Portland Ad Federation (PAF) presentation verges on preachy

So, today, while the rest of Portland, Oregon, was basking in beautiful, sunny 80 degree weather, I was forcing some poor young design students to bask in the fire and brimstone of my views on marketing communications. Little did they know when they innocently registered to attend the Portland Advertising Federation (PAF) Career Jam that they would have to listen to me drone on and on and on about the state of the corporate marketing communications role.

That, in and of itself, will serve to be a valuable lesson for them.

I had the pleasure of serving on a panel with Lars Lofas, Vice President, Marketing, Comcast; Jeri Owen, Senior Director, Corporate Marketing & Communications, Digimarc Corporation; and Mike Fitzsimons, Graphic Designer, Digimarc Corporation. They, unfortunately, had the displeasure of competing with my constant blathering for airtime. (There are two basic problems with putting me on a panel: 1) I like the sound of my own voice, and 2) I think I have incredibly interesting things to say. This, my gentle reader, should not come as any shock if you poke around the archives of good ol' hypocritical.)

And, I have to commend Lynnette Xanders of Wild Alchemy for her attempts to keep me in check. It was a valiant attempt at moderation and direction. Unfortunately, my babbling is like kryptonite to most moderators.

I've said it many a time; I'll say it again: Brevity. Not my strong suit.

Although the glazed looks of the attendees led me to believe otherwise, I have been talking myself into believing that I made one, maybe two, cogent points during my babbling. Since making a point tends to be a momentous occasion for me, I thought I'd capture those points for posterity. Join me in reveling, won't you?

Nobody likes ugly
If you're going to work in Portland, Oregon, in marketing communications, it's highly likely that you're going to be doing some high-tech work. Sure sure. You'll get the random Nike account, like building Join Bode or something, or the Adidas gig, or the Columbia job. Maybe even Keen (which, by the way, has only ever so recently updated their site from the unbelievable horrible site they were running; please visit to encourage them to continue to improve). But for the most part? High-tech, high-tech, and, um, high-tech. It's all over the place here. And what's the primary problem with high-tech, young designers? That's right. Most everything in high-tech is ugly. Ugly ugly ugly. In fact there is so much ugly in high-tech, some people will try to tell you that the market actually, and I quote, "likes ugly." Um, no. This is complete bull... hogwash. Nobody likes ugly. They may have gotten used to ugly, but they don't like ugly. People want pretty. And you, as designers, are obligated to continue to strive toward delivering that. Clean. Simple. Pretty. It's your obligation.

One resume = No jobs
Send me the same resume that you send everyone else and I can guarantee you won't get the job you want. Every resume for every position for which you apply should be customized for that position. If you don't take the time to tweak (read "spin") your resume for the position I've posted, I'm not going to take the time to hire you. All you've shown me is that you either a) don't care enough to spend the time and energy to actually apply for the position or b) you don't understand what I need and you're lobbing in your resume as some lame attempt to hit the jackpot by sheer force of will. Sorry. If you don't rework your resume to tell a story that reflects the selfsame criteria I've told you I want, you lose. And deserve to lose. That's like getting the answers to the test and then deciding to fill in the answers to another test.

It's not what you know; it's who you know
Portland, Oregon, is an incredibly small town. In the marketing communications business, it's a closely packed hamlet at best. A one-stoplight town. Everyone knows everyone. It borders on ridiculous. The rumor mill I had to withstand in college was less informed than the Portland marketing community. Chances are, if I don't know you, I know someone who knows you. And if no one knows you? That's a problem. So network network network. I have yet to find a job in Portland that wasn't a direct result of a personal or professional connection opening doors for me. Now, I like to think that I've got chops to make it in this town, but I'm not fooling myself. References are huge. So join organizations. Join the PAF. Network. Join the AIGA. Network. Join Kent Lewis and the PDXMindShare crowd. Network. Get to know the community. Let the community know you. So the next time I call on my network to give me some feedback on you they can tell me some stories. I don't even care if they're positive. I just want to know you're a known entity.

And that was my little rant. See? You got a summary... Well, I hesitate to call it a summary because you sat here reading it as long as those kids had to sit and listen to me rail on and on. But, you get the picture.

See? I do provide some valuable information. Every once in awhile. I'm also available for weddings and bar mitzvahs. Book early. First come, first served.

Technorati tags: Portland Advertising Federation,Portland Ad Federation, PAF, Portland, Design, Marketing, Marketing Communications, PDXMindShare