http://www.thankstoallouragenciesforhelpinguswinadvertiseroftheyear.com/
P&G put this together for all the agencies that they work with. Amusing video. Check it out.
Friday, June 27, 2008
Thursday, June 26, 2008
A Little Lunchtime Blogging
While I enjoy working so much, I seem to find my largest complaint is that my To Do list is every expanding and never shrinking. I have had to break my To Do lists into 'work' and 'not work' categories. The 'work' one gets done pretty quickly, but the other one...well...
I found out today that we have this amazing reference center (to be fair, I always knew it was there, I just never really utilized it). The project that I am currently working on needs me to research some information on new business. Not really knowing where to turn, I decided to call up the reference center since, well, it is their job to find that out -- right?
All I had to do was call them up, explain what I was working on and they set to work finding me articles, books, ANYTHING that I needed. When I asked where I had to go to pick it all up they informed me that they would deliver it right to my desk.
It was like a choir of angles was singing to me. Books delivered to my desk? Oh yes -- this is big stuff right here.
Yesterday was a meeting with the COO. He's pretty cool. Nothing much to discuss except I got to explain to him how awesome my job is.
However, that really isn't the reason I decided to make this post. In much larger and more pressing news I have finally found out my placement city (before I simply knew the region, now I know everything). I will be living in Miki.
...it's a rural farming community...
To be honest, I was completely aghast at this news. I did some research and found that the train is only a few minutes from my house and the two largest cities in Japan (save for Tokyo) are only an hour away. So really not that bad.
I will be teaching at two schools with almost twelve classes at one school (I don't know how many at the other, but my hope is that the answer is not twelve). My house (that's right -- MY HOUSE) has a new bathroom, new kitchen, a living room, guest room and main room.
Plus, word on the street is that rent is dirt cheap.
All in all, this seems to be pretty good. The students are very friendly and hoping that I will join some of their school clubs (here is hoping for an archery or fencing club).
The downside -- I must deliver a speech to the entire school and faculty on the first day of school.
In Japanese.
...
fucking shit...
EDIT: Campbell-Ewald -- we do charity for kids, then give our employees ice cream.
<3!
I found out today that we have this amazing reference center (to be fair, I always knew it was there, I just never really utilized it). The project that I am currently working on needs me to research some information on new business. Not really knowing where to turn, I decided to call up the reference center since, well, it is their job to find that out -- right?
All I had to do was call them up, explain what I was working on and they set to work finding me articles, books, ANYTHING that I needed. When I asked where I had to go to pick it all up they informed me that they would deliver it right to my desk.
It was like a choir of angles was singing to me. Books delivered to my desk? Oh yes -- this is big stuff right here.
Yesterday was a meeting with the COO. He's pretty cool. Nothing much to discuss except I got to explain to him how awesome my job is.
However, that really isn't the reason I decided to make this post. In much larger and more pressing news I have finally found out my placement city (before I simply knew the region, now I know everything). I will be living in Miki.
...it's a rural farming community...
To be honest, I was completely aghast at this news. I did some research and found that the train is only a few minutes from my house and the two largest cities in Japan (save for Tokyo) are only an hour away. So really not that bad.
I will be teaching at two schools with almost twelve classes at one school (I don't know how many at the other, but my hope is that the answer is not twelve). My house (that's right -- MY HOUSE) has a new bathroom, new kitchen, a living room, guest room and main room.
Plus, word on the street is that rent is dirt cheap.
All in all, this seems to be pretty good. The students are very friendly and hoping that I will join some of their school clubs (here is hoping for an archery or fencing club).
The downside -- I must deliver a speech to the entire school and faculty on the first day of school.
In Japanese.
...
fucking shit...
EDIT: Campbell-Ewald -- we do charity for kids, then give our employees ice cream.
<3!
Monday, June 23, 2008
Who knew sorting resumes could be so fun?
First. Props to BBDO and it's success at Cannes. Even though it's NY it's still very close to my heart.
So today I was assigned with the task of taking all the e-mails that CPB recieves from hopefulls trying to get a job and organizing them. Yuck. Well at least that's what I thought at first.
As I started to go through the sea of 600+ resumes (either this hasn't been done in a while or we just get alot of resumes) I started to realize that I had just been given a great opportunity. I had just switched seats from being the applicant to the "employer." I was now going through resumes, reading them and would foward them to the correct HR person if they were sufficient. If a creative was sending in a portfolio, if I thought it was worth looking at, I forwarded it to the correct person instead of plopping it in the "Entry Level" folder (aka: the abyss). I suddenly felt very powerful.
I started to see what it's like to be a person in HR at a hot agency recieving tons of resumes for all of our locations and all of our departments. I was able to compare my resume with those who have also recently graduated and read through their e-mails and cover letters. While there were a few that I thought were really great, I can't lie... I'm feelin' pretty good about mine. Along the way I learned a few things that I'd now like to share with you about applying for jobs. Alot of this you've probably heard but this is honestly what you need to pay attention to... as far as I'm concerned:
#1. Put the job you are applying for in the subject line. That's all they really need to know. What are you applying for so that they (I) know who to send it to or what the heck you want. If you're a creative, maybe this can be a little different but if you don't put it in the subject line somewhere, put it very close to the top of your e-mail. I hate searching through trying to figure out what you're applying for. I should just delete it cause it's so damn annoying... but I don't.
#2. Don't write some long essay in your e-mail. Maybe one or two things that make you stand out -- not that you were in campaigns (cause everyone and anyone who was an advertising major took campaigns), not stuff about your classes or a long descriptions about your view on advertising (maybe save that for the cover letter but still keep it short). Just short important sentances that make you stand out with your name and the position you are appling for. I'm looking for like 5 short sentences max. (Name, position, why you stand out, and a closing.) It makes it so much easier.
#3. Know what you want! Don't send your resume and explain all of your experience without telling me what job or department you would be best qualified for. It is not my job to be a mind reader. I don't have time to read through your resume to see what you've done and decide for you. By resume 102, I'm kinda tired of reading resumes and might send yours to the wrong person or just straight up delete it. So know the position you're applying for or at least give me a department.
#4. If you're a creative, you have to have a portfolio. If your portfolio is online, you're money. When it comes to creative applicants, all I look for is if you have a portfolio link that I can forward on. So get it online. Now.
#5. Please don't bore me with standard resume formats and DON'T leave the formatting grid on there. Come on people. I pull up resumes with formatting bars and grids and it makes it look like crap. After looking at a bagillion resumes with centered headers in Arial font 16 and left aligned bulleted descriptions... I get really bored. I actually get excited when I see something different! Seeing an awesome resume was like the highlight of my day. It made me want to read it even if I already knew who to send it to (becasue they were nice and put the job in the subject line). Even a little bit of color helps or just simply making your header different works. It will probably make the person who I forward these things to want to read it to. We apprecaite the excitement.
#6. If you can, avoid sending your resumes to a generic jobs e-mail address (i.e. jobs@agency.com or internships@agency.com I honestly feel bad for all these people who's resumes just sat in this folder for who knows how long waiting for me to forward it to the right person. Skip this step by just sending it to them directly. Call the agency and just ask the receptionist if she knows who is in charge of hiring for the department you want to work in. Also ask for the correct spelling of the first and last name. (I've spelled a woman's name wrong before so just check to be sure... even with easy names like Denise that are usually spelled "Denise" not "Denisse"... damn it I'm stupid.) If they ask if you want to speak to the person you don't have to and don't give your name. They will never know it was you who called when you walk in on your first day at your new job (casue you sent it directly to the right person AND got their name right!!!!)
So this is what I've learned. I feel that I'm in a pretty fortunate situation even though this isn't what I want to make a career out of. I'm learning alot from looking at resumes, checking out agencies who produce award winning work when seeking out candidates for our upper level positions, and sitting in on all the hiring/staffing meetings. I know exaclty what we're hiring for, when, where and how it's done. What could better prerpare me for job searching than working for the other side? This job keeps getting better.
So today I was assigned with the task of taking all the e-mails that CPB recieves from hopefulls trying to get a job and organizing them. Yuck. Well at least that's what I thought at first.
As I started to go through the sea of 600+ resumes (either this hasn't been done in a while or we just get alot of resumes) I started to realize that I had just been given a great opportunity. I had just switched seats from being the applicant to the "employer." I was now going through resumes, reading them and would foward them to the correct HR person if they were sufficient. If a creative was sending in a portfolio, if I thought it was worth looking at, I forwarded it to the correct person instead of plopping it in the "Entry Level" folder (aka: the abyss). I suddenly felt very powerful.
I started to see what it's like to be a person in HR at a hot agency recieving tons of resumes for all of our locations and all of our departments. I was able to compare my resume with those who have also recently graduated and read through their e-mails and cover letters. While there were a few that I thought were really great, I can't lie... I'm feelin' pretty good about mine. Along the way I learned a few things that I'd now like to share with you about applying for jobs. Alot of this you've probably heard but this is honestly what you need to pay attention to... as far as I'm concerned:
#1. Put the job you are applying for in the subject line. That's all they really need to know. What are you applying for so that they (I) know who to send it to or what the heck you want. If you're a creative, maybe this can be a little different but if you don't put it in the subject line somewhere, put it very close to the top of your e-mail. I hate searching through trying to figure out what you're applying for. I should just delete it cause it's so damn annoying... but I don't.
