There is a fantastic event called Adhesive that I heard about since starting at McCann. It's a monthly event (usually on Wednesdays, how appropriate that I'm posting on a Wednesday!) that gets together creatives, photographers, photo reps, agency art producers and the like.
The "adhesive" part is that everyone gets a name tag that sticks to your clothes and you go around meeting people.
One of the organizers of this event is my co-worker Wini (pictured below at an Adhesive event at Ace Bar) so I asked her and the other (3) organizers to do an interview for agmacsparty. Answers are below.
If you work in a related field, or would just like to meet creative people, sign up for their invites on Facebook! There's always a great turnout and I've met some great people so far.
Adhesive consists of:
Shabnam Azadeh, Agent, Kate Ryan Inc.
Wini Barron Alcorn, Senior Art Producer, McCann Erickson
Brian Bergeron, Assistant Creative Director, The Museum of Modern Art
Tim Willis, Partner, Lockbox Productions LLC
Q: What exactly is Adhesive and how did the idea of it come about?
Wini: Well, “It was a dark and stormy summer night...” The story is Shabnam and I were trying to setup two mutual friends. Neither wanted to go on a 1 on 1 date, so we organized a small happy hour of about 10 people, with the “couple” as part of the ten. We all had such a good time,and even though the matchmaking was a bust, we decided to do another one the next month, invite a few more friends, and then again the next month with more friends.... and there you go. It has just been growing ever since. We started the name tag idea at maybe the 4th one. As more and more people came, we thought it was a fun way to introduce yourself, and make it known you were at the bar for the Adhesive event.
Q: How long have you been doing it and what is the role of the organizers?
Wini: The first drink night was in August 2007, and we have been fairly successful with doing one every month. As for our duties as organizers, one of the biggest challenge is picking a date and finding a venue. Also, as the mailing list has grown, we are now using facebook and a website to announce the next dates.
Brian: We are the public faces of Adhesive and welcomers/greeters. Shabnam is in charge of flirting with everyone.
Shabnam: I think we have all 4 do a pretty good job of splitting the months playing Host and all support each other at the events writing nametags and introducing people.
Q: Are there any criteria or commonalities among the bars you guys choose and any special activities or things that set the Adhesives apart from the rest of the bar scene?
Wini: Dive bars, inexpensive drinks, and a BIG space, and food is always a nice bonus.
Shabnam: We are always asking for recommendations.
Q: Do you have a website?
Wini: Yep, my husband designed it. It is REALLY basic as we think simple is best. There is some discussion about expanding the content, but we haven’t really decided where we want this to go. Check the site out!
Shabnam: David has been so patient and knowledgeable with designing and maintaining the site....as far as expanding the site we are open to people that can volunteer their time and skills to help!
Q: How do you envision Adhesive expanding or evolving in 2009?
Wini: Adhesive has been asked to co-host events with other groups, and we have hooked up with Casey Kelbaugh from Slideluck Potshow a few times, as we both speak to the same NY creative community. As a group, we are excited but unsure how we will grow and change, but with the volume of people attending our events, it seems like we have found a niche. The random, organic quality of the drink nights is a big plus to us, as we feel it is not an overly produced, high profile networking event with member fees, sponsors, our agenda. Adhesive is about chilling out with friends, making new ones, and getting to know the people you talk to all the time for work, but have never met.
