Portfolio Review

Last night I was a reviewer at a portfolio review for the Phoenix area. It was really nice to meet some of the other advertising professionals since I've only been back in Phoenix for 6 weeks.

The review was at the Duce in downtown Phoenix which made it super easy for me. Bonus.

As with most downtowns there was a problem with parking (not enough of it) and the show that was supposed to start at 6:30 didn't really start until 7:30pm.

There were about the same number of students as there were reviewers, which really surprised me. I know that NY has way more people which is why you have to wait in line to speak to a reviewer, sometimes 30 minutes each time. Though, I really hope as these continue more and more students take advantage of having professionals come out to help them get a job.

15 minutes is too long for a portfolio review to go on, especially when there isn't a bell telling people to slide down. I would probably shorten it to 10 minutes and have a bell. When the bell sounds you slide down. period. I met with a few people though showing their work lasted 30 minutes. . . I don't have that big of an attention span :)

There was a panel after the review which was a great idea, once the kids started getting comfortable they started asking questions. The ones that every graduating student wants to know, but at the same time, I am really happy they are thinking about those things.

All in all Jason from TunnelBravo did a great job organizing the event and I know it will only get better with time!

A great quote from Tim Washburn's father was said during the panel, "Spend your 20s learning to surf and your 30s looking for the perfect wave." Great words of advice.

Below are some pictures of the event (Courtesy of M.Fehler)

7th Annual Pat's Run 2011

So this weekend was amazing and inspiring. The entire race you would see military personnel with their families and their fully loaded packs or carrying a flag. It was definitely more emotion that I thought I would experience. 

The most inspiring thing I saw was a man on the side of the road who had lost both of his legs and he was readjusting one of his prosthesis to get back up and continue running. I don't think words can describe the feeling of seeing something so moving. 

28,000 people showed up to race and show their support, that's a big deal. 

Below are some pics from the race. I can't wait until next year.

In our corrals.

Running up a hill.

Coming down Rural.

Entering Sun Devil Stadium.

Coming out the tunnel.

Mile 4.

Some of the runners. 

The finish line.

ASU Sun Devil Stadium.

A long time in the making.

I have wanted to put on an internship program for a very, very long time. I just presented a proposal and got the green light. Everyone in the agency has pitched in and we have been working so hard on it, I can't wait to work with 6 creative thinkers this summer.

I want the internship to be like no other. I'm sure in some ways it might be like others, but as a whole, I want to rock out and create something bigger than me and bigger than Arizona.

The program is 20 hours a week M-F and the 'terns work on real life projects along with a lot of creative exploration projects to get them thinking about the idea first. The internship starts June 1 and you can follow them on twitter, facebook and their blog.

Below are some of the shots from our recruiting efforts:

Underpass at UofA

Scanning the QR Code

Orange Groves

On the way up to NAU

UofA kids have class on Saturday, WTF?!

NAU Union, where we got run off by the Union Nazi and his psycho GF

Make things happen.

It amazes me how many people just sit around and expect things to happen to them. What a waste of life. There is a societal expectation or belief that after college you get a job and get married and have a family and live happily ever after and . . . and . . . and.

I don't know if anyone has noticed that it's a shit storm out there and the white picket fence isn't going to cut it anymore. We need people who are willing to take a stand, people who are proactive and people who aren't willing to settle for what worked in the last 50-100 years.

One of my favorite people to follow on twitter is @coolsideburns. He said something today that really resonated with me.

Remember to push for change, push for what you think is right. You can do all of this and still be respectful of those who came before you. Remember when William Bernbach and Paul Rand changed the future of advertising by partnering a copywriter and art director together? I feel like it's time for something revolutionary to happen again.

That's my rant for the day now go out and make shit happen. 

Holy Fuck.

I don't believe that "hit the ground running" would accurately describe my first month at Moses Anshell. It's been incredibly busy but the best thing about it, is that the crew there is amazing. I feel like I've been friends with these people for years. It makes for a great working environment.

