Some Call Me Colby @cjreis-blog - Tumblr Blog

1. Stop placing all the blame on other people for how they interact with you. To an extent, people treat you the way you want to be treated. A lot of social behavior is cause and effect. Take responsibility for (accept) the fact that you are the only constant variable in your equation.

2....

Seizing Senior Year

As my senior year of college comes to a close, I couldn't help but think about all the things I've said I wanted to do over the past 3 years. To be honest, it's quite astounding how much I've hoped to have done in this time. While thinking about all that is left for me to do, I couldn't help but divulge into a mid senior year crisis. Now, grades are important, I understand that. But what would college be if all I did was go to class everyday and achieve my diploma?

I'm here, right now, around possibly the most people my age that I will ever have the chance to be around ever again. We are all taking part in a system that we may or may not agree with, and we share common bonds that unite us in our causes. There are so many different cultures developing daily, new trends to try out, and guilty pleasures that get you through your day. We are the universe experiencing itself, every nano second that passes by, we create history. How can I sit idly in a classroom doodling to prevent myself from falling asleep, or mindlessly filling in bubbles on scantrons to assess my learning capabilities?

I decided this year it's time to do what I've always said I wanted to do, I don't want to live with regrets, and if that means I have to work hard to play harder than so be it. The Oregon Ducks football team this year has been hailed as one of the greatest offenses of all time by ESPN. THE GREATEST OF ALL TIME. So when the game against USC crept up, I grabbed some friends, loaded up an '02 Infinity, and trekked to L.A. for 13+ hours in the car...in the middle of the night.

See the plan was to leave Thursday since we didn't have class Friday, then we would arrive in L.A. Friday morning and we would have the whole day to explore before the game Saturday. We arrived safely and legally (no tickets!) and explored USC's campus. We visited Greek Row and interacted with their campus life. But we decided that wasn't enough, so we went to all the stops, Hollywood, UCLA, Downtown, we pretty much did as much as we could before we passed out from exhaustion.

Since family is important I spent the night with my Dad that night, caught some dinner and caught him up on the going ons of my life. It was great, I got to explore unfamiliar territory, meet new people, catch up with family. Needless to say it was a much needed break from the dreary routine I had established in Eugene.

The next day was game day. 4 p.m. sharp marked the kick off time, but we decided watching the two colossal teams collide at the L.A. Coliseum wasn't enough of an experience. We had heard that there was a music festival occurring that night right after the game to celebrate the Hispanic holiday for Day of the Dead. So three of us bought tickets and prepared ourselves for an insane 24 hours.

It started with tailgating, which was way different than what we do back at home. Every square foot of USC's campus was filled with every age alumni, student, and parent, taking part in celebrating the matchup between two of the best teams in the PAC12. It's safe to say there was no shortage of liquor anywhere. Red tents popped up wherever they pleased, in the quad, on top of parking garages, outside the dorms, in parking lots, and everyone was extremely friendly. The game was one of the most high powered offensive games USC has ever seen. Three records were broken that day; most points ever scored against USC, most yards from one player given up against USC (Kenjon Barner), and most yards total given up against USC. The Ducks put on a performance for the ages.

But the day was only half done. At about the end of the third quarter me and three of my close friends hopped in a cab to L.A. Historic Park, smack dab in the middle of downtown. A sea of people appeared shuffling their way through cattle herding gates to get into the main entrance. The festival boasted four stages with an eclectic lineup of electronic artists illuminated by the backdrop of downtown L.A. all around it. You honestly had no idea where to even start. The main stage had a sea of swelling people a good 500 deep. A Discotheque tent glowed with groovy vibes that beckoned out to you. A ferris wheel outside gave you a birds eye view of the night's festivites and led you to a stage contained by an intricate prism of lights over a football field long and wide. The energy was something you could feel. A more intimate fourth stage was distanced from the rest of the stages and gave you an up close view to some of the biggest artists in the industry.