#2. Don't write some long essay in your e-mail. Maybe one or two things that make you stand out -- not that you were in campaigns (cause everyone and anyone who was an advertising major took campaigns), not stuff about your classes or a long descriptions about your view on advertising (maybe save that for the cover letter but still keep it short). Just short important sentances that make you stand out with your name and the position you are appling for. I'm looking for like 5 short sentences max. (Name, position, why you stand out, and a closing.) It makes it so much easier.
#3. Know what you want! Don't send your resume and explain all of your experience without telling me what job or department you would be best qualified for. It is not my job to be a mind reader. I don't have time to read through your resume to see what you've done and decide for you. By resume 102, I'm kinda tired of reading resumes and might send yours to the wrong person or just straight up delete it. So know the position you're applying for or at least give me a department.
#4. If you're a creative, you have to have a portfolio. If your portfolio is online, you're money. When it comes to creative applicants, all I look for is if you have a portfolio link that I can forward on. So get it online. Now.
#5. Please don't bore me with standard resume formats and DON'T leave the formatting grid on there. Come on people. I pull up resumes with formatting bars and grids and it makes it look like crap. After looking at a bagillion resumes with centered headers in Arial font 16 and left aligned bulleted descriptions... I get really bored. I actually get excited when I see something different! Seeing an awesome resume was like the highlight of my day. It made me want to read it even if I already knew who to send it to (becasue they were nice and put the job in the subject line). Even a little bit of color helps or just simply making your header different works. It will probably make the person who I forward these things to want to read it to. We apprecaite the excitement.
#6. If you can, avoid sending your resumes to a generic jobs e-mail address (i.e. jobs@agency.com or internships@agency.com I honestly feel bad for all these people who's resumes just sat in this folder for who knows how long waiting for me to forward it to the right person. Skip this step by just sending it to them directly. Call the agency and just ask the receptionist if she knows who is in charge of hiring for the department you want to work in. Also ask for the correct spelling of the first and last name. (I've spelled a woman's name wrong before so just check to be sure... even with easy names like Denise that are usually spelled "Denise" not "Denisse"... damn it I'm stupid.) If they ask if you want to speak to the person you don't have to and don't give your name. They will never know it was you who called when you walk in on your first day at your new job (casue you sent it directly to the right person AND got their name right!!!!)
So this is what I've learned. I feel that I'm in a pretty fortunate situation even though this isn't what I want to make a career out of. I'm learning alot from looking at resumes, checking out agencies who produce award winning work when seeking out candidates for our upper level positions, and sitting in on all the hiring/staffing meetings. I know exaclty what we're hiring for, when, where and how it's done. What could better prerpare me for job searching than working for the other side? This job keeps getting better.
Start spreading the word...
Oh my lovely Wizards...how I have missed thee! And, may I say that I feel honored to be an invited member of this blog. :)
I feel like I have a lot to say, but I need to start with this: I literally spent at about 30 minutes (maybe more) trying to figure out how to post a friggin' post! Seriously. I think I might be technologically ignorant, which will probably do me no good for the future....but that is neither here nor there...
What is here (New York that is) is ME! But, despite the excited and capitalized "ME!", this is not an exciting trip. I'm looking for a place to live...alone...broke...in New friggin York City. Talk about impossible. And, guess what? I have to find somewhere by Wednesday because I am leaving on Thursday morning and have to move for good next week. So, needless to say my excitement for my new job is being masked by the fact that I a m homeless and if/when I find a place to live, it will undoubtedly be super small and creepy (side note: while my search is been short, as I got to the city today, I have one word for the apartments I have seen so far: creepy. It's honestly the only word I can find to describe them. We all know that apartment here are super tiny and relatively gross, but I never suspected creepy would be the word I used to describe them....happy searching tomorrow.)
But, on a lighter note...I got a JOB!!!!!!! Most of you know this, but some of you may not and whatever, it's freakin' awesome! I'm working for Euro RSCG Life Chelsea (B2B healthcare, e.g. we advertise to doctors primarily). I'm the President's executive assistant, which is pretty cool. I start July 7, which is 2 weeks from today...so you can see the excitement/terror ahead of me.
Well, I guess enough rambling for now...I'll let you all know how the apartment search is going and then eventually how my first day/week of work went.
seriously and intensely sincere, skb
I feel like I have a lot to say, but I need to start with this: I literally spent at about 30 minutes (maybe more) trying to figure out how to post a friggin' post! Seriously. I think I might be technologically ignorant, which will probably do me no good for the future....but that is neither here nor there...
What is here (New York that is) is ME! But, despite the excited and capitalized "ME!", this is not an exciting trip. I'm looking for a place to live...alone...broke...in New friggin York City. Talk about impossible. And, guess what? I have to find somewhere by Wednesday because I am leaving on Thursday morning and have to move for good next week. So, needless to say my excitement for my new job is being masked by the fact that I a m homeless and if/when I find a place to live, it will undoubtedly be super small and creepy (side note: while my search is been short, as I got to the city today, I have one word for the apartments I have seen so far: creepy. It's honestly the only word I can find to describe them. We all know that apartment here are super tiny and relatively gross, but I never suspected creepy would be the word I used to describe them....happy searching tomorrow.)
But, on a lighter note...I got a JOB!!!!!!! Most of you know this, but some of you may not and whatever, it's freakin' awesome! I'm working for Euro RSCG Life Chelsea (B2B healthcare, e.g. we advertise to doctors primarily). I'm the President's executive assistant, which is pretty cool. I start July 7, which is 2 weeks from today...so you can see the excitement/terror ahead of me.
Well, I guess enough rambling for now...I'll let you all know how the apartment search is going and then eventually how my first day/week of work went.
seriously and intensely sincere, skb
Yes We Cannes (Complain About It)
Ok, so I work in a pretty cool place. We just won Agency of the Year and Network of the Year
at Cannes. For all of you who haven't seen it yet, you should check out the HBO Voyeur stuff - it's pretty cool. Just google it, youtube it, whatever. It took home the most Lions ever for any one campaign - 10. We came home with 17 total for BBDO NY. Our entire network, however, topped our previous best of 47 (we won Network of the Year last year as well) with 60 lions for BBDO Worldwide this year.
Which brings me to my point - if I really had one for this post. This is an awesome agency, with a lot of really cool stuff going on. And it just looks so boring inside! How does such great stuff come out of here? I thought you had to have really fun, creative spaces for good work to take life. I think it's cuz everyone here knows they work for BBDO and they just have an attitude about putting out the absolute best work (Yes We Cannes!). After all, our motto is: The Work. The Work. The Work.
But with it being so great, I find the little things here (as does everyone) to complain about:
1) The walls. They're soo damn boring. As is the carpet, and the rocks that sit on top of all the filing cabinets. Honestly, you would never imagine an ad agency really looking like this if you actually had seen other agencies and knew about the business. Anyone not involved would expect it to look like this. Hell, they'd even expect us to be wearing suits. (May also have to do with Mad Men - but that's the damn 60s). But yeah, i've done my best by putting up a couple pictures, but that's about all I can do.
2) PCs. What the hell. This is an ad agency. Any ad agency this day in age should be runnin solely on Macs - and that's not my bias seeping through either! Honestly, it may have made sense back....NO WAIT! IT NEVER MADE SENSE TO USE A PC! Bottom line, I just wish I had a mac instead of a pc at work.
3) The evil Phaser 6300. I swear to God this printer hates me. HATES ME. The 4150 isn't so bad, except for the time it didnt collate 3 40-page decks I printed out for a meeting then had to sit on the floor sorting them so I was a few minutes later. But no, the 6300...it stops printing my files sometimes at random. Like it just likes fucking with me. Honestly. It stops and then decides to print something that someone else needs printed, as if my papers aren't as important to print or something. I had a problem printing out some decks with it too the other day. And oh, today! I printed something out and it decided to print pages 1-9 of the first copy, then 1-9 of the second, then 10-18 of the first, then 10-17 of the second, then the rest of each document. WHY?????????? I refill it with paper when it needs it. What did I ever do to have this happen? The girls that sit next to me have noticed it (mainly due to my frustration) and don't know why it doesn't like me (as they get their stuff printed halfway through mine).
4) Pepsi. I like Coke. Bottom line. It's an easier switch than Mac to PC though. I do like all the free Aquafina and Lipton tea though.
5) The toilet paper. No, really, this bothers me. It's always on backwards in the bathroom! It should roll down, not up! And every roll in the bathroom is put on that way!
6) No cell service in the bathroom. Yeah, I'm serious. I'm a product of my generation - I don't have a newspaper, I have a BlackBerry. And I want to be able to read the news!
Not bad if that's the worst I have to complain about. I'm not even complaining that I was working till 8 tonight getting stuff in and out all over the world. Plus, I get $10 towards dinner and a cab ride home if I work past 8.
But I should get going, being that I've got a conference call tomorrow with the client to review the animatics for a spot that we're launching in Russia. One of the clients is in England and a couple are in China right now, so we're having the call nice and early so everyone can be involved. Meaning I get to be here early tomorrow. There's another thing - I don't mind working late, but I hate having to wake up early. Oh well, once I get past the fact that I had to wake up early I'll be fine. I'm going to get my dinner and cab ride then go to sleep. Gnight.
at Cannes. For all of you who haven't seen it yet, you should check out the HBO Voyeur stuff - it's pretty cool. Just google it, youtube it, whatever. It took home the most Lions ever for any one campaign - 10. We came home with 17 total for BBDO NY. Our entire network, however, topped our previous best of 47 (we won Network of the Year last year as well) with 60 lions for BBDO Worldwide this year.
