Free drinks, lots to chat about, old friends and some new ones, a sprinkle of creative directors and six book crits. Blimey, that was a lot to fit into one evening but the guys from ihaveanidea.org pulled it off beautifully. And not just in London, but in 21 other cities around the world on the same night. A global creative orgy. A big hats off to them.At the beginning we were told to follow a fine tuned system for speed dating with CDs, and were asked to move to the table on your right after every crit. Sorry guys, we weren’t about to follow that – in fact we don’t think anyone did. We went in with a plan of who our book was going to be seen by and nothing was going to get in our way.
Luckily for us the friendly, smiley undertones of 'look at our work' paid off and our night went really well, seeing six creative directors. Quite fantastic. Lots of advice, lots of opinions, lots to take in, lots of contacts and all was lots of fun. We had 15 minutes with each CD to show our stuff, make an impression and try to seal the deal.
The registration was handled by a bunch of first years from St. Martins, good work
The event was hosted by JWT in Knightsbridge
Reunion time in the garden, Rob, Jai, Chris, Wal, Ray and Bernd
The high temperature allured everyone into the garden to drink the nerves away
Don't know 'em, but they're cool
Rob, that's no way to impress Renee
Lusea Arabella Karenza Warner and Tom
Ready for creative torture
Say hello to our new friends Dave, Andy and Jose
Ade and Mike, good luck to them at Lowe
Drop your drinks and gather
While last year was small and cozy, this year was epic
Brian trying to be funny, excuse him he's Canadian
The creative directors waiting for the first wave of fresh blood
The most organized part of the evening
Who do you want to see? You better be quick.
Maybe if we didn't take so many damn pictures we could have got more crits?The Creative Directors we were lucky enough to see
Laurence Quinn from JWT
Brian Campbell Creative Director at AMV/BBDO
Paul Silburn, Creative Director at Saatchi & Saatchi
Will Awdry, Creative Partner Ogilvy London
Chris Clarke, Creative Director Digitas
Last minute crits in the lounge
After too many critiques Jai's having problems controlling his facial expressionsNow don’t ask how, but we somehow managed to score three placement offers, result! So not only was it a jolly but in the end it turned out to be quite productive and not just for us but a load of our mates too. Well done to everyone.
You can take our word for it being the most useful event in our calendar so far this year. Hopefully we’ll never have to go to another one ever ever again.
22 comments:
Hey guys great work! We love following your blog...its hard getting in isn't it! Where did you manage to wangle placements?! Keep up the good work :)
Hey Wal,
Sounds like you guys had a wonderful time! Thanks a billion for coming and for blogging about it!
But don't say you hope this is your last Portfolio Night – don't you wanna be sitting on the other side of the table for Portfolio Night XIV or som'n? :-)
Thanks once again,
Brett "what the hell am I doing up this early in Los Angeles after PN6?" McKenzie, ihaveanidea's Chief Writer SBN2
nice job guys - thanks for sharing!
Well done guys.
I'm sure this wont be your last. You guys seem to love collecting placements.
I did 8 placements over 2 and half years...all worth doing, got to work out where was good etc. Wouldn't change it...
Well done lads. Richly deserved.
A big hat’s off to them.
Why, oh why, oh why? You can be as creative as you like but basic grammar, please. Pfft.
Unless there was a particular 'off' belonging to a big hat which was being donated to them?
Or perhaps you were sending a present - "a big hat is off to them"
It's not rocket science.
well done man! and thanks for sharing.
hit me, see what happened this side of the globe.
thanks everyone!
saw your trip facu, looks goooood! we hope you enjoyed it as much as we did.
fourstar, thanks a lot for the advice, if you email us your address we might send some hats your way :)
Heh, glad you took it the right way. I'm good for hats though :)
It seems JWT has an infestation of caterpillars on their roof terrace as one has crawled under our chin in that last pic Wal…
Top night had by all I think - first time at PN and it was amazing. Cheers for documenting it for us guys! Might borrow a couple of those photos and our handsome mugs are in them.
well done.
makes me want to have a little sneaky look at your book, can I? please.
:)
GUYS WHERE ARE YOUR PLACEMENTS!?? x
I thought you were guys were going to put some of your folio on-line soon - it'd be great to see your guys work.
I've seen the work.
And it's actually very good - well deserved mention on the above CD's blog.
"At the beginning we were told to follow a fine tuned system for speed dating with CDs, and were asked to move to the table on your right after every crit. Sorry guys, we weren’t about to follow that – in fact we don’t think anyone did. We went in with a plan of who our book was going to be seen by and nothing was going to get in our way."
When people jump to the wrong table it makes it impossible for the people who actually want to follow the system to move in proper succession. And contrary to your opinion, most people on the night were very considerate of their fellow aspiring creatives.
I'm disappointed that you took advantage of the situation. Particularly when I let you and your partner fill a space in the second period, in addition to your reserved space in the third period.
And then after being given the chance to meet 6 CDs instead of 3, I caught you and your partner trying to split up in the line for the third period, in order to see 9CDs.
And then you joke about it on your blog.
Your selfish attitude will only prove a hinderence to you in this business, not an asset.
having a bad day brian?
we bought two tickets as instructed on your website so we could see 6 cd's, simple. and believe us, as we were in the ffront row, is was a free for all in there.
Take heed of the impression you've given Wal, even if you think you've a valid reason for your actions.
Just because others might have had a free for all, doesn't mean you'd have to join in and make it worse.
I wasn't there, and didn't know what it was like. You got what you wanted from the evening in the end, so perhaps your approach worked and you're happy enough with kwnoing that if it put one or two noses out of joint.
Knowing what you want and how to get it is a good thing. Certainly people won't hold your hand and guide you into a job, but i'd just watch how some things might sound or how it may come across.
anon 5:07 - cheers for the advice, it's very valid.
we're not as bad as Brian makes us out to sound or as bad as we may have made ourselves sound. point is, these opportunities don't fall in junior creatives laps very often so we'd be fools not to make the most of the evening. believe us, we didn't go around beating people for seats, we just got to them first. we got the same treatment on the night and didn't mind one bit.
never ate dog, maybe i should try next time when i'm in china :)
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