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bluemedia recently had the ability to work with the amazing crew over at Lifelock racing to update the look of their 2009 dragster. Clay Millican and his team were outfitted with some new graphics for the 2009 racing season. bluemedia produced the graphics on our HP turbojet 8300 using 3M material.

Clay Millican, from Drummonds, Tenn., has loved drag racing his entire life. He got his first race car at the age of 16, and fueled his passion for racing in the Sportsman ranks for many years. Clay had raced as a hobby for all his adult life until Peter Lehman came along. His path to Top Fuel carries a fairy tale style story.

He was working as a forklift driver for Kroger Supermarkets while campaigning simultaneously an IHRA Modified eliminator entry when Lehman selected Millican to drive his Chicago White Sox-sponsored Top Fuel Dragster entry. Peter provided the opportunity for Clay to fulfill a lifelong dream of driving professionally.

The goal was to learn the game and to establish themselves as the Top Fuel team of the future. What Peter saw in Clay was not only a potentially great driver, but a Southern gentleman with an unwavering passion for the sport and genuine appreciation of the fans of drag racing. Lehman and Millican later acquired sponsorship backing from trucking giant Werner Enterprises and formed one of the most well-known driver-sponsor alliances in IHRA Top Fuel history.

Clay’s never short on words personality and success at the race track with ESPN and NHRA Drag Racing has landed him some unique opportunities away from the track.

Speed TV and TV producer Rich Christensen recognized his unique appeal to Drag Racing fans and selected Clay as Host for the Speed TV Drag Race High Series for 2009.

Clay also hosted the series Blow It Up for Speed TV in 2007. In 2005 Clay and the team worked with Warner Bros. Studios to promote the movie release of “The Dukes of Hazzard”. In 2004 during the middle of “Elvis Week,” in the middle of the day, in the middle of one of Memphis’ busiest streets, everything came to a screeching halt – and a smokin’ start – in front of Graceland when then three-time IHRA Top Fuel champion Clay Millican stepped on the gas and launched his Elvis Presley“He Dared To Rock” dragster down the middle of Elvis Presley Boulevard.

A big thank you from bluemedia to the Lifelock Racing team, we can’t wait to follow the progress of Clay through his 2009 racing season!

Follow Clay on twitter!

The toys were out at the 2009 Big Boys & their Toys show. bluemedia was in full force representing our awesome abilities with live demos & numerous wrapped vehicles throughout the show. A great turnout came to see the newest cars, quads, and boats. There was also a state-of-the-art golf simulator with “nearest to pin” and “longest drive” competitions, a sport racing simulator, four speed-dating events and a video game tournament called Devastation. Everyone had a great time and bluemedia made many new friends as well as some great new clients. Thanks to all that helped make this the best Big Boys show yet!! See you next year.

bluemedia booth at Big Boys

bluemedia Lambo

bluemedia is honored to be an official partner of the Arizona Diamondbacks. Chase Field has really become a magical place this season with all of the new branding and sponsorship signage that has been  incorporated into the ballpark.

With a team that pushes their limits everyday, The employees over at Chase Field, along side bluemedia, work very hard to make the ballpark the most remarkable fan experience for everyone. This year it paid off for the Diamondbacks! They were  awarded the 2011 Major League Baseball All-Star Game.

“We are thrilled and honored to be hosting this amazing event,” said Phoenix Mayor Phil Gordon. “Even if you were here for the 2001 World Series, you’ll hardly recognize the place. We’ve got a brand new Convention Center, a new downtown hotel, 20-miles of light rail, and a sea of Sedona Red. It’s a very special time to be in Phoenix, and MLB is adding the exclamation point to everything that’s going on.”

“This is an exciting day for the Arizona Diamondbacks,” said D-backs’ President and CEO Derrick Hall. “This franchise, its great fans and wonderful state deserve the honor and recognition. We pride ourselves in being the most fan-friendly team in sports and for providing a wholesome and memorable game experience, and now the entire world will have the opportunity to witness it from this grand stage. We thank the Commissioner and all of Major League Baseball for the selection, and for allowing us to showcase our beautiful ballpark, our welcoming city and our first-class fans.”

The 82nd All-Star Game will be held at Chase Field in Phoenix on July 12, 2011.

The winner of the Valley’s 9th annual Bus Wrap contest was unveiled on Wednesday in Tempe.

16-year-old Max Ellinger had his submission plastered across a 40 foot bus.

The unveiling took place at Tempe’s New School for the Arts & Academics, where Ellinger is a sophomore.

Ellinger’s artwork was chosen out of 64 entries submitted by public and charter schools across the Valley. Tempe Mayor Hugh Hallman was in attendance to congratulate Max on a job well done.

