Marcusgrahamproject

After a long break from The Drum we return to visit with several of the team members from Bippitus, who participated in our summer boot camp program.  They will share their experiences and progress since the summer as we share some of the exciting updates from the Marcus Graham Project.

This week we will be speaking with Dalen Spratt about his experience  as a cast member on VH1's "I Want to Work For Diddy" and his new book A Mother's Guide to Manhood.  Dalen L. Spratt has been a trendsetter and on target to succeed since childhood. Born and raised in Dallas, Texas, he is the epitome of a true southern gentleman, thanks to his mother and aunts who raised him.  Spratt has been featured on both BET’s Hell Date and VH1’s I Want to Work for Diddy Season 2, where he radiantly stood apart from his competition. His unique, polished fashion sense attracted attention from the ladies who have dubbed him the "Black Zack Morris.”   At the age of 24, Dalen L. Spratt had the background of a seasoned vet. Graduating Magna Cum Laude from Clark Atlanta University with both a B.A. and M.B.A in Marketing by the age of 23, Spratt has proven that he is truly a success-driven individual.  In the winter of 2007, Spratt journeyed to Beijing, China, to study abroad at Capitol Normal University, where he became engu

We will be recapping the Summitt at Sea event with Jason White (Global Account Director at Wieden + Kennedy), Antnio Neves (Journalist, Writer, Producer and Founder of THINQACTION.com), Dhani Jones (Athlete / Entrepreneur) and Kenji Summers (PassportProject Founder and MGP Co-Founder). Summit Series is a community of millenial leaders drawn together annually for three-electric days designed to connect, inspire, and empower. This year's Summit Series conference was be held April 8--11, aboard the Celebrity Century, an ocean-liner leaving from Miami and headed to an undisclosed tropical island in the Caribbean..

This week we will be talking to DJ Frances Jaye, creator of Neo Soul Cafe.com.  Frances Jaye is an eclectic, music loving deejay and a self-professed music connoisseur who really knows how to deliver the “IT” to her audience. Her ability to give music lovers “the music that gets your head right” has garnered her the status as a local celebrity in Dallas, Texas.   In 2002, a change did come for the forward thinking, Frances Jaye.Her passion to “give the adult listening audience a format of music that they really want[ed] to hear” led her to create a multimedia movement called Neo Soul Cafe. Neo Soul Cafe provides the avenues for independent and mainstream artists to voice their visions, have their music heard and connect with their fans.

Want to learn how you can give back and support the next generation of leadership in our industry.? Questions about our program? This Sunday, on The Drum Radio, we will be discussing our donation drive for this summer's iCR8 Boot Camp. If you are interested in supporting, whether mentoring, volunteering, providing supplies or sponsoring, this Sunday's episode is for you. We will walk through the boot camp details and discuss all of the needs that out program has, as well as provide updates on the progress of the boot camp team, as they prepare to come to Dallas. If you are interested in donating physical items that are needed or if you are interested in volunteering for the summer program, please fill out our donation form by clicking here. Items that we are looking for include: Gift Cards for meals, Gift cards for Target or Wal-Mart, Gift cards for gas, iPads, laptops, software, books, cameras, etc. Please check out the the following link to learn more: http://www.crowdrise.com/gotamatch

Omino Gardezi is the CEO and Managing Director for Syrup, an international communications and creative agency headquartered in New York City and Stockholm, where he is directly responsible for the business’s worldwide revenue generation efforts, as well as the day-to-day operations. As one of the company’s founders, Gardezi has led the development and implementation of the company’s initial business model since partnering with Jakob Daschek in 2002. In that time, he has brought Syrup to profitability in record time generating more than $20 million in revenue and has expanded the company to nearly 50 employees across the offices located in New York and Sweden. Drawing from over 14 years of previous experience in the luxury consumer and enterprise sectors at influential international companies including LVMH, Creative Management, and Conde Nast, Gardezi brings an innovative and unconventional eye to Syrup that has helped differentiate Syrup from its competitors in the space. Gardezi also helped the business str

Guy Kawasaki is the co-founder of Alltop.com, an “online magazine rack” of popular topics on the web, and a founding partner at Garage Technology Ventures. Previously, he was the chief evangelist of Apple. Kawasaki is the author of ten books including Enchantment, Reality Check, The Art of the Start, Rules for Revolutionaries, How to Drive Your Competition Crazy, Selling the Dream, and The Macintosh Way. Kawasaki has a BA from Stanford University and an MBA from UCLA as well as an honorary doctorate from Babson College. http://www.guykawasaki.com/about/

This week, we will be speaking with members of the 2011 iCR8 Summer Boot Camp. We will chat about their interest in the industry, the application & interview process and their expectancy for the summer in Dallas. This conversation will help those going on interviews with some tips to a successful job search.