Which brings me to my point - if I really had one for this post. This is an awesome agency, with a lot of really cool stuff going on. And it just looks so boring inside! How does such great stuff come out of here? I thought you had to have really fun, creative spaces for good work to take life. I think it's cuz everyone here knows they work for BBDO and they just have an attitude about putting out the absolute best work (Yes We Cannes!). After all, our motto is: The Work. The Work. The Work.
But with it being so great, I find the little things here (as does everyone) to complain about:
1) The walls. They're soo damn boring. As is the carpet, and the rocks that sit on top of all the filing cabinets. Honestly, you would never imagine an ad agency really looking like this if you actually had seen other agencies and knew about the business. Anyone not involved would expect it to look like this. Hell, they'd even expect us to be wearing suits. (May also have to do with Mad Men - but that's the damn 60s). But yeah, i've done my best by putting up a couple pictures, but that's about all I can do.
2) PCs. What the hell. This is an ad agency. Any ad agency this day in age should be runnin solely on Macs - and that's not my bias seeping through either! Honestly, it may have made sense back....NO WAIT! IT NEVER MADE SENSE TO USE A PC! Bottom line, I just wish I had a mac instead of a pc at work.
3) The evil Phaser 6300. I swear to God this printer hates me. HATES ME. The 4150 isn't so bad, except for the time it didnt collate 3 40-page decks I printed out for a meeting then had to sit on the floor sorting them so I was a few minutes later. But no, the 6300...it stops printing my files sometimes at random. Like it just likes fucking with me. Honestly. It stops and then decides to print something that someone else needs printed, as if my papers aren't as important to print or something. I had a problem printing out some decks with it too the other day. And oh, today! I printed something out and it decided to print pages 1-9 of the first copy, then 1-9 of the second, then 10-18 of the first, then 10-17 of the second, then the rest of each document. WHY?????????? I refill it with paper when it needs it. What did I ever do to have this happen? The girls that sit next to me have noticed it (mainly due to my frustration) and don't know why it doesn't like me (as they get their stuff printed halfway through mine).
4) Pepsi. I like Coke. Bottom line. It's an easier switch than Mac to PC though. I do like all the free Aquafina and Lipton tea though.
5) The toilet paper. No, really, this bothers me. It's always on backwards in the bathroom! It should roll down, not up! And every roll in the bathroom is put on that way!
6) No cell service in the bathroom. Yeah, I'm serious. I'm a product of my generation - I don't have a newspaper, I have a BlackBerry. And I want to be able to read the news!
Not bad if that's the worst I have to complain about. I'm not even complaining that I was working till 8 tonight getting stuff in and out all over the world. Plus, I get $10 towards dinner and a cab ride home if I work past 8.
But I should get going, being that I've got a conference call tomorrow with the client to review the animatics for a spot that we're launching in Russia. One of the clients is in England and a couple are in China right now, so we're having the call nice and early so everyone can be involved. Meaning I get to be here early tomorrow. There's another thing - I don't mind working late, but I hate having to wake up early. Oh well, once I get past the fact that I had to wake up early I'll be fine. I'm going to get my dinner and cab ride then go to sleep. Gnight.
Saturday, June 21, 2008
Greetings from the Windy City
I. Hate. PCs. My computer just decided to restart halfway through me posting. Some update nonsense. I'm so angry! And jealous of all you with your new Macs! But I'll start over, then. And I'm ctrl+C-ing every 3 seconds this time.
SO...here I am. A wizard! Yay. I practically begged Sean to let me on here because whether you all know it or not, I've been stalking you for the past couple weeks. And I'd feel a lot less creepy if I was actually a contributor. I'm actually the only subscriber, I think. Kind of pathetic, I know. But I've just now discovered the beauty that is FeedDemon..so I went a little crazy and am subscribed to over 40 blogs. I didn't read them for ONE busy day at work and the next day I was attacked. Anyway, back on track: You guys will appreciate me being on here once you're missing UF and Ad Society next year and I can tell you the funny stories about Suthy, etc.
Yea, so work. I'm interning at Energy BBDO in Chicago. It's got about 200 people and it's on 3 floors of the historic Wrigley building, right on Michigan Ave in the middle of everything. I'm right across the street from the Chicago tribune building, the radio station headquarters, and NBC. There's all these sculptures and a clocktower, with various guitarists and sax players and puppet shows entertaining the tourists every day.
My supervisor is Mary, the account exec on the Wrigley global account. She's really fun and young. Very into it. The account director is Oliver. He's from Germany and has a very quirky sense of humor. He's also very smart, and likes to give me pop quizzes randomly. The other day he called me into his office and asked my favorite brand. The next day he asked me what the difference between a brand and a product is. Once he made me draw out the BBDO BrandCore set-up and the pyramid. I like it--he keeps me on my toes.
I'm really excited to work on the global acct because the team is in charge of doing advertising strategy consulting for all Wrigley's brands, everywhere. It's really cool to see the creative that gets produced everywhere and the differences and similarities. One of the things our team is supposed to do is make sure that each brand still conveys a consistent personality around the globe. Anyway--things I'm really excited about at work. (And the list is going to be long because as you all might know it doesn't take much to get me excited) 1
1. The info center, which is basically the secondary research dept. They have tons of books and magazines and subscriptions to databases. And they said any question we have-any info we want to know they can try to find for us. This is so cool to me because last semester I spent ALL semester doing this research myself. Spending hours and hours on all kinds of databases building up info on a brand and its consumers and it's ad plans and expenditures. The fact that now someone does that for me-awesome!
2. My office. A real office with a window overlooking the river. It's crazy! I share it with one other intern. Going along with that, my e-mail address and my extension on my phone. And my ID to get me in the building. I'm not gunna lie--these things all make me feel cool. And if you think that's silly, then you're already jaded! :)
3. Free stuff: Like the bag and pen and clipboard and notepads that we got. And water bottles and keychains! And of course--GUM. Mints. Neverending amounts. I will have fresh breath forever.
4. The office atmosphere. Like most ad agencies, it's fun. There's an xbox 360, fooz ball table, 'wellness center.' There are hoola hoops hanging on the wall and a popcorn machine. There's a giant cow that's dressed as a tourist and chalkboard and bulletin board walls where people put their ideas. There are flyers everywhere that are advertising tube top Tuesdays (?) and the Foozball championship game. You can also book a massage or manicure. Yay.
5. WhizBang. It's the production studio. Besides the fact that they let people come in a record music (wish I had the talent to), I've discovered a room filled with every DVD of life...including TV series. And I've been told to just take whatever I want as long as I return it. YES.
So I've already pretty much finished my two intial projects...the presentation I have to give in August is done, including what I'm saying word for word. Can't tell you much about it...sorry. But I did do it on InDesign and it looks great. I have the entire creative suite on my computer which is endless amounts of fun to play with. And the other project on new media trends and current effective/awesome advertising is all done..with some room to add anything new that might come up. That one's really cool cuz all I do is go through a shitload of blogs and youtube. And I find stuff that's impressive or creating a lot of buzz and I put it into a powerpoint and then I have to present how that's relevant to Wrigley. It's basically just an inspiration piece to show them that they can expand beyond TV and print.
Then I'm doing a project with the other interns to raise awareness of cheerfororbit.com and to get people to submit videos for the contest on there. Other than that I'm involved in preparing for the quarterly global update, an all day meeting..and some brainstorming sessions--I learn a lot from those meetings and they let me contribute. And it's cool cuz here they bring account people, planners, and creatives together to brainstorm. Which is the exact type of place I want to work at.
Ok well this is already waaay too long so I'll write more at a later date. Miss all of you guys a lot! Let's get NiMo and Burch on here.
SO...here I am. A wizard! Yay. I practically begged Sean to let me on here because whether you all know it or not, I've been stalking you for the past couple weeks. And I'd feel a lot less creepy if I was actually a contributor. I'm actually the only subscriber, I think. Kind of pathetic, I know. But I've just now discovered the beauty that is FeedDemon..so I went a little crazy and am subscribed to over 40 blogs. I didn't read them for ONE busy day at work and the next day I was attacked. Anyway, back on track: You guys will appreciate me being on here once you're missing UF and Ad Society next year and I can tell you the funny stories about Suthy, etc.
Yea, so work. I'm interning at Energy BBDO in Chicago. It's got about 200 people and it's on 3 floors of the historic Wrigley building, right on Michigan Ave in the middle of everything. I'm right across the street from the Chicago tribune building, the radio station headquarters, and NBC. There's all these sculptures and a clocktower, with various guitarists and sax players and puppet shows entertaining the tourists every day.
My supervisor is Mary, the account exec on the Wrigley global account. She's really fun and young. Very into it. The account director is Oliver. He's from Germany and has a very quirky sense of humor. He's also very smart, and likes to give me pop quizzes randomly. The other day he called me into his office and asked my favorite brand. The next day he asked me what the difference between a brand and a product is. Once he made me draw out the BBDO BrandCore set-up and the pyramid. I like it--he keeps me on my toes.
I'm really excited to work on the global acct because the team is in charge of doing advertising strategy consulting for all Wrigley's brands, everywhere. It's really cool to see the creative that gets produced everywhere and the differences and similarities. One of the things our team is supposed to do is make sure that each brand still conveys a consistent personality around the globe. Anyway--things I'm really excited about at work. (And the list is going to be long because as you all might know it doesn't take much to get me excited) 1
1. The info center, which is basically the secondary research dept. They have tons of books and magazines and subscriptions to databases. And they said any question we have-any info we want to know they can try to find for us. This is so cool to me because last semester I spent ALL semester doing this research myself. Spending hours and hours on all kinds of databases building up info on a brand and its consumers and it's ad plans and expenditures. The fact that now someone does that for me-awesome!
