Hello world, myself and fellow UO student, Tyler Kirsch have been lucky enough to be named 2009 Bedbury Scholars. That means that we have been sent by the UO and Scott Bedbury to the 2009 SXSW Interactive Festival in Austin, TX. Follow our learnings, insights and experiences at http://ducksxsw.wordpress.com/.
You can also follow my updates on Twitter.
I graduate from the University of Oregon this June. So, naturally I am getting a lot of questions about my plans when I graduate.
Here’s what I know so far:
I’m not going straight to work. That doesn’t mean that I’m not going to work, or that I’m going to take a year off. Who knows how long it will be until I work. But I do know for certain that I wont even consider working until mid-July at the absolute earliest. And even then, there has got to be a pretty awesome opportunity to make me go to work before mid-August.
I am going to travel. I don’t know how far or for how long, but I do know that I will spend my first two weeks of post-graduation bliss with my girfriend. Maybe we will go to Hawaii with my parents, or maybe we will go on a road trip. After that trip, I’m going to spend at least a week at the beginning of July on a road trip to the Grand Canyon with my mom and my brother. We have all wanted to do this forever, and this may be the last chance for such an adventure. And then… if I still don’t have a job…
I am going to own a motorcycle. I really hope I don’t have to sell it at the end of the summer because of wherever I’m going to be living (aka NYC…). If all goes according to plan, I will be embarking on a month-long ride across the country with two friends from high school. I’ve always wanted to go on a road trip across the country, and frankly, I don’t see a better way to do it than on a bike.
I’m going to sell as much of my stuff as possible in order to finance these decisions. Working my ass off since I was 16 and having the luxury to save most of it for just such an opportunity will take care of the rest.
Other than, that… I have no idea what I’ll be doing or where I’ll be come August.
Well it’s been a long time since my last post and a lot has happened since then. The final presentation for BBH is done and over with. It went really really well too. Everyone presented beautifully and we blew the expectations of senior managment away. It felt great.
The difficulties of working with all the different interns are over with and in the end they didn’t matter. For the most part, everyone was happy with their work and proud that it was a job well done.
Two of the interns who were already graduated even got job offers. Who knows, maybe I will be a third one of these days.
Now I’m back in Oregon and it’s a little bittersweet to be honest. I love Oregon for all the reasons that I hate NYC. But I love NYC for all the reasons that I hate Oregon.
The dry heat of an Oregon summer is great and seeing friends and family is awesome. But life certainly happens at a much slower pace here and I miss the limitless entertainment and fun that can be had in NYC.
I wonder when I’ll be back in the Big Apple…
In addition to our normal daily work, us interns were tasked with completing a summer-long collaborative project. So, over the course of the summer, we have been creating a campaign to launch a new product for one of BBH’s clients. There are ten of us, representing all of the major disciplines. We present to the entire agency on Friday at 10:00am.
So as you can imagine, this week has been pretty busy. I’ve already worked 40 hours and its only Wednesday. But I didn’t even work this weekend, like some people did, so I can’t complain.
Presenting in front of the entire agency on the last day of your internship is obviously a pretty big deal. There are 10 different egos, and 10 different people all working and arguing to make the best product possible. Everyone wants to shine.
Its an incredible opportunity though. We are doing real work for a real client in a setting full of resources and expertise that may mean that we will all see a real campaign in a couple months. And since every discipline is represented, every process and step is taken – and what results is a real live campaign. Even though it may also come with real live drama and frustrations.
I’ll let you know how it goes. I’ve learned a lot this week, and will share it all as soon as I get some sleep.
As a preview, I’ll leave you with the best quote of the week (so far):
“Leave the creative to the creatives”.
BBH launched their new website this week. Frankly, its about time:
It is a huge improvement over the last version of the site, is way easier to navigate, and gives a much more accurate representation of the quality of work that comes out of BBH. Its remarkable to think how much a brand’s image is dependent on their online presence – and how often it goes neglected.
