DRS and Associates – jots blog

Alex takes a quick breath after climbing the mountains in the scenic town of Meteroa, in the Peloponnese region of Greece.

Raised in Downers Grove, IL, a suburb of Chicago. It wasn’t always easy growing up in the shadows of the likes of Denise Richards, “Macho Man” Randy Savage and hockey’s Granato siblings, but Alex managed to get through and landed at DePaul University for college.

Before coming to LA, Alex lived in Chicago for three years while attending DePaul. There he earned a degree in Public Relations/Advertising while studying Political Science as well. It was during this time he began working with various non-profit organizations throughout the city, aiding in their public relations and social media efforts and development. The experience he gained working with these organizations was the launching pad for his fascination with social media as a business tool, which led him to DRS.

People often ask Alex how he decided on Los Angeles. The answer is really quite simple. After enduring 21 brutal Chicago winters and excruciatingly hot and humid summers, it took less than a second for him to fall in love with the Southern California weather. There is a difference between dry heat and humid heat, no matter what anyone ever tells you.

After settling in Los Angeles Alex began to search out opportunities that would allow him to use the experience he had gained while also giving him the opportunity to learn and grow as a public relations practitioner. That is when he met David Schlocker, and shortly after began working at DRS as a public relations and social media intern. Although he had very little knowledge of the design world he was about to enter, the challenge of learning something new was exciting for him. A few months later, Alex moved into the role of PR Coordinator, which he currently occupies.

Touching the grass at Coors Field in Denver. Alex plans to visit every Major League Baseball stadium. So far he's seen twelve.

Outside of work, the things Alex enjoys most are travel, sports and food. He’d be lying if he said he didn’t miss Chicago, especially the food. The pizza (stuffed), the hot dogs (Chicago style, no onion), the Italian beef sandwiches, it’s all cliché but he couldn’t care less. One of Alex’s favorite new pastimes is trying to find a decent rendition of his favorites here in LA. So far he has been unsuccessful. Who would have thought it would be this hard to find a decent red hot in California?

During Alex’s time at DePaul he completed a six-month study abroad term in Athens, Greece. This trip served as a launching pad for what has since become one of his new favorite hobbies: travel. Since arriving in Athens on his 21st birthday, Alex has embarked on two cross continental trips, the first across Europe and then this past summer across the United States. He enjoys traveling to new places and exploring and experiencing all that they have to offer. Even if it’s just a weekend trip up the coast to a lazy central California beach town.

Wrigley Field, Alex's home away from home and the most beautiful stadium in all of professional sports.

Sports have always been a passion for Alex. Participating in them from a young age up through high school and even at DePaul, where he was a member of the Men’s Rugby Club. And he enjoys being a fan about just as much as he enjoyed playing. A loyal Chicagoan to the end, Alex’s rooting interests all hail from the Windy City. That is, except for the White Sox (gross). Alex says he bleeds Cubbie blue through and through, and his earliest memories center around watching Michael Jordan win championships for the Bulls in the mid-1990s. After being forced to watch the Blackhawks win their first Stanley Cup in nearly 50 years from abroad — he missed the parade by two days — Alex promised himself that he would never miss another championship. Unfortunately for him, Cubs fans have been waiting 103 years and it doesn’t appear that the streak will be ending anytime soon (hey, there’s always next year).

Curious about what makes up the personalities and diversities of our DRS team? In an ongoing series called “DRS Spotlight” we’ll be taking a closer look at what makes up the creative spirit that fuels DRS everyday.

online marketing wizard

Any resemblance of our Christopher Robin to the A.A. Milne character of Christopher Robin and Pooh should be put to rest right now. The only thing these two Robin’s have in common is that they might both be fanciful figments of our imagination. Our Chris Robin is DRS’ Online Marketing Manager, a role in which he continues to grow and thrive. He works closely with our Social Media team to give voice to our clients in the online world. And what a voice. Witty, irreverent, wry, droll – Chris never fails to send the perfect retort to in-house correspondence when needed. In the world of public relations, where every day and every minute counts when performing for your clients – a well-placed bon mot from Chris sometimes is just what the Doctor ordered.

Working with our clients Facebook, Twitter and blog accounts, Chris spends much of his day researching trends in the industry and developing stories around our clients’ products to showcase them in the their best light. This doesn’t mean it’s all super-serious; there is much about the home design industry that is quite amusing.

Chris’ take on the industry is both irreverent and respectful – he understands the passion and enthusiasm people have for these beautiful products and he is able to articulate that passion while carefully maintaining each client brand ‘voice.’ That’s why he’s so good at his job: being able to educate, enlighten and amuse people is a skill not many can claim.

How did he come about this skill set? It’s really hard to say. Chris is very private. In fact, when asked to provide some background material for this profile – he reluctantly told us the following: his family (he has a sister) grew up in the Los Angeles area. He attended school at Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles, where he majored in English. Chris does make use of his English degree – not only writing tweets, but teaching writing to children at a non-profit organization. Chris will also admit that he does picture himself always writing in one form or another, and while it may not always be in the form of 140 characters, he is enjoying working with new forms of media and he’s interested in watching the industry grow and develop and he’d like to remain a part of it.

When asked about hobbies, or activities he likes to do outside of work — here, verbatim – is how he answered:

As for talents/hobbies, in the past few years I’ve spontaneously attempted to reach an intermediate level (aiming high!) for the following skills: how to play guitar, how to cook, drink mixology, and how to speak another language (French or Spanish.)

Random things I would like to be able to do: operate a stick shift, whistle, blow a bubble of gum (mouth stuff in general), dunk a basketball, be comfortable with growing a beard, incorporate Latin and/or French idioms into my everyday vocabulary to make myself sound sophisticated, learn that card trick where you magically pull the card from behind the person’s ear, craft something out of wood, and be able to navigate my way around Los Angeles without having to use Google Maps (good luck with that Chris!)

And that, ladies and gentlemen….is Chris Robin. In a nutshell. Sort of.

Curious about what makes up the personalities and diversities of our DRS team? In an ongoing series called “DRS Spotlight” we’ll be taking a closer look at what makes up the creative spirit that fuels DRS everyday.

Raj Balu

Writers, by nature, are a dynamic species. They possess qualities in combination that seem superhuman: intelligence, humor, insight, speed, accuracy, empathy and laser-focused creativity, all while in the midst of chaos. They also possess translation skills to match anyone at the United Nations; because a great copywriter listens, translates and distills what others say and turns it into poetry.

We count ourselves lucky to have one of these rare birds in our midsts. Meet Raj Balu: In-house copywriter and copy editor extraordinaire. When not deeply absorbing product information from numerous sources, Raj can be seen methodically working at his computer – composing advertising copy, press releases, product descriptions, blog posts, backgrounders, profiles and any other on-the-spot content that is produced daily for our clients.

It is safe to say that on any given day Raj’s creative output meets and exceeds anyone’s standards. How does he do it? Are writers born or bred? Is it nature or nurture? Perhaps he’s fueled by his intake green tea – or perhaps it’s something deeper – we like to think that his love of writing is bred-in-the-bone.

Raj has honed his skill in every medium; he’s written fiction, non-fiction and screenplays – the latter for the Discovery Channel where his work was produced for the screen. When asked about writing for home design or public relations, he had this to say: “All writing, be it fiction or non-fiction, creative or technical, boils down to crafting a specific message. Writing for PR requires you to craft a highly specific and concise message in order to grab and keep audience attention. It is a unique challenge of the field and also what makes working in it so interesting.”

We had to probe a bit more: what would bring a guy, college educated in the midwest, out to California? Sun, sand and screenwriting, according to Raj. And a love of travel. When not pouring over projects at DRS, or working on various freelance projects, Raj is on the road. For a day or even months at a time – in fact, Raj was stranded in southern Thailand back in 2008 when protestors for the People’s Alliance for Democracy (PAD) took over the Bangkok Airport. Never one to panic, Raj stayed calm and has no doubt used that experience in some piece of writing somewhere! He credits his calm demeanor with having a ’Master’s Degree’ in life; along with his B.A degree and certificates from UCLA Extension.

We are quite happy that Raj’s travels have brought him to DRS, and we hope this rare bird continues to enlighten and enliven our lives. Warm and engaging, Raj’s personality is a perfect fit for DRS. Happy to know you, Mr. Balu.