2. My office. A real office with a window overlooking the river. It's crazy! I share it with one other intern. Going along with that, my e-mail address and my extension on my phone. And my ID to get me in the building. I'm not gunna lie--these things all make me feel cool. And if you think that's silly, then you're already jaded! :)
3. Free stuff: Like the bag and pen and clipboard and notepads that we got. And water bottles and keychains! And of course--GUM. Mints. Neverending amounts. I will have fresh breath forever.
4. The office atmosphere. Like most ad agencies, it's fun. There's an xbox 360, fooz ball table, 'wellness center.' There are hoola hoops hanging on the wall and a popcorn machine. There's a giant cow that's dressed as a tourist and chalkboard and bulletin board walls where people put their ideas. There are flyers everywhere that are advertising tube top Tuesdays (?) and the Foozball championship game. You can also book a massage or manicure. Yay.
5. WhizBang. It's the production studio. Besides the fact that they let people come in a record music (wish I had the talent to), I've discovered a room filled with every DVD of life...including TV series. And I've been told to just take whatever I want as long as I return it. YES.
So I've already pretty much finished my two intial projects...the presentation I have to give in August is done, including what I'm saying word for word. Can't tell you much about it...sorry. But I did do it on InDesign and it looks great. I have the entire creative suite on my computer which is endless amounts of fun to play with. And the other project on new media trends and current effective/awesome advertising is all done..with some room to add anything new that might come up. That one's really cool cuz all I do is go through a shitload of blogs and youtube. And I find stuff that's impressive or creating a lot of buzz and I put it into a powerpoint and then I have to present how that's relevant to Wrigley. It's basically just an inspiration piece to show them that they can expand beyond TV and print.
Then I'm doing a project with the other interns to raise awareness of cheerfororbit.com and to get people to submit videos for the contest on there. Other than that I'm involved in preparing for the quarterly global update, an all day meeting..and some brainstorming sessions--I learn a lot from those meetings and they let me contribute. And it's cool cuz here they bring account people, planners, and creatives together to brainstorm. Which is the exact type of place I want to work at.
Ok well this is already waaay too long so I'll write more at a later date. Miss all of you guys a lot! Let's get NiMo and Burch on here.
Attack of the Clones!
This past week at work has been my own new episode to add on the the Star Wars saga. I always considered myself a star wars semi-fan. I mean I have a younger brother and I enjoyed seeing the movies with Jason (brother) and my Dad. I think its cool the way the episodes came out and how much there is to the story. But my knowledge for Star Wars has increased ten-fold during the past week and it took over my life so drastically that I had to share it with you.
For all of you non-star wars fans, Episode II was called attack of the clones and there is a big fight scene in it. Then in Episode III, based of that fight scene the shit hits the fan and everyone goes to the dark side and all the jedi knights die and it is terrible and horrible. Apparently, a lot of shit went down in between Episode II and Episode III that George Lucas decided to do us all a favor and fill in that gap. Thanks Georgie!! His fill in will be an animated series called Clone Wars. It will have a limited release in theaters and then be broken down into episodes for, our client, Cartoon Network.
For Cartoon Network this is huge. We are going after the bulk of their business. It used to be that the sporty boys picked on the star wars boys, but if I have anything to do with it, they will now be the same person. We really wanted to WOW Cartoon Network with our proposal, so we had a series of brainstorming sessions this week. Hence, the clones attacked my life.
I'm still the new kid so I wanted to do my research and come in with some ideas. I read one wikipedia article. ONE. Everyone in my department thought I was some Star Wars freak and liked what I came up with and wanted to see even more. So, more research. I know every character. I know what they look like, what color LIGHTSABER ( i ALWAYS thought it was lightsaver) they use. I even stumbled across the time date and location of the star wars convention. After this week...I might have to make an appearance!
For all of you non-star wars fans, Episode II was called attack of the clones and there is a big fight scene in it. Then in Episode III, based of that fight scene the shit hits the fan and everyone goes to the dark side and all the jedi knights die and it is terrible and horrible. Apparently, a lot of shit went down in between Episode II and Episode III that George Lucas decided to do us all a favor and fill in that gap. Thanks Georgie!! His fill in will be an animated series called Clone Wars. It will have a limited release in theaters and then be broken down into episodes for, our client, Cartoon Network.
For Cartoon Network this is huge. We are going after the bulk of their business. It used to be that the sporty boys picked on the star wars boys, but if I have anything to do with it, they will now be the same person. We really wanted to WOW Cartoon Network with our proposal, so we had a series of brainstorming sessions this week. Hence, the clones attacked my life.
I'm still the new kid so I wanted to do my research and come in with some ideas. I read one wikipedia article. ONE. Everyone in my department thought I was some Star Wars freak and liked what I came up with and wanted to see even more. So, more research. I know every character. I know what they look like, what color LIGHTSABER ( i ALWAYS thought it was lightsaver) they use. I even stumbled across the time date and location of the star wars convention. After this week...I might have to make an appearance!
I wish I paid more attention in Spanish class...
First off, I'm honored to be a new member. Thanks for thinking I'm cool enough to contribute. Second... I need some pics of me on this background. Nancy's sassyness is dominating.
So I just started at Crispin Porter and Bogusky this past Monday (6/16). I am really excited to be there but moving and finding a place in Miami has just been crazy. I was in Europe for three weeks and I found out on the trip, while in Delphi to be exact, I found out I got this internship. They wanted me to start on the 2ns but I told them I wasn't even getting home till the 10th. They said that I could start the 16th. Which was great, but it still only gave me 6 days to come home, get over jet lag, unpack, repack everything, find a place to live in Miami (which is HARD) and move in. Stressful? Yeh. Little bit.
After I got moved in and situated that first night I basically passed out. My first day was rough. But I feel like first days are always rough. I worked at BBDO Atlanta last summer and knew what to expect but CPB is so different. Everything there is even more casual and laid back, which I didn't think was possible. It's funny because everyone looks like they are just messing around but somehow work gets done. One of the best parts about the agency is that we have this huge dining/kitchen area. They have about everything you could ever want for breakfast stocked in there: croissants, bagels, smoothies, yogurt, fruit, coffee, a soda fountain machine, cereal, grits and oatmeal. I will never have to buy breakfast food... ever. We also have a phone booth in our lobby. If you step inside and pick up the phone it automatically connects with Dominos (one of our clients) and we get free pizza! Holla. It's fabulous. Oh, and Alex Bogusky just added me to his network on LinkedIn (WTF?!?!?)
I was also very happy to learn that we had a gym in our office that offers classes. There isn't a gym in the community I'm living in so that was clutch. What's also really cool is how connected we are with our office in Boulder. They have PolyCom machines (basically like video tele-conferencing screens) that are constantly running 24/7. You can see the main lobby at Boulder and they can see us. So it makes us feel very connected even though they are 3 bagillion miles away. I don't have to be to work until 10:30.... which rocks... and the best part is that I get to skip rush hour! Which is even worse in Miami then it was in Atlanta. I also got a new Mac laptop. All the interns get one to take home with them. So I'm really excited to have my mac :)
I joked with my dad and boyfriend that it's like a compound. They have Listerine and toothpaste in the bathrooms, a gym, free pizza, showers, a kitchen with food stocked 24/7. I could be there for 2 straight days and be fine.
Another really cool thing is that in our main lobby area we have this huge movie screen. With Euro 2008 going on, they will drop the screen and let people watch the game. I had no idea until I heard "GOOOOOALLLLL!" from a guy running through the office. Apparently he's a big Italy fan.
I definitely need to take a Spanish class. I haven't had any problems yet but Miami is basiclaly like another country. Everyone there speaks it and I've heard that at some places if you can't speak Spanish they think that you are the one who's wrong. It is very funny to walk into some places or to call people and have them answer "Hola" and not "Hello." I don't want to be the stupid, ignorant white girl who can't even speak Spanglish. It's just very ironic that I'm here casue in high shcool I hated Spanish with a passion. I had to take it for 4 year and test out of it in IB. I always told people that I'd have to be dragged kicking and screaming into a Spanish class... but yet here I am looking into classes. Oye.
I'm working in staffing. I tell people it's ironic because I want to be hired and yet I'm the one helping to hire. Hopefully I know their socks off and make them want me. I've pretty much made it clear that I want to get over into content management (aka account management). So I'm going to ask to sit in on meetings with the Microsoft team and any other accounts that will let me. Hopefully I can learn and at least know what's going on and how they do things. My supervisor is really nice and answers all my questions. She always makes time for me and is very easy going.
Here is something to check out. This is about our office in Boulder. It kinda shows our culture a little bit.
IF YOU AIN'T ON THE CP+B BUS, YOU AIN'T ON THE BUS!
Work is great. I love being there and being around the people. They are just amazing.
This is why I'm in advertising. I can wear jeans and flip flops to work. I can come in at 10:30. We get cool perks like free pizza, special parking for V-Dubs (and I have one!) and free Nike shoes! Everyone else should be very jealous of us wizards. We've got the right idea.
J-fran out!
