…the neon hub blog…

Oh to work in California – where dirty jobs are mud baths, a board meeting is surfing and working with characters is a day out at Disney Land – or so Arnie tells us.

It may not be quite that simple to rock up and hand over your P45 to Mr Schwarzenegger in exchange for lounging around getting a tan. However the ads are quite entertaining, succeed in demonstrating the diversity of this glossy slice of the US and have developed into a strong and adaptable branding technique. So adaptable in fact that any old Tom, Dick or Harry could feature in these ads for the Golden State.

California Calling has been set up to find someone to feature in their next Visit California ad by asking entrants to upload an audition video of between 30 seconds and 3 minutes. The criteria is not very clear but you must “prove why you’re right to appear in the ad” and as in all these contents stand out from the crowd and be creative. It is worth making the effort to have a go at this, a quick look through shows that with a small amount of imagination the competition is not that stiff.

The prize…. Virgin Upper Class flights followed by a VIP adventure around California taking in LA, Santa Monica, West Hollywood, Santa Barbara and Palm Springs. At each destination you’ll see the very best each has to offer and “be treated like a star”.

Entries must be submitted by March 1st.

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To help build awareness of the site Havana Cultura launched a Twitter Treasure Hunt this week and the prize is for two VIP tickets to Gilles Peterson’s Havana Cultura album launch party in Paris on 26th November. The winner will travel to Paris with a friend via Eurostar and spend three nights at The Hotel Amour – NEON wants to enter just for the name of the hotel.

The treasure hunt will run for two weeks via the Havana Cultura Twitter profile. On the Monday, Wednesday and Friday 2 clues will be posted, the first at 1pm and the second at 5pm. The ‘clues’ hope to encourage participants to have a good look round the site while searching for the answers.

How to enter – follow Twitter account @_HavanaCultura_
Find the clues via the site
Reply with your answer
To catch up the hashtag is #havanatreasurehunt

The winner will have to answer each question and then submit a final tie breaker – the winner will then be chosen at random.

NEON has recently spent a lot of time browsing Havana Cultura – a site that has been developed to give modern Cuban artists from the city of Havana a platform to showcase their work through videos. The featured artists present video clips demonstrating creativity that there is a thriving artistic scene beyond Buena Vista Social Club, introducing themselves through their favourite spot in Havana explaining how the area has influenced their careers.

NEON’s fave video is from composer William Vivanco reflects on the Malecón – the huge walled walkway between the sea and the city when, at high tide, kids play and Cubans wait for the huge sprays to cool them down.

As well as launching the site Gilles Peterson has collaborated with Havana Cultura to produce a 2-disk album that is the culmination of a year long project that saw Peterson travel to Cuba to find the very best new talent in Havana. The album features over 20 musicians and artists recorded across 28 tracks to celebrate Cuba’s freshest sounds that range from Latin, Afro-Jazz and Fusion to Hip Hop, Funk, Reggaeton and Pop. The album also includes a number of traditional Cuban classics re-recorded by Peterson.

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One of NEON’s favourite magazines – Amelia’s Magazine – is collaborating on new project with PLATFORM, an organisation that combines art with activism, research and campaigning.

Amelia’s Magazine is going to re-envision RBS as a bastion of sustainability – the Royal Bank of Sustainability in fact. And it will be down to you to create the artwork.

They are asking for you to submit either a logo or a poster (or both) that will suggest a swing in the direction of all things sustainable in the most imaginative way possible.

Around ten of the best artworks will be shown for a week at the prestigious Arnolfi gallery in Bristol, culminating with a public judging and prize giving.

After the event PLATFORM will profile the winners on their website with links to the winners site and prior to the actual event the best entries will be posted on Amelia’s Magazine.

Interested? For more details and a full brief take a look here.

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Thank god for digital cameras. NEON’s success rate for a decent pic is about 20 to 1 but for those of you with a keen eye check out the Stories of The Eye Competition.

VICE have teamed up with Olympus to stage a special photography project to celebrate the 50th birthday of the design of the classic Olympus PEN and to mark the release of its successor, the new Olympus E-P1.

They have enlisted celebs Daisy Lowe, Alice Dellal, Miquita Oliver and Lovefoxxx who are documenting their lives through the eye of the new Olympus E-P1, according to their chosen themes.

Daisy Lowe – ‘eyeStyle’
The supermodel and her glossy lifestyle.

Alice Dellal – ‘eyeDoWhatILike’
A look into Dellal’s punky world of DM’s and loud music.

Miquita Oliver – ‘eyeLondon’
The TV presenter is taking snaps around her hometown.

Lovefoxxx is ‘eyeTravel’
The CSS lead singer’s pics from her current travels.

Entrants upload their own photographs and each of the girls will be judging the submissions to find a winner for their theme. Each winner will be awarded a brand new Olympus PEN worth £699, and the opportunity to exhibit their photos next to Daisy, Alice, Miquita or Lovefoxxx’s photos at the Stories of the Eye exhibition.

Competition closes 22nd September – ENTER HERE

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