My goal with this blog is to give students an inside look at Ad Team, honestly. I want every student to see the successes, struggles, challenges, and the excitement! Texas Tech Advertising Team is an amazing opportunity for all students, but a huge commitment. I invite everyone interested in joining to follow my journey and see what it is all about! (and, of course, apply for next year!)
I want to tell you all a little bit about me. I am a senior advertising major from Plano, Texas. I am very involved with Texas Tech! I am the advertising manager for The Hub@TTU and an advertising account executive at the Daily Toreador. I am the Public Relations chair for Relay for Life for Texas Tech. I am pretty much a workaholic! My fiancé and dogs do not really appreciate it. My goal is to become a creative director at an advertising agency in New York City.
What is Ad Team?
Ad Team is a collaborative group of students who work together throughout the entire school year to create a promotional campaign for a client and presents their work for a panel of judges in the spring semester.
Every year Shannon Bichard, Ph.D., associate professor of advertising and chair of the advertising department, goes around to all the classes in the Media and Communication building giving her pitch to convince students to apply for Ad Team. It is so precious how excited she is to tell people about her team and how much fun it is! I had the thought of joining in the back of my mind, but I was worried because of my busy schedule. I also didn’t think I would make it.
Before the semester started, I had previously applied for a job with The Hub@TTU and had an interview with a board of professors, including Dr. Bichard. I was very nervous, but gave them my best ideas I had for the Hub. After the interview, Todd Chambers asked me if I was going to apply for Ad Team because he thought it would be a great opportunity to show what I have to offer with my skills. It took a few days to convince myself that I should go for it.
Applying
The first part of the process is the application. It was a short one-page application that asked who you are, why you were interested in joining, and why you would make a good part of the team. It was pretty basic. During Dr. Bichard’s class pitches, she mentioned that students could turn in their portfolio to showcase their work. It was the first time that someone looked at my work as a whole. It was extremely nerve wracking!
Other professors told me that when Dr. Bichard narrows down her selection, she sends her list to the professors in the building to get their responses about each student. Dawn Zuerker and Olan Farnall told me that they had both written good recommendations for me and wished me good luck. I had found out that I made the first cut!
The second step was the group interview. There were about 30 students split up into two groups. I was in the first group interviewing on the first day. We went around the room saying our name, classification, major, why we wanted to be a part of the team, and a random question we drew out of a bucket. It was interesting to hear everyone’s background and passions for advertising. We then split up into four groups and had mini assignments. My group’s assignment was to come up with different guerrilla tactics for four different brands. It was amazing to see the three other people’s ideas in my group. They were so creative! Even though I was running a fever, I tried my hardest to put forth my best input. (Yeah, I was sick, but it shows dedication!) At the end, we were able to hear what every group came up with. They were amazing! I knew I was competing against some talented people!
We were told that everyone would be receiving an email with the list of names of who made the team, even if you did not make it. Since I am a very anxious person, I was freaking out for the rest of the week and checking my email about every five minutes. I knew what a great opportunity it would be to make the team and I knew I gave it my best shot!
Next thing I know, I got my email. Nervously I opened it to see the news.
I HAD MADE THE TEAM!!
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About Olivia Utley