We arrived at about 8 p.m. and didn't stop dancing, jumping, and spinning, until about 2 a.m. We walked around with our arms around each other in amazement of the culture that we were being exposed to. There were no fights, no tussles, or verbal assaults, everyone was watching out for everyone, because for that night to be anything else besides the best night of your life, would have been a shame. The lavish costumes in celebration of the holiday created an atmosphere like no other. It transported you to a place that you knew not of, yet it felt welcoming and inviting as you wandered aimlessly taking in the experience.

The next day we woke up with nothing in our pockets but a game ticket, a festival ticket, and the few dollars that we had left. We had just enough money to make it back home, and we wouldn't have done it any other way. The rush of being young with everybody else in your generation made you feel alive in a way that opened up my senses to experiences that I will never forget. From the suspense of the game, to the celebrating and jumping at the festival, there was nothing left for me to give. With bank accounts exhausted, we returned home with some of the most valuable memories that I will have in college. We lived life with no regrets, took the long way to everything, and revelled in the culture of this nations youth. It's not the 8 a.m. classes that I'm going to remember and recant to my children, it's the rebellious spur of the moment trips I took, the memories I made with close friends, and the participating in the young and reckless days of my youth that will live on as truly educational moments in my college career.

Honor Thyself

Recently, and occasionally, I get get so fed up with the world, and news, and cell phones, and homework, and jobs, and futures, and pasts, that I need to escape from the world for a little bit just to make sure that I'm not crazy. It can be a lot to handle sometimes, and it's really important to handle stress appropriately. I think when it comes down to it for me, the reason I get so weighed down with all of those is just sitting in some crammed college setting, staring out the window, looking at what I'm missing out on.

Not that I'm some nature obsessed University of Oregon student, but it just gets hard sometimes realizing you've spent 21 years of your life in schools and institutions playing the corporate jig saw puzzle that I really just need to make sure that life is still really happening outside of all that jazz.

My favorite way of "honoring thyself" is by taking walks, be it with friends, lovers, family, it really clears your head and helps you discover new life going on out there. I'll leave my cell phone at home in the off position, and bring my conversational coat. In Eugene alone these walks have led to discovering some of the most fascinating features of our city. We found the first graveyard of Eugene up on a hillside that is the final burial place of Eugene Skinner, the man who discovered Eugene and put it on the map; The first president of the U of O; the inventor of the Alkaline Battery; and many more of the most prominent figures in Eugene. It was beautiful: wondering what Eugene was like for these men and women during their time.

Another well known place is Hendricks Park (the founder is also buried in said cemetery), when in the spring time the Rhododendron Garden is in full bloom. It is a spectacular place to go and experience the life around you. Parks and gardens really help put into perspective the beauty in nature and can enhance the life and mind of anyone. It didn't take long to pass through the winding pathways in the park, just enough to revitalize my youthful spirit and keep me breathing still.

I think what inspired me to think about this was hearing some advice that came from a video we watched in my Advertising class, where I discovered that ad agencies offer more vacation time a year in the creative sector, than any corporate company I've heard of. To me that is amazing because being a creative driven individual I find it extremely hard to be pent up while squeezing out the creative juices. Sometimes I need to go into nature and pick some more of the succulent fruit that helps make my creative juices so ripe. I think given my academic state that my future job would need to be one of those places that offers so much vacation time, as honoring myself this past year in college has produced some of my best work to date and has really helped me discover myself, and the life around me.

