I sat down and tried to write this post about five times. Every single time I got sidetracked by something else I need to do before I leave on Saturday. Listing one single thing I’m doing to prepare right now feels as futile as listing 30.

It’s getting my other work in order before I leave, it’s researching agencies and coming up with good questions, it’s making last minute edits to my portfolio, it’s sitting bolt upright in bed at 3 a.m. wondering if I’ve forgotten something important. (Maybe that last one is just a me thing) I need to clear everything out before I leave so that I can be more focused than ever on the actual trip.

In the whirlwind of trying to make sure I’m ready to go, I haven’t had much time to let the future feel real. Sure, I know what I’m going to do and what I want to see, but I don’t think I’m going to know what I was looking for on this trip until after I get back. Sometimes you just need to have all the data in front of you before you can figure out what you were looking for.

For me, this is an exercise in embracing the chaos without trying to anticipate the future. Whatever’s going to happen is going to happen, but you can only learn from it if you’re ready to accept it. This isn’t me trying to offer any wisdom, it’s more like a note to self.

Still, I’m beyond excited to be where I am and even more excited to see where we’re going.  

- Jordan Blackburn 5/2/18

What’s Happening?

Oh ya, we’re going to New York! For some reason the week leading up to this trip has me reflecting on my past. Four years ago I was at a different school, in a different state, with a completely different idea of where my life was going. A year later, ended up finally getting to University of Oregon and started in a major I hated. Another year later, switched over to advertising and had no idea what I was doing, I just knew it was where I was supposed to be. Another year later experimenting with what section of advertising I want to go into. Finally, having an “aha!” moment of discovering I could pursue a career in social media! Four years of changes and adjusting to finally feel like I at least know what I want to do. Now, I am going to NYC with over 100 amazing makers and doers all who will soon be wandering New York aimlessly, finding ourselves again. Where I will end up, I have no idea, but I know I will figure it out and embrace each new adventure as it comes. Curious to see where I will be another four years from now. See you soon, New York!

-Lilly Newman // 5/2/18

New York trip- wow it’s (almost) here! When previously thinking of New York I would think of big buildings, tourist attractions, and really good food. When finding out that I was accepted on this trip my “dreams” of NY completely changed. From big buildings, to large Ad firms draining creativity out into the world. From tourist attractions, to what each Ad Firm has to offer and how different they will all be. From really good food, to award shows. Although I’m still excited for the things I used to dream of, I’m now ecstatic for the opportunity to learn from professionals in this industry. Go team-go! 

Originally posted by ihiphop

-Devyn Schnake 5.2.2018

Central Perked

Yesterday, a reminder lit up my phone screen like a technological time capsule. It was dated for April 29th and read, “make sure you delete your squarespace!!!”. At this time last year, I was so overwhelmed by life and Creative Strat that I refused to let my future self pay another subscription to keep a portfolio alive that I hated. I felt inadequate, overwhelmed, and ill-prepared.  

Fast forward exactly one year, I now have a book that would be unrecognizable to my exhausted past self. Even more so, if you told sophomore Hannah that in 6 days she would be flying across the country with over 100 amazing people to hear from top agencies in the industry, she would’ve laughed in your face. 

But here she is and here we are and here we go. Make the person you were a year ago proud of who you are today, and don’t always take advice from year-old iPhone reminders. 

-Hannah Kloft 04.30.2018

Originally posted by lilpieceofmyworld

TOP 10 LESSONS FROM FACEBOOK

While our introduction to Facebook was accented by two NDAs, a scanning of our driver’s licenses, and even a sign in screen that used Facebook, Kunal Merchant greeted us like we were all close friends. With a warm smile and a calm demeanor, Merchant gave us the perfect closing talk by outlining ten rules that took him ten years to learn.

1 Be Open, but Create Guardrails.

Merchant opens his talk by remind us that being open to new experiences is great, but being too open can actually limit your experiences and stop you from having a concrete world view. This is why Merchant implores us to create “guardrails” in order to outline our personal beliefs and keep us on track. In the immortal words of Tim Minchin “if you open your mind too much, your brain will fall out.

2 Don’t Just Travel, Meet People.

Merchant continues by citing a common opinion that travel is important and seeing different parts of the world broadens your horizons and expands creativity. However, Merchant reminds us that just seeing a country is not enough, you also have to interact with the people within that country to get an understanding of what there culture is and why. This understanding is what really changes your worldview, not just a delicious meal or a great Instagram picture.

3 Find Mentors and Reunite with Teachers.

Like many of the wonderful people we met on this journey, Merchant attributes his success to finding the right mentors at the right time. He also reminds us that our teachers are our first resource. “Reuniting with teachers can give you a hindsight and clarity that you will often not find on your own;” he says.

4 Get as close to the Sun as possible.

Citing the famous story of Icarus, Merchant reminds us not just to “reach for the stars” but also to watch how close we get to the sun.

5 Experiment early and often.

How do we get close to the sun? By experimenting as much as we can. Merchant reminds us that finding our groove takes time and experimentation.  

6 Don’t Get Comfortable. When you do, shake things up.

To drive this point home, Merchant tells us an anecdote about his previous job as a programmer at a startup called 4C, where his best friend currently works. Making the leap from 4C to Facebook wasn’t exactly a comfortable one, but Merchant asserts that he knew it was right because “I felt too at home at 4C.”

