Brandcenter Strategist Brains- Hollaaaa!

Here's an update: 

My fellow classmates Culture Standpoints paper can be viewed HERE. So proud of them all! It looks great and has some really smart, cutting edge ideas, opinions and thinking represented. 

In previous blogs you may remember me mentioning da Vinci Center for Product Design and Innovation. It's what I did in place of my Cultural Standpoint. Here's an update on that: we were invited to present to the Sweedish team. Whoop. I start my first days of work so I can't be there to present but I'm proud of my group and know they will do exceptionally well. If the Sweedish team likes it, there's a chance they'll pick up our innovation idea. So cool! Fingers crossed! Too bad I'm legally bound and can't talk to anyone about it (although, it's completely understandable)... Here's a picture of the product we worked on for a nice tease and eyebrow raise :) It's called the Alfie 500 and I know an absurd and amusing amount of information about this product's design, functionality and market opportunities, the industry it operates in and everything there in between. 

A Master Looking for Job.

It's official. I'm a graduate of the VCU Brandcenter. Two years of tears, a bit of sweat and some blood in the mix. Those paper-cuts and humid Virginia weather. So much for a Sweet Virginia Breeze...

Anyways, I've learned a lot. Heard a lot of people talk about a lot. Formed a lot of opinions. Met a lot of people in the industry. Pulled a lot of all nighters. It's all been a lot. 

But a lot isn't enough. It's time to get a job.

Here's my thoughts:

The people are more important than the place. I want to work for someone who wants to see me grow, wants to hear my ideas and values my opinions. I also want to work for someone who believes that some rules were meant to be broken and has a renegade, risk taking spirit. Most importantly, I want to surround myself with people who are inspired by their jobs and carry that energy with them throughout their day. 

There's so much out there it's almost hard to focus. There are design firms that need planning, consulting firms that dabble in management, traditional advertising agencies, brand development agencies, experiential brand firms, firms that specialize in all things digital, product development firms that are human centered, research arms of companies, branding arms of companies, non-profits that need marketing, trend tracking firms, and qualitative consumer research firms. 

I'd be happy to put my foot in any one of those doors so long as the people who work there are interested in and actively trying to infuse their company, culture and end product with innovative services, products, philosophies that push creativity and provide end users with utility. 

Hopefully I'll find what I'm looking for. Wish me luck on my job search!

Big Day At Brandcenter

Today is Part I of the Brandcenter's recruiter session. 

Hello to all of you recruiters reading this! 

Welcome to the Brandcenter and thank you for coming.

Hopefully I'll get a chance to talk to you at some point over the next couple of days. In the meantime, if you have a moment, scroll through this page to check out what I've been thinking and writing about.