The work, the work, the work.

“Wow, I want to do that!” Those words went through my head a lot during the agency visits. It especially happened where I wasn’t expecting it to, and that was at BBDO and JWT. The reason why I wasn’t expecting to be in such awe was because I didn’t know what to expect from big agencies. I knew they did great work, but I didn’t know what to expect from the company culture. After that visit at BBDO, I came out with a crazy amount of motivation to create amazing work. I also came out the visit wanting to know more about being an experiential production, or even just being a producer in general. The work that Andrew and Adrienne did was just amazing, and I want to know how they do it.

Luis Sevilla

JFK to PDX

We’re about to get into our taxi to JFK to fly back to PDX and I think I couldn’t be less excited. This trip has been the highlight of my college experience up to this point. While getting to see awesome agencies that I’d love to work at was amazing, my favorite part of the NYC experience was easily getting to meet and hangout with so many of my classmates that I hadn’t gotten the chance to get to know before. I just wish this trip had been earlier in the year because I feel like I made so many new friends and it really sucks how little time together we have left.
I saw first hand the true reach and strength of the UO advertising alumni network this week when every time I walked into an agency, someone at the agency was raving about Deb and the program and ½ the time it was a U of O alum giving us the presentation. The bonding that took place this week and the fun we all had together is all a part what makes that network possible. When I make it in this industry, I’m going to do my part to strengthen the program, give back any way I can, and keep building the network. I’m going to do this because I freaking love this advertising family. This group is filled with the most interesting, creative, weird, talented, brilliant, ridiculous, and unique people I’ve ever met in my life and especially after this week, I want to stay connected to these people and I want to help each other out.
That was a blast, I can’t wait to do it again next year.

Casey Hickman

The One Show to rule them all

I went into the One Show expecting to see students around our skill level showing off work that was on par with what we have done. It was very quickly made apparent how wrong I was, for a few reasons. 

Right off the bat, I could tell that the quality of the work we were seeing was much higher than I had expected. Some of the ideas were incredibly creative and the attention to detail I was seeing was unlike anything I had seen from students. This immediately took me off my Allen throne of lies where we think we are the top dogs of the industry before we’ve gotten into the industry. This was very humbling and was the most important thing I took from the award show.

The next thing I noticed was the lack of strategy that went into some of the executions/campaigns we saw. Don’t get me wrong, I thought most of the winners had outstanding work, but I felt that many of them created work that in my head didn’t seem feasible or well thought out. The example that jumps to mind for this is the group that created a new siren for emergency response vehicles that would be used for any instance of an overdose. I thought that this was a very creative idea but I found a number of issues with its feasibility and how the public would react (If I were being helped, I wouldn’t want people knowing that I overdosed). 

Overall, I though it was a incredible experience and I’m very glad that we got to partake in it. 

Jordan Bremer

new jersey

Right now I’m sitting in New Jersey, on my grandparents porch with Tim Vandehey.  We’re both exhausted, something we didn’t realize until we sat down in a place where horns are non-existent, replaced by chirping birds and rustling leaves.

I’ve never felt so peaceful, in comparison.  NYC was filled with excitement, but is boring that bad?  It isn’t, at least for the time being.  

*looking up agencies on the west coast*

Simon Calem | 5.12

that’s a wrap!

Currently I’m sitting at my gate in JFK waiting to fly back across the country to Portland and this end to the week is not bittersweet like I anticipated, but just plain bitter. I expected to enjoy being in New York, but I didn’t think I’d love it as much as I do. There is something about this city that connects with me and I can’t wait to return as soon as possible.

But along with being sad to leave, I also feel so grateful to have experienced this past week. I’m flipping through my notebook looking at the pages and pages of inspiring quotes and insightful bites of information from all of my agency visits; the frantic underlining, stars, arrows, and exclamation points in my notes show how enthusiastically I was writing everything down, trying to absorb as much knowledge as possible. I know I’ll be going back to these pages frequently, when I need something to inspire me or remind me why I love this major and this industry.

My favorite part of this trip was how open everyone was to getting to know each other. I constantly found myself in groups of people I didn’t think I’d be in and thoroughly enjoying the process of learning about new people. I think Allen will have an entirely new feel to it once we’re all back in our routines, camping out on the third floor for hours on end.