7 Produce on your own.

Hearkening back to a conversation we had with Evan Shultz at Droega 5, many professionals have reminded us to create our own projects on our own time. Once again, Merchant reminds us “there is no one to say ‘no’ or to shut down your idea. You are free to make what ever you wish. Use this opportunity wisely.”

8 Prioritize experiences/ Memories over money

Bringing us back to his advice on traveling, Merchant tells us that many people our age feel we don’t have the money or time to see the world. Merchant urges us to have a different perspective. “You say you don’t have the money but there are so many amazing countries where the dollar is strong enough for you to travel quite comfortably. Many of you also think you don’t have the time, but now, when you are unmarried and have no real responsibilities, now, when your world view can still be shook to its core by an unbelievable experience, now is the time to travel.”

9 Don’t apologize for being you.

Everyone has issues. Everyone makes mistakes. The most important thing to remember is to learn from your mistakes and not become them.

10 Intern and figure out your criteria.

“You may feel like you constantly have to prove yourself to whatever job or office you are interning in, but remember they should be proving themselves to you as well. Good work today takes an insane amount of commitment, and that commitment is going to be wasted in a place you don’t enjoy working in.”

Caden Bohn

BBDO and AT&T Conquer the World

As mentioned before, AT&T studied the attention spans of consumers and found that attention spans are getting shorter. One of their responses was to flip the preconceived organization of their ad team on its head-and merge their creative and media teams together. However, through that idea they were also able to come up with another brilliant solution to the problem-stop creating ads to run during content and start creating content. To do this, AT&T started buying media outlets. After purchasing Direct TV, AT&T is currently in the process of buying Time Warner cable and HBO network. After this, “AT&T literally will not be able to buy any more television companies. We will be too close to a monopoly;” he says. How will this move cut down on ad purchasing? For starters, AT&T will be able to focus more on content creation than ads playing during content. More content means more opportunities for them to be seen by consumers. Imagine watching an AT&T ad right after an AT&T owned media outlet receives an Emmy. Furthermore, AT&T is looking to even further television watching experiences. “Imagine watching a television show and having an app that gives you access to the cell phone of the main character on your phone” McDonald says, “the possibilities are endless.”

Caden Bohn

BBDO and the Biggest Pitch in Advertising History

Advertising used in the correct way has a profound affect. Just ask the folks at BBDO, who in the past few years have been responsible for the resurfacing of General Electric, and all of the Advertising for AT&T (the 2^nd biggest Ad budget in the United States). Matt McDonald, ECD of AT&T has a lot to say about using ads-correctly. “Our attention spans are getting shorter and shorter” he says. “There was a study done that showed that teens scroll through their New Feeds 2x as fast as adults. 2x as fast! Now imagine how that attention span responds to an unwelcome ad-not well.” The solution? To give “the biggest pitch in Ad history; and combine our creative departments with our media departments.” To do this, AT&T had to go through enormous amounts of change, how could media and creative departments work together when they hadn’t interacted in over 30 years? According to McDonald, sometimes one needs to “ignore all the data and create something better.” While the merger ended up being one of AT&T’s most brilliant moves, it did come with some challenges. “People who used to have tighter working circles are now being forced to branch out and work with a ton of people they were probably not exposed to before” says McDonald “but the majority of people found they enjoyed it, and it brought a whole new level of excitement to our office.”

Caden Bohn

Quietman and the Struggle of doing it yourself.

“There are no clear cut definitions of advertisements anymore,” says Johnnie, owner/CFO of Quietman, “but that just frees us up to do cooler stuff.” He’s not wrong. In the past year Quietman’s 5-second Pepsi commercials pushed Pepsi’s sales past Coca Cola for the first time in a decade. However, flying solo does come with its challenges. Often clients can make huge mistakes and expect shops to cover for them. Johnnie likens this to a realtor turning to an interested party and saying “there is a hole in the roof. Fix it.” Along with this problem, clients can also expect smaller houses to do things for far less than budgeted, or inversely, clients can hurdle over their budgets without a second thought. Although it can be difficult, Johnnie says being an “independent contractor” is the best decision he’s made. “There is a certain amount of freedom that comes with doing it yourself;” he says. “I also get to add more of my personality into what I am creating. When I first started, I wanted to be a humor director. My friends laughed at the idea, so I knew I had a start.”

Caden Bohn

Droega 5 and the freedom of Student Life

           Evan Shultz from Droega 5 stands at around 5’9” but his hair makes him seem much taller. Shoulder length and brown underneath a baseball cap, Shultz’ hair and “Metallica” t-shirt combo speaks of a musical knowledge that definitely would have made us friends in high school. He talks about creative fatigue and how in the advertising business, art can suffer from the “Death by 1,000 papercuts.” According to him, this phrase recognizes the slow killing of ideas through the addition of tiny “improvements” that CDs and clients add. He urges us to be free of this killer while we still can. “It blows my mind that college kids don’t create things more” he says. “There is no CD to show it to, there aren’t a host of other people waiting to add their input, if you’re interested in bubble gum, write an ad about bubble gum” he asserts. “Just go!” Talking about student projects, Shultz notices that many times students can lose sight of what projects are supposed to be about in the long run. “Know where a project is supposed to go and don’t lose sight of that” he says.

Caden Bohn