New Orleans = off the hook
Partially inspired by, Jerry Solomon, a producer and production/agency honcho I admire, I’m going to be writing a series of blog posts from the perspective of the “boutique” agency founder. Hopefully my ruminations on the state of the industry, of which, I am essentially a n00b in, and the trials and tribulations of starting a biz will be interesting to a few people, even if those people are on the distant end of the long tail.
I just returned from the glorious city of N’awlins, where I attended a 2 day conference celebrating the “small agency.” The agenda was such that there was only one presentation occurring at a particular time, in contrast to larger conferences that have you scrambling to see different panels; I really enjoyed the intimacy of it.
I started at the welcome cocktails, embracing the open bar and greeting the big easy with 3 Pimm’s Cups (they’re hella weak in general, so i wasn’t perved at that point). I had to get my Southern Gentleman swerve on I figured since I was solo, not knowing a single person, and hoping to interject myself into some casual conversation. All the attendees were super cool, and I immediately got the vibe that this was a humble group of ad people you don’t often come into contact with in the big cities.
Punctuated by the panel, The Big Questions: Small agency leaders address their most important issues, (contributors to the ad age blog small agency diaries) the underlining theme of the conference seemed to be “don’t call us small”, as people insinuated that “small” was a derogatory term. I get where ya’ll were coming from, however, I think we’re being a bit touchy on this subject. As schmaltzy as the saying is, it’s true, it’s not the size that matters, it’s how you use it… or work it for that matter. Folks seemed to settle on the term “independent”, which reminds me of indie hip hop, or other music for that matter, and is just as insulting. Who wants to be the backpacking hip hop agency?
Another highlight was meeting Claudia Batten, COO of Victors and Spoils, a firm in a similar space as ours. Claudia gave a nice presentation on Crowd Control: How to tap the masses smartly.
Finally, I met a guy named Bubba, who claimed that he’s the goto media buyer, cutting out the big media firms and able to negotiate rates better than anybody East of the Mississippi. He also bragged about owning many retail stores that sell clothes to the african american demo “one time they camped out over night to buy the special edition michael jordans” Bubba didn’t have a card, was based in Memphis, and also pontificated about the Internet and Digital being a waste of time.
Overall, a great op to meet peers in a congenial environment.
Ad Hustle #1: Ad Age’s Small Agency Awards (and Conference)
New Orleans = off the hook
Partially inspired by, Jerry Solomon, a producer and production/agency honcho I admire, I’m going to be writing a series of blog posts from the perspective of the “boutique” agency founder. Hopefully my ruminations on the state of the industry, of which, I am essentially a n00b in, and the trials and tribulations of starting a biz will be interesting to a few people, even if those people are on the distant end of the long tail.
I just returned from the glorious city of N’awlins, where I attended a 2 day conference celebrating the “small agency.” The agenda was such that there was only one presentation occurring at a particular time, in contrast to larger conferences that have you scrambling to see different panels; I really enjoyed the intimacy of it.
I started at the welcome cocktails, embracing the open bar and greeting the big easy with 3 Pimm’s Cups (they’re hella weak in general, so i wasn’t perved at that point). I had to get my Southern Gentleman swerve on I figured since I was solo, not knowing a single person, and hoping to interject myself into some casual conversation. All the attendees were super cool, and I immediately got the vibe that this was a humble group of ad people you don’t often come into contact with in the big cities.
Punctuated by the panel, The Big Questions: Small agency leaders address their most important issues, (contributors to the ad age blog small agency diaries) the underlining theme of the conference seemed to be “don’t call us small”, as people insinuated that “small” was a derogatory term. I get where ya’ll were coming from, however, I think we’re being a bit touchy on this subject. As schmaltzy as the saying is, it’s true, it’s not the size that matters, it’s how you use it… or work it for that matter. Folks seemed to settle on the term “independent”, which reminds me of indie hip hop, or other music for that matter, and is just as insulting. Who wants to be the backpacking hip hop agency?
Another highlight was meeting Claudia Batten, COO of Victors and Spoils, a firm in a similar space as ours. Claudia gave a nice presentation on Crowd Control: How to tap the masses smartly.
Finally, I met a guy named Bubba, who claimed that he’s the goto media buyer, cutting out the big media firms and able to negotiate rates better than anybody East of the Mississippi. He also bragged about owning many retail stores that sell clothes to the african american demo “one time they camped out over night to buy the special edition michael jordans” Bubba didn’t have a card, was based in Memphis, and also pontificated about the Internet and Digital being a waste of time.
Overall, a great op to meet peers in a congenial environment.