Knowledge.
“If I cannot guide you, I should not misguide you.”
Who knew it would be an Uber driver that would say some of the wisest words in syntax I would ever have heard. Simply, he was referring to not knowing where the best places were to “eat around here” when I had asked him, but I don’t think he learned the phrase off of simple meaning. If I cannot guide you, I should not misguide you… this goes for a lot of things. People try to fill in the blanks of not knowing everything by pretending to. This is detrimental. If you are unaware of something, own it. It is much better to recognize you lack an answer than to falsely inform someone to make yourself look “all knowing” in the moment. I can think of a lot of modern situations to fit this into. I suppose, in essence, what I learned from this is the vast amount of respect I gained for this man through his honesty—and through his honesty came respect for me and those that I was with. I’m unsure if my respect could ever match his, but I hope he understands how much he gave me to think about.
Talia Bootz
5.6.2017
142 Hours
From stepping onto a bus in a couple of hours to stepping off the same bus six days later, 142 hours is all the time I have to make the most of this trip.
Time has always been an interesting concept to me. Sometimes it seems to drag on with minutes feeling more like hours. Other times, it rushes by in a flurry. But seconds tick by at a constant rate. It all just depends on how much you are noticing time as it is going by.
While I’m sure this trip will fly by way too quickly, I want to notice and appreciate as many moments of it as I can.
One way I plan to do that is by tracking what I am doing during each hour of our trip in order to create a visualization of how I spent my time on this trip. I can’t guarantee it will be perfect and every hour will be accounted for exactly, but this trip is an investment. Lots of people have put in countless hours to prepare this opportunity and this is one small way of showing the outcome of that investment.
Jesse Summers 5.6.2017
What to Expect
You know that feeling where you have kind of an idea about how something is going to be or feel, but in reality, you have no clue of how it is actually going to play out? Well, that’s kind of how I’m feeling right now on my way to New York City.
See, I have visited New York only once in my life and that was when I was 10. I remember snippets of the city like the magnitude of the size of all of the buildings and people, the ever-lasting traffic, & seeing Derek Jeter bat at Yankees stadium.
But now, being 21 years old, I have no idea of what is going to be different from what I actually perceived. I’m very excited about this actually. I love learning and exploring as this trip is the perfect opportunity for both. I get to learn and meet with very talented people at advertising agencies and production houses. I look forward to discussing and learning how they think and what their creative process looks like. I also look forward to exploring the city & having as many experiences as I possibly can.
Stay tuned this week to see what thoughts have been changed during this trip!
Matt Palma
The Strategist’s View
I’ve grown up in airports.
Every summer, my father would pack me and my two older brothers up with our ginormous suitcases and take us to Hawai’i to visit our family on the Big Island. Without going into detail, I have flown a lot and have now become addicted to air travel.
When I get the first inhale of an airport’s air, my heart skips a beat. Adventure is literally right in front of me.
Yet this trip has gotten me thinking about flying in a different way, as it relates to life and advertising.
Observation #1: As people grow older, we become more afraid.
It’s a funny thought, isn’t it? The older and wiser we are, the scarier the world seems. I’m sitting on a bumpy flight where the young man next to me needs a valium while the two-year-old in front of me giggles with delight. Maybe the truth in this scenario is age makes us wiser because the lessons we learned caused us some form of pain we haven’t forgotten. Fear is what keeps us from experiencing the pain again.
Observation #2: An advertising pitch is just like taking off in a jet.
You can feel the engine rumble below you as it roars in your ear. The g-force pushes you down in your seat a little more, making you somewhat uncomfortable. Over the past two hours, you have faced stubborn ticket kiosks, security pat downs, and overpriced breakfast. The high of being 35,000 is literally seconds away, but it can’t get there fast enough. Finally you are in the air and you look down at the world below and enjoy the beautiful view. Suddenly all of that chaos is worth it.That’s what it feels like delivering a pitch. You stress as you go through the process. You feel a little bit of pressure right before you hit the crescendo. Then you get to relax and see just how far you’ve come and where you are heading next. With droopy eyelids, I made the connection in my mind and smiled. Then rewarded myself with sleep.
