Oregonian Idiot

Before coming to New York City, it had been made clear to me that this city is fast, tough, and not for the faint of heart. So far, it’s just as fast-paced as I expected it to be, and trying to keep up is as equally difficult as it is invigorating. 

It’s only been a few days, but the amount I’ve learned about how to not look like an idiot in a fast city is humbling. Every day, I have experienced many moments of feeling socially incompetent, whether in a coffee shop, in interactions with strangers, or in navigating the subway turnstile. Small things like moving too slow or not knowing exactly where you’re going can make you feel pretty foolish when surrounded by people who have navigated this city for much longer than yourself - but I have found that these moments are humbling and remind me that I am only an expert in navigating a very small part of the world. 

Despite the negative connotation of the word “idiot,” which is the only one I feel appropriately describes how I feel in these moments, I am only motivated to take a step back from the things I believe to know well, and realize that the world is still full of so many small things I might not ever understand. Long story short, I’ve never been so excited to feel like such an idiot. 

Idiot Moment Count:  // Sunday: 2 // Monday: 3 // Tuesday: 6 (rip) // Wednesday: 1 (so far.)

Haley Koch // 05/09/2018

“We’re on the precipice of something big,” isn’t a quote from this week, it’s a quote to define the next generation of makers. I’ve heard this sentence everywhere and at this point I’m a little numb to the idea that anything I can do will make a change in the world. New York is a big city. No- that’s an understatement. New York City is like the Big City of big cities. Even though I grew up in Chicago and I know what a Big City is like, something about New York intimidates me.

That is, until I got rid of the Chicago chip on my shoulder and opened myself up to the experiences NYC has to offer. The agencies are amazing but more than that I feel comfortable asking strangers which train to take or wandering into a store I wouldn’t normally take a second glance at. In my opinion, these things are equally important. After all, NYC is so much more than an advertising hub, it’s a cultural wonderland and I am soaking up as much as I can.

-Marina Cimarusti 5/9/18

Joy.

I love learning about the mission of a company. Their mission makes a business purposeful and allows them to guide and build themselves in that direction.

I visited Red Paper Heart, an interactive installation agency whose mission is to bring joy to people’s lives and to create work that makes adults feel like kids again.

I was beyond moved and inspired by the presentation about the company. A solid core of 4 guys have created this innovative agency that turns abstract ideas into a living installation. Now, these dudes are extremely smart/advanced programmers but bring another level of creativity to their code.

Someone at Red Paper Heart mentioned that this agency necessarily doesn’t need to exist in this world, but rather it should exist because they create experiences that engage with people and bring simple joy that can brighten up their day.

I really admire agencies like Red Paper Heart and I would love to be a part of that team like that in the future. 

-Matt Palma

Karaoke in Koreatown

I’m back in arguably one of the best cities in the world, NYC. There are endless amazing museums, cheap eats, and historical landmarks. But sometimes you need to pave the path of your own to experience and do something different.

On Monday night, we took the train down to Koreatown with only one intention: to do some karaoke for a couple hours. We arrived at Gagopa Karaoke, claiming its a top 10 place in NYC for karaoke… They certainly weren’t wrong (but I’d be down to try the other 9 just to make sure).

They took us to a private room full of neon lights, comfy couches, a couple microphones and something they probably shouldn’t have given us: 2 tambourines (@taliabootzhand).

We sang all of the classics but of course put our own little twist on the songs. I am extremely fortunate and now understand why they have private rooms for karaoke: because kids like Matt Palma should not be allowed to sing Creed’s “Higher” at the top of his lungs in public.

As I was walking back, I was reflecting on where we were for 2 hours on a Monday night. I’m so happy I was able to convince James Vos, Calvin Peterson, Talia Bootz, Grace Gandolfo and Roberto Escobar to come with and have a memorable night. I’m excited for the rest of the week and for the remaining agency visits but I first had to share this experience with y'all.

Peace - Matt Palma

A Novel Idea

Red Paper Heart is an interactive installation design studio whose mission statement is simple: to create moments of joy for their audience through the synthesis of wonder and beauty. Besides leaving us all with the warm-fuzzies, the team at Red Paper Heart explained to us how untraditional advertising can be extremely successful in building an emotional connection between their work and their audience, and expanded what I know to be the bounds of advertising. 

