A Good Intern

During some point of every agency visit, there would be a question about advice for junior talent entering the industry. Every agency gave similar answers. The most common and probably the most important was to have a point of view. You’re in this role for a reason. Own it. Being an intern can be very overwhelming and discouraging, stay confident. The agency wants to know what makes you unique. The second piece of advice and equally as important as the first is always to add value. Start noticing things aren’t getting done or new opportunities for your team to pursue. Being helpful will get attention. And lastly, always make sure to communicate. Your opinion matters and you deserve to be heard. Excellent communication is not only crucial for your first job but your entire career.

Dana Norder 5.12.19 #2

Navigating NYC

The exaggerated warnings of the big city definitely frightened me prior to the trip. I realize now it was mainly to ensure our safety, but New York wasn’t as scary as it was made out to be. The greatest lesson; learning the difference between the subway to uptown versus downtown. Once I got that figured out, navigating New York was a piece of cake, or a ‘slice of pizza’ you could say. At the end of the day, thank goodness for google maps.

- Brandon Bullas  5.12.19

If you can’t take the heat, get out of the kitchen

This experience was eye opening that will have a great impact on where in the world I want to live, and a better idea of the type of place I want to work at.

Being from Southern California, spending four years in Oregon, and a few visits to New York later I am leaning towards California being the place I will hunt for a job primarily for now. Walking home from Times Square Friday night in the heat and humidity gave me a little taste of how summer would be in New York and I don’t think I can do the humidity.

Before this NYC experience I was pretty blind as to what happened day to day in an agency and the differences between the small and large feel. I think I would like both, this is because the smaller agencies were very collaborative and felt as though there was no hierarchy. The larger agencies were also very collaborative and they had a lot of room for growth within the companies. Horizon Media told our group they will teach you anything you don’t know and give you a taste of all different types of roles to help you hone in on what truly interests you. All these reasons being why I think I could thrive at either agency size.

Allie Bruno 5.12.19 #4

Sense of Belonging

As a native Oregonian, I expected to just drive on up back to Portland after graduation and call it good at wherever I end up. This week completely changed what I thought I wanted after college has run its course. After sleeping for 15 hours and eating some really mediocre food, I realized that the energy of New York is what I yearn to get back to. I have no clue how I’m going to get a job in New York next year or even afford to make the move, but I do know that I have the next year to figure out how to get to the place I feel I belong best. 

Annika Minges 5/12/19

horizon media was my saving grace

Horizon media gave me an idea of a place to start, and a place I could potentially see myself working. Hearing from four employees that recently graduated from college speak so highly about the company they work at was inspiring. I asked them whether or not Horizon Media was a place for someone like me looking for a job right after college and they said it is the perfect place. This was so refreshing to hear after attending several agencies that expressed they either don’t have positions available or they typically do not hire straight out of college.

Allie Bruno #3 5.12.19

college tours never end

Visiting agencies felt a lot like touring college campuses as a high school senior. Everything is a parallel from the stares you get as you walk through as an outsider to the realizations of whether this place is a right fit for you. I think the biggest parallel is the fact that as a senior (high school or college), you have no idea where you will be or what your life will look at 3 months from now. That’s scary. But this trip reminded me to take in this moment in life and cherish it. I look back on my college visits and am jealous of the old me. The world was my oyster. I had infinite possibilities in front of me. I’m now realizing that I get to be in that wonderful place once more. There are a million different paths I can take, and as a bad decision-maker, that can also be scary. But I’m learning to embrace it.

-Regan Nelson 5.12.19

Amazing.

It’s been an awesome experience seeing people go to their future agencies and meet their soon to be bosses. I’m so proud of everyone that is kicking ass already in this wild industry. It’s so amazing that every place you go there’s a duck there. It really shows how great the talent is within our own network. As graduation approaches many of us are planning on going our own paths and I CAN NOT WAIT to see the incredible things that everyone is going to do. You are all crazy talented. 

Amanda Lucas

Duggal

Rob from Campus Copy would be freaking out if he had the experience we just had at Duggal. It was so cool to see industry standard printing and the process behind it. As an art director it’s one thing to make things fit yo the media planners given dimensions, but to see the different opportunities that are possible with creative printing solutions. I was so awed by the innovative types of printing Duggal showed us. Especially the printed/textured sound proof material and light motion sensing printed instillations. I also think that going to Duggal can really set myself and other creatives that went on the tour apart from others who haven’t had this in-depth tour experience. Thank you again Tom for setting this up. This was most definitely a hidden gem experience. 

P.s Someone send Rob out here. He would go nuts!

amanda lucas

COMPLEX

The flex in COMPLEX. Wow what an amazing opportunity I had to go visit Complex with a few other poc creatives. Ashana was so generous to invite me on this amazing experience to go meet with some recruits at Complex. While I’m not really a sneaker head per say, their environment was amazing, diverse, and so progressive. I was so amazed by the office space and their active work in promoting inclusion in both their team and work. The people we met at Complex were so incredibly nice to us. I am so thankful that they took time out of their busy day to meet with a couple students. It was so interesting to see their work environment, because everyone their looked genuinely happy to be their and proud of the work they make. While Complex wasn’t originally on my radar as somewhere I would potentially want to work at, after visiting I would absolutely love to work t an inclusive, culture changing place like Complex. 

Thank you again Ashana, Cam, and Noah for making this opportunity available to me <3

Amanda Lucas

Day 2

It’s kinda crazy that you really don’t get a glimpse into the company culture and overall vibe until you visit the office. Agencies often fill their about website pages with words like inclusion or progression, and they always boldly state that their not like they ‘other” agencies. Behind the promises of kombucha on tap and dogs walking around you really don’t know until you see the work environment. I was delightfully surprised by some agencies that actually seemed to have collaborative spaces and was oppositely surprised to see that some agencies were a little underwhelming. While I know one agency visit is not indicative of what their usual environment is like, I still think it provides a lot of insight into the company culture. I can not thank this experience enough for really allowing me to have some clarity in agencies and what their individual cultures promote.

Amanda Lucas