Road Signs
Before embarking for New York, I said that I would take note of the street signs and apply it to my career. There were signs that I was familiar with from the streets of Eugene. Amongst all the familiarity one sign stood out to me. It read “No Standing Anytime.” I remember standing and absorbing the message. Being in a fast paced environment in New York City, where culture is revolving and evolving around me, I noticed that I needed to do everything but stand blankly. I realized that I needed to take advantage of the environment and continue to learn and improve. I actually want to challenge the sign a little. Standing should be allowed here and there to look back at how far you’ve come and to take a breather. I like that though, “No standing anytime.”
David Choe 05.26.17
The geography of intrinsic motivation
I’ve always been the person to ask why. Why is it that way? Why are we doing this? Why can’t it be both ways? Occasionally this has caused friction and problems as I delve too far into topics that others would rather leave be. But for me it’s always been necessary to get at the heart and reason of the world around me.
As I sat thousands of feet in the air on my way back to Oregon, I felt like I had the answer to why I was on the NYC trip. In a moment of clarity, I could see how all the things that motivate me and the things I would define as passions intersect. I drew this sort of map that plotted out all of these interests and connected them based on how they inform or relate to each other. When I finished I sat back in relief. I now had the why for my career and had an understanding of my motivations to direct me on the right path.
Jesse Summers 5.17.2017
Time well spent
164 hours. The amount of time I got to spend on this adventure we call the NYC trip. It was incredible and exhausting and inspiring and many other adjectives that I don’t have time to list here.
As we went through the trip, I kept track of my time. You can see above a tally mark for every hour I spent on the trip. Reading from left to right, top to bottom, you can go through the entire trip hour by hour. Below is a key to interpret each hour.
I chose to illustrate the trip through tally marks because I liked the linear aspect of the marks. It connects to the linear quality of time. There is no going back or jumping forward or pausing. Time is constant and precious. We only get one chance to use the time we are given and this trip has inspired me to use my time working as hard as I can and doing what I love.
Brown- traveling
Orange- getting ready
Blue- doing homework/projects/email/etc
Violet- agency visits
Apple green- riding the subway
Red- eating
Forrest green- exploring/adventuring
Jesse Summers 5.17.2017
Experience is king.
At one of my favorite agencies on this trip, Sparks & Honey, I heard that exact line. As a millennial and a lover of experiences that involve doing interesting things and making human connections, I really took this to heart. Experience can bridge the gaps within culture, within yourself. Experience is something you can’t take back, you can only gain. Experiences build you up. Experiences are one of a kind because no one else has the same, exact one. Experiences are purely unique. Isn’t that cool? Isn’t that what we want to have and to share with others? So go share!
-Meg Winters 05.16.17
What I learned after a week in NYC
After having a few days to settle back into the slower-paced lifestyle I currently live in Eugene, Oregon, I have had a chance to reflect on all that I discovered and cultivated during my week in New York City. Here are my top 10 take-aways:
1. I learned that as an aspiring account manager, I think I will focus on applying to larger agencies versus smaller agencies after graduation. This is because I discovered that smaller agencies are great because employees get to work on many different accounts. However, the thought of managing numerous accounts sounds daunting. I realize now that I might prefer to manage a few large accounts with multiple account managers at a larger agency instead.
2. I realized that living in Greenwich Village is the ultimate goal in life. If I ever find myself living in one of those amazing brownstones one day, I know I’ve made it.
3. It is often easier and more convenient to walk to destinations rather than subway or taxi. Therefore, I quickly discovered NYC is one of the most exhausting cities, jaywalking is real and true New Yorkers wear insoles.
4. Another aspect I discovered is the power of a project manager. Although I do believe account managing is the position for me, I didn’t even know that there was an internal position like that of project managing. As a result, I am going to take this new discovery and hopefully implement it into Allen Hall Advertising, which I think will be extremely helpful in some of the larger accounts we work on.
5. Serendipity has, by far, the most amazing desserts I have ever seen. The crazy aesthetics comparable to Alice in Wonderland don’t hurt in the experience, either.
6. I found out the hard way that nothing is cheap, or free for that matter, in NYC. Whether it’s a pack of gum or a nice dinner, I was swiping my card with great pain, but no regrets.
7. I learned that there’s a large population of Duck alumni living in Manhattan and Brooklyn. I also found that these people have a strong sense of school pride and will do everything in their power to support each other and help newly graduated Ducks assimilate to East Coast life. It’s a pretty special network that I felt grateful to be a part of.
8. Stand on the side of the escalators in the subway unless you want to get run-over. That’s a big one.
9. I learned the importance of carrying around a notebook and jotting down ideas that come to mind. I never knew how quickly ideas come and go, so it’s best to write them down while you can.
