AGC Travels to Chicago
AGC braved the frigid January temperatures of Chicago in the group's bi-annual agency trip. The trips are designed to give students an idea of the culture, work, and life of the chosen city's top agencies. Topping the list, Chicago offered the students visits to Leo Burnett, DDB Chicago, OMD, Razorfish, Google, Energy BBDO, and many others.
Although the agencies provided vast helpful insights, the wintery weather of Chicago was not forgiving on the students. All agreed on the city's beauty, but the temperature left the students yearning for Texas weather. With negative temperatures made worse by the city's infamous winds, the city reached lows of -15 degrees during the AGC trip.
Luckily, students sought refuge from the cold in the creative and unique offices of the agencies. Known for fun surroundings and quirky atmosphere, Chicago agencies lived up to the reputation. The office that wowed the most was Google, which enforced their no-picture policy, much to the disappointment of students.
No matter the student's specialty, the variety of speakers from every department ensured that all topics were covered and every question answered. However, for Robbie Izar, a second-year Creative ad grad, a DDB employee in the editing department told the most inspirational story of the trip. "He told the group how he worked his way up from the mailroom to the editing room by just asking questions every time he visited the editing room to deliver mail" explained Izar. "He would then sneak in to the editing booth at night to practice everything he had learned. Because he never went to school, he taught himself how to fix the editing machines too!" This inspirational story was one of many pieces of advice that encouraged new graduates to be willing to work hard for the job they really want.
Throughout studying advertising, students have been told that getting a job in Account Planning upon graduation is extremely difficult. As a result, advice from seasoned professionals could not have been more welcomed by the Account Planner ad grads. Amanda Guerra, a second-year following the Account Planning track, went on the Chicago trip wanting to learn more about the planners' role in an agency. "While the creatives at the different agencies had varying opinions as to how the planners affected their development of ads, all of them shared one common point of view: the most effective and well-respected planners were those that were always involved and constantly interacting with the creative teams" stated Guerra. "Overall, it was great to witness and view the environments and cultures of agencies that have been a part of so many successful campaigns from the past."