Written on January 31st, 2011 | Posted by Alan Perkel
Scene from a farmer's market in San Luis Obispo County a destination featured on the Oprah Winfrey Show.
Located halfway between Los Angeles and San Francisco, home to the Hearst Castle and the only place in California where you can still drive on the beach; San Luis Obispo County is one of America’s great destinations. The area is a top wine producing region in California with about 200 wineries where you can savor the wine and breathe in the beauty of the vineyards and the oak-studded hills.
Oprah Winfrey featured San Luis Obispo on her show last week driving traffic to the RIESTER-created website. We invite you to visit the site too. It includes videos to give you the feel of the area and an itinerary builder so you can plan your trip.
Written on January 28th, 2011 | Posted by Robert Farthing
Early in the summer of 2010, a call went out across the globe for people to film their day on July 24 and submit the footage via YouTube to be included in what was promoted as an experiment. The film was produced by Ridley Scott and directed by Academy Award winner Kevin Macdonald.
The goal was to assemble the footage into a full length documentary time capsule of a day in the life of the world. The filmmakers received over 80,000 entries from 192 countries with over 10,000 hours of footage.
The footage was edited into a 90-minute film called “Life in a Day.” It premiered last night in two venues: to a live audience at the Sundance Film Festival in Park City, Utah and to anyone on the planet with access to YouTube.
When I first came across this project in June of 2010 I was inspired to participate after watching the short introductory films of the director and producers talking of their vision and setting the stage for content based on four questions: What do you love? What makes you laugh? What do you fear? What is in your pockets?
From the deep and philosophical questions of life to the simple mundane, I was curious and felt inspired to contribute. I nearly forgot about it until the morning of July 24th 2010 when I woke up abruptly at 4:00 AM – “today is the day.”
Having no idea what I would be inspired to shoot that day, I jumped up on the roof of my house in Arizona in the predawn hour with my Canon 5D and my digital audio recorder to capture time lapse footage of the sunrise while recording whatever thoughts or ideas would come along the way.
The day turned into a rather quiet, serene and contemplative day spent pointing the camera to the sky. All day I watched clouds shifting and building and spoke to the recorder as I began to sink into a rather profound connection to the thousands of other people around the world doing the same thing I was doing.
This was one of the gifts of the day. There was something deeply moving in knowing that there were tens of thousands of us out in the world experiencing something different, but sharing a single intent to capture the spirit of this day as it unfolded.
As the storm clouds grew into late afternoon, it was apparent that we were in for our first good monsoon storm. I headed to one of my favorite spots, Lookout Mountain in the Phoenix Mountain Preserve. It proved to be one of the most dramatic sunsets I have ever experienced, complete with distant storm cells, divine cloud breaks that let sun rays travel in all directions and an open horizon line at the end that exploded in the rich colors that Arizona sunsets are famous for. I knew I had captured something truly beautiful for the film.
I submitted the footage via YouTube and then waited. Slowly over the course of a few weeks, they started posting the raw footage in an archive library on the “Life in a Day” YouTube Channel.
It was fascinating to see this archive in its uncut state. You could get a feel instantly of what might come from the movie. Eventually I was contacted by the producers and asked to send in HD master files of a few of the clips, including the sunset time lapse. I signed the release waivers and was thrilled to be accepted into the final cut stage.
As it turns out, the sunset did not make the final cut of the film. It may sound cliché to say that it really didn’t matter if my footage made it in the film or not, but everything leading up to the screening was truly the reward including—the profound feeling of being connected to humanity on the day of filming, to breaking through the fear of sharing and publicly posting my personal thoughts on love and fear.
The moments of anticipation leading up to the screening and the subsequent support of my Facebook circle of friends who were supportive, proud and excited for me. WOW. This social media evolution is truly something.
National Geographic and YouTube will launch the film theatrically on July 24, 2011, one year from the date of filming.
It turned out to be an incredibly touching film that captures an abundance of ordinary and extraordinary moments all across the globe. It is a film about our connection to everyone else on the planet on a relatively simple day in time. There is something for people to connect with there and if you can see it someday – make time to connect and check it out.
The crowning moment of the entire “Life in a Day” filming adventure. Watch in full screen mode if possible:
Sundance 2011 in Park City. Come for the films, enjoy the food!
The energy in town is palpable.
Some of the most creative minds in the world arrive in Utah each January for the premiere festival for independent films.
And for good reason! Sundance is an exchange of ideas and a celebration of the freedom of speech. It’s art on display.
The festival is a time when Park City is almost overwhelmed by one of the most eclectic and interesting gatherings of people anywhere.
Sundance is a place for storytellers to tell their stories. And it’s a place for people who love a great story to be enthralled, entertained, educated, horrified and inspired.
To all of this year’s visitors and participants, enjoy the films and enjoy the amazing food from Park City’s restaurants!
On behalf of the Park City Area Restaurant Association and our Salt Lake City office, here’s to an outstanding Sundance 2011.
The Park City Area Restaurant Association (PCARA) is a client of RIESTER’s. This is a modified version of a post from PCARA. Visit the PCARA website, and start making plans to dine in Park City–a destination named by the New York Times as a place to go in 2011, in part because of the amazing restaurants.