I’ve been keeping running lists on my phone of lessons from New York, as well as my favorite and least favorite things about the city. So as I wrap up this week and finish up this last blog post, I’ll leave you with some final thoughts/lists:

Lessons I Learned This Week:

—Take the transit time that you’re given by Google Maps and add 30 minutes as a safety cushion.

—Walk confidently in the direction you think is the right way and when you realize it’s not, walk just as confidently in the opposite direction (this might be my biggest takeaway from the trip. It applies to a lot of pieces in life).

—New Yorkers are consistently really helpful, but also very efficient. Ask them for help, but don’t slow them down or get in their way.

—Walk signs on streets literally do not matter. Just cross the street whenever there’s an opening and keep it moving.

—Traveling around New York solo is the best part of the city.

—Get recommendations from locals, not Yelp. Or just walk around until you find something. Reviews be damned.

—Bathrooms really are few and far between. Finding a private bathroom is an absolute luxury (try Pret-A-Manger).

—Don’t ask a question for the sake of hearing your own voice.

—You expose yourself as a non-local every time you apologize after running into someone. I’m pretty positive I’ll never lose this trait though.

Random Favorite Things About New York:

—pigeons (I’m serious about this)

—revolving doors

—taking the subway

—being surrounded by strangers who don’t try to make polite small talk with you because they aren’t going to pretend to care

—everyone walks fast and if someone isn’t it’s okay to pass them in frustration

—NO DRIVING REQUIRED!

Random Least Favorite Things About New York:

—sometimes you stumble across a weird, bad smell that you’ve never experienced before and it’s very jarring while your brain scrambles to try and categorize it

—THERE ARE NO TRASH CANS IN THIS CITY. WHERE DO YOU PUT YOUR TRASH, NEW YORKERS?

—I have an irrational fear that a street grate will break while I’m walking over it and suddenly I’ll be stuck under ground. I don’t have any explanation for this one.

Adriane Hershey / 5.12.18

who’s a creative?

“Creativity is an attitude, not just a department.”

Over the last week, I’ve been so grateful to consistently hear how agencies integrate planners into their creative process. Early on in the ad program, I felt afraid that definitively placing myself in the category of account planning/managing meant that I was permanently signing over my rights to being creative, that it would no longer be a mindset I was able to have a claim to.

The idea that creativity flows throughout the entire advertising process was especially visible at Joan on Friday. This agency had an energy unlike any other that I experienced this week. They only have ~30 people working there but their small office was absolutely alive with talent, passion, and innovation. It felt like creativity was seeping out of every crevice of the room.

Lisa and Jamie (the co-founders, who were the first people to enthusiastically greet us when we walked in the door and two of the most beautifully energetic people I’ve ever met) told us that every department in their shop has a mandate to be creative. It doesn’t stop or end at any specific stage, and I think that’s absolutely imperative to the process.

Just like the above quote says (those are the words of their ECD), creativity doesn’t only come once someone acquires a specific skillset or masters Adobe Creative Suite. It’s a mindset, a way of life, a thought process. I’m so thankful that so many of the amazing people we met this week have soothed my fears of others not considering me creative because I’ll be working in a department titled otherwise. My ability to think analytically and problem-solve efficiently are just as integral to my personality as my ability to think conceptually and produce big ideas and this week absolutely reaffirmed that for me.

Adriane Hershey / 5.11.18

Final Thoughts / The Future of Advertising?

There has been so much information I’ve soaked up in just one week, that I never would’ve soaked up in school. This trip was extraordinary. The people we met, the advice we were given, and the overall city was something that impacted all of us positively I’m sure!

Now, what is the broader takeaway for where the industry is now going? This was a topic brought up at Radical Media. The answer was simple, they don’t know themselves how it’s going to be changing. With the move from more traditional television and newspaper to social and more contemporary ads, it is hard to tell how some companies may adapt or not adapt to the changing world. It is possible that some smaller companies that lack the understanding of the newer generation may have a harder time adapting to the new ad world. As for now it’s all up in the air it seems.

