Tissue ideas: yours are for wiping crap

Some things are best learned the hard way. But really now, most things can be learned just fine the painless way, or in my case, through TV. I learned what tissue paper ideas are in the most painful way possible, when I could have gotten the lesson from the very first scene of Mad Men’s very first episode.

Don Draper’s Tissue Ideas: Better Than Mine

I happened to be hanging out with Charz in the 12th floor veranda when legendary awesome gay genius Chief Creative Officer, after his yosi break, spotted us and pulled us into an impromptu brainstorming for a pitch of apparently epic proportions. In the meeting were veterans, top art and creative directors–I think we were thrown in for variety’s sake. He gave us the brief and told us to come back in 30 minutes with tons of tissue ideas. Sounded simple enough.

So I spent the next 30 minutes jotting down ideas on my pretty gradient-colored pad (from Dijon, nonetheless) and ended up with 2-3 cool (or so I thought) taglines. CCO passes by shouting for us to regroup in his room. Everyone settles down, I’m seated on the couch right across the big boss.

CCO: (looking down at me) Okay, go.
Kim: Oh okay! So my idea is (brandishing pretty pad) blah blah blah blah…
CCO: Stop stop stop. Darling, do you know what tissue ideas are?
Kim: Mmmmnot yet.
CCO: Akin na yan (gets my pretty pad, looks at my scribbles and re-writes each tagline on separate, 1/4 letter-size scratch pieces paper). That is a tissue idea. Next.

Needless to say I was mortified, but I guess everyone else was too preoccupied with their own “tissue papers” to care about other people’s ideas. Or bloopers. One by one the non-newbies laid down tissue papers with tag lines or key visuals, each person having five to seven ideas each. I only had one. And in the wrong format. Ah well. At least I got a taste of high-pressure brainstorming early on.

Learned my lesson, life moves on! At least I didn’t almost cost the company thousands (ahem ahem accounts girl). Now I’m wondering how many mistakes I’ll have to make before I get my first advertising award.

Reverse show and tell (Part 1)

Instead of bringing something funky to work and showing it off to impress the new officemates, I’m doing the opposite–that is showing people outside work my favorite things about work. For this first installation, I’m showing off some peeples, but maybe that’s because I’m still too dyahe to actually roam around the place and snap away the awesomedawesome 35th-floor view/ interesting details in the office that everyone else already ignores.

Let’s start with…

Charz: The In-house Japanese-looking Model

Even in my first week, I already noticed Charz. Not for his long, luscious hair. Not for his bright blue eyes. Not for his cool shirts and shoes. Neigh. Charz looked very familiar in that I’ve-met-you-before way (which I feel with almost every other person in the office, weirdly enough). The day I finally do chat him up, turns out he’s also from CSA! And Ateneo! And he was THE Charles of the Chad and Charles Mendoza heartthrob twins of high school. Life, you ha, so funny talaga sometimes. Today I greeted Charz a “Happy Friendship Day!” because it is friendship day in Colegio San Agustin Makati every 20-something in August. That pretty much caps off what I loved about CSA–friendships and twin heartthrobs. One last thing about Charz: I finally found someone who talks way more than I do. Wait, that was still about me… eh. NVM.

Next!

Tipay: My Sista from Anotha Motha

Miss Tipay Caintic! So someone already thought I was Tipay. Tips, I’m sorry if anyone thought you were me. But oui. Wild hair, the cutest nose(s), shamelesss energy–trademark Amanderz and Tipperz. We have been called BFFs by a sort-of boss, probably because we don’t just look like twins, we also play the part perfectly. Lunch together, projects together, brainstorm together, (any verb or noun) together. Thank God we don’t have crushes together, otherwise, WAR NA ITO wala, we’d still be cool! Coz we cool and confident like that. Wink wink!

Week 1 at McCann

Who’s got a chance at being McCann Erickson’s newest copywriter? Huzzaaaaaah! Yours truly!

It’s the top-earning multi-national ad agency in the country, the office is in premiere address GT Tower along Ayala Avenue, and the pay isn’t bad at all! Plus, the name just sounds so good to the ear. Like Drew said, it’s “matunog.” But stop. Rewind.

I’m not celebrating yet because I’m still a temp. Yeap, they needed a senior copywriter for the job, and being a fresh graduate with no internship/work experience, and from a Management course at that, they wanted to make sure I could fill up the position without much guidance or training. (Sabi na kasi Comm na lang dapat ako back in college eh. All those degrading D’s from Accounting 101 and for what? I was going to end up in a Communication job din pala. Hay parents. They never listen.) Now I don’t mind this arrangement at all (I was even thinking of suggesting they try me out for free, just to get myself in) and it’s also a great test drive to see if I’ll enjoy driving around Don Draper’s world (errr, the 21st century version of it, of course).

One week down and it’s been good so far My creative director is still extremely busy that her schedule won’t even allow much delegation just yet. I’ve been spending more hours going through articles online on basic copywriting than actually copywriting, so it’s quite understandable that I’m genuinely looking forward to my first official overtime tomorrow! There’s going to be a client presentation on Tuesday (I won’t talk about the account here, not just because it’s probably against company rules, but I personally feel I don’t have the right to anyway, at least not yet), so we’ll be keeping the lights on in the office probably til past midnight.

The office. Ohhhman. I wish I could take a photo of my desk and post it, but that would be being possessive of it too much too soon, and if things don’t turn out as I hope, I’m sure to go through some heart-breaking separation anxiety with the workspace. That’s also why I’m restraining myself from adjusting settings on my desktop browser to my convenience, or making my own little folders for my work documents. What I can’t help is the surge of appreciation for the awesomedawesome view from the 35th floor. You can see Manila Bay from my seat, and pretty much everyone in the office has a view of Makati’s bustling streets and the prettiful sunsets.

So wish me all the luck I’ll need (and more), because I really do like the view.