Okay, so if you are new to the industry, you might soon realize that most agencies and some publishers have this crazy thing called Summer Fridays. This is another huge perk to working in the industry- well, assuming your company is one of the ones that actually institutes Summer Fridays, if not, sucks to be you. What the heck are Summer Fridays you may ask?? Well let me enlighten you…

Some companies (usually more agencies than anything) decide to boost employee morale during the summer by offering some extra time off. Yes, I said TIME OFF that does NOT count as vacation days! I’m sure you will soon realize that in the summer, agency life becomes a little lax. There are tons of parties, dinners, drinks, baseball games, people leaving early to go to happy hour, etc. It’s pretty fun! And then there are the agencies who offer summer Fridays. This is when you get either half days every Friday from Memorial to Labor Day OR 6 to 7 extra Fridays off entirely! Sometimes you get to choose which you want and sometimes you don’t, but seriously any extra time off whether it be a full or a half day is definitely welcomed!

I think if I had to pick, I’d take the whole days off rather than half days. A lot of the time when you get a half day, you a.) have to wake up early and come into the office and b.) never usually end up leaving on time- something always comes up to keep you there. Plus, on regular Fridays, most of the office leaves by 5 anyway. Also, if you have the whole day off, your work week suddenly turns into a 4 day work week (and that is a big difference from 5- let me tell you), and your weekend turns into a 3 day weekend! AND what if it is a holiday where you get Monday off? Well now you are at a 4 day weekend. What the heck!? So summer Fridays are definitely a perk and probably the closest thing you will be able to feel to actually having the summers off oh so long ago when you were in school. Unless of course you become a teacher, but come on, let’s be real. Who wants to deal with screaming kids all year? I mean maybe it’s worth 3 months off, but then you aren’t getting paid for those three months either. Just work in media and take the free 7 days during summer and enjoy the free meals and drinks that come along with the job while still getting paid. Now that definitely sounds better than dealing with a bunch of kids all day long for 9 months out of the year (nothing against kids or anything).

So, when you are interviewing (obviously don’t bring this up in the first interview unless you are already talking about benefits, which is quite unlikely), make sure to ask about summer Fridays and if it is company policy to implement them. It really helps the weeks go by faster and gives you a chance to maybe get out of town a few extra weekends each summer (or spend an extra day at the beach- depending on where you live) when you may not otherwise have the time or vacation days to do so!

Anyway, enjoy the summer kids and I’m sure I’ll have something to say about something soon. Happy summer Fridays!

- Media Bond 007

If you would like to contact me directly, please email me at 007industryinsider@mediaonela.com

YOU ARE SOLELY RESPONSIBLE FOR HOW YOU USE THE INFORMATION PROVIDED HERE. If you decide to pursue any training, building, conversion, or other methods of work BASED ON INFORMATION FROM THIS SITE, you INDEMNIFY us of ANY LIABILITY should YOU MAKE ERRORS. Before doing anything, please consult LOCAL lawyers, contractors, experts, and other trained individuals for verification of data provided.

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Be cool at work…your salary depends on it!

Ok, so after being in this business for several years and working under many different personalities, I have noticed some things that I see repeatedly. And you can definitely add to my list if you’d like.

Being considered cool and in-demand leads to success…

Even though, you thought you left high school many many years ago, there is still that level of who’s cool and who’s not in all offices. Your goal at work may not be to be the coolest person in the cubicle block, but let’s face it, more times than not, the cool ones make it to the top. They get favors done for them, people have their backs, they get free stuff, they get asked to lunch, etc. Now I know you are thinking that you have way more important things to think about than being cool at work…so listen up. It’s not that hard and you don’t have to stray too far from who you are…you don’t have to be slime ball cool. This is what I mean by this…anyone can be cool. Really all it means is to raise your stock value by creating the perception that you are cool, fun to be around, and in demand. Do you have to throw away all your kind and introvert qualities to be cool…no not at all. You are just again creating the perception. I know, I know. This world is an F’d up place, so superficial, so much competition, money this… money that…but unless you are working for a non-profit and have no bills to pay, save your meek, selfless self for your after hour and weekend volunteer time (which I do, I volunteer using volunteermatch.org). The advertising/marketing industry, more times than not is a dog eat dog world. I’ll even help you out on little steps to the path to being perceived as cool:

