News From The Front

Welcome to News from the Front, news and updates from the Nonbox Special Forces. We are exposed to so many different companies, technologies, celebrities and industry luminaries we thought you'd be interested in what's happening in the Nonbox world. LAUNCHES. In the past few months we've been involved in the launch of a new company and a major fundraising effort. Sensydia, introduced the company and their Cardiac Performance System in June. Sensydia CEO, Tom Bruggere, is no stranger to the Portland technology and biotech scene with Mentor Graphics, 13Therapeutics as well as a U.S. Senate campaign on his resume...Portland's "Children Course" is in the midst of a capital campaign to build a Learning Center. Nonbox has provided all marketing materials for this fundraising effort. We're working with Friends of the Children CEO Eric Gabrielson, former W+K, and Ed Ellis, former Peter Jacobsen Sports. The goal is to raise $1.8 million and help kids learn lessons for life through the game of golf. THE BUSINESS OF BUSINESS. Tom Seavey, the Nonbox Special Forces member focused on investment and capital formation, has put together a blockbuster deal and formulated Relevant Brands Holdings. We can't say anything yet about specifics but Nonbox is excited to be providing the marketing and creative support for RBH. Stay tuned for some big announcements. TECHNOLOGY. 2018 saw the launch of the Momentum campaign for FormFactor. This campaign provided a solution to positioning the acquisition of Cascade Microtech by FormFactor. Multi-communications elements for cutting edge technologies like 5G, Silicon Photonics and Contact Intelligence where FormFactor provides semiconductor testing expertise from the lab to the fab. We are working with FormFactor execs Amy Leong and David Viera to introduce interesting concepts like a corporate newsroom and a series of podcasts with interviews with CEO, Mike Slessor, and other technology experts. Former KVO creative partner, Pierre Ouellette, has provided a lot of the deep tech copywriting for the campaign. SPORTS MARKETING. In sports over the last 18 months we've been focused on bucking bulls. That's right, Nonbox sports marketing expertise has extended to the adrenaline rush that surrounds staying on a bucking bull for 8 seconds. We started working with Billy Jaynes when he was CEO of the Championship Bull Riding tour and followed him as we developed the Bucking Bull Games and The Jaynes Gang branding and business strategy. He has decided to move on from the bucking bull business and we wish him the best in his future endeavors. We'll miss his Texas drawl and liberal "Y'alls" and "fixin' tos" in our emails. When he wasn't riding bucking bulls, Ian Hamilton, Nonbox Special Forces member, has been heavily involved in the integration of hockey into Sports Camps Canada. He's been to Canada more than a visiting U.S. NHL team as U.S. Sports Camps expands across the country bringing all kinds of sports camps to the kids of Canada...and speaking of Ian, we're still looking for a kidney for him. If you'd like more information on Ian's kidney search go to ianhamiltonneedsakidney.com. ROUND UP. If I could think of the right word...fortunately Nonbox client Membean has an online vocabulary learning system for schools that makes it fun for kids to learn and retain vocabulary. Fascinating strategy work with Membean CEO Ragav Satish...Working with health, wellness and fitness environments company Out-Fit and their CEO Derek Strader as they get ready to implement aggressive expansion and re-branding plans...Congratulations to long time client, Laurie Winton, as she assumes marketing duties at Tektronix...Continuing to hone strategy and funding with Abrar Ahmed and his start-up Cozera who have the solution for digital identity credentials...We worked with Corvallis-based access control company CyberLock on some ad projects this summer...Speaking of Corvallis, congrats to Dan Segel and the baseball Corvallis Knights for winning their third straight West Coast League title. Nonbox' Mike Rougle oversees their marketing...Video production resource for Nonbox, Dan Pred of VideoMedia produced videos for the Children's Course and 200 Market Building. When he's not doing video work he's on tour with the Dan Reed Network, a truly awesome rock and roll band who used to open for bands like the Rolling Stones...speaking of rock and roll, Bill Eisner, Nonbox Special Forces member, has a son, Luke, who is in a band called Voila and just signed a recording contract and recently opened for international act The Fray. We are very proud of him. Lots of things percolating--from guitars to enterprise software, high-end golf experiences to sports accessories, vegan protein drinks to machine design for SpaceX. We've had some interesting conversations this summer. We'll keep you posted. Steve Karakas Nonbox Special Forces