In the last month we have pitched 2 clients, completed multiple assignments for existing clients and won some awards. Not too bad in 4 weeks.

Here's some work we did for RSC Equipment Rental. They hold these seminars for VPs and other managers in their clientele companies. The purpose of the event is to get these guys to come and try the equipment and see what the company has to offer. Well, no one REALLY wants to go to these events except for the free food. We decided to use this as our main facet and named the event Power Lunch.

Everything about this event started to focus around the food and then, oh yea, there is also this equipment you can demo and meet the guys at your local shop. Blair Bunting, a family friend and professional photographer, did the photography and it's beautiful.

Poster Front

Poster Back

RSVP Microsite

Email Blast

Hard Hat Stickers

Variations of the Hard Hat Stickers

SXSW 2011

SXSW was awesome. I am so glad I decided to suck it up and pay for it myself. There are so many people in Austin during this week that you can't or wouldn't meet any where else.

I attended one of the seminars about advertising and actually started to steer clear of them for the rest of the week. I wanted to explore other panel discussions about ethics and personalities and social media. It was so worth it. I feel like I am able to come back to my new position at Moses Anshell and really showcase a diverse knowledge this conference had to offer!

Pretty excited for next year.

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Welcome to the 2nd Annual Green Flip Cup Tournament. Shout out to Meyer and Haller for the posters and Swenson and Shhhwhale for painting everything in their wake gold. It was a blast.

Bets . . . my CW

Quarters.

The crew.

Meyer & Haller

Gas Can Baby.

Some of the frogs hidden around the office.

Only Irish.

Chad warmin' up

Annette  and Andy

One of the trophies.

SXSW 2011

Thank you Austin, I. had. a. blast.

It was amazing to go and meet so many great people. 4chan speaker was probably my favorite from the entire conference probably because it related to me the most.

Fruitfly Life was the most interesting, she is trying to reposition a derogatory word in society and turn it into something positive and celebrated. It brought me back to my deviance class in graduate school and as you all know I love people trying to change the world and create positive chaos.

I saw the film "A Matter of Taste" a friend produced at the festival, one word, AMAZING. It was really well put together.

Did you go? What were your favorite talks?

Below are some shots from my camera.

The line to get a free Adobe tote bag. . . 

Best grilled cheese EVER.

Tables full of Legos.

Squirrel fight.

Lauren, a fantastic lady I used to work with at HWH!

Sheena, my HWH bud! 

Squirrel.

This reminded me of my friend Jana.

Creek.

TEX-ASS

Torchie's Tacos, a must have!

MORE TACOS!

Arizona, a Lexus and a Haircut

So as you all probably know I am back in Zona and it's amazing. I love it, the weather has been beautiful, the people that I work with are great and it's so nice to be around family again. The only thing that sucks is I realized that I left an entire load of nice shirts in the dryer . . . guess I know what my first paycheck is going towards.

I have taken a job with Moses Anshell, a great ad agency in Phoenix. There are some great things coming in the near future and I am so excited to be a part of it. Don't worry I will share more as we get things moving . . . I wouldn't want to spoil the anticipation.

-----

As for the Lexus, I have realized how much better the traffic is here but how much worse the drivers are. In LA, when there is a hole people drive faster and are aggressive. They also use their horns, thus in the last three years I have gotten REALLY good at using my horn as well.

So I am pulling out of PetCo this girl cuts through parking lot almost nailing my car, so I do what anyone would do, I honked. Not in a "hey whore don't cut me off" but in a "hey I'm here don't hit me" kind of way. She proceeds to flip me off. So fine whatever Arizonians use their middle fingers instead of their horns . . . it's all starting to come back to me.

