Three weeks isn’t long enough—this is my immediate thought
as I finish up my last day at *honest Agency. I mean, it has beer Fridays and
cookie runs to Winnipeg Square! I could do this for weeks!
But in all seriousness, I’m graduating—and three weeks prior,
I was very nervous.
CreComm, while nerve-racking, foreboding and stressful, is school
and school is a warm security blanket for students. The real world is the
person who rips that security blanket away, forcing you to face room
temperature for what it is.
My first day at *honest went by very quickly. I met Sherril
and Callum briefly before they went to a meeting for Lake Friendly (a campaign
I got to work on and contribute to). The morning consisted of getting to know
the lovely ladies of *honest (Josie, Kerrie, Melissa and Roberta) and graphic
design intern Eric.
At lunch, we all ate, talked and I admired Roberta’s leftovers
from a wedding shower she hosted over the weekend.
Every Monday, *honest has a production meeting, which
usually happens in the morning, but this time it happened in the afternoon. I
thoroughly enjoyed the meetings because while it was business, Sherril and
Callum took the time to ask each of us how our weekends went. Meetings also
covered television shows (Mad Men, Game of Thrones) followed by, “SHHH!
SPOILERS!” It was important to not ruin it for those without cable television.
During my placement, I worked on press releases, conducted
research, made cold calls and edited documents for *honest’s collaboration with
Lake Friendly to save Lake Winnipeg—a huge project that will launch in June. I
also wrote a blog post on micro-camera contact lens, and while it was supposed
to be positive, it nevertheless ended up sounding like the beginning of Nineteen Eighty-Four.
Josie, who I made my unofficial mentor, was also my desk
neighbor and fellow CreComm grad. We bonded over Lake Friendly and ways to
guerilla market the campaign all over Winnipeg. Some ideas were better than
others.
I had an awesome time at *honest and there were many
instances over the last few weeks that I feel eased my transition from a warm
swath of blanket to partial nakedness. I know that the kind of bosses I want to
have will be like Sheril and Callum: smart, supportive and funny.
I also know that lunch beers and Jimmy Fallon are imperative
to TGIF afternoons at the office.
