Imaginasium

2008

We’ll Be the Judge of That

Journeymen Imaginasium copywriters Eric Severstad and Drew Williams recently had the chance of a lifetime – to play the poor man’s Simon Cowell as part of the Fox River Ad Club Student Portfolio Review, held April Fool’s Day at the Wave ballroom in Appleton.

Squelching their cruel inner children, the pair instead welcomed the eager young advertising and design majors warmly, recalling when they too were starry-eyed undergrads.

Books were pored over, work perused, advice dispensed, and oohs and ahhs dished out liberally when really cool stuff showed up. Basically, Eric and Drew gave the exercise two weathered thumbs up.

“God how I wished they’d had these kinds of things when I was a struggling journalism student,” said Drew, now 17 years in the business. “Or maybe they did and just never told me. In any event, it was great having a chance to see what they’re doing and help them get ready for their careers.”

“After looking at some pretty decent work, it’s plain a lot of these kids really get it from a conceptual standpoint,” chimed in Eric, who goes far enough back to have started on a Smith Corona.

The evening included a short presentation on effective interviewing from an area recruitment specialist and was capped off by a guest panel of area marketing professionals who opened themselves up to questions from the audience.

“I hope in some small way, our guidance helps them out,” said Eric. Drew agreed, but added, “Yeah, as long as it doesn’t help too much. I’m getting a little long in the tooth to start looking around now.”

And then they laughed uproariously.