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Now We Are Five

BY AMY STRUTHERS

5 Things you didn’t know about Jacht Ad Lab

Jacht has just finished our fifth year. Hard to believe that just five years ago, the idea of a student-run ad agency was a crazy dream of mine. I had a big goal when I conceptualized Jacht and pitched it to my boss: I wanted to kick our program up a notch, to make CoJMC AD/PR THE go-to program nationally.

FIve years later, almost 200 students have participated in this unique hybrid of a university class and a real startup business. The students and Jacht experience have had a profound impact on how I perceive higher education and my place as an educator in a university setting.

But that is a different story.

I am excited to step away from Jacht for the fall semester to reflect and write about that story, with hopes to plant myself in the heart of the advertising industry for the four months UNL has granted me. Manhattan is calling my name, so I am leaving Seymour in charge and heading to the Big Apple after a summer with my newest Jacht crew.

As I prepare to take that break, in honor of our fifth birthday, here are five things I want to share that you may not know about Jacht:

1. Jacht isn’t a club, it’s a class: As many as 70 students from across the UNL campus apply for this three-credit-hour class each semester. They are from many different colleges and majors. It’s tough to get in, and sometimes tougher to manage the workload. So we no longer call ourselves Jacht Club. We are now officially Jacht Ad Lab.

2. Seymour isn’t real: Our mascot giraffe came from an early recruiting campaign, in which things that aren’t real such as pretend Monopoly money were juxtaposed against the real experience of working at Jacht, with real clients, real deadlines, and real money. Seymour was like the mini lap giraffe that was part of a popular ad campaign at the time. http://yhoo.it/ledy6My Now he is all ours and reminds us of the value of real experience when it comes to the workplace.

3. Skills and passion matter more at Jacht than GPAs: Grades can show how organized and committed students are, but a perfect GPA does not always mean someone who is passionate and engaged, ready to take risks, or able to move forward in the absence of rules and rubrics. Show us what you can really DO, not just how compliant you are, and you have a place with Jacht.

4. Jacht has a stellar list of supporters, including our favorite celebrity: Adam Levine may be the pretty boy at the front of Maroon 5, but right beside him playing lead guitar is one of Jacht’s first donors, James Valentine, a Lincoln native and former Ad/PR student at UNL. Thanks to James, Jacht owns some of the best photo and video gear around. Ad agencies, Swanson Russell and Bailey Lauerman have also stepped up to the plate, committing time and money to what they rightly perceive as a talent pipeline. Every donation we receive and every invoice that a client pays gets reinvested in providing world-class experiences for our Jacht students.

5. Jacht has moved six times: Each time that our terrific supporters, Nebraska Global, has asked us to relocate within the spaces they occupy in the Haymarket, we have gladly complied. Being a startup means being nimble and maybe even nomadic. Wherever we have landed, we have been in the epicenter of the startup scene that has exploded in Lincoln over the past five years. Rubbing elbows in the elevators and the lunch rooms and stairwells with coders, entrepreneurs, investors, and politicians while watching the construction of the Pinnacle Bank Arena, the Railyard and a bevy of parking garages- a priceless experience!

The door is always open for mentors, students, parents and visitors at Jacht. Come see how we are living our UNL story!

The People Who’ve Made Me

BY KAYLAN MALOLEY

My current reflection of the past four years of college: Holy sh$t that went fast. But holy sh$t I did a lot. I have had so many unique, challenging and life-changing experiences in such a short period of time. I have been truly fortunate to live next to the beach, have internships that included sangria at my desk at 3pm, and take on leadership roles I never thought I could. But it has never been the experiences that have molded me into the person I now am; it has always been the people that led me to those experiences that have changed me in the best ways possible.

If I could do anything over, I would stop, take a step back and really appreciate the impact these people were having on my life and my future. For now, I will take a few hundred words to share what I’ve learned from some of the most influential people in my college career.

From my parents: I’ve learned to never settle. To dream and to never stop until you succeed. To push myself, but not so hard that I don’t still enjoy the simple things and beautiful people around me.

Aunt Kristine: After a summer of living in Laguna Beach I learned that it wasn’t just the laid back, surfer-infested, taco-loving lifestyle that I loved. It was living that lifestyle with you. You taught me that things happen for a reason. That sometimes you have to take a breath and enjoy the what’s right in front of you. You forced me to step outside my comfort zone and to embrace the idea that every day is taco and tequila Tuesday.

Jen Toland, Bozell: I quickly learned that you can never be too organized, but also that I was never organized enough. You taught me what it meant to not just be a mentor but a friend. You taught me to invest in myself and what I really wanted, even if that meant taking a risk.

Amy Struthers, Jacht Ad Lab: You’ve taught me what it means to be fully invested in something. I’ve learned how to work hard, be selfless and strive for more than what is expected of you. You have showed me what it is like to stick your head out for the things and people you care about most.

