After recently graduating from Augustana College, I received dozens of cards acknowledging my achievement and congratulating me on “starting a new chapter of my life.” Of course, I had thought about entering the “real world” a number of times; however, it really hadn’t sunk in…until my first day at L&S.

Wake up call

It all began with setting my alarm for 6:30 a.m. the night before my first day. 6:30 a.m.? The days of waking up at 10:00 a.m., putting on a pair of sweats, and arriving at the Commons just in time for breakfast are now long gone. During college, I organized my day around nap time. Now, my days are scheduled around team and client meetings, where we strategize proactive approaches and talk about solutions for our clients. What I’ve found from taking part in meetings is when we come across an obstacle we do not fold or take the easy route; instead, we eliminate the roadblock and continue to work towards success for the client and agency.

There’s still homework

If I would have made a “Top 10” list of reasons why I was excited to graduate the absence of stress from homework, research papers and tests would have been number one.

It turns out – there is still homework. In order to go the Extra Mile for our client it is necessary to be prepared with more client knowledge and industry information than expected.

When we interns first arrived, we were assigned an Intern Champion to guide us along the way. They encourage questions and want to help us learn. I am reminded that I am now in an environment where I will be continually learning. As I walk out of the building each night with a folder of industry news articles, at least I can rest assured knowing they are about the advertising profession and not finance (sorry, Professor Bohlen).

Work is fun

At L&S, we understand that work is supposed to be fun. Whether it is Jersey Shore fist pumping over a new computer mouse (Carrie Burns) and a successfully sent mass email newsletter (Laura Mitchell) or trash talking while competing in Nerf hoop challenges as the “former college basketball player” – the environment can always be described as enthusiastic.

Above all, I’ve found that L&S employees are passionately committed to the success of the client and the agency. The transition from campus life to the real world has forced me to learn to embrace change. I suppose a good start will be consuming more coffee between the hours of 8 a.m.-12 p.m. instead of 8 p.m.- 12 a.m.

Now that we’ve recovered from our turkey-induced comas, we asked Carrie Burns, L&S associate account executive, to share her experience at the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day parade.

Listen as Carrie shares about the electric atmosphere and the crowd’s reaction to the Mount Rushmore’s American Pride float.

Six visitor industry organizations in the Black Hills plus the South Dakota Office of Tourism worked hard to create a float bringing the highlights of South Dakota to the streets of New York City. South Dakotans were not the only ones excited to make the float a reality.

From conference calls to watching the finished project roll down the streets, the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade float executed a “big idea” for South Dakota Tourism. Over 63 million people had their appetites whetted for a South Dakota vacation, and we are excited to welcome new visitors to the home of Mount Rushmore in the coming months as a result.

Back to the basics of Christmas is the approach used in the latest Lewis campaign. No hot toys or gadgets were featured this year, marking a somewhat different Christmas campaign than in years past.

A sound mix to “Oh Christmas Tree” and highlighting a breadth of products from all departments within Lewis lends a fresh, fun feel to this spot. Products from TVs and cameras to baby dolls, champagne and Doritos – it is made apparent that Lewis is your first stop for everything holiday. Whether it be for shipping and packaging, decorating your house for the holidays, gift buying or party planning, Lewis has it all.

This week, Lawrence & Schiller is rolling out one of our newest clients, the University of South Dakota. Many of you have probably seen the television commercial already, but it really drives home what we are trying to say with this fresh, exciting campaign. The aim is to make potential and current students feel that USD is the place to be – that they are getting a private school education at a public school value, incomparable to any other.

The commercial truly says it all: Commitment you can see. Tradition you can feel. An experience like no other.  At a place called USD. The University of South Dakota.