History in the Making

On August 28, 2008 history was made similar to the history made on the exact same day in 1963 45 years ago when Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. delivered his “I Have A Dream” speech.

On August 28, 2008 history has been made and I was lucky enough to be alive to have experienced it first hand. Once again August 28th will go down in not only Black History books, but ALL history books...every single one of them. However this time I was able to witness it, remember it and savor it so one day it could be shared with my children.

If you don't already know or haven't a clue as to what I am talking about, I'd like to introduce the 1st African American accepting the presidential nomination...Barack Obama!

Michelle Obama - 25 August 2008

Amazing speech....there should be no critics. It is extremely rare in this day and age for the love a family has for one another and the sincere conviction a person or group of people have for a cause to come through so well. I doubt anyone will see or more importantly feel anything remotely similar at the other convention next week. This is why the Obama brand is so strong & inspirational.

The Professional Hook Up

If you're not familiar with the website, you should be. I have been able to "connect" with almost 400 people. My contacts have assisted in introducing me to more people that eventually led to face to face discussions and meetings.



As demonstrated in the video above, I've used the site to ask questions that helped me on projects. I'm now using it to learn about the different paths a person can take and still remain in the world of advertising. The value of this site has not been completely uncovered by me, but as I explore a little further each time I wonder why I haven't gone deeper sooner. I plan to use the site to help me obtain recommendations for potential employers and gain an inside look at certain job opportunities. Further down the road, I see LinkedIn as having the potential to help me build partnerships and align with industry experts in addition to becoming one myself.

If you are familiar with LinkedIn, tell me what you like and don't like about the site as well as what you think is missing that would make it that much better. Your thoughts will be useful as I move to learn more about social media especially sites that aren't in the same category as a MySpace or Facebook.

In fact, in addition to LinkedIn comments, let me know what social media sites you think are hot and which ones are not. Don't forget to include a little info that supports your thought.

Still Smiling even when summer's winding down

For the last several days I've been thinking about positive & constructive advice I've gotten regarding my blog. I enjoy sharing my experiences and learning from the responses I receive from those who read about them. I am not perfect, but I do my best to be honest with myself and others.

As I approach the start of my final (2nd year) at the Brandcenter, I hope you will continue with me through the valleys and the peaks of what I call my 'failure can't stop me now' life phase. (Don't ask me why I've name this phase as such...it came to my head and I took a liking to it :-)

I look forward to the conversation or silent companionship along the way.

So Long, Farewell...

This has been quite a summer of discovery and as a result I feel it has been successful. There was definitely a combination of peaks and valleys, but I enjoyed every step along the way. Every lesson learned will only make me a stronger, better advertising professional.

Live, Learn & Move On

This was the week for final creative presentations. After an entire month of working on this intern project, you would have thought the team would have had grown breaking, revolutionary ideas to show for it. NOPE! This was a disappointment for me [particularly because I wished I was able to have thought of something truly amazing (rev. 8/5)].

Once again in a group of 7. This time the departments represented was post-production - editing & music (2), art direction (1), finance (1), planning (1) and account (2). The team was originally gung-ho until we had our first creative review and learned that none of our ideas were interesting enough to capture the attention of the creative team we presented to that day. This was the beginning of the end. If I didn't know before, I really know now that lack of motivation, especially for us beginning in our careers, is a killer of creativity. Every meeting we had someone would mention how our ideas weren't good and how the agency wasn't going to use them anyway so why go through the effort. I tried and tried, but I couldn't figure out a way to turn the ship around so it wouldn't remain in the land of doom. I admit...I almost succumbed due to the constant negativity.

To make a long story shorter, I'm happy the second internship project is over. In general, I know you live, learn and move one. This is one experience of many that will help me become a stronger advertising (any industry truthfully) professional.