Friends: You have forced me to take a deep breath and just be happy. You have shown me what it means to have a second family you can always count on. I have learned how to love, how to be open and how to enjoy every minute of living.

Kassy Knudson, Lincoln Industries: In the short period of time I have known you I have learned what it means to be both genuine and humble. You have taught me how to be confident in myself and my ideas. I now know how to be self-motivated and how to create my own success.

Myself: You have taught me that change is healthy. That the risk is always worth it. To think with your head but love with your heart. To embrace the people around you because they are what’s most important.

Things I’ve Learned Living Underwater

BY CAITLIN EGAN

I fell in love when I was only sixteen years old. It wasn’t with a cute boy. It was with an entire city. Ladies and gentleman, I fell in love with the great city of New Orleans. Voodoo is real. If you’ve ever been to New Orleans, you know this. The sounds. The smells. The beauty of the city. It enraptures you and draws you in. I knew I had to live there. Now, six years later, I’m prepping to make my move to the Big Easy.

I went to New Orleans for the first time during my junior year of high school as part of an exchange program through the network of Sacred Heart schools. I was to stay with a family and go to school with the daughter. Never in a million years would I have expected this experience to become a part of who I am. The hospitality in the south is no joke. People welcomed me into their homes, their schools and their clubs. It was truly amazing. I was so grateful to be integrated so thoroughly into the community. I made a very strong connection on that trip with a girl who, to this day, is still my best friend. Whether she liked it or not, I made my own place in her family. These people are New Orleans. Their roots go deep and their knowledge of the history is extensive. Thanks to them, I’ve found my own place in New Orleans (and in their hearts). Since 2009, I’ve been back to New Orleans at least once a year, and every time I go there I learn something new.

Nothing is as it seems

You might have heard the saying, “Don’t judge a book by its cover.” I arrived in New Orleans only four years after Hurricane Katrina devastated the area. There was still evidence of the destruction, abandoned houses, areas in desperate need of cleanup and lots of trash. But you have to look past that. This is a city with soul. It prevails through some very difficult times. You might see the destruction and desolation, but when you look deeper, you see the true New Orleans.

No, you’re not perfect, but you’re not your mistakes

I’ve never found a time more appropriate to quote Kanye West than when introducing the topic of Bourbon Street, which is New Orleans’ one disaster, besides the whole levee failure thing during Katrina. Bourbon Street is where all the worst secrets live. I’ll admit I had my share of Bourbon street adventures during my many trips down there. But I’m here to warn you: Bourbon street is dangerous. First of all, it smells. Imagine every foul odor you’ve ever smelled. That’s how that one street smells. Second, the drinks are essentially very expensive poison. Third, a local would never be caught dead there unless dragged by a visiting loved one. However, I will say that if you’ve never had a night on Bourbon Street, you have not lived. But don’t make a habit of it.

I love seafood. Seafood is my life.

Since there’s only one Chipotle in the entire city of New Orleans, I’m pretty sure they just substitute burritos for seafood. Shrimp, oysters, crawfish, alligator you name it. If the people aren’t my favorite part of New Orleans, then it is definitely the food. Those people go crazy over a couple of pounds of boiled crawfish. If you’ve ever heard of people in New Orleans eating crawfish, you might have heard the phrase “pinch the tail and suck the head.” Don’t get any ideas. It’s innocent. It just has to do with the method, and there is a method, to eating crawfish. Warm weather in New Orleans, which is basically anything over 75 degrees, means two things: snowballs and crawfish.

I want to be bayou.

If you don’t know what a bayou is, then my joke was not funny and I apologize. A bayou, which they have a lot of in Louisiana, is a marshy outlet of a lake or river. Since New Orleans is below sea level and surrounded by water, you can guess there are quite a few bayous. The bayous are beautiful in their own way. All this and so much more has led me to find a love for this city. It’s sent me on a six-year mission to move to the Big Easy. Thanks to my NOLA family, I have a job, a support system and an infatuation with a swampy city. Y’all, I’m moving to NOLA.

After living in New Orleans for a month and visiting countless times, I think it would be safe to say that I’m now on my way to being local. Not a tourist, not yet a local. If New Orleans has taught me anything, it’s that you don’t need to live there a certain number of years to be welcomed whole-heartedly into the community. New Orleans is about diversity. It’s about changing for the better while still keeping sight of a strong and powerful history. It’s about being ridiculous and having fun and dancing in the streets. But most of all it’s about acceptance. New Orleans is a part of me, and I am a part of it. And we are about to take our relationship to a whole new level.

“We dance even if there’s no radio. We drink at funerals. We talk too much and laugh too loud and live to large and, frankly, we’re suspicious of others who don’t.” – Chris Rose

Loving Life on the Daily

BY HANNAH TYRRELL

Lincoln is rad. I realize the prospect of moving far away from Lincoln appeals to most humans, and in some ways I agree. I, too, find a lot of joy in exploring what is unknown. Ultimately, I believe happiness is not defined by a location. It is defined by your acquaintances and what you choose to do with the finite time allotted to your existence. I choose to spend my time soaking up the awesomeness of my friends and family, listening to Ozzy way too loud (because he’s my real dad) and pretending I'm a famous artist.

