Herald Creative, RIP

Sorry to report that the remaining members of my old shop, Herald Creative, The Miami Herald's in-house advertising and marketing department, all got their notices Monday as part of the McClatchy layoffs.

Art directors Ed Fiol, Mamie Lingo, Hugh Williams — longtime Miami Herald employees, each with over 20 years of service — will be gone at the end of the month.

I left two years ago when McClatchy took over. The previous owner, Knight Ridder, had funded several positions, including my own, so several of us were cut when McClatchy pulled the money.

It was a very cool place to work. The designers were among the best in the country and my fellow writer/producer/project managers were pretty hot, too. We did a ton of print ads, brochures, flyers, logos, presentations, radio and TV spots, videos, billboards, bus and bench ads, rate cards, direct mail — anything and everything. It was a great and talented group.

Before I get sentimental and excessively self-indulgent (it it's not too late), here's a link to photos of a Herald Creative party back in 2004, before things unraveled there. I'm not in any of the pix; I was on vacation.

One last thing: it was the coolest office job I ever had. It had to be; I commuted over 100 miles a day for seven years!