Hit the streets

Here is a posting I found on another site. I thought that it was great advice, especially if you are trying to go into advertising. The last few times I have come to New York I have been trying to spend time getting to know the city. The tourist stuff is for the birds. It is real when you hit the streets.

My girlfriend and me are going to New York late 2007 for at least half a year. While she's the one doing the important work over there, I'll be having a lot of time on my hands. Therefore I thought that it would be a great opportunity to improve my advertising skills.

I'm a Danish copywriter in a big Danish agency, so it could naturally be within copywriting, but since I'm only occassionally doing English copy, maybe it would be better to find something related to such fluffy subjects as "concept development", "creative ideas", "creative strategy" and so on. You know.. an abstact step beyond writing. But both could be interesting.

Could anyone recommend any schools, courses, seminars etc in New York? Economy is luckily not the big issue during our stay, so I'm pretty flexible as to working for almost nothing in an agency. Doesn't have to be a school. In Denmark we used to have a dedicated advertising school, where the different agencies would pay a fortune to educate their employees when needed. Is there anything similar in New York?

Thank you very much for constructive feedback! Highly appreciated.

Dungeon
Submitted by klop on Fri, 2006-11-03 15:40.
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Submitted by albatross on Sun, 2006-11-05 07:49.

most of the schools in NYC are for juniors and really there's nothing for professionals to hone their skills.. You might be able to take an "advanced advertising" course at the School for the Visual Arts.....but most programs don't let you show up and take a non-beginner class.

I would say, if economy (as you say) is not an issue, then spend your time getting to know the city. THAT would be the biggest asset to advertising. NYC is the most culturally, artistically, socioeconomically, etc DIVERSE city in the world (in my opinion).....

roam it's streets, go to every museum you can, eat at hotdog vendors, observe the city's people.....GUARANTEED to improve your worldview and, subsequently, improve your advertising skills. (and i don't mean touristy sight-seeing....the statue of liberty is a waste of time.

In jazz music, going through formal education is a waste of time...you have to get out to clubs and just PLAY with other musicians. I would relate that to your situation....why take a class if you're already a PRO....CULTURE is your school, so go out and get some.

by the way, near NYU campus is a bar called the Blue&Gold....every alcoholic drink you could think of, every shot, every beer, every type of whiskey or scotch.... $3. $3!!!!!