Who? Nick Wineland, Associate Performance Marketing Director
Nick’s creative hero: Jerry Garcia
Why Jerry Garcia? He’s just an interesting guy in so many ways. The instrument he was best at, the banjo, isn’t what he’s known for. He loved scuba diving, but he only got into it after his diabetic coma. He never wanted to be the leader of the Dead, and often shirked his responsibilities to the detriment of the band and the fans. But his legacy is one of bringing people together, in an almost exclusively good-vibes environment. And that aspect of Garcia in particular (and, by extension, the Dead) still resonates today. Dead & Company played eight weekends of shows at the Sphere in Las Vegas recently and performed songs that were written between 30 and 50 years ago. Although their music hits differently for everyone who enjoys it, it is also a collective experience of overwhelming positivity.
The piece of Garcia’s work that Nick comes back to again and again: For Deadheads it’s a little cliché, but “Althea.” It’s so interesting from a musical standpoint, and the lyrics (written by Robert Hunter) are a fascinating conversation between the narrator and Althea. Every time I listen to it, I discover something new.
How Nick approaches new projects at work: More often than not, because I fall back on my base of SEO knowledge, I’ll go right into keyword research. It helps at least gauge what people are searching for about a particular topic and how often they’re searching for it; that can lead to some really remarkable findings. For example, during one pitch, we discovered that more people search “Why do we have butts?” than “Why do we get sick?” There’s a lot of creative territory to mine there!
Nick’s most treasured possession: If you can call pets possessions, I’d say my cat and my dog. They’re giant goofballs who make every day better. Apart from them, gotta go with my gaming PC. My friends are spread out all over, and the fact that we can get on and play and talk shit makes me really happy.
Nick’s favorite word: Onomatopoeia. It’s like a trampoline for your mouth.
His idea of misery: Feeling trapped, like stuck in a middle seat on a long flight (I got long legs!).
Nick’s go-to karaoke song: Anything by Elton John. “Daniel” and “Tiny Dancer” are two favorites.