Step 1: Dress the part. Don’t ever wear the minimum work attire requirements…if your company is a casual work environment, step it up a notch. Just by simply trading in my jeans for slacks (even though jeans are allowed everyday), people that don’t know my title, think I’m in a position higher than I am. I hear, “Oh, I thought you were a Sales Exec. all this time” nope, I’m an Account Manager… Dressing up makes you feel confident. Knowing that I look my best makes me walk with my head up, smile to those that walk by, and have some pep in my step. Do others notice, of course they do…the cool confidence radiates off me and what does it do….it raises my stock value. Once you notice people stepping up their dress because you do, you’ll know how influential it is…and let’s not get carried away on work attire prices…people don’t have access to checking your clothing name-brand tags, unless you give it to them. Save your Brand Name buys on the stuff that people do see, like wallets, purses, laptop bags, and sunglasses.

Step 2: Try to say Hi to Everyone. I didn’t always use to do this, but how awesome does it feel that you are cool with the parking attendant, cool with the cleaning lady, cool with the Head Engineer guy in the other department, cool with the HR Hiring Manager, cool with the IT guy, cool with the CEO. Believe me, people will take that extra step for you based on this alone. And when others see how many connections you have made at the top and bottom, well then you must be likable and in high demand. I can’t tell you how many times my boss says, how do you get better front row parking than me…? I’ll answer, I don’t know, but really, I do know, it’s because I made friends with the parking lot attendant instead of treating him like a valet servant. You might be thinking that making all these friends is fake or that I’m using people, but really whose worse, you ignoring them and acting like they don’t exist or me finding out that this guy has been the parking attendant for 30 years and wakes up everyday at 5am to take care of the lot and probably keep an eye on my car before the guy who ignores him.

Step 3: Come to work with a bright smile. Ok, no one can be in a great mood everyday, but c’mon, if you wake up pissed off, then make an appointment with a psychiatrist. Life is not supposed to feel that way. It really isn’t…I promise and I know this by experience. If you wake up overwhelmed the moment you get the crud out your eyes, call your psychiatrist. And if you find out it’s not chemical imbalances causing your un-zest for life and that it is in fact your job that pisses you off so so bad, do whatever it takes to find one that doesn’t make you feel this way. Life is way too short to spend the majority of all your days and 40+ hours/wk…260 days/year miserable from your job. And being miserable at work carries over into everything you do…it affects your relationships for sure. I do get that being miserable at a job can happen, and you may find yourself at a job that didn’t turn out to be what it seemed. I was miserable at 2 jobs. My first job out of college…which is exactly how your first one is supposed to be…miserable, you are getting your feet wet in exchange for getting taken advantage of and getting paid scraps. But that first job is the only time you can have the “I hate my job and therefore hate life” excuse. No other job should ever feel that way again. So if you wind up in one again, like I did at the job last year, the most that you stay is one year, I lasted 9 months…that shows dedication. Beyond that is just stupid! You ALREADY PAID YOUR DUES!!! You are way too good to take that. Keep raising your stock and don’t let anyone abuse, use or take advantage of you!

Step 4: Decorate your desk with pictures, hobbies, and other strangeties. All of these make you more memorable and are great conversation starters for passersby. Nothing weird though, or you’ll get labeled as the geek with the custom engraved light saber (this works if you work for a sci-fi/gaming website though!!) Anyways, just put up a picture of your brother in the military, or a scenic photo you took, or a painting you drew, or a non-political book, like a self help book or autobiography, or pictures of your pets. People love pets. Again, knowing that you have a life outside of work…knowing that photography is a hobby your CEO also has…raises your stock value. DO NOT put something up too personal that you don’t want to talk about or will put you in an uncomfortable conversation like a picture of you and your significant other before you got divorced.

Step 5: Always, always have something to say. No you don’t have to over-step your grounds and be a chatty cathy, but there are definitely some things that repeat themselves EVERY week of your life and why, oh why are we never prepared…who knows. People are going to ask you the same 2 things every SINGLE week. Come Monday, everyone is going to ask you “what did you get into over the weekend?” or “did you have a good weekend?” Before you step into work on Monday, know what part of your weekend you will highlight. If it’s enjoying the outdoors with a good run, use it. If you went snowboarding use it. If you didn’t do ANYTHING…highlight what you ate, or that you cleaned every crack and crevice of your house. Have SOMETHING TO SAY!! Then again on Friday, big surprise, every SINGLE Friday, you will be asked “so do you have any good plans for the weekend?” Come up with a plan, even if you think the likelihood of you doing it is slim to none. And maybe change things up in your life a bit…instead of going time after time to disappointing dinner and movies (getting fatter and disappointed by a dumb romantic comedy), why don’t you buy tickets for a comedy club or a concert. Practically the same price once you put it all together. Remember people’s attention spans are very short for your answers, so don’t stumble over your words and be prepared.

