the most spectacular corporate offices in the country — Bloomberg Global Headquarters.

Blogs with Balls (BWB) is the leading sports new media event series in the country and is attended by the premiere sports media experts. I have presented at the BWB conference before, but this year I am particularly excited because Bloomberg Sports is hosting and the conference is being held at their headquarters. Of course, the best part (as usual) is the line-up of other panelists who I’ll be presenting with. There are 35 in all, including advertising, sports blogs, and sports entertainment. Basically, you’ll learn something if you just walk by the building. However, you’re guaranteed to learn something if you actually come to the event (and the pre- and post- parties on Friday and Saturday). If you’re wondering what you can you expect to learn from me, have no fear. We’re not just fanboys over here at Carrot. We have worked with some of the largest sports brands around: MLB.com, NASCAR, the NFL and most recently Burton Snowboards. Let’s just say we know what we’re talking about.

Panels will be covering a wide range of topics, but they will fall into one of the three objectives of BWB:

1. Facilitate best practice discussions for the online sports media community
2. Educate companies and advertisers on how to best utilize online sports opinion influencers and how to best interact with their audiences
3. Provide insight and strategy for athletes, teams, leagues and their representatives who are looking to tap into emerging mediums

Pre-sale tickets for the event are available now, but probably not for much longer. The conference is coming up fast, it’s already only a month away on Saturday, September 24th! You can purchase your tickets here.

This article is copyright © 2012