jay/day

I've been exchanging a lot of email with SuperFan Nancy Ullman recently as we all get ready for the 40th Anniversary Reunion Party ...

After leaving Chiat/Day I worked in the PR/Marketing department of the CaliforniaMart before deciding to stay home and raise my 3 boys, now age 18, 17, and 14. I keep myself busy though. Currently, I am working with the National Marrow Donor Program (NMDP) to hold a large scale bone marrow drive here in Los Angeles. I am Project Coordinator of the UCLA vs. USC Bone Marrow Challenge, which is set to be held in early November. Looking forward to the reunion! Nancy Ullman

Nancy also wrote up a wonderful reminiscence about one of the best offices we ever worked in, the warehouse:

Dinosaurs, Coronas, and Pink Bunnies

I was a phone receptionist in the LA warehouse from 1988 to 1990. The experience stayed with me for years, literally. For over a decade, every time I’d see, or hear a 3-digit number, one of your names would pop into my head. It felt like your phone extensions were permanently etched into some dark corner of my brain.

Chiat/Day was my first job out of college and even though my salary was painfully modest: the excitement, the perks, and the access to so many talented people made it worthwhile.

Who could complain? Our Holiday party was thrown under the dinosaurs at the Natural History Museum and every Friday afternoon at 4:00 we had chips, salsa, and Coronas. It was a great job. And, like many of you, I knew it was special.

In the 2 short years I worked at Chiat/Day we were named Ad Agency of the Year, and then, Ad Agency of the Decade—isn’t it amazing what hiring the right receptionist can do?! You can thank Sharon Stanley for the hire and also for this unsolicited trip down memory lane.

So much seemed to happen at 320 Hampton Drive. I remember the agency screening of the first Energizer Bunny ad. Who knew how much longevity that silly little pink bunny would have? I saw it. I liked it, but wouldn’t have guessed it would be around for long as it has. Who would have predicted that twenty years later, our kids would know the Energizer Bunny and I’m confident that our grandchildren will too. Well done Dick Sittig. I hope you are still continuing to amaze.

In the warehouse, creativity was not only encouraged, it was nourished and cultivated. It didn’t take long before I found myself longing to be a copywriter and soon began to take copywriting classes after work. I believe it was Brian Belefant who told us students that the best ideas are so simple you will think; “That’s easy. I could have come up with that.” Yet, it didn’t take long for me to realize that great ideas just don’t fall off trees.

One of the things I loved about our offices was that there was no sense of rank or hierarchy—everyone had the same size cubical. I used to go into Bob Kuperman’s office and he’d appease me by assigning me work on current projects. Unbelievable. The phