Lessons From the Big Apple

By: Alissa Barry

My takeaways. Is it cliche to say that it’s hard to collect all my thoughts from this trip and make it into something coherent? I’m extremely thankful to have been able to go on this trip. I met so many great people from the ad program, and I’m totally in love with the agencies we visited, the city, and our professors for putting it all together. A million thank yous!

The Industry.

1)    We’re more like Homer than Mr. Spock whether we want to admit it or not – DDB.

2)    Don’t be ashamed of having values. Stay away from bad behavior and stay true to yourself – Big Spaceship

3)    Be passionate about something! Put it on your resume and tell people about it – McGarryBowen

4)    Don’t make something just because it looks cool. Have a reason behind it – ROKKAN

5)    Don’t just see the problem. See the solution – ROKKAN

6)    The more creative the planner’s brief, the more inspiring it is for creatives (Holy cow, Dylan Viner’s target audience video!) – JWT

7)    It’s amazing how many fun, creative and smart ideas we can come up with in 30 minutes – W+K

8)    Everyone has something valuable to share. Just listen – The Unconference

After work.

1)    The cool, New York City air hitting your face is the best feeling in the world when you emerge out of the subway.

2)    There is always something positive or a lesson found in a negative situation.

3)    We have the best professors (not sucking up, I swear. This is just fact).

4)    People are just people! Be yourself and talk to them. Don’t be scared (learned from talking to NYC locals, fellow ad students and industry folk!).

5)    Even NYC’s late night delivery pizza is THE MOST AMAZING THING EVER.

6)    I love being in a place where I can walk a block and hear 5 different languages.

7)    We tend to rush, rush, rush. It’s okay to stop and take a moment to breath – reminded of this when I ran into the Urban Speed bumps art project.

8)    Spending an entire day traveling around New York City on your own makes you feel like you can survive anything!

9)    We’re all going to go back to New York. Don’t worry