Earlier this summer, I traveled to Brazil to see the US play in the World Cup. It was a once-in-a-lifetime trip; I’m going to write up a little travelogue soon. One of the cardinal rules of going away for more than a couple days is that “interesting stuff, that you would normally be all over, happens back home and you can’t really take part in it.” It sure happened to me. This is a bit old now, but I want to mention it separate from my travels – if only because the whole thing was such a cool experience in its own right, and something I’ve never really gotten to share with everyone.
About a week before I left (and a few days before the tournament kicked off), I started trading emails with Curt Nickisch, a reporter and producer for National Public Radio’s affiliate in Boston, WBUR. With Clean Sheet Co.’s World Cup-themed shirts about to hit maximum relevancy, Curt was interested in hearing about my perspective as a local Boston designer with a bit of soccer passion. (It didn’t hurt that he happened to be a die-hard footie fan too.)
Curt dropped by Clean Sheet Co. HQ the next day, a very humid evening in early June. After a nice conversation and some well-considered editing (I do tend to go on), this was the awesome result.
Of course, by the time it hit the airwaves in Boston, I was already in Natal, Brazil, getting ready to watch Clint, John and the gang make an entire country pretty proud. Over a spotty wi-fi connection, I got notes from friends and family that they had heard me on the radio (turns out it’s a surefire way to impress the parents), and Clean Sheet Co.’s 32 Nations line saw a huge spike in traffic and in sales.
By the time it hit the airwaves in Boston, I was already in Natal.
Since I had gone away, I had put the site in “vacation mode”, mentioning that orders wouldn’t be shipping for a few weeks – but amazingly, that didn’t stop people. The whole experience was wonderful, and it really helped cement my love for what we’re doing over at Clean Sheet Co. Now that the Cup is over, we’ve just started getting some new stuff ready – hopefully some of it is radio worthy!
Anyway, since I never got to really crow about it when it happened – or formally thank Curt and WBUR for having me on – I’d like to officially do so now.
(And hey, WBUR – if the It’s Only A Game guys need some material – or some shirts – you know where to find me!)