Author Archives: Emily Bontje
Emily Bontje | Critical Mass Calgary
A whole new crop of interns has invaded CM, across the Calgary, Toronto, and Chicago offices recently. There are currently 28 of us, in every department, ranging from high schoolers to twenty-something career changers.
The wily bunch of CM interns from our Calgary office.
Around this time of year, this is common in the ad industry, with most agencies offering an internship program to share practical examples of the lessons learned in university classrooms. Since I have now been a CM intern for over 6 months (time flies!) I started a list of tips to help new interns get the most out of their summer internship adventures. (A hint: They all revolve around learning as much as you can and having the right attitude!)
Here is my top ten list to help interns succeed:
- Learn about the company. Whenever I had down time, I spent a lot of time checking out CM Work and creative reels to learn about some of the projects that happened long before my time. I particularly loved the work we did for Gucci and Budweiser; it really reinforced for me what a cool company this is! As well, learning about how the entire company works, rather than just your particular role can really help verify what you do and do not want to do when you’re finally ready for the full-time position.
- Learn about the industry. If you have time in your first few weeks, browse the agency Library to see what the rest of the marketing world is thinking about. Read industry books and blogs from the likes of David Ogilvy, Howard Gossage, and Luke Sullivan to increase your knowledge and get your wheels spinning.
- Learn about your client. Scour the website. Watch out for their advertising. Learn about their products. Listen when friends and family talk about their experiences with that brand. This immersion will help you become a brand advocate who is more passionate about what you do.
- Learn as much as possible about your position. Understand where you fit in the project process. Ask your team for suggestions on useful tools and resources to do your job efficiently. One particularly helpful suggestion I can give is to re-read your job description after a month to see how it compares to what you’ve been doing, and if there are areas you haven’t yet gotten into where you can offer to help. Observe everything, keep your ears open and ask for feedback.
- Start making friends. Not just at the company, but network with the vendors and partner agencies you work with. And make sure you have at least one solid relationship in every department. This will really help you when you need to figure out how a program works or what file type you need. When people know you they are also more likely to respond to your urgent emails for help. Being so outgoing may not be easy for everyone, but it’s amazing who you can meet in the lunchroom, at a group yoga class or at social outings…networking is not only for people outside your company!
Emily Bontje | Critical Mass Calgary
Two weeks ago, I received an awesome opportunity to attend The Art of Marketing Conference in Calgary, compliments of Critical Mass. I was actually so excited that I canceled a trip to B.C. with my mom! I had read about this conference in Marketing Magazine, and I knew that one of the speakers was Mitch Joel, whose social media blog I subscribe to on a daily basis. Nicole Armstrong blogged last week about her takeaways on brand promises and customer engagement (read her post). However, the message that resonated most with me came not from the social media experts or the young technology wizards, but from a man who’s been in the business longer than I’ve been alive.
Sir Ken Robinson is a 60-year-old British man with a dry sense of humour and a passion for passion. He didn’t come on to the stage with props and pizzazz, but with a limp and a story about his flight being delayed. And I instantly liked him. After five wonderful speakers of the day talking about “what’s next” and the future of marketing and Web 2.0 and why you “must be on Twitter”, Sir Ken got back to the core themes of creativity and finding your passion.
Sir Ken talks about “The Element” as “the point at which natural talent meets personal passion.” When you are in your element, you will feel the most inspired and achieve at your highest levels, unleashing your imagination and creativity to excel in your field. Now sure, we’ve all heard this before, but it’s just not feasible for us to all be rock stars and World Cup soccer players. We grow out of those dreams about the same time we stop shopping in the kid’s department. But this is where Sir Ken has something new to say.
If we’re talking about dreams… Personally, if I could have any job in the world, I would be on Broadway. I’ve been singing and dancing since I could walk, and nothing excites me like being center stage in full costume with bright lights shining and an audience hanging on my every word. So, when I started university four years ago, I had a choice: I could take the practical, safe road with a Business degree, or I could chase my dreams and pursue a music or performance degree. Although I was fortunate enough to have parents who would have supported me in any path, I chose business. Does this make me a sell out? I think not. And Sir Ken agrees.
I purchased a copy of his book The Element, and as Sir Ken was signing it I briefly explained my situation. His simple response, “But music is always going to be part of your life, isn’t it?” This is very true. I still sing in choirs, audition for every community theatre musical I can, and I recently returned from a 2-week trip to New York to study music, where I saw 10 Broadway musicals and visited 5 famous jazz clubs. By finding a career in marketing–which I love–I am allowed the opportunity to pursue music on the side, without the added stress of relying on it for my next paycheck. If I had chosen music as my career, I most likely would not have the opportunity to learn about the world of marketing. Not to mention CM is every bit as creative as any theatre group (minus the costumes and group choreography). Now, I seem to have found the best of both worlds. As Sir Ken would say, I have found my Element!
Now my question for you: Have you found your Element?
Emily is an Account Management intern in the CM Calgary office, working on Nissan and Infiniti accounts.
