Baby it's cold outside

My latest DP Challenge Photo Submission - The challenge, depict boredom

Here I am with nothing to do - tossing cards into a hat and killing time

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It's 1:30am and it's snowing in my part of the world.

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Earlier I was out playing in the snow / decorating my house for Christmas. It was below 30 degrees and windy but I wasn't cold at all.

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My kayak / camping gear saved the day. I had a ridiculous amount of layers on and kind of felt like Ralphy's little brother in A Christmas Story (My favorite Christmas DAY movie to watch!). Fortunately I was able to put my arms down when I needed to.

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I've had a really nice week.

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I found multiple people capable of art directing my ad campaigns. I applied for a freelance position earlier in the week for an Account Executive position at an Ad Agency (we'll see how that goes) and I popped in on my old job and met some friends that I used to work with for lunch.

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I had the General Tso's Chicken. I can write a book about my thoughts regarding this dish but I'll save that for another day (for your sake, a day that won't come anytime soon!).

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We met at #1 Chinese Restaurant in lower Manhattan. I always joke that the Restaurant Manager calls the entire staff into the kitchen before each shift to give extremely motivational pep talks.

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Ladies / Gentlemen, it's 10:45 and those doors will be wide open in 15 short minutes. We will have diners and people calling in orders for delivery and pick up. Our chairs will be filled with folks conducting lunch meetings, holding interviews and others who are looking to escape the office for a few fleeting minutes.

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The time they spend with us is precious. Some of them will be dining with us for the first time and others chose our restaurant based on the recommendations of friends or from past experience. We have a responsibility to give them the best meal possible.

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They may order General Tso's Chicken or Hunan pork with noodles, they might be picky, they might be in a bad mood but we are # 1 Chinese Restaurant and will will go out on that dining room floor and show our customers that we can handle any request.

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No one goes to #2, our spring rolls are crisp and flaky and we've got the best duck sauce in town. We're #1, we're #1, we're #1........

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Funny thing is the staff, while attentive, are very subdued, so if they really and truly are fired up to represent #1, they hide it very well!

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Anyway, I always look forward to my fortune cookies after I eat chinese food. I'm not all that superstitious but I do get a kick out of a good fortune.

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Sometimes I grab my cookie from the pile the waitress leaves on the table (choose my own destiny) other times I leave it in the hands of fate (let others choose first, good table manners you know). I like to completely eat my cookie, then read AND try to pronounce the chinese word on the back of the fortune. This time my chinese word was watermelon (gua).

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My fortune, "Your future looks bright."

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That is not a promise, it doesn't mean that anything will be handed to me, its only an outlook. Really it's just a mass produced "fortune" but based on the last few weeks I tend to agree with my cookie.

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I have a lot to do tomorrow, the first order of business will have me clean the snow off a few cars. I have a lot of work to do if I want to turn in quality ads for my last class but good news, I have a few interesting concepts. So tomorrow is all about execution. And I will approach all of my tasks with the knowledge that good fortune smiles on those who put in the hard work.

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Have a nice night world and enjoy the snow!

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joeyz101

http://twitter.com/joeyz101

The good life

Really great advertising is powerful.

It can make you laugh or move you to tears. Tonight we did PSA (Public Service Announcement) ads for the prevention of animal cruelty.

I spent time looking at the award winning ads in this category and was definitely moved by what I saw. One ad I really liked had the following line (I'm paraphrasing):

This is the box a mink comes in (Visual of fancy garment box)
This is the box a mink lives in (Visual of much smaller box drawn in dotted lines inside garment box)

Assuming that the dimensions of the boxes represent accurate living quarters, how can you not feel for these animals? The key to moving the viewer is taking an interesting fact (mink living small quarters) and providing a twist (showing dimensions in relation to garment box).

My PSA campaign stayed on the wall so I was very excited. There is a huge difference doing research for Scope Mouthwash and the prevention of animal cruelty...it was torture just to see some of what goes on, I'm glad that's over!


Tonight the professors spoke about their preferences regarding student portfolios.

Portfolio = website and simplicity is king.

I'm going to get a few campaigns art-directed over the next month. It's kind of exciting to get my work produced, I can't wait to see how it comes out!

My professors advised us to not be cute on our website as it only takes away from our work.

I agree. Let the work speak for itself darn it! (Maybe I'll feel differently after my 100th rejection, who knows?!)

