The O2 dogs
Anyone who knows O2 knows we’re dog lovers. We’re always enjoying time with our pups, whether we’re in the office, hiking about somewhere in Colorado’s Favorite Playground, or just out for a walk around Fraser. The O2 dogs are just as much a part of the operation as Philip, Eric, Jaryd, Brad, and our newest member Cynthia too.
Wylie, Sophie, and Thumbelina are Philip and Eric’s pugs (and “bugg,” a Boston terrier-pug mix), and are also the resident O2 dogs. These lovable little pups hang out in the office, faithfully putting in the long hours with the rest of us. While team O2 is working hard, the pugs are…well, hardly working.
![PugNapOnCouch](http://o2creative.wpengine.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/PugNapOnCouch.jpg)
Thumbelina is actually a burgeoning local politician. Grand County Pet Pals has an annual campaign to elect the Grand Dog of Grand County, and Thumb is a leading candidate in this year’s election. The Grand Dog campaign is actually a fundraiser to benefit Grand County Pet Pals and Advocates for a Violence-Free Community, so Thumbelina’s campaign efforts are going toward a great cause. Click here to vote for Thumb!
![ThumbToy](http://o2creative.wpengine.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/ThumbToy-1024x768.jpg)
In addition to the pugs and buggs, there are even more cool canine friends on the O2 team. Jaryd has a dog of his own, a handsome lab-bulldog mix named Roscoe.
![Roscoe Dog](http://o2creative.wpengine.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/RoscoeDog-768x1024.jpg)
Jaryd and Roscoe are often out and about, hiking on the many trails throughout the Fraser Valley and Grand County.
![Roscoe out for a hike](http://o2creative.wpengine.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/RoscoeCoronaLake-764x1024.jpg)
Roscoe also loves to swim, and is never nervous about jumping into a Rocky Mountain stream or lake, no matter how cold the water might be.
![Loch Ness Roscoe](http://o2creative.wpengine.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/LochNessRoscoe.jpg)
Brad has even had a dog of his own around lately. This week he’s been dogsitting Kali while his friends are out of town. Kali is a basenji mix. A basenji an energetic African breed, which means Kali pretty much thinks she’s a lion.
![KaliLion](http://o2creative.wpengine.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/KaliLion-768x1024.jpg)
Kali and Roscoe quickly became best buddies too, and are always excited for a puppy play date. Of course the only photo we can find of the two playing together is this one, with Roscoe is grinning like a goofball and Kali looking like she just did something bad.
![Kali and Roscoe](http://o2creative.wpengine.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/KaliRoscoe-1024x722.jpg)
The newest member of the O2 Team, Cynthia, is a dog lover too. Though she does not yet have a dog of her own, she hopes to get one some time in the near future. Until then, maybe Philip and Eric will let her take the pugs for a walk. Just keep an eye on Wylie!
![Where'd Wylie go??](http://o2creative.wpengine.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/ThumbLeash.jpg)
To meet the O2 pugs – or the O2 humans, for that matter – stop by our office some time in downtown Fraser, Colorado. To contact us, give us a call at 970-726-8021 or email [email protected]. Until then, we at O2 hope you’re enjoying the dog days of summer!
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O2 around the campsite
You probably already know us O2 guys as the adventuresome mountain types. We’re often out and about in Colorado’s Favorite Playground. Especially in the summer months, you can find us fishing, or rafting, or even longboarding. But did you know we also love to get out camping as well?
Yup, that’s right. We’ve been out camping a lot lately, and with several weeks of summer still ahead of us, we hope to get out even more. Philip and Eric recently got a sweet new camper as well, which brings a whole new dimension to the camping experience. Actually, Philip and Eric affectionately refer to their camping style as glamour camping, or “glamping,” if you will.
Of course, when Philip and Eric go camping, they bring the whole family along. Jacob loves to explore the campsites!
Even the pugs and buggs come camping too.
You know the adorable puppy and Grand Dog candidate, Thumbelina…
…and Wylie, who enjoys the quality time relaxing by the campfire…
…and Sophie too. Though sadly, Sophie isn’t always the happiest camper…
Brad likes camping as well, and enjoys backpacking into some secluded backcountry campsites around Colorado. Indeed, Brad can carry an entire campsite’s worth of ultralight equipment on his back.
(Oh, and remember Brad’s late-season backpacking trip last autumn?)
Jaryd likes to camp too. He particularly enjoys getting off the beaten path to find some room to roam with his dog Roscoe.
All in all, camping is part of the fun of living in Colorado’s Favorite Playground. If you have any good camping stories of your own, please feel free to share! Get in touch with us at O2!
To contact O2 Creative, call 970-726-8021 or email [email protected].
Click here for last week’s blog about Thumbelina’s Grand Dog campaign!
