For the first time, after two decades of teaching, I believe I just might have reached the level of competence.
And you are invited.
On Mondays at 6:45 p.m., I am at CCAD for a dozen weekly lectures on consumer behavior, teaching a course called Marketing: Strategy, Creativity and Ethics.
Come. This is your invitation.
There are 100 students registered for the class and it is taught in a big, comfortable auditorium, so you can just blend in. Each class is only 75 minutes. You could come to any Monday or every Monday. Every lecture stands alone. Come whenever.
Don't be shy. I would love to have you there.
(About a dozen folks accept this invitation each semester. They just show up. Nice!)
Let me know if you are coming, and I will send you a map to the specific location. Or just
download the syllabus and come. (You will see that you missed the first lecture, last week. Not to worry: that was orientation for students. You will fall right in.)
Ye Olde Rut
I taught this course for years, years ago at CCAD. As one student wrote:
“The course was high-energy, optimistic, full of humor and most importantly: informative. It was one of the few courses that just about everyone who took it not only looked forward to the next lesson, but recommended it to their colleagues as well.”
But, I left after hearing this thought about teaching:
If you are teaching the same thing the same way for more than five years, then you lack either ambition or imagination.
(I think this might have come from Noam Chomsky.)
I was indeed stuck in a rut.
The students were generous and appreciative. But I was teaching the same thing, in the same way, year after year. The presentation slides were so ready, I would just show up and let 'em rip.
So it was time to go away.
The Course Is Sound
Over time, I'd designed — and now redesigned — the course to help artists:
- Make work that is more than beautiful. The course helps the artist think through the work, so it persuades others and changes behavior.
- Justify each piece of work as more than beautiful. The course helps the artist describe work to executives in the workplace, to win more production budget for, say, the photography.
- Live a fuller life. We must live for more than our art. We can live creatively and ethically. So: let's!
The legendary CCAD education — especially its intensive first year, "Foundation" — expertly develops each artist's technical skills.
But having hired dozens of CCAD graduates at Young Isaac, I have seen too many who are riding solely on their technical proficiency. They do have highly developed hands and eyes — but aren't always levering their minds.
That's where this class comes in.
Bridging The Gap
After years of helping CCAD artists win the favor of businesspeople in the workplace, I've been teaching MBA candidates about creativity. This has me building the same bridge — over the creative gap — from the other side.
Now, with my MBA experiences, I'm really enjoying working again with the artists at CCAD.
And you. Coming?
NOTE: There is no class this evening, due to the Labor Day holiday. The next class is Monday, September 10 at 6:45 p.m.