happy new year

Today is my birthday. I am twenty-seven! Got a birthday text a greeting me a happy new year. That thought seems so apropos (for a party but also a crime, just kidding Maureen) for this particular birthday.

Got on a plane yesterday and have a one-day layover in LA before heading to New York. I am spending a few months there, mostly to study digital media marketing at NYU. Am so excited. Being in New York at all will be awesome!

I am especially looking forward to class. Most of my career has been focused on the digital space, and I've gotten to practice a lot through the help of very supportive bosses and officmates, and some of our forward-thinking clients.

But we know that in a media climate characterized by pull instead of push, brands have to be extra strategic to create cut-through digital work. And I realized that I didn't know enough about the space to make the best strategies. There is infinite room for innovation and experimentation, but there are also a lot of best practices.

And my thinking is that I can't take us out-of-the-box, if we don't know what rules to play by.

So this summer (it is summer in Manila, but [cold] spring in the US), my plan is to learn the basics - how are things "supposed" to be done? Then we can see about breaking the rules... So expect a lot of reflection-type stuff from my New York digital media Spring / Summer :)

It's going to be a happy new year.