Biography
David Orchard founded IdeaZeit in 2006 after a ten-year career in PR and event marketing for some of America's best agencies. His experience with many prestigious brands and their managers has taught him what works and, more importantly, what doesn't. In the years since, he has gone on to create award-winning programs for numerous luxury brand clients.
As a college student in the UK, David was the only person in his class to double major in business and theater. After a short spell in acting he quickly realized there was only one career path that fit the bill: public relations. And where else to begin, but the media relations department of the Daytime Emmy Awards, the first year they went primetime from Radio City. That auspicious beginning set the stage for a varied career in PR one to which he’s brought an actor’s creativity and a businessman’s focus.
As an expert in branding and event marketing for clients in the food, beverage, hospitality and luxury brands arena, he has created unique programs that drive both media coverage and sales for clients including Johnnie Walker, Perrier, Lexus, American Express, Nestle, Tropicana, Peroni, Drambuie, James Beard Foundation, New York Restaurant Week, Starwood Hotels and Orient-Express Hotels. He has extensive experience in the publishing world, having worked on the business side of several Conde Nast publications, including Bon Appétit and Conde Nast Traveler magazines.
Prior to opening IdeaZeit David served as senior vice president at Maloney & Fox heading up the agency’s food and beverage practice along with new business acquisitions. His work on the Godiva Liqueur account won two awards for the agency including the prestigious PRSA Big Apple Award and his Drambuie Den campaign was nominated for a Sabre Award. With no prior background in interior design, he headed a highly successful PR campaign for the famed Italian design show "i Saloni" in its first foray to the U.S. market. He also worked on special projects for Microsoft and T-Mobile including the launch of the latest BlackBerry model in 2004.
Previously, he was vice president of public relations and event marketing for LP Advertising and Public Relations, where he created brand-building programs for clients and worked with their sales teams to increase revenue. He’s especially proud of creating the S. Pellegrino Almost Famous Chef Contest, a celebrity chef ‘boot camp’ for America’s top young culinary school graduates that culminated in an annual contest held at Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas. The contest helped maintain the brand’s leadership position among the culinary community and celebrity chefs and generated millions of media impressions. Interestingly, this program was created several years before the popular NBC and Food Network shows that "coincidentally" use the same format as Almost Famous.
In addition to his work at LP, David served as special events manager for Conde Nast Traveler magazine, a job that took him around the world to Japan, Hong Kong, the Caribean, Bermuda, the UK and France, where he produced the famed Readers' Choice Awards at the Strasbourg Opera House. He was also a PR manager for three years at M. Young Communications in New York, producers of the prestigious James Beard Awards, New York Restaurant Week and the Bon Appetit Wine & Spirits Focus.
As a dual UK/US citizen he’s proud of having traveled to 48 of the 50 states. He is also a freelance travel writer, having had four articles published in Passport magazine, and enjoys donating time as a PR consultant for several charitable organizations.