2016 Attendees

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Andrew Niemira

Senior Copywriter
Havas Worldwide New York
New York
, United States of America

Comments

It was really interesting getting to hear the various CCO's speak and share how they think and evaluate and creative work. Many of them took us through award winning work and picked apart the strategy and insight that went into it and this is always beneficial because it takes a full blown execution and pinpoints the one nugget, or initial idea that lead to said execution.

I personally enjoyed Chris Smith's presentation the most. As an avid improv fan and copywriter/comedian I particularly enjoyed his presentation on decision making, showmanship, the stages of the creative process and how to sell work to clients. I guess from a comedy standpoint his point of "turn your clients from a stand up comedy audience into an improv audience" really resonated with me and is something I can benefit from when presenting and ultimately selling my work. I think his advice on making the clients a part of the creative process and making them feel a sense of ownership to the creative work is paramount.

I also loved, loved, loved the InnerVation Lab. One of my favorite things to do outside of comedy is to brainstorm business ventures and start-ups, so this activity was one that was not only fun, somewhat scary and educational, but it was also something that is becoming more and more applicable to our industry. I think as creatives and as an industry we need to move less into simply coming up with ideas for ads and and come up with more concept business ideas that solve problems. I think that's not only something our clients are looking for, but what agencies want to sell.

All in all the week was fun, informative and a rich experience both from an educational side as well as from a networking one. I'm grateful I had the opportunity to participate and attend.