Puppies and 5ks

Much like I believe you shouldn’t work for a company who looks down on you for taking Yoga your senior year, I also believe you absolutely have to work for a company if they allow pets in the building. Seriously.

I spent this week copying text from PDFs into word documents. These PDFs just happened to include recipes . . . so a word of advice for anyone in a situation similar to mine: You might as well steal some recipes while you’re copying them over. This task also helped me realize that I’ll need glasses sooner than anticipated.

Fun Tony story of the week:

When he gets feedback or input from a client that isn’t exactly what he wants to hear, he sighs like he’s just finished running a 5k. In all fairness, a three-mile run is probably just as exhausting as hearing frustrating input. 

To Push or Not to Push?

You know those terrible ads you see on television? You know, the ones you actually spend time making fun of with your friends? You might be surprised to know that those usually aren’t the advertiser’s fault. Actually, I’d guess that the majority of them were once good ideas. I know it sounds insane. What you’re seeing on TV is a good idea that the client just didn’t understand, so it was whittled down and whittled down until all the humor, wit, or profundity was gone. So how far do you push when you’re working with a client? It’s important to know them. Say you present positioning to your client and they say it’s fine. “Fine.” There’s a word. It’s usually the word that means I don’t care. So do you go back and deliver a new positioning? Not always. If your client doesn’t understand what positioning does for them, or if they simply don’t care, delivering positioning after positioning will only become a source of frustration for them. You client wants to keep moving forward, so pay attention, and when you think you’re wearing them out, move on.

That was my big takeaway from this week, but I’d like to go off on a tangent for a moment, if you’ll indulge me.

In the search for a full-time job, I’ve heard several times now “If you can find people you love to work with, stay with them as long as you can.” I think it’s sound advice. Do you want to know what Veronique, Heidi, Dale, and Tony did for my birthday? It boils down to:

Cake

Singing

“The 22 Things They Know About Me”

Breakfast

A glass case of emotion (on my part)

If you find people who are willing to feed you cake and sing to you on your birthday, stay with them until they throw you out on the curb. 

Playing Games at the Office

Remember all those fun word games we played when we were young? The clapping games, jump rope rhymes, Scrabble, Categories? Well, sometimes they come in handy in real life too. This week at my internship I played the “opposite game.” If you’re trying to position a brand, this can be a useful strategy. You don’t want your brand to be like all the other category players, so try to think of words that shouldn’t describe it. Then make a list of the antonyms that go along with the words you came up with. One of these might spark a direction for your positioning.

I did a terrible thing at my internship this week. I don’t know if it was because I was intimidated or self-conscious, or maybe just hasty in responding, but . . . I lied. I said I hadn’t completed an assignment when I really had. But I learned from it. You shouldn’t be ashamed of what you still have to learn. Constructive criticism is the best way to improve. Take advantage of all the mistakes you’ll make while you’re interning. Wave them in your supervisor’s face. “Hey Tony, look what a mess I made!”  They’re there to help you learn.

School & Work

Internships are often considered the best thing you can do for your career while you’re still in school. They give you that coveted “real world” experience. You can take them for credit (as I am) or if you get lucky someone might pay you for the very little you have to offer. I jest. I will never complain about interning for school credit. Why? Well, first of all, they’ve paid for some classy lunches (anything higher-end than Panera is a pretty big leap for me). Second, this is an invaluable experience. Don’t be a snob. Take the job.

I never hear people talk about what they miss while they’re not at their internship. I work every other weekday, and when I walk in there are usually new ideas all over the whiteboards. It can be tough to catch up on what you’ve missed over the past 24 hours. If you care enough, you’ll try to figure it out. I suggest that you do. However, if you ever walk in to the office and see that they’ve not only covered the whiteboards with ideas, but they’ve written over those ideas with new ideas, give up. Personally, I’ve never been good at those Magic Eye illusions, but if that’s your thing, more power to you. Maybe you could help me out sometime.

I think one of the most important things you can learn from an internship is how to transition from a school mindset to a work mindset. This is something I’m still trying to master. I’ve realized that sometimes when I’m sitting in on a brief, I treat it like a lecture at school. I don’t ask questions, don’t ask for clarification, and don’t mention when something was skipped over. You have to break yourself of this habit. Think about it. Would you rather idly sit by, finish an assignment without all the information you need, and then be reprimanded by your boss for not asking for clarification earlier, or would you rather go into an assignment knowing everything you need to know and come out of it with compliments from your impressed boss?

In school you assume the information you’re given is the only information you need to complete your task. You can’t assume the same in a workplace. One of my key takeaways from this week is that (especially as a writer) you should read the research your account planner has been reading. They’ll judge your work based on the information they have, and if you’re missing large pieces of info, your work is going to miss the mark. Plus, once you’ve got all the research in your head, starting the creative process is a little easier.  

What's Kickin', Chickens?

Two cheers for Veronique, the new addition to the office! She comes from a long background of writing, so I feel very lucky to have her guidance and input. One of the misconceptions I had about the professional world is that everyone thinks they know it all. I’m sure those people exist, but not where I’m interning. Often as an intern I feel like I have to ask an obscene amount of stupid questions to understand how to do my job. It’s nice to know that the self-questioning doesn’t go away with experience. I guess if you don’t ask questions, you won’t learn anything new.

I’ve heard that everyone has a different time in the day when they’re most focused and on. Since I’ve been with this agency, I’ve tried to assess when my ideal “creative hours” are. I’ve found my best hours are in the morning. It’s nice to start the day with some time away from the computer—your efforts focused on a journal instead. Sometimes switching between the two helps get the creative juices flowing. If one’s not working for you, you can try the other. I’m also a big fan of low-computer diets. Cut the fat where you can. There’s something about working with your hands, holding a pen or pencil, that’s a bit more satisfying.

I’ve been a reader all my life. I even pay attention to the speed limit signs. Ridiculous (and unnecessary), I know. While most of my friends share my passion for books, I’m aware of the fact that the general population doesn’t love reading as much as I do. With that in mind, one of the more important takeaways of this week is that you should pare down whatever you write. The longer it is the less likely people are to read it.

**Another note: When writing a headline, you have to remember what you’re trying to say. What’s your news? It can’t just be catchy as crabs.

Yuck.

Research is a huge part of the advertising world, especially if you’re trying to create a voice for your brand. I have a lot of experience looking into research before I start writing, but this weekend I branched out from the computer for my inspiration. I went to Starbucks. Again, yuck. However, I was lucky that the fall season means pumpkin spiced lattes, which go down easier for me than the bitter coffee taste. I got to try something new, and I found inspiration for my writing from it. I recommend this kind of research whenever you have access to it.