Have you ever wondered what it’s like to meet your hero, or sit in a room with hundreds of your ADHD-fueled marketing and design comrades?
Well, let us be the first to tell you: it’s a trip.
Earlier this month, a few of our team members traveled down to the Big Spoon & Cherry, aka Minneapolis, for the American Advertising Federation District 8’s annual conference, Ad Connect. There, they met design legend Aaron Draplin (who just so happens to be someone’s family member), hung out with some of the best creatives in Central Minnesota, and came back even stronger as a team.
Keep reading to discover our highlights, takeaways, and thoughts on the future of advertising.
Insights From Kelly Cane
Highlight of the Conference
One of the highlights of the conference for me was experiencing how excited and appreciative Mo and Tyler were to be there. They are both so passionate about our industry, and watching them soak up all the knowledge was fulfilling.
I especially enjoyed watching them interact with my crazy cousin, Aaron Draplin, their undeniable design hero. (I use the word crazy to describe Aaron in the best way – crazy talented, crazy humble, crazy funny.) He goofed around with them, made them feel like equals, and even allowed them to drive him to the airport. Being able to spend a little time with my cousin. His stories about our family warmed my heart and made me miss Michigan.
Top Three Takeaways
- Learn how to leverage AI or be left behind – I have been VERY anti-AI, but the conference opened my eyes to the fact there may be some tools available to help with efficiency, particularly on the account side. I’ve committed to learning more without compromising human creativity. Help. Me.
- Entry-level advertising professionals are being replaced by AI – This enlightenment was not a positive takeaway. I was shocked, but I know I shouldn’t be. This reinforced my commitment to mentor the next generation of creatives and to bring them into the fold whenever I can.
- Design is everywhere – The main takeaway from Draplin’s presentation was that design is everywhere, and I truly believe this. He showed us how a pattern on a toy inspires him, and how he starts exploring those shapes and patterns. I loved it!!
Top Three Takeaways
Insights From Mo Philippi
Highlight of the Conference
It should come as no surprise, I love networking. At AdConnect I was able to meet and network with so many new advertising folks from Chicago, to Texas, to Western South Dakota, and everywhere in between. Aside from new connections, I watched my friends, Clare Richards and Mary Bruno, represent Central Minnesota in such a huge way with their insane keynote presentations. It’s easy to overlook Central MN, but we have world-class creatives and marketers, and these presentations solidified that to everyone at the conference.
Alas, the shiniest highlight of the weekend was finally getting to meet the legendary Aaron Draplin. I even drove him to the airport. On the way, I asked him about a band I love that he does a lot of work for. I had seen them live at the Minnesota State Fair and actually met the lead singer, who was another hero of mine. The meeting had not gone so well, so I was interested in Draplin’s experience. From the back seat of my truck, he looked at me and Tyler and said, “Never meet your heroes!” But man, I’m sure glad I met mine.
Top Three Takeaways
- Be who you needed when you were younger – As a creative, my career path has taken a lot of twists and turns, and I’ve had to figure a lot out on my own. So when I see mavericks in the design world, like Bruno and Draplin, doing things their way, I naturally look up to them. It’s hard not to idolize them. I also see Kelly showing up every day, running one of the coolest design agencies in the Midwest. I like to think I’m that person too—particularly for my second intern, who is now my friend, colleague, collaborator, and Ad Connect partner-in-crime, Tyler.
- Slow it down and do something for yourself every once in a while – One of my favorite speakers at the event, Vaney Huriri, said, “If you want to know what’s important to someone, look at the 3 C’s in their life: their conversation, their calendar, and their checkbook.” For the most part, work and family take up most of my three C’s. When Kelly offered to bring the team to Ad Connect, I knew I was doing something for myself. Shoutout to Missy (my wife) for letting me geek out for a few days.
- Don’t Let the Robots Win – Even with all the incredible things coming out with AI, creatives are still incredibly important. AI is not replacing quality thinkers, dreamers, and creators. At best, AI can only produce the best of the average. It’s not custom, and it’s certainly not original. When it’s time to battle the robots, my money is on creatives like Aaron Draplin, Mary Bruno, Kelly Cane, and Tyler Schmitz every f*cking time!
Insights From Tyler Schmitz
Highlight of the Conference
From start to finish, the overall experience was very eye opening for me. Being new to the agency world has me re-wiring my brain to think a bit differently about design and marketing, and this event was great for just that. Through workshops with industry leaders, I began to compare and contrast practices and creative methods that are similar to my personal workflow and discovered new practices that I’m excited to implement.
However, the highlight of my trip to the cities was keeping it old school analog with my design hero Aaron Draplin and local legend Mary Bruno. Sitting down at 8 AM and eating breakfast with both Aaron and Bruno was a dream come true. Both of their stories are so inspiring and in a world where AI is taking over, it was nice to get back to design basics, driven by cool shapes, creative thinking, and bold attitudes.
Top Three Takeaways
- Build creativity into the design process early to improve efficiency over time – As a new-ish agency designer, I often forget I have the opportunity (and obligation) to get weird with the branding process. We have infinite tools at our disposal to experiment and think outside the box, and that’s why our clients come to us. As I listened to Aaron Draplin in his breakout session, I was shown how quickly you can generate a few original ideas from scratch and modify it ten unique ways just to get the ball rolling. This exploration stage leads to truly original designs and a much better end result. This process should be very fast and, at the same time, imperfect. I’m learning that’s okay.
- Grow alongside AI by embracing new tools and learning to integrate them intentionally – AI gives me the creeps. As a die hard fan of scifi and comics, I’ve seen what can happen to the world when we move too fast without thinking about the end result. And as an artist, I feel a moral obligation to fight it. But I’m finding that living in a world where AI is here to stay, I need to adapt and grow with it rather than ignore it altogether. I’m discovering that AI can assist with scheduling, with automation, and with creative ideation. However, it does not (and should not), be that tool to generate a final deliverable to send to a client. I will die on that hill.
- Streamline video production workflows to save time and elevate output quality.
I love video production – Nothing will beat that moment when you’re on set, filming a scene, hit the record button and think to yourself, “That was it; that was the perfect shot.” But it’s not just filming. It’s planning, color grading, editing, and exporting (again and again). This all takes time and as a perfectionist, I don’t let anything go. I’ll be diving deeper into AI for video production and using it as a tool to streamline this process. I will never use AI to generate a video from start to finish, but as a tool to speed up the creation of a great video in half the time, why not? Especially, if it means you have more time to create something else cool.
What You're Most Excited About In Our Industry
In Summary
If you’ve made it all the way to the end, thank you.
With a full client load and a genuine drive to give our partners the best, it’s challenging to step away from our desk to soak up knowledge. But after years in this industry, we know how essential continued learning and connection are to long-term success.
You are who you surround yourself with, and if these folks are any indication, we’re in pretty great company.
Want to get in on the Moxie goodness? Give us a shout. We’re ready to implement all we learned from AdConnect and give your strategy the flair it deserves!