I’ve realized lately (or too late?) that I haven’t posted much about what I am actually doing at work. Sure, you’ve read all about the view I have, how late I stay, and how much fun I have – but I haven’t shared much information about what I actually do at BBH, or even what I’ve learned. Of course, I can’t share it all. I did sign a confidentiality agreement after all. But here’s what I can say:
I’m one of 10 interns working at BBH for the summer. There are two interns working in Account Management, two are copywriters, one is an art director, one works in Engagement Planning, one works in Production, one is a designer, and there is myself: the New Business Intern.
In my role, I am the fourth and lowest rung on the Business Development ladder. Above me are a New Business Coordinator, New Business Account Director, and the Director of Business Development.
My days are typically spent doing intern-y things such as loads of research into competitors, industries, quotes, people, movies, culture, anything. I also get to conduct interviews with people, make war room’s that inspire, and basically anything else that needs to get done. I also get to throw my own thoughts and ideas in whenever I want… or when appropriate. Oh, and all us interns are creating a campaign for one of BBH’s clients that very well could be the campaign for this product if the higher minds of BBH deem it worthy.
Another, very exciting, part of my job is working on Zag. More to come on that later.
The reason I’ve been so busy lately is because the entire agency is in the middle of a pitch for a major piece of new business. It’s an awesome opportunity to be a part of such a grueling process and be able to see it from start to finish. Someone much smarter than myself once remarked that new business pitches bring out the best in agencies. I’m told that things can get a bit silo-ed and fragmented during normal day-to-day campaign creation and maintenance. It is during pitch-time though that everyone in the entire agency rallies together behind a single cause. Suddenly, people from all disciplines are working together in the same room to solve a problem and win a new account. And they should. For it is these new pieces of business that validate the agency’s work, culture, and people. It is what keeps them employed. For a bigger agency, its a sort of ‘return to your roots’ moment as everyone is forced to be strategic thinkers and be nimble with their work and ideas.
I always thought though that pitches were won based solely on a completely thought-out and mocked up campaign. Each agency pitches their campaign idea and the best one wins and that winning campaign is what makes it to the masses. However, I’m quickly learning that the pitch process is so much more than that. A client will pick an agency based on the ‘big idea’ certainly, but of almost equal weight are the culture and people behind that idea. And so pitches turn in to extravagant shows where each agency tries to ‘wow’ the client with the littlest of details that, in the end, will make the difference between winning and losing. The big idea is still the most important part, but how that idea is made and in what context it is created is the differentiation.
I’ve heard it before, but I’m living it now: the livelihood of all agencies depend on a group of very smart people who, day in and day out, are charged to ‘think at the speed of new business’.
Since starting my internship three weeks ago, I have left the office before 6:30pm only twice: on my first day, and on the third of July. Mind you that on the third of July 95% of the office was out of there by 1:30pm. On average though, I would say that I leave around 7:30pm… but I have been known to be there until 10:00pm on several occasions.
Don’t get me wrong, I’m not complaining. I’m fully aware of the nature of the industry and none of this comes as a surprise. Plus, I’m an intern, so a lot of my work consists of tasks and duties that more senior employees don’t bother with. But that’s OK with me. I get it – pay your dues, start at the bottom and work your way up, put in time now and reap the benefits later.
However, as I’m beginning to discover, working 12 hours per day is really no life to live. Sure you can do it when you’re young, have few commitments, and live a mostly temporary life. But I can see now that such an existence cannot be sustainable. How can you possibly have a relationship? How can you have hobbies?
I always heard about the rigors of the Advertising industry, and I’m certainly not pretending to be experiencing even half of what may lay ahead. I’m lucky though because I’m doing something that I am very passionately interested in and engaged with. I can’t help but think how miserable an existence it would be to work 40 hours per week, let alone 60, at a job that you care nothing about. Its encouraging also to be surrounded by others who share your passion. Advertising is certainly not a profession for those just seeking a job. No, for them I’m afraid it would be too much.
Perhaps that’s why the industry is so young. But where do all the old advertisers go? I would hope they are all rich, retired, and doing nothing or everything – but exactly what they want to do. But true advertisers, the real successful ones, can’t get enough of it I don’t think. People who find success in this industry seem to be the over-achievers who never want to stop learning and can never seem to be home before dark.
Well, I never want to stop learning… and I love what I’m doing. So, I guess I’ll be the one to tell you where all the old advertisers go – just give me another 25 years.
Until then, full speed ahead.
