Hey, Frank. It means to speak the truth. To tell it like it is. To be upfront with – excuse our ninth grade French – no bullsh*t. And it defines how we approach the business of advertising, which is, frankly, unlike any other agency you’ve ever worked with. We believe in the power of being frank – f­or brands, for companies that want to be brands, in every piece of messaging we create, and in how we do business with those who choose to work with us. Our job? To uncover the core truths of your brand and speak them in ways that ring true to your audience. This FRANK-ness is our simple recipe for effective advertising, advertising that cannot and will not be ignored.

Mostly, I handled the words for our massive website, articles, UX features, email marketing, print advertising, paid media campaigns, social media, and more.I also did branding / marketing strategy, brand voice guardianship, paid social strategy, content strategy/development, program management, industry partner liaison-ing, and other general make-things-happen-ing to spur folks into experiencing Nevada — from the icons and highlights to the unknown and surprising, the highly refined to the wildly unpolished... the raw, the authentic, the meaningful, the memorable... the people and places here in the Weirdest, Wildest West that insist visitors go home with more stories than souvenirs."The road might stop, but Nevada keeps going." -- Ranger David Low

I crafted clever branding and social campaigns to convince employed people that the grass (and company culture) was greener at Northrop Grumman, UnitedHealth Group, NYPD, Blue Diamond Growers (yes, there were plenty of "going nuts" type puns involved), and more.Hodes became Symphony Talent.

I used a bunch of words to help build or re-build brands' personalities and voices on web, on social, and in print for a vodka distiller, an oil exploration company, some spas, lifestyle brands, a weird medical device inventor, and more.Sometimes, when switching between "characters" constantly throughout the day, I would literally take off a hat and put on a different one, just to drive the visual pun home (mostly to myself).

I took tons of international travelers on huge, wild road trips all over the U.S. and Canada. As driver, logistics planner, problem-solver, budget manager, safety tech, city guide, trailmaster, medic (far too often), nightlife conductor, entertainer, and every-other-thing-you-can-think-of guy, every ounce of my personality was on duty 24 hours a day, every day, for 9 months at a time, steering sensitive group dynamics and creating the most exciting, meaningful and worthwhile experiences of hundreds of people’s lives.•Created detailed “how-to” trip guides for multi‐week excursions, cities, National Parks and other destinations, arming leaders with the information and tools to deliver spectacular client adventure travel experiences
•Visited and researched new destinations, routes and activities, established relationships with new lodgers and suppliers now utilized by current leaders and the reservations team•Managed all long-term and daily budget plans and decisions in tight-margined, one-day to nine-week group adventure trips •Cooked vast issues and concepts in American history, politics, culture and geography into delicious, digestible bite-size morsels for a mixed-language audience, aged 18 to 70•Ended each season with top-percentile review scores leading multinational groups on highly active, LNT-driven, camping‐based cross-country road trips around North America
•Taught hundreds of foreign visitors how to hike, bike, canoe, camp‐cook, make fire, camp and enjoy the outdoors, often for the first time in their lives•Felt like a badass driving, servicing, maintaining a commercial van (and doing things like fix busted coolant hoses in the 116-degree Mojave Desert with only duct tape and reckless, MacGyver-like visions)

Mostly, I sold rich people jackets they probably didn't need.But I also became a brand expert, devouring product specs and company policies on sustainable production and green business practices, and served up over-the-top customer service with a side of environmental activism—especially with the local Beyond Searsville Dam project and the 1% For The Planet campaign.

•Designed, wrote and produced content for web and print, the Teacher’s Guide to the 2011 National Cowboy Poetry Gathering, Energy Symposium Program Guide and other facility promotional materials•Wrote proposals and obtained grants for facility events and funding•Planned and organized an Energy Symposium featuring 12 speakers on energy sources, usage and sustainable alternatives in Northeastern Nevada•Amplified institution’s online visibility via social media•Managed western artisan workshops; NCPG Youth Education programs, wrangling cowboy poets, artists and musicians into county schools to teach and perform•Harnessed thousands of dollars in corporate donations for facility programs and events (and even some kegs from Sierra Nevada!)

By joining the station’s Executive Committee, I helped manage and grow the organization in a number of roles:On-Air Programmer / Producer / Engineer: Sept. 2005 – June 2007•Recruited, managed 100+ volunteer staff; trained volunteers in on-air programming, engineering and radio production•Helped devise creative strategies to reach new listeners, get them invested and keep them connected – via the web, social media and “old-fashioned” methods combined – making them not just donors and supporters but interactive and lasting members of our community•Fought towards station’s fundraising targets with phone drives, benefit concerts, music sales and other development events•Wrote, produced, edited, engineered and hosted radio programs featuring recorded and live talk, news, music and comedyInternal Music Director: June 2008 – June 2009•Established new partnerships with music labels, distributors and artists to acquire new media content•Wrote hundreds of elegant, concise album reviews that connected programmers with hundreds of new albums appropriate for their shows• Wrote and produced weekly web content, press releases, emails, internal reports, presentations
• Managed the towering music library; took charge of constantly expanding contents, check-in / check-out procedures and headed a team of "genre angels" to review new material and maintain my meticulous organization scheme Production Director: June 2007 – June 2008•Wrote and produced hundreds of commercials, PSAs, lead-ins, IDs and other pre-recorded on-air material•Designed and published content for WordPress-based website; steered online presence with Facebook, Myspace