Last night, as I do almost every year, I was watching the annual Major League Baseball Home Run Derby (yes, another baseball post). Aside from Phillies star Chase Utley uttering a not-so-nice word about New York fans into his live microphone on national TV (oops!), the event was pretty boring for a while.

That all changed when Texas’ Josh Hamilton started pounding baseballs all over historic Yankee Stadium. He hit 35 home runs on the night, including a homer on 15 straight swings. His longest home run traveled well over 500 feet, and was most easily described by the announcers as “slamming off the Bank of America sign in right-center field.” As you can see, that’s really, really, really far.

So after I stopped comparing my wiffle ball power to Hamilton’s real power, I quickly noticed something I never really had before: the abundance of advertisements on, above, and all around the outfield walls. Every time the camera panned to the outfield to follow a ball over the fence, I noticed another ad. It’s only taken me a few weeks at a full-service advertising agency like DDA to notice these things.

I started to wonder if these ads were worth the unimaginable price tag I’m sure they carry. As I thought about it, I realized the answer is a definite “yes.” While I may not consciously notice large display ads like these, or say “I’m going to use Bank of America because I saw that ad at the ballpark,” I realized they are tough to miss.

For example, I can tell you without looking at a picture that the following companies advertise at Philadelphia’s Citizens Bank Park: Citizens Bank (duh), Southwest Airlines, W.B. Mason, Independence Blue Cross, Dodge, J.J. White, Budweiser, Toyota, Legg Mason and Bud Light. Now I won’t necessarily drink Budweiser, drive a Toyota, or fly Southwest because of the ads , but I am fully aware of the ads and the companies without realizing it — and that’s half the battle for businesses when they spend advertising dollars. I don’t even know what J.J. White does (construction, according to Google), but whenever I see another one of their ads on a bus, in a newspaper, or on TV, I say “oh, that’s the one with the big sign in left field at the Phillies games.”

The ads reminded me of everything that we can do at Dynamic Digital Advertising. Our team of copywriters and graphic designers can create any kind of of large-format graphics — from trade show graphics, to bus advertisements, to huge billboards (usually starring Jess).

And if you want baseball players to hit home runs off your sign, we can make that happen, too.

Elizabeth and I had family in from Minnesota last week and we got to enjoy a variety of different activities. Perhaps the most fun was a short, one-night visit to Atlantic City, NJ where we came away big winners.

While winning big in Atlantic City is not common, it is also generally not newsworthy, or even blogworthy. What makes this story compelling, at least to me is the fact that neither I nor Elizabeth gamble. And NO we were not winners just because we got to eat a lot of great food or because we enjoyed a leisurely stroll down the boardwalk.

We were big winners because we had clients showing at the New Jersey Dental Association (NJDA) Trade Show. Yes, they are good clients, a twelve-location dental practice, and yes, having clients at a trade show utilizing a trade show booth and trade show exhibits, large format graphics, trade show graphic designs, sell sheets, brochures and other promotional items designed and produced by us is not unusual, it is rare that we get to attend the show and see the sales materials in action.

DDA wins big with every trade show event we design and produce because when our clients win, we win.

DDA subscribes to several business practices and principles that directs everything we do. They are transparency, ethical conduct, and doing the right thing. The practice of these are both just good, sane, logical and practical approaches to client and vendor relations and emotional, cerebral and feel-good-about-yourself practices and beliefs that allows one to look himself or herself in the mirror each morning and sleep well at night.

Some definitions through the eyes of DDA:

Transparency. I like to think I am a good communicator. I know I am a lousy listener. My other career path might well have been as a history teacher and I sometimes wonder if the excitement of the advertising and business world overwhelmed my common sense.

Despite my best efforts, I recognize that four people in a meeting or discussion will leave with four slightly or largely different understandings of what just happened, what information was shared, what conclusions were drawn, and what the next steps are. Since we believe strongly that good process is at the core of all efficiency, somehow each successful advertising, branding, or marketing meeting must result in common understanding, shared goals, and a focused unified vision of the end game.

Transparency tools are woven into and heaped upon every advertising, branding, or marketing project we undertake. DDA TRAC (Time Resource and Accounting) is an in-house developed, Internet-based time tracking database tool. The result is that every hourly billed project including programming, logo design, graphic design, copywriting, photography, video, 2D and 3D animation, illustration, trade show displays, large format graphics, print design and print production for sell sheets, catalogs, brochures, flyers, direct mail, business cards, training portals and tools, CME design and development and even search engine optimization (SEO) is invoiced accurately. No time, not one minute is rounded up or added on, and every invoice is accompanied by a detailed minute-by-minute description of how the time was spent. On time, On budget, On TRAC every time.

Additional tracking and reporting tools abound. DDA’s search engine optimization (SEO) work has a series of metrics that perpetually report website visitation, usage, pathways, experience-based mapping, rankings, and much more. Website analysis means corporate websites can be better understood, improved, and managed.

Online proofing development websites are assigned to each client and each project. Our clients see every project unfold, improve, and take shape and their input is welcomed, requested, and insisted upon every step of the way.

Transparency is as much an attitude as it is a report or tool. At DDA, we believe that direct communication is the hallmark of a truly professional service-oriented vendor. We answer the phone, have project coordinators for each client, welcome questions and love client interaction. Every project is a blend of skills, expertise, information, and point-of-view provided by both the client and DDA.

Call us anytime. At DDA, the Transparency is clearly better.

Ethical Conduct to follow Monday.

Doing the Right Thing to follow Tuesday.