Six Months In

I’m now six months into my account planning career. And as you can see, I haven’t had time to post anything here in… well.. six months. Need I say more?

But in all honesty, being busy is great. The longer I’m here, the more I get to come into work every morning feeling important and like I’m contributing to really good work being done. Also, the days fly by much faster. I don’t miss those long intern days staring at reports and the same computer screen for hours on end whatsoever.

I’ve been fortunate to meet and work with lots of teams here at the agency so far, and I’ve learned and taken something from, I feel, everyone I’ve met here. Whether that’s learning to talk slower, think longer, take risks, or just have more fun. Everybody has helped me grow and get more from my job, even indirectly.

I wore a jacket for the first time in Dallas today. Coats and Texas go together like oil and water in my mind, so it’s a bizarre concept to me. I’m adjusting.

So glad I made the decision to pull myself out of the interview loop at other agencies and come straight here after graduating. I’m getting to do the work of a real planner right off the bat, and I still have time (most days) to enjoy life and explore Dallas.

It’s amazing what you find and can take from even the most simple of situations. For example, a few weeks ago a man was broken down on the road outside of work, and asked for some gas money. A lifelong believer in karma, I gave him five dollars. The next day, I learned that this guy does this every week, and it’s practically how he makes a living. I guess I just trust and have too much faith in people… and I’ve learned this in my job too, even through little things like over-estimating people and their ability to tell the truth in getting through a focus group screener. What can I say? I’m learning.

There have been great little moments of learning too. I took a weekend trip to New Orleans with a friend a few months ago, and on the plane, was reminded of this beautiful concept of diversity- something I’ve kind of missed since the college days. We hit massive turbulence on the plane… there was a very, very bad storm. We ultimately ended up turning around and flying back to Dallas because we couldn’t decend in the storm. But by that time we were in the eye of it, the plane was crashing against pockets of air and the the effect was like a slow jackhammer coming down on us… we were probably dropping a hundred feet at a time over and over. It was bad… people were holding onto the ceiling and their armrests like a roller coaster bar. Anyway, a girl two rows in front of us just completely lost it- crying hysterically saying we were going to die and how she knew she shouldn’t have got on this plane. Well, in her row was (and I’m not making this up) a nun, a punk teenager, a large black woman, a gay guy, and a cowboy. Every one of them was consoling her in their own way. It was fascinating to see the mechanisms each person chose to try and rectify the situation. Ultimately though, I was less interested in each person’s effectiveness in calming the hysterical girl as I was in how a person in distress created a dynamic in which the diverse indentities worked together to form a family for this girl- they were all she had, and it was like the differences didn’t matter becuase they couldn’t. Nobody could leave or do anything about the situation, and they were stuck next to each other anyway. I wish those of us on the ground viewed human diversity in a more similar fashion.

That’s all for now.

I’m Coming Back to TRG!

A few days ago I accepted a full-time position as an account planner at The Richards Group. Words can’t describe how anxious I am to get started. I just have to graduate and move to Texas first! Here is a photo I took of myself in my “approved by Stan” tee-shirt. Note the snow outside in April… I won’t miss that at all!

Baal Dan on YouTube

So it’s been awhile since I’ve blogged on here, but there are new videos on youtube of the street children in India that Baal Dan was able to help. They’re just amazing. To see a lost child at a train station that nobody was claiming- to see people just walk by as if this were a normal part of everyday life is really unbelievable. I also really like the one of the zoo- look closely into the children’s eyes as they see such large animals so close up for the first time. I really appreciated seeing these videos and I hope whoever reads this does do. (Click this text to be taken to the videos).

Refuse to Choose!

 

While I’m currently in the middle of reading 4 specifically advertising/planning related books, I just finished reading “Refuse to Choose!” by Barbara Sher.  Sher identifies people with multiple, passionate interests as “scanners”- while these people often feel misguided or not able to fall into one path of pursuing something, Sher believes this is actually a gift that can make life most interesting.  I personally fit most into the “serial specialist” type of scanner.  This book really reiterated that I can do many fun things in the world of advertising, since it is so limitless in what it can do and who it can reach.  I really recommend this book.  More info and really insightful posts can be found on Sher’s message boards at www.barbarasher.com

I Found My Camera!

