chicken or the egg

I've started the 6th season of 24 on DVD. Why do I do this to myself? I hardly have enough time to keep up with the shows I am already invested in.

Now if this freakin' writer's strike doesn't end soon, we'll all be bombarded with so much reality television our brains will melt. Basically, a Darwinian gale force will wipe out the entire human race as 1 in 3 of us will be cast in a show by the end of '09. Cue the life-threatening televised hi jinks we're all bound to be contractually obligated to participate in.

Maybe it's because I am in Media at the Agency and I feel some sort of obligation to keep up with current television programming. Really, this is one of those chicken or the egg type conundrums. Did I gravitate towards advertising because I love media in all forms? Or do I now ingest more Media since I hear all about it at work and am naturally intrigued?

Either way, I am wasting precious time writing about it. I have work to do. Only 23 hours left.

Dove Hypocrisy

my first, and possibly last, organized race

I am participating in the NTelos 8k tomorrow in downtown Richmond. This was a bad idea. I signed up a couple months ago, with every intention of training and preparing in advance to condition myself for the run. Little did I know that "planning," as we call it in Media, would rob me of most of my free time and sanity the past two months.

The only consolation I have is the knowledge that I received a "free" T-shirt, and there will be plenty of medical staff close by to help me when I collapse after mile one.

Wish me luck.

like.no.other

want to be an ad major? a tutorial.

As far as Communications for a major, I really enjoyed it because I was exposed to working on marketing solutions for real clients. The BYU Adlab provided all kinds of opportunities to put our book knowledge of advertising and marketing to the test. Not all majors can promise the same type of real world experience.

The reason why I would highly recommend a BA in Communications and a Minor in Business Management, is three-fold.

First and foremost, the credit hours need to complete a Comms degree is 42 or so. Translation: Its a very fast major. This is a big plus because the majority of jobs in Marketing or Advertising are more concerned with real world experience rather than a complex degree. The main requirement is a Bachelors, nothing more. You do not need a Master's to work in Advertising. Your professors will recommend as many as 3 internships. These are vital at making the necessary connections to get into a career path. If you are curious how I made the leap from student to career, I can can go into more detail about my journey post-graduation experience at a later time.

Secondly, you aren't limited to working in an Ad Agency if you get a Comms degree. I had a senior capstone in which our class was broken up into 8 different groups of 8-10 students. Out of my group of 8, only 2 of us are working for an Ad Agency. The other 6 are scattered into all different types of marketing and sales positions. (i.e. sports marketing, Google, marketing for a small technology company etc. etc.). In the industry we call working for an Ad Agency the "agency-side" and working for a marketing department at any other company the "client side".

Third, it is a broad enough degree to do just about anything you want in a related field. Virtually every successful company has a marketing department. That being said, you could apply your marketing knowledge (and your business minor will help with this as well), to any, and I mean ANY industry you are interested in.

Pay is a bummer when starting @ an Ad Agency (wah-wah). It is an industry that is extremely difficult to crack, and dues must be paid, but the rewards are tremendous if you stick it out. (I am currently in the paying of my dues phase). Once you have worked at an Ad Agency for a few years (in my case, I am planning on about 10-15) you can jump back and forth between agency and client work. It does not work in reverse. Translation: You can't really work in a marketing department on the client-side for a few years, and expect that experience to translate over to an Ad Agency. Client-side does usually pay more right out of school (about 5k+ more), but you do limit your opportunities down the road, in my opinion.

I hope this helps...and more importantly makes sense.

Good Luck in your search for a major!

I understand what "the grind" means now

Buckle up. Only 30+ more years of leaving the house before 8:30am. Yuck.

What advertising is all about

back from hiatus

I am loving the new TiVo commercials. Check it out. You will not be disappointed.