W + K
We began our journey at one of the best advertising agencies in the world. With the reputation a place like this has, it was important to understand the message they gave to us. Something that resonated with me from the meeting was when they said “What makes us great also makes us difficult to work with.” Sometimes, your creative thoughts and ideas won’t be understood. After the meeting it made me realize that it’s perfectly normal for it to be like that. The prompts were an awesome idea and gave a lot of us students a chance to create great content while on the trip.
-Andrew Afranji
🤔
He who knows nothing has everything to learn
-Isaac Bell
Nature Valley Oats + Honey Granola Bar
That is what I felt like in New York. A Nature Valley Oats & Honey Granola bar in a sea full of Clif bars. A crumbly-un-put-together-mess. It seemed like the whole city was up and energized before I was even unwrapped. I was like what.the.hell. How can these people be so prepared day in & day out to exist in this crazy city? Then, as I woke up on day four, I thought damn, I’M doing it. I CAN wake up and do this whole New York thing - and like it. Cool. That’s the thing about new places and unfamiliar territory, of course, the natives are going to look like they have it all together - they’ve had time to figure it out. And once you figure it out - it.is.magical.
And we’re all just pretending to be a Lemon Zest Luna Bar, anyway.
-Hannah
Math
We all know her. We all admire her. We all stalk her Twitter. THE Sarah Sharp. Little do people know, Sarah Sharp was my neighbor in my small, barbaric dorm - Bean. BUT, not just any neighbor, my RA. The woman who wrote me up 1283893 times for noise complaints. Now, I have been lucky enough to stay in touch with this wonderful wordsmith, and even luckier to grab coffee with her while in New York. We chatted and caught up about how the patriarchy sucks and copywriting is hard. But she said something to me that really made sense. Something that made me feel better about the fact that my roommates don’t understand why I always have “group projects.” She said, “Here’s the thing, creative people understand why we need mathematicians and engineers and teachers, we get it. We thank them for doing their contribution to society. But those people will never understand why we do what we do. They won’t understand why we need the creative industry. But let me tell you, we do. We will always need us.”
*sips coffee*
I am validated and important… Sarah said so. Creatives we are needed!!!!
-Hannah
99 Cent Pizza
Let’s not forget about the dairy + carb combo that keeps the city that never sleeps - full. Among the overwhelming amount of delicious and unaffordable food NYC has to offer, the 99 cent pizza was both scrumptious and only one crumpled up dollar at bottom of your purse (unless you got pepperoni, then you had to scrounge for another quarter). Moral of the story here, people - you can afford to live in New York. I’m not saying it will be glamorous and your glucose levels will be great, BUT it’s possible.
*This has nothing to do with advertising - except most places have a well-lit branded sign in their storefront. On three say GREASE!
-Hannah
invest more.
I had the awesome chance to speak with the Director of Strategy at WKNY, Brandon Thornton, and got some great advice as to how I can continue to differentiate and refine myself as a strategist. Dope stuff. I have found that I have to immerse myself in more experiences and be able to draw understanding from it. He recommended books for me to read, and prompted me to paying attention to the Effie awards, which apparently is like the Grammys for strategists. Loads of work ahead but at least I’m getting a chance to see what that work is supposed to look like. Seeds have been planted for sure.
-T
Watch Out For Me I’m About To Grow
Wieden + Kennedy’s shop set a pretty high bar to kick off the trip. Finally, I was able to see the faces and the process behind the work that captivates so many of us. Love that. Being the sponge that I love to call myself I knew the lessons would come very quickly, and they did. Regarding strategy, Brandon Thornton explained, very clearly, that it is not only about getting the research but also selling it, being nimble and pivoting when it is required or appropriate to do so. I previously believed that by changing the direction of your brief or thought starter you were essentially killing the soul of your project and turns out that is not necessarily the case. (05.08.2017)
-T
Own It
During the trip, I was given the amazing opportunity to speak with Shannon Mcglothin, who had some great tips about owning your work. He told us to sell yourself, not just your work and always have enough information to back yourself up. It’s also important to show some personality, don’t create things that don’t carry a sense of character, you want your work to stand out! Lastly, he told us that whoever cares the most wins. Make sure you’re proud of what your doing and truly believe why you do the things you do. You should always be passionate and stand up for your creative process, it’s a part of who you are.
-Spencer Phillipson
An upside down M is a W
It is not that there are few women in the industry. It is not that women are treated worse in the industry. It is that women in the industry, do not have women mentors. Not saying that male mentors are bad, but rather, male mentors do not speak the same language as most women. Women need other women, although the patriarchy of our society is designed to force women against each other in a never ending battle, women need other women. Women have the largest purchasing power of any other group, so why is there a lack of women mentors when creating agencies and promoting Creative Directors and becoming mentors?
-Devyn Holbrook