So I just started at Crispin Porter and Bogusky this past Monday (6/16). I am really excited to be there but moving and finding a place in Miami has just been crazy. I was in Europe for three weeks and I found out on the trip, while in Delphi to be exact, I found out I got this internship. They wanted me to start on the 2ns but I told them I wasn't even getting home till the 10th. They said that I could start the 16th. Which was great, but it still only gave me 6 days to come home, get over jet lag, unpack, repack everything, find a place to live in Miami (which is HARD) and move in. Stressful? Yeh. Little bit.
After I got moved in and situated that first night I basically passed out. My first day was rough. But I feel like first days are always rough. I worked at BBDO Atlanta last summer and knew what to expect but CPB is so different. Everything there is even more casual and laid back, which I didn't think was possible. It's funny because everyone looks like they are just messing around but somehow work gets done. One of the best parts about the agency is that we have this huge dining/kitchen area. They have about everything you could ever want for breakfast stocked in there: croissants, bagels, smoothies, yogurt, fruit, coffee, a soda fountain machine, cereal, grits and oatmeal. I will never have to buy breakfast food... ever. We also have a phone booth in our lobby. If you step inside and pick up the phone it automatically connects with Dominos (one of our clients) and we get free pizza! Holla. It's fabulous. Oh, and Alex Bogusky just added me to his network on LinkedIn (WTF?!?!?)
I was also very happy to learn that we had a gym in our office that offers classes. There isn't a gym in the community I'm living in so that was clutch. What's also really cool is how connected we are with our office in Boulder. They have PolyCom machines (basically like video tele-conferencing screens) that are constantly running 24/7. You can see the main lobby at Boulder and they can see us. So it makes us feel very connected even though they are 3 bagillion miles away. I don't have to be to work until 10:30.... which rocks... and the best part is that I get to skip rush hour! Which is even worse in Miami then it was in Atlanta. I also got a new Mac laptop. All the interns get one to take home with them. So I'm really excited to have my mac :)
I joked with my dad and boyfriend that it's like a compound. They have Listerine and toothpaste in the bathrooms, a gym, free pizza, showers, a kitchen with food stocked 24/7. I could be there for 2 straight days and be fine.
Another really cool thing is that in our main lobby area we have this huge movie screen. With Euro 2008 going on, they will drop the screen and let people watch the game. I had no idea until I heard "GOOOOOALLLLL!" from a guy running through the office. Apparently he's a big Italy fan.
I definitely need to take a Spanish class. I haven't had any problems yet but Miami is basiclaly like another country. Everyone there speaks it and I've heard that at some places if you can't speak Spanish they think that you are the one who's wrong. It is very funny to walk into some places or to call people and have them answer "Hola" and not "Hello." I don't want to be the stupid, ignorant white girl who can't even speak Spanglish. It's just very ironic that I'm here casue in high shcool I hated Spanish with a passion. I had to take it for 4 year and test out of it in IB. I always told people that I'd have to be dragged kicking and screaming into a Spanish class... but yet here I am looking into classes. Oye.
I'm working in staffing. I tell people it's ironic because I want to be hired and yet I'm the one helping to hire. Hopefully I know their socks off and make them want me. I've pretty much made it clear that I want to get over into content management (aka account management). So I'm going to ask to sit in on meetings with the Microsoft team and any other accounts that will let me. Hopefully I can learn and at least know what's going on and how they do things. My supervisor is really nice and answers all my questions. She always makes time for me and is very easy going.
Here is something to check out. This is about our office in Boulder. It kinda shows our culture a little bit.
IF YOU AIN'T ON THE CP+B BUS, YOU AIN'T ON THE BUS!
Work is great. I love being there and being around the people. They are just amazing.
This is why I'm in advertising. I can wear jeans and flip flops to work. I can come in at 10:30. We get cool perks like free pizza, special parking for V-Dubs (and I have one!) and free Nike shoes! Everyone else should be very jealous of us wizards. We've got the right idea.
J-fran out!
Bringing Sassy Back! Yes, I'm A freakin ADV Diva!
Embrace the sass people. Because this girl has a lot to give!
I am officially a PBFD in advertising...okay, so I'm just a new hire, but that is awesome and I will be a PBFD soon! Just to recap my adv status...I'm the new assistant media planner for La-Z-Boy at RPA in Santa Monica.
Let me tell you how I got here first.
I left Florida on 5/17, had job interviews the following weeks, HUNTED DOWN A DAMN APT for 1748764698764836873496r68e7r98e7r89658734698473809834 days and hated Phil 24/7. You know that saying, "When it rains, it pours." Apparently there was a rain cloud following me for 3 weeks giving me absolute hell. THEN...June 6, 2008 rolls around and my phone blows up! I get two job offers (RPA and Saatchi) and I FINALLY GOT AN APARTMENT from the evil realtor!!!! hoot! hoot! After a weekend of thinking, I chose RPA and it was the best decision EVER!
First of all, I have the best team ever. My sup is absolutely super cool, literally the kind of guy you chill at the bar with and talk about crazy weekends with, and the planner is the sweetest guy I've ever met! The best first job situation anyone could dream of. I have a huge desk, but I am away from my team. Hopefully this distant situation will go away because of some accounts are moving to another building and my team will move near me. (RPA is baller and needs more room because we are growing!) Anywhoo, I'm situated next to the buyer, which basically puts me in the most entertaining location on the first floor. The guy who sits behind me was dealing with someone who screwed up an order and he worked that conversation like the Incredible Hulk. Then, he walks past my desk and asks if I have an office pal with the biggest grin. Yes, he is awesome and he's my office idol. Not to mention he has an awesome giant panda bear in his office. We are now bffs.
Now to the sass and Divaliciousness of this post. I'm sure you were wondering when it was coming in. Well, let it be known that my status as a super sassy diva has already been established in the office. Not really sure how because I feel like I'm holding back, but apparently I have a lot of "flavor!" I can't complain because that is an awesome compliment in my books! RPA has a photo booth by the front door and we have to take pictures to pass along to the rest of the agency as their way of introducing us to the 515+ employees. We were allowed to use props and of course I brought in Albert to represent. I had to retake my pictures because you couldn't see Albert's sexy face and you know that is not cool. But the rest of my office crew saw the extra pictures and figured I was too diva for the first take. (That could be where the divaness assumptions started, but it was really because Albert was the focal point of my pictures.)
Oh, I almost forgot to mention that I have a brand new Mac. Yes, Sean...booyah! My first media event is next Wednesday with TIME and Sports Illustrated.
Enough about work. There will be more stories later. Now I have to tell you about my sweet location. I live in Santa Monica, about a mile from work, less than a mile to the beach and a few blocks from 3rd street promenade off of Wilshire.
Work is perfect, home is gorgeous, life is great! Now I just need my girls and my mommy and life would be complete! Oh and a job in Italy. Baby steps... ;)
Friday, June 20, 2008
War on Terror (and Photography)
Haha ok, funny story. Yesterday I'm walking home from the subway (bus was taking forever due to contstruction, fire trucks, ambulances, and who knows what else) and I come across a street that I feel like taking a picture of about a block from home. It's a gorgeous day, and the mix of the green trees and blue sky and sun on the side of a building is picture worthy. I want to send it to my parents because I'm sure when I tell them I'm living in Manhattan they would never expect an area like this. Well I try taking the picture a couple times, but I can't get the color right so that it picks up the sky. I'll upload the pictures, but they don't do the scene justice.
After a few tries, I get a tap on the shoulder. I turn around, expecting it to be Corwin, who I knew was out and about as well, and could very easily have been on his way back from the subway. Nope, it's a cop. Asks me what I'm doing, what I'm taking pictures of. I tell him I just moved here, I live around the block, and I'm taking pictures of the area to show my parents back home. He asks for my ID and all that fun stuff, goes and calls it in.
Ok, so, apparently, and he told me after I checked out to be ok, the spot I'm taking pictures of is a high profile terror target. An Israeli diplomat lives in this one building. They wanted to make sure I'm not planning anything because I looked kinda suspicious lol. I can't fault them for doing their jobs. I was just amused by it all, and wish I could have gotten a better picture. I didn't really feel like trying to take any more.
After writing down that he had talked to me about it and taking down my info (he had to say who he talked to since he called it in), I was on my way home, with him wishing me good luck in the city with my new job and hoping I don't hate the cold being that I'm from Florida. I just hope I can actually make it home for the holidays and don't end up on some terrorism watch list and no-fly list and stuff. Lol a terrorist with the last name Solomon. Ha!
After a few tries, I get a tap on the shoulder. I turn around, expecting it to be Corwin, who I knew was out and about as well, and could very easily have been on his way back from the subway. Nope, it's a cop. Asks me what I'm doing, what I'm taking pictures of. I tell him I just moved here, I live around the block, and I'm taking pictures of the area to show my parents back home. He asks for my ID and all that fun stuff, goes and calls it in.
Ok, so, apparently, and he told me after I checked out to be ok, the spot I'm taking pictures of is a high profile terror target. An Israeli diplomat lives in this one building. They wanted to make sure I'm not planning anything because I looked kinda suspicious lol. I can't fault them for doing their jobs. I was just amused by it all, and wish I could have gotten a better picture. I didn't really feel like trying to take any more.
After writing down that he had talked to me about it and taking down my info (he had to say who he talked to since he called it in), I was on my way home, with him wishing me good luck in the city with my new job and hoping I don't hate the cold being that I'm from Florida. I just hope I can actually make it home for the holidays and don't end up on some terrorism watch list and no-fly list and stuff. Lol a terrorist with the last name Solomon. Ha!
