I remember the recession in the early 90s, but it didn’t seem to affect me. Whereas, this recession is affecting everybody and if like me, you’ve been freelancing for 7 years; the good times have truly gone.
I’ve been a digital project manager for over 10 years; my last full time role was at Noho Digital, one of the most creative places I’ve ever encountered. Big personalities, not afraid to speak up, and when you’re in an environment that’s passionate, there’s creativity, which leads to great work. In the good old days everyone brought something to the table; project managers, account managers, technical leads, developers, art directors and designers.
Of course there were the ups and downs, clashes, character assassinations, but that was because everyone had a voice and was allowed to freely express their opinions. Big personalities are passionate who tend to speak up and be counted. Me, I’m a big personality; I’m old skool and didn’t really enjoy the traditional advertising model, which unfortunately took over digital. It’s not that I don’t like change; I just think that traditional advertising can be exclusive and feeds individuals egos. In my eyes it was a step backwards.
So now, we have an industry where traditional agencies claim to be experts in digital and nepotism is rife. Trust me, I’ve been at most of these agencies and frankly, there’s so much ‘cock and bull’ it’s difficult to breath; to top it off, instead of embracing different personalities, they’re often feared and ostracised.
So, when you’re back’s up against the wall, the only way is forward!
I’ve been watching and analysing these models for 10 years and found that a lot of people have no idea what they’re talking about; as the Godfather of Soul once sang ‘Talkin Loud and Sayin Nothin’ – but I for one haven’t given up, there is another way. It’s to move forward, dance to your own drum beat, because if you truly believe in yourself anything’s possible.
Until next time… Blog this space!