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Launch Agency digital & social media planner, Alexandra Watson, just passed Google’s AdWords certification exams in advanced search engine marketing. She is now a Google AdWords certified professional. Alexandra was also awarded a DFWIMA (Dallas-Ft Worth Interactive Marketing Association) scholarship for excellence in interactive marketing.
Watson attended DFWIMA’s 2011 Excellence in Interactive Marketing awards dinner at the Dallas Museum of Art on April 19th, to be recognized as a scholarship recipient. The scholarship program is new to DFWIMA this year. The fund was established in 2010 to support the study of interactive marketing at DFW area universities. Outstanding students were selected by faculty nomination and included recipients from Southern Methodist University, Texas Christian University, University of Texas at Arlington, University of Texas at Dallas and University of North Texas. Watson was selected by Temerlin Advertising Institute faculty as SMU’s first recipient of this prestigious award.
Watson graduates from SMU in May 2011 with a Master’s degree in Advertising-New Media. She maintained a 4.0 grade point average while working full-time at Launch to build the digital and social media planning discipline at the agency.
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Alexandra Watson
With bounding enthusiasm, Alexandra Watson, New Media masters-candidate-intern extraordinaire, began her first official day at Launch two weeks past.
Her superpower — the ability to discern media consumption habits of the world’s most elusive prey in the Ahab’s quest of advertising. Her research interests include digital & social media strategy, influence within social networks, online metrics & analytics, and cross-cultural communication (which she researched for 5 weeks in India last summer).
She is above all else, a loving mother of two girls and a dedicated wife. Currently she is working on her Masters at SMU in Dallas. Before returning to school she worked in the financial services sector with non-profit organizations. She also has extensive experience in database management, database marketing, CRM, and business planning.
To see if she even has any free time, and if so, how she likes to occupy it, read on:
Q: If you were a toaster, what would you toast, and to what degree?
A: Sesame seed bagel, well-toasted. Practical and filling but a bit different.
Q: How do you feel about the pending robot apocalypse?
A: As long as the robots will need an analyst for their data, I’m okay with it.
Q: Hobbies?
A: Photography, scrapbooking, painting, singing, Lego games on Xbox 360 with my kids.
Q: Favorite copywriter intern?
A: Definitely Matt L.
Q: What is your ideal vacation?
A: A week at a beachside resort with my family in a place we’d never been to before. Hawaii, Puerto Rico, or somewhere on the Mediterranean would be great.
Q: Favorite inspirational rocket/space related saying?
A: “I will love the light for it shows me the way, yet I will endure the darkness because it shows me the stars.” (Og Mandino, American essayist & psychologist, 1923-1996)
Q: Best film adaptation of a novel?
A: The Count of Monte Cristo (new version). The movie was better. In the book his revenge goes on for years and years.
Q: What is the best weather?
A: Cool and cloudy. With a chance of meatballs.
Launch welcomes Alexandra and Alexandra welcomes Girl Scout cookie orders. The form is on her desk. Check out her blog at blog.strategyrockstar.com.
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Matthew Lindner recently joined Launch as an intern writer. Shortly thereafter, he was handed an assignment, which necessitated the use of the third person in its execution. Shortly after that, the universe exploded. This is his story.
Matthew is a native Texan and currently a Masters student at SMU in Dallas. His area of expertise is random; not in the sense that his expertise is varied, he just excels in generating random thoughts.
His free time is spent on the Internet experiencing how others experience the world. Being a child of the Ritalin generation, he enjoys video games, movies, and the company of like-minded people, but only in spans of 45 seconds. Rather than long walks on the beach, he prefers to stay indoors and contemplate the structural integrity of specific buildings in the ever more likely event of zombie or genetically re-engineered raptor outbreaks. He also has an OkCupid account, if anyone is interested. Let’s be honest after all that you really shouldn’t be.
Spoiler alert: There is more information about him after the jump. If you want to be surprised should you ever meet him in person, or if you just don’t want to know any more about him, please do not continue. I’m sure he’ll understand. <– See what I did there?
Capote Goes to India.
Q: Do you have any Internet aliases?
A: Yes. I can’t tell you who they are. That would be dumb.
Q: Do people often tell you that you look like Philip Seymour Hoffman?
A: Yes, as well as Star Wars Kid, but I don’t think it was a compliment.
Q: You seem to be fairly well acquainted with nerd culture.
A: Is there a question in there somewhere?
Q: Do you have any vices that could be used by agents of a foreign government to gain leverage over you?
A: Not unless Diet Coke counts.
Q: What would you do for a Klondike bar?
A: Absolutely nothing.
Q: Your nickname is December?
A: Yes
Q: Why?
A: I lost a meter-stick duel.
Launch is happy to have Matt aboard, and, with any luck, will still be so after reading this. You can view his website at iamdecember.com.
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Caitlin Christopher, the 2010 summer account service intern, acquitted herself quite nicely and has joined Launch as a full-time account executive. Caitlin, a recent graduate of SMU and the Temerlin Advertising Institute, joined Launch in June and became a valuable team member. Caitlin is the 5th intern to graduate the program with a job offer, joining current staffers Ashley O’Beirne and Megan Kelly, now both grizzled ad veterans.
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Randall Kenworthy, recent SMU grad and standout by-product of its Method Creative program, is assisting Launch this summer as our writing intern.
Fresh from a trip to NYC for the One Show Education Festival, he’s looking forward to expanding his portfolio, learning more about the craft of copywriting and the advertising agency business and doing his part to “punk” the other interns as they come join Launch.
Randall’s one of those rare types who knew way back in 9th grade what career path he wanted to pursue. Check back throughout the summer to see how the real ad biz jives with his lifelong expectations. To learn more and check out his stellar student portfolio, visit randallkenworthy.com. You can also follow his exploits on Twitter.
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Launch welcomes our talented summer intern, Nicole Ido. Nicole is a recent copywriting graduate from SMU’s creative ad program (METHOD), part of the Temerlin Advertising Institute. A self-described Dallas native, button-maker and Juban (Jewish-Cuban), Nicole has been published twice in Archive Magazine and will be in an upcoming issue of CMYK Magazine. She’s also in the running for Archive Magazine’s Student of the Year. View her portfolio at nicoleido.com.
In addition to lending her skills to several of our accounts, Nicole will post her take on the real world of advertising and how it differs from what she experienced in the classroom. Check back for some refreshing perspectives.