Emily Bontje | Critical Mass Calgary
After my first post (A Week in the Life of a CM Intern), I got a lot of reactions about my comment that I learned more in 10 weeks at CM than in 4 years at university. I stand by my comment — in a creative, evolving, fast-paced industry like interactive marketing, the only way to stay in the game is by playing, not watching. Even the rule book changes every day, which is why courses become outdated so quickly. However, there is no question that I have gained valuable skills and ideas at university that have prepared me for my career at Critical Mass. And, thanks to the wonders of the Co-operative Education program, I will go back to school for my last year starting in September, applying my new thoughts, my new experiences, and becoming a better student and employee.
Here are some of the similarities and differences I have noticed between University and CM in my past 4 months:
THE SAME:
- Sometimes, you have to work with difficult people. You don’t have a choice, and you can’t throw a tantrum. You just have to deal with it.
- Marketing 101: “What does the customer want, and how can we give it to them?” This is still the main question we try to address in Account Services, but the answer isn’t usually black and white.
- People dread PowerPoint presentations. So keep them brief, visual, and don’t read off of them.
- Knowing how to work with Excel (and other applications) will come in very handy. Learn the hotkeys and the formulas and you will make friends quickly.
- The parties always make for fun and crazy times (just check out the pictures from CMMY’s if you don’t believe me!)
THE DIFFERENT:
- There is no marking schematic for how to get an “A”. Sometimes you will do your very best work and the client will just hate it.
- Processes are faster, hotter, and crazier. There is no time for an hour-long interview with each stakeholder on their ultimate goals for each project. Briefs, Statements of Work, and creative reviews often need to happen on limited information under very short timelines.
- The project triangle (schedule-scope-cost) taught in university states that when one element increases, another must decrease. This is never satisfactory. There is always a pressure to do more, with less time and less money.
- Unlike university, the course never ends. There is never a “Phewph-glad that semester is done!” The project may end, but the relationships and results will live on.
- I am not only accountable for myself, and my grade. I am representing CM as a whole. Particularly on Account Services, I am part of the team responsible for keeping our client happy.
I remember when I started at CM I was amazed by the number of business grads in the company. I had assumed (blindly, of course) that everyone who worked in an agency had a working knowledge of PhotoShop and could pull brilliant creative concepts out of thin air. I was worried that I did not have the necessary technical skills to thrive in this industry, until I met a great deal of young CMers with similar degrees and backgrounds to myself. This encouraged me to use this opportunity to pick up the technical skills they don’t teach in university. While it may seem trivial, I am proud to say I can now discern a .FLA from a .SWF, and a .PSD from a .TIF. I can talk to developers and designers, and actually know what I am asking them. Not that I necessarily understand the response. I have also seen the inside workings of a Content Management System, learned about liabilities, media buying, asset management, and learned to speak a whole new language of acronyms. This is the stuff they just don’t teach you in university.
My experience as an intern is part of my education, so it’s really not fair to split up “work” and “school” in such basic terms. What I do know is that I’m learning something new every single day!
Emily is an Account Management intern in the CM Calgary office, working on Nissan and Infiniti accounts.
Emily Bontje | Critical Mass Calgary
I have learned more in the past 10 weeks as a Critical Mass intern than I have learned in 4 years of university. This is not your typical internship. I have never once been asked to make a pot of coffee or pick up dry-cleaning. My job does not consist of merely shadowing senior employees or of acting as a fly on the wall in meetings (although that can be really interesting!). I was thrown into the business head-first and told to swim. The result is that I have had opportunities to personally lead meetings with our clients, participate in high-level account planning, attend executive presentations on the future direction of CM, meet the president and CEO, and be part of a team that’s doing something BIG! Here are some of the highlights from last week:
Monday: Start of a new week. Free breakfast in the Bistro every morning. Assist in the orientation for one of our new Account Managers who will be moving to Nashville at the end of the week. Get caught up from the weekend, because with a big product launch coming, people never stop working! Collect updates from the Project Managers on all open projects to prepare for the weekly client status meeting. Afternoon meeting with VP’s and team leads to discuss a huge new project I will be managing to enable cross-office integration.
Tuesday: Track down images and files for the client–client requests are top priority. Handle 9-1-1 calls for the impending site launch. Free Italian lunch buffet because the executive team is in town…mmm. Weekly Status Meeting with client, have to make sure all project deliverables are buttoned up and requests are responded to immediately. Fiscal year is coming to a close, so we need to make sure everything is organized, completed, signed, billed, and filed by the end of the month. All with 3 major projects going live at the same time.
Wednesday: Presentation from executive management on the 3-year plan for Critical Mass. Presidents and CEO chat openly about our work, offices, accounts, growth, and new pitches. Definitely not your typical corporate spiel… and no sign of a recession here! 60-100 people hired by September. And the best part? They want fresh new talent! Finish off with beer and chips in the Bistro. Leave pretty darn excited and call my friend to tell her to apply. Up until 2:30 am to assist with a client deliverable. Really feel part of the agency life now!
