Okay, so this post is 3 weeks late (sorry!) BUT, the last week was jam packed and the past few weeks back in agency haven't been much different.
So, in the last week, the Squared team threw a bit of a curve ball in and brought the pitch day forward a day. This wasn't the end of the world, but wasn't exactly ideal. The promise of a fun afternoon on the Friday (inevitably booze fuelled) was the light at the end of the tunnel for the final week.
The week consisted of a legal and ethical panel as well as feedback/reflection sessions and project time. We finally presented our projects to my MD (Ita Murphy) and Tim Irwin (COO of Maxus) who were very pleased with the result (we even got a "wow"). Out of all the projects this one scared me the most as we were really show casing ourselves and all we had learnt over the 7 weeks. However, it was an excellent opportunity to raise the "internal profile" and just proved how far I had come since the beginning of the course.
Our presentation was simple and clear and it went down a storm. We had developed a cyclical three horizon strategy that would grow and develop in real-time and we kept the explanation short and clear. The quote "I did not have time to write a short letter, so i wrote you a long one" served us very very well. There is a lot to be said in having clarity and being concise when explaining anything which leads me nicely onto my next point...
Pitches done and dusted we moved on to brainstorming the questions that we wanted to cover about the state of the industry. Never have i heard so much media wank in one room. If i had heard the word 'silo' one more time, i fear i may have gone into an unstoppable media rage. Sometimes, i worry that my hatred for the lingo will be my down fall in the industry but in my own potty mouth fuck it. I will keep revisiting this point as it really gets my goat, why does the media industry (largely speaking) feel the need to develop a language that is quite honestly unnecessary?
Now i am slap bang in the middle of my "work experience" and it is beginning to be really difficult to balance squaredness and work life. We have to produce an industry report detailing our view of the industry according to the 6 questions below:
Business: How are agencies evolving their revenue streams with the emergence of new technologies?
Technology: What technologies in 12 months time will affect your business and how is your structure prepared for this?
Operational: What structure do you think agencies will have to adapt to in order to succeed in the future?
Open: How can the industry best capitalise on youth and give opportunities to young talent in agencies?
Collaboration and Network: Collaboration is a buzzword in the industry at the moment. How do you see this operating on a daily basis both in and between agencies?
Clients and Marketplace: How do you prioritise clients' needs and agencies' needs?
(FEEL FREE TO ANSWER IN COMMENT FORM)
At the moment it's a bit of a friggin nightmare... trying to orchestrate 10 individuals with busy work loads and, believe it or not, lives makes team work no mean feat. Onwards and upwards... back to Squared next Friday for the beginning of the wrap-up week. My next blog will probably be post squared so stay posted! The end is nigh!
@kerrydatlen