Tomorrow is another busy day in the life of this unemployed 27 year old. I have special motivation to work hard this week as this is the last assignment of the semester and we have been instructed to create a guerrilla (ambient) campaign. My previous guerrilla attempts have sucked but I'm hopeful I can improve ;o)

The great thing about being your own boss (which I am these days) is that you can make and break, your own schedule. Here's mine for tomorrow:

7:30am - breakfast
9:00am - Yoga (I have to workout the back for tennis!)
10:30am - Advertising research
12:30pm - Lunch
1:30pm - Photography - I have to take a picture that shows boredom or enthusiasm
2:30pm - Contact Art Directors and continue with Ad research
4:30pm - Run
5:30pm - Dinner
6:30pm - Work to improve past ad campaigns for portfolio

This list will stretch out to 4am, easy (probably because I totally lied about the allotted lunch and dinner times in the schedule above!). There will be moments of intense focus and inspiration followed by periods of procrastination and digestion. Items will be added to the list and others will be completely ignored.

As always, the day will unfold and I'll roll with the punches. It'll go fast and that's why I'm taking a moment right now to stop and enjoy the fact that unemployment has been treating me well.

I'm living the good life and hope you are too!

joeyz101
http://twitter.com/joeyz101

Conquer yourself

I have one goal when I wake up, to conquer myself.

• To not be lazy
• To stay on task
• To get out of my own way

Sometimes I feel like everything I do is a test. It can annoying at first but the presence of many challenges means the opportunity for many victories.

Today I woke up and raked leaves in the front of my house, in the wind.

I was really frustrated, and cold and pissed off. I was in a bad mood and the job was not getting done. Each time I raked a pile a strong wind would blow them everywhere except the bag.

I went back inside, warmed up, and read something that focused me.

When I went back outside the job got done, I actually had fun and now, after the normally boring and frustrating chore of raking leaves, I am pretty damn fired up! I met the challenge head on.

So what changed?

I stopped complaining and got resourceful. I got inside of the garbage bag, raked leaves, hopped close to the pile and shoveled them in.

I'm sure there are other better ways to rake leaves in the wind, but my method worked fine, and I got to hop around in a hefty bag, what's cooler than that?

Oh, and no leaves escaped my rake.

Give all of yourself in everything you do. No challenge is too small, each one can make you stronger.

joeyz101
http://twitter.com/joeyz101

Always take the stairs

My hand caught on fire this past Saturday night, It was kind of cool :o)

Lately I’ve been reading a lot of blogs about what people in the advertising industry should be thankful about.
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In the words of Johnny Mac (Enroe, for you non-tennis fans) You cannot be serious!
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The job market sucks, AgencySpy is reporting layoffs every other day and companies are slashing advertising budgets and killing projects. What does anyone have to be thankful about?

Everyone agreed that 2009 was rough but full of perspective. Anyone working in, or trying to break into the business was given plenty to think about.
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That's a good thing and for me, this year has been one long test.
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The two toughest questions I had to answer were: do I really want this and can I really do this?
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I do want this. I spent a large part of this year convincing myself that I can be a copywriter. Maybe it’s true, the more you say it, the more you believe it (I should print business cards or get a tattoo, don’t tell my mom about the tattoo!).
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Aside from art direction, I’m halfway done with my portfolio. One week after a review with my professors and I have three completely completed campaigns and 3 semi-completed campaigns.
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I found a cool website last week called findyouryang.com. It’s a place where copywriters and art directors can team up to complete their portfolios or begin working together in the business.
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I plan to contact art directors over the next few weeks and will provide an update on the value of this website (which is really a Facebook group), so stay tuned. If anyone knows any art directors that would be interested in working together or making some extra $$ to art direct my ads, leave a comment and let me know!
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In other news, the two professors who taught my first advertising class have been telling their current students to contact me and ask how they can join a “Secret Society of Ex Advertising Students.”
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Sounds mysterious and exciting, is there really such a group?
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As a matter of fact there is!
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The first advertising class I took was more than great, it was a homerun, a semester worth of stars, and it was what really inspired me to take myself seriously.
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I will forever be grateful to those professors and the people I met in that class for encouraging me along this path. If anyone wants to join my Advertising Facebook Group, please send me a friend request on Facebook and I will send you an invite.
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For all those students currently in class with those two awesome professors, enjoy your last class and be sure to ask yourself the tough questions when you wake up on Wednesday morning.
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I ask and answer those questions every day. Some days I respond so confidently I scare myself and other days my voice cracks.
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Breaking into this business is not easy. You have to want it. You have to have the right mindset and be willing to push yourself to think more creatively, to constantly work on your book, to take yourself seriously, etc, etc. I know that’s the only way I will ever make it in this business.
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Push yourself constantly, race walk random people on the street, wake up one hour earlier than you planned, don’t hit the snooze button when the alarm rings.
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Take the stairs, not the elevator.
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People may look at you like your crazy and that’s ok, plenty of creative people are crazy (check out the movie Crazy People, if you haven’t seen it already!). You always go further when you avoid the easy way (and you’ll get some exercise on the way up :o)
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joeyz101
http://joeyz101.blogspot.com