OK COOL

I had the privilege of sitting in the front row at a packed Vimeo soirée watching Annie House do Annie House on stage 🔥 You could've heard a pin drop. People furtively taking photos of the slides, scribbling notes and laughing at all her punchlines… So good… I wanted to share 3 slides from the prez. She broke down what culture actually IS. Community, virality, lore, underground, mass, commentary, obsessions, fandom, semiotics, taste, vibe, jokes, memes, rituals, movements. All of it. If you want to shape it and benefit from it, you have to participate meaningfully. She traced the shift too. Once upon a time you missed last night's Simpsons and you were sidelined from culture in real time. Then everything got flat, same and sanitised so presence was enough. Now there's a desperation for creative worthy of a conversation. The next (excellent) presenter referred to Annie no less than FIVE times. Moments like this are a reminder… everyone else is playing catch up with OK COOL . Inspired 💚 🤘

Vizzy put me in the hotseat to spill on what gets someone hired at OK COOL . Spoiler… it's not your CV. The single most important factor in getting a creative job at OK COOL is a candidate's ability to demonstrate self-initiated creative work. Watch till the end to hear what traits I think stand out most! 💚 ✌

Looking forward to this one 🙌 I'm sitting down with Raffaella Vota at the LinkedIn Creative Collision Series - Creator Edition in London next week. 𝗪𝗲'𝗿𝗲 𝗴𝗼𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗶𝗻𝘁𝗼: → How culture became a career → The OK COOL origin story → What it actually takes to build something in this space → What comes next now that OK COOL is part of Residence → What being in the top 1% of UK creators on LinkedIn actually means The creator economy is heading for half a trillion dollars. The money is absolutely moving. Whether the thinking is keeping up is the more interesting question and honestly the one I'm excited to talk about. Monday 28th April. 9am to 12.30pm. @ LinkedIn London, 123 Farringdon Road EC1R 3DA. Spaces are limited so grab a spot via the link in the comments 👇

Is it too early to start talking about Cannes? OK COOL has big plans and it's already shaping up to be a fun one. Boats, talks, a cruise to Cap d'Antibes, LIONS Creators, an all day reservation at The Carlton... stuff is getting locked in fast. And with the Residence acquisition to celebrate, we've got every reason to make this year count. If you're going and are up for connecting, drop me a DM… …even if you’re Jake Neske and live 3 minutes away from me in JC but only talk to me in the south of France. I get it. Despite the criticism that gets levied at Cannes each year - and I do understand some of it - I’ve personally always loved going. It is still the pinnacle of creativity. And it’s maybe the only industry event where, for me at least, it feels like my worlds collide - with former colleagues and mates from London, Sydney and of course New York and across the US all congregating. Nothing beats it. Bring it on! 📸 Cannes 2019

The scariest thing a client can say is "I love it!" 𝗛𝗲𝗮𝗿 𝗺𝗲 𝗼𝘂𝘁! If you're presenting an idea and a traditional CEO immediately thinks your idea is cool. That's a red flag. It likely means you played it safe. You made something familiar enough that an exec got it on first viewing. This is something I've learned building OK COOL. The best ideas don't get universal approval in the room. They make the room go bananas or go completely quiet. The customer isn't always right. Especially in the creative industry. If you're just giving clients what they ask for, you're not pushing culture or the craft forward. You're just responding to briefs. The best work makes people feel uncomfortable before it makes them believers. Your job isn't to make the client uncomfortable. It's to make the audience feel something. Those are two very different briefs. Stay uncomfortable 💚 ✌