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All responses Most smiled responses
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I left, long story short, because of an illness in my family and because my place was by their side. V&S was incredibly supportive of my decision and I can't say enough how much I appreciate that.
V&S was an inspiring place to be, particularly because they were inventing this stuff on the fly. With the Bucket Brigade, the book and network I'm building, I think I augment their approach by placing holistic strategy at the core of everything. Having said that, our approaches should be different beause our purpose is different. -
asked by stephanellaw
I was born on November 11th, 1982, so that makes me 28. I share my birthday with Kurt Vonnegut.
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If I'm honest, I'm happiest those days when I only spend about 3 hours connected to the web. If I can manage that, I feel more fulfilled, or more likely, I have more hours to dedicate towards fulfillment. I don't like to paint digital as some wholly new malady befalling mankind, it's just a delivery vehicle for the same old sins, but it can be a bit of a treadmill.
I suppose digital can be a treadmill because it's fantastic for data collection and not so great for data processing. You have to get up, walk away, and think beyond that veracious need for novelty to draw connections, suss out insights, and generally coax blood through your thighs.
I like to purposefully lose my phone or leave it at home some days.
I've uninstalled all the social media apps from my phone, I took tweetdeck off my dock, and I run my time at the computer by my to-do list generally (basecamp or teuxdeux). If I find myself obsessively apple-tabbing over to something I kill it immediately.
Away from the computer ... I spend time with the people I love, take the dog for a walk, meditate, and journal when it strikes me. Aside from the laptop and phone, I don't like to keep much technology around. No flat screen tv, no iPad, no gaming console.
I also find that if I need a quick digital detox, nothing beats a walk through a museum. -
I can't say that advertising is more or less dictated by who you know than any other industry. But what it says to me is that trust is important. You hire people you know, and who know your friends, because those relationships imply a level of trust. You don't have to schmooze, but you do need to earn trust. Trust will never change.
Tangential, one of the biggest lessons I learned this year is that skill, brains, know-how, etc are limp without the ability to communicate and inspire action. And it takes years to learn how to communicate yourself openly (which earns you trust), passionately, and most of all clearly. -
Do I ride a bicycle from house to house in a men's warehouse suit in order to spread "the word"? Decidedly, no.
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Well, the project started with over 200 people willing to donate their very real money towards a nebulous project. So that was pretty awesome ... and honestly very nerve-wracking.
Since then, I'm moved forward with the actual work, and I've shifted the focus of the book from being very marketing-focused to an attempt to describe the world we want to change in terms of systems, adaptation, and learning. It's far more ambitious, risky, and an altogether larger undertaking of my time. It's difficult work. But to answer your question, I'm just as excited now if not more so, because personally the payoff is far greater than a vanity project (which the marketing book would have been undoubtedly) ... I'm amassing a new understanding of things for myself first and foremost. The challenge now is to be able to communicate that understanding effectively for others. -
Because sometimes mommies and daddies hug and make a baby.
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asked by bikernana
Do you really not know what your passions are? Or do you just consider your real passions to be things you can't base a career off of? I have a feeling it's the latter; unless you're a Japanese automaton (if you are, it's either protecting or destroying Tokyo for you then).
I've always said that if everyone in advertising who wished they'd rather be something else (the musician, the actor, the writer) actually did that something else, the industry and the world would be a better/happier place.
Doing what you're passionate about sounds easy; but it's ridiculously difficult to make even the first step: to give yourself license to fail at something of meaning to you.
And if you really have no idea what you like and nothing motivates you ... well, that's what academia is for right? :)
I kid. I kid. -
asked by henrykozak
It certainly isn't 'courage' - because I don't have much of that, not that I know of. I've never been in a 7-Eleven at 2am when the sketchy dude who was checking out chiclets a little too obsessively turns out to be robbing the joint, and I fling my narrow frame in front of his mac-10. But I honestly don't think I would. I'd cower behind the ho hos. I'm pretty sure of that.
It has to be frustration. I'm frustrated a lot. I try to never let it become cynicism, so that's why I pick up and move, or try something ridiculous. For instance, I'm trying to crowdsource an advance for a book I want to write. http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1755731273/were-writing-a-book-the-bucket-brigade-title-tenta
My piece of advice is to listen to your frustration before it becomes cynicism. And avoid cynics. -
On my SATs, I was a single question off a perfect score ... on verbal. And if this isn't a math question, then I didn't read enough fantasy novels growing up. And you owe me an explanation ... so email me and I'll tell everyone how smart you are.
