Week 5: Research, research and more research

I had a distinctly negative start to week 5, sleeping through my alarm until 9am Monday and impatiently waiting for the delayed 09:18am train, I didn't arrive until a bit after 10. Being late is always a mood killer for me.

I spent Monday much like everyday that week, doing research. Some for Carine, some for Chris.

Tuesday morning was a highlight though, Jane took us through the TVP workshop, the process a TV ad goes through from start to finish. We had an interesting discussion on the effects digital and widescreen TVs had on the process, and budget.

Thursday Red and I gatecrashed the photo shoot for the Digital / Interactive and Direct teams - they were having photos done for agency of the year.

Despite being a fairly monotonous task, it was a welcome relief from research when Rachel asked me to quickly wrap a parcel destined for Telecom - Friday.

On the research relief tip, I enjoyed going on a red cellophane mission for Chris; he had found an interesting kids science lesson on colour and was thinking about using it for an upcoming project.

I was horrified to find out that on Chris' birthday, he had spent the evening at work until 9pm while his family and friends waited at home for his arrival. They had left by the time he got home, picking up McDonalds on the way. What worried me was that for some reason I felt that he had earned respect within the company for this selfless act. My belief is that sure, it happened and he can't go back to fix that occurrence, but there should be an emphasis placed on how to prevent this kind of thing happening again. I'm not in the loop with whether this is happening here or not, but I have heard anecdotal evidence that says the advertising industry can be prone to this. With the ever-increasing pace of life we lead, the companies that actively seek to positively affect their employees' personal lives will succeed longterm. IMHO.

Speaking of birthdays, it was mine that weekend and a nice email was sent out to the Auckland team wishing me a happy birthday. So that was really cool, especially to be recognised - despite only being an intern!

It was Kate's leaving drinks Friday so we had a few sneaky red bull vodkas late afternoon, then a trip to the pub post 5:30pm :)