The First Vinyl Advertisement

By now I'm sure it's somewhat clear that music is a very prevalent force in my life. It's safe to say I consume an unimaginable amount of tunes. Which is why I find advertising with/for the music industry so compelling. This advertisement crowns itself as the first ever vinyl advertisement. Where the user removes the ad from the magazine and spin it on their turntables. Wow. But it's not just the fact that they created a playable ad straight from the magazine. Budweiser is capitalizing on the millennial generations current obsession with electronic dance music. They commissioned Black Eyed Peas band mate and producer Will.I.Am to make a relatively simple party anthem to catch their attention. I say simple in the most straightforward way, it clearly didn't take much time to make the track with it's Pitbull-esque chorus, and 4 on the floor beat, but think about how much it probably cost to get Will.I.Am to consider this project. Could they have spent their money in a better way? Yes. I think a more talented artist could have been accessible, but the "good" artists don't want to be apart of corporate schmoozing. I find this similar to what Pepsi does with Pop stars, only Budweiser is looking at carving into the club markets niche. They want their beer to be the beer of choice when late night clubbing and enjoying this kind of music. Once you get over the music and just look at this overall campaign idea as a whole, I find it intelligent and well thought out. It's essentially a free record for any DJ and I'm sure soon enough club favorite DJ's will find a way to remix this into their bootlegs and mashups. Hell, I could even see Budweiser launching a remix contest for all the unknown DJ's out there to gain some notoriety, and for Budweiser to get the advertisement some more airtime.

Doing A Lot With A Little

Recently, a Sports Company that is focused on making high tech gear that protects your spine launched a simple yet extremely effective marketing campaign. By distributing weight in a way that marginalizes impact across you back they've carved a unique niche into the sports community. Their budget is almost completely spent on research and materials to test the gear and make it a top of the line product. A task not easily done. The problem with doing so is it was getting difficult to promote and advertise their product. Advertising at competitions through sponsorships was too expensive and if they were going to advertise through other forms of media, it needed to be cheap and effective. They came up with a plan to harness a backpack on billboards located on the streets. People walking by were challenged to give it all they've got to try and destroy the backpack. On the billboard a miniature camera was strategically placed to capture every impact. Upon impact a score is recorded and sent to a database where the picture and score are both uploaded to EVOC's facebook page. Much like a new fangled strong man carnival game, they joy of trying to pulverize something spread like crazy. 97 hits per hour became a standard amount of interaction for the grass roots advertising ploy. With each hit being a post on social media, where users could then tag and share their high scores, the ripple effect took this ad scheme across the internet. Magazines took note and provided more free advertising by discussing EVOC's campaign with their audience. This ad campaign really impressed me with it's ingenuity, but the quality of the product must not go unnoticed. Without a high quality backpack to absorb the blows, and look dashing, this campaign wouldn't have been successful. Those in charge of it knew their product well, and utilized it to it's fullest potential, for a cheap, yet profound, advertising campaign.

Feminism in the Ad World

Feminism is a subject that really interests me in the Advertising world. I don't think the female demographic has really been targeted in an efficient and responsible manner, and everything with image and photoshop is a truly terrible product of our culture. That's why I find this ad in Brazil by L'Officiel III really impressive.

I probably stared at this for 30 minutes before I understood it. The copy on the bottom reads "It's easy to make your make-up run, the hard part is putting it on." While I find the copy dreadful, I find the overall idea top notch. Personally I would have gone with something like "Covering you up only spells it out clearer." Or something of a nature that deals with how covering yourself up doesn't hide the insecurities that society exposes on a daily basis.

Make-up to me is a really hard concept to wrap my head around. It seems like the more confident women don't need it, and vice-versa. Which is why I find make-up advertising fascinating. The make-up companies prey on the folly's of the female gender in order to push more product off their shelves.

I'm still kind of lost as to what the message of the ad is, and why gaining four pounds is a bad thing? I mean based off the makeup the girl is wearing in the advertisement I imagine a frail and dainty female that feels four pounds are a lot more devastating than they really are. I think what the copy is trying to convey is "it's really easy to ruin your make-up, it's putting it on, knowing your going to ruin it by crying, that is the challenge."

I'm still unsure what to make of this after trying to analyze it, but it certainly has a powerful message that is packed inside this simple print ad. It's almost as if it's calling the female gender to paint that smile back on and put the make-up on everyday because that's what makes you beautiful? It's odd. Or it could be saying why put on make-up if your just going to cry it off, love yourself. I'll let you decide, and I'm going to go with it means well and is promoting a strong female identity.