Thumbelina for Grand Dog!
One of the O2 office dogs, Thumbelina, is running for Grand Dog!
![ThumbCouchPeekin2](http://o2creative.wpengine.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/ThumbCouchPeekin2-1024x682.jpg)
That’s right. Philip and Eric’s Boston Terrier-pug mix (a “bugg”) is campaigning to be Grand Dog of Grand County Pet Pals.
What’s Grand County Pet Pals? Well, it’s a non-profit here in Grand County that advocates for responsible pet ownership. The organization helps the Grand County animal shelter with its neutering and spaying program, and works to raise funds and help in other various ways.
The Grand Dog contest is one such fundraiser, which helps to support Grand County Pet Pals as well as Advocates for a Violence-Free Community. Dogs (or other pets) may campaign to win the title of Grand Dog, with one dollar equaling one vote.
That’s where Thumb comes in: she wants to be Grand Dog, and she wants your vote! Click here to go vote for Thumbelina on the Grand County Pet Pals website!
Thumbelina even has her own Facebook page to help her campaign for Grand Dog. Click here to go like Thumbelina For Grand Dog on Facebook!
The campaign is actually a lot of fun, and it’s generating support for a great cause. And besides, how can you say no to Thumb’s cute little face?
![ThumbOnCouch3](http://o2creative.wpengine.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/ThumbOnCouch3-1024x634.jpg)
To meet Thumbelina, or her pug siblings Wylie and Sophie, stop by the O2 Creative office some time!
![PugsSnoozin](http://o2creative.wpengine.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/PugsSnoozin.jpg)
For more questions about the Grand Dog contest, or Thumb, or anything else O2, contact us today!
To contact O2 Creative, give us a call at 970-726-8021 or email [email protected].
Vote for Thumb!
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O2 goin’ guerrilla
O2’s Jaryd and Brad recently headed down to the Front Range for what we like to call a “guerrilla marketing” campaign. Our client Granby Ranch wanted to gain a little more exposure among Colorado’s mountain biking community, so we organized a promotional day at the awesomely huge Wheat Ridge Cyclery in Wheat Ridge, CO.
After promoting the event on social media, we set up shop for an afternoon at the Cyclery. Customers were invited to spin Granby Ranch’s promo wheel, giving them the chance to win passes, coupons, cozies, and other promotional items too.
We also offered cool new Bike Granby Ranch stickers, and even brought along a few Save The Fraser River stickers as well.
Everyone who stopped by to see us was excited to learn about Bike Granby Ranch and to get the opportunity to check out Granby Ranch’s lift-served downhill and cross-country bike trails. Though many people knew Granby Ranch as a winter ski resort, not as many folks were familiar with the resort’s summer bike park.
The promotional efforts really went a long way in increasing Granby Ranch’s brand awareness of its summer bike (and golf, and fish, and grill) offerings. Selecting a large bike shop like Wheat Ridge Cyclery was especially valuable to the campaign, since we were able to increase Bike Granby Ranch’s brand awareness among its most important demographic: bikers!
In addition to effectively increasing Granby Ranch’s brand awareness, the promotional day was actually a lot of fun. At O2 we always enjoy working with our clients, and we’re always happy to undertake all sorts of creative marketing efforts, even if it’s a guerrilla campaign in a whole new community.
Thanks so much to Granby Ranch for being the fun clients they are, and to Wheat Ridge Cyclery for kindly hosting us!
If O2 can help your business with anything from marketing campaigns to promotional products, contact us today!
To contact O2 Creative, call us at 970-726-8021 or email [email protected].
Click here for our last blog: the misadventures of Thumbelina
A year in review
Whoa, has it really been a whole year since Brad started at O2? That sure went by quick! As we toasted a bottle of bubbly to celebrate the anniversary, we asked Brad to reflect on the past 12 months and share some of his favorite moments.
Let’s see…there have actually been quite a few cool experiences at O2 in the past year…where to begin? Oh! There was that one particularly powdery weekday in January when Granby Ranch called and asked for fresh photos of the snow on the slopes. As much as Brad wanted to stay in and sit at his desk all day, he mustered the will to cruise over to Granby Ranch and strap on the skis for some fluffy photo ops. Tough work, but someone had to do it.
Then there was the other time some clients requested photos of their private pond – a pond that just so happened to be stocked with trophy trout. Being the hard-working guy Brad is, he again obliged. While he was out trying to create photo ops of a fisherman enjoying said pond, one of those handsome trout just happened to sneak up and slurp his fly – how about that!
Brad also enjoys all the writing he gets to do – writing for clients, writing for O2, writing about camping or skiing or even dogs. He loves the opportunity to write blogs, and he ESPECIALLY loves writing from a third person point-of-view!
