The Advertising Graduate Council (AGC) made their annual spring agency tour trip to San Francisco on April 2-5, 2003. This year 17 members of AGC trekked to California for some advertising insight, networking, and fun. The tour consisted of six agency visits. To expose students to the different types of agencies and working environments, students visited several different types of agencies in terms of size and work. On Thursday, April 3, AGC visited with Hill Holiday; Red Ball Tiger, a smaller agency that focuses on television commercials; and Goodby, Silverstein, & Partners, the largest agency toured with about 400 employees in their San Francisco office. On Friday, they met with Basement, Inc., Maddogs and Englishmen, and Black Rocket, the last two well-known for their exceptional creative work.
Students were able to view each agency's reel and meet with a variety of people, such as creative teams, account services representatives, and even the founders of Red Ball Tiger and Basement, Inc. Agency representatives warmly welcomed the students and answered questions about their agencies as well as the advertising industry. As many of these students will be graduating this year or the next, jobs were on their mind. Chiao-Yu Lee, a first-year Advertising Graduate student, said, "Every agency gave us tips on approaching the job search. All agreed that patience, persistence, and networking are key to finding a job." Chiao-Yu stated that she liked being able compare the different work styles of large and small agencies before endeavoring on the job search, noting the sophistication and corporate-ness of Goodby versus the easy-going, homey feel of Maddogs and Englishmen. Her favorite agency was Basement, Inc. because of their focus on interactive advertising and media. The agency encouraged students to look into this area as more and more companies are seeking interactive work.
AGC is a student-run organization for graduate students in Advertising. Each semester they organize agency trips to help students to get a taste of the advertising industry and network. Kasey Farris, a first-year Advertising Graduate student and Director of Industry Relations for AGC, did an excellent job organizing the trip that was greatly enjoyed by all attendees. Last Fall, about 25 AGC members traveled to New York City for agency tours, and in the previous Spring students visited Chicago agencies. All AGC members are eligible to attend.
4/25/2003