Facebook Activists

Everybody knows the people I'm talking about. The ones who share a status about bringing the troops home, how cancer kills, and how Kony needs to be stopped. Before I get to into this post, I want to say good does come from facebook activists. I just get somewhat annoyed when I see "share this is you think ________ needs to be stopped." Are we really that reliant on our peers "liking" what we are doing? The answer...unfortunately, is yes. That's why the button exists on facebook in the first place, our body's actually release endorphins upon seeing someone likes what were are doing. It's crazy!

I think the issue lies in misinformation. While good does come of making a cause go viral, no one said it was a good one. Just blindly clicking share because you saw 15 other friends clicked share and you don't want to be the only one who didn't because then you have to eat lunch by yourself like a loser, is a little over dramatic, but kind of true? It's so easy to rapidly spread misinformation, which is why consuming social media vigilantly is a really safe practice.

These days with the internet, researching a cause in depth and becoming an expert is relatively easy. With outlets like google, wikipedia, netflix, you can rapidly take in both view points on a cause in an attempt to understand the full picture. You can literally become an expert on anything you want with modern technology in a week, it's that fast. But will the facebook community give it that amount of time?

Even with the Occupy Wall Street cause and the millions of 99 percenters that ran with the notion, they can make things seem so heinous and corrupt, at times you want to jump in and hit the front lines. But is it not another form of propaganda? When videos are edited, when police are tempted, when lines are crossed, where's the whole story, ya know?

You touch on such a small fragment of the issue therein by clicking the share button. Out there on the internet, in life, there's a story out there, for you to wrap your head around. While it's easy to just click "share" and hop on the bandwagon for any particular cause, isn't it much more satisfying to take your own stance on a cause? Not one that's given to you.

Your social media profile has the ability to influence your social networks. Don't let other profiles influence you. Just as in life you're told to be yourself, it's the best you that you can be. Don't let your voice get lost in the digital world either. It's challenging, at times, but being the place where people come to hear what you have to say, what you took from a particular viral video, a safe place for discourse and intellectual stimulation, is a much more self righteous environment than giving in to "sharing" the next "thing."

Just.Do.You.

My Dad's An Alien

Audi has always been known for their creative advertising, show it should come as no surprise that they are behind this commercial spot. What I think Audi did a really good job of is portraying their target audience very well. When I think of Audi's I think of the modern man. Conscious about his hygiene, health, and athletics. Which is exactly the male lead that is played in this commercial. He practices oral hygiene, drinks herbal smoothies, and cycles.

But the male is not the focus of this spot. The little girl and the story she is telling is. This commercial captures the essence of being in your dad's fancy car. It's a whole new world basically. I remember my first time in a BMW as a kid and seeing a cell phone in a car, I was blown away! I can't even imagine how the modern kid must feel getting the opportunity to ride in such expensive automobiles.

The spot also does a good job of highlighting the bells and whistles that come with purchasing an Audi. In the short amount of time they used, they told a story, identified their target audience, and showed off the actual car. An impressive feat to say the least. I always look forward to what Audi's ad campaigns come up with next and they were definitely spot on with this one!

Blind Patriotism: Friend or Foe?

Waterloo Gin is a Texas distillery producing a near 100 proof Gin. Their biggest obstacle is that Gin is not a very American liquor. Europe, more specifically, England, tends to take the cake for the finest Gin. So what better way to combat preconceived imported alcohol notions than with blind patriotism?

Waterloo Gin comes right out and says it, "Drink it because it's not from England." Truer words have never been spoken. But is it the best way to go about getting across this message? I say, yes! While I am typically not a fan of patriotism and over zealotry for your country in advertising, what this ad does is specifically sets the bar high. It says hey, we make that good stuff too, and we're coming for their market share. They specifically target their niche, anyone in America who drinks European gin, and creates a rival in the industry to help put their gin in the hands of the proper demographic.

