Festivities of day 3

The line-up of speakers at the festival today was amazing and I was so excited to begin my day seeing Martha Stewart. The IPG & Women’s Leadership Network was very beneficial for women and I am glad I attended it. Soledad O’Brien was an amazing moderator and did a good job keeping the conversation flowing. The message addressed the gender inequality in the industry, but we learned from each speaker Martha Stewart, Kimberly Kadlec, Gail Heimann, and Carol Lam that we should not pay attention to this statistic. Martha explained that she never viewed a job as a man’s job or a women’s job, she just viewed it as a job that had to be accomplished (hints how successful she is today). I think it was very encouraging to hear the success stories of each of these women and there determination to become what they were driven to become. As a woman hoping to break into the industry in the next few years, I will take the words of wisdom I learned at this panel and apply it to my work ethic for the future. Although Martha Stewart has had somewhat of a rocky past and I am not sure how much I am a fan, it was still really cool to see her.

Only after fifteen minutes of seeing Martha Stewart, Yahoo’s seminar began and opened with Robert Redford. Even though the topic of this seminar was not what I was expecting it was still great and to hear Robert Redford’s story and his involvement in the Sundance Film festival was very interesting and inspirational. I was especially moved by his personal story he shared about the irony of his encounter with Cannes. (He still is looking good!)

After Robert Redford it was off to the next big celebrity Pharrell Williams. I must admit upon his entrance I was a little unsure of how his paneling would go, but he really took me by surprise and I was very impressed with his politeness and professionalism. I have to say this was my favorite seminar of the day. This was true not only because it was Pharrell, but also because I am very into music and am curious as to how VEVO has envisioned new innovations to combine music with social media.

Coca-Cola was the seminar that concluded the end of my day—as far as the festival goes. The presentation took on a format no other seminar I’d attended had. The beginning was a walk through of the Coca-Cola “Liquid and Linked” campaign, but the information was drawn up on the screen and Jonathan Mildenhall was the narrator. It was very creative, but after the fifth chapter out of ten I was beginning to get a little nausea from the graphics of the animation. However the ideas and the planning that Coke put into this campaign was amazing. My favorite was the secret bottle mystery they integrated into the campaign. It was such a creative way to get teens integrated with the brand again and out in the world buying the drink.

I loved all the speakers we had come and speak to our group, but my favorite would have to be Noelle Cottrell from Fitzgerald & Co. His advice about getting into the business and breaking through is not necessarily dependent on the greatest punch line but rather on the idea and concept behind the work. After his speech I got a little apprehensive about the direction of my life after graduation. He suggested and really urged some schooling in the industry after graduation. I was not planning on going to graduate school, but after his suggestions I feel like that is a path I am now needing to consider if I want to be serious about advertising as a career. Also, I was under the impression that having a portfolio was only necessary for art majors, but according to Noelle it is a necessary tool to have completed when looking for jobs.

My day ended at the Young Lion’s beach party and around three at the Gutter bar I called it a night. It is safe to say today was a successful day!