The old college try Democratic Convention could rally Bangor businesswomen to success

Give me an E! Give me an L! Give me an E! Give me a C! Give me a T! Give me an O! Give me an R! Give me an A! Give me an L!

What does it spell?

Well, if Ashley Perry and Andrea Duquette have their say, it will spell success next week at the Democratic National Convention. Perry, 24, and Duquette, 23, of the Bangor-based marketing firm Intellectual Threads, will don cheerleading outfits and rally the Boston crowd to buy the Electoral College line of clothing.

“Sometimes we go a little over the top, but we’ll get it done,” Duquette said during a recent interview in Intellectual Threads’ Bangor office.

In true collegiate style, the tongue-in-cheek shirts and hats bear the logo and the name of the fictitious academic institution (but real political institution) in block letters. The sportswear-and-accessories company is the brainchild of John and Marcia Diamond of Glenburn, self-described “political junkies” who attracted national media attention, and a huge spike in sales, during the presidential ballot controversy of 2000.

Though it gave the company a boost, it was a bit of a challenge for a couple with children and busy day jobs: John works as the public affairs chief for the University of Maine System and Marcia is the principal at All Saints Catholic School in Bangor.

So for the 2004 election season, the Diamonds decided to turn the reins over to Duquette and Perry, who now manage the business and own a share of the company. It was the perfect fit.

“They, in many ways, are like the

business itself,” John Diamond said. “Our motto is: ‘For people who take politics seriously but not too seriously.’ They take their work very seriously, but they’re also very humble. They try not to take themselves too seriously.”

During a recent visit to their Bangor office, the duo answers the door wearing casual Friday attire: jeans, flip-flops and hot-pink sweaters. Suddenly, from a far-off corner, Perry’s teacup chihuahua barks and runs toward the door wearing a bejeweled pink collar. Her name? Elle, after Elle Woods, the heroine in “Legally Blonde.”

But as soon as they sit down at the conference table, any comparisons to Reese Witherspoon’s bubbly blonde character end. These women mean business; both majored in it in college. Each earned her master’s degree from the University of Maine in May – Perry in business administration, Duquette in public administration.

In grad school, they both worked as technical assistants at Target Technology Center in Orono, providing grant-writing and market-research services to business tenants and affiliates of the incubator. After graduating, they formed Intellectual Threads to market “intellectually savvy clothing designs” and now have offices in downtown Bangor and at the Target center in Orono.

They recently bought the trademark for their own line of clothing (also tongue-in-cheek, and, Perry says, laughing and blushing, “a little risque,”) the crystal-accented “Learn to Read Braille” line of T-shirts, which they plan to start producing in the not-so-distant future.

Though their designs and the Electoral College concept differ in fashion sense and target audience, they share similarities. For starters, both serve a niche market. And the management aspect is the same regardless of the product.

“We’re using this as a springboard in a way,” Perry said. “We wanted Intellectual Threads to have two sides: garments, sure, but also corporate management. We want to lend out services to people like John and Marcia who need someone to oversee the details. Theirs is a 4-year cyclical business. By the end of the year, we’ll have enough experience and enough capital built up [to attract clients for] Intellectual Threads.”

But right now, Electoral College is the only thing on their minds. Their office is full, floor to ceiling, with boxes of sportswear. After jumping through more hoops than Shamu, they found out they wouldn’t be able to sell gear at the DNC’s vendor fair, which was canceled due to security concerns. Then, they found out about the “free-speech zone” along Canal Street, and figured they’d apply for the most time possible since they couldn’t peddle their wares elsewhere.

They didn’t expect to get three hours a day, each day from Aug. 26 through 29.

“We were just like, ‘Oh my goodness, we need to come up with something,'” Perry said.

Though neither had cheering experience, they thought that every college – even the Electoral College – needed cheerleaders, so they ordered pompoms and three outfits, including a miniature one for Elle. They planned a pep rally and political trivia quiz. And they recruited friends in the Boston area to take time off from work to promote their apparel.

They’ve lined up a few additional venues for their rally, including the Comedy Connection, and they plan to peddle their wares at the City of the World Festival in City Hall Plaza on Aug. 27 and 28.

“It’s going to be interesting to see how it goes,” Perry said. “This company has never been to a national convention like this.”

This summer, it will go to two – the DNC next week and the Republican National Convention in New York in late August. It’s unclear whether the pep rally will make it to Madison Square Garden, where the vendor rules are a bit more straightforward. But Diamond has no doubt Perry and Duquette will make a splash.

“We couldn’t hope for any more dedication from anybody,” he said. “They’re living and breathing the business, and they have the energy, desire and creativity to make it succeed.”

For information, visit www.electoralcollegeusa.com.