Street level views of marketing & advertising in Idaho
So, you’ve been laid off fairly recently? You’re not alone, and you’re getting your own movie: Lemonade
Erik Proulx, former Senior Copywriter at Arnold Boston and driving force behind Please Feed the Animals went in search of laid-off agency folks to see how they’ve made a living, a life, and found happiness outside of the advertising world.
Hat tip to the many other outlets that have covered this already, including AdPulp, AgencySpy, The Denver Egotist, PSFK and many, many more.
My turn for what? I’m sure that’s the first thing that came to mind after reading that headline…
As many of you know, Idaho Ad Agencies has been around since early 2006 (hard to believe it’s been that long). And while it’s become the de-facto hub for everything marketing, advertising, and communications-industry related, the fact remains that it is, and always has been, a side project for me. On any given day, most of my efforts are focused on running (and generating business for) Almost Live Productions.
Now yes, I do regularly post content throughout the day here, but I’ve always tried to maintain a certain amount of separation between this and everything else that I do throughout the day. As I’ve told many people over the years, the Idaho Ad Agencies blog isn’t about me, it’s about the people, the work, and the business of marketing and advertising in Idaho.
Now is one of those rare times when the paths will cross. And yes, here comes the part where I ask for your help.
Business lately has been slow, but steady. Unfortunately, slow but steady does not pay the bills all that well. I find myself constantly on the lookout for new work, projects, clients, etc. — you get the picture.
So my question to you, dear Idaho Ad Agencies readers is this: What can I help you out with? Are there existing clients that might benefit from someone who’s been on both the client- and agency-side of this business, who also has a great deal of experience in the interactive space? Or maybe it’s a client that needs some help on the search side of things, and understanding how changes behind the scenes, combined with web-specific copy, can impact their site and how it appears in search engine results. Perhaps your clients are ready to venture into this crazy ‘social media’ space, and need someone who’s been chest-deep in it for a few years that understands how it can work. Podcasting? Reporting? Analysis? Translating mountains of online data into something meaningful?
Not to sound too boastful, but yeah, I can do that. And then some.
Should we talk? Most likely – yes. Take your pick on how you’d like to contact me here.
And as always, thanks for putting up with me all these years. Let’s keep doing it, shall we?
Apologies in advance for what I’m sure will be infrequent updates over the next couple of weeks. My attention will be focused elsewhere, and the Idaho Ad Agencies blog may see a lull in activity as a result.
We’ll return to our regularly scheduled programming before too long.
Ignite Boise is today, and today is Ignite Boise Day.
Oliver Russell recently launched their redesigned website.
The Boise Centre on the Grove has a new identity as Boise Centre, courtesy of Rizen Creative.
George Parker is still gleefully ranting away on Adscam. (Personal aside, his latest book, The Ubiquitous Persuaders, in next in line on my reading list. More on that at a later date).
PARAGRAPH may have just found THE solution to fix the agency pitch process.
It seems the City of Portland is experiencing the spec-creative backlash as we speak.
Yesterday, the news got out that the City of Portland has proposed a design contest to redesign PortlandOnline.
From Silicon Florist:
Now, you can try as hard as you might, but few things can be as insulting to people as telling them their work is worthless. Which is basically what the City is doing by asking for designers to work on spec.
Web developers, graphic artists and visionaries to transform the navigation and design of PortlandOnline, the city’s primary web presence. Winners will be fully credited on the website for their work – a website that receives over two million visits a month and includes over 140,000 pages.
That’s right. Or to paraphrase, that work that you do? It isn’t worth anything more than a link.
And today came a response from the Portland Advertising Federation’s President, Jerry Ketel — The City Should Know Better:
This is simply the wrong way to go about designing an important communication tool in our fair city. The idea of this kind of contest is a perfect example of how much the city fathers value the contribution of the design community in Portland. I am certain that there is a very good Web design firm here in town who would work for pennies on the dollar to help the City of Portland to polish its presence on the internet. Not only would they provide design look and feel, but they would provide navigation and strategic expertise. This is Portland after all, craftsmanship is in our DNA. Our community wants to be a seen as a creative magnet in the world—it is a source of pride. So why don’t our elected leaders get that?
and:
Now is the time for the Portland creative services industries to rise up and plant a flag in the sand. We need to be recognized for the contribution we make to our city. We should start by writing letters and emails to the city about this disrespectful contest. And then we need to join together and strategize how we can become a force that cannot be ignored. It is time.
While this is not happening here in Idaho, it is an issue that shouldn’t be ignored. I’d encourage those of you with contacts in the Portland area to get involved, and make their voices heard. Contact the PAF or the City of Portland.
Jerry is right: It is time.