Great News- I found my camera the other day and the last pictures from Dallas are not lost! Here they are:

My pod:

Lynn and Slava:

The Interns:

Last Intern Lunch:

Back in Syracuse

I’ve been so busy getting settled back into my parents house in Rochester and then moving back to Syracuse that I haven’t even had time to post.  The flight back from Dallas was crazy, with the new regulations on carry-on baggage.  Plus, they weighed my bags, and each was around 80 lbs (there’s a 50 lb limit per bag apparently-either I’ve never had them weighed before or I’ve never packed this much!).  So there I was sitting in DFW airport repacking my bags and throwing things away in the middle of the airport. Kind of a late spring cleaning.  Anything to save another $100 going to the airline.

I was very much looking forward to posting more pictures from the last few days in Dallas (lunch with my pod, etc.), but I’ve lost my camera.  I think it’s in my parents house somewhere.  We’ll hope I didn’t throw it away in the DFW airport (in which case, I should’ve just paid the hundred bucks).

I’m trying to update my website too, but the server is down and I can’t make any changes.  So I’m at a standstill online right now, but I will keep posting here as I know I have some loyal fans out there!  Look how many hits I have!  (OK, so half of them are me, but that’s still not bad).

One week left.

These are some amazing people, and I will miss them.  I wish we all could just stay here, but we’re from all over and at different places in our lives and careers.  I am thankful to have had the opportunity to meet and work with the other interns at The Richards Group.  I have learned from and been inspired by each of them, and I wish them all the best.

I can’t believe that this internship will be over in a week.  I will definitely return to my final year of college having learned a lot and having lots of stories to tell.  And you know what- that’s a lot more than a lot of interns my age at other agencies can say, so to TRG and everyone else who helped make my summer awesome, thanks.

Some Reflections

This is a picture of me with Stan Richards. For people who haven’t met Stan, he’s just one of those people with a presence that commands the attention of a room. He’s done so much with his life that so many industry professionals aspire too… he’s an icon. But he’s so down to earth and humble. Someone I have truly come to respect.

I’ve come to respect a lot of people, and I’m not just saying that. I’ve been going to lunch with so many people at The Richards Group. I’ve been talking to them more, asking them about what they do and why they’re doing what they’re doing, and I really see myself working as an account planner the more people I talk to. I owe much of this to Jason Donahue for taking a chance on hiring me for this internship. I don’t come from the Miami Ad School or the VCU Ad Center, which are almost becoming prerequisites to go into planning these days. The times when Jason says to me “this is what planners do!” in reference to the things I’m working on… these are the times when I think, God… I could be really good at this! It’s exciting.

I’ve learned about account planning and advertising a lot, but I’ve learned about myself too. If you ever need to re-evaluate who you are, spend three months 1500 miles away from home. Everyone you meet will be meeting you for the first time. You’ll learn your strengths and weaknesses in terms of how you make connections and convey to others who you are. I guess most of all I learned the value of trusting my own instincts in terms of going out on a limb. I’ve always done what I felt and believed regardless of how popular it was, and here, I learned that that’s such a key part of who I am, because the less I do that here, the less people understand me. I’ve had great things happen by just going for things- from walking up to strangers in bars to asking Stan Richards for a photo with him to speaking my true thoughts in a meeting, I’ve only become more confident and understood by going for the things I think or want. It’s a great principle to follow. You’re not really contributing anything to your own life or anyone elses when you’re just repeating things you’ve done before within the limits of your comfort zone- challenging your mind to think differently or even just doing something new can be so valuable.

Finally, I’m going to end this post with my answers to some questions that will be included when the 2006 Stickell brochure comes out. I think it sums up some of what I’ve learned here:

How has this internship been beneficial?

