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Of the four panelists who appeared in this section of the program, I was most interested to hear from Carrie Follis, Editor-In-Chief of Naked City magazine. I am a regular reader and was curious to see and hear from the head of this publication in person. Follis described her editorial style as “loose” and her publication as “a hothouse for up-and-coming talent” who create  “fearless content with an edge.” Some of the distinguishing features of the magazine include its unusual size, the uncoated stock paper that gives it a softer, less mainstream feel, and readers who respond to the content with outspoken feedback. Her advocacy is to show Wichita as being cool, hip, cultural, and quirky. Although I was slightly put off by spelling, grammar, and punctuation errors I noticed when I was a new reader, I now understand that error-free writing is not Follis’ main concern and I’ve adapted my expectations.

Nicole Howerton, designer of GoPlayKansas, shared her journey with this non-profit to raise awareness and usage of Wichita’s parks and public recreational spaces. It’s unfortunate that neither mainstream nor alternative media in Wichita seem to have taken notice and covered her efforts yet (unless I’ve simply missed it.)

Barry Owens, publisher of the College Hill Commoner and the Downtowner, seems to have his work cut out for him as an independent newspaperman in this era of dying mainstream papers and consumer-preferred online content. His sense of identify and mission, however, are very clear and are likely the key ingredient to his success (or at least survival) and that is that he provides a sense of place and a unifier for people and business of a certain geographic location. The Wichita Eagle is showing some signs of understanding this ideal and of moving toward it, but has also made some decisions this year that have greatly undermined and diminished the sense of place that had long ago been established.

The final speaker was Rebecca Zepick, creator of stateofthestateks.com. As a former campaign communications director for several politicians, Zepick seemed well-suited to her new role as political reporter. Her website operates on a membership business model (viewers must subscribe to join) and each week she selects one policy issue to focus on. She strives to keep the content local and one of the draws is the immediacy of her content. She explained that she tries to have an advocate for and against each issue but that because people are often reluctant to take such a clearly identified or polarized position on controversial issues, she simply features their positions without labeling or categorizing them. I think this should provide us a collective cue for the direction civil discourse should be moving; however, with the popularity of FOX News and other passionately positioned news outlets, it doesn’t seem likely.

As a follow-up to the previous day’s presentation, executives from the area’s top ad agencies participated in a panel discussion about the future of their industry. Sullivan Higdon & Sink’s Sam Williams spoke first. He had read in an IBM paper stating that there will be more changes in the next five years than in the previous fifty for the advertising industry. We noted in a previous post that consumers are more empowered and self-reliant, but Williams outlined four specific scenarios:

1.      The traditional players in advertising will be squeezed.

2.      Ad exposure will be whim-driven. Consumers will only look at what they want to look at and when they want to look at it.

3.      Advertisers’ clients will demand more data to measure the results of their advertising efforts. If it isn’t measurable, they won’t buy it.

4.      More clients (businesses) are going directly to users (consumers) to produce the advertising itself. Increasingly, they are skipping the advertiser/middle man.

Williams offered some helpful advice for those seeking a job in advertising as well:

1.      Be collaborative. It’s important to be able to work with others.

2.      Be strategic. You need to be able to solve a problem from multiple points of view or tackle multiple angles. It helps to be curious!

3.      Be odd. OK, he probably doesn’t mean we should be odd in a creepy or anti-social way; what he means is we should look for new ways to do things. It’s another way of saying the SHS motto “We hate sheep.” You won’t get ahead by being a follower.

4.      Be passionate. If you’re going to succeed in the environment of all these upcoming changes, you’d better have a burning desire to be the best (fill in the blank – journalist, copy writer, graphic designer, whatever) you can be but also be well rounded enough that you understand and appreciate the people you’re working with and/or competing against who are being the best _____ they can be.

5.      Be critical. And be able to accept criticism. He balances this by stressing that it’s important to be able to take a joke as well; don’t take yourself too seriously.

6.      Be pure of heart. Be real. Be sincere. Be genuine. Be yourself. Focus your creativity on your product, not on creating a false persona.

Williams concluded by semi-paraphrasing John Stossel in saying that when you graduate from college, the job you end up in likely won’t exist.

Susan Armstrong from Armstrong-Shank followed Williams with her own “To Do” list for advertising:

1.      Differentiate between sending out messages and pulling people in. It’s more effective to invite them in to learn about a product and service than to just blast them with unexpected and unwanted messages telling them what to buy and do.

2.      Think more globally and be more culturally sensitive. If we haven’t gotten this point from our readings of Friedman, then we’re hopeless!

3.      Be more strategic. I’d like to know more about what she means by this. I know that it’s standard for an agency like hers to help a company establish strategic marketing plans to achieve its objectives, and I also know that a part of that involves overseeing and evaluating market research and adjusting strategy to meet the changes in the market and competitive conditions. I also don’t think it’s anything new to establish relationships with industry influencers and key community and strategic partners. Is she simply saying these activities are more important than ever? This may be where a later discussion about web analytics would come to bear…

4.      Non-adapters won’t be leading the way. With 10.8 billion Google searches done in one month in the U.S. (from some part of a population of 300 million citizens), she would like newcomers to the industry to be Google or Yahoo certified.

Of course, this certification didn’t exist when I was in college since neither search engine had been invented yet. But I can say without a doubt that at least I’m in possession of the other set of skills Armstrong says job-applicants should have:

1.      Have strong written communication skills.

2.      Have a diverse knowledge base.

3.      Know how to learn. Have broader critical and analytical thinking skills.

4.      Learn about negotiations and relationship management.

5.      Be flexible. Be able to adapt quickly.

6.      Be business advisors who specialize in advertising and public relations.

7.      Identify who the “thought leaders” are and follow them. (Presumably, she’s talking about the Thomas Friedmans, the Malcolm Gladwells and the Seth Godins of our culture…)

8.      Be digital experts.

The Greteman Group’s Deanna Harms rounded out the panel with a message that we had heard repeated several times over the course of two days: we’ve empowered consumers who know what they want and can find it, thus we are in a new era of transparency. This transparency goes for all: the business and it’s employees, the advertising agency and it’s employees, and YOU the consumer they want to reach. There is no longer an online persona and an offline persona; they are one in the same. There is only one YOU. This blending and uniting of online and offline selves has some implications that weren’t touched upon in this particular discussion but are interesting to think about… However, I won’t digress.

Harms explained that the Greteman Group no longer uses the terms “Public Relations” or “”Advertising” because everything they do is COMMUNICATION. Their activities are ultimately all about persuasion and everyone in her industry is looking for ways to provide value. Everyone is asking “Who are our customers?” and “What are their lives like?” and “When and how can we find them at the point of relevance – at the exact time they are looking for X?”

She also described the agency as being media neutral. In other words, they don’t favor a particular media but rather approach them strategically with the question “What are we trying to accomplish?” driving the buy.

These two distinctions regarding attitude and philosophy seem to equate to a broader, more holistic way of doing business. But how does an aspiring advertising executive get IN to the business?

Harms explained that every business is like a family. In the hiring process, show the hiring manager what you bring to the family. Convince them to adopt another child. At Greteman Group, they like people who are fun, energetic, enthusiastic, and who want to learn. It’s also important to read the daily paper so that you’ll know what’s going on in the local economy and the local business scene – especially as it impacts your clients. “There’s a lot bigger world than just your interests,” said Harms. After reading Friedman’s The World Is Flat and hearing from a series of distinguished communicators, don’t we know it!