Live Up To The Hype

I’m feeling pretty good right now.

And for absolutely no reason of my own making.

I have an entire minibook to put together, 2 concepts for 2 products that are basically going nowhere, the One Show Client Pitch looming, and an entire integrated campaign for X Games on the verge of staring me in the face. But still, I'm feeling alright.

Last night the Brandcenter officially had its grand opening of the brand (pun intended) new building. It coincided with the Spring Board of Directors Meeting, with some of the heaviest hitters in the industry making their way to Richmond for the weekend.

The guys from IHaveAnIdea.org were also in attendence, and documented the event with a live news feed, interviews, videos and pictures all posted to their site. It was like Cannes, States style.

One of the things that amazes me every time I see the Board members (and all the other big names that came for the event, including a performance by the Neville Brothers…… Yea, those Neville Brothers) is how incredibly humble they all are. They’re just such nice guys. If I didn’t hate exclamation points so much, that last sentence would warrant one. They just seem to really care about the students and about the industry they helped elevate. They were genuinely interested in talking with us, listening to us, adivising us, drinking with us.

Before we got to rub elbows with them in a more intimate setting in groups of 20 or so students (Ty Montague, Paul Lavoie and Nick Law are pretty much my new heroes now), each Boardmember introduced themselves to the student body and gave a 30-second spiel about how each can get a job in their company, and in advertising in general.

Kevin Proudfoot, ECD of Wieden NY, and the first and only member of the Board that is an Adcenter graduate, gave us an interesting piece of advice when the mic came around to him.

“Live up to the hype of this school,” he said, in an almost challenging sort of way.

Saying that implied that this school is not a rite of passage. You make your own rite of passage. This school helps pave the way for you. It gives you the keys to the car, and where you drive is up to you.

It summed up the chance that each of us have. It basically said, you all have the opportunity to make it just as big, if not bigger, than anyone on this stage. No one on that stage had the benefit of coming from the No. 1 ad school in the country, of learning from the greats, of studying in such a creatively-inducing place. No one on that stage had the emails and phone numbers of every person in advertising at their fingertips.

Him saying this got me thinking. While the chances are slim, it’s not out of the realm of possibility that some day, many, many years from now, the Brandcenter's Board of Directors can be staffed by a good amount of its own graduates.

Is it out of the realm of possibility then, that with the right luck and hard work, I could be one of those?

Probably.

But, as cliche as it sounds, you can’t make it big if you don’t first think you can make it big.


After the last 2 days, the expectations I have for myself and for those at this school couldn't possibly be any higher. And they shouldn't be any lower.

dubs. out.