My First Advertising Week

Last week I was in New York for my first ever Advertising Week. Going into it, I really didn't know what to expect from it all. I guess I pictured something similar in scope to SXSW but in the Big Apple. Boy, was I wrong. Now, having not grown up in the ranks of the Madison Avenue mentality and jumped from agency to agency I instantly realized I had a different mentality then a lot of the people I met. It seemed that the second question out of everyone's mouth after I introduced myself and told them I was with Campfire was "what other agencies have you been with?" I quickly realized that to a lot of people I met that it actually mattered more then what I had accomplished. Not the crowd I'm use to.

The panels, speakers, events and parties are spread out all over the city. So getting from one to the other is not the easiest of things (even though I am getting better at finding my way around). It was hot and muggy most of the time so that made it extra fun to get from place to place.

The whole event really opened my eyes to how the Advertising world works and what some of the players in that field are thinking about. It certainly has me thinking about a lot of things that I wasn't before.

I attended the IAB MIXX Awards and I'm psyched to let you know that Campfire took home 2 Gold, 1 Silver and 1 Bronze for the work we did around HBO's True Blood. This picture taken by Steve Wax shows me taking a picture of one of our Gold Statues (they were dang heavy). I'm really proud of that campaign and learned a lot by being part of it. I'm not a big fan of award shows, but it always feels great to be recognized for hard work and congrats to every member of the team who made it happen.

Overall, I think I expected more out of the week then I actually got. My perceptions of what it is were completely wrong, but I'm still glad I took part in it and I'm sure next year you'll see me there again, but I'll be better prepared now that I know what is going on.

I met some great people, reconnected with old friends and of course got to tell the story of Campfire to everyone I met and that at the end of the day is really why I was there. Making people realize what we do, how I fit in on the team and how we can possibly do business together. All that was accomplished so it was a positive trip for me.

But, it also confirmed that New York is a very different city from one that I'd ever feel totally comfortable in.