Some problems that may arise: Europeans won't purchase it. You immediately create an enemy out of the entire English market. Across the pond they are saying, "silly American's now we'll never buy your gin" as they light one of those long oversized cigarette holders and look all suave in their European fashion. Definitely a hindering factor to consider when taking this approach.

While there are certainly some flaws to an ad campaign that uses this patriotic method, I think that it comes from Texas softens the patriotic blow. Not that it makes it okay for a Texas based company to talk like that, it certainly is a stigma associated with Texas in terms of any product they produce. That was the deciding factor in my approval of this campaign, taking the geographic location into consideration provides a rich contextual background for this campaign to come to fruition, and the humor is certainly not lost.

Land Rover Calls Out To Thrill Seekers

The brand that is most known for it's Safari cruisers has geared a new ad campaign to get back to their roots. With the addition of the Land Rover Sport, a city demographic was targeted, when in fact their biggest market was in outdoor sales. So they brought about a campaign to rededicate themselves to their foundation.

This first ad is one that shows the eyes of wildlife creatures glowing. Straight out of a wildlife documentary it would appear, but the perspective is from that of being inside a Land Rover Defender. While they receive a lot of criticism for the advertisement on the adsoftheworld.com site, I think it brings up a valid point. Any time I think of safari's or cruisers in the dessert, I think of that classic white Land Rover, with photographers standing up shooting pictures, exploring, going head first into danger.

They continue this ad campaign with a parody of the "Keep Calm & _______ On" phenomenon. It reads, "Dodge Poison Darts & Carry On." It shows an iconic picture of that old school Land Rover I referenced above standing proud above. You get the Indiana Jones picture coming to mind, of him being chased by the bad guys through a jungle. It really touches on that rugged, thrill seeking, individual. Their target audience is hit perfectly.

The campaign keeps coming with another print ad beckoning to the thrill seekers. This one features a call to action as Land Rover provides a map of "far away places" and how to make all the stops by using a Land Rover. They take care of everything in terms of mapping your route, all you the viewer needs to do, is hop in a Land Rover and experience what the world has to offer.

All in all I think this recent campaign surge from Land Rover is extremely well targeted. The Land Rover doesn't belong in the city, it should be competing with the Jeep in terms of traveling the paths untraveled. That's exactly what these ads do, they make the Land Rover the ideal SUV to get through the unknown. Not only do they put you in one with the Bush Baby ad referenced first, but they provide a call to action to encourage you to hop in a Land Rover and experience the world in a campaign I really admire.

Thinking With The Lights Off

I realize I've spent a lot of time on this blog not really delving into what makes me tick. I really wanted this site to be a look inside the crazy ass thoughts that occur when I'm alone inside my own head.

The other day a Professor of mine posed the question, "How is life going to work out for you?" I'm not going to lie, this question scared me a little bit, as I'm sure it did most of my peers. After the initial shock wore off though and I was given some time to process what it meant to me, I feel like I came across my answer:

Life is going to work out for me because I don't seek answers, I seek experiences. The quote that came to mind is one that I stumbled across while perusing twitter, "The greatest result of higher education is tolerance." Life is going to work out for me because I'm not taking part in higher education to gain the answers to the Universe. Hell I'm not even here to get a 4.0. I completely and whole heartedly agree that I'm here to learn tolerance. Tolerance of other's ideas, choices, and lifestyles.

Never again in my life will I be living in this hotspot of people my own age. Where cultural and knowledge clash in a never ending battle to consume the lives of young adult minds. There is so much that makes us different, yet we live side by side with one another, learning, more than any textbook can teach us. It's an opportunity some take for granted. Burying your nose in course books is a perfectly suitable way to go about getting through college, don't get me wrong. To me personally, though; college is about balance.

There's a WHOLE world out there. How will I make life work for me? How will you not! There is an infinite amount of life to experience, everywhere you go there is a way to make "life" work out. If it hasn't "worked out" yet, then you just haven't found the right life. Another quote that's crossed paths with my soul lately is, "At least once a day, challenge yourself." Maybe that's put the books down and get so plastered that you would make stucco jealous. Maybe it means picking up a course book and learning something about the Universe. Maybe it means throwing your electronics off a cliff and distancing yourself from the world for a little while. It could even mean running until you can't feel your feet anymore. Anyway you look at it, challenging yourself once a day is what keeps you alive, that's what makes life work out.

I love grades and all. In fact, at one point in my life, I was consumed by them. All I wanted was to get the best, that to me meant being the best. I thought that was how I was going to make life work out. Now I don't necessarily disregard my professors' rating of my work, but I realize that someone else might find it genius. My goal in life is to find the people who think I'm a genius. Because I believe I am. Not in some kind of cocky and arrogant way. In a I whole heartedly believe in everything I do, I bring so much passion into anything that has my name on it, sometimes that can turn people off. But my passion can not be turned off.

Some people strive to be the best, but I strive to be myself. Because myself, is the best I have to offer the world. Being true to myself is the hardest challenge I face everyday waking up. Especially in the industry I want to work in. The advertising industry constantly wants to pin me into groups with other people. I see how it works. But I also see how discovering who I am in the 7 billion people put's me at such a competitive advantage that for this reason alone, I am scared. Who can truly say they know themselves? You can't even figure out what the hell you want for dinner! What to watch on TV. What to wear. How to position your hands in a picture. What to talk about if things get awkward. You're. So. Lost.

Life will work out for me because I seek every single day I wake up to know myself. More than grades, more than college, more than party's, and weekend exploits, I can think of no harder task, than knowing and honoring myself. One day I will figure it out, and I'll hold my future in the palm of my hands because I will finally know. But in the end, what do we really know? Figure it out!!!

Red Bull Signature Series: TV For Those Who Dare

Red Bull is a brand that has really come into fruition as of late. Red Bull is one of the latest brands to join the ranks of becoming a house hold name. In terms of doing the crazy, adventurous, and adrenaline filled activity, no one does it better than Red Bull. The Red Bull Air Race's, which have been taking place since 2006, have been described as the formula 1 in the skies. Watch this video where a pilot in the competition reaches 10G's and the complications that come when flying at such extreme velocities.

This isn't about their air race series though, this is about a new series Red Bull is launching that encapsulates all extreme sports. From snowboarding, mountain biking, freestyle motocross, ice cross downhill, skiing and BMX events on custom courses, there is virtually no aspect of the extreme sports industry Red Bull leaves untouched. Take a look:

What this means is that a brand now actually owns a TV segment? I'm doing my best to think but I can't think of any brands that own a TV series. This is huge news for a company that originally started in the energy drink business. While other companies in the energy drink industry advertise and promote through event marketing and athlete sponsorship. Red Bull is creating the environments for the athletes to compete in. Brilliant! The athletes are challenged to be the most extreme, to be the most diabolical, it's truly mad to watch what these athletes endure to be crowned a Red Bull champion. But if you want to talk about revolutionizing brands, Red Bull has certainly set a high standard. While other energy drink's were doing what was expected, Red Bull was scheming and plotting a takeover that would change the industry.

873 Degrees of Seperation

A concept we are focusing on a lot in my Creative Strategist class is the 6 Degrees of Separation theory. The idea that you are 6 people away from anyone in the world at anytime. Well this video conveys the idea that if you fall in love you'll end up playing bingo. In 873 images they take you from a couple's first kiss, to winning bingo. While the idea may not seem that interesting (why do we care about connecting love and bingo?) I just thought using 873 images to connect two unlike ideas is pretty incredible.

It had to have taken a lot of time to find each individual picture and syncing them up into the series. And telling a story with them for that matter. There isn't much sentimental value attached to the story, it's just a story for story's sake, and sometimes that's exactly the story we need.

Where Do I See Myself In 5 Years?

It seems like at every stage in my life there is a question that plagues your social life from every front. The mother, the grandparents, family friends, best friends, teachers, siblings, they all want to know the same thing. In high school it was what are the post high school plans, now in college it's what are your post college plans.