Because Red Paper Heart’s installations are not typical of what most clients look for in an advertisement for their brand, they must often present ideas that are new and unusual, which can be perceived as risky to a business that relies on stability and concrete data for success. Despite this, RPH believes that if your idea makes your audience nervous (within the bounds of personal safety), that is a sure sign that you have come up with something novel and original, and you should pursue it.  

Haley Koch // From 05/09/2018

Tuesday!

After an amazing visit with Anomaly this morning, I wasn’t sure what to expect from special guest. Even after looking at their work and knowing that they are a very small agency, I still wasn’t expecting the talk to be much different from what we heard with Anomaly. I was very pleasantly surprised. The team at special guest explained that they view themselves as a plug in or asset to other brands and their existing ad agencies. Rather than trying to take over all creative work, they have realized that brands are trying to produce so much content that it makes sense for them to have their own in house agencies. Special Guest collaborates with these same agencies to help create really amazing and smart work. It was so interesting to hear this view from a much smaller team. They explained how important it is to be able to ebb and flow in order to make work that is really smart. This means that maybe they won’t understand the brand as deeply as a client, so instead of trying to re write the whole identity, they collaborate in order to make something that is true to the brand and also innovative. An interesting thought that came up during the presentation was about how ads will continue to evolve. The owner gave the example of how the LEGO movie is a 90 minute ad for LEGO, but it is also very entertaining. This is much different from how many people would describe what an ad is. I’m very glad to have heard from two very different places today, it has definitely changed my perceptions of what ad is and what it can be.
Raven

My visit at Special Guest today gave me too many new insights and ideas about the industry to even list here. Something that stuck with me was the idea of “the speed of culture,” that as the world becomes ever more able to produce more and more content faster and faster, agencies are expected to keep up with the pace.

But as founder Aaron Duffy said “I don’t know if you get to think different when you have a 24 hour cycle, really.”

Sometimes it’s good to go back to the old ways: to create things physically, to take your time with things. I am always advocating for innovation and growth, for constant questioning of our past methods. But it’s equally important to question where we’re going; to make sure that we don’t get caught up going faster and faster until we’ve lost the thread entirely. 

Special Guest reminded me that things are constantly growing and changing, and that just because we can adapt to a new world doesn’t mean we have to exist complacently in it.

Jordan Blackburn 5/8/18 (technically 5/9 because I wrote this at 1 am)

Emotional Intelligence

After spending the morning at 72 and Sunny I digested a piece of information I had yet to hear within the industry. As an account manager, emotional intelligence is what takes you to the next level. This idea has diverse implications for each individual and my first thought after receiving this bit of insight was, how does one measure their emotional intelligence? Experiences, character, fear, empathy, relationships. I truly believe that this intelligence grows as life goes on. 

As an account manager, being able to understand where people are coming from, what they’re going through and where they want to be is extremely powerful. More than anything, if I can’t look within myself, I could never attempt to see another person’s struggle.

This week is dedicated to introspection. 

Allie Bottinelli

New York’s Hottest Trend is..

The biggest trend I am noticing is that I keep saying “Wow, nothing can top this day.” And, of course, the next day always finds a way to one-up the last. New York has reenergized my creative process. It’s hard not to feel inspired when I can visually see the people around me, both in this trip and just those I observe in passing, also getting jolts of inspiration. I know that this trip was meant for us to network with professionals already in the field, but I am finding that the strongest connections I have made so far are with the other students on this trip. Getting to know the bodies that I have seen working so hard in Allen Hall for months and having the opportunity to explore something as exciting as New York City with them has made this experience one in a million. Every single one of the students on this trip is outrageous in both talent and work ethic, and I am amazed to realize that my greatest inspirations from this trip have stemmed from experiencing New York with them.

Olivia Howe // 5.8.18

One of the many takeaways I got from visiting Translation is that collaboration and communication, between different disciplines, can lead to great ideas. I was inspired by the way all them talked to one another like family. I saw no segregation between the account people, creatives, experiential, etc. We were told that within Translation, people send each other information that might be useful to someone else, even though they might not be working on the same client or project. This reminded me of the way Hot Cheetos was created. If Frito-Lay executives never let a janitor from Mexico pitch them the idea of spicy Cheetos, we probably wouldn’t have Hot Cheetos. After being in Translation, I’m going to make sure, wherever I go, I can create a space where anyone can talk. It doesn’t matter who does what because you never know who might have the next idea that pushes culture forward.

Luis Sevilla | 5/9/2018