What's in the water here in Chicago??

After taking a look at some of Frank Lloyd Wright's amazing work over the weekend, we headed over to see some of the amazing work of DDB and Leo Burnett.  We sat down with Executive Director of Production, SVP, Diane Jackson and Group Creative Director, SVP, John Maxham.  Being big fans it was easy to get intimidated, but they both warmed up to us quickly.  They explained that creating interesting work which users can spread along easily increases popularity of such work, allowing for better overall popularity of a product.

At Leo Burnett we sat down with SVP, Creative Director Sebastian Mueller-Soppart, who is looking for more than just a portfolio from students, but ways of standing out in everything you do, with new ways of thinking.  

MINI apple US

Big day out here.. First we headed over to Clarity Coverdale Fury and met with Mr. Jac Coverdale himself. He had a well-nurtured masters in creativity, but is still very young at heart. His office was filled with everything from snowboards to boxing gloves, and is working on the newest innovations around.

Then we shot over to Carmichael Lynch, where we met with CD, Brock Davis. After passing through the tire swing and car in lobby, we had a sit down in a large meeting room, discussing Mr. Davis' favorite video game, as well as his concept for the Jacks Link's Beef Jerky Sasquatch character.

Lastly we stopped at Fallon, where we met with top creative team Eric Sorensen and Hans Hansen. Both believed keeping a healthy body is an excellent way to keep your mind open and healthy to new ideas (Hans actually bikes 20 miles to work everyday!) Then we were lucky enough to run into CCO Darren Spiller, just as he was taking off. We had a quick little interview in the lobby, where he had some great advice for the new guys.. After the interviews we stopped at a nearby bar, where they actually had a Fallon burger on the menu. Talk about taking over a town!

This Boulder rocks! (seriously, it does)

Hello from Boulder, CO! Those of you following along, I know what you are thinking..WHAT!?, they didn't go see Wieden in Portland?! And sorry to say, it was just too far out of the way for us. BUT, if they want to fly us out, we would be more than happy to take the trip. Otherwise, we will hit them up when we head back to NY.

With 20 straight hours of driving later, we made it to CP&B. Unfortunately, Mr. Bogusky was not around to meet with us, but we did manage to meet with an extremely talented young-gun creative by the name of Andty Pearson. After leaving the Creative Circus, Andy went to work at Wieden and Kennedy in Portland, fresh from his win at Future Lions. Then he jumped over to Crispin, where we had the pleasure of listening to what working for these top dogs is all about. Updates from Minnea+ to follow..

We FOUND our hearts in San Francisco!

We just met with two amazing agencies: Goodby, Silverstein & Partners and AKQA. Our friend Trevor Houser that went to Adhouse with us has been working at Goodby for awhile now, and hooked us up with two great interviews. One was with insightful CD, Mike Mazza, who considers now one of the best times actually to jump into the ad world. The other interview was with two of the funniest individuals we have met so far (and that we have actually met in a long time). Both named John, but spelled different, John Kovacevich and Jon Wolanske, aside from constant jokes that threw our questions off track, actually had a lot to say about how a different unexpected approach can really turn out for the best. Then we headed over to AKQA, across from the AT&T stadium, where we met with one of the wizards of the advertising industry today, none other than Rei Inamoto himself!! This man knows exactly what he wants from this business, and that is to not only put a dent in it, but change it completely. It was very inspiring, to say the least (especially since he is personally one of our role models in the industry). Off to Boulder!

California Dreaming

After being chewed up and spit out in Vegas, we finally made it to California and dipped our feet in the Pacific.. We did it!! After a well-needed rest, We met with Art Buyer, Kristina Hicks at Saatchi & Saatchi in LA, who gave us a conservative, yet ambitious view from this little environmentally-friendly branch. Then we popped over to Campbell-Ewald, a close-nit branch from their mothership Detroit agency. Francis had an extrmely helpful contact by the name of Sylvie Mihail, who hooked us up with a couple of individuals, giving us a wider variety of feedback. One such individual was SVP, associative creative director, Weston Kettering. With 18 years of experience in the agency, Weston gave us extremely helpful, detailed answers to many of our yet unexplored questions, allowing us to dig deeper into this crazy business.

Alburquerky

Visited owner Richard Kilmer at Kilmer and Kilmer in Alburquerque on Monday. This little querky agency far surpassed our expectations. Mr Kilmer himself was a stern yet delightfully humble ambassador of his agency. He provided excellent coverage of his fellow troops (who have no title or ranking), as well as showed highly uplifting spirits and revenue to boot in these rough times.

Route 66

Rolled through Arkansas and Oklahoma, then stopped at The Big Texan in Amarillo, TX. Home of the 72 oz. FREE steak! (if you can eat it with sides in under an hour). Unfortunately no one tried this daring feat, but we were definitely tempted. If you can't finish however, you have to pay $72 for the meal..

Then we rolled into Alburquerque, NM, caught up with a college friend and will be crashing at his place for another day. We are still hoping to see a set of these famous vintage Burma-Shave signs along the way on the historic route 66 (rumour has it a couple are still up). The signs are little poems, set so that you read each one every 3 seconds or so. This one read: If daisies are your/favorite flower/keep pushin' up those/miles-per-hour/Burma-Shave.

follow francis carter as well: http://twitter.com/fbomb55

southern hospitality

well, we finally made it to tennessee and it has been amazing so far. we camped out in the smokies for 2 days then headed over to nashville and met with senior designer darek leech at gs&f. the interview went really well, gathering some informative feedback about this tight-nit group, as well as good advice for new hires. then we kicked it over to memphis and had a blast. feeling a little rough this afternoon, but putting a little south in ma mouth at rendezvous ribs is sure soaking up some of the damage..

AD-venture video doc

Welcome to AD-venture. A 20 day journey across the U.S. trying to discover which ad agency works for you. Stops at different agencies will attempt to answer questions as to how, why, and what makes certain agencies the 'cream of the crop' so to speak. Follow along for daily updates as well on: www.twitter.com/laurindodacosta and www.twitter.com/mouchpotato

Let the ADventure begin