But for real: Brad really does enjoy his job, and even says it’s a privilege to work for O2. He’s very thankful for the opportunity, and thankful to everyone and everything that makes O2 the cool agency it is: his coworkers Philip, Eric, and Jaryd; all of O2’s awesome clients; Grand County and Colorado’s Favorite Playground; even the pugs! (Except Thumbelina…she’s a bad dog).
So if you see Brad around, send some congratulations his way!
To contact us at the O2 office, call us at 970-726-8021 or email [email protected].
The Misadventures of Thumbelina
Anyone who knows us at O2 knows we’re all dog lovers. Anyone who’s ever been to the O2 office knows that the pups pretty much run the place. Wylie, Sophie, and Thumbelina are always by our side, putting in whatever hard work and long hours it takes…or just taking naps on the couch.
![PugSandwich](http://o2creative.wpengine.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/PugSandwich.jpg)
However, one of the dogs has had quite the mischievous streak. As soon as the O2 humans leave the office, it turns out the lovable little Thumb likes to start trouble.
We go out for lunch, and what happens? We get back to find our latest copy of AdAge Magazine, completely torn to bits by yours truly.
![ThumbAdAge](http://o2creative.wpengine.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/ThumbAdAge.jpg)
Nor does it end there – step out of the office for a quick meeting? Just enough time for Thumb to pull Brad’s headphones off his desk and maul them beyond recognition.
![ThumbHeadphones](http://o2creative.wpengine.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/ThumbHeadphones-768x1024.jpg)
Oh, and Eric’s business notepad, with all his important notes? Guess which little monster decided to give the Godzilla treatment to the notebook too.
![ThumbNotebook](http://o2creative.wpengine.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/ThumbNotebook-768x1024.jpg)
Sometimes she’s so naughty, she’ll start trouble right before our very eyes. In the couple minutes it took Eric to get up and walk across the office, Thumb decided it was just enough time to make a run at Eric’s breakfast sitting on the edge of his desk. Don’t worry, though, her mischief was thwarted this time; caught with the proverbial paw in the cookie jar, if you will.
![ThumbBurrito2](http://o2creative.wpengine.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/ThumbBurrito2-768x1024.jpg)
Don’t get us wrong – we love the office dogs. But that doesn’t mean sometimes Thumb can be quite the troublemaker!
To meet Thumbelina the darling devil dog, or the other pugs, (or even the O2 humans!), feel free to stop by the O2 office in downtown Fraser, Colorado. Or, you’re welcome to contact us any time – give us a call at 970-726-8021 or email us at [email protected].
Oh, and BAD DOG!
Click here for our last blog post – promotional products from O2!
O2 Helps to Save the Fraser River
O2 is pleased to report we’re teaming up with the Colorado River Headwaters chapter of Trout Unlimited (TU) to create a campaign to raise awareness about the Fraser River. If you’ve ever seen those blue oval “Save The Fraser River” bumper stickers, then you already have an idea of what we’re talking about.
![SavetheFraserRiver_FacebookProfilePic](http://o2creative.wpengine.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/SavetheFraserRiver_FacebookProfilePic.png)
In case everyone didn’t already know, we at O2 take pride in serving our community. We love Colorado’s Favorite Playground, and we ESPECIALLY love the Fraser. We can often be found riding our bikes, cruising on our longboards, or walking our dogs along the Fraser River Trail.
![Eric VanHerwaarden Longboarding](http://o2creative.wpengine.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/O2LongboardEric.png)
We’re also often found on the river with wading boots and a fly rod, trying our luck at catching the river’s trophy trout (don’t worry, the fishing still sucks here).
![bradfish](http://o2creative.wpengine.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/bradfish.jpg)
Unfortunately, the Fraser is one of the most threatened rivers in the nation. Over 60% of its flows are diverted to Front Range communities for water use, and now Denver Water is trying to divert even more of the water. That’s where the efforts of TU come into play.
Basically, TU has worked hard for years to get a “Mitigation and Enhancement” agreement written into the water diversion project. This agreement articulates that if Denver Water wants to divert water from the Fraser, they must also pay close attention to the river’s vital signs as part of the project. If the diversions compromise the health of the Fraser, then Denver Water must also work to mitigate the harm done, and also enhance the natural environment of the river so that it remains healthy.
In other words, this agreement will take the fate of the Fraser out of the hands of politicians, and put it into the hands of scientists. These scientists can monitor the Fraser and adapt management policies that protect and preserve the natural river ecosystem for future generations, while still serving the water use needs of Colorado’s growing population.
The health of the Fraser is extremely important to us at O2. It’s important to Colorado’s Favorite Playground, and to Grand County; and to the entire state of Colorado. We hope it’s important to you too.
So what can we all do to help? Well, we encourage you to go like “Save The Fraser River” on Facebook (click here). This page will provide ongoing information, news, events, facts, photos, and just cool content in general about our beloved river.
We also encourage you to write letters advocating for the protection of the Fraser (and to do it quick – the public comment period only lasts thru the end of May!) This is the most tangible way to voice our support for the health of the Fraser to those who will decide whether to implement the agreement (and ultimately, to decide the fate of the Fraser). Check out http://www.coheadwaters.org/Home/WhattodoTODAY.aspx to learn more. Save the Fraser River!
To contact us at O2 Creative, contact us at 970-726-8021 or email [email protected].
Click here for our last blog: O2 in the Press!
O2 Addicted to Powder
Members of the O2 team were recently invited to enjoy some backcountry skiing with our friends and clients at Powder Addiction. What a treat!
![Powder Addict Eric VanHerwaarden PowAddictEric](http://o2creative.wpengine.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/PowAddictEric.png)
Powder Addiction is a Winter Park-based business offering up backcountry skiing and snowboarding tours. They have special permission to guide guests in the Jones Pass area, using their snowcat to take skiers and boarders to 2,600 acres of untouched snow. Powder Addiction is “serving fresh lines daily!”
![The Powder Addiction Snowcat PowAddict2](http://o2creative.wpengine.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/PowAddict2.png)
(In case you aren’t familiar, “snowcat” is one of those big closed-cab vehicles that runs on tracks designed to operate on snow. This is the vehicle that takes guests up and back down all that epic backcountry terrain.)
![Jones Pass Powder Addiciton SnowCat Skiing PowAddictSnowCat](http://o2creative.wpengine.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/PowAddictSnowCat-1024x768.jpg)
As far as backcountry ski areas go, Jones Pass has it all: high-elevation, north-facing slopes, alpine bowls, glades and meadows, tree runs, open chutes, and more.
And when we say backcountry skiing, we mean it. Powder Addiction equips each guest with a backpack containing all the important safety gear: avalanche transceivers, shovels, and all the other required equipment.
Powder Addiction even provides guests with a fat pair of powder skis, though folks may bring their own skis or snowboards instead (Eric and Jaryd elected to bring their own boards). The adventure includes tasty Rudi’s Deli sandwiches for lunch, and even a complimentary beer to end the day.
Both Eric and Jaryd said it was one of their best snowboarding experiences ever, which means it probably also counts among their greatest experiences of all time. “It was my best experience in my entire life,” Jaryd exclaimed. “Never before have I been in such deep pow-pow!”
“The Powder Addiction experience is definitely on top of my list as one of the funnest things I’ve ever done. I would recommend everyone to do it at least once!” Eric VanHerwaarden
The O2 Creative team would like to personally thank Jen and Jason Harper and our guides for two amazing days!
So if you’re looking for some of the most exciting backcountry skiing around, check out our friends at Powder Addiction. Click here to visit Powder Addiction’s website (which is currently being redesigned by yours truly, so check back for design updates!)
To contact us at O2, give us a call at 970-726-8021 or email [email protected] .
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O2 on the Wipe Out
We at O2 sure are excited for this Saturday. What’s this Saturday? Well, this Saturday is none other than the Winter Park Wipe Out!
![Winter Park Wipeout stickers](http://o2creative.wpengine.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/WP_Wipeout_web.jpg)
So what’s the Winter Park Wipe Out, you ask? Well, it’s “The Coolest Race on Snow!” Contestants get to race throughout downtown Winter Park completing over 15 exciting obstacles and challenges: snow tubing and sledding, scavenger hunts, games and puzzles, food challenges, obstacle courses, and other fun stuff too!
To make things as interesting as possible, contestants are also encouraged to dress up in costumes while participating. From monkeys to bananas to superheroes to Scooby Doo, the creative contestant costumes make the event even more entertaining!
Contestants have a great time taking on challenges around Winter Park, and also receive a 2-for-1 ski pass to the Winter Park Resort, a coupon for $20 off a snowmobile tour with Grand Adventures, party beads at each challenge, raffle tickets, and other great offers from businesses all around Winter Park.
Winter Park Wipe Out is family-friendly, and it’s definitely a good time for all ages. Hot cocoa and s’mores are provided, and live music will be rocking throughout the event. For folks old enough to drink, beer is available for purchase as well.
Of course, the O2 guys will be at Wipe Out, helping out with the event and maybe even participating in a challenge or two ourselves. We volunteered and participated in last year’s Wipe Out, and it was such a good time, we can’t wait to do it again this year!
If you haven’t signed up yet, do it quick! Check out www.winterparkadventureseries.com or go to the Adventure Series Facebook page here. Hope to see you at Wipe Out!
To contact O2 Creative, give us a call at 970-726-8021 or email [email protected].
Click here for our last blog post: O2 on the river!