During his lecture, Chris Cole discussed what it was like to work with early Macintosh computers.

Advertising & Graphic Design alumnus Christopher Cole (CCAD 1989) returned to campus to share his advertising expertise with CCAD students Monday, February 28 in Canzani Center Auditorium. Through the telling of his story—from graduation to his current position as senior vice president and creative director at global advertising powerhouse BBDO—Cole shared his advice for success.

Enjoy “stepping stone” jobs. These jobs are meant to build experience, to serve as a chance to fail (which means, they are chances to learn).

Don’t be a jack of all trades. During interviews, focus on what you want to do and what your interviewer wants you to do. Tailor your portfolio to your interviews.

Be smarter. Something CCAD grads have going for them is the ability to be smarter, to apply their work to the real world.

Be a “go to” person. Be the person in the office who the company can’t afford to get rid of. Win awards, solve problems, bring in and relate to clients. When you start a job, ask yourself, “What do I have to do to make myself invaluable?”

Cole has worked on advertising campaigns for Duracell Batteries, Pespi, General Electic, Mountain Dew, Mitsubishi, AOL, Cingular Wireless, and Hyatt—among others. He was nominated for an Emmy for the commercial, Cingular Wireless, Raising the Bar.

His lecture was presented as part of the Visiting Artists Series, which is sponsored in part by the Skestos Endowment Fund for Visiting Artists & Lecturers, the Ohio Arts Council, and Downtown Columbus’s Renaissance Hotel.

For more information about upcoming presentations in the Visiting Artist Series, visit the CCAD Event Listings.

View Cole’s work on his website.

Today we filmed on a fire escape. We also filmed in a room that looked like something from the set of Mad Men!

The digital lab at BBDO

Our morning started very early when we traveled down to Radio City Music Hall, which is right across the street from BBDO New York. Matter a fact you can see the famous Radio City Marquee from Chris Cole’s office window.

Cole, a 1989 graduate of CCAD and VP at BBDO, sat down with us and gave us the inside scoop into the gears that make a giant advertising firm turn. This is where the Mad Men part come into play. The office spaces of BBDO are littered with famous work that the company has produced—Work for major brands like Hyatt, M&M, Gillette, Mountain Dew, FedEx and much more.

There were multiple floors of creative spaces where hidden gems lay around every corner. From the cozy cool digital lab filled with beanbags and wall graffiti to the amazing gathering space that looks like a flashback of the old central filing room ( think old news clippings hanging on walls and original wooden filing cabinets with the labels still attached), the place rocked. Thanks Roy for the early morning tour.

At home with Majari in Brooklyn

We then traveled to Brooklyn to visit with Manjari Sharma (CCAD class of 2004). We grabbed lunch at a local corner café and then headed to her home. She had just arrived from Review Santa Fe, an event  for which 600 photographers from all over the world apply and only 100 get selected. She had boundless amounts of energy and was still very pumped up about all the amazing contacts she had made.

Manjari made Alex tea and then we climbed out onto the fire escape to get a great view of her neighborhood. After seeing her work and some sneak peeks on what she will be up to next we headed to Prospect Park. This park is right next to the Brooklyn public library and is made up of great walking paths and a giant hilly meadow that was filled with people.

Who's shooting who?

She informed us that many great concerts happen here and then her and Alex started to talk about the music that inspires them. This very deep conversation took us all the way back to her place where we grabbed our bags and headed to the airport.

That is where I write this blog.

Leaving NY

Our flight got delayed and we are hanging out in the airport for five hours. Ugh. It has been kind of nice just to set down though. We have been running ragged for three days and have gotten some great advice and stories from many talented Alumni. I would personally like to thank all the individuals involved in the project our time in NYC as been an exhilarating experience. Thank you.  And, Alex, let’s Fly!