ARAMARK Parks and Destinations and California Central Coast McDonald’s join RIESTER List of Clients
PHOENIX– January 18, 2011—RIESTER (www.riester.com), a full-service marketing firm has added two high-profile clients, ARAMARK Parks and Destinations and the California Central Coast McDonald’s Advertising Co-op, to its client roster.
“Our tourism and McDonald’s teams are energized as they begin to build lasting relationships and develop effective marketing solutions for these prestigious new clients,” said Tim Riester, president and CEO of RIESTER. “We are extremely proud to team with such influential national companies to turn their consumers into life-long believers in their respective brands.”
ARAMARK Parks and Destinations has enlisted RIESTER for development and fulfillment of an online consumer engagement marketing strategy, the launch of its multi-property social media initiative and public relations services. As a leading provider of outdoor vacations and adventures, ARAMARK Parks and Destinations is the steward of several federally-protected parks located in and around pristine areas in the United States. The parks include Alaska’s Glacier Bay and Denali National Parks and Preserve, Washington State’s Olympic National Park, Colorado’s Mesa Verde National Park, destinations such as Lake Powell, in Utah and Arizona and many other cultural attractions and lodges detailed at www.aramarkparksanddestinations.
An experienced McDonald’s agency, RIESTER has been providing marketing and advertising services to McDonald’s co-ops in Idaho and Oregon since 1991. With the acquisition of assets from the New Mexico advertising firm Rick Johnson & Company (RJC), RIESTER is broadening its McDonald’s services into California. On January 1, 2011 RIESTER became the agency of record for the California Central Coast McDonald’s Advertising Co-op with restaurants from northern Los Angeles to Monterey.
About RIESTER
As one of the top marketing firms in the Western United States, RIESTER offers its clients a complete range of services, including: research, brand planning, media planning and buying, broadcast and print ad creative services, public relations, government relations, digital and multi-cultural marketing. The agency has offices in Los Angeles, Phoenix, Salt Lake City and Albuquerque. Visit us on the web at www.riester.com.
Written on January 10th, 2011 | Posted by Jim Breitinger
Gabby Giffords is a great American. She is passionate, positive, hard working, engaged in the lives of others, smart and focused. She is deeply committed to her district, Arizona and our country. She is also my friend.
If you watched the news this past weekend and saw one person after another come on television or release statements saying Gabby was their friend and she is one of the most wonderful people they know, believe it, it’s true. Gabby is a gem among us.
I met Gabe Zimmerman a few times, an aide to Gabby who died Saturday. I remember Gabe as someone who was very much like Gabby–engaged in the lives of others and committed to making a difference in his community.
My heart goes out to all who were affected by Saturday’s shooting.
All of us at RIESTER are hoping for a full recovery for Gabby.
Written on January 5th, 2011 | Posted by Jeff Bagley
Utah Hosts Thierry Fischer at Alta for a Day of Skiing
When you take someone like Thierry Fischer skiing (he is from Switzerland), you hope that Utah can deliver. One of our famed resorts, Alta, lived up to all of its glory. It was a blue-bird day with plenty of snow, stunning scenery and great skiing that even Maestro Fischer and his family could appreciate. In fact, they ate it up. And this is a family that can ski, particularly Thierry. The maestro is a maestro on skis as well. He carved up runs all over the mountain showing us that he didn’t spend all of his time growing up in Switzerland playing music–he must have spent some serious time on the slopes as well.
Thierry is quick to remind you, however, that his passion is music. That he came to Utah because of its tremendous symphony and the opportunity to take it to new heights. I rode up the chair with a few of the musicians in the symphony and they gushed about his passion, his drive and his ability to inspire them to be better at their art. The fact that we were all skiing at Alta on one of the most spectacular days of the year was just an added bonus. And I could detect a sparkle in Thierry’s eyes. This was a great day to be the Music Director for the Utah Symphony.
This post originally appeared on the Utah Symphony blog.
Thierry Fischer is the new music director of the Utah Symphony. The symphony and Alta are RIESTER clients.
When you take someone like Thierry Fischer skiing (he is from Switzerland), you hope that Utah can deliver. One of our famed resorts, Alta, lived up to all of its glory. It was a blue-bird day with plenty of snow, stunning scenery and great skiing that even Maestro Fischer and his family could appreciate. In fact, they ate it up. And this is a family that can ski, particularly Thierry. The maestro is a maestro on skis as well. He carved up runs all over the mountain showing us that he didn’t spend all of his time growing up in Switzerland playing music–he must have spent some serious time on the slopes as well.
Thierry is quick to remind you, however, that his passion is music. That he came to Utah because of its tremendous symphony and the opportunity to take it to new heights. I rode up the chair with a few of the musicians in the symphony and they gushed about his passion, his drive and his ability to inspire them to be better at their art. The fact that we were all skiing at Alta on one of the most spectacular days of the year was just an added bonus. And I could detect a sparkle in Thierry’s eyes. This was a great day to be the Music Director for the Utah Symphony.
This post originally appeared on the Utah Symphony blog. Photos by Jeff Bagley.
