Are you looking to gain experience in the real world and have the time of your life? Are you trying to find an internship that’s just a little different than all the others? Apply for the Marketing Internship at the Roanoke Civic Center. While here you will help the Marketing Department plan, promote and sell shows that come to the Roanoke Civic Center Coliseum, Roanoke Performing Arts Theatre and the Special Events Center! Learn about developing marketing plans, placing advertising, PR, online campaigns, grassroots marketing, and everything else we do to promote a show! Send your resume and a brief cover letter on what would make you stand out as a big fish in the intern pool to jobs@ad2roanoke.org! Currently looking for interns for the fall concert season to start in Aug/early Sept. through March. This is an unpaid internship but the experience is priceless!

AD2 Roanoke is your premier source for all internship and job leads!

Tomorrow 3 of the current AD2 Roanoke board members along with several incoming board members for our senior club, AAF Roanoke, will fly down to Sunny Orlando, FL for the American Advertising Federation’s National Conference.  This will be my 4th conference and I couldn’t be more excited!  It is a time to grow professionally and network with people from all across the country both experienced and a little green like me.  At the professional level we have the opportunity to attend seminars by top industry executives on topics such as “Truth in Advertising, Can you Handle It?” and “Around the Water Cooler, What’s Your Professional Reputation?”  At the club level there will be several round tables with opportunities to hear from members across the country on their programs, public service initiatives, and communication strategies.  There are also planned social outings during the long weekend allowing for time to relax and hang out with other like-minded individuals.  The conference concludes with the National Addy Awards Gala, which always leaves me awe-struck at the sheer creativity that exists within the advertising industry.  I never leave this conference without feeling rejuvenated and inspired to be the best advertising professional and club leader possible.  I can’t wait to come back this year and share all this new knowledge with Roanoke!

Welcome to Ad2Roanoke’s first installment of “Career ADvice from…” a series of enlightening interviews with local (and not-so-local) creative professionals.

Our questionnaire was written in order to get helpful information for the big questions we all have as students and young professionals in the advertising industry. Hopefully, you’ll learn a bit more about what to do after graduating, what you can expect from your first job and get a personal look into the minds of some seasoned professionals. You’ll definitely want to come back and check out advice installments from art directors, interactive designers, copywriters, photographers, more creative directors and even a celebrity or two!

With that said, we’re kicking off the first edition with the big wigs, the masterminds behind most of the work that gets out of the door and, you’ll read, the people you’ll be getting coffee for your first six months: the Creative Directors.

In this article:

Tony PearmanJohn GreissmayerChris Henson

Tony Pearman
Chief Creative Officer
Access Advertising & PR

Credentials: BFA from Virginia Commonwealth University with an emphasis in Graphic Design.

How did you get your start in advertising?
Had a wonderful high school art teacher that directed and guided me toward VCU and what she called “commercial art”. She was a blessing.

What are the best and worst parts about your job?
Best? Clients. They inspire me, give me opportunity, pay me, trust me to represent them. Without clients none of it is possible or matters.
Worst? Clients. They hinder, inhibit and at times prevent the realization of great ideas. But, in their defense, it is their money.

What inspires you?
My local competitors. The other agencies (large and small) that I read about online and in publications. ADDYs. My peers at work. Movies, books, graffiti artists, furniture designers.

Who would you work with on your dream collaboration?
Banksy or Quentin Tarantino. Or both.

Name an advertising trend that drives you crazy.
The belief that every client should be on facebook. iStock.

Best ad campaign you’ve seen recently?
1. Obama’s Presidential Campaign 2. CumminsNitro Brisbane for ‘The Best Job in the World’ 3. BooneOakley’s website.