Step 6: Clichés. This requires a whole blog in itself. I may come back to this in a later blog. All I’ll tell you is to just practice all your BS clichés. They will save you from explaining yourself in detail and to be honest…make you LOOK COOL. And keep your ears up, because I bet you, you’ll start noticing who uses them the most…THE VPs, DIRECTORS AND CEOs. It’s as if they took a class on clichés. Some you might frequently hear: “Too many Chiefs, and not enough Indians” or “I covered all the bases, but it still got hit out of the park” or “I have some bandwidth to help you out today.” My new favorite “I got a lot in the pipeline…but for some reason nothing is coming out the TAP”…that made my VP save about 10 uncomfortable excuses as to why sales were down that week and he SOUNDED sooo cool saying it. So even though his sales were down…his STOCK went up!

I am not too old and too wise, but from changing the things above this year only… I do notice a ton of more positive differences in my work life. And those positive differences flow over to a happier personal life. And then it makes a happier and more productive ME. There is more to life than work, but since we all have bills to pay; we have to make the best of it. Finish out the Spring with some new personal growth and try to incorporate some of the Steps that I listed above into your life. These small changes…the goal to raising YOUR STOCK VALUE, you will find so many other things in both your work and personal life will start falling into place just like they did mine. Creating a balance in your life is key and creating a path to your potential should be a life goal. Good luck my friends. Here’s to raising your STOCK VALUE!! 

If you would like to contact me directly, please email me at 001industryinsider@mediaonela.com

YOU ARE SOLELY RESPONSIBLE FOR HOW YOU USE THE INFORMATION PROVIDED HERE. If you decide to pursue any training, building, conversion, or other methods of work BASED ON INFORMATION FROM THIS SITE, you INDEMNIFY us of ANY LIABILITY should YOU MAKE ERRORS. Before doing anything, please consult LOCAL lawyers, contractors, experts, and other trained individuals for verification of data provided.

The Webmaster/Site Owner is not responsible for any content on pages not found at this specific site ( http://www.mediaonela.com ).

And… I’m back! Sorry for the long wait, I guess you could say things have been a bit busy- with the endless NYC dating and all. Kidding, kidding (sort of)- quantity over quality, folks. Let’s be honest, in this industry, you take a free meal or drink when you can get it. Anyway, there have been a few changes since the last blog post, so let’s get to those first and then I’ll get on with the good, juicy media stuff you all come here to read about. First of all, I’ve changed jobs. Shocking, I know, since in the last blog I was so unsure of what I wanted. As it turns out, I got a fantastic job offer from a big publishing house to work on one of their websites on the Marketing/Sales Development team. The site is fairly new to the market (used to be operated by one of the big portals), so we are only in about the 3rd year of actual independence. The site is the sister site of one of the biggest print publications out there. It is definitely a different ballgame, but I am loving it so far. I will shortly give you a few reasons to back this up, but first let me explain what it is that I do now. In the simplest of terms, I work to monetize the site. I work with the sales reps to develop different packages, media plans, etc for advertisers. I write a lot of presentations, come up with a lot of ways to “platform” sell the site, work with research to find various ways to prove to advertisers that our site is the one they should be advertising on, etc. I also work with edit and other teams to develop new sections of the site and decipher what consumers actually want to see on the site and how to monetize these new sections through ad revenue. Exciting right?? Actually, it really is, and besides the fact that I get my very own office, yes an OFFICE with an actual door, the job so far is fantastic. Okay, so onto the topic of the day- Where do you want to work- Agency side or Publisher side?

