“I am one who believes that one of the greatest dangers of advertising is not that of misleading people, but that of boring them to death.” -Leo Burnett
The nearest I’ve come to pursuing real creative glory is the time Linda Harless said I was one campaign away from a job at Goodby. That felt good. I could finally taste it, the elusive fruit of respectability. This was in November of 2000, right after Tom Evans fired me for being “contentious.” I’ve been let go two other times, including this morning from Slack Barshinger for lack of enthusiasm (for their work). So, I’m three out of seven. What is one to do? I’m not being rhetorical here. What I MUST DO is hold out for a mentor. I need to work for someone I respect, on a personal and professional level. Because I tend to respect ability over authority, that someone will naturally need to be a great creative leader. In this city today, that might mean Steffan Postaer. It might mean Jim Schmidt, Matt Brennock, Dennis Ryan, Cheryl Berman, Mark Tutssel, Bob Scarpelli, or Mark Figliulo.
