Comments on: The city should know better http://www.portlandadfed.com/blog/the-city-should-know-better/ Portland Ad Federation Sun, 1 Aug 2010 07:24:40 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.6.2 By: Ted Helprin http://www.portlandadfed.com/blog/the-city-should-know-better/#comment-53 Ted Helprin Wed, 15 Jul 2009 17:55:08 +0000 http://www.portlandadfed.com/blog/?p=77#comment-53 Sounds like the city should have put out a call for a decent AE, someone to help them pull togther a brief that's so inspirational and rousing that our city's finest creatives are clamoring for the chance to sink their teeth into it. Ted Helprin Sounds like the city should have put out a call for a decent AE, someone to help them pull togther a brief that’s so inspirational and rousing that our city’s finest creatives are clamoring for the chance to sink their teeth into it.

Ted Helprin

]]> By: Thom Schoenborn http://www.portlandadfed.com/blog/the-city-should-know-better/#comment-52 Thom Schoenborn Wed, 15 Jul 2009 00:20:59 +0000 http://www.portlandadfed.com/blog/?p=77#comment-52 The City of Portland responded to the original blog post that @daveselden wrote over at the Pop Art blog. http://bit.ly/bMFfw The City of Portland responded to the original blog post that @daveselden wrote over at the Pop Art blog.

http://bit.ly/bMFfw

]]> By: Idaho Ad Agencies http://www.portlandadfed.com/blog/the-city-should-know-better/#comment-51 Idaho Ad Agencies Tue, 14 Jul 2009 21:48:50 +0000 http://www.portlandadfed.com/blog/?p=77#comment-51 <strong>The Slippery Slope of Spec Work...</strong> It seems the City of Portland is experiencing the spec-creative backlash as we speak. Yesterday, the news got out that the City of Portland has proposed a design contest to redesign PortlandOnline. From Silicon Florist: Now, you can try as hard as you ... The Slippery Slope of Spec Work…

It seems the City of Portland is experiencing the spec-creative backlash as we speak.
Yesterday, the news got out that the City of Portland has proposed a design contest to redesign PortlandOnline.
From Silicon Florist:
Now, you can try as hard as you …

]]> By: Charlie Quirk http://www.portlandadfed.com/blog/the-city-should-know-better/#comment-50 Charlie Quirk Tue, 14 Jul 2009 20:49:18 +0000 http://www.portlandadfed.com/blog/?p=77#comment-50 Great post Jerry, It is a slap in the face to the Portland creative class. But it is also a backhanded compliment. I cannot imagine the cities of Kansas City, Denver or New Orleans attempting to “crowdsource creativity” (as @KimBrater puts it) with any confidence they will receive work of high quality. In this sense, the PDX creative community is a victim of its own success. The “city fathers” asked for good work for free, simply because they thought they could get it. But the phrase “there ain’t no such thing as a free lunch” also holds true here. As you said, asking for free work without the proper deep dive into the context and goals ensures that any strategic changes to the status quo will only be skin deep cosmetic ones. Just because the economy is tough at the moment, doesn’t change the fact that if you pay peanuts, you get monkeys. With everyone in Oregon tightening their belts at the moment, the move is understandable but shortsighted. The creative class of the Rose City deserves better. Great post Jerry,

It is a slap in the face to the Portland creative class. But it is also a backhanded compliment. I cannot imagine the cities of Kansas City, Denver or New Orleans attempting to “crowdsource creativity” (as @KimBrater puts it) with any confidence they will receive work of high quality. In this sense, the PDX creative community is a victim of its own success. The “city fathers” asked for good work for free, simply because they thought they could get it.

But the phrase “there ain’t no such thing as a free lunch” also holds true here. As you said, asking for free work without the proper deep dive into the context and goals ensures that any strategic changes to the status quo will only be skin deep cosmetic ones. Just because the economy is tough at the moment, doesn’t change the fact that if you pay peanuts, you get monkeys.

With everyone in Oregon tightening their belts at the moment, the move is understandable but shortsighted. The creative class of the Rose City deserves better.

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