We will be joined by Warren Jones, a senior marketing major and coordinator of The Morehouse Marketing Conclave. The Morehouse Marketing Conclave is a student-run event that provides attendees with insight into what careers in marketing and advertising have to offer. It is sponsored by the Morehouse Marketing Association and is held annually. This year's event will be held February 25 - 26, 2011 on the campus of Morehouse College in Atlanta, GA in the Conference Facilities of The Leadership Center. In only its fourth year, this event has grown into a national event that brings together students from colleges and universities across the United States: To meet recruiters To network; and To learn more about hot topics in marketing and advertising To learn more about the event check out: www.morehousemarketing.com

This week we will have Dr. Jason Chambers, author of Madison Avenue and The Color Line: African Americans in The Advertising Industry. Until now, most works on the history of African Americans in advertising have focused on the depiction of blacks in advertisements. As the first comprehensive examination of African American participation in the industry, Madison Avenue and the Color Line breaks new ground by examining the history of black advertising employees and agency owners. For much of the twentieth century, even as advertisers chased African American consumer dollars, the doors to most advertising agencies were firmly closed to African American professionals. Over time, black participation in the industry resulted from the combined efforts of black media, civil rights groups, black consumers, government organizations, and black advertising and marketing professionals working outside white agencies. Blacks positioned themselves for jobs within the advertising industry, especially as experts on the black

The cast of MTV's The Buried Life joins us on The Drum for an inspiring conversation about bringing your dreams to life, producing reality television and closing the deal.

As Chief Reconnaissance Officer, ThayerWalker is Summit Series’ explorer-in-residence overseeing environmental affairs, global outreach, and communications. In addition to his role with Summit, Thayer is a correspondent with Outside magazine and has written for the New York Times, Men’s Journal, and Playboy. He has covered wars in Uganda and Nepal, explored the ocean at 2,400 feet in a homemade submarine, wrestled jaguars, and stranded himself on a desert island for 20 days—all for the love of story telling. Summit is his most exciting adventure to date. Summit Series is a community of millenial leaders drawn together annually for three-electric days designed to connect, inspire, and empower. This year's Summit Series conference will be held April 8--11, aboard the Celebrity Century, an ocean-liner leaving from Miami and headed to an undisclosed tropical island in the Caribbean..

Interested in launching your own business? We will be speaking with Ahmad Islam and Sherman Wright, founders of commonground marketing about entrepreneurship in the advertising and marketing industry. commonground was created in 2004 by Sherman Wright and Ahmad Islam. What prompted them both to leave executive positions at prominent Chicago agencies was simple: the passion to fill a significant void in the agency space. There was no agency fully equipped to address the “new marketplace” – a diverse and dynamic landscape comprised of the traditionally defined general market and a rapidly evolving multicultural consumer population.

During this episode of The Drum, we will open up the floor to questions regarding the summer boot camp. Applications for the boot camp will be due on January 14th. We will also discuss one of our boot camp clients, John Legend's The Show Me Campaign and make a special announcement with regard to The Jacqueline Factor.

This week, we will be speaking with Paul Bolls, co-director, PRIME Lab and Associate Professor in Strategic Communications at The University of Missouri School of Journalism. About PRIME: The PRIME (Psychological Research on Information and Media Effects) Lab is both a research and teaching laboratory devoted to the study of how different features of media affect the way that people think, feel, and act. We conduct theory-driven, empirical research using psychophysiology and other behavioral science methods. We also teach both undergraduate and graduate students how to conduct independent research using these methods. The PRIME Lab is part of the Missouri School of Journalism at the University of Missouri.

We have an exciting episode this week, speaking with Jovian Irvin about Thrivals 3.0™, a brand of thinking about the future. It’s a way of thinking and learning about the broad social, political, environmental, economic and technological trends that are shaping the mid- to- long term future now. Thrivals is a fun, mind bending, future focused, innovative, leading edge and thought provoking learning experience where humans of all identities are challenged by each other, to think about new ideas, rethink old assumptions, build on the minds of others, to become, to do, to understand, to otherwise live this single planetary experience to its fullest.

e will be speaking with Adrianne Smith, Executive Director for The Center for Excellence in Advertising at Howard University. Background: The 4A's has partnered with Howard University’s John H. Johnson School of Communications to establish a comprehensive center to address challenges, eliminate barriers and identify opportunities to achieve a more diverse and inclusive advertising industry workforce at middle to senior management levels. The Center for Excellence in Advertising is charged with the following objectives: * To provide professional development, leadership training and resources to increase and strengthen the impact of individuals of color in middle and senior level management across all disciplines. * To provide the advertising industry with research, analysis, strategic and tactical consulting, and policy input to attain diversity goals and objectives. * To benchmark best practices and solutions to increase the quantity and quality of persons of color in the industry.

We will be speaking with the founders of unKommon Kolor about being "young & creative." The owners of an amazing clothing line will share with us a little of their history and their future.

We will be chatting with Former Office of AIR partner and industry veteran Luke Raymond, who has recently partnered with NFL star Dhani Jones in creating a New York and Los Angeles based full-service advertising and design firm specializing in high-end interactive marketing in the fashion, sports, and hospitality industries. The firm is called VMG Creative. (http://www.vmg-creative.com/) Founded in 2010 by NFL star and business man Dhani Jones and Executive Creative Director Luke Raymond, VMG Creative provides digital design and marketing services that develop long-term brand loyalty for clients the world over. Since its launch, VMG Creative continues to build on its reputation as a progressive creator of strategic brand experiences on and off-line. Clients include: Ralph Lauren, Proctor & Gamble, United Football League, Eboost, Esquire Magazine…

This show will be the first in a monthly series highlighting "passion projects" of our members and supporters. We will be speaking with MGP co-Founder Kenji Summers (@kenjisummers) regarding The Passport Project initiative that he is launching. We will also speak with new MGP supporter and fiscal partner Trent Shelton, regarding his passion project REHAB TIME. This will also be a call to action to support each other through collaborative partnership.