UCSB Liberal Arts Career Retreat

I had the honor of contributing to a panel at the UCSB third annual Liberal Arts Career Retreat.  The event supports students who are looking to start a career path, either as a first or second year who may want an internship, or graduating students who may be fearful of what the "real world" has to offer. 

I enjoyed contributing on one of the various panels called "Non-Tech Careers in the Tech Industry: Your Liberal Arts Advantage."  My fellow panelists and I spoke to what students can expect in the professional world, how to interview, how to respect the relationship, how to avoid entitlement, and how to achieve longevity in a sustainable career.  

Being a graduate of UCSB's Film Studies and Black Studies departments gives me a special understanding what today's students experience.  I look forward to contributing at the next event.

FestForums 2016

I truly enjoyed the FestForums 2016 Santa Barbara conference.  A convergence of festival professionals ranging from wine & food to music to film and experiential events.  This conference was held at the Fess Parker Doubletree, allowing for meaningful networking and hallway collisions to lead to great conversation.  

My company Oniracom produced the FestForums.com website, sponsored the weekend conference, and hosted joyful visitors at our booth.  Also, CMO Mike Wald moderated a panel on content marketing, and I MC'ed two of the three days.

John Lucchetti, Nathaniel Hansen, Dusty Stutsman, Will Mankowski, Jacob Tell

Matt Kettmann, Editor at the Santa Barbara Independent, runs a wine tasting panel.

Jacob Tell MCs one of the rooms over the weekend. 

Great networking opportunities all weekend long.

One of the best moments of the festival was the panel on "Sustainable Events: Models for Greening & Engagement" which featured Oniracom's long time partners Kim and Jack Johnson as well as multi-year client Eric Shiflett from the Santa Barbara Bowl, and Jack Johnson tour buddy Tanner Watt from REVERB.  Mike Martin of EFFECT Partners moderated the panel who I've worked with on Jack Johnson campaigns over the course of several years.  Also the two major promotors LiveNation and AEG had representatives, both companies we've serviced at Oniracom.  It was truly a family affair, and I was given the honor of introducing the brilliant bunch.  Enjoy the video.

Breakfast with the Humanities Panel

I enjoyed participating on the "Breakfast with the Humanities" panel at UCSB this morning.  The turnout was outstanding -- standing room only -- and about 25% of the students were first year or transfers.  The engagement level impressed me as I saw no devices or other distractions in the room for over an hour of discussion and Q&A.  I hope the information the 5 panelists shared is put to good use by our future world leaders. Go Gauchos!

Here is a Tweet from the Humanities and Fine Arts Division at UC Santa Barbara, @HFAUCSB.

#UCSB's Breakfast with the Humanities was a success! Thanks to @jacobtell @donlubach @sbmuseart @SBScholarship @dvilladsenphoto pic.twitter.com/KvEBswLBKv

— HFA UCSB (@hfaucsb) September 20, 2016

PechaKucha Presentation: "Why The Lagoon District?"

I had never heard of PechaKucha, which apparently means "chit-chat" in Japanese.  Not only was I unaware of their massive global network, but also of their quick presentation format they called "20x20."  Presenters are gifted 20 slides, each for 20 seconds, ensuring each person only takes the stage for 6 minutes and 40 seconds.  This keeps the information punchy, and the audience engaged.  I truly enjoyed the flow, and believe this 20x20 presentation format is an artform.  I look forward for another opportunity to present, perhaps on a different topic.

Why The Lagoon District?

"Jacob Tell, CEO and co-founder of Santa Barbara's premiere creative agency Oniracom speaks about the inspiration behind the Lagoon District.  This burgeoning neighborhood of Santa Barbara is home to commercial, industrial and residential locals.  The history of area influenced the branding, as street names such as Laguna, Quarantina, and Salsipuedes pay homage to the past lagoon-style flooding of the neighborhood."