From working on new business pitches to Spherical Branding presentations to creative briefings, the internship gave me so many opportunities. I not only learned some of the finer points of account planning, but also gained a better understanding of all parts of the agency structure.

 

What was the most exciting/interesting project or event you worked on?

Leading a team of interns on a pro-bono Spherical Branding project to benefit poverty-stricken children in India was a really fulfilling experience. Working with students from across the country incorporated diverse perspectives into the project, and the freedom we had in approaching it gave us a chance to combine our knowledge and creativity. I made new friends and saw first-hand how advertising can play such an active role in improving our world.

 

What advice can you give to future Stickell interns who might work at your agency?

Never hesitate to make connections. So many people have great stories to tell. The Richards Group is a great place to intern because everybody is respected, regardless of titles. There are no secrets, since all that matters is the work. You can go up to anybody, even Stan Richards himself, and ask them what they’re working on, and you’ll learn something.

 

When and what made you first interested in Advertising/Marketing?

I was a broadcast journalism major for almost two years before I decided I wanted to do something where I could be more creative and idea-driven. But all along, being on a diversity committee, I was pitching ideas and offering insight to university administrators to help them better understand how students’ needs could be met. My personality and passions better suited me for a career in advertising. Also, I realized that I’ve always had an affinity for advertising- maybe all those things I ordered off of TV infomercials were signs all along!

Baal Dan has officially been Spherically Branded.

We presented our intern project this week, and it went really well. I’m glad I decided to take this on, even though sometimes I thought it was too much in addition to everything else I’m doing. But it turned out that this helped me in everythinig else I’m doing here. We were briefed, and then worked really hard for 2 weeks, sometimes staying late into the evening to really understand the Spherical branding process by trial and error. Then, finally presenting it and coming full circle with our combined thought processes, I realized that this process is a balancing act. How much does what we think matter vs. what the client thinks? At what point can you say you buy more into one idea than other when working with a very diverse team?

Ultimately though, I walk away feeling totally empowered to do this again and again, which is good. I wanted to be involved in this in the first place for two reasons. One was to learn and gain experience, and the other was to help Tanya and help Baal Dan. And I think thanks to our combined efforts, I got both. And Tanya now has a vision for Baal Dan: feeding the needs of children in poverty.

ChariTRG

This is a picture of our team, ChariTRG.  We are a group of Richards Group interns who volunteered to compete in an intern project.  We are working hard on research for Spherical Branding presentation for a pro-bono client, Baal Dan (more info can be found in prior blog entries).  The project has been quite an adventure so far- but it’s great experience, particularly for Temple and myself, the two planners leading the team.  I would say that it’s really nice to be getting to work so hand on, and it is, but I feel that’s the experience I’m getting more and more everyday with both this project and the actual clients I’m helping work on.  It’s so reassuring, I guess in a bit of a twisted way, when I talk to my friends interning in New York and LA who are stapling things and writing peoples’ emails all day, that TRG entrusts us to do the things we do.  Plus, the opportunity to share knowledge and skills with different students from advertising programs across the country- that’s just priceless.

I can’t give away too much about our research techniques for the Spherical Branding project, as we’re competing against another team, but I will say that it’s going well, and the energy that’s building up is really motivating.  Also, I just found out yesterday that I’m going to get to work again with Jason Donahue on a new business pitch- this time to a very large client, who, shall remain anonymous now for confidentiality purposes.  I guess after winning uControl, they think we’re not half bad, if I don’t say so myself.

Yesterday I got to go driving around peoples’ neighborhoods taking pictures of home security yard signs- this came about as a result of some questions that lingered from a packaging meeting in which Jason and I attended.  I’m really getting to see how many different uses a planner can be of- and that’s what I love about doing this.  Research and sitting behind a computer is fine, but getting out and getting to do something new and fun- whether it’s being a photographer or employee in a store or even pretending to be a customer- taking on a new role to gain insight is definitely one of the coolest things about planning.