First of all, as a media planner, one of the things I really couldn’t stand was getting calls from sales reps all day. Honestly, coming into 5-10 messages a day from people trying to sell me the craziest sites that don’t even make sense for my brand, only to start trying to convince me every time I rejected them or tell them the budgets just aren’t there. By the time I actually got to any REAL work for the day, it was about 5pm and I was there for hours more. I finally stopped returning calls, but then felt like a jerk, so it wasn’t really so great for my self esteem either. These days, I come in- no messages. Nothing. No sales reps calling me, no Account people calling me, no clients calling me…

Speaking of clients, I can’t tell you how nice it is not to be yelled at by clients. Not to be the one responsible for a quick turnaround in which your excel formula didn’t get copied correctly and now you are $50K off on your budget and it is your entire fault. Whoa, now that’s pressure. Not to say there aren’t still quick turnarounds, but there is ALWAYS someone to double check it (sales reps should check everything I send them before they send it out). And ultimately, you aren’t the one sending it out, so you can’t be the one held responsible…or that is the hope at least. I think the main point is that not being the middle man between the client and the agency has been SO nice. Being tugged back and forth and trying to keep everyone happy proved to be too much for little old me.

More money. Need I say more? On the agency side, you just don’t get paid what you’re worth or for the amount of work you do, in my opinion. Granted this is a general statement, and there have been cases in which this isn’t true, but more often than not, I think in our industry, this is the case. Besides, It makes bonuses now based on my team hitting our sales numbers which is also quite nice just to have an extra bump at the end of the year (and we aren’t talking a $500 Christmas bonus here kids)- it’s also nice to have something to work towards, a reward for doing your job well.

There are a few things that are very different that I am not such a big fan of. At the agency, jeans, t-shirts and sneakers or flip flops were pretty much the standard (with the exception of the occasional client meeting). That definitely doesn’t fly on the publisher side. Bus. casual every day except Friday in which we are allowed to wear jeans and I sneak by with a pair of sneakers every now and then, but really, I’m just a rule breaker.

Drinking on the job. Agencies are so lax about stuff. People having drinks at their desks, everyone going out for drinks at lunch, etc. I really really miss the laid back, not-so-corporate atmosphere of agency life.

I miss free stuff! Having sales reps take you out, bring you stuff, always having food around the office…I miss it terribly! We don’t even get a discounted soda machine for crying out loud! 85 cents for a Diet Coke!? Are you kidding me?? The most I ever paid before was 35 cents (and some agencies gave them away for free)! Anyway, although I did get a salary increase, paying for all my own lunches, dinners and snacks is quickly adding up. I’m turning into a dork and brown-bagging my lunch now. I mean really, it gets expensive.

So I think it’s pretty obvious that I like my day to day better now, but office atmosphere better on the agency side. I think one thing to note is that if I went into sales, I could use my OWN expense card on taking clients/media planners out, but not sure that is the route I want to take yet. For now, I am liking the behind the scenes stuff with no one bugging me really. Just get the work done and pass it on and you are good to go. Bottom line- I’m a fan of the new gig over any media planning job I ever had. Atmosphere is a little rougher, but more vacation, bigger paycheck, own office, and better work makes it totally worth it to me. I think it all depends on what you are looking for. I do however think that I got a great background starting on the agency side and think I am MUCH better at my new job because of it. Agency life can be rough and it toughens you up and makes you accountable for a lot of things you otherwise wouldn’t even realize existed. Besides, Media Planners are kind of forced to be smart people, so you go to the pub side and they all think you are a genius. It’s awesome! I also like the younger feel of the agency which I think is a good starting point and way to ease into a 9-5 (5, yeah right) out of college for most people. And keep in mind that the industry is a small one. I always meet people who know people I know, have worked on a client that I have worked on, etc, so be nice to your reps even if they are annoying! I now work with some of the people I was not so nice to once upon a time. Lucky for me, they are forgiving. And the agency/publishing sides of things are so interchangeable, people are going back and forth all the time. It’s such a crazy world in this life of media.

Anyway, I think that just scratches the surface of differences between agency and publisher side, but I’m sure I’ve bored you enough for now. Not to worry, I’m sure I’ll come back to this topic at a later date or find a way to interject it into another blog post or two. But for now, happy spring everyone, and I’ll make sure not to take so long to get a new post next time!

Until next time,
Media Bond- 007

If you would like to contact me directly, please email me at 007industryinsider@mediaonela.com

YOU ARE SOLELY RESPONSIBLE FOR HOW YOU USE THE INFORMATION PROVIDED HERE. If you decide to pursue any training, building, conversion, or other methods of work BASED ON INFORMATION FROM THIS SITE, you INDEMNIFY us of ANY LIABILITY should YOU MAKE ERRORS. Before doing anything, please consult LOCAL lawyers, contractors, experts, and other trained individuals for verification of data provided.

The Webmaster/Site Owner is not responsible for any content on pages not found at this specific site ( http://www.mediaonela.com ).