We do a lot of research in my Creative Strategist class about what Advertising field we would like to be in, and I've had the chance to talk to some of those involved in the certain fields as well. What's come of it? Well for one thing, I know a lot of very greedy people. Nothing drives me crazier than someone telling me, "oh don't go that route, there's no money involved." Who are you to tell me not to do what makes me happy because money isn't prevalent?

Those I've talked to in the Ad industry have advised me to go into Account Managing, and that if you want to go to the swanky night spots, the vineyard retreats, the finest restaurants, then to go into the account executive branch at an ad firm. But you know what? That's really just not me...I don't schmooze well, I don't make the small talk, I want my work to speak for itself so I don't enjoy having to go and speak for my work.

On a related note, I'm a more private person. I don't know what I would do if I had to spend time with someone of whom I really don't think is an intriguing individual. To be honest I call it like it is. I have so many things to deal with in my life, I can't deal with other peoples personal issues with criticism. It seems like the ad world is either the customer likes it, or they don't.

Having the head of Tillamook's Advertising come in and speak to us really spoke to me. He told us that when he worked for smaller ad agencies they would present 5 projects to the customer and tell them to pick. At a big firm it was one project, and it was take it or leave it. I'm more of a take it or leave it kind of guy. One mans trash is another mans gold so save it and maybe pitch it to a different client in the same industry.

Alright I'll bring it back. Where do I see myself in 5 years? At a big ad agency dealing with copy writing. It may seem like such a small part of the overall project, but the english language is so complicated, it seems like a difficult concept to master. But if I were to master it, the benefits would be amazing. I think it would be great to start at the bottom of the copy writer department and eventually work my way up to the head of it.

I currently am the Web Manager for an online music publication where I manage 25 writers. Where I started at the bottom as a writing intern, I'm now the head of all the writers. I deal with content management and making sure our focus is in the right place. I provide the writers with inspiration, I guide them in the right direction, and I provide them with a critical analysis of their online voice in order to help them flourish as a writer.

I would say my work as a Web Manager definitely is what influences this dream right now. Maybe in 5 years I'll be in a completely different place. What I wanted this post for was to just create a business card with this link, and just put it in everyone's hands who asks me this question. Keep checking back I'll try to keep updating!

What Am I Getting Myself Into?

I love journalism. I honestly can't fathom how awesome it would be to sleuth around in foreign countries. At the same time, what a dangerous state our world currently is in. The best kept secrets are best kept for a reason, and no matter how compelling and potentially profitable it could be for your career to get that information, the dangers that come with exposing the corrupt world we live in are life threatening. A recent campaign launched by Amnesty International calls for a world in which journalists get amnesty.

While I would love for all journalists to be safe, I don't know how well an international amnesty law would be maintained. People in this world do a lot of truly unimaginable things, things that would turn the world upside down, it just goes against human nature to enforce such a law like this.

Writing is one of my favorite past times, I love words and the power involved with telling an amazing story. But you have to pay for that story somehow, you can't get handed stories on a silver platter and just walk up to some of the most dangerous situations on the earth and expect open arms.

On the other hand, it's painful to watch this commercial and not feel an immense amount of heart swelling for this Mexican journalist. Amnesty International tells a compelling story of a 28-year-old journalist who loses his life while practicing his art form. They put you in his shoes and so close to his face that you can see his pores get filled as a tear slides down his face. He's driving to his demise and there is not one single thing he can do. Thank you to AI for not showing the trigger being pulled or the tears would have been flying.

While weeping for Diego Alvarez is inevitable, you can't help but wonder if he knew what he was getting himself into? Practicing foreign journalism in dangerous parts of the world is truly another form of going to war in my opinion. There must be some sort of personal acknowledgement that you need to come to terms with your life thus far. My stomach is sinking to my feet as I type this, as I'm truly scared. The sign of a powerful advertisement.

