A special thank you to our own Brie Thomas, Director of Sales for the contribution.

Polly Payne, Product Planner/Brand Sales enjoying the view of the Hollywood sign with other attendees.

On Saturday, August 27th 2011, CPX Interactive hosted the First Annual “End of Summer Pool Party”, at Drai’s in Hollywood, CA. Our own Gary Bembridge, EVP Sales, North America; Sharone Hadari, VP of Operations; Polly Payne, Product Planner/Brand Sales and myself, Brie Thomas, Director of Sales; were all in attendance at the event.

Sharone Hadari, VP of West Coast Operations and Brie Thomas, Director of Sales holding the CPX Interactive party favors.

Being the new West Coast Sales Director, I wanted this event to be the kick-off party of the Los Angeles marketplace. Bringing the local LA agencies and advertising professionals together and having them get to know CPX Interactive ended up being such a success. The goal was not to only introduce CPX to some potential clients & treat the existing ones, we also wanted to make a lasting impression of: “This is how CPX takes care of our clients.”

Attendees enjoying the party held at the Drai Hotel in Hollywood, CA

Everyone appeared to be having a blast as more than 50 of LA’s advertising professionals attended the event. Some of the guests that were able to join included: Michael Kost, Global Strategist at OMD; Gary Sertyan, Media Planner at RED Interactive; Ana Lam, Assistant Planner at Initiative; and Kelly Clarke, Digital Media Director at Deutsch.

Since the event, we have a lot of upcoming meetings with the pool party attendees, and I think they are excited about the potential to partner and work with CPX Interactive. The kick-off party ended up being the kick-off to some great long term relationships in the LA marketplace.

Natalie Lambert, Director of Sales Texas Region, talks about CPX Interactive’s new presence in the Austin market. 

Since being appointed Director of Sales for the Texas Region over three months ago, I’ve been working hard to build our presence and branding here as effectively as possible.  I’ve spent a great deal of time meeting with various agencies, attending seminars and networking mixers, all in an effort to introduce CPX Interactive into the Austin market.  Working with the Austin Advertising Federation has been a major part of that and continues to be a great asset.   

The Austin Ad Fed is a hub for talented agencies, media groups, and various other creative industries. They consist of over 2,000 members in the Austin area and for the second year in a row, they have won “Club of The Year” by the American Advertising Association.  With the Austin Ad Fed’s deep commitment to the ad industry and their local community, CPX Interactive is honored to work alongside such a great organization.

Natalie Lambert and Polly Payne with Account Executives from GSD&M

CPX team members from the New York office: Gary Bembridge, EVP of Sales and Polly Payne, Product Planner/Brand Sales, flew into Austin to accompany me to my Agency presentation with GSD&M and to assist in representing CPX at a sponsored mixer with the Austin Ad Fed.

Natalie Lambert, Gary Gembridge and Keren Goumakos, President of the Austin Ad Fed

The sponsored mixer was held on August, 10th at the Dogwood in downtown Austin and was titled “Beat the Heat Mixer.” The event attracted 100 industry professionals from around the Austin area and was one of the largest turnouts for a mixer the Austin Ad Fed has ever encountered! We gave away a $100 American Express gift card and made sure no one left without taking various CPX goodies with them such as pens, notebooks, energy shots and key chains.

The event was a great way to introduce CPX Interactive to Austin’s advertising market and posed a great opportunity to meet some of talented individuals from around the area.  I was honored to host such a successful event and will continue to establish CPX’s presence here in Texas!

CPX Interactive Midwest team finds new home in Chicago’s Loop.

CPX Interactive has a new Midwest headquarters located in the famous Loop of downtown Chicago.  This past week, the CPX executive team visited Chicago to get a first-hand look at the new space located at One East Wacker Drive. The Midwest Sales Directors, Celina Kwolek and Jennifer Giangrasse, are very excited to be settling into their new home as they continue to lead the CPX Interactive Midwest team forward. Stay tuned for more on our new Chicago office!

