3.26.2010

Life in the Advertising World

Having experienced the ups and downs of the advertising world during much of my career, I was recently intrigued by the book Adland, by James Othmer.  Anyone who has lived through the fun, fast-paced, never-dull, stressful, late night and weekend advertising roller-coaster can likely identify with Othmer's description of his career in New York advertising agencies. If anything, you know you're not alone in the craziness and quirkiness of this business.
It certainly reminded me of some of the lowlights of my ad career:
  • The time the head of the Sales Promotion department became ill the night before a big presentation to a Philadelphia agency that our agency was buying and I was asked to give the presentation in his stead...never mind that I knew nothing about Sales Promotion nor what he really did.
  • When dining with my new boss in a major hotel client's fine dining restaurant in Boston (and hoping to make a good impression), they were doing everything to impress us. However, I had THE WORST migraine of my life, became physically ill, and left her to be wined and dined alone. My cab driver to Logan Airport the next day soon learned how ill I still was...
  • Presenting a new corporate identity and branding campaign to a regional bank client's VP of Marketing...and working through options for every conceivable touchpoint from logos to ATMS to the president's business card...and getting positive feedback and direction from our day to day client, only to have the President of the bank decide to mostly stick with their existing look (with a slight adaptation of our recommended logo). Of course, typically, we were unable to present our options to the ultimate decision maker to explain the thinking and rationale. 
But that's the ad game...

Crazy things happen to you in your line of work?  

I discovered Othmer's Adland at my local library but it's currently available on Amazon, Borders, and Barnes & Noble.

3.25.2010

Recharging the Batteries

Yes, even the unemployed need to take a break to recharge the old batteries, soak up some sunshine, and re-connect with nature. Working is stressful, but not working  -- or at least not having a regular, full time place of employment with responsibilities, benefits, friends, and a paycheck -- can be torturous.

After a winter of snow, ice, snow, and endless cold, cloudy days, a long weekend in Florida seemed just the ticket to easing into Spring.

And can't you just hear a sigh of relaxation...
Madeira Beath, Florida on a cloudy day
Huge jellyfish marooned on the beach
Resident peacock at Wild Cat Rescue
Beautiful tiger, Wild Cat Rescue (a wonderful organization)
Rescued leopard, Wild Cat Rescue
Rescued black leopard (look closely to see his spots)
All scenes below from Ybor City, a historic district of Tampa




Henry B. Plant Museum in the historic, former Tampa Bay Hotel, now a National Historic Landmark.





Pelicans enjoy sunning in Florida, too
Tea time at the DonCeSar Hotel, St. Petersburg
Sandhill cranes (see the baby?)
Sandhill crane family
Sunset over Madeira Beach