“Max’s entry was chosen because his artwork is creative, exciting and dramatic,” said Dolores Nolan, Valley Metro Transit Education Manager. “In addition to its visual merits, Max’s entry provided a timely environmental message.”

14-year-old Andrew Tamayo and 15 year-old Karla Rubio, freshmen from Central High School in Phoenix came in second and third.

Ellinger’s design will remain on the Valley Metro bus for one year.  On top of doing the printing and installation bluemedia has been a proud sponsor of this event for the last several years. Congratulations to all the contestants from the bluemedia crew, keep up the amazing designs!!

On April 16th – 18th, 2009 Mike Tovar, bluemedia Install Manager, along with Ingram Johnson, our senior bluemedia Installer, travelled to Las Vegas to compete in the 1st Annual Lowen Certified Wrap Off. Mike and Ingram competed against 46 other installers from all over the world in a 3-day, 5 round event judging the installers speed, technique and quality of install. Ford provided six 2009 Mustangs to be used in the event. Sweet! And so it began…

Rounds 1 through 4 consisted of wrapping the drivers side front fender and door. The 5th and final round consisted of 3 finalists wrapping the entire driver’s side and competing for all the marbles. First place took home a 2009 Ford F-250 XL, an HP Touchsmart tx2-1020us Notebook PC, a truck tool box and wrapper’s tool set from Mac Tools, Cyrious Control OOB Gold system and a free Lowen Certification for the Installer.™  Second place winner took home a cool $5,000 cash (not chump change by any stretch), with 3rd place receiving a complimentary custom wrap for their vehicle designed by the guys at West Coast Custom.

The Results:Dustin Shelley of Atlanta took 1st place and the sweet truck. Nicely done Dustin. We heard you did an amazing job. Here’s where the story gets good though!… Our very own Mike Tovar came in just behind him in 2nd place and pocketed the $5,000!!!! Way to represent Mike! bluemedia could not be more proud of your performance in this event. We also need to give a big shout-out to the 3rd place winner Rob Miller of Laid Vision, a Phoenix based install crew. Rob is a great friend of bluemedia and has wrapped many vehicles for us in the past. Congratulations Rob! Well what about Ingram, you say? While he didn’t make it to the final round, he made it all the way to the final 12 so kudos to you as well. We had a feeling our guys would go out there and make some noise. You can bet we’ll be there again next year. Be afraid. Be very afraid.

bluemedia™ was recently commissioned by US Racetronics to create, produce and install the graphics for the Stargate Worlds trailer and hauler. Stargate Worlds, the title sponsor, is an online PC video game based off of the popular film and TV series.

Team Stargate Worlds consists of two Atlantic Series drivers, Simona De Silvestro and Frankie Muniz. If that names sounds familiar, it should. Frankie Muniz is the former child star of the popular Fox sit-com, Malcolm In The Middle! This series is considered a “ladder or feeder” series for top level racing in North America.

Team Stargate Worlds cars already boasted a slick, black and yellow-gold striping/paint scheme. Our services were needed to create trailer graphics that not only matched the cars, but also conveyed the bold imagery of the video-game. High resolution graphic elements were provided to bluemedia™ from the game developer, Cheyenne Mountain Games and Firesky.

This project called for 1,832 Sq. Ft. of 3M Controltac Vinyl w/comply printed on our HP Turbojet 8300. We used our Seal laminator and gloss 8519 for the lamination process. All of the sponsor logos were done in cut vinyl as a second surface application. There was also a small amount of perforated window film. The bluemedia™ team spent a total of  over 90 man hours hours on this project with the majority of that time spent on installation. The entire rig, tractor and trailer, was red which meant that almost every surface needed to be wrapped. The tractor alone had about 50 man hours of installation.

“The team tested in Sebring, Florida a couple of weeks before the season started, and was questioned by many teams about who produced the wrap,” said Andy Salcido, the bluemedia rep for this account. “Race teams are very competive by nature, not only do they want to go faster than their opponents, they also try want to represent their sponsors in the best light by having bold and impactful graphics on the cars and the haulers. This project will generate many leads and other projects for bluemedia.”

This project will be featured in the July issue of Signs of the Times magazine and we will post the link here when it’s available. Special thanks to US Racetronics and Stargate Worlds for involving us in this awesome project! Go Malcolm,…er I mean Frankie!

PHOENIX, Jan. 26, 2009 – The NBA unveiled the first-ever wrapped METRO light rail trains today during an event at the METRO Operations and Maintenance Facility in Phoenix. A special NBA All-Star-themed design, highlighting the images of six 2009 NBA All-Stars and printed on HP digital printing technology with 3M Control-tac Material, will be featured on two trains from the new mass transit system beginning today and lasting through Monday, Feb. 16.

click on image above for more photos.