Wednesday, June 18, 2008
So much to learn
One thing I always noticed about those in advertising is that they seemed to know everything -- and I mean everything in that sense that they knew EVERYTHING. It seemed only natural that you would pick up some things here and there when you work with a client. But I never suspected that working for the U.S. Mint for a week and a half would now leave me with more information than I ever expected to know about it (to be fair, I expected to know very little about the U.S. Mint in my lifetime).
Lately, I have realized that working on social media has allowed me to see the internet differently. Before I simply utilized the most basic of Google's offerings (search, gmail, maps, and street view when I was bored), and now I can't help but poke and prod around every site I know simply to see more of what they have to offer.
We all know that the internet is an insanley vast resources (rule 34 anyone?). Yet many people don't realize just how much there really is out there. It seems that only recently with a lot of developments in RSS and the wide use of blogs and tags that we can finally utilize the awesome storage which lies dormant within the internet.
Anyway! Agency life is still very nice. My take on things is slightly skewed since, as an intern, they're treating us a bit differently with a lunch and learn tomorrow, and a road rally on Thursday. I have no idea what this 'rally' is, but I like to think that anything which encourages drinking at the end is sure to have some kind of fun attached to it.
We also have an 'intern project' which we are required to do. While I'm not sure if I can talk about it (I'm not kidding when I say all those papers and handbooks they give you REALLY do well in scaring you to shut the fuck up about work), I'm sure that I can disclose that the project has taught me a lot of shit. And that shit goes as follows:
1) Account people and Creatives aren't that different. A lot of times people just set themselves up to thinking they are due to fear/laziness
2) When everyone is talking, talking loudly doesn't help to get your point across.
3) Unless you are the boss, you can't choose who you work with. Deal with it.
4) Don't be afraid to go out there. Go big or go home -- advertising isn't for second best.
5) If you shoot down and idea, be sure to offer another one up. It's so easy to condemn, but when you're at hour 0 you have to put all aside.
6) Seriously -- account people. Don't be afraid to be creative! I mean, as long as you aren't a dick about it, any Creative is more than happy to hear some ideas (if simply so that they can feel better about their own ideas).
Yes, there are stories and lessons behind all of these -- which I managed to experience within the last two weeks. Looking back at this list, I sort of wonder what the entire list will look like at the end of this internship.
My partner and I had some...err...head butting? But, you know, at the end of the day if I managed to convince him, I knew that I had convinced the toughest person. And convincing him would ensure that we could take on anything that the client would ask of us.
Oh! And on another unrelated note -- don't steer away from people when they seem to be in a bad mood. If anything, a sour mood seems to make a lot of people more likely to open up and bestow upon you a fountain of thoughts/ideas/funny phrases.
P.S. -- Funny story which I had no idea how to fit into this: while I was looking up information on a client, I accidentally clicked on one of those web sites which lists tag after tag for every word out there. Once the page loaded I was treated to a face full of...umm...female genitalia.
Thank GOD no one was walking by my cube just then. That would have been awkward to explain.
Lately, I have realized that working on social media has allowed me to see the internet differently. Before I simply utilized the most basic of Google's offerings (search, gmail, maps, and street view when I was bored), and now I can't help but poke and prod around every site I know simply to see more of what they have to offer.
We all know that the internet is an insanley vast resources (rule 34 anyone?). Yet many people don't realize just how much there really is out there. It seems that only recently with a lot of developments in RSS and the wide use of blogs and tags that we can finally utilize the awesome storage which lies dormant within the internet.
Anyway! Agency life is still very nice. My take on things is slightly skewed since, as an intern, they're treating us a bit differently with a lunch and learn tomorrow, and a road rally on Thursday. I have no idea what this 'rally' is, but I like to think that anything which encourages drinking at the end is sure to have some kind of fun attached to it.
We also have an 'intern project' which we are required to do. While I'm not sure if I can talk about it (I'm not kidding when I say all those papers and handbooks they give you REALLY do well in scaring you to shut the fuck up about work), I'm sure that I can disclose that the project has taught me a lot of shit. And that shit goes as follows:
1) Account people and Creatives aren't that different. A lot of times people just set themselves up to thinking they are due to fear/laziness
2) When everyone is talking, talking loudly doesn't help to get your point across.
3) Unless you are the boss, you can't choose who you work with. Deal with it.
4) Don't be afraid to go out there. Go big or go home -- advertising isn't for second best.
5) If you shoot down and idea, be sure to offer another one up. It's so easy to condemn, but when you're at hour 0 you have to put all aside.
6) Seriously -- account people. Don't be afraid to be creative! I mean, as long as you aren't a dick about it, any Creative is more than happy to hear some ideas (if simply so that they can feel better about their own ideas).
Yes, there are stories and lessons behind all of these -- which I managed to experience within the last two weeks. Looking back at this list, I sort of wonder what the entire list will look like at the end of this internship.
My partner and I had some...err...head butting? But, you know, at the end of the day if I managed to convince him, I knew that I had convinced the toughest person. And convincing him would ensure that we could take on anything that the client would ask of us.
Oh! And on another unrelated note -- don't steer away from people when they seem to be in a bad mood. If anything, a sour mood seems to make a lot of people more likely to open up and bestow upon you a fountain of thoughts/ideas/funny phrases.
P.S. -- Funny story which I had no idea how to fit into this: while I was looking up information on a client, I accidentally clicked on one of those web sites which lists tag after tag for every word out there. Once the page loaded I was treated to a face full of...umm...female genitalia.
Thank GOD no one was walking by my cube just then. That would have been awkward to explain.
Saturday, June 14, 2008
A Prelude...
My flight to New York leaves in 3 days. It couldn't come any sooner. I'm staring at the Sunset(and with so many four letter words filling the last few days- I cannot wait to watch the Sunrise). I'm ready to start the next chapter but I've got to make sure I finish this one with a bang.
Seriously, in the grand scheme of things, I feel like the luckiest man alive. New chapter, new keys, new stories, new people, new job, new adventures and a new blog. I can't wait to read more posts, and write me own. I have one complaint... must I be a wizard? I was never a big fan of the pointy caps.
(dramatic fade out)
I guess there is more than crack in crackberry's.
Seriously, in the grand scheme of things, I feel like the luckiest man alive. New chapter, new keys, new stories, new people, new job, new adventures and a new blog. I can't wait to read more posts, and write me own. I have one complaint... must I be a wizard? I was never a big fan of the pointy caps.
(dramatic fade out)
I guess there is more than crack in crackberry's.
Friday, June 13, 2008
Sean and Nicole update!
Hi everyone!
I am excited to be considered a Wizard of Weimer lol. Its an honor just to be nominated. Well I am at work right now and it is really slow because my company believes in summer fridays. YAY. That basically means that in New York, people are soo happy its winter and people usually leave the city and take long weekends so a lot of the big companies have these summer fridays. Everyone does it differently. Sometimes everyone leaves at one or you get a half day or something. My company lets you switch off so work a full friday and then get one off. I am getting about 4 days off this summer that dont count from my vacation days so its GREAT.
I work for Sports Illustrated in the Kids and Teen department. My official title is "Sales Assistant" but basically I coordinate all of the ad sales accounts after they have been sold and work with edit and production to get our clients the positioning they want. I work with a Marketing team to brainstorm and create platforms for the sellers to sell and once its sold I work with Production and Edit to make sure the client is getting what they paid for.
I work with edit to try to figure out if they are going to be mentioning any products in any of our guides so we can go after that business. We have video game guides, back to school guides, the gotta get it guide for the holidays and more. I also work with the online people and the marketing people here to brainstorm how we are going to intergrate an entire marketing campaign for our clients.
We have our own web site and our users take surveys, so we have a lot of research accesible to us. These surveys really help our team we really know our readers. SI Kids compeitiros are Nick the magazine (Nickelodeon) and Boys Life and thats about it. We are pretty much our own niche and have the reputible brand name of Sports Illustrated to attract clients.
Some of our clients are Cartoon Network, Scholastic (for childern's books), Upper Deck, Milk, and toy and video game companies. One of the best parts of my job is that my building is literally RIGHT next door to Sean's. Well its to the left but whatev. We meet for lunch a lot and sit outside and its a really nice way to break up the day. Another great perk is that Sports Illustrated is part of Time and Life, thats the parent company, and I get TONS of free magazines, including PEOPLE and Entertainent Weekly and InStyle.
I am now all settled in my apartment. It is on the Upper East Side, about a 3 minute walk from Sean and Corwin's. I LOVE my apartment. All of my furniture came in and it looks just so cute. And the area we live in is great. Very safe always something going on lots of cute restaurants and bars, its great.
I am so excited to spend the summer in the city. If you can come out and visit you SHOULD. We are walking distance to central park, which is AWESOME. The Fourth of July in the city (weather pending) is out of this world. With the statue of Liberty as a back drop, you can't beat it. And all of the neighborhoods are so different that going downtown feels like you are taking a mini trip. I love Little Italy. They close off the streets and push the tables out in the streets so there is plenty of outside seating and everyone is happy because the food and wine are amazing. Broadway! I have got to go to a broadway show this summer and we have two baseball teams to choose from, I am going to go to games at both for sure, but I am definitely more of a mets fan. I met David WRIGHT my frist week of work. Google him. You will NOT be disappointed . Google Images. Trust me. And he was so down to earth and funny!!! You can all come to the wedding!
