The Windy City

Alright, it's about time I blog about my business trip from this week to Chicago.

Sooo, Chicago is pretty darn cold. My flight got delayed and as soon as I looked at the news I knew why - the first big snowstorm of '08! A little daunting for this cold-natured Texas girl. ;)

But all was well and I only got in about an hour and a half after I was supposed to. I made my way to the swank Park Hyatt and was soon out on the cold and windy streets to find food and friends. It feels so awesome to know people all over the place! I spent some time catching up with a few undergrad and grad friends who have moved to Chicago to work at big important ad and media agencies...

The whole time I just felt like we had all made it - we worked toward this goal and we were finally there.

Monday night, I slept in probably the most comfortable bed I have ever been in and all day Tuesday was devoted to my seminar.

I was able to go to the AAAA Quantitative Research Seminar conducted by two Hall & Partners researchers. We went over the basics of the research process, different types of research, and we did activities related to writing and responding to a Request for Proposal (RFP) - basically, a request for research answered by a research proposal.

The thing I enjoyed the most about this trip was that I knew I would start to meet other junior planners. I got to talk to several people and was really impressed by the passion and attention everyone was giving to, forgive me, a seemingly very boring topic. However, the quant stuff really is quite interesting. As much as a person can tell you a story, numbers can reveal a story of their own based on people's behavior.

Copy testing is one of the most notorious types of research but even that needs its place. Yes ads get tested in unrealistic situations but clients need the reassurance that their ads will do what they were intended to do. Does everyone use this tool correctly? Absolutely not - that's why it's so important to get a base knowledge in order to know how it is done right and how it is done well and if it's not done well how to explain the findings. It all comes back to human nature and that's what planners are out to understand.

After a long day of absorbing lots and lots of information, I headed home with a feeling that this is another level - I have grown up again. Ever have that realization? I know I had it a couple of times in college. This one felt really good because I knew I was really entering the adult world and doing it pretty well. I still have a lot to learn but I am more confident in my abilities.

This industry just keeps amazing me.