The METRO light rail train was unveiled by Phoenix Mayor Phil Gordon, members of the Phoenix City Council, NBA Senior Vice President of Events and Attractions Gail Hunter, Phoenix Suns President & COO Rick Welts, and the Phoenix Suns Gorilla, the team mascot.

The wrapped METRO light rail trains feature an NBA All-Star 2009 thematic, which includes the All-Star Game logo and images of 2009 All-Stars Kobe Bryant of the L.A. Lakers, Yao Ming of the Houston Rockets, LeBron James of the Cleveland Cavilers, Kevin Garnett of the Boston Celtics, Dwight Howard of the Orlando Magic and Amar’e Stoudemire of the hometown Phoenix Suns. Four separate light rail vehicles, paired into two-car trains, feature the special NBA All-Star design.

click on image above for more photos.

Recognizing the economic and community benefits associated with NBA All-Star 2009, the METRO Board of Directors, which currently has a “no advertising” policy, voted to allow the NBA to wrap METRO light rail trains as a pilot project.

The NBA utilized digital printing technology from HP to produce the first-ever branding for the METRO. The NBA and HP’s wide-ranging marketing partnership will also include utilization of HP’s printing services throughout the NBA All-Star 2009 footprint, including at the US Airways Center, at NBA All-Star Jam Session presented by adidas, and in downtown Phoenix. The league selected bluemedia, a leading provider of large format design and printing for use in vehicle, large format and environmental graphic applications, to produce the wrapping, which was printed on an HP Scitex TJ8300 printer using 3M Control-tac.

click on image above for more photos.

“Light Rail and the NBA All-Star Game are two extraordinary feathers in our City’s cap,” said Phoenix Mayor Phil Gordon. “This is where they come together for the very first time. They’ll meet again, of course, as thousands ride the METRO to all the All-Star events.”

“Phoenix has been a wonderful host city and this is another example of how it is working to spread the excitement of NBA All-Star in innovative ways,” said Gail Hunter, Senior Vice President, Events and Attractions
National Basketball Association. “METRO light rail is an exciting addition to the Valley of the Sun and we are thrilled to take part in this unique promotion to build anticipation for the league’s marquee event.”

click on image above for more photos.

“NBA All-Star 2009 will put on display to a global audience why Phoenix is such a great place to live and to do business. The NBA does a terrific job branding their marquee event and the addition of the wrapped METRO light rail is just another example of that,” said Rick Welts, President & COO, Phoenix Suns.

click on image above for more photos.

About NBA All-Star 2009

NBA All-Star 2009 in Phoenix will bring together some of the most talented and passionate players in the league’s history for a global celebration of the game. Among the many events that will reach fans in more than 200 countries in more than 40 languages are the T-Mobile Rookie Challenge & Youth Jam, Sprite Slam Dunk Contest, Foot Locker Three-Point Shootout, PlayStation Skills Challenge, Haier Shooting Stars, McDonald’s NBA All-Star Celebrity Game, NBA All-Star Jam Session presented by adidas, and the 58th NBA All-Star Game, played on Sunday, Feb. 15 at the US Airways Center and broadcast on TNT for the 24th year. This will be the third NBA All-Star in Phoenix. The city also hosted the event in 1975 and 1995.

source: http://phoenix.fanster.com/2009/01/26/nba-unveils-first-ever-wrapped-metro-light-rail-trains-for-nba-all-star-2009/

(Courtesy of Phoenix Suns Public Relations)

Congratulations to the bluemedia team for completing the first ever wrapped Metro Light Rail for the 2009 NBA All-Star Game! This was a truely amazing project for the dedicated staff at bluemedia to be a part of. We look forward to more attention grabbing projects with the NBA and HP.
Other Articles on the Light Rail Wrap project:

http://phoenix.bizjournals.com/phoenix/stories/2009/01/19/daily66.html

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Whiskey Ranch BBQ provides the best food and BBQ catering services in Arizona.  They cater anything from corporate events, fund raisers, wedding, and parties of all kinds, with both meal delivery and on site cooking.  Their full-service, buffet style, barbecue catering includes friendly servers, set up tables for serving with table cloths, plates, napkins, and utensils.  Just sit back and enjoy! Whiskey Ranch BBQ is cooked low and slow. They place the quality meats in their custom made smoker and they are cooked “Southern Style”. They cook the beef brisket and pork shoulders for up to 20 hours and ribs for up to 9 hours.

Many more here.

Keep Holland clean foundation utilizing vehicle graphics to help communicate their message.

“Don’t turn the bus into a garbage truck. It’s just as easy to throw your trash in the waste bin.”

People do not treat public buses with respect. They leave they’re garbage on it. We asked people not to turn their buses into garbage trucks.

Thanks I believe in ADV