I have spent the last few years learning to be a better photographer. I am doing this for two reasons: a photograph is a great way to capture in time the aforementioned awesomeness of friends and family, and with photography, unlike other art projects, I find my motivation to 'see it through' is much higher (if you don’t believe me I can show you my 400 half finished paintings). In my almost 24 years of existence one clear takeaway is life is far less satisfying if you do not learn to savor living it, good or bad. Take it in and live it up because life does not really offer do-overs.

As graduation approaches those words have never been more real especially in light of the insidious question of the moment, “What are you doing after graduation?” I might actually get sick if I am asked that question again. So let me offer this answer, after graduation I plan on continuing to pretend I know how to live life the “right” way just like everyone else. I will press on trying to survive on a fledgling photographer's budget searching for happiness in the effort. Quoting my mom, quoting Janis Joplin, “Tomorrow never happens." With that in mind I’m just going to keep asking myself “what are you going to do to appreciate today?”

No matter what challenges arise - even if those challenges bring about uncontrollable tears or hysterical laughter - there will always be something to appreciate. Also important is to understand that sometimes we do not possess the tools to fix a problem. Sometimes we just have to let things happen as they're supposed to happen. LET IT BE. Thank you Beatles for your constant reassurance *insert praise hands emoji* But then again my mom, Kimm, also says “I spell Kimm with two M’s because more M’s means more fun.” So, maybe I shouldn't trust her.

The “Creative”

BY EMMA THOMAS

Hello! My name is Emma Thomas and I am here to take full credit for the chalkboard drawings this semester. Thank you, thank you, please hold your applause. You would think someone who can draw may be a creative here at Jacht, making and designing cool things on Photoshop and illustrator, but alas, I am nothing but the mere internal account executive. I am essentially a creative person who can’t be a creative.

Planning, organizing, social media, and working with people are my passions. When I found out that through advertising I could get paid and make a career out of these things, I knew I had found my calling. Although I am on the strategic and organizational account side of advertising, drawing and art have always been another strength and love of mine.

Growing up I have always loved creating art by drawing, painting, coloring and anything else I could get my hands on to. I first realized I loved and was good at handwritten typography when I found a poster I wanted really badly of lyrics to a song by The Shins. I realized that I could draw it and like it even more if I did it myself. This one poster has led me to create prints of my favorite quotes by hand in my favorite medium, Sharpies. My Sharpie collection has grown over the years now resulting in hundreds of them in every single different color and size.

You would think maybe my love for designing prints would translate to digital with my interest in tech, but truth is I am WORTHLESS on creative programs. Yes, I know the basics of Photoshop and illustrator from JOMC 161, but I did some of my assignments for that class by hand on paper. I had great ideas for projects that I knew I could communicate better through drawing then I would ever be able to on a computer program.

The other reason drawing was easier for that class, is the fact that I don’t even own a mac. I estimate that I am 1 of 5 students in the College of Journalism that has a PC. I used my friends creative suite for other assignments in class and made my final presentation on, get this, Microsoft Publisher *gasp*! So here I am a creative person with a PC who couldn't design something on a computer if my life depended on it. I thought I wouldn't ever be able to use my love for art and creating in advertising and accepted it as just a hobby.

But guess what? Hand drawn typography and doodling is becoming more and more popular in advertising in a world that relies on computers. In Jacht I have been able to use my passion for drawing on the blog posts. I have learned that chalk is not nearly as easy to draw with as Sharpie’s, but that incorporating my skills into advertising is everything I've ever wanted!

So let me know if you or your business wants some typography or drawing and I would love to show you what I can do! Drop me a line at [email protected], I love to chat :]

5 Ways to Become a Young Professional

BY TIFFANY WIESER

Hi! I’m Tiffany and I am currently a graphic designer for Jacht Ad Lab. I am a fifth year student majoring in art with an emphasis in graphic design. I want to give you a little background of where I’m at in my life and then share with you some advice I’ve received from various people along the way.

Starting freshman year of college, I’ve been working for the Campus Recreation Center. As a little freshman, I had no idea working as an ID checker for the Rec Center would eventually land me an internship in the Rec Center’s marketing department as a Marketing and Promotions Assistant. My biggest responsibility in the marketing department is to do the graphic design work, but I’ve also been learning the marketing process along the way. Being a part of the marketing department has been one of the most beneficial experiences in my college career. My mentors at the Rec Center have not only given me the opportunity to get experience in my field of study, but they made the extra effort to push me to go out of my comfort zone to better myself as a young professional. The staff goes above and beyond to make sure I am learning about each of their departments to better diversify myself and make me a better candidate for future jobs.