The last time we spoke, I was a little bit jaded by the company I was working for and was looking for a way to regain the American Dream of having everything. Everything, that is… in the Online Media World. Some people might tell you that having everything is too good to be true and impossible, but I am the type of person that demands it when it comes to my career. And I kept demanding it until I got it. I quickly realized that the last company I was at (when I wrote my 1st blog), was not a good fit for me. Or a good fit for any person with integrity…

Am I asking for too much to be passionate about this industry and work for a company that encourages a work environment to accommodate their employees in the following ways:

- I like to have a place in my company and be compensated appropriately.
- I like to have a team that appreciates each other and works to help each other out.
- I like to have people understand our mistakes from the past and work to patch those mistakes in the future.
- I like to work with people who are curious to learn.
- I like to work with people who respect everyone they work with.
- I like to work with people who are constantly looking for ways to speed-up and perfect processes.

Am I asking for too much? Well, the answer is…no. I’m not. I moved on from the company that work dumped on me and now work for a wonderful team where everyone has each other’s back. Do I feel forced to have small talk with my co-workers, do I feel forced to put face-time at a happy hour. Not with this team. I enjoy my co-workers. We enjoy going to lunch together. We enjoy working out after work together. We enjoy running errands together. They are a team of hard workers who are some of the smartest in the industry. The company I’m at is wonderful and is still on the publisher side.

More to come my friends. 

If you would like to contact me directly, please email me at 001industryinsider@mediaonela.com

YOU ARE SOLELY RESPONSIBLE FOR HOW YOU USE THE INFORMATION PROVIDED HERE. If you decide to pursue any training, building, conversion, or other methods of work BASED ON INFORMATION FROM THIS SITE, you INDEMNIFY us of ANY LIABILITY should YOU MAKE ERRORS. Before doing anything, please consult LOCAL lawyers, contractors, experts, and other trained individuals for verification of data provided.

The Webmaster/Site Owner is not responsible for any content on pages not found at this specific site ( http://www.mediaonela.com ).

It’s been almost 6 months since my last blog entry here. Back in the summer, I had just started working as a Campaign Manager at a mid-sized agency here in LA. Since then, I’ve probably worked on about 5 or 6 different accounts, helped launch campaigns for brand new Clients that we won, and then within the same month or two watched these Clients hit financial hard times that prevented them from further continuing their relationship with our agency.

This has been one of the most turbulent agencies I have worked at in my career, and I would actually have to say I love it. No two months have been the same since I have been on board. Part of the reason would be the nature of the clients we have. Many of which are smaller players in the gaming industry. This shop has been on a mission within the last year or so to build the business out, win more substantial pieces of business, and diversify the client roster. Part of my role during campaign downtimes has been to help out by looking at research data for a lot of these prospective clients and industries. This is what I have been enjoying the most.

Business has been tough recently, mostly due to the economic slow down, many ad budgets are being slashed. I have seen our agency get involved in almost a dozen pitches within the last year, and perhaps only one or two have come on board. It is frustrating at times, there are many reasons why an agency would lose out. Not only just because it’s nearly impossible to compete with the big guys, since I’ve seen clients go with agencies that are virtually unheard of. There are many other factors, such as past relationships, networking, price points, etc.

Despite the numerous letdowns, I have been trying to get involved in helping to develop new business in anyway I can. I feel like I am actually able to be a part of something here which is sometimes more satisfying even if it is something that doesn’t pan out.

-004

If you would like to contact me directly, please email me at 004industryinsider@mediaonela.com

YOU ARE SOLELY RESPONSIBLE FOR HOW YOU USE THE INFORMATION PROVIDED HERE. If you decide to pursue any training, building, conversion, or other methods of work BASED ON INFORMATION FROM THIS SITE, you INDEMNIFY us of ANY LIABILITY should YOU MAKE ERRORS. Before doing anything, please consult LOCAL lawyers, contractors, experts, and other trained individuals for verification of data provided.

The Webmaster/Site Owner is not responsible for any content on pages not found at this specific site ( http://www.mediaonela.com ).

Howdy media geeks and fellow Excel gurus. As I sit here looking at this Google doc thinking of all the work I should be doing, but realizing I’d much rather write about myself in this intro blog (It’s either this or a campaign recap report for the past 2 weeks…kind of a no-brainer right?), I am having visions back to my first days of advertising. How did I get interested in Advertising you may ask? Well to be completely (almost embarrassingly, but not quite) honest, it all started with Amanda Woodward on Melrose Place all those years ago. She may not have been the nicest person in the world, but damn did she make advertising look fabulous.