Celina Kwolek, Sales Director, Midwest and Gary Bembridge, EVP of Sales, North America trying to measure the new office space by hand.

CPX is excited to sponsor and attend the The Austin Ad Fed’s Happy Hour Mixer.

We are looking forward to sponsoring the upcoming Austin Ad Fed Happy Hour Mixer next week in downtown Austin, TX.   Hosted by The Austin Ad Fed, the summer networking event offers the opportunity for industry professionals to mix and mingle with their peers and fellow CPX team members: Gary Bembridge, EVP of Sales/ North America; Natalie Lambert, Director of Sales LA/Texas; and Polly Payne, Product Planner/Brand Sales.

CPX Interactive recently opened a new office in Austin, TX. Being the ‘new kid’ in town, we are excited to connect with the ad community and show our support to the Austin Ad Fed.

The Event will be held at the:

Molotov Lounge 719 West 6^th Street, Austin

Wednesday Aug. 10, 2011 from 6pm-8pm

Attendance is free and open to everyone. The first 50 guests will receive a complimentary drink ticket.  Make sure you bring your business card to enter in our raffle to win a $100 American Express gift card.  CLICK HERE to RSVP on the event’s Facebook Page.

A special thanks to our guest contributor, Brie Thomas, Director of Sales, West Coast.

My name is Brie Thomas and even though I started just a couple of months ago at CPX, I can’t believe how much I’ve already learned as a part of the Sales Team. In early May, I started out getting situated in the beautiful LA office.  Then I was off to New York for the New Employee Orientation, also known as N.E.O., where I got the chance to put faces to the names I had been hearing, and meet the other new hires. Polly Payne, our Brand Sales Product Planner, led in depth N.E.O. training sessions where I learned about CPX, its history, tools and products. At the end of each session, the other new hires and I were able to verbalize what we learned in our own words – it was a great opportunity for team building and sharing our best individual strengths in order to better succeed as a group.

Francisco Lozano, Dir. of Sales, Adometry; Brie Thomas, Director of Sales, CPX Interactive; Max Germain, Media Dir., Levelwing Media

Next, I was off to iMedia with Natalie Lambert, nother new CPX Sales Director, down in Bonita Springs, Florida. This was a perfect opportunity to reflect on what we had just learned at N.E.O. and to expand our networks.

Luckily, timing worked out and I got back to LA just in time to celebrate the long Memorial Day weekend with family and friends. Then it was back to work!

The following Wednesday I attended Interactive Day San Diego with Gary Bembridge, our EVP of Sales. CPX sponsored the Twitter-Wall which gave us some great branding throughout the entire event while we were able to mingle with agencies and industry leaders.

Up next for me, and what I am getting very excited about, is having the opportunity to attend OMMA Adnets in LA on July, 18, 2011.  Jamie Gutterman, Director of Sales, Sharone Hadari, VP of West Coast Operations and myself will attending the the CPX Interactive sponsored event in hopes of gaining insight from their “Targeting 2.o” discussions.

After getting back from N.E.O., iMedia, and Interactive Day San Diego, and now preparing for OMMA Adnets, I feel energized and educated, and I’m developing a real routine. I have started organizing my prospects, and I’ve been putting a lot of focus on setting up daily meetings and calls. And I’m proud to report that I have closed my first deals! It was great to be able to go through the sales cycle from a lead to a Customer, working in conjunction with our Account Management team.

For just about 2 months, I feel like I’ve done and learned so much. I’ve taken this time to get a handle on the ropes and I absolutely love being a part of the CPX team!

CPX Interactive sponsors and attends the popular west coast event,  Interactive Day San Diego.

Every year, advertising folks from all walks of digital life, come together for one of the biggest conferences on the West Coast, Interactive Day San Diego.  CPX Interactive was in attendance and also a proud sponsor of the one day event that was held on June 1, 2011 at the Hilton Bayfront Hotel.

