No. 2

From the Mailchimp years. Sent from San Francisco, autumn 2016.

I told you it would be infrequent.

Here it is! The infrequently achieved 2nd Edition! I hope it finds you well and busy with the things you want to be doing. I've been busier than I expected to be with work stuff this year and I'm constantly reminding myself that that's a GOOD thing (although it has come at the expense of miles on the bike, a problem I'm trying now to rectify).

Like I said in the first edition of this newsletter, we'll take a quick look at some stuff I've been up to, some stuff I think you might find interesting or inspiring from the fun people I know and mostly, something to give you an excuse to take a break from that inbox.

Since this summer, I've been working at Twitter as a Creative Director in their in-house agency. Basically, they realized that nobody knows what they are as well as they do so they made the decision to build an in-house creative agency. And you know what? It's been a lot of fun.

I've been leading efforts on the advertising they're doing to promote their Thursday Night Football live streams (Yes! You can watch Thursday Night Football on Twitter. For FREE!), their streaming of the Presidential Debates and played a hand in launching their new brand work.

The work includes broadcast TV, huge out-of-home executions and a TON of digital stuff. So, if you see Twitter in the real world, I probably have those files on my Mac.

2016 marks the 5th year that we've been able to take cyclists to Europe for week-long cycling camps. When we started Mission Cycling around Christmas of 2007 we always had it as a goal to get to Europe. Amazing that it's now happened 5 years in a row including 5 trips to the French Alps and 2 trips to Tuscany.

On our Tuscany trip we had an entire stone villa entirely to ourselves in the heart of Chianti. Our crew of cyclists couldn't have been more fun and the riding is basically impossible to describe. Plus, there was our chef who came by to prepare dinner for us every night AND we got to see the Giro's Tuscany time trial up-close and personal.

Then in July, we headed back to what's become a home away from home in the French Alps. For those of you who don't know, we stay in a chalet that's located about 8 miles from the base of the historic Alpe d'Huez and within cycling distance of innumerable legendary climbs. While the weather this year was a little weird (highs in the 50s and 60s for the first time ever) our Alps crew came together for an incredible week, lots of laughs, some late-night hair coloring and lots of vertical feet.

It's truly a dream come true that I get to do this. Not only is it life-changing to get to ride these roads myself but, more importantly, it's a privilege to take people along and see their reactions to unplugging for a week and riding in the most beautiful parts of the world. I'm very, very grateful.

Doing the work I do I get to meet all kinds of super-talented, crazy, interesting people. One of these folks, a guy who I've really come to admire, is Jeff Newton. He and I met while working on a campaign for Wells Fargo. He's a photographer and self-described coffee nerd. We were on the road for our shoot for like 3 weeks and he brought his own gourmet coffee setup with him everywhere we went.

But what I find truly inspiring about Jeff (beyond his insane commitment to his craft), is the fact that he's turning his passion for coffee into a real, tangible project: Americano Mondays. This is his coverage of the people, culture and trends that he finds interesting in and around the coffee universe. Sure, it's about coffee but it's really more about the interesting people who have decided to create the comforting coffee spaces that we all love to hide in.

So while, by day, he's an accomplished professional photographer for hire, you can really see his passion come through on Americano Mondays (a side project that is constantly threatening to become his main gig). Give it a look. And if your next project needs a conscientious and committed photographer, give him a call.

Thanks for spending some time with the stuff that's been in my brain lately. In return, allow me to offer this, the Spotify playlist for your next super groovy outdoor get-together: Beach Diggin'.

This stuff is compiled by a DJ named Guts and a great artist named Mambo. I stayed in Mambo's airbnb in Echo Park earlier this year. His art is awesome. And the music compilations he does are very, very groovy.

And that's it for now.

If you read something here that inspired you in some way, or you came across something you think people should know about, shoot me a note: [email protected]

Thanks!

Dylan DiBona
Art & Creative Director