Adrants Whines About Lack of Industry Boondoggles
There aren't many but there is one thing I do miss about agency life; the seemingly endless expense account that'd fund, among many other things, my travels to all sorts of industry event goodness. Now that I'm running my own business, the expense account is, shall we say, far from endless leaving me drooling for travel to Miami for the Clios or to Cannes for, well, Cannes.
Oh, I do get out once in a while. It's not like the four walls of the home office are the only things I see 24/7/365 but hey, I'm human. I like people. I love advertising. So it's a bummer when the entire industry heads to the sandy white beaches of Miami or France...or even dingy innards of some random exhibit hall...and I'm left inside these four tiny walls pumping out newsy goodness for you all.
It's not like I'm missing anything, though. What with everyone having a Qik account or a Flip video or a Twitter account or a blog, it's almost like being there. Except for the fact you can't consume alcohol or feel the sand between your toes through those devices.
Damn, this sounds maudlin. Somebody should just sponsor me so I can go to all these events and then I can shut about about it:-)
Comments
Sounds like you're scared of new technology. You can buy one of those computer thingies that I am told are now quite small and portable, as well as a wotsit that looks like a tampon that enables you to connect to the interweb tubes. I know they exist cos I've seen them on the telly and you've got everything in the USA anyway. Hey presto - cubicle fever cured. Go on, you can do it. You don't need to ask a sponsor to pay for it.
Hey Steve, as a former advertising journalist, I was invited to all conferences/parties/swill-fests free of charge... You're a news-generated blog... hmmm....
Oh I get invited to them all. Believe me, I get tons of invites. And for free on a press pass. No worries there. It's just the getting to, from and staying that gets expensive.
Maybe I should lend my forehead to a brand who can tattoo it and then they can pay for me to take my head on the conference circuit:-)
Poor thing. Poor, poor thing.
On the other hand, you will note the greatest travesty of the agency/expense story:
You can't expense free booze.
Doh! It hurts!