-Emily Garcia, Strategist5.6.2017
***Please note the above photo is not mine. It is solely used for educational purposes.
Travel Curiosities
I am 35,000 feet up in the air traveling at 551 mph in a giant metal beast carrying nearly 200 hundred other people all headed to NYC for some reason or another and it makes me think. When I travel there are two things I can’t help but think about:
1) Where are all these people going? There are over 200 of us who were willing to get on a 7:20am flight to get somewhere. To my comrade on this plane, where are you going and why is that place important to you? Is it work? family? family illness? travel? travel to a destination that is still days or hours away?
2) How the heck are we still in the air? I know we learned about aerodynamics in science class but it amazes be every time we take off that the plane doesn’t just come right back down again. Not only that but I am being beamed a wifi signal right now? where is it even coming from and how does it get to the plane and then to me? Is it from a satellite, a really powerful radio tower? Does the plane have an antenna - how does that affect flight?
Seeing this picture only escalates my thinking. It is all the planes in the air at the same time. The green and blue planes are planes headed to or from Newark.
Audrey Grimes
May 6th, 2017
May 6th, 2017- a day I have been working towards since my senior year in high school. Flashing back to 2014, I can still remember discussing with my parents the pros and cons of each college I had been accepted to. Although there were many reasons of why I wanted to attend the University of Oregon, the possibility of attending the New York Experience trip with the advertising program seemed to trump them all. As an 18 year-old go-getter from a small town in the mountains of Oregon, the chance to spend a week in New York City meeting with some of the world’s top advertising agencies was a dream I could not pass up. Thus, I decided to attend the University of Oregon and began focusing all of my efforts towards preparing myself to apply.
Therefore, today I feel more than a sense of accomplishment. I feel grateful. Looking back on all the hours spent in Allen Hall contemplating my portfolio, asking questions. picking the brains of older students, learning about the industry, discovering my unique talents, applying for opportunities to practice my talents and making friends along the way, I realize how far I have come. From the eager, young girl who didn’t even know what a status report was to the confident, young woman who has now managed multiple accounts, I can’t help but smile at all that I have learned these past couple of years. The New York Experience was a goal I had set for myself coming into college and at times, sitting in class next to some of the most amazing minds I have ever encountered, I didn’t think this goal would feasibly be accomplished. As a result, I couldn’t be prouder, happier, more nervous, excited and so many more emotions to be sitting in this airport today. This journey I began in the Fall of 2014 has taken me farther than I ever imagined and I am confident it is only the beginning. New York City, I’m coming for you.
-Meg Meagher
#uonyc2017
Life update it’s 6:32! We are in Portland aka the Rose City aka Brigdes city aka the 503 or whatever you want to call .
Our existence has reached capacity, we are has ready has we can be. Most importantly we are feeling truly blessed and thankful to be part of this amazing adventure.
This adventure gave us opportunity not only to meet new people but to also create bonds that will last us forever.
If it was Thanksgiving, I would be thankful not only to know Emily but also blessed to call her a friend .
With love,
Ahoua Touré and Emily Frances Garcia
#uocreativeweek2017 #lifofftoNYC #blessed
Translation to previous post:
New York is the American Fashion capital and I’m beyond excited to go there and wear some of my favorites pieces that not only reflect perfectly my brand but also are business appropriate. New York has a different spirit and I am allowed to fully express myself not only an Art director going to agencies but also as a fashion designer from the Ivory Coast who is trying to make an imprint in the world.
Dress: “ Abla Pokou the story of an Ivorian Queen” from Mandjou
Detail shot from Trish Laver
#uonycweek2017 #MANDJOUTAKESNYC
New York c’est la capitale de la mode et je super excitée car je pourrais enfin porter quelques de mes pièces préférée de ma propre ligne de vêtements qui s’appelle Mandjou.
Dresse by MANDJOU
Photocredits : Trish Laver