In late October, 2003 twenty-eight motivated graduate students pounded the pavements of Michigan Avenue in pursuit of chasing an eternal dream of breaking into the advertising industry. Sure this trip was strictly to just visit agencies, but every student on the trip has the ultimate goal of working in advertising . . . maybe not in Chicago, but definitely somewhere.
Each semester the Advertising Graduate Council (AGC) plans a trip to give its students the opportunity to look at agencies in other cities. It is the goal of the trip to be both educational and entertaining as students have the chance to submerge themselves into a new city for a few days to see how agencies operate in different parts of the country. For students in the graduate program, Chicago, New York, and San Francisco could all be the future homes of our students as they are cities where advertising agencies are plentiful.
During the trip, the AGC students visited Cramer-Krasselt, EuroRSCG-Tathem, Leo Burnett Foote, Cone & Belding (FCB), GSD&M, Killian & Co., and Burrell. Each agency had its own distinct personality, which in some ways, mirrored the clients they represented. Our students went to agencies where they were surrounded by bright colors and electric personalities as various ad reels were shown, grand tours were given, and questions were answered.
Each agency had various individuals who gave a brief summary about their job functions and how they started in the industry. It was of great interest to learn how the various agencies operated as they all varied in size, clientele, and overall mission. Everyone who went on the trip had a great time. Kasey Farris, organizer of the trip, stated, "I especially liked visiting Foote, Cone & Belding, because they were so excited about their jobs. Each of them honestly thought they had the best job in the world. Matt Barber commented, "I enjoyed getting a sense of what different agencies had to offer and getting a feel for the kinds of creative work produced in different agency cultures. Thinking strictly about getting internships and jobs the tours were great as they offered a chance to see the passion and dedication the staff at the agencies had for the industry."
Overall the trip was incredible, after all when you take a group of motivated grad students from one of the best advertising programs in the world, drop them smack dab in the middle of Chicago and let them run on adrenaline and ambition for four days, what else would you expect?
12/5/2003