This morning was an early morning. That being a morning so early that I didn’t
get breakfast. I had signed up for a
talk with Rich Levy of FCB Health, which was on a yacht, but was also at 9:30
in the morning. Which is, like, the study
abroad equivalent of an 8:00AM class.
So, essentially, I was dead.
It was an awesome talk though, where I got some
clarification regarding The Trafficking Exam and the #BloodEquality
campaign. Overall, it was productive,
and I thoroughly enjoyed the atmosphere of innovation that Rick exudes when he
speaks.
Following this was another special talk for us students,
this one being with representatives from Publicis Health. Similar to Rich’s talk, which was essentially
a pitch for McCann and FCB Health, the presentation from Publicis was basically
a pitch to apply to work for them.
There seems to be an air of anxiety surrounding healthcare
marketing. I’m not completely aware of
the history, but based on the social media I follow, I’d been under the
impression that healthcare advertising and marketing had always been focused on
innovation and spreading awareness of new technologies within medical science. Unfortunately, this is evidently not how the
advertising industry approaches the topic.
Instead, the industry sees healthcare advertising as being little more
than a consumer product – or maybe that’s just the insecurity that Publicis
Health failed at hiding from us.
Either
way, I think that most healthcare marketing agencies need to have more
confidence in themselves and their impact on the medical world.
(Although, the Claritin ad campaign could really be
revamped. I could imagine something more
intense, like a Nike advert.)
Following these meetings, I finally had a moment to visit
some talks of my own. Unfortunately, the
talk I wanted to view in The Forum was full, so we had to go to the screening
room upstairs. It was harder to pay
attention up in the screening room, due to lowered volume and a hefty dose of
my own ADD, but the talk itself was interesting. The
Future of Modern Storytelling and New Media, hosted by Code and Theory,
featured speakers Dan Gardener, the Co-Founder and Executive Creative Director
of Code and Theory, Kathryn Minshew, the Founder and CEO of The Muse, Mick
Purzycki, the CEO of FuckJerry Media, and Damon Berger, the Vice President of
Global Strategic Partnerships with Fullscreen Media.
Each of these speakers provided unique views as to how to
run independent content creation and media networks. They emphasized change and adaptation to keep
up with social media and popular culture, as well as riding more on the side of
liberal politics. That being said, a
large emphasis was placed on individuality and competition, making it necessary
to differentiate yourself from your competition, especially as you foster your
company’s independent brand.
Immediately after this, we rushed to the basement of the
Palais to The Workshop, in order to work with The Supergroup on building coding
and light circuit boards with the Arduino micro-controller. This workshop, entitled Let’s Get Physical!: Explore the World of Creative Technology was a
blast, with speakers Gabe Aldridge, Brad Lewis, and John Preziotti all
representing The Supergroup. Based in
Atlanta, is was amazing to get to work with these guys and then further discuss
creative technology and solutions to problems.
Creative technology design, such as light-sensing technology, is fascinating
to me, and getting a better understanding of the basics gives me a new respect
for computer science and engineering.
And finally, the event I’d been waiting for for the past two
days: Classic Hollywood Meets the YouTube
Generation: Who Are the Fans Following?
Hosted by Ketchum in the Lumiere Theatre with speaker Marcus Peterzell,
this talk featured two of my favorite people: actress Laura Dern, and YouTuber
Grace Helbig.
The talk was amazing. Laura and Grace both focused heavily on content-creators,
favoring the independence that YouTube offers to artists and creators. At the same time, they addressed the
difficulties of working in a more freelance-oriented industry, especially as
advertising is growing to independent content creators. I was blown away, and even more quickly,
whisked away to our project brief.
Following the Microsoft project brief, and then a small
meeting at the Connections Beach Happy Hour, Courtney and I headed home to
change for the party.
Which never happened.
Because apparently students aren’t allows into parties? Despite our complete passes?
So, now we’re in Ellis and my room. Drinking wine and writing our blogs. And listening to Future, and preparing for
the concert that we actually RSVP’d
for. But ultimately, today was a good
day of good talks, and a tamer finish.
And according to Courtney, as of just two seconds ago, “Trump
is screwed.”
What else can I ask for in a day?
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