#uonyc12

[somakeitgood]

UO NYC 2012: The Short of It

Ten years New York has been on my mind. An urban jungle in its truest form, bringing together the brightest minds of the last two centuries, ever reaching higher physically and figuratively. Working my way on to the annual University of Oregon advertising trip to the big apple for Creative Week was a no-brainer.

For ten incredible days I was immersed in the melting pot of The City at the center of humanity. With sixty strategic minds from the University of Oregon I went exploring its nooks, picking the brains of its driven advertising professionals, and connecting with people that I had only looked up to from a distance before. Even for all my visions of grandeur, I expected to find a different picture than I was idolizing, as I usually find when I travel. No, New York lives up to everything I hoped for and more. There's nine million driven people there, each with their own story and lessons I want to learn.

Probably the most valuable insights I took away from the many agency tours revolved around how an account manager can best serve his/her team. I heard many perspectives, some of them contradictory and bitter. Though in the end, I feel it comes down to trust, respect, and remembering that as an account person, I am there to work with the team including the client, not for the team or client. Prove the partnership, and help the people around succeed doing what they do best. And always keep the brief brief.

It also became apparent that we at UO are coming from a very different background than much of the up-and-comers from around the country. I think the best way the program was described was "progressive." If the concept of everyone being capable of creativity and strategy in their own way is uncommon in advertising, then I'm excited to see where today's Ducks take the industry tomorrow. A million props go out to the staff and student leadership in the SOJC for saying no to the status quo and demanding tomorrow's advertisers rise to the next level.

It's more than a major city or an advertising hub. New York is life; raw human energy. New York is where potential can be fully realized if you have what it takes. There's no way I can't be there. Now, I'm finding myself asking a whole new set of questions that will define my career and my life. Some of the questions are very hard. Some of the answers are reshaping my plan in bold and uncomfortable ways. And I'm okay with that. You need to follow what calls to you, and Manhattan is calling to me. I've got my work cut out for me, but I couldn't be happier.

[hercreativelife-blog]

The ONE and only

While live tweeting for the One Show in New York I got a DM from the lovely Deb Morrison that read, "Write down your thoughts now, or you'll lose it." At first I thought—No way, I'm just wanting to enjoy this moment now. But I quickly realized how valuable writing down my feelings at that exact moment was. So here it is:

This is nuts. I don't know where to look. Glen Cole is sitting behind me. Romeo, a student from the Savannah College of Arts is next to me. And Fabio is in front if me. Seriously where am I?

I have two thoughts: Where are all the women? And when is it my turn?

A couple things:

1) Yes Fabio was present. Want proof? Well, I was too busy fawning over Creative Directors like a groupie to get a photo with Fabio, but my friends managed to snag him so look!

2) Not sure if that guy's name was actually Romeo, but he was French...so maybe? (Probably not)

3) Tried to congratulate Glen Cole on his teams' win on all the K-Swiss stuff, but he didn't quite remember me—awkward. To see how I met him, read the original post.

Okay, so now on to the more serious matters relating to my thoughts at the One Show. While most of the work I saw was amazing and the event itself was spectacular, I did notice a huge lack of females at the show. Aside from all the wives and dates, there were very few women of power present. What do I mean by this? What I mean is that there were only two female presenters, and most (if not all) CFOs/CDs/Creative Officers/etc were men. I realize that this male-female ratio is something the industry is working on, but honestly this change is happening much too slowly. 

There are so many amazing women in the industry, why aren't we putting more of them on stage? Let's celebrate the diversity of the industry and encourage women to pursue these higher-up positions. And just and FYI, if the One Show needs more female presenters next year I'm definitely available.

So my other thought that evening was "when is it my turn?" And I know that may sound pretentious but I promise I didn't mean it that way in the slightest. All I meant is that after looking at all the amazing work being featured on the big screen there was an art director (me!) sitting in the audience who was dying to jump up that very minute and go start ten new projects. Seeing all the work (both the amazing and the not-so-amazing) reminded me of why I'm here. Not to win awards, but to create work that pushes boundaries, challenges clients, and is fun to make along the way. I want to get out into the ad world already so that I can learn, grow, and ultimately be a part of something bigger than myself.

Overall, the experience I gained from live tweeting for the One Show Design Awards and The One Show was so wonderful and inspiring. I saw great work, ate amazing food, met tons of influential creatives, mistakingly thought I saw Dan Wieden (whoops), and was reminded that great work comes from great collaboration. Big thanks to Chelsea Coleman and Deb Morrison for letting me be a part of such an amazing opportunity. Seriously, it was onderful. 

[anchorsnoceans]

16. Building Britches

To   Jonathan Weiss , Gabriella Navarez , Matt Sanders , and Leah -whose name I apologetically cannot recall so please forgive me. To all four of you I say thank you. Thank you for not getting to big for your britches. Thank you for helping me fit into mine. Thank you for words that surely did not fall onto deaf ears. Thank you for hope.