Then we are making a left across traffic, no light. Nice size hole in traffic comes, we can both make it if we both go. So, she goes and I follow her out, we both begin to accelerate and then all of a sudden she slams on her brakes with NO ONE, NOOOO ONNEEEE, around. She is obviously pulling a backdoor (backdoor is when someone slams on their brakes because they think the person is driving too close to them in anticipation that the other person will rear end them.)

Her being a stupid bleached blonde whore that is driving a (most likely) leased Lexus obviously can't judge distance very well because I had more than enough room to maneuver into the lane next to me and go around her. Oh did I mention there was no one around us, so that also made getting around her a lot easier as well.

So I then get slowed down by a truck that is trying to turn right so she then gets in front of me and starts going 15MPH, so I take a picture of her license plate, this obviously did something because she sped off.

Anyway, I just thought I would share because this woman/girl/whore managed to cut me off, flip me off, pull a backdoor and then reverse tailgate me in a matter of two blocks. She is lucky I didn't have eggs with me or I would have thrown one at her. (Those of you who know me know that last statement is only half true.)

-----

Ok onto the haircut, if any of you are still with me, this part is about social media.

I needed a trim, my hair was lookin' a bit nappy, so since I'm home I thought I would hit up the local Great Clips that I used to frequent while in high school. Since my lady didn't speak English that well, I was reduced to eavesdropping on the lady next to me.

They were talking about facebook. These ladies were in their 40s maybe early 50s and were talking about how they didn't use facebook and couldn't believe that people would openly put all that information out there. The lady was afraid her children would get stolen and the hairdresser was afraid she would get stolen. The hairdresser also said that she didn't even own a cell phone, honey you look like a cave woman so I understand you not having a cell phone, and unless the man is a neanderthal you have no worries about being stolen.

I had to contain myself from laughing at most of their conversation and at one point I almost interjected but I realized I really just didn't care.

What do you think about the generation that is too young to retire but completely missed the digital revolution?

Arizona and a Haircut

I have finished moving back to my home state of Arizona. It is an amazing place and I am happy to be home. I have recently started a new job as the Senior Art Director with Moses Anshell. Even though I've only been here two days,  I feel like I've been here forever. Everyone here is amazing, so nice and helpful. It is also a young agency, meaning the employees are in their early 20s to early 30s. It is refreshing and inspiring.

I got here yesterday and I had a bunch of goodies on my desk which included food, gum, koozies, and other assorted items. Also, they gave me a duck toy and water bowl for Leroy. It was great. I also didn't sit around on my first day here. I was thrown in and picked up the pace, I'm amazed at the difference that makes and how exciting it is.

Today hasn't slowed down a bit either. There's too many things that I've been impressed with in my two days here to name. But just know it's good.

-----

On to the haircut. I desperately needed a trim so I went to the Great Clips I used to go to in high school when I was too poor to get a proper trim (kind of like now). The lady that was cutting my hair didn't speak very good english so I had to resort to ease dropping on the lady next to me.

So apparently she isn't to tech saavy and doesn't like facebook or even computers in general. Apparently they are too public, and she's worried about pedophiles "coming to her house to steal her children." I seriously had to contain myself from laughing out loud and messing up my hair cut. Though the hairdresser agreed with her stating that she didn't even own a cell phone. . . she did kind of look like a cave woman so I let that one slide.

It amazes me how incredibly different the two generations are and I am somewhat spoiled because I am in advertising so the older crowd gets and uses facebook and other social media platforms. Though there are so many people over 30 that are scared of technology and won't venture beyond Microsoft Word. The internet sends chills down the spine and they think they are going to get sucked into a black hole.

While our generation is great when it comes to sharing socially online, we royally suck at face to face communication. It has come down to asking someone out over a text. 52% of youth in Japan think that is the socially acceptable way to go about it too!

I wonder if we will ever see a revolt against technology and cubes. In someways we are already, the laptop and skype allows us to work where ever we want while still being able to conference with co-workers. Do you think that offices will ever be out of date?

I know an entire thought process of how generations interact with technology just from going to get a haircut. It happens.