One week has passed since I started in Red Events and Communications and in this one week, I have had to adjust to differences in the way things are done. For context, most of you know that throughout my career, I have worked in big multinational agencies with hundreds of people each. Suddenly, I'm in a small BTL/Activation agency with around 8 people. From giant offices I now have a small space where if we don't watch where we turn we can literally bump into one another. It's really a different experience altogether.
However, its not an unpleasant one. One thing that surprised me working for a small agency was the dynamism that existed among the people working in the office. I guess this comes from a greater sense of ownership of everyone. The office may be small but you really feel the energy and the cheer from the people you work with. Imagine, during lunch time, we don't break out into groups but we all eat together in our pantry-slash-conference room. The energy is infectious and invigorating.
Another thing you also learn to do is to multi-task. Since we are a small compact group, people have to double up. No ranks. Just get great work done. You have to do planning, account management, creatives and even production (then again, I think this is what I did in Publicis Dialog hahaha!) If you need a strat you do it yourself. No planners to help you around. As creative director, you have to art direct and write copy yourself. It's an exhilarating experience to say the least. To top it all off, everything moves at a lightning speed. Turnaround is quick but surprisingly not stressful. Campaigns are conceptualized in one afternoon of intense brainstorming and executed quickly while simultaneously paying attention to strategy.
But, among all the things that I mentioned, one thing makes me more excited than the rest. Being in a small agency means that there's room to grow and innovate. You are responsible for transforming this agency from it's 8 man team to maybe 80 in five years. Your growth is only limited by your dreams. I guess, this is what lights my fire these days. The beauty of the what can be. So here's to a bright future and a bigger office in a few months!
Cheers! 