Well I guess that is all for me. O and Sean said hi because I told him I was going to write at lunch. and Liz had lunch with us too, she usually does, she is really sweet. We saw Sex and the City on Tuesday (No Sean obv) and it was soo good. I cant believe it was 2 and a half hours stil because I felt like I could of stll been watching it. Thats another cool thing about living in NYC, I recognize so many places from the movie and its like, I live here! I love it!!
Well ok now im done. I am really glad this thing exists so we can all keep in touch! Talk to you all soon, Nicole
I am excited to be considered a Wizard of Weimer lol. Its an honor just to be nominated. Well I am at work right now and it is really slow because my company believes in summer fridays. YAY. That basically means that in New York, people are soo happy its winter and people usually leave the city and take long weekends so a lot of the big companies have these summer fridays. Everyone does it differently. Sometimes everyone leaves at one or you get a half day or something. My company lets you switch off so work a full friday and then get one off. I am getting about 4 days off this summer that dont count from my vacation days so its GREAT.
I work for Sports Illustrated in the Kids and Teen department. My official title is "Sales Assistant" but basically I coordinate all of the ad sales accounts after they have been sold and work with edit and production to get our clients the positioning they want. I work with a Marketing team to brainstorm and create platforms for the sellers to sell and once its sold I work with Production and Edit to make sure the client is getting what they paid for.
I work with edit to try to figure out if they are going to be mentioning any products in any of our guides so we can go after that business. We have video game guides, back to school guides, the gotta get it guide for the holidays and more. I also work with the online people and the marketing people here to brainstorm how we are going to intergrate an entire marketing campaign for our clients.
We have our own web site and our users take surveys, so we have a lot of research accesible to us. These surveys really help our team we really know our readers. SI Kids compeitiros are Nick the magazine (Nickelodeon) and Boys Life and thats about it. We are pretty much our own niche and have the reputible brand name of Sports Illustrated to attract clients.
Some of our clients are Cartoon Network, Scholastic (for childern's books), Upper Deck, Milk, and toy and video game companies. One of the best parts of my job is that my building is literally RIGHT next door to Sean's. Well its to the left but whatev. We meet for lunch a lot and sit outside and its a really nice way to break up the day. Another great perk is that Sports Illustrated is part of Time and Life, thats the parent company, and I get TONS of free magazines, including PEOPLE and Entertainent Weekly and InStyle.
I am now all settled in my apartment. It is on the Upper East Side, about a 3 minute walk from Sean and Corwin's. I LOVE my apartment. All of my furniture came in and it looks just so cute. And the area we live in is great. Very safe always something going on lots of cute restaurants and bars, its great.
I am so excited to spend the summer in the city. If you can come out and visit you SHOULD. We are walking distance to central park, which is AWESOME. The Fourth of July in the city (weather pending) is out of this world. With the statue of Liberty as a back drop, you can't beat it. And all of the neighborhoods are so different that going downtown feels like you are taking a mini trip. I love Little Italy. They close off the streets and push the tables out in the streets so there is plenty of outside seating and everyone is happy because the food and wine are amazing. Broadway! I have got to go to a broadway show this summer and we have two baseball teams to choose from, I am going to go to games at both for sure, but I am definitely more of a mets fan. I met David WRIGHT my frist week of work. Google him. You will NOT be disappointed . Google Images. Trust me. And he was so down to earth and funny!!! You can all come to the wedding!
Well I guess that is all for me. O and Sean said hi because I told him I was going to write at lunch. and Liz had lunch with us too, she usually does, she is really sweet. We saw Sex and the City on Tuesday (No Sean obv) and it was soo good. I cant believe it was 2 and a half hours stil because I felt like I could of stll been watching it. Thats another cool thing about living in NYC, I recognize so many places from the movie and its like, I live here! I love it!!
Well ok now im done. I am really glad this thing exists so we can all keep in touch! Talk to you all soon, Nicole
Sunday, June 8, 2008
The Best A Man Can Get
Wow, what a long, crazy week. Here goes.
I officially started as an Associate at BBDO (Batten Barton Durstine and Osborne - four dead white guys) working on Global Disposables and Emerging Markets on the Gillette account. And honestly, officially starting wasn't that great. It involved an orientation session for new hires that was trying it's hardest to put me to sleep, despite the girl in HR trying hard to keep us awake. It didn't help that I didn't sleep at all the night before (much like the night before campaigns started...crazy). And it seems that they didn't really expect us to 1) know what BBDO was, and 2) have read through the offer packet. So I had to relearn about all the different benefit packages to pick from, and all the non-disclosure/confidentiality agreements, and everything else that goes with it.
And with that, I'll tell you what I do (or, what I'm allowed to tell you...). Currently, the big thing I'm working on is the Quarterly Review. Basically, we have to present all the worldwide creative work that's been done on our part of the account to the client at the end of the quarter. But for some reason it wasn't done last time, so I'm putting together the presentation for everything since January. It's really good because it's allowing me to get acquainted with all parts of the account. Just a little frustrating with having to clarify things in China and Russia and Turkey and Latin America and India and other random areas around the world. Basically, cuz of the time, I normally can't hear anything back until the next day.
Besides the quarterly review, I'm also working on status updates (another way to learn all about what's going on on the account). I'll be handling the budgets and purchase orders and such as soon as I get acquainted with that and all the job numbers. And any adaptation work between different regions will begin to start going through me soon.
But I've also been involved in some really cool stuff. I got to sit in on a meeting between a couple of my superiors, the global creative director on the Gillette account, and the account director for Gillette in Moscow (he was on the phone), discussing new creative concepts. I also got to listen in on our pitch to the client in Boston (I got to stay behind) where we showed different campaign ideas and stuff. Only problem w/ the timing of that is that it made me miss out on this really cool music brainstorming session. Oh well...there will be another that I'll go to probably.
So my account team is great. The guy right above me, Colby, has been a great help getting me situated and everything. His direct superior, Helena, is pretty sweet. She's from Barcelona. And then her superior, our account director, is Marcela. She's awesome, too. And that's basically our team. There's another guy named Sean that works on it, too (hence me being dubbed Sean 2.0), but I'm basically taking over some of his responsibilities so that he can focus on a different part of the account now. The there's other cool people that work on different parts of Gillette, too, like Cody's office-mate, Emily, who rivals Julio for her Facebook stalker-ness. But yeah, this account team is really close-knit apparently, so I'm really excited to be a part of it. Colby actually lives somewhat near me, as do a few other people on Gillette. I hear that once a month, Marcela takes our team out to somewhere nice for lunch. I'm excited! We're adding this girl from FHV BBDO in Amsterdam to our team in a few weeks, which is exciting, as well. Then I won't be the new person on the team anymore!
And I've got my own desk, which is cool. Doesn't really have any decorations or anything to make it really mine (besides the little post-it notes Liz leaves when she comes by and I'm not there). But soon enough I'll probably give it a little orange and blue or something. Sarah and I were discussing it when she stopped by for a few minutes after her interview. A big poster of Timmy might be in the works.
Well, that's it I guess for now. I'm sure there's even more I could say about my first week, but this is pretty much the gist of it. I could go on and on about the office, how, despite the dreary walls that everyone complains about, it's actually pretty cool. Central Filing, the full-service bar, is open 5-7ish (I've heard you can talk Joe, the bartender, into keeping it open a little later). We've got Red Strip and Guinness (including Smithwick's!) since they're clients. And the drinks are really cheap! And since FedEx is a client, we've basically got a FedEx in our office. I've had to ship a few things around the world already - I wonder if personal use is allowed...I'll find out...after all, there are tons of perks when you have cool clients...I've already gotten a free razor...and since we have Pepsi, there's free Aquafina EVERYWHERE! And we have Cheetos in the bar cuz Frito Lay is a client. Just don't get caught dead with a coke I've been told!
Well, signing out, here's some pictures Liz came by and took while I was working late one night. I've clearly got that embarrassed look on my face. Oh well. And I'm overdressed for work...my team told me they've already decided I'm going to be the best dressed in the office - I told them just give it time. Ok. For real...I'm out. Work tomorrow.
I officially started as an Associate at BBDO (Batten Barton Durstine and Osborne - four dead white guys) working on Global Disposables and Emerging Markets on the Gillette account. And honestly, officially starting wasn't that great. It involved an orientation session for new hires that was trying it's hardest to put me to sleep, despite the girl in HR trying hard to keep us awake. It didn't help that I didn't sleep at all the night before (much like the night before campaigns started...crazy). And it seems that they didn't really expect us to 1) know what BBDO was, and 2) have read through the offer packet. So I had to relearn about all the different benefit packages to pick from, and all the non-disclosure/confidentiality agreements, and everything else that goes with it.
And with that, I'll tell you what I do (or, what I'm allowed to tell you...). Currently, the big thing I'm working on is the Quarterly Review. Basically, we have to present all the worldwide creative work that's been done on our part of the account to the client at the end of the quarter. But for some reason it wasn't done last time, so I'm putting together the presentation for everything since January. It's really good because it's allowing me to get acquainted with all parts of the account. Just a little frustrating with having to clarify things in China and Russia and Turkey and Latin America and India and other random areas around the world. Basically, cuz of the time, I normally can't hear anything back until the next day.
Besides the quarterly review, I'm also working on status updates (another way to learn all about what's going on on the account). I'll be handling the budgets and purchase orders and such as soon as I get acquainted with that and all the job numbers. And any adaptation work between different regions will begin to start going through me soon.