I believe that this experience is what turned me into a young professional. The things I learned have qualified me to be a graphic designer at Jacht Ad Lab. Here is advice that I received from various people that has had an impact on me.

Treat everyday as if it is an interview. You never know who will overhear you, see you, or what valuable connections those around you have. It’s what you are doing when you don’t realize people are paying attention that matter most. I believe that being nice, doing more than the bare minimum, working hard and being yourself are the easiest and most effective ways to stand out every day.

Diversify yourself. Have more than one skill and gain experience with things you aren’t comfortable doing. I’m sure this advice has become common sense to most college students by now because we all know one skill on a resume is not very appealing. For example, a graphic designer that’s very good and experienced in print design isn’t as appealing as a fairly good print designer with some experience in web design, typography, animation, video and photography. Get out there and learn things that scare you; it’s a satisfying feeling.

Find comfort in your own shoes. Young professionals are afraid to make mistakes whether it’s at school or an internship. We forget that mistakes are one of the best ways to learn. Don’t let being afraid hold you back from doing great things. Everyone has different approaches to finding an outcome or doing a project. To get the best results, do what works for you, not somebody else.

Go out of your comfort zone. This advice is the hardest advice I had to take. Nobody is comfortable going out of his or her comfort zone. I believe if you want to be successful, you will have to do many things that make you uncomfortable. One of my most uncomfortable experiences is what got me my position in the Rec’s marketing department. I emailed the marketing department’s directors to ask if there were any positions open and they said no. My initial reaction was to feel sorry for myself and begin looking for other opportunities. My supervisor at the time said otherwise. She pushed me to ask again a month later and after being turned down she told me to ask a third time. Asking someone for a position after being turned down twice is not an uplifting feeling. The position finally opened up, and because I was so persistent, I was their first choice for the position. It’s the things that make you the most uncomfortable that can be the most rewarding.

Live in the moment. You probably hear this phrase once in a while when you go out with friends or go about your everyday life. Living in the moment is also important to your schoolwork or in your workplace. Always worrying about the things you have to do later in the day will weaken your work performance. Do your mind a favor and let it focus in the moment. Worry less so you can show your full potential.

BY ANNA WILSON

Hello!

My name is Anna Wilson and yes, I am that girl in the red polo at Nebraska basketball games. I am also a Colorado native, junior advertising and PR major, Broncos fanatic, extreme extrovert, and account executive here at Jacht Ad Lab.

At the end of my junior year I find myself overwhelmed with nostalgic feelings over my time in the “Good Life.” As a Colorado native, I thought I knew what I was signing myself up for and that coming from a big city already put me way ahead of the game. Little did I know that the people I met and the experiences I had over the next three years would change my outlook on life and my future career.

To explain the polo, I am a classic example of “Those who can’t do...” so I have embraced my lack of athletic ability and have immersed myself into the atmosphere and business practice of athletics as a marketing intern for the Husker Athletic Department. Although I may look like a Target employee, I consider myself extremely lucky to be able to set foot in Memorial stadium to promote the best fans in college sports. (Hit me up if you want to do a half time contest). This role has guided me through my academic career and has provided more opportunities than I could have ever imagined. This includes my most recent endeavor, the opportunity to work at Hudl for the upcoming year.

Other interests of mine include: Broncos football, Law and Order Special Victims Unit, winning (yes, I am extremely competitive), traveling, and people. I am still waiting for the first and third to align…but to explain the last, I love to connect, learn, and seek to understand as many people as I possibly can. I am fairly bad at self-reflection, but when evaluating all interests and aspects of my life, people seem to be the common denominator. As an employee of the athletic department, I was given the task of researching, understanding and meeting the needs of the 15,000 people at each Nebrasketball game. As the New Member Director of my sorority, I was given the opportunity to educate and learn from the 45 amazing women recently added to the house, and as an Account Executive here at Jacht Ad Lab, my role is to evaluate and communicate the needs of our clients to the members of our creative teams here at Jacht. What is my primary role in all of the above? To understand and learn from the people I am working with.

To be completely honest, I was extremely against applying for Jacht. Resistant to the evils of advertising, I thought it was over-hyped, unnecessary and, to be quite frank, out of my league. I was terrified and didn’t think the “agency life” was anything I would be interested in. I wasn’t the Wyn Wiley or Hanna Jenkins (s/o to those alums) of the newest round of applicants. I was not creative, experienced, or the best applicant in the stack. But, thanks to an impulse decision provoked by some 3 a.m. life advice, I decided to take the leap and give it a shot, and after this semester I can honestly say it is one of the best decisions I have ever made. Being a part of Jacht has allowed me to work with some of the coolest, most talented people I have ever met to produce real work for real-life clients.

