When you get to leave school/work early
Everybody looks at you like:
Then you walk out like:
(Source: beyondhighh)
Goodnight Manhattan… have a peaceful winter weekend
Most Important Things I Learned in Business School
I went to business school not too far from where I now work and live, and today I had the opportunity to go uptown to 116th and Broadway there for an annual presentation and reception. Being on campus brought back many memories of my not-long-ago times spent there. It also made me think about the most important things I got out of the curriculum, given that I now work in the non-traditional field of advertising.
1. Writing.
This is the single most important thing I do all day. Business school is a little late for this, as most of our writing experiences took place in college if not high school, but it’s a great time to re-focus on it if you’re looking to go into branding/marketing/advertising or any creative endeavor. We convince with our ideas and rationale expressed in words and the attention to tone, syntax, grammar, and details can’t be overstressed.
2. Quick thinking and being able to connect disparate pieces of information.
Being in advertising means always being ready to tackle something unexpected. Today alone, I’ve been in a conversation with a reporter that was supposed to cover one topic but, at the last moment, switched to another that had absolutely nothing to do with the original, and a meeting involving 20+ people representing 7 different stakeholders for a major campaign. In most creative fields, very few things happen according to plan and being knowledgeable doesn’t always mean you have the answers. You have to be prepared to quickly tie together random pieces of information and always be able to explain it in a cohesive way.
3. Motivating and managing above and below.
Even though my title states I’m the “head” of something, I can’t achieve anything if I were completely on my own. Truth. Great work takes great teamwork, and having strong people to support you and to work with you is incredibly important. The luckiest thing to happen to me, the factor that is integral to any success I might achieve, is the fact that I was fortunate enough to have met the people I currently work with. Those who have worked with me, advised me, guided me, and helped me in every level of the chain are the reason for everything.
4. No work is above or beneath your pay grade.
Contrary to what publications and critics might say, business school has taught me that it’s absolutely not OK to be anyone’s idea of a “typical MBA”. Instead, it’s about collaborating and working on a goal. If the goal is to get a new client, or achieve maximum efficiency, there really is no task too great or menial. I do plenty of work both above and below “MBA level” (whatever that means). From presenting in a meeting of 20+ people my ideas for a campaign to setting up chairs at a function to stalking people to get their attention, I happily do whatever I can to get something accomplished.
These are just a few things from business school that I put in practice all the time. Business school isn’t just the finance and economics courses. It’s a lot of “soft skills” classes that really are anything but soft. For anyone working in a creative or entrepreneurial environment, these are the courses that make a difference in the day-to-day.
You're a Woman, Shave Like One?
I was reading the above post on Jezebel and the comments brought me back to my days on my high school dance team, talkin about shaving with the upperclassmen girls as you do. Somehow, I will always remember two seniors on the team having a debate about whether to use the (at the time, revolutionary & new) Mach 3 which was a men’s product or to continue using whatever pink lady’s razor was out at the time. The girl arguing in favor of the women’s product said something about how that little piece of plastic can handle a woman’s curves, which is what we’d been fed by Gillette on why girls should buy the more expensive pink products. The other girl shrugged and said, do you know how many curves are on a man’s face? Boom, done, case sealed. I started using Mach 3’s after that and have had no complaints. Now I learn (from the comments) that the Mach 3 razor refills actually fit perfectly into the Venus razors, yet the Mach 3 razor refills actually cost less than Venus razor refills. Seriously?? When we look at the 4 P’s - so the product, promotion (communications), and placements are all relatively the same but the pricing is different? And it’s been working? Crazy.
OGILVY YOUTH: What We Learned During CMJ 2011
We were lucky enough to have been invited by Marisa Aveling of CMJ.com to attend the annual music & film fest in NYC this week. Thanks Marisa!
We soaked up the atmosphere at performances during the day, parties at night, and we attended some kick ass panels. The best one we went…
OGILVY YOUTH: Hire Giants
Advertising Week is in full swing! Inspiration, relevancy and passion sparked the conversation among some of the industry’s youngest and brightest Tuesday morning at Ogilvy’s “We Hire Giants” panel. Moderated by Chief Digital Officer Brandon Berger and Chief Marketing Officer Lauren Crampsie,…
