Ad Dash 2020 Interview Transcription

Industry Professional

Name: Howard Hill

What agency do you represent? 

I’m a creative director at T3 here in Austin.

What do you think TAPR students learned by participating in the AdDash today?

I think probably the most valuable lesson they take away is just how a lot of times you end up doing things at the last minute. Having 6 or 7 or however many hours they had to come up with a campaign today is not a lot of time but often in the agency world, that’s the reality. While you may have two weeks to prepare for a pitch, often it comes down to the final Saturday or Sunday before you fly out for the meeting. 

Why did you choose to participate in AdDash?

T3 is very involved with both [The University of Texas], Texas State and different colleges and takes internships and all of that very seriously. Honestly, from a personal standpoint, I just love helping give back what people gave to me when I was in school and kind of paying that forward.

What would you say to someone considering applying to AdDash next year?

I think it’s a great experience– I would definitely say do it, for sure. It’s a great way to get real-world experience and present to a real-world client. 

What did you learn while participating in AdDash?

I think it always just helps me as a creative director to get better at helping guide ideas and checking out the next generation of talent of course!

 

Student

Name: Morgan Adams

Classification: Senior in Public Relations

What agency did you work for and what was it like?

T3, and it was really awesome, I got to work with Howard Hill. He was really great, really supportive. We also got to take an agency tour which was really cool, they have an amazing space.

What did you feel like you learned today by participating in AdDash?

Oh, I learned how to work under pressure! I think the biggest thing I learned is to be okay when it’s not perfect– it’s 6 hours to come up with a plan, it’s rough.

Is there a skill that you learned today that you think will be beneficial for you in the future?

I don’t think I really learned any skills, but I got to put a lot of the skills that we learn here at UT into practice. Putting [those] into a semi-real situation is a really great experience.

Would you recommend the AdDash to a peer?

Absolutely! It’s so much fun, you get such a high from it and the camaraderie between everybody–even though you’re competing–is great.

What’s one thing you would have done differently if you had more time to work on the client’s problem?

I think we would have fleshed out a lot of our tactics a lot better. [We would have] had more deliverables for them and not just big ideas.