If I could give any advice for people at any point in their college career, it is to embrace all opportunities and connect with as many people as you possibly can. My experience would not be half as fulfilling if it wasn’t for the people I have met. So take my advice...join a fraternity or sorority, take classes you actually find interesting (and not just because they will be easy), listen to that 3 a.m. life advice, go on an impulse trip for spring break, apply for that internship you don’t think you will get and enjoy every moment of your college career. If I haven’t met you yet, I hope I have the opportunity to soon. Thanks for reading!

Finding Harmony in Music and Advertising

BY GRETCHEN PILLE

Jacht Ad Lab is preparing me for life as a musician. No, really. Jacht is full of surprises, but what has surprised me the most about this entire experience is the amount of crossover I’ve found between my two majors: advertising and music.

Preparation. In both advertising and music, presentation is key. Whether it’s the Star Spangled Banner in front of 10,000 Husker fans, or a presentation for a huge client: showing your audience that you are polished and prepared is crucial. The discipline to prepare is perhaps one of the most applicable skills I’ve brought from music school to the advertising side of my life. Heck, after singing a German aria from memory all by myself to an audience of judges, speaking in English, unmemorized, with a Power Point behind me is a breeze.

Understanding my audience. Like a true account planner, I considered my audience during the planning stages of my senior recital. My audience would be the family and friends of mine who are willing to sit through 45 minutes of me singing. Many of them are trained and educated in fields other than music, so my problem was going to be keeping the message of the music clear even when singing in a foreign language. While I’ve been dealing with audiences for years, I had never thought about what they actually want to see or hear until I started doing consumer research at Jacht.

Finding key insights. At Jacht, I’m always looking for the key insight: the most important part of the message. I highlight them when I draft research documents, creative briefs, case studies, and just about anything else I write here--notice I’ve been putting important ideas in bold print. To help my recital audience stay engaged during my recital, I decided to look at each song I’m singing and come up with one key takeaway from each. Keeping the message simple forced me to dig deep into the music to find some deep truths in the songs I planned to sing: key insights. Boom. I learned more about my music and can perform it even better because of a skill I acquired at a student-run ad agency.

Jacht has made me a strategic musician, and music has made me a confident, creative strategist. So there you have it. I am a better musician because of Jacht. And I am a better Jachter because of music.

Creativity on an Unlimited Budget

BY KENT BEAL

For my last egg drop project (where you drop an egg from a certain height and try to keep it from cracking), I colored a pattern on an egg, put it in the pocket of blue jeans, looped some yarn through the belt loops and slowly lowered it down three stories to the ground (it cracked a little bit, but I still passed because the beautiful pattern hid the cracks). Did I cheat? Nope. No rules were imposed on me other than that I needed to incorporate blue jeans.

Typically, you have rules and you have a certain amount of items that you can use. But, I didn’t, so why not do everything I could to make my egg’s descent successful?

*Enter the relevant advertising part*

Up until I joined Jacht, I don’t think I had ever been asked to develop a campaign based around a budget. I was never given a very strict set of “egg drop rules”, so to speak. Even so, some of my fellow students tended to limit themselves. I was guilty, at times, of this as well. Yet, it seems the times when a teacher specifically says the words “you have no budget” are the times when we tend to tap into a no-holds-barred mindset. Why wait? Don’t hesitate to use your creative freedom to generate something top-shelf.

Here are a few of the things I’ve been trying to keep in mind, and things I think you should keep in your head when you attack a new project.

Dream up the universe, and then some.

Go big. Think about the things you’ve seen and either build on that or explore completely new possibilities. Don’t build an idea around what you think is the norm. If you are asked to create a campaign that involves something digital and some sort of stunt, don’t immediately restrict yourself to the basic Facebook competition or some sort of candid camera prank. The possibilities are essentially infinite. If you restrict yourself to the norm, you are more likely to produce something boring and you aren’t setting your idea apart from others.

Leo Burnett said this in a really great way, “When you reach for the stars you may not quite get one, but you won't come up with a handful of mud either.”

If you don’t know how something will work, find someone who does. Or at the least propose a theory.

Never let the fact that you don’t know how to do something, or the fact that you aren’t sure if that something is possible, stop you from going through with a good idea. If your idea involves having people on the internet shoot snowballs at someone hundreds of miles away, in real-time (aka the “Nutcracker 5000” created by CP+B), find a computer wizard and an engineer or whatever it takes to get it done. Just like you, they are trying to get some experience in their field. However, don’t make them do it for free. Pay them something for their time. (Pro tip: If you’re in college, beer tends to be a pretty good currency.)

If you can’t find the necessary people to complete the idea, at least have a theory about how you think it MIGHT be done. At the very least, you probably still have a good idea and it shows that you were thinking in a different way and were willing to go past the initial idea stage.

Invest in yourself

This is a great piece of advice that I heard from Lawson Clarke, who is better known as the Male Copywriter. Go check out his website . When he came up with the idea for MaleCopywriter.com he had just lost his job. However, he ended up buying a $5,000-$6,000 bear rug just for his website photo shoot. That is a crazy investment, but he got himself known because of it. (Admittedly, lying completely naked on said bear skin rug, and the fact that he does great work also probably had something to do with it.)

