Day 0
Red eye flights are never exciting. What is exciting is arriving in NYC at 7am on a Sunday with no plans. After a group of us dropped off our suitcases at the Roosevelt, our aimless adventure began.
The first thing that caught my eye is the chaotic streets. Anything and everything is moving. People flowed around me while I stopped to take a photo of this taxi.
Our aimless wondering lead us to an unknown pier with views known from around the world.
As we approached these familiar buildings, we found ourselves at the bottom of the tallest structure in NYC. I’m convinced it goes on forever.
A book ending to the day included a photoshoot at Times Square. To see the energy remain late in the night energized me to stay out. This energy is still with me today back in Eugene.
-Justin Hartney
Bozo the clown
Many-a-times in my past has my father referred to Bozo the Clown. Usually when he spoke of Bozo, he’d follow it up with something like “but you’re too young to ever know who he was.” Little did my pops know that through his constant speaking of Bozo, I, a millennial, could do a quick google search and find out about this clown that once swept the nation. Not only that, but this clown’s face was the subject of many promotional products-one of which was referenced during my visit to BBDO, in perhaps one of the GREATEST analogies I have ever heard.
Tom (who’s last name I hope to track down…), an executive creative director who’s been in advertising and at BBDO for quite some time, was gracious enough to give us some of his precious time to dish wisdom our way.
One thing he said that really resonated with me was that, in the advertising agency, we must be resilient and we must be able to get right back up and brush the dirt off our shoulders if something doesn’t go well. Tom alluded to the fact that we, in advertising, MUST be like the Bozo the Clown Bop Punching Bag.
-Noah Wilskey
360i Breaks Down a Brief
Brief writing. Some thrive off of it, and some loathe the very thought of it. My agency visit to 360i was extremely helpful for my future endeavors with creating briefs. Our presentation leader and former UO duck, Chelsea Coleman, broke it down into 5 distinct parts.
1. Purpose
2. Target
3. Now/Next or To/From
4. Insight
5. Strategy
Although briefs are unique agency to agency, it is helpful to hear the thought process and formatting behind 360i’s strategy team.
Blair Paley.
Creatives in Context
Through agency visits, questions, and getting lost a couple times, we made it a week to remember. But really what was it all about? To me, this trip was a chance to step out into the industry and put our education into the context of a career.
Some see this trip as only existing to get a job, but it is so much more than that. This trip lets us put all of our learning and thinking into context. We got to visit agencies that we might work at one day, doors we might walk through every morning. We talked to Ducks who have gone out before us, questioned, explored, failed, and come out on the other side. We gained insight into what challenges we might face and things to consider as we look for opportunity. On top of this, we built a network. Through traveling across the country, navigating the subway, and exploring NYC, we got to know the other 106 people on the trip. As an industry focused on connection, empathy, and trust, this network is possibly the most valuable thing the trip offers. Aside from the many life and professional lessons you pick up along the way.
So if you only see this trip as a way to get a job, okay, but you are going to miss out on a lot.
Jesse Summers 5.14.17
C O N N E C T I V I T Y
NYC Creative Week was a week for growth, and indispensable wisdom. By far the most valuable lesson I learned was the humble, simple truths found in human connectivity. We are entering an industry that values human truths and connection. BS is easily revealed. Looking up to value eye to eye connection is powerful, humbling, and telling of genuine nature in a person or thought.
A special piece of wisdom given to me by Shannon McGlothin was: “Whoever cares the most wins.” Caring about the big idea in connection with humanity is a force weaved throughout good advertising, that separates an ad from a movement. Matt Eastwood reiterated Shannon’s wisdom by saying: “Passion trumps talent.”
My reiteration - Care to be humble and genuinely connected.
-Stephanie Hastings
Just a reminder. We all just spent a week together, a week that we’ll remember. Maybe your career was jumpstarted. Maybe you found the friend that will forever play a role in your life. Maybe you met the person who will be responsible for your first job or your second or the best part of your career. Maybe you fell in love with a place or a bench or a window or the view from above. Maybe you saw a piece of art or witnessed some humanity that changed you. Maybe you understood how to be a mentor. Maybe you figured out what you were meant to do. Maybe you saw Nick Offerman. Maybe you realized your ideas had merit and meaning. Maybe your hunch about how things happen was made real. Maybe you found out the west coast is where you are meant to be. Maybe you got the message about investment. Maybe you saw the network come alive. Maybe you fell upon a bigger question or a new perspective or saw the process work. Maybe you fell in love.
Whatever.
It was a week, a good one. That’s life. Onward to making more good weeks.
Deb Morrison
05.14.2017
#Latergram
Fifth Takeaway:
In case you have forgotten, humans can do truly beautiful things when their talents are fostered, their feelings are respected, and their humanity is acknowledged.
—Emily Garcia, Strategist
#Latergram
Fourth Takeaway:
Sometimes the best things happen to you when you don’t go looking for them.
This takeaway speaks to me deeply because it happened this week.
When I started my journey in NYC, I had my heart set on a couple agencies and I had my life all planned out. The reason I was going to NYC was just to assure myself that my plan was right.
Then I got to the city and suddenly my plan and dreams evolved into different ones. The agencies I thought I wanted to work for didn’t fill me up like I had hoped. I was changing faster than I could have imagined; and I didn’t know what to do about it.
I was anxious on Thursday because I had to leave one agency visit and find my second agency visit on my own. I hadn’t navigated the city alone, yet, and I was worried I would get lost. After some gentle nudging from one of my professors, I realized I had the tools to find my way to the next agency.
He was right. As always.
What neither of us could have predicted was that the agency I was visiting would quickly become my favorite of the trip, or open up doors for me. What I couldn’t have planned was that my previous plans would quickly become null and void. What I couldn’t have known going into this trip is how much my life would change because of it, or happy I would be about this shift.
I chose the photo above because I took it on my first independent venture in the city. It was in a small, French cafe with delicious macarons. I saw it in passing on the street with no plan to return. Then, after realizing I was an hour early to my appointment, I came back and had the best macarons of my life. The perfect illustration for the fourth takeaway of my trip in NYC.
—Emily Garcia, Strategist
5.14.2017