A Climate That Fans The Flame Of Innovation!

It was a blend of academics and politicians that birthed this city of Athens with the creation of the University of Georgia a few years after the US became independent from England.

A joint venture team that seems to function a lot like a match made in heaven today!

The University of Georgia was the first state university in the US. Leave it to the visionaries down in Savannah to take the lead in bringing about extended education on a state sponsored level!

It took a few years to finally get the first building up on the campus, but once up it housed administration, faculty and student – all in the same building. Shortly thereafter a small town started to pop up in what is now downtown Athens.

What initially housed the University is called Old Campus and might represent about 15-20% of the University’s grounds today. There’s limited auto access and oak trees that date back a couple hundred years shade much of it

That first building is still standing on Old Campus. There is Old College (the original building) and then there’s another building called New College. I think that New College was built in the late 1950’s.

As the campus grew, so did the downtown, although I don’t think it was as much a party or music town as it is today.

Athens also became known for some innovative ways to process cotton. So innovative that Athens continued to generate some top revenue the history books say through WWII.

When I entered into my first classes at the University in the fall of 1975, I was invited to become a member of a special freshman honorary society. The leader of the group was Dean Tate…the Dean Emeritus of Men.

He was walking history and when we would meet late at night in the chapel on campus…he would tell stories of the past.

Dean Tate died when I was in grad school and the student center is named after him.

Today, when I walk Old Campus, I hear him telling those stories and I actually feel like I hear other voices from the past as well.

When I arrived on campus in 1975, the music scene of Athens was just beginning to develop. The bar scene too.

There was a band called the B-52s that performed in the basement of a pool hall called Allen’s. There was also a bar called TK Hardy’s and a concert dance hall called The Warehouse.

I heard that today, Athens claims the number one slot in having the most bars per square mile than any other city in the US.

I have roots here in Athens. I went to high school here. Played in the school’s marching band. Ran for president of the student council. And had my first company based out of Athens in which I did paintings of old houses and barns.

So why move BrandVenture out of Atlanta and over to Athens?

Why did Bogusky move the creative team out of Miami and out to Boulder?

The city life is fun…but after a while, most every client figures you are not too unlike every other agency and consultant found in the city.

There’s also a bunch of other agencies and consultants in the city…some that play the politics…others headed up by the “good ole boys” and “grand ole gals”…others that have been around for years…and others that hang both company name and title as the fancy packaging around limited skills and resources.

Bogusky – creative chief of Crispin Porter + Bogusky – fell in love with the backdrop of Boulder and connected with the Bohemian Millennial “Challenge the Conventional” culture of the community.

It’s a climate that fans the flame of technology and non-conventional, innovative thinking.

While known as the “Classic City”, Athens has a similar culture as Boulder, Colorado.

And right now, being in touch with this type of culture is more likely to breed the innovation and creativity to move brands forward in the midst of changing times.

So Athens is where BrandVenture is now headquartered. It is a culture and history we are embracing. It is the context and home-base from which we now journey.

We are just as accessible here via phone, web, Twitter and Facebook… and Athens is great place to visit!

So come let’s journey and move brands forward!