You’ve just completed school with an advertising degree. What is your next move?
1. Research your butt off about a city you either want or need to live in. Go there, what ever it takes. 2. Find the best firm in that town that fits your idea of what a great ad agency or design firm is supposed to be. 3. Work for them, at any cost, for free, as an intern, do whatever it takes. Get a job that sucks to pay the bills and keep trying till you get in that agency. The struggle and the heartache will be worth the lessons and the opportunities and growth a good agency offers a young designer. In twenty years you won’t remember that they didn’t pay you enough. Or that the hours sucked. Or if our apartment had roaches the size of Volkswagens. Or you missed your Mom or that guy or girl you ended up breaking up with anyway after they cheated on you. All you will remember is what you learned and how you grew.

What kinds of experience do you look for from college graduates?
In what ways can they give themselves the edge? 1. Conceptual thinking and problem solving. 2. Perfect craft. 3. Experience (as an intern ideally).

Similarly, what skill sets/experiences are necessary in an entry-level creative?
Basic software and Mac skill sets, including InDesign, Illustrator, Photoshop, etc. Any web capability. Again, great craft.

Briefly describe the content and size of the ideal portfolio for a designer?
No larger than 16×20. Ideally more like 11×14. 8-12 great pieces.

What kinds of starting salaries can one expect as a designer?
Depends on the firm and the town. In Roanoke? $25,000 to $35,000 depending upon talent.

Who would win in a fight: Lee Clow or Don Draper?
Lee Clow is arguably one of the greatest advertising minds in history. Draper could not carry Clow’s jock strap.

Please number from 1-6 the following, in order of least sexy to sexiest advertising profession (1 = you’d rather clean toilets, 6 = living the dream):
Creative Director – 6
Designer – 5
Photographer – 4
Web Designer – 3
Copywriter – 4
Account Executive – 1 (no offense, it’s just not what I aspire to be)

More from:

John GreissmayerChris Henson

]]> http://ad2roanoke.org/career-advice-from-creative-directors-pt-1/feed/ 3 http://ad2roanoke.org/ad2-roanoke-mobile/ http://ad2roanoke.org/ad2-roanoke-mobile/#comments Tue, 01 Dec 2009 15:28:06 +0000 Patrick A. Carrell http://ad2roanoke.org/?p=447 Now you can find the latest AD2 Roanoke info in bite-sized, mobile-friendly chunks. Check it out by visiting ad2roanoke.org on your favorite hand-held device today!

By this point in my education, I had been through all of one (1) class that even hinted at how I might get a portfolio online. I could build a web site, or at the very least modify a template, but beyond building the thing, I had no clue how to actually get it up and running. I also didn’t want to spend money on hosting space, although I did, eventually.

So, about 5 years later, thinking back on how big of a hassle that was I had one of those “if I knew then what I know now” moments. And with that moment came an idea for a professional-looking, low-cost portfolio website for those willing to invest the time. I’ll also share with you how to use it as a marketing tool and how to integrate some cool social media techniques. Let’s get started.

Building a website.

I’m going to go ahead a assume you’ve taken a class or poked around enough on the web to know how to build a website. If you really have no clue, keep reading, it’s easier than you think. If you are getting ready to graduate, you’ve probably even been assigned to build a portfolio site of some kind already. If you like what you have, you’ve got all the HTML written and images sized properly then you can just skip over this next section. For everyone else that’s had a rough time of this, try something like this:

Using Flickr or Picasa as a Content Management System.

This is really an article unto itself, but the idea here is simple. There are several Flash and javascript galleries that are available online that can pull the information out of a photo sharing site like Flickr into a script that will build a gallery for you. Google a few keywords like “Flash Flickr gallery” or “javascript Picasa gallery” and you’ll find “How-to” blogs that will give examples and go into more detail about how to install them into your site. Most of these are free to use, so don’t stop at the first one you come across if you see a price tag, just keep looking.

Most of what you’ll find is a bunch of code that links to other files you have to download, so just make sure you link properly. Then all you need to do is upload images to your Flickr account, tag with descriptions and publish. Then after you add your account name to your script, it will pull that information out of Flickr into the gallery on your site. Neat, huh?

Finding a domain name.