10. Lastly, I discovered how many amazing students are in the SOJC ad program and what great talent I am blessed to be surrounded by. I started the trip feeling like a little fish in a big pond. I left with so much more knowledge about the industry, a better understanding of where I see myself after graduation and so many more friends with similar goals and dreams that I do than I ever anticipated. To say this experience was incredible would be an understatement.
Meg Meagher
Lose the Ego
This industry simultaneously puts pressures on not having an ego about our work but also “make award winning work”. Winning awards seems to be the ultimate goal while the spoken goal is make powerful work. Our visit started at BBDO and before our host showed us their reel she told us:
“Most consumers have probably seen our work - they just don’t know it was our work”
This one line finally embodied the idea that it is really is about the work and not the recognition.
Audrey Grimes 5/16/17
Valuable insight from AKQA on following up and utilizing connections
Near the end of my visit to AKQA two former ducks, Alex Weresh & Kim Uong, gave us some real, straight-up advice about networking and how it pays off.
Here are some tidbits I took away from that conversation:
“The window of opportunity is larger when you know someone”-Alex
“Reach out! Don’t be afraid to cold email!, you want to get people to invest in you”- Kim
“If they don’t respond after the first email, try again a bit later-if they don’t respond to the second one, avoid a third email. Just wait and see”- Kim
“Prove to your connections that you are smart, but not in an annoying ‘know-it-all’ way”-Alex
“Remember, it’s good to connect with recruiters but a recruiter is NOT your best ally-network TF out of the place you are interested in”-Alex
-Noah Wilskey
NYC gets ya out of the comfort zone
An excerpt from the poets Jay Z & Alicia Key’s
“New York, concrete jungle
Where dreams are made of
There’s nothing you can’t do
Now you’re in New York
These streets will make you feel brand new
Big lights will inspire you
Let’s hear it for New York
New York, New York”
Not to be cliché, but damn these words are true. One of the first nights there, a group of us had visited Times Square at night…my god, was I in awe. All the lights, all the Ads-for an advertising major, this was Mecca. It didn’t stop there. Throughout the week, I saw myself doing things I never thought I would do-One day I was going up to strangers on the street, asking them what their story was. Another day, I saw myself doing a LIVE Instagram video of me running through Times Square and Manhattan during rush hour. If you had told me a week before this trip that I was going to do that, I’d a call you crazy. But alas, I did and god damn I am so pumped I did. This trip taught me so much about this incredible city, full of incredible people, each with their own incredible story. If I hadn’t left my comfort zone, I would never have known. These lessons won’t just be limited to NYC either, I hope to take these invaluable lessons everywhere I go in life. Here’s a clip from my live run for you to watch!
-Noah Wilskey
The Numbers Game
In 2016, Anomaly received over 100 RFPs from clients seeking their storytelling wizardry. They accepted eight. 8/100 is the type of ratio that a top creative shop wields to lure the most attractive, high-profile brands, granted those brands aren’t steeped in consumer deception and corporate negligence. It’s the same formula Harvard and Stanford use to filter student applications to secure the best and brightest. As up-and-coming creative professionals, we can use this ratio not as something to gawk at, but as fuel to our future-fires.
Write 100 headlines; eight might be worth sharing. Produce 100 scripts; if you’re lucky, eight will raise your CD’s eyebrows. Make 100 sketches; eight could become a piece of the storyboard. This numbers game is a game of iteration, of low ratios, of an imbalance of failure and success. That imbalance makes us better if we embrace it. Agencies seek young people who understand that truth as a foundational pillar of contribution in this industry.
Cameron Kokes 5.16.17
Brooklyn left a good taste
Heading into Brooklyn on Tuesday afternoon, I really had no idea what to expect from our upcoming visits to Big Spaceship and Huge. Aside from knowing that my good friend Chris Puma is working at Huge, both agencies were relatively new to me-but boy was I pleasantly surprised.
At Big Spaceship, I was impressed by Brandt and Austin’s (two former ducks) no BS approach to showing us some of the work they do and telling us some really awesome factoids that are unique to BSS. One of them being that BSS is an independent agency of about 120 employees-something you don’t see all too often these days. One other interesting thing I was moved by at BSS was the fact that they really encourage people to slide and adapt to positions that are out of one title. For instance, a copywriter could also dabble in strategy, or vice versa.
At Huge, they spoke about some pretty real thing that moved me. One was to, “make general observations about everything, all of the time.” Another was to be curious like a 6 year old kid that likes to “ask why. and then ask why again.” Lastly, they reminded us to not just dislike something, but to understand why you dislike it and to figure out and devise ways to make it better.
-Noah Wilskey