My morning walk in Rockaway, NJ
From there to here, and here to there, funny things are everywhere - Dr. Seuss
Doesn’t that seem to be the case in this crazy advertising world? I know from my own history that clients' demands would sometimes surprise me, but in the end I always had to laugh!
Some of you may know me and my history, and if you are reading this I trust you have already have reviewed my LinkedIn profile. If not feel free to click on the link and view it. If you really know me, you know I smile a lot and my sister has always said that I have a buoyant personality. So even with all of the challenges I have had, especially of recent years, I’m still in this crazy business and it is because I am buoyant!
This first post is my story of top-lines: how I got to this point in my career and where I wish to go. I have had rich and diverse experiences. I reflect on the value my RIT (Rochester Institute of Technology) education has brought and the valuable relationships and experiences that just seem to come my way.
To begin, I was a photo assistant here in New York City after college, which was followed by the usual transition to become a photographer. After some hard knocks coupled with self examination, I realized I was best at producing and managing budgets. So, I then applied for my first position as an art buyer. Three weeks later, Arlene Konsen (now Hartman) hired me at McCann-Erickson (God Bless her, she started my career). Next stops were Saatchi & Saatchi, Suddler & Hennessy, D’Arcy, Gotham and BBDO. BBDO held me in shackles as the managing Art Buyer/Producer for nine years. In 2009 when the Great Recession hit & with it BBDO crashed and so many of us in “middle management” were collateral damage! For real? So, a couple of days later, I hung my own shingle representing a small group of talented digital artist. For those of you who think this may be ancient history, there were no representatives of digital artists at the time, they were piggy backed on the photographers that they worked for. I’m happy to say that I still have two of them with me at Glasshouse Assignment, Liam Collins and Cary Ng. I have had a tremendous amount of support and freedom from owner, Spencer Jones, to manage Glasshouse as my own business. I have grown the roster from five artists to now having thirteen. It is a growing and developing business.
The challenges, ALL OF THEM - without exception - bring me to this new venture. It is my own experiences and conversations from reps & artists that inspired me to create this website. I am here to reveal how the advertising agencies and their clients are changing. Work is still available, but the usual marketing efforts don’t work as they once did. Relationships are fleeting more than before. Everyone in the freelance world asks, "how to be smarter about finding the work?"
In the weeks to come, you will find on going posts of information that will come directly from Marketing Executives, Art Producers, Integrated Producers, Creative Directors, and Brand Managers themselves. I will also have Artist Representatives and Photographers sharing their best and worst efforts for finding work. I look forward to sharing information with you and hearing your thoughts as I cultivate this venture.
Smile More, Laugh More, Do More Good!
A special thank you to Daria Khoroshavina for her wonderful Cinemagraphs on this site!!