Next, you’re going to need a domain name. Try to find something short and catchy, like your name. No hyphens. Try really hard to shoot for a ‘.com’ extension, too. It’s a lot easier for people to remember when you slip it into conversations when you’re rubbing elbows at AD2 Roanoke events (wink, wink). You can go back to Google and search around for cheap domain name hosts. You should expect to pay about $10 with a trusted registrar. There are free solutions, but typically, you have to be listed as what looks like a sub-domain of another site (i.e. yourname.freehostingsite.com) and that just looks clunky.

Finding web hosting.

You’ve probably noticed that with some of these places, you can get ‘discounted web hosting’ or ‘free domain name with web hosting’ deals. If you find one of those that sounds too good to pass up, feel free to get on it. You’re looking to pay about $60 – $80. If you only want to pay half that, let AD2 Roanoke host your site for you.

AD2 Hosting.

We’re now offering to host your site for as low as $2 a month. There is a full list of features listed here. We recognize that for a few dollars more a month, you can have WAY more space, but unless you’re moving huge files or need the space for something else, you would just be wasting your money. For $2/month AD2 Roanoke members get 500Mb to play with. Plus, you help support AD2 Roanoke continue to offer more specials and events.

More to help you promote.

After you have made your big domain and hosting purchases, used the File Manager or FTP to upload your site from your local computer to the web host and you take the time to test that everything works, you’ll be up and running.

Congratulations, you have a website. Now what?

It’s time to promote. As you begin to look for a job or find freelance work, the website becomes your go-to 24/7 account executive. Invite people to view your work online by putting your URL on your business card along with your custom email address (one of the benefits of having your own domain). Remind people that you provide samples of your work “upon request or at my website” on your resume. Attach it alongside your Twitter account profile and in your Facebook info page. Use your Flickr RSS feed along with your blog RSS feed on your social media to keep people apprised of what you’ve done lately. Use Linked In to help you connect with the people you meet out at AD2 events. And, as a last piece of advice, as you go into the marketplace, be nice and be yourself. People appreciate sincerity and that will get people to come back for more.

All of this is just my suggestion to you. It’s not a proven method of getting you a job, but it will make you competitive as you and hundreds of other young professionals are vying for the same positions.

How perfect should it be then that 2 years ago when I was selected to head up Marshall University’s AAF National Student Advertising Competition, our project was none other than Coca-Cola.  I had a blast working on the project, creating a fully integrated annual campaign with lots of traditional advertising as well as some non-traditional ideas such as ads on escalators and inside school buses. 

I fully encourage anyone reading this post who is still in school to look into the NSAC, and consider putting together a team.  I went on to lead Marshall to a District trophy and proudly represented us at Nationals where I got a lot of experience presenting in front of successful (and quite intimidating) judges and also handed out resumes to every ad agency in the country who was looking to hire.

Over 2 years later, I’m happily selling local ad space for Comcast Spotlight here in Roanoke, but I still have my sights set high on working for the big guys, maybe even the brilliant (and attractive) David Butler at Coca-Cola itself.  Check out his latest project here: http://www.fastcompany.com/design/2009/featured-story-david-butler

I both equally love and hate this t-shirt from Chop Shop. As a passive comic book fan, I appreciate the the old-school comic feel. And as a user of Photoshop, I’m glad to see these filters actually being “used” for something (especially you, Halftone Pattern Maker). But as a T-Shirt wearer, well, my proclivities and preconditions about what I wear are my own.

I’m also a little jealous I didn’t come up with it first.

Get this t-shirt from Chop Shop.

[Chopping Block via Neatorama]

   I just got back from a planning meeting with Danny at 202 Market about the upcoming Ad2 Reunion.  First of all let me say that this venue and this manager could not be better or more fun to work with.  Not only are they letting us completely take over their loft, but they’re also creating a specialty menu of drink and snackie items to go along with our theme.  I don’t know specifics yet, but some ideas we tossed around were Banaramas, Totally Tubular Tinis, slap to your wrist shots, Gold Chain Mr. Tea’s, and Aqua Nets.  Stay tuned for more details and continue to save the date, Tuesday, 9/8 at 6:00 in the loft of 202 Market in downtown Roanoke.

Hope to see you all there!