So, some years passed and I entered college (SDSU- go Aztecs!) at the ripe old age of 18. I went in as a theatre major. Yes, theatre. My career goals had changed a bit since being the 12 year old wannabe Ad Exec. After my first year, my dad decided he didn’t want to pay for college for me to be an “actor,” so I had to find something new. Quick. I went through a total of about 4 majors over the next 2 years, and suddenly realized I had to pick something once and for all. Also, looming on the edge of my mind was the fact that I didn’t want to be in college for 7 years, nor did my dad want to PAY for me to be in college for 7 years. I had to pick something and stick with it. “Fine,” I thought, “I’ll just do Business like everyone else.” I graduated with a BS in business, emphasis in Marketing and a Minor in Psychology. And it only took me 4.5 years. Nice.

Over my last semester in college, I decided I should figure out what I wanted to do after I graduated. I didn’t want to go straight to grad school, that was for sure. As a Marketing major, I figured it’d be smart to do something in the same field. I thought about the options, about the Marketing classes I’d taken over the last few years, and decided I really liked my advertising class. Back came the sweeping visions of Amanda Woodward. It was perfect. What a great idea. I blasted resumes to all the top ad agencies in LA, New York and Chicago. I was living in Southern California at the time, but willing to go pretty much anywhere. As it turns out, I got extremely lucky and got hired as an Admin Assistant at one of the top agencies in LA. I started work a few weeks after graduation. Making $25K a year in LA was no easy feat, but somehow I managed (with a lot of roommates and mac ‘n cheese). Sending your resume in from the company’s site apparently DOES pay off (sometimes).

From the Admin role, I moved into an Asst. Media Planner position within about 6 months. I planned DR as well as traditional branding campaigns, incorporating everything from Direct Mail to TV to Print to Radio to Newspaper…you name it, I planned it (except for online of course). I lasted about 2.5 years at this wonderful agency and then decided to make a change. I moved onto another big LA agency doing all of the local market planning for a pretty big National client. Local planning wasn’t really my thing. About 6 months later, I got really lucky and got a job offer at one of the top Interactive agencies in NYC.

So, here I am today…an Interactive Media Planner at a well respected, big (and getting bigger), reputable Interactive Agency in the heart of Manhattan. It was a big move from LA to NY and also from Traditional Media to Interactive, but it has been nothing but great so far. I’m sure I’ll hit on these topics a bit more in the near future, but for now I’ll leave you to mill over it in your own mind.

We’ll see where I land someday. I love the digital side of things and have considered moving into sales. Whatever route I take, I just want to make sure I am always up on the newest, coolest, cutting edge media opportunities- I think that’s what makes our industry so great, and understanding all of these new opportunities is what makes us great at our jobs (and makes the clients think we are geniuses…yeah right).

So for now my friends, I’m off. Until next time, enjoy the rest of the summer parties!

Media Bond- 007 (I did not even pick this blogger ID. Just lucky. Can you believe that?)

If you would like to contact me directly, please email me at 007industryinsider@mediaonela.com

YOU ARE SOLELY RESPONSIBLE FOR HOW YOU USE THE INFORMATION PROVIDED HERE. If you decide to pursue any training, building, conversion, or other methods of work BASED ON INFORMATION FROM THIS SITE, you INDEMNIFY us of ANY LIABILITY should YOU MAKE ERRORS. Before doing anything, please consult LOCAL lawyers, contractors, experts, and other trained individuals for verification of data provided.

The Webmaster/Site Owner is not responsible for any content on pages not found at this specific site ( http://www.mediaonela.com ).

Well hello my media compadres, I’m sitting here in our new office, the day after July 4th, with a massive hangover trying to seem productive. You see, I’m on my 3rd week here at a new position working for a South Bay based full-service mid size advertising agency. I am an Interactive Campaign Manager, which basically means Ad Trafficker; I work with Media Planners in order to implement their online banner campaigns in DoubleClick’s DFA tool.

This is my 6th advertising gig in the last seven years. I have spent time working at several agencies as a Media Planner both in NY & LA, a media research vendor where I was a traveling trainer, a brief stint working for a web site as an Account Manager, and now back to the agency side. Out of all my experiences, I have generally enjoyed working for the small to mid-size agencies. You definitely get to learn a lot, get to voice your opinions and be heard and possibly change things much easier in the smaller agency environment. More than the work itself, I enjoyed working with great people, and creating and maintaining those relationships throughout my career.

