Onward to the Bay City
By Jamie Chan
A fire station, a ferry ride, and a Texas Exes mixer. What do they have in common?
These are all part of the San Francisco networking trip organized by the Texas Advertising Group and sponsored by the San Fran man himself, Dr. John Murphy. From January 10-16th twenty students visited a total of eight companies ranging from small, independent shops to large, global agencies. We met with people in different departments -- media, account planning, account services, and creative. To many of us, the most essential advice offered was how to transition from a student to a professional upon graduation and landing that desired job.
On Monday, we had the opportunity to visit Goodby, Silverstein & Partners. There, we learned the difference between a brand strategist and a communication strategist. A brand strategist is the engineer of the campaign; a communication strategist is the architect, a very interesting and easy-to-understand metaphor. Next, we visited Eleven, an independent agency with 100 people. As a smaller agency, employees admitted to wearing many hats to get the job done. We took a tour of the agency, and creatives had the chance to get their portfolios critiqued, a beneficial opportunity indeed. Later that night, Lisa Bennett hosted the Texas Exes mixer at the DDB lounge. This allowed students and alumni to meet and greet and broaden their networks.
Tuesday was another day filled with excitement. First we went to Engine Company One founded by Grant Richards. He talked to us about the structure of their fire station office and how it inspires the quirky culture of the agency. In addition, he recommended The Book of Gossage by Howard Luck Gossage, an ad man who previously owned the fire station before Grant. We experienced advertising history first hand! Next in line was the DDB agency visit. DDB values consist of creativity and humanity. Here, it was reaffirmed that consumers are still humans, and the human element of their campaigns help build branded relationships with their audiences. During this visit, we took a deep look into their most valued work including a reverse graffiti project for Green Works.
On Wednesday, we were up early and out the door by 6:45am to catch a ferry to Sausalito for Butler, Shine, Stern & Partners. This was one of my favorite visits. Not only did we get to see their innovative and creative work, we had the opportunity to meet John Butler and Mike Shine! John Butler only had one instruction to give us: Don't be a pain in the ass. Learn to network the right way, by communicating to the secretary to the principals of the agency, not directly to the principals. Have tact! As a media person myself, Lynda Richardson was beyond fabulous. One of the memorable things that she said was "the ultimate goal [of media] is holistic communication that not only surrounds but engages." In the past, media was the "not-so-glam" department, but because of new platforms, it has become an exciting division to work in. You can describe Lynda's enthusiasm with one word: contagious.
Thursday's schedule included a visit to Google and AKQA. Google's mission is to "organize the world's information." During the visit we talked about how the Internet has evolved from information (Web 1.0), to commerce (Web 2.0), and finally, to communication/self-expression (Web 3.0). By targeting with the right location, we can communicate with desired audiences. This led to the innovation of search -- product extensions, store locator ads, and videos. At AKQA, a digital agency, we learned that "advertility," the combination of advertising and utility, is important to any digital creation. For example, AKQA created a banner for Visa that would locate the nearest restaurant if you typed in your zip code. Their inspiration comes from wanting a consumer to thank the brand for giving them a valuable and useful experience.
On the last day, Friday, we visited Venables Bell & Partners. We learned about truth, fire, and love, values of the company. Truth because a good idea can come anywhere, fire because you must have the passion to work in this industry, and love because people have good intentions. Then we broke out into departments that we were interested in and had a chance to ask more specific questions and delve deeper into their daily routines.
During this week-long event, we, eager advertising students, soaked up all the advice that these respected professionals could give us. Many students interviewed with agencies, grabbed coffee with professionals, and made mentors that will last a lifetime. Many thanks to Dr. Murphy for sponsoring TAG, each and every host at the agencies, and Lisa Bennett for a marvelous mixer. I can't speak for all the students that went on this trip, but I know I left my heart in San Francisco.