I would say a more personal takeaway is the idea of how companies are starting to hop on board with this new change in the ad world. I have been employed in the past year for doing videos that were vlog style. Companies are starting to really hone in on what this generation and the next generation is absorbed to. They are more and more inclined to use YouTube, instagram, and other younger platforms as a form to get their message out. I find this wonderful as a person who’s been immersed in YouTube for over 10 years.

The only way we can find out is to live on to see where it goes.

- Julian Watanabe-Neis

Big or Small Agency?

After experiencing multiple production based firms this week I am able to see a huge difference in the environments you could work at. Quietman and Starr media were both very small but brought a lot more one on one time between the students and workers. Radical Media has established themselves in the production field very well, and it was interesting to see a difference in environment and workspace between them. At Starr Media we were really able to get hands on with their equipment and we were able to even have some deeper one on one conversations after our session. I believe that, for me, this more intimate connection between the client and workers is very important. In a big industry you are tackling so many different people and projects that it is hard to get immersed in the people behind the curtains. In somewhere like a boutique agency, you establish yourself as individuals, as well as a company. At Starr Media they made this example by showing how each worker has a bunch of side hustles and hobbies, and when the other workers can, they would help out! They really stressed the fact that they are family and they are very close, and hangout outside of work. It reassured me to see a group in a agency that felt so tight-knit. A smaller agency might be right for me!

- Julian Watanabe-Neis

Change Agencies

We visited a few shops on this trip that didn’t refer to themselves as advertising agencies, but as “change agencies”. Yes, they still do advertising, but they’re also reimagining futures and designing new experiences. These agencies are solving problems and finding innovative solutions, and it’s compelling to see a shift in focus as brands adopt social causes. At one agency, the CCO told us he believes optimism is a global trend. These agencies aim to enact positive social change, and it’s inspiring to see advertising influence culture. It gives me hope that someday I, too, might make the world a little better. 

Sam Coffaro
05.12.18

Why Award Shows Matter

Before Monday and Tuesday, I had a decent amount of knowledge about award shows. Of course, I heard about the One Show and even submitted work for D&AD this year. However, there was always a voice in the back of my mind saying, “Why do these really matter?” My biggest mission is to make an impact on the lives of consumers and brands by building honest and rewarding relationships between the two, and I don’t think that we necessarily need to win awards to do that. Plus, awards shows come with other cons such as being expensive and not showing the complete spectrum of great work that’s being done in the industry. However, at an awards show and Advertising Week panel on Monday, a group of women from the industry changed my mind. Here are 3 reasons why award shows matter for our industry and creatives/thinkers (besides making people famous):

1. Award shows allow us to examine the history of the industry and agencies/brands. If you pick up a copy of the One Show Awards book (or any other award catalog/book) from years ago, you’ll get a good idea of what art, culture, and the economy looked like then. You might see that modern serif fonts were huge in designs, or that bright, busy patterns were used a lot. You can also see how advertising has changed throughout the years. While we still have strides to make, the industry has definitely become more diverse than it was 50 years ago and that’s reflected in work throughout the years.

2. They remind creatives to go back to the big idea… but also continue honing their craft. When talking to Erin, Lucy, Gina, and Ally about the ANDY’s, they noted that length of a spot is irrelevant if you have a good story to tell and that reminded me that our key role as storytellers is to entertain our audiences with a great idea. Instead of worrying about the numbers that a campaign needs to impact, competitors in student award shows can focus on simply entertaining the judges with a great big idea. In addition, after watching the Young Ones award show, I was reminded how much the craft of typography, colors, animation, and other skills really matter in our industry. 

3. It’s a moment for education, for everyone. Award shows train creative students to be great judges of their work and the work of others. This happens almost naturally throughout the process of evaluating work and simplifying it before submitting it. Even if students don’t move on to become judges or mentors one day, they’ll use that experience in their own careers. In addition, judges learn from award shows. When they critique submissions, they learn how to further recognize good work, how young creative minds think, and how the industry is changing. During the award shows panel, a few women agreed that some of the best learning takes place in the room of judges when critiquing work. 

All of this said, it looks like the award show critique process is slowly becoming more transparent. In the ANDY’s, judges critique work via Facebook live so that all students have access to getting feedback on their work and learning more about what makes great work. I think it will be healthy for the industry if we continue down this path and allow critiques to be more transparent so that students and professionals can grow together. 

Emily Foster

5.12.18