I have to admit, getting into the media thing was a complete accident for me. As a college student at Western Michigan University, I wasn’t exactly the most focused individual. While on the path to receive a Bachelors degree in Marketing, I really hadn’t put much thought into what I really wanted to do after graduation. I was more concerned with getting out of Michigan, and getting out to a bigger city to do what I really wanted to do which was play music. It didn’t matter to me if I worked in an ice cream store, or worked in an office, as long as I could pay the bills and make ends meet. After bombing several lousy interviews in the Detroit area with larger ad agencies, I decided to high-tail it out to NYC. In June of 2000, I landed a position as an Assistant Media Planner with a small agency working on a large telecomm account making a mere $14 an hour!

The early experiences I had in the Media field left a big impression on me. The experiences I had obviously with the media perks (parties, lunches, cruises etc) where of course amazing, but more importantly the folks I met along the way. Sure, I’ve tried to get out of the biz completely on several occasions. Worked in a the payroll industry for a bit, took time off etc.. But I always seem to keep coming back for more.

Thanks for checking this out. Stay tuned for more entries in the near future, where I’ll talk about everything and anything I can think of relating to media/online advertising.

-004

If you would like to contact me directly, please email me at 004industryinsider@mediaonela.com

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So I have to start by admitting that I’m currently writing this blog to avoid beginning my slue of deadlines that have already piled up for the day. In my 4th year in this industry, of online media, I am currently in the hierarchy of the movers and shakers…actually I AM the mover and the shaker minus the commission and perks. I am an Online Sales Planner, part of the Sales Department…the duck’s fast moving legs underwater, keeping those I support happy or at the very least satisfied. I support 4 account executives for a website’s ad sales. My career path, even though one step away from being an account executive, years away from attaining, since an account executive making 200k plus chances of leaving is either due to being exported, extorted, or death.

In the meantime, I am writing about my place in this world of media. In general, I do whatever the account executives don’t want to do. I create presentations at about 2-3 per day…not same ole same ole presentations, but slides upon slides UPON SLIDES!!! of imagery and BS verbiage to get the rest of the industry to believe our site is where it’s at. I create spec sheets, fax IO’s, resend stuff I resent 10x because no one thinks it important the first 9x or possibly just flat out too lazy to sort thru their Outlook from the day before. I follow-up with him/her/it and whoever and somehow became the come-to website process and product encyclopedia. I am the direction that the finger of blame is pointed to. And most recently have found out that even when it’s someone else’s fault, it’s still my fault for not having a process in place to back-up their back-up process to prevent it from happening. How I’ve only worked here for 8 months and know so much more about this website than those who’ve been here 4 years plus and sell the darn website, you tell me. But this is the daily life I lead.

Ok. Ok. I’m being a bit negative. You thought my blog would help you in discovering your career path and give you an insider’s view. My rant above is my current reality within the current company I work for…to be fair, there are tons of opportunities out there, that won’t stretch you this thin and won’t require this much out of you…I just F’d up and found the wrong OPPORTUNITY. Anyways, as an insider, let me tell you that this industry is in-fact more amazing than my little ole job. Amazing and highly lucrative…and I’m very thankful for following this career path because even though the above craziness is happening, my cell phone for the last 4 years has blown up with constant headhunters and recruiters, hoping I’m ready for my next move. Companies big and small…from Microsoft to MySpace to the no-name start up…all in need of that person who fits in the middle of that busy cross-section of media, advertising and technology. And…who is that person, well I’ll tell you, that person is ME, but guys, there is not enough of ME to go around, so if you heed to my recommendation, I promise.

If you would like to contact me directly, please email me at 001industryinsider@mediaonela.com

YOU ARE SOLELY RESPONSIBLE FOR HOW YOU USE THE INFORMATION PROVIDED HERE. If you decide to pursue any training, building, conversion, or other methods of work BASED ON INFORMATION FROM THIS SITE, you INDEMNIFY us of ANY LIABILITY should YOU MAKE ERRORS. Before doing anything, please consult LOCAL lawyers, contractors, experts, and other trained individuals for verification of data provided.

The Webmaster/Site Owner is not responsible for any content on pages not found at this specific site ( http://www.mediaonela.com ).