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Two Years in a Blink
This month marks my 2 year anniversary at Pixel Farm. I'm not sure I can call myself a beginner anymore. But I still feel like I'm learning. Below is a list of some things I've tried, screwed up and noted from the ride.
The #1 Rule
1) Don't be a shitberg. We make every new employee take the no shitberg oath. It works. For others and for myself. Sure, sometimes hearing criticism on your craft hurts, but the pain doesn't last. Honesty mixed with compassion will always lead to good things - like better work and relationships. Plus it saves so much time and energy.
good in, good out
We're pitching tomorrow. I'm not going to Joe-Namath-it and guarantee a victory, but the quality of our work will speak for itself. Our team did an amazing job of keeping it reals and building together. I'm proud to say that our approach shows up in the product. Thanks guys for proving once more that good people can create inspired work... sans BS.
Here's to the shitberg-free chase. Or in the immortal words of Mike Rook, "Let's go."
(I'll update this blog with pitch results once the dust settles.)
I have an offer.
PFD is built on an underdog mentality.
It's tough to think of ourselves as "the shit" when we're always striving to fidget with something. We're like this because we're constantly challenging ourselves to stay hungry, raise standards, and innovate.
Our culture is Bad News Bears-like by design, reflected in our recruitment philosophy. We like the outsiders, the ones who never got the shot they deserve because they were undervalued or overlooked. Being an underdog my whole life, I know there are inherent qualities in underdogs that make us click tighter as a team. Maybe we need each other more. Or maybe it's something else that lies between not having a sense of entitlement and having untapped potential.
In any case, here's my offer.
April in 4 pictures
PICTURE #1
Judy Grunstrom (left)
PFD added a rock star to our eccentric family. We're excited to name award-winning brand strategist and syndicated blogger, Judy Grunstrom, as our new Director of Business Development. Besides being as smart & curious as 3x Judies, our Judy is also a straight shooter, which tells me we're going to get along just fine.
rule of 20
Preschool - Kindergarden: Saigon, Vietnam
Kindergarten - 1st grade: Iowa City, IA
1st grade - 1.5 grade: Orange County, CA
1.5 grade - 2nd grade: somewhere else Orange County, CA
2nd grade - 2.5 grade: New Orleans, LA
2.5 grade - 3.5 grade: somewhere else New Orleans, LA
3.5 grade - 4th grade: Chicago, IL
5th grade - 6th grade: Perrysburg, NY
6th grade - 7.5 grade: Mt. Vernon, NY
7.5 grade - 9th grade: Buffalo, NY
Due to my father's vocation, which I still think has something to do with the witness relocation program, we moved around a lot through my wonder years. In doing so, I learned most people aren't hard to understand. Regardless of where we're from, we're more alike than different. At our core, I kinda believe we're all squeshy, smelly, flawed, lonely, hopeful, desperate, insecure and very, very good.
sometimes more is more
NOTE TO CREATIVE SELF: Stay young at heart and make prototypes. Lots of them.
presentation boot camp
We're doing another epic round of presentation classes. In doing these classes, we hope to accomplish 3 things:
1) Find out who's ready to work on new business pitches.
2) Demonstrate that selling horrible work is horrible.
3) Learn to be more confident and authentic in presentations, giving us a better chance to sell great ideas (far away from #2).
Speaking of #2, that's where we begin with our first assignment. Shitty advertising. With only 5 minutes to prepare, Travis, Matt, Marilyn and Michael had to pitch this turd of an idea to our fake client - Eagle Insurance.
Below are videos from their first quickfire pitch. We used these vids to work on our team's body language and pacing. Preso-wise, the only info we gave them on Eagle Insurance was the youtube video. That means they're pulling most of this shit out of their arses. Enjoy...
TRAVIS (aka "CREEPY EYES") - ART DIRECTOR
MATT (aka "599" or "FOLDED VULCAN ARMS") - TECHNOLOGY DIRECTOR
MARK? WHAT MARK? I'll STAND WHERE I WANT MARILYN - BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT MANAGER
MICHAEL (aka "I WALK SIDEWAYS BITCHES") - DIGITAL PRODUCER
The verdict? Pretty clever and funny pitches, actually, for such a horrible idea. Sure, there's room to grow preso-wise, but the important thing is Travis, Matt, Marilyn and Michael all come off as likable. That's because they are. (One comes off as slightly creepy, but Travis can work on that.)
Stay tuned for Round 2:
ASSIGNMENT: Sell an ad you love.
THE ONLY RULE: The presentation must last at least 5 minutes.
New Lund Boats website!
Congrats and thanks to everyone on the Lund Team. Well done.
our new talent farm
After looking through a variety of portfolios, resumes, and interviews - we've arrived on our new Talent Farm. Drumroll please...
The interns' first day will include a viewing of our company video. Their first assignment will also be handed out. Thanks to everyone who showed interest in Talent Farm. Hope to hear from you again in 4 months.
our first talent farm is coming to an end
On Wednesday, we'll meet with each intern individually and talk about our time together and we'll let them know what their future is with our people company. I look forward to our conversations. I've watched each one of them climb and fall and climb again. What they tell us will help us shape the future of this program. I'm not sure they realize how special they were when all 9 of them came together. The following is my favorite memory of each of the 9*:
Baii: When she was photographing our company picture, she literally did some break dancing moves to get the shot. Talk about dedication. On another occasion, I threw a sharpie at her eyeball by accident. Luckily, she had her glasses on. Eva: When I didn't include Eva in a new business website assignment, she did it anyway. The design was good enough to present and good enough to be the winning design. So pretty good. That's how I remember Eva. Glenn: So talented on so many levels. My favorite memory of Glenn was the night Zara and I drove him home from work. We talked about life more than work and I got to know the Glenn he should always be. Oh yeah, I also fell into and broke our company ping pong table in a heated game against him.
Matthew: My favorite memory of Matthew was how well his character held up when we broke everything around it down to test the talent underneath. I'll always remember a shitberg-free email I got from him after a grueling pitch. He is wise beyond his years (which is pretty old to begin with). Travis: Travis loves people and it shows. You see, Travis flashes people a lot. In my entire advertising career, I've never seen an intern's nipples more than I've seen his. Stop it, Travis. Stop it. Will: When I met Will in an informational interview at another agency, I instantly saw how much potential he has, despite his horribly art directed book. Luckily, he's a writer.
*Hydra9 will release a results video at the end of their internship.