This goes back to the point about paying others to help you actually produce finished products. Just by going that extra step sets you apart from the vast majority of students who quickly mock something up and call it good.

Don’t get too crazy.

Obviously, even when working with an unlimited budget, there are practical limits. There is a line you can eventually cross that leads into something way too ridiculous.

I have been saying that you need to think big and challenge normal, but that doesn’t mean that you can just go completely off the chain and say you bought the moon. There is a certain amount of reasonableness that needs to be present in your work. You can’t just teleport an egg to the safety of the ground, but taking a step back from that idea may give you another jumping off point.

The goal is to be right under the line. When you go for broke, it’s a case of risk versus reward. You run the risk of falling hard into complete failure, but when an idea is that big, the reward is worth the risk. That brings me to my last point.

Don’t be afraid to fail.

You limit yourself immensely by not thinking and working outside of your comfort zone. That is essentially what you are doing when you aren’t utilizing your unlimited budget to the fullest. You might convince yourself to stick to what you have always done because moving past what you’re comfortable with increases the chances of failure. That’ll get you nowhere.

Failure is a good thing if you learn to spin it the right way. You can look at it pessimistically, but that doesn’t take you anywhere else but down. You need to look at failure as motivation. Say to yourself, “This time I may not have been good enough, but that just means I need to work harder to not let this happen again.” When you fail, fail fast and move on.

I’ll leave you with a final idea. You will eventually enter the real world, be confined by a budget and working within the typical egg drop rules, metaphorically speaking. Break out of your shell and don’t spoil your opportunities. Those puns were bad eggs. I’m sorry for the stupid yokes. ;)

The 6th Year: an adventure of finding your passion

BY JORDAN LAMBRECHT

Howdy! Hello! Hey!

I’m Jordan. I’m a designer here at Jacht, and it’s my goal to leave the world a prettier and more intuitive place.

This will be my sixth year here at UNL--four wasn’t enough so I decided to take a few victory laps. Basically I should have a masters degree by now, which my parents are frequently reminding me of. Oddly enough, I’m happy with the path I’ve chosen. I wouldn’t be the designer I am today if not for my extended college career. I started out here at UNL in 2009 as a Computer Engineering major, and after a year of that, I decided it wasn’t my cup of tea. I had always had a love for design, even if I hadn't quite manifested an awareness for it yet. After CE, I felt drawn to the architecture department. Legos and building blocks were my childhood, so architecture felt like a great fit. A few years went by in the architecture program before I realized my fatal flaw in life - I’m absolutely terrible at any form of math that doesn’t include calculating a tip at a restaurant. I think it finally hit me when I was sitting in a class centered around determining how much weight a bridge can hold before it collapses and everyone on it dies in a watery grave. That was pretty much the nail in the coffin, as I didn’t want to be responsible for anyone’s untimely demise. A lot of the classes for architecture and graphic design lined up nicely, so that’s where I went. Where architects go to die --Art School.

But then something amazing happened. For the first time in my life, I was enjoying what I was doing. My work actually brought me fulfillment and made me feel whole. I was passionate and kept growing more and more hungry. My design work began influencing who I was as a person, and I started to watch myself grow. I gained new-found respect for the world around me, as I started to figure out my place in it all. I realized that design is everything. Just take a moment and look around you at all the objects and artifacts that were designed by human hands and the consideration that went into creating it. It boggled my mind.

And then I realized something else. It took me a really long time to figure this one out and was causing me a lot of sleepless nights for awhile. I was watching all of my friends graduate, get adult jobs, and move away. I felt like I was stuck in a never ending purgatory. But then I figured out that my past experiences actually made me a more diverse designer. My background in architecture and computer engineering actually enhanced my design work. I learned to understand that design is a harmonious balance between science and art.

So basically, what I’m trying to say: to all the people who are scared because they don’t know what they’re doing with their life--don’t worry. You’ll figure it out, I promise. It might take six years like me, and it might be more. But regardless, I promise it’ll be worth it once you find yourself.

You can check out some of my work, and read about more of my adventures in design on my portfolio and blog at www.Jordan-Lambrecht.com

BY MICKEY PIKE

Hi, I’m Mickey!

Named for the baseball player, not the mouse.

Long blog posts are boring, and no one wants to read about me that badly, so I’ve included a list of important information to provide some insight into this thing called “Me.”

1. Chipotle over Qdoba. Every single day and twice on Sundays. “But, the queso!” is not a valid argument. Stop selling your soul for inferior melted cheese sauce.

2. I’m a Nebraskan through and through, but I have an unbreakable allegiance to the Kansas Jayhawks. Rock Chalk.

3. I take pride in being from the Midwest, and I love how it has shaped and influenced the person I’ve become.

4. I’m currently a fifth year student here at UNL. Changing majors senior year was an ill-advised move, but keeping college going wasn’t.

