There were several social media efforts in effect last week during the Cannes ad festival. Kudos to you over-achievers and fake URL makers. HUSH embarked on our own social media endeavor, not composed of 0s and 1s, mobile devices, roving cameras or GPS, but with good ol’ fashioned stickiness.
What happens when you bring thousands of stickers to the Riveria and pass them around to your fellow advertising brethren? A new social campaign emerges involving lots of alcohol, double-dares and waking up with stickers on your ass. Sorry if that was you, but you were just too temping…and it probably wasn’t our fault anyway. This took on a life of its own.
Check out the Flickr gallery of the stuck stickers.
Check out the Flickr gallery of our trip.
June 30th, 2010
david
Part 1 / Creative UnConference, Day One
Tim: The One Show’s Creative Unconference, was for me, the intellectual highlight of the week. The format of this gathering is unique and encourages conversation, confrontation, and sharing, three things that I feel are essential to our industry. What I like is that there is no set structure but rather a rough outline, and the day is created on the fly. I hosted a discussion entitled “Y.R.U. Fucking me?” The title, although comedic, was a serious conversation on how traditional agencies, digital agencies of record and clients all get along and interface with one another when constructing a campaign, or when developing a brand platform for their clients. What I really liked is that 90% of those who attended my panel were vocal and had something to share. All in all it was two very exciting days of open dialog. Nick Law I am sorry I drew a penis on your submission.
David: I attended this event last year as well and was very impressed, hence our return. What I convey to people when they ask about the experience is the absence of hierarchy. Traditional conferences are so top-down…literally. Think about it: a group of industry leaders, chosen by an unidentifiable “God” curator, arrive on stage. The rest of the audience waits expectantly to hear pearls of wisdom roll off their tongues. It happens. Sometimes it doesn’t. After that, the mass of attendees scrambles to get a minute with said speakers during a coffee break. Cards dropped. Hands shaken. Insights lost in the shuffle. With the Unconference, the world is flat. Groups form organically around a subject matter not a around a name or title. You sit in a circle. You speak when you want. You makes the rules. To your right, an intern. To your left an ECD with the power to bankroll your company.
Part 2 / Creative UnConference, Day Two
Tim: The gem of day two for me was a discussion hosted by Richard Schatzberger, of BBH New York. Richard is the Director of Creative Technology and walked us through what he does all day. The one sound bite that stuck with me was “Make, Make Make!” He reminded me why I started creating content for the Web, and I have really tried to apply this thinking to my everyday. Prototyping and building out demos in Flash, trying out things in HTML 5 or Javascript has been filling my free time and I must say, it has really re-charged me. Thanks @Schatz
David: While Tim was discussing why everyone is simultaneously fucking and getting fucked, I was listening to Nick Law of R/GA as he drew graphs on a white board. He drew a graph that was butter – it told the entire history of the advertising process and the DNA of creativity as it’s developed to date. It’s got two axes. It’s got a bunch of points. And best of all, he scribbles all over the damn thing as the crescendo to his talk. (I saw him in DUMBO this week, introduced him to one of our business advisors, then proceeded to draw Nick’s graph on a napkin. The discussion became the basis for the remainder of our meeting.
Tim: The evening was capped off with a few hours of debauchery provided by McCann New York’s creative duo, Matt & Ale. The Fucking Party, was an attempt to collect the industry’s largest profanity filter and build out an API for it. The party turned into a tightly packed sardine can full of drunkards. Go Advertising.
Part 3 / One Show Interactive Gala
Tim: We closed out the week in classic Mad Men fashion… well Digital Mad Men fashion at least. The One Show Interactive showcased some of this years biggest and best digital campaigns. The theme this year was Brazilian, unfortunately the cuisine did not translate as well as previous years. I truly enjoyed watching great projects like The AXE Dirty Balls web video, Lego Photo iPhone App, and The Nike Livestrong ChalkBot take home awards. Next year will prove to be an innovative one.
May 19th, 2010
tim
Friday and Saturday, April 16th & 17th, 2010 at Kean University Union, New Jersey
Come see *Tim & Erik speak, at The Thinking Creatively Design Conference, a two-day event created to provide access to excellence. The conference brings together the best and brightest designers and all sorts of experimental, innovative thinkers – for the purpose of providing an enriching, exceptional (the speakers are world-class) and accessible (it’s affordable and local!) multi-level experience that includes: presentations, exhibit, workshops, networking, and various sundry goodies.
March 8th, 2010
tim