But I can't help but feel intrigued that there are secrets out there in the world, so bad that must be covered up, that a journalist must lose his life over discovering said secret. What I take from this commercial somehow is that I want to avenge this journalists life. Not in some sort of "Man of Fire" sort of way (but being Denzel would be pretty badass) but in a "I want to get to the bottom of this and uncover what one mans life was lost to keep buried" kind of way.

Call me crazy, call me naive, call me immature, but when else in your life can you dedicate yourself to a cause like this? We skyped a journalist in Africa in Gateway one day, he was living dirt poor as a freelancer, in sketch buildings, leagues away from the first world. And I can't help but feel some sort of calling to a profession like this. I know I'm here working towards an Advertising degree, but I can't help but feel some sort of calling to a couple years of my life dedicated to something like this.

Just a thought, I have a lot of them, how many do I follow up on? Probably below .001% of them. Safety is pretty reassuring and this video has me scared beyond my wildest dreams. It's seriously straight out of a movie. Maybe Hollywood is to blame then for my enamor, maybe it's the masculine overtones our society exudes, maybe I'm just crazy, but doing something with your life that can make the world a better place (no matter how dangerous it may be) is a frightening yet curious calling.

P.s. I wonder how Jeep felt having their brand so negatively associated with the getaway car?

The Google

The Google is a force I hope I never have to reckon with in my lifetime. What they appear to be doing, from the humble beginning's as a search engine, is truly astounding. Their commercial spots tend to be top notch as well. The "Dear Sophie" spot is still a commercial that touches your heart. You know what, hold up, I just watched it again, and now I want to talk about it. Detour time.

The way Google uses that piano to build into a sentimental orchestral arrangement coinciding with the child growing up, and the father using every feature of google to capture this little human's life, is so touching. Really makes you want to cry. Imagining what it would have been like to receive that at some point in your life from your own parent makes you want to use google more. PERFECT.

Okay back to what I wanted to talk about. Google play and the commercials that could change the web forever. It's been obvious for a long time that Google is trying to make a dent in facebook's market share in the social media sphere, but for a long time it's been out of reach. Google Play is here now and it could tip the scales in Google's favor. Google+ was a flop, that's no secret. Nobody wanted to manage a facebook and google+ account and so most people still sided with facebook as their primary source for social media. Well Google Play is here now to attempt to revive google+, but more importantly, offer something facebook can't. All forms of media.

Facebook tends to own the "social" media category. It's attempted to branch out with spotify apps that inform your friends what you're listening too, but to be honest, I don't want people to know what I'm listening to. What I want is my music to be in the same place as my social media, so I don't have to change applications every 5 minutes to control my music. That's what Google Play offers. In it's music spot on googleplay's YouTube account, it shows how it seamlessly integrates music with your social media. You can buy, listen, and share, music, all without having to leave applications.

But wait, there's more. Books! That's right, google now controls the worlds largest online book store. Being able to take that content with you anywhere and have it all available on your social media site makes everything pretty vertically integrated. Google Play caters to your television, your desktop, laptop, cell phone, tablet, you name it. Having all of that media in one place is way more convenient than the 2-4 apps you would currently use to manage all of your media. It will be interesting to see this play out, but from the looks of it Google is on the prowl, and it's coming for your media!

My Kind of Job Posting

JWT posted a crossword puzzle the other week where completing it led to getting a job interview as a copy writer for their firm. I think this is the coolest thing EVER. Who doesn't enjoy an intellectually stimulating challenge, especially with a job on the line. I don't think the user actually knows future employment is on the line though.

It looks like once the crossword was completed you were supposed to scan it and it would then reveal a message including the creative directors direct line. Even more scandalous is that they sent this to the top ad agencies in Warsaw to recruit their top copywriters. A competitive environment that I'm sure wasn't welcomed by their current employers.

Posting this video of the process is also really helpful for transparency in the company. Showing the hiring process from start to finish and including video of the woman who ended up getting the job. This is definitely a job interview that she will never forget! I'm just bummed I wasn't mailed one of the crosswords.

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