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+10 points for grammar!
I'm trying something new. Two and a half years is almost a whole career in internet time. They're still awesome. But I have to try new things, sometimes fail, sometimes succeed, and hopefully try to be a little smarter regardless of either outcome.
Thanks for the question, JugJug. -
Not to diminish what I'm sure is a stressful position, Chris, but congrats on figuring something out about yourself like that - it's big ... even if it's a pain in the ass. First off, you've got credible experience at the ad school, it's a good foundation. Second, until someone will pay you, you've got to do some work on your own - it's a nice world now that you can do that in public, which could be a blog or it could be something else. If you want to show off how you're really a strategist, there's plenty you can do to own that space. Most of us just throw our opinions around, but, much to my chagrin, there are very few online resources for exactly what we do (not PSFK). I'm sure you've dug deep into what it means to be a strategist (or you will) - share that, share your passion, your insights, and be active online and off. And above all, be humble, and seek out people whose voices you admire.
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Building could be coding or blogging, or just finding one avenue for your effort and amassing an empire of whatever makes the most sense for you. Frequency is key. I'm not much help on the visa front – and I'm not with UC anymore, so I wouldn't know. @alexanderchung might now a little more, and plus, he's brilliant and kind.
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Thanks for the question - I know you're in a difficult spot, so I'll try not to give a trite answer. I know my own experiences best, so I'll start with those. In short, the network giveth. But it takes a long, concerted effort to build up relationships with people you trust and even longer to earn their trust. It takes the kind of effort that only compulsively comes when you're committed to the kind of endeavor you truly want to do – the sort of thing you'd stay up nights to do regardless of income or micro-micro-celebrity. I've always had more success ignoring worn paths; ignore learning how to perfect your cover letter or resume, shy away from the agencies with their names chiseled in stone, who pretend that their current predicament is something worth crawling on broken glass to join, and spend some time sussing out what you stand for. And then spend all of your time committed to those things - be social, for sure - but be constructive more so. Build things. Make things. Forget everything you've been taught about fitting in, and do everything you can to stand out. Ok, that was trite, wasn't it? Shit. Find unique people and shadow them. Go look up the recruiters at Tangerine. Talk to Undercurrent. Don't go looking for a job - go to meet them and to share the awesomeness you've been working on. Make it so they have to hire you so they don't have to compete with you.
Pick one thing, one concept, one idea you stand for, and express it in ways that are novel and remarkable; repeat 100 times.
This is an industry that holds too many things back, too many things precious, and too few things to task - call a spade a spade; when everything is mostly fiction, speaking the truth resonates.
Was any of that helpful? -
Social media remind me of the Gartner Hype Cycle - http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/technology/gartner_hype_cycle.gif
I don't think we should be talking about social media at all anymore – I think we should be using it, breaking it, improving it, evolving it, and overall just doing stuff with it that meets organizational or business needs. Besides, what media isn't social? Boring media, that's what. -
I find it dull to act your age. Later, I will be attending a Hannah Montana concert with Jonas Brothers and then it's tea and sudoku with Betty White.
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I started working on the internet before I was 15 but came to advertising much later. My first job was at a new media design shop, where I worked for $4/hr, co-writing a book on Flash 4 and doing whatever designing needed to be done. I went on to lead development at a dot-com start-up when I was around 17, we went belly up, and I went to college hoping to never work on the internet again. Of course, that didn't last, and I helped launch an internet based company in Austin instead of going to class. When I had finally finished two bachelors degrees (in 4 years, no less), I threw a dart at a map and moved to Chicago. One crappy project management job later, I was working for Imagination Publishing, originally as a web editor, but that quickly turned into more of a new biz/strategy/tech role on most accounts. I found myself blogging heavily and was stunned to see people paying attention. One comment on JoshSpear.com led to an introduction with Undercurrent and 2 and a half years working deep in digital strategy, along side, for, and sometimes in competition with big ad agencies. In my opinion, my work there, and the work of my colleagues, has set the bar for what strategy (digital and business focused) really should be. In reality, my new gig, with V&S, is my first foray into tried and true advertising. Hope that helps?
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Ha. Yes. But, I didn't sign up until I sent danah boyd a question, first. She's hip, but I don't know if she's on Tumblr.
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I'm sorry, but like Jeopardy, your response has to be in the form of a question. (womp womp)
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Mild amusement? Further contact with awesome people? I'm answering your question with questions, d'oh.
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Bud Caddell’s Bio
I'll be interested if you'll be interesting (and vice-versa).
