A great day...

Last year, while working at Cenergy and pitching the Pittsburgh Penguins, I wrote (or more accurately, uncovered) the team's new tagline.

A great day for hockey. 

Tonight, the Penguins won the Stanley Cup.  

Coincidence? Who cares. I'm still taking credit. 

Oh, and here's where the Detroit Red Wings Stanley Cup Champions t-shirts will go. 

Advice for college students

I'm guest lecturing during a friend's advertising class on Friday. I have a talk prepared, but I figured I'd ask some other folks what advice they'd give to college students who are thinking about a career in advertising or marketing. Here's what they said:

"Internship. I've hired interns. Also learn about more than advertising and marketing: learn about selling, business, retail, psychology, etc."

"Teach them the importance of a good brief. You put shite in and you'll get shite out."

"Own your name on google's organic results."

"Go into nursing or medicine :)"

"#1--Be curious about the world. 
#2--Read, read, read (and watch, listen, play)
#3--Find a mentor

#4--Eat your Wheaties. You're going to need the energy."

"Two things: (1) Learn to tell a story in words and pictures, and (2) everything else you tell them will be obsolete in two years -- some of it in two weeks, and some even sooner."

"Have a Plan B"

"Tell them not to think in silos. If you're a writer, you still have to think of strong visuals. If you're an art director, a killer headline is always key. An account executive is capable of approaching a challenge creatively, just as creatives can, and should, think strategically. It's a business, after all. Those who survive - and thrive - bring a wealth of skills to the table."

"Whenever you see advertising that works, figure out WHY it works. (Who knew retroengineering could work in the ad world.)"

"What I always tell my students is you will need to pay your dues. 3 in the morning...not rare. Suck it up and embrace those opportunities instead of whining about having to work late."

All good advice. Thanks guys. Oh, and I'm really only writing this post so I can link to it on my Delicious page, along with all the other articles and such I've gathered for the students. I hadn't even tried Delicious until another friend told me about it. Pretty cool way to keep all your links in one place, and give other people access to them, too.

When it rains...

The good news:

1. Zack rode his bike without training wheels. He can go about 50 feet or so, before he realizes he doesn't know how to steer. Or stop. But he's getting really good at falling.

2. Ben pooped on the potty. I know, that sentence is pretty disgusting for all you single, childless people. But for parents, talking about poop is like asking "How's the weather?" 

The bad news:

1. The drip in our ceiling needs to be fixed be a roofer. At the very least, we'll need a new 50-foot gutter ($200? $500?).

2. Taking down the big tree in our yard left (surprise!) a big hole in the yard. And apparently, it's not just going to fill itself up.   

3. There's water leaking from the washing machine. Don't know how. Don't know why. Just know it's wet.