Despite
stormy weather and tumultuous waves, the Harvard sailing team prevailed
for the third consecutive year, defeating Princeton and winning the Ivy
League championship regatta. Just kidding! That didn’t happen. Or maybe
it did—but it doesn’t matter, because we’re profiling the Harvard Sailing Team, the
hilarious and awesome NYC sketch comedy troupe, not to be confused with
the prestigious university’s athletic team. We were first introduced to
HST when nymag.com featured
their satirical viral video duo, Boys Will Be Girls
and Girls Will Be Boys,
and since then we’ve been hooked on their comedy, showing off their
collection of videos as part of our online video repertoire. The
group--Jen Curran, Rebecca Delgado Smith, Clayton Early, Faryen Einhorn,
Katie Larsen, Adam Lustick, Billy Scafuri, Chris Smith, and Sara Taylor—first met while studying together at NYU, but it was only
post-graduation that Chris and Billy (who had started writing together)
formed the team, who have since won the 2011 Nightlife Award, the Friars
Club Sketch Competition, and the ECNY and INNY awards.
So
if a comedy troupe that bonded through a collective affinity for argyle
intrigues you (how could it not?), read on--and be sure to or check out
their videos online and their weekly show at the People’s Improv
Theater (PIT).
Photo credit: Eric Michael Pearson
“I’m
a professional funologist!” exclaims Jessica Hammer, a PhD candidate in
cognitive studies at Columbia University, when describing her career.
Jessica develops games that help to change the way people think in
order to overcome cognitive challenges and addictions. If you thought
quitting smoking, exercising more, or managing anger had to be a
painful process, Jessica hopes to prove you wrong. As a member of
Columbia University’s Teachers College EGGPLANT Game Research Laboratory, and of
the Creativity, Cognition and Learning research group, Jessica has
presented her work at academically distinguished meetings in the US and
internationally. Prior to her time at Columbia, Jessica was a
consultant and game designer, with a focus on serious games and social
software. After graduating from Harvard University with a BA in
Computer Science, she went on to earn her masters degree in Interactive
Telecommunications from NYU. Jessica has since created the game design
course sequence at Teachers College, which has turned out students who
have produced award-winning games. If Jessica doesn’t seem busy enough
to you already, you should know that in her free time she runs an
experimental storytelling group in New York City.
With
Jessica’s help, people will be able to change their lives by tackling
the hardest issues in the most fun ways possible. Get ready to play the
game of LIFE-- literally.
Brad
Horowitz developed his business savvy during his college years at NYU
Stern and summer internships with Elite Marketing, one of the top Experiential Marketing companies in the nation—thanks to Brad. Experiential Marketing incorporates emotions, logic, and general thought processes
in order to connect with a consumer. Brad, only 28 and the CoChair of the
Experiential Marketing Center of Excellence for the Promotions Marketing Association, explains, “People like
to interact with brands, products and services. A creative and relevant
brand experience will emit greater response and emotion from a consumer
than a message delivered as a monologue; creating stronger drive to
action.” After building his reputation at the company, Brad worked to
take Elite to a new level by building an Experiential Marketing
component onto the existing model of a Financial Marketing agency with
strengths in Event Marketing. Elite now features an Experiential
start-up, pioneered by Brad and his partners’ tireless commitment to
the unique method of marketing. Brad believes that this dynamic has
allowed Elite to expand at a faster pace than would have otherwise been
expected, and we believe that there’s no one more capable than him to
keep up in such an energetic environment.