5. I love the account side of advertising, because we’re the unsung heroes. All the creative awards in the world mean nothing if there isn’t someone to manage the clients to begin with.

6. My ultimate goal is to gather as much experience in the agency world as possible and then one day start my own agency.

7. Advertising is pop culture. Pop culture is advertising. I love being in this industry that is at the forefront of technology and culture.

8. I have recently rediscovered my love for reading. If you’ve got any book suggestions, fire ‘em at me.

9. California is my spirit animal. I’m all about sun and palm trees.

10. Every day is just an attempt to become the perfect combination of Ari Gold and Frank Underwood.

I’d consider myself a pretty cool cat, so if we ever bump into each other don’t hesitate to say what’s up. Also, follow me on Twitter (@MickeyPike), so I can become Internet famous.

BY CONNOR SHAPIRO

Growing up in a suburb of Denver, Colorado, music has always been a huge part of my life. It could be argued that my parents and Bruce Springsteen raised me. I have seen The Who, Roger Waters, Tom Petty, Springsteen, Green Day and many more with my parents. When I hit high school, I started to branch off and find my own music and shows with my friends and found live music and concerts to be my favorite thing ever. I had always been curious about how these shows that always captivated me came to happen. “How do you become a part of something like that?” I always wondered. I never realized that my college career would land me on a path to learn and be apart of the craziness that is concert promotion.

As high school graduation approached, I still didn't know what I wanted to do. I was interested in advertising and decided to declare that as my major entering college in the fall of 2011. A little over a year had passed and it was spring of 2013, my sophomore year. I had just started getting into advertising when I met the founder of Rad Kadillac Productions, a Lincoln and Omaha concert promoter focused on electronic artists and bluegrass bands. I told him I was interested in the concert industry, and he gave me a spot on his street team. For those who don’t know, street teamers are people who hang up posters around cities and college campuses and pass out fliers for upcoming concerts in exchange for free tickets. This was my first step into to the concert industry. For the next year, I took up increasingly bigger roles in the company along with continuing working on the street team. The first show I worked behind the scenes as a runner was Beats Antique at the Bourbon Theater. Justin Kadlec, the founder and face of Rad Kadillac Productions, began to take on a mentor-like role, teaching me the ins and outs of music marketing, promotion, production and talent buying. I really began to look up to him and the community and company he had created. I began to realize this is absolutely what I wanted to do with the rest of my life, and advertising had given me the necessary skills to excel in this field.

Being from Denver, I had always been interested in the company AEG Live, which had an office in Denver that put on and promoted a good majority of all the concerts in the city. I applied for an internship with them, and with my well-rounded experience working concerts and my understanding of advertising from my classes, I was selected for an internship with them for the summer of 2014. It was by far the best summer of my life. For 3 days a week, I got to work in their office with people who are considered legends in the concert promotion industry. I learned about different live music marketing tactics, social media implication, and traditional and non-traditional advertising efforts related to concert promotion, and I got to attend concerts for free. Lots and lots of concerts. As many know, Red Rocks is the best place to see a concert in Colorado, if not the world. I was able to see 31 concerts at Red Rocks that summer, an absolute mind-blowing dream come true. Sad that the summer was over, I came back to college for one last year before graduating. For my last semester this spring, I have been interning at Vega music venue doing promotions and social media while Jacht is providing me with invaluable agency-like public relations experience. As I approach graduation, it is funny to think that hanging up posters on campus for free concert tickets sent me on a path to an industry I never thought I would be able to be a part of. But sometimes that’s what it takes. Find something you love, get in wherever you can and work hard at networking and learning the ins and outs.

Advertising and Arbor Day

BY STACIE SIKORA

I’m not a nature girl. I didn’t spend my childhood camping, hiking or climbing trees. I’m terrified of birds, hate dirt, and up until a year ago had never planted a tree. Yet, I’ve spent the last year and a half as the Tree Campus USA intern at the Arbor Day Foundation, encouraging people to care about nature. And I’ve loved every minute of it.

First, let’s start with the most-asked question since I started working at the foundation. “How bad is the commute to Nebraska City?” Answer: The Arbor Day Foundation’s main office is actually located in Lincoln. It’s right above the Panera on 12th and P streets, which is very convenient for me.

It’s an understandable question though. For those of you who don’t know, Arbor Day was founded by J. Sterling Morton in Nebraska City in 1872. He wanted to encourage the Nebraska farmers to plant trees to create windbreaks that would keep the soil from blowing around and improve crop production. On Arbor Day’s centennial, in 1972, John Rosenow founded the National Arbor Day Foundation (as it was known then) in an effort to “inspire people to plant, nurture and celebrate trees.” The foundation has since expanded to include the Lied Lodge and Conference Center and Arbor Day Farm in Nebraska City.