But I've also been involved in some really cool stuff. I got to sit in on a meeting between a couple of my superiors, the global creative director on the Gillette account, and the account director for Gillette in Moscow (he was on the phone), discussing new creative concepts. I also got to listen in on our pitch to the client in Boston (I got to stay behind) where we showed different campaign ideas and stuff. Only problem w/ the timing of that is that it made me miss out on this really cool music brainstorming session. Oh well...there will be another that I'll go to probably.
So my account team is great. The guy right above me, Colby, has been a great help getting me situated and everything. His direct superior, Helena, is pretty sweet. She's from Barcelona. And then her superior, our account director, is Marcela. She's awesome, too. And that's basically our team. There's another guy named Sean that works on it, too (hence me being dubbed Sean 2.0), but I'm basically taking over some of his responsibilities so that he can focus on a different part of the account now. The there's other cool people that work on different parts of Gillette, too, like Cody's office-mate, Emily, who rivals Julio for her Facebook stalker-ness. But yeah, this account team is really close-knit apparently, so I'm really excited to be a part of it. Colby actually lives somewhat near me, as do a few other people on Gillette. I hear that once a month, Marcela takes our team out to somewhere nice for lunch. I'm excited! We're adding this girl from FHV BBDO in Amsterdam to our team in a few weeks, which is exciting, as well. Then I won't be the new person on the team anymore!
And I've got my own desk, which is cool. Doesn't really have any decorations or anything to make it really mine (besides the little post-it notes Liz leaves when she comes by and I'm not there). But soon enough I'll probably give it a little orange and blue or something. Sarah and I were discussing it when she stopped by for a few minutes after her interview. A big poster of Timmy might be in the works.
Well, that's it I guess for now. I'm sure there's even more I could say about my first week, but this is pretty much the gist of it. I could go on and on about the office, how, despite the dreary walls that everyone complains about, it's actually pretty cool. Central Filing, the full-service bar, is open 5-7ish (I've heard you can talk Joe, the bartender, into keeping it open a little later). We've got Red Strip and Guinness (including Smithwick's!) since they're clients. And the drinks are really cheap! And since FedEx is a client, we've basically got a FedEx in our office. I've had to ship a few things around the world already - I wonder if personal use is allowed...I'll find out...after all, there are tons of perks when you have cool clients...I've already gotten a free razor...and since we have Pepsi, there's free Aquafina EVERYWHERE! And we have Cheetos in the bar cuz Frito Lay is a client. Just don't get caught dead with a coke I've been told!
Well, signing out, here's some pictures Liz came by and took while I was working late one night. I've clearly got that embarrassed look on my face. Oh well. And I'm overdressed for work...my team told me they've already decided I'm going to be the best dressed in the office - I told them just give it time. Ok. For real...I'm out. Work tomorrow.
Wednesday, June 4, 2008
Day 3 -- Hell yeah!
I meant to do this day one, and yet I have been caught up in this whirlwind of work that I just haven't found the time to sit down and record my thoughts.
Heck, even now I don't have the time, and yet I am so happy with what I'm doing that I just want to tell everyone.
This summer I am working at Campbell-Ewald in Detroit. Never heard of it? Ditto. However, they do Alltel (WIZARD!), Farmers, Chevy and a lot more. We have three (or four, I kind of forget) offices in the area and some offices all over the country.
So, yes, big company.
But for being such a large company (800 people in the main building alone) it feels...like a family.
I didn't believe that when I heard it. In fact, whenever someone says that their agency is like a family I roll my eyes as it seems to be the keyword for "yeah, we ride your ass hard, but then act nice to you so that you don't jump out the window or sue the pants off of us".
Yet, last summer I worked at an ad agency of 50-ish people and, at the end of the day, I felt completely invisible. My mentor was, for lack of something more eloquent, a little bat-shit crazy, and no one seemed interested in giving me work, let alone acknowledging my existence. I could understand this if they were busy or some of the biggest names in advertising, yet they were all 20-somethings fresh out of college and seemed to forget what it was like to just BE an intern.
Conversely, my boss is one of the COOLEST and most amazing people ever (not a hyperbole. This is just a fucking fact, people). If there was some sort of coolness index which ranked on coolness from 1 through 100, he would easily get a five billion in my book.
But he sat down with me to work on projects, show us interns around, and event took us out to lunch! Honestly, when your boss can laugh at your terrible urban dictionary mention, you know you have a cool boss.
And when you can SHOW it to him. You know you have the best boss ever.
The past three days have been a whirlwind of names as everyone is so happy to introduce themselves. The funny thing is that they already know who I am. The interns in this company are treated not like some kind of grunt labor, but as something really valuable.
We aren't just given out (oh, that sounds terrible, but I'll go with it) to any group randomly. Departments must apply for us, just as we apply for the company. They have to promise to give us work, experience, and not just use us as a coffee service.
Hell, at my last place I got coffee at least 15 times. Today my boss asked if he could get ME coffee.
But this rambling means nothing, so let me put it in a more tangible story format: in my cube (and my brand new G5 -- oh yes, that is jealously your are feeling, my friend) I don't have any staples, push-pins or tape. Outside of my cube is a large filing cabinet which has a sticker that said 'office supplies'.
The other intern in my department said "Why don't you just go through it?"
"No," I responded. "I don't want to mess up the system." I'm just used to being told not to touch anything and receiving a severe passive-aggressive talk if I did (sometimes I feel like I suffer from some sort of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder from my last internship).
I went back to my cube when someone from the office next to me poked his head in.
"Hey, don't be afraid to go through the stuff. You can take whatever you want!"
I couldn't believe it. He took time out of his day to help me find a stapler and some tape, then introduced me to some of the people he worked with.
Not in my department. Not responsible for me in any way. Just did it.
You know you really have a cool agency when it makes awesome work, has a room devoted to a Wii, Xbox and PS3, and the COO chats with you in the elevator.
But as much as I love the people there, I think I love my work more. I'm never sure what I'm allowed to say as, when you enter any ad agency, you sign eighty-five papers which say, in every different say possible, that you won't blab about what you're doing.
In a general sense, I look up the buzz about our clients on the internet (blogs, youtube, facebook, anywhere). I read blogs, I watch videos and just learn about anything I can learn about.
In short -- I'm getting paid to do what I would do on the weekends.
Fuck yes.
Heck, even now I don't have the time, and yet I am so happy with what I'm doing that I just want to tell everyone.
This summer I am working at Campbell-Ewald in Detroit. Never heard of it? Ditto. However, they do Alltel (WIZARD!), Farmers, Chevy and a lot more. We have three (or four, I kind of forget) offices in the area and some offices all over the country.
So, yes, big company.
But for being such a large company (800 people in the main building alone) it feels...like a family.
I didn't believe that when I heard it. In fact, whenever someone says that their agency is like a family I roll my eyes as it seems to be the keyword for "yeah, we ride your ass hard, but then act nice to you so that you don't jump out the window or sue the pants off of us".
Yet, last summer I worked at an ad agency of 50-ish people and, at the end of the day, I felt completely invisible. My mentor was, for lack of something more eloquent, a little bat-shit crazy, and no one seemed interested in giving me work, let alone acknowledging my existence. I could understand this if they were busy or some of the biggest names in advertising, yet they were all 20-somethings fresh out of college and seemed to forget what it was like to just BE an intern.
Conversely, my boss is one of the COOLEST and most amazing people ever (not a hyperbole. This is just a fucking fact, people). If there was some sort of coolness index which ranked on coolness from 1 through 100, he would easily get a five billion in my book.
But he sat down with me to work on projects, show us interns around, and event took us out to lunch! Honestly, when your boss can laugh at your terrible urban dictionary mention, you know you have a cool boss.
And when you can SHOW it to him. You know you have the best boss ever.
The past three days have been a whirlwind of names as everyone is so happy to introduce themselves. The funny thing is that they already know who I am. The interns in this company are treated not like some kind of grunt labor, but as something really valuable.
We aren't just given out (oh, that sounds terrible, but I'll go with it) to any group randomly. Departments must apply for us, just as we apply for the company. They have to promise to give us work, experience, and not just use us as a coffee service.
Hell, at my last place I got coffee at least 15 times. Today my boss asked if he could get ME coffee.
But this rambling means nothing, so let me put it in a more tangible story format: in my cube (and my brand new G5 -- oh yes, that is jealously your are feeling, my friend) I don't have any staples, push-pins or tape. Outside of my cube is a large filing cabinet which has a sticker that said 'office supplies'.
The other intern in my department said "Why don't you just go through it?"
"No," I responded. "I don't want to mess up the system." I'm just used to being told not to touch anything and receiving a severe passive-aggressive talk if I did (sometimes I feel like I suffer from some sort of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder from my last internship).
I went back to my cube when someone from the office next to me poked his head in.
"Hey, don't be afraid to go through the stuff. You can take whatever you want!"
I couldn't believe it. He took time out of his day to help me find a stapler and some tape, then introduced me to some of the people he worked with.
Not in my department. Not responsible for me in any way. Just did it.
You know you really have a cool agency when it makes awesome work, has a room devoted to a Wii, Xbox and PS3, and the COO chats with you in the elevator.
But as much as I love the people there, I think I love my work more. I'm never sure what I'm allowed to say as, when you enter any ad agency, you sign eighty-five papers which say, in every different say possible, that you won't blab about what you're doing.
In a general sense, I look up the buzz about our clients on the internet (blogs, youtube, facebook, anywhere). I read blogs, I watch videos and just learn about anything I can learn about.
In short -- I'm getting paid to do what I would do on the weekends.
Fuck yes.
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