How I spent my summer at @ButlerTill agency [video]

Over this past summer I was lucky enough to spend some time at a Rochester, N.Y. agency Butler/Till seeing how they manage an enormous volume of advertising work while still staying sane.

My visit was part of a new Academic-In-Residence (AIR) program devised by myself and company president Peter Infante with the blessing of Butler/Till’s principals Sue Butler and Tracy Till (both of whom, I have to say, are fun people to work with).

For fellow college professors and instructors I can’t recommend this type of program too highly.

Where else can you spend several days being a fly on the wall and gaining a true understanding of current challenges and how agency types are meeting them?

How else can you chat with people on all strata of the business about what they are doing and what skills they find they use every day or not at all?

It also helped that Butler/Till is a fun and creative place to be with spontaneous games breaking out, pets visiting the office and (the week I was there) the bosses at the grills cooking out for all the staff.

At the end of my time there video wiz Alex Weiser interviewed me about my experience at Butler/Till.

Here are five excerpts and what each is about:

• How I was impressed by Butler/Till’s evolution while still handling a massive volume of work.
• The volume of work and unbridled enthusiasm that makes Butler/Till a great place to work.
• How thinking about the next iteration of yourself and your business is so important.
• What goes into "the sausage" behind the scenes at an agency and how Butler/Till is making a "caviar sausage".
• The changes in marketing, advertising and public relations where the skills are combining into a virtual Swiss Army knife-approach to business communications.

So, thanks again to Butler/Till for the opportunity and I hope the program continues for many years to come.