I'm sure as you can tell from previous posts on this blog I am on the journey to finding my dream position. It has been a hard and daunting trail but it is because of people like Jonathan, Gabi, Matt and Leah that trotting along has not been as difficult as I had imagined. 

 All four of them and 50+ others recently traveled with a few professors to New York for an agency tour with some of the biggest ad companies out there. W+K NY, McGarryBowen, and Huge just to name a few. While they could have soaked up all they could and then came back to Oregon without anything to share, they did just the opposite. This career field is a competitive one so it would have been understandable if they did not divulge any information but like Matt said, "Drop the competitive. We can be on a team and do everything together."  The fact that they were willing to take time out of their day to relive the moments that I and many others weren't there for, I find that one of the greatest things anybody could ever do for someone.

So with that said, I now pass on the most prominent points I got from them.

It's all about intrinsic motivation. Nobody is gonna tell you to do it, you just have to. - Jonathan

Stay around people you admire. It will keep you... sane. - Gabi

It's about making the commitment to stay after hours. // There is an eagerness to be a part of cool sh*t. // I know I'm good at everything but what am I really great at. I shouldn't be ashamed of that. // You just gotta get in where you fit in. - Matt  (I think I soaked up the most from him because I felt like we had the most in common with our "uncommon" way of thinking.)

Have outside interests. Make pie! - Leah.

Also, a big shout out to ALL the companies that hosted the #UONYC . I know I was not there to share and partake in the glory that was the Big Apple but seriously, I love when people who have been helped out never forget to turn around and do the same.

[keithbecker-blog]

Life is about doing stuff. Like going to New York.

Turns out there really is such a thing as a New York Minute. Time flew during those six days in the Big Apple, but it was a week full of learning and soaking and doing. More than anything, it showed me that I’m on the right track, and what’s out there waiting for me as long as I take advantage of it. The future is exciting.

I saw agencies that were inspiring (and reaffirmed my love of advertising) and others that made me feel depressed. I saw a Broadway show that had me in stitches for hours, but only after waiting in line for five hours to get affordable tickets. I roamed through the concrete jungle of Manhattan, and then found my oasis in a jog through Central Park. Like Dave Koranda says, New York offers the best and worst of everything.

Before this trip I didn’t think I wanted to live in New York. Although I sometimes dreamed I was Ben from How to Make it in America. Now I see it as the apex of the industry. Who would I be if I didn’t give it a shot?

Even though I don’t think my lungs could take more than a year or two of the smog, I feel like I owe it to myself to reach for the stars. Life is about taking chances, getting out of your comfort zone, and at least in our jobs, making things.

This is what’s so great about our program, and Deb as its leader. Her energy is infectious, and we can’t help but find inspiration in just about anything and turn that kernel of an idea into a living thing. We #BuildShit. And that's why we rock.

It’s no surprise that the agencies that got my juices flowing the most were the ones who were constantly producing. We didn’t get into this business to have meetings about meetings. We want to get our hands dirty.

Finding out how different agencies live and which kind of place I want to live at (because sadly I’ll see my coworkers more than I’ll see my girlfriend) was my biggest takeaway. Do I want a simple 9 to 5 cubicle life? Or do I want organized chaos where an idea can come from anyone, anyplace at anytime? Even if it means long hours, I’ll take a place that stimulates creativity and fun over boring and straightforward any day of the week. Because there’s a chance I’ll be at the office any day of the week.

You were great, New York. I’ll be back for more soon. 

[martinvtorres]

#UOnyc12 Experience

#UOnyc12 Life is one long lesson.

Call me cliché. Call me pretentious. Call me whatever you want, but it’s true and this past week that I spent in New York with the University of Oregon Ad program was hands down the best experience of my life.

Many people may say the same thing for very different reasons. One person may say it because they love being immersed in such a diverse city. Another will say it’s because of the nightlife. While those two aspects of New York are great in their own way, they are not the reasons why I sit here in my room in the relaxed city of Eugene, OR and am in almost disbelief that I was able to share that experience with some amazing people.

Here are some of the lessons I took away from #UOnyc12:

Patience is a virtue. My trip, along with about ten others, started out with us expecting to get in to NYC at around 2 p.m. with time for shenanigans, but due to a mechanical failure with our plane, it turned into us not knowing if we’d even make it there on time for our first agency visit on Monday. Instead of overreacting, we stayed patient, stayed positive and got there earlier than we would have if we’d switched flights.

Guys. Sharing a bed is not as bad as it sounds and it a lot more comfortable than a hard floor littered with dirty clothes, trash, and electronic devices.

Inspiration is everywhere. It could be graffiti. It could be fashion. It could be architecture. It could be the streets. It could be a hand-drawn presentation. Inspiration is everywhere.