Being that is was the 6^th annual Interactive Day San Diego (IDSD), attendance had nearly doubled from last year’s event.  More than 500 experienced and innovative industry leaders from within the digital advertising space came to network with one another and learn about the latest technologies and online trends.  Networking was, indeed, a key aspect of this event as the venue provided a comfortable and casual setting for attendees to communicate and interact with one another.  Our own Gary Bembridge, EVP Sales, North America and Brie Thomas, Director of Sales West Coast had the pleasure of attending IDSD.

The morning events were kicked off with opening keynote speaker, Jason Sadler, founder of iwearyourshirt.com.  Mr. Sadler addressed the audience with a bit of comedy while focusing on Social Media, t-shirts and Unicorns, yes- Unicorns.

There was a break in the Main Expo Hall following the morning’s events where exhibiting companies were set up, displaying their company messaging. What felt like a neighborhood of digital friends, through the increased booth participation, served as a great value to leverage  networking capabilities.  Individual sessions were also a valuable part of the IDSD’s event schedule.  Attendees could join a small group discussion about topics ranging from Creativity, Tools of the Trade, Mobile, Social Media, and the Business of Digital.

During lunch, the CPX team had the opportunity to sit with a group from MEA Digital The keynote speaker, Kari Allen, who is VP of West Coast National Sales for Groupon, discussed strategic relationships and how to build strategic relationships with top marketers on the west coast.

Interactive Day San Diego was a high energy and productive conference.  To be able to interact with such a large group from the digital advertising and marketing community is always a great learning experience.  Those who attended IDSD 2011, including CPX team members, left the conference with a more optimized and thought provoking view of what’s going on in the marketplace and put them a step ahead of what’s to come next.

We look forward to participating in next year’s event.

A special thank you to our guest contributor, Natalie Lambert, Director of Sales, LA/Texas.

Brie Thomas and I attended the iMedia Summit following our first week of CPX training in beautiful Bonita Springs, FL. The weather was warm and sunny, which we thoroughly enjoyed coming from the rainstorms in NYC.  It was the first iMedia Summit for both of us and we were excited to meet new and interesting people in the industry. Over the course of just three days, Brie and I had the opportunity to network and build new professional relationships, all while expanding on our knowledge of the industry. The keynote speakers and panel discussions were quite informative and the networking sessions were extremely beneficial.

One of the keynote speakers was Dr. Mitch Earleywine, author of new book “Humor 101,” who discussed humor and its role in persuasion. He gave some interesting examples of how humor can be applied for both agencies and media companies.  Some of his examples pushed the importance of having meaningful interactions with senior agency executives and exploring digital marketing challenges during a variety of uniquely designed collaborative sessions. Following his presentation, he gave a signed copy of his new book “Humor 101” to everyone.

During the networking sessions, we managed to meet some impressive advertising agencies and direct companies such as Orbitz.com, Cooking.com and WeatherBug.com, just to name a few.

Overall, we definitely learned a lot and look forward to representing CPX in future iMedia conferences.

Brie Thomas, Dir. of Sales West Coast, CPX Interactive

Natalie Lambert, Dir. of Sales LA/Texas, CPX Interactive

CPX Interactive EVP of Sales, Gary Bembridge, and Sales Director, Celina Kwolek, sit down with iMediaConnection to discuss ad network differentiators and best practices, as well as the challenges of reaching online moms.

Gary Bembridge on building a world class sales team at CPX Interactive from CPX Interactive on Vimeo.

Gary Bembridge, CPX Interactive’s new EVP of Sales, caught up with his former colleague, Moritz Loew, MSNBC’s Senior Director of National Sales, at the IAB Leadership Summit.  The two discussed the value of the event, Loew mentioning the collective brainpower, and the ability to connect with content providers and context providers, as major benefits of attending. Loew also touched on the role of digital in a company’s overall marketing strategy, and MSNBC Interactive’s best practices.

Video courtesy of Scribe Media.