I could spend the rest of this post outlining all the things I’ve learned that will help me as a public relations specialist – things like digital media, marketing and program management – and I’ve learned a lot about that. I was given the opportunity to interview campus contacts, write stories about the amazing things they were doing to get students involved in environmental programs and manage the Tree Campus USA blog. I also contributed to a book that was recently printed called “Faces of Urban Forestry,” which features a community member from each state who was affected by trees is his or her community. I wrote forest reports for our reforestation manager that would be shared with our corporate partners to tell them where their dollars were going.

But I’ve also learned to be a nature girl. The passionate, talented, fun-loving people I’ve had the privilege to work alongside have taught me about sustainable living practices, the benefits of shade-grown coffee for not just the trees but also the farmers, how urban forestry can cut down on crime in a community, that Chippewa National Forest was the first national forest east of the Mississippi River and that there are nearly 240 colleges and universities with Tree Campus USA distinction and about 3,500 communities with Tree City USA distinction, a program that’s been around for 37 years.

It’s these facts that I’ll take with me. That’s what I love most about being an advertising and public relations major. I have the opportunity to learn about so many causes and industries. And I get to learn from people who know a lot about these things they care about, and I get to share in that passion with them. How fun is that?

So though my time as an Arbor Day Foundation intern may be coming to an end, the foundation will stay with me forever. Not just because I acquired skills that I’ll need in the job market or because of all the tree facts I’ve learned, but the people who taught me . Passion is not something you don’t find everyday in the real world, but it’s alive and well at the Arbor Day Foundation.

And, of course, don’t forget to plant a tree on Arbor Day, April 24.

The Happiest Account Planner

BY KATIE RUEB

Hey, I'm Katie, hopeless idealist, Indian food advocate, dreamer, internal perfectionist and account planner for Jacht Ad Lab. My goals and interests seem to all contradict and change on a daily basis, which makes my life fairly tough to keep up with. Thankfully, I’m surrounded by plenty of awesome people who do a good job.

This semester, I have had the opportunity to be surrounded by a group of talented, inspiring people in Jacht. I like working closely with a team of students who surprise me with their skills each and every day. With account planning, I enjoy researching clients to see what they are all about in hopes to create strategies that will highlight these insights. One of my favorite parts of Jacht is bouncing ideas off of one another. Whether it’s discussing practical things like what we will put in a client’s brochure, or creating our own ad agency that actually is on a boat, we’ve got endless ideas.

I walked into the journalism college for the first time thanks to a professor who described the J-school as “rock n’ roll.” Advertising and public relations seemed like a good fit simply because I love working with people. Since then, I have become passionate for my major, particularly working with non-profit organizations. I am currently an intern with a non-profit in Lincoln called The Hope Venture, which engages in projects primarily supporting better education, health, clothing and shelter for people in need. Helping lives find hope through this organization has increased my interest for working with people who do so much good for the community and the world. My role as an account planner for Jacht has also allowed me the privilege to work with non-profits, as well as other organizations. I have learned so much already from working with other students and clients here at Jacht, and I am excited to continue to do so in the fall.

I do my best to cultivate positivity and good vibes everywhere I go. If you ever want to hang out, meet me on a yoga mat or maybe the back bar dance floor. Peace & love, everyone!

Boredom Brought me to Jacht

BY ANNA ENGLISH

When your last name is English, you're bound to hear jokes. When your mom is also an English teacher, the jokes get pretty creative. English has been a huge part of my life. Even my initials spell a linking verb. I was the girl taking Harry Potter books to school with me in first grade, completely oblivious to how silly I looked with a book as big as me. Graduating high school, I wasn't completely sure where my life would go, but I always thought English would be involved.

When I entered UNL as a bright-eyed freshman, I was a journalism major sure that I would graduate in four years and follow the next Barack Obama wannabe on the campaign trail.

That same year, a friend of mine warned me that the intro web design class at the CoJMC was miserable and impossible to pass. I took the class in the spring, and I listened to her warning, completing every assignment thoughtfully. When I checked my grades, I was happy to see that I had not only passed but had done pretty well. More importantly, I found I actually enjoyed it. This lead me to becoming a student worker for the J school, editing content for the website. However, I was still focusing on writing and achieving my goals.

And then I got bored. All it took was one reporting class writing the same stories week after week to strike me with the fear that I would be sitting in a cubicle day after day. I was left wanting something that allowed me to be more creative, which led me to switch my major to advertising and public relations.

This brings me to Jacht. This semester I am working as the editor and web developer, which allow me to do detail-oriented and creative work, and still dabble in writing. Jacht provides an abundance of opportunities for all students, and even if I’m not following the campaign trail in 2016, I can’t wait to see where I’ll end up.

St. Patrick’s Day

Not wearing green? We won’t pinch you as long as you check out our photo shoot at https://www.facebook.com/JachtAdLab/timeline

TEASER! Tomorrow we will reveal Jacht's full St. Patrick's Day photo shoot. Silly string and a Hulk hand may or may not be involved. #StPatricksDay

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