For the most part, people have good intentions. Me and two other friends were approached by a random girl asking for help in finding her way around. After telling her we weren’t from around NY and we trying to find a bar she told us she just arrived earlier in that afternoon to find a job and it was her birthday. We invited her to join us in our journey to find a place to grab a drink and got to help make her birthday afternoon that much better.

Working at a movie theater can be the most interesting part of your resume. The first question I was asked was about working at a movie theater. If you look hard enough, experience can be found in everything you've accomplished. So when you are making your resume and feeling down about not having a great internship of job stop. Look at the job you had getting you through college or that barista job you had for a summer.There will be something that relates to the field you are entering, you just have to find it.

Life really is a lesson. We just have to pay enough attention to learn from it. Thank you to Deb Morrison, Harsha Gangadharbatla, and Dave Koranda for making this experience possible. #UOnyc12 will be a memory never forgotten. 

[thefullhookup]

NEW YORK, YOU'RE FUCKING IN!

I woke up about half past six in the morning on Cinco De Mayo to what I thought was an asteroid hitting the Atlantic seaboard, but was quick to remind myself that the sky won't fall until December. Instead, I had just landed in New York City — the greatest on Earth.

For 8 days I was one of 18 million busy worker bees living vicariously through an ethos of concrete, rebar and pizza. How is it that you could feel so small, but so big at the same time? Here's how:

New York is unlike anywhere on the fucking planet. That's it. Everybody — from the Algonquians 7,500 years ago to the cab driver who dropped me off at La Guardia — has left their mark in New York City. That one piece of them that will forever be embedded in the landscape, only to be rediscovered every morning. You don't come to New York for just any reason. You go because there's something you want, and collectively that city and its 18,000,000 worker bees has it for you.

I went to New York with a question: what the hell is advertising? What's it's role in the world, and why is its epicenter in New York-smelly-ass-stifling-choking-endless-honking-congested-expensive-city? Lastly, how do I get an advertising job in New York-blaring-horns-gum-to-my-shoes-filthy-hotdog-pasty-sewer-subway-hate-the-yankees-city?

In eight days, I got some answers.

Advertising has shifted from a consumers worst nightmare to something that a select few people take a great pride in to make it more relevant in a global economy. Given that New York is the epicenter of the global economy, it's only fitting that the ad-world plants it's deepest roots beneath its concrete, because there's no soil outside of Central Park.

"dude advertising fuckin' sucks"

Yup! That's why we're here to make it better. The "I hate advertising" mantra is growing among this industry, which has left the creators with no choice but to make advertising something that's worth-while to create and thus worth-while to pollute cities and airwaves with. It's got to be better. Enter our generation: the Gen-Better. While Advertising will hold onto it's fundamental roots, it's future form is digital.  It's going interactive, it's creating new products, enhancing old ones, and forcing big, once-dominant brands to work harder and serve worker-bees. Tools are being created — useful ones, too — that solve real-world problems. The bullshit meter is slowly dropping thanks to Gen-Better, because they will soon realize that they have all the power.

On getting a job in New York-sour-tasting-vodka-loving-get-the-fuck-out-of-my-way-City:

We newbies create portfolios, largely comprised of spec ads. Spec ad's don't sell, but the way you think might sell something in the future. Here's how I put it in perspective:

Wieden + Kennedy New York has 206 employees in that office. Those 3 floors on Varick street are responsible for generating $1.27 billion dollars last year. More perspective: $1,270,000,000. Even more:$6,165,048.54 per employee.

Yes, all of those employees started out doing spec ads, but they used their awesome brains in unconventional ways that expose veins and hit nerves. When you hit a nerve, it's the truest sensation that humans know. And that can sell almost anything.

One last (very important) bit: The learning is only about to begin.

So, with all that said, I'd like to thank these people: Dave Koranda for being a trooper among troopers. Harsha Gangadharbatla for stepping up and leading the way in front of 61 freaked out kids. Deb MF'n Morrision for championing this whole thing. Every Advertising agency we visited for dazzling our eyes and leaving us with grins. The One Show for dually scaring and motivating us (and for the open bars). Matt Heath for being Matt Heath. Tyler Kirsch for being Tyler Kirsch. Jeff Anderson for being both Jeff Anderson and also leaving 8 of us giddy as school girls with his response to the "what will C.H.I & Partners be like in 5 years" question. 2 Bro's Pizza and Starbucks for being every corner. Shaina Steigler of Leo Burnett for the Limbo lessons and exposure to LB. Instagram & Twitter for helping us share. The Subway System for at least being on time. And last but not least, every single one of you on this trip because you and you and you made it awesome.

Pacha and the rest of Friday, you and I can talk later.

Lovely time, folks. Back to the drawing boards.

AW

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