The New Beginning of Men

Men have been a focus of our culture lately. And not in a good way. Many say that men are coming to terms with a new male identity. One that’s difficult to define, but is less macho and more about finding confidence through realism, balance and self-awareness.

Many things have caused men to question their worth and find a new role in their family and in society. The recession (often called a mancession since it impacted more male-driven jobs than women-driven jobs) has removed the security from the equation. No longer does hard work lead to achievement which leads to success which leads to security. That’s not a sure bet. Today, more feminine skills help people succeed in business, like empathy, teamwork, communication, negotiation and relationships. Clinical Psychologist David Wexler says that, “while men are under assault like never before, with a barrage of stats about how they’re falling behind women, they are embracing change with humor and equanimity.” But, men are having trouble finding their footing amidst shifting relationship dynamics. They’re trying to find a way to relate intelligently, be sensitive parents, manage their emotional needs with more consciousness and depth while still trying to feel like men.

But men have been evolving since agencies have been targeting them. Nothing new, right? Well, not really. The real added layer of complexity that is unprecedented in history is the cultural and social stratification of men today. What should marketers do? Help them! Instead of speaking to yesterday’s male stereotypes or consoling them with inauthentic messaging, brands should be helping them feel independent, valued, respected, strong and inspired. Recognize the new Journeymen mindset. There’s no shortage of advice out there for men in the form of books, magazines and news stories from all sorts of experts. But men will find their way. And the brands that are part of that will be the brands that win.

Sources: Iconoculture, Gads of secondary reading, 22squared proprietary anthropological study

Calling All 2012 Summer Intern Hopefuls!

Route 22, 22squared’s summer internship program, is the ultimate intern challenge! It’s opportunity, collaboration and discovery—a true industry immersion. Interns will receive course credit for their time and talent, and hands-on agency experience in the following areas (see 2012 Intern Department Descriptions for details on each department):

• Brand Planning
• Campaign Management (Atlanta Only)
• Client Leadership (Atlanta Only)
• Client Performance (Atlanta Only)
• Creative/Design (Tampa Only)
• Human Resources (Atlanta Only)
• Information Technology (Atlanta Only)
• Media Buying
• Media Planning
• Search (Atlanta Only)
• Social Media (Atlanta Only)

Route 22 will be in session May 30–August 1 in Atlanta, and May 21–July 27 in Tampa. Exact dates are flexible within these windows.

For more information, or to be considered for the program:
1.  Confirm with a professor/dean that you are eligible to participate in an academic class credit internship, and collect the following information regarding guidelines:

• Academic requirements (weekly journal, final paper or evaluation, etc.)
• Hours required for credit
• Available start date and end date
• Hours available per week

2.  Visit this site to fill out a quick survey and receive resume submission instructions: 2012 Route 22 Survey (If the link does not work, copy and paste this URL into your browser’s address bar: https://www.zoomerang.com/Survey/WEB22EJETH7W8X)

Deadline to apply is Monday, February 27, 2012

The Road To Self-Publishing: Standing Out

Back in the day (which was a Wednesday, FYI) when you wrote something and sent it to all of the publishers you could think of. They would all reject you and you’d drink yourself half to death. Every so often a publisher would send back your manuscript and say “try again in six months”. After years and years a publisher would finally say “If we promise to publish something, will you stop bothering us?” Thus, an author is born! The publisher then took over and made sure your book got into stores and reviewers got free copies. Fame and fortune followed shortly after.

But gone are the days of toiling and dealing with rejection at the hands of agents who just “don’t get you.” Now anyone (and from browsing Amazon’s self-publishing section I mean ANYONE) can publish a work with minimal effort. It’s a double edged sword. People who have a gift can get their name out there much easier, but they have to compete with hordes of Game Of Thrones fan fiction and dubiously researched exposés on “Why Craig in Apt 2B is a Dick.” I’ve read tons of articles about how to rise above the crowd. They all mention the same things.

A captivating cover
A informative, provocative blurb
Good reviews

(Curiously, “write a good story that people will want to read” isn’t mentioned. I’d like to think it’s because it’s a given but… )

I’ve got a cover. I’m working on a blurb. And I’m going to be giving away copies of my book to people to write reviews. Amazon also lets you play around with pricing and promotions surrounding your book. You can give it away for a certain period on their site and gain exposure that way. No matter what, it seems if you really work at it, you can succeed in the world of self-publishing. At least that’s what I’m telling myself.

Next Time: Royalties. AKA, can I quit my day job?

The Road to Self-Publishing: The Cover

I should be editing. Really. Seriously guys. Instead, I went ahead and designed the cover. I really hope this is what I end up calling the book, that’d be embarrassing.

The Road to Self-Publishing: Peer Review

The funny thing about writing is that even though it is a completely solitary activity, anything you write is only written for other people to read. And no matter what any writer tells you, that’s terrifying. When you first open the doors for a select few to take a peek inside what’s been swimming around your head for months (or years) you have to pick the right people.

The Candidates

My Mom
She’ll say it’s great and Harper Collins should buy it immediately and turn it into a movie. Not that she’s wrong, but at this stage I need tough love. She’ll have to wait.

My Girlfriend
I know she’ll be honest, but I’m happy with our relationship as it is right now. She’ll get the final draft.

My Best Friend
I’ve known him for years, and know he honest almost to a fault. But he knows me better than anyone else, so he’ll know what to do to make the book sing in my own voice. He’s in.

My Fellow Copywriters
Two shoe-ins. They write, they know what good writing looks like, and how to make okay writing great writing. Plus I’ve always wanted to sit around with my fellow writers with cigars and rum and pontificate about writing. I’ll charter a boat to Cuba and we can pretend to be like Hemmingway.

My Boss
This is the scary one. He judges my writing every day, so I’m comfortable getting an honest opinion from him. At the same time he’s not afraid to tell me to scrap everything and start over. If I don’t hear that I know I’ve got something worth sharing.

Editing is taking longer than I thought it would. Hopefully I’ll send out copies to these four people by the New Year and give them a few weeks to read it over. I’ll miss publishing by my January 20th birthday, but I’m learning good work takes time.

Next: Publishing. Or: How much will I have to pay to print my book.

22squared Wins Best Agency for Social Media

2011 has been, in many ways, an eventful year for all of us at 22squared. So the opportunity to represent our agency at the iMedia Agency Summit and the 2011 iMedia Agency Awards came as a much-needed experience to network with industry peers and refresh my perspective on the industry landscape. The best part of the experience, however, was having the incredible honor of accepting our award for Best Agency for Social Media.

While it absolutely humbles me to think that just two years ago, I was just a college kid sitting in advertising class, that same thought also invigorates me as I consider just how far I’ve come since then. I couldn’t have asked for a better place to begin my career than at 22squared. As the second hire to come aboard a budding social media department, being honored with an award that declares 22squared as the Best Agency for Social Media speaks volumes not only in regard to how much impact our social team has been able to have on the industry, but also to the agility and innovation of an agency with a rich history in traditional advertising. What excites me the most about 22squared being recognized as a leader in the social media space is that, as a team, we all know that this is only the beginning. The best is, truly, yet to come.

This year’s iMedia Agency Summit was my first iMedia experience, and I must say, the event was very well organized. Here are three things I appreciated most about the event:

1. 1:1 networking sessions coordinated ahead of time. I appreciate it when reps do their homework and try to approach me as an individual, as opposed to just another agency with money to spend. But ultimately, I’m a sucker for efficiency. The quick, 10-minute format for the 1:1 sessions was just the right amount of time to develop rapport and provide information regarding the agency’s needs and the seller’s offerings. Often times at industry events, I’ll end up being conversationally pinned down by a single sales rep that will not let me go. The 1:1 rotating format at the iMedia Agency Summit allowed agency people to be free of any obligatory conversational pressure and instead, get straight to the chase. At the end of the 1:1 sessions, I ended up with a three-inch stack of business cards from various companies, many of which I plan to follow up with in the coming weeks.

2. Seller variety. I’m in the middle of my transition from a strategist working purely in the social space, to one who works across digital as a whole to ensure cohesion and connectedness among brand experiences. Throughout this process, I’ve been introduced to all sorts of technology companies. As someone whose role it is to act as a strategic bridge among the various departments within our agency, the variety of sellers—from mobile ad networks, to location-based behavioral targeting, to cloud-based creative optimization—present at the iMedia Agency Summit allowed me to immerse myself in many different sectors of the digital advertising landscape.

3. Collaboration among buyers and sellers. This event truly brought both sides together. There was a sense of mutual appreciation among buyers and sellers that pervaded the entire event. This collaborative atmosphere isn’t promoted enough in the industry, and the folks at iMedia Connection deserve much appreciation and respect for the types of relationships they’re striving to foster among agencies and vendors. It’s apparent they understand the importance of developing strategic partnerships among sellers and agencies, and I applaud them for all the hard work they put into organizing the iMedia Agency Summit.

I didn’t even go into how beautiful the resort was, or how decadent and lavish the receptions were, because content and business opportunities are much more important when evaluating events like this. I’d definitely consider attending more iMedia events and wouldn’t hesitate for a moment to recommend it to any of my peers. Be sure to check out iMedia’s upcoming summits.

The Road to Self-Publishing: Editing

“His eyes sparkled like sparking things that I’ll come back and fill in later when I think of something good.”

When you write the first draft of anything you simply vomit your thoughts onto the page. If you try to write gorgeous prose the first time around you’ll never finish. You’ll spend hours polishing the perfect metaphor and three years later you’re clipping coupons out of the “Savvy Shopper” mailer you used to throw out and think to yourself “what happened?”

But once that first draft is done you have to back and craft and refine and rename all the characters you named “Donald” (For the record I named 3 people “Donald.” I didn’t even realize.) It’s tough reading something YOU wrote that makes you feel embarrassed to be a writer. But that’s why YOU take an axe to your manuscript first.

In “On Writing” Stephen King talks about writing with the “door closed” and with the “door open.” The first draft and the first few rounds of rewrites are writing with the door closed. No one, and I mean NO ONE is allowed to look at my words during this period. It’s still fragile, and isn’t fit for public consumption. It’s only after you go through it several times, changing, rearranging, scrapping whole chapters until you start to feel confident that you have something worth reading. Then you open the door and let someone you trust very much to be honest, but still offer encouragement to take a red pen and start ripping apart your precious story.

Next time: Peer Edits – or – “Please (don’t) be honest.”

The Road to Self-Publishing: Intro

While the rest of my coworkers grew out the peach fuzz on their lips for Movember, I took a different challenge. November is National Novel Writing Month (according to someone, I don’t know who), so I set out to write a work of fiction. 30 days. 50,000 words, a fifth of rum, and about six bags of discounted Halloween candy later I have a serviceable first draft.

Believe it or not the actual act of writing seems to be the easiest part of taking a book from an idea to holding it in your hand. Editing. Rewrites. Proofing. Printing. Promotion. You can’t just throw something on Amazon the second you write “The End.”

The first two; editing and rewrites are on me. I’ll have to pull favors from 4 or 5 of my writer friends to give my book a look and hand out pointers. Then I’ll take their notes and work the best advice into the rewrites. This will continue until I feel like the story is ready to go to a professional copy-editor.

Up until this point I’ve spent $0.00 (not including beer and halloween candy). Proofing, Printing, and Promotion will cost quite a bit, and I’ll be exploring a variety of different avenues for each. I’ll use this blog over the next couple of months to detail my experience with the entire process of self-publishing. Hopefully at the end I’ll be able to link my book on Amazon for all to buy and enjoy.

Next week: Editing. Or, “What the heck was I writing?”

The Future of Social Media – Mashable Summit

Pete Cashmore of Mashable kicks things off with trends to watch as we move into next year. Enjoy.The Future of Social Media.

Worst Logo Ever Created

I was reading an article this morning on the 8 worst fonts in the world via fastcodesign.com. My eyes practically threw up as the screen came to life. The London 2012 logo may be the worst logo ever created. Sometimes fashion and style are allowed to come back. But at the moment, the horrific 80′s style ski graphics are checked out. Hopefully forever. If you are a designer looking to improve your skills, do the opposite of this logo. Now, to cleanse your palette, click here.