Ralph Guardiano, Principal and co-founder of Overabove in Essex, Conn.
1. From astringents to advertising
We’re a marketing and ad agency located in what was once the factory of the E. E. Dickinson Company, which made witch hazel from the witch hazel plant’s bark.
It’s a historic area that has several old factories.
When my partner, John Visgilio, and I started our company in 2002, we had no offices, so we’d hold meetings in the tap room of the Griswold Inn, the oldest continuously operating inn in the state. It was like our conference room.
2. Tourists and turnips
A local company operates a steam train for tourists that runs next to us.
The whistle is so loud that when we’re on conference calls, I have to stop a second. Clients occasionally say, “What is that?”
Continue reading the main storyWhen we tell them it’s a steam train, they’re incredulous and ask if we still use them. I have a little fun with them and say: “Absolutely. How do you think we bring the turnips in?”
3. A multimedia feast
I spent 20 years in broadcast news and am surrounded by vintage items from TV, film and radio.
When people visit my office, they always look around as if to say, “What is all this stuff?”
I have things like old movie theater seats, still and film cameras, microphones, a black-and-white television and a signed picture of Lassie and Timmy from the Lassie TV show. The first thing I say is, “It’s not a yard sale.”
Every item has a story, and when they gravitate toward something, I just start talking about it. Because something’s old doesn’t mean it isn’t applicable today. We can always learn from old items.
4. We’ll always have placards
Every time I get a badge from an event we’ve attended, I hang it over the Bogart and Clark Gable cutouts/placards. It’s cool to have the badges to remember the events.
Creative is messy. My office isn’t usually this neat; I cleaned it recently. If it were really this well ordered, I’d never get anything done.
Lunch — Going with the flow
We have so many great lunch places around here. We might go out to one, or grab something at the river and walk down and eat there. We order lunch in a lot because I like to bring everyone together to break bread.
5. Drive carefully
John and I were wondering what to do for this last Christmas, so we bought six Segways for the office. I called our insurance company first and they said, “Don’t even.” I did it anyway and bought 12 helmets. People are constantly whipping around corners.
6. Before Pandora
The backlit glass sign advertises WSPR, a small radio station in West Springfield, Mass., and the studio microphone next to it would have been used by the hosts. You can’t have enough microphones. Behind those are several still cameras. I like their history, why they were special — like Polaroids — how they were used, and why they were developed in the first place.
7. What’s new is old again
When I was working on a project for a cruise line, a major client, they wanted some marketing content using virtual reality. I have this old stereoscope that uses two pictures on a card. When you drop the card in and look through the viewer, the cards seem to come together for a 3-D effect.
I dropped my smartphone into the viewer where the card would go and was astounded at how good the modern virtual reality content we created looked.
I FedExed the stereoscope to our client and suggested they drop an iPhone in and watch our presentation on YouTube.
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