Norman-based Old Hat (OH) Creative is a sports ad agency.  Their mission is to tell the stories of their clients, and tell them well.  And if you visit their OH website, you could probably park your hiney in a chair for the next few hours because they’ve created enough cool content to keep anyone entertained for a good long while.

But there is a difference when you see their story in person.

If you review their website, you get the impression of energy, humor, sharp and creative individuals who take their work very seriously.  Okay – maybe there are similarities between the online and in-person story.

If you review their website you get the impression that the team is cohesive, that they really care about their clients, their craft, about learning and growing…and about performing together as a well-oiled and evolving system, willing to take risks and think without boundaries.  Okay, this is getting silly…those messages are clear when you visit them in person as well.

Damn, their website is pretty good at telling their story!

So what can we add for you this morning?  Perhaps a third dimension of warmth, of genuine regard for each other as a team. And of the dichotomy between a screaming football stadium of fans where their ads may be running on the big screen compared to the pristine quiet when you walk into their office – all their professionals working on iMacs with headphones on, completely focused on their task at hand.

I spoke to Tracie Hitz, their Director of Business Development, this week and she talked about why she moved from Illinois to Oklahoma in order to join OH.  She said that the Chicago area is filled with ad agencies, and a sub-group of sports ad agencies…that it’s a fast paced and challenging life, and fits the image of what you might hope to have working in their industry.  At the same time, however, she related that working for the Northwestern University athletic department was – in a sense – an established system with very little room for creative influence in terms of their mission or direction.  They already were how they were going to be.

When Tracie moved here, she got two things.  The ability to contribute and influence the way OH was developing – she said that founder Zac Logsdon listens to her ideas, considers them and frequently she’ll see them implemented.  And, she got “settled down,” a sense of stability and permanence of community.  When I listened to her “two things,” I thought… “Well, that’s Oklahoma.  Creative and homey.”  But it’s certainly OH as well.

And perhaps that’s the thing we can tell you about when wrapping up our shout out this morning.  When you walk into the OH “living room,” it feels comfortable.  When you talk with their staff, they are friendly and inviting…and funny.  And when you think about their website information as a whole, you get the sense that the team is a family.

I spoke to a Norman resident Wednesday night and mentioned I had visited OH and he perked up, “Yeah, they’re making waves around town!”

“Good waves?” I asked, “What kind of waves?”

“They’re well-respected, over-achievers…a really good thing,” he replied.

So, maybe that’s the rest of the story.  A creative family of overachieving professionals who make good waves in their community….but you can get that from their website too.  And their Twitter account.  And their Facebook page.

And…you can get the chance to win a ‘Lil Duey T-Shirt and an OH hat just by Tweeting this article (see icon below), or visiting the new RDC Twitter account and mentioning us.  Just Tweet a message and “@RDChronicles” today, and we’ll enter you in the drawing…and contact you tomorrow if you won.

Here’s to you, Old Hat – we’re “tipping our RDC hat” to you and yours.  All the best!

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Editor’s Note:  I was a high school drama teacher for eight years.  OH Founder, Zac Logsdon, was one of my former students.  He and his wife Jill played the leads (mother and father) in our first off-site play, “Cheaper by the Dozen.”  It’s interesting that now it seems they are sort of the mother and father of a dozen or so children at OH, all of whom are very special people...warms my heart to see them doing what they’re doing.