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The Last Day:  "Wow."

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Background:

According to Morrison, the SOJC students will work with students and professionals in the workshop settings. "This opportunity is unparalleled in terms of global reach, first-ever event, and possibilities for the future," she says.  "Because we will also be working with Fudan University as they host and participate in the workshop, we will be working with one of the finest schools in China, paving the way for further collaboration."

The students, who departed from Eugene's Mahlon Sweet Airport last Thursday morning, are Andy Liu from Beijing; Megan Nuttall from Hillsboro, Ore.; Rachel Hom from Olympia, Wash.; and Max Radi from Portland, Ore. Professor Morrison, with input from the One Club, hand-picked these dedicated, driven students for this special opportunity.

Morrison says that the students were chosen because, “They all show bright creative skills and run the gamut from a strong writer to art directors and producers. … who have proven skills in producing high quality work quickly.” Morrison added, “I'm very proud these four students were so ready to go and represent us.”

The One Club is a non-profit organization that promotes creative work in the advertising It inspires and guides students and professionals to greater creative achievements. Through competitions, showcases and collaboration, the One Club brings students and professionals together. Since 2001, The One Club has undertaken an initiative to help raise the creative standards for young advertising professionals in China, assisted by its regional office, One Show China.

www.oneshow.com.cn/

11.12

 The five of us make our way through the journey that is visa apps and collaboration with a major university and a professional team. We are backpack journalists: video cams, hard drive, Flip cameras, mixed with ideabooks, pencils, t-squares, and the wicked pen. We'll be making content, documenting the collaborative efforts of our own team with Chinese students and how creative process happens cross-culturally. Plus! Our Advertising students will be working on a brief that will be pitched at the end of the week, working with four Chinese students. Max Radi: designer, digital know-it-all, photog, producer, is working on 4 different projects. Rachel Hom embodies the creative strategist idea: a joyful art director who thinks strategically to solve problems and her 5 classes in Mandarin come in handy. Megan Nuttall is a writer through and through, so adventurous that her book includes brand bravery plus Flash pieces on imagination, booklets on weird jobs. She makes things happen. Andy Liu, our executive producer, saves our butts regularly with his charm and sense of humor. He is our cultural bridge as well as our cameraman, IT whip, and go-to guy. These four were chosen by faculty and The One Club to embark on a first-time experiment: what does collaboration look like on a global scale? I have a plan to save the world by stocking this industry with fearless game-changers. These kids tackle sustainability and world citizenry and diversity and bring that to bloom in brand thinking. They are remarkable. And I can't wait to set them loose on this Shanghai project. If there's a Venn diagram for this, it combines Fudan University students and Chinese student from around the country, The One Club professionals from Asia and the US, and the future of advertising. The Unievrsity of Oregon SOJC is the only school outside of China participating in this venture. We sit in the middle of a first-time ever possibility.

11.13

The passport/visa process has been telling. Identity means something, especially when its tied to an official document that stays on your person. Have your perused your passport lately? The design of the US passport sends a remarkable message. And because we're traveling to talk and think about design as a universal communication tool, we study ours. Our passports say our American life is eagles, monuments, farmland, lots of keys to manifest destiny. The message is reminiscent of "real America" jingoism and we are struck by the lack of melting pot, of the America with stories of many voices on the symbolism of these pages. What does this design say about our American identity? What do other countries and citizens consider when they look at these symbols as our way of representing ourselves? If ever design is telling about the brand it signifies, this is it.

11.13

Of the 5 of us, most have traveled extensively, 4 have never been to China, and one is on her first trip out of the country. We're all thrown in to considering the strength of visual learning. Newspapers and magazines -- even airline safety brochures -- are a sea of beautiful figures and so we key on pictures for information. Does that guy in the ad want cleaner hair or is he asking for donations to a charity? Is that a tap dance configuration or something we should know about airline etiquette? Our entree into Shanghai is full of messages everywhere and, except for Andy and sometimes Rachel, we don't understand a thing, even with our weeks of looking at guidebooks and maps. How do children in ESL programs adapt so well? We agree there's one more piece of evidence for our politicians and leaders to have traveled and understood the world beyond their comfort zone. Bravo for the SOJC being one of the top-ranked UO schools in terms of students studying abroad. It makes us better.

11.14

We arrive. Weary after a 14 hour plane trip but excited. After a bit of waiting and Andy borrowing a trustful stranger's cellphone, we find our car that Tina Liu, The One Club China Education Director has provided for us. We drive for an hour into the city. The Fudan University Training Centre for School of Journalism is a big complex...hotel, classrooms next to a busy boulevard. The rooms are magnificent (who would think...a School of Journalism as a hotelier?) and we're glad to be here.

11.15

The workshop begins and 500+ students from all over China have come to participate.Everyone is friendly and excited to see us, The One Club has worked so hard to make this a great experience for all. My day is spent reviewing work sent in as part of a preliminary competition. ECD JWT Singapore Norman Tan and I tag team giving commentary to 16 teams, 20 minutes each. My comments are understood by a few of the 50 or so in the room and Norman takes time to put my thoughts and his into Chinese. The students are gracious. I sat there thinking that -- surprise -- students from different cultures still have so much in common. Students have a tendency to focus on rewards (because it's fun) before they understand how to make the mesage work strategically. They usually stop before the great idea has been developed well. And most are prepared to defend something that isn't thought out well. That happens everywhere people are trying to figure out how to communicate complex issues in a simple way. But there are other similarities:  the students walking in range from hip -- walking in with the swagger fueled by creativity and crazy fashion -- to wide-eyed about the possibility of doing something, still building confidence. It is interesting to see them and know they have counterparts in our classrooms back home.

11.15

Andy Liu's parents travel from Beijing to see us and tour Shanghai. They are wonderful Chinese hosts, taking us to a magnificent restaurant then to walk the Bund along the Yangtsze River. So much to see. The boats in this huge river are a crazy mishmash of floating digital ads as big as a drive-in movie, old junks that have been in the water for a century, floating masterpieces fileld with sightseers and partiers. They also take us to the Shanghai Temple and marketplace. We consider that this is what Diagon Alley in Harry Potter must be modeled upon...small crowded shops, thousands of people, a circus of people and color. Max is working on a photo story for his Photojournalism class and is capturing the details: dumplings being made by hand, sellers hawking every trinket imaginable, the hagglers, the beautiful Buddhist temple, the people, the Starbucks. Rachel picks up words and conversations and can tell us what certain characters mean; she's becoming one with the culture. Megan -- an Emma Watson from Harry Potter lookalike (since that is our theme of this post) turns heads with her fair complexion and smile. Andy's mom looks like his sister; Andy's dad proudly shows how to barter, buys us wonderful trinkets. We feel we have a Chinese family.

11.16

Five hundred students crowd into a lecture hall to be briefed on an Auto Club Social Network brand. The presenter -- a Chinese creative professional from Energy Source -- is a dynamic presenter and moves fluidly from Chinese to English. (Note to self: I have language envy. When I teach my class on Wednesday, I won't be able to speak Chinese. But I will have Andy Liu!) Hundreds of Chinese students and our four Oregon students all scribble notes and ideas as she speaks. She shows an amazing video about surface technologies to inspire out-of-ordinary approaches to media ideas. We walk away excited. The team will be working with 4 Chinese students who understand flash and motion technologies. Now the fun begins.

11.16

All nighters happen in Shanghai also. The team is working...first roughs are due in the morning.

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