This image is the exact opposite of the creative process. The best ideas don't happen in an instance. You've gotta get through all the bad ones first.

Image from http://poorlydrawnlines.com/comic/big-idea/

Today, my Strategic Creative Development class  (#BUSCD) wrote a book. You might think this is no big deal since people write books all the time. But what if I replaced “today” with “this morning.” Or more specifically “from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m.”

You might look at that statement and think it’s impossible. Most books take weeks, month, even years to perfect. There’s no way a group of 24 students could conceive, write, edit, document, draw, and design a book in just three hours. And you’re probably thinking that if I’m not lying, the book is probably crap.

Well now it’s time to be amazed. Not only did we tackle this challenge, we made something that is FRICKIN AWESOME!

Tim Leake and his team at Hyper Island, who wrote Roadkill or Rabbit in three hours, inspired this exercise. The topic was “what we will change, or the advertising industry better watch out, ‘cause here we come.”

Under the guidance of Edward Boches, we split up into 12 teams, each consisting of one writer and one art director. During the first hour, the group as a whole determined the 12 topics we would write about. Then each team crafted a title for their chapter. From 10-10:30, the writers wrote the chapter and the art directors created illustrations. At 10:30, we began compiling, editing, and designing the book.

While the finishing touches may have run a little over our three-hour goal, 95 percent of the work was done by noon, a big accomplishment in itself. And in the end, we produced “Get out of your minivan and into our spaceship. #BUSCD shares thoughts and insights about advertising’s next generation.”

Everyone rose to the challenge and excelled fabulously. We put our talents to use and have something tangible to show for it. This exercise was a great lesson in speed, idea generation, collaboration, decision-making, creativity, thinking, and expression. These are things people in advertising use on a daily basis.

So take that world. We proved you wrong. We wrote a book in three hours. Actually, we didn’t write a book in three hours. We wrote a DAMN GOOD BOOK in three hours.

Here is a link to the book: http://www.slideshare.net/edwardboches/get-out-of-your-minivan-and-into-our-spaceship-18699662 

This week, I was very fortunate to connect with and meet George O’Connor, a Senior Copywriter at Digitas Boston. As an aspiring copywriter myself, talking to George was very helpful as he described the path that he took to get into the business and offered some advice on how students pursing creative careers can further themselves in the industry.

George made it to Digitas in a roundabout way. After receiving his undergraduate degree in marketing, George spent 10 years at job that wasn’t too exciting for him. He admitted that it paid the bills, yet he woke up every morning for the last year and a half of his tenure angry that he was at the job. Eventually, he decided he couldn’t take it anymore. He needed to give the creative side of his brain another shot. Knowing he wasn’t going to make it as a rock star, George enrolled in the advertising graduate program at Boston University.

While at BU, George studied the craft under great professors that he claimed were very helpful in starting his career. He also completed two internships at Mullen, which helped him get industry experience and network with people that he aspired to be. He knew once he was in the door, he had access to everyone’s contact information, and he wasn’t afraid to reach out. At the time Mullen had about 8 writers, and he got in touch with 7 of them, most of whom were willing to help him out.

George said that it’s best to reach out to as many people as you can and start building relationships. He said it doesn’t hurt to contact people and ask to make a connection or have them review your portfolio. What’s the worst thing that could happen? He also said that it’s better if someone from within an agency can recommend you to a hiring manager or HR rep rather than you submitting your portfolio and résumé blind.

When it comes to building a student portfolio, George’s first piece of advice was never give up. Your first book isn’t going to get you your first job. You’ll need to edit and re-work it several times before it’s good enough to get you into an agency.  George re-did his book 8 times before he landed at Digitas.

He also said to show your book to as many people as you can. If you show it to one person and they bash it, that doesn’t mean you have to scrap everything and start over. Maybe that person was just having a bad day or is really strict when it comes to books. If you show it to six people and they all bash it, you probably need to do more work. But you’ll have six opinions that will all help you to make it stronger and better.

George closed by telling me to have some fun while making my book.  He said things will always get “watered down” by clients and lawyers. So don’t worry about that until you have to. Be bold and show someone that you’re willing to take risks.

Meeting George O’Connor was great experience. It was worthwhile to talk to someone who knows exactly what I’m going through because he was once in my position. George is someone that everyone can learn from because he has a “never give up” mentality and is happy to help others however he can.