By Marc Lewis

 

SUNDAY SUMMARY SCAB

 

 

This summary of the week serves to help you to reflect on another crazy week at SCA. I hope that it helps to give you a bit more structure towards unguided reflection (if that isn’t too oxymoronic).

 

I will write one of these for you every weekend, as long as I can see it helping you.  One of the ways that I can recognise it helping is in your SCABs.  Don’t get me wrong; I enjoy many of them. But I would love to read more reflective SCABs.

 

As a reader, I want to listen to you describing pennies dropping.

 

As a mentor, I feed on hearing those pennies drop.

 

As a student at any other ad school, you offer me a chance to learn something that I might not learn where I am.

 

So this is the first week of an experiment.

 

Please excuse typo’s (sorry Daisy!) in these reports. I can’t expect Rachel to proof read for me every weekend.

 

 

Tuesday

 

Marc – First Town Hall

 

Term 2 started with a talk from Marc, including a new sign-off process for working on briefs.  The sign-off sheets reveal the schedule ahead, so Fat Penguins are even more empowered to plan and manage their time.

 

SCA made a commitment to Fat Penguins that it would try very hard to avoid scheduling master classes in afternoons or on days that work is being presented.

 

I alluded to a Treasure Hunt.  I really hope that you find your first clue on Monday!

 

I offered you the chance to see me for a new Self Journal.  Five of you asked for a second book. Only 13% of the room claimed a FREE productivity tool.  Hey, ho.

 

I asked to see your Portfolios, in teams, with 6 of your Christmas poster campaigns in your book, in order of personal preference, and I extended the deadline when I realised that you interpreted this to mean that you needed to tart-up your scamps.

 

The quality of scamps that I saw were (in general) very, very promising. There were some good drawings, good layouts, good lines.  One or two good ideas.  We need to start reaching out for more unexpected ideas, and more entrepreneurial ideas, whilst keeping things simple.

 

Every book has at least two poster campaigns that have the potential to become an integrated campaign.  This will become helpful for targets that Marc will set on Friday.

 

Two master classes on day one.

 

You lucky penguins were treated to some fantastic classes on your first week back, kicking off with Adam Collins, followed by Uri Baruchin. Both are brilliant, inspiring, successful, creative thinkers and wonderful speakers, so I look forward to reading some of your reflections.

 

• You met a top class creative team and then a very well respected planner, on your first day of 2017 at SCA ­­– and both sessions seemed pivoted around the concept of purpose.

 

• The first session offered valuable life lessons how to carpe diem from someone who genuinely did seize the day as a student, in pursuit of happiness, working towards the top of an industry in which he has always had been more than a bit of a creative geek. And continues to do so.

 

• The second session offered frameworks to help you with strategy, where Uri started out by demonstrating how life is full of mess, with consumers searching for meaning. He then went on to share so many tools to help us.

 

 

 

Wednesday

 

John Jessop

 

You had a master class from a proper legend this morning. JJ shared his ten commandments, and then his energy in making things happen outside of advertising with a early screening of his new film.  He is still making things happen, even in retirement.

 

We were reminded of this energy to make things happen when we met Ross on Friday.

 

 

Thursday

 

I shared the METRO brief the night before it was due, to give you a head start to research and think about ideas.

 

The ideas and presentations were not as good as you are.

 

One of my reflections this week was to consider whether setting you the brief the night before, over Slack, contributed towards you being complacent about the brief.  I am hoping it’s just that you hadn’t woken up yet.  You need to start treating every brief as if it is an opportunity for you to become famous for making incredibly successful work.

 

Stu from Creature

 

I hope you agree that this was one of those master classes that you will remember for a very long time. Stu’s class seemed to amplify many of the lessons learned on Tuesday around having purpose, energy and opinions.

 

I wondered how many of you took up Stu’s challenge and sent him an email. Even better, how many are sending him something handwritten?

 

Stu shared some killer tips on strategy, building on previous classes that you have had with other mentors.

 

It hopefully feels like we are building up towards Fat Penguins having a term of killer ideas , formed through empathetic thinking, articulated in a well written creative brief, and delivered across a divergence of unexpected but brilliantly relevant channels.

 

Problem. Solution. Relevant abruption.

 

 

Workshop with Victoria Hogg

 

You went to this without me, so I wasn’t there to watch you or take notes.

 

So I am even more keen to read your reflections or your notes.

 

 

Friday

Ross Bailey

The day started with a talk from one of our alumni, Ross Bailey.  He’s 24 and a multi-millionaire, already investing in other people’s ideas.

I shared 10 lessons that I felt we could learn from Ross, but I am interested to hear what you learned. 

If you only take a few lessons from this brilliant young man, let it be that he became a thorough geek in a boring industry of commercial property, he continuously steps out of his comfort zone to make things happen, and he is both hungry enough and humble enough to want to be better every day.

 

Portfolio master class

I ran a master class on how to develop and design a portfolio, setting SMART targets to help you achieve success.  I suggested that you print out the timeline that I have written for you, or write your own.

If you follow my timeline, you should have at least two basic campaigns in your book by the end of w/c 16^th Jan.   You might be stretching some good thinking from a few of your Christmas poster scamp.  You should be starting to build your own A-to-Z of SMPs.  Feeding your portfolio with scamps.

Trust that quantity leads to quality, and that practice makes perfect.

With good practice and feedback, you will develop the skills and the confidence, so that you can write an entirely new book within a couple of weeks by the end of the course.

 

General

Poker Chips

I introduced the concept of poker chips on Tuesday. Augustine earned one from Ian, and Jesse has earned one for getting two topical ads out already.

Friday Reflection

I want to thank you for putting so much energy into making some really great slides.  I hope that you take up my suggestion of making your slide your desktop for a while, so that you keep reminding yourself how you want to embrace the term.

How To Win SCA

Whilst wrapping-up Friday Reflections, I mentioned a SCAB written by Adam Newby, which you really need to read, and re-read, and re-read.  So here is the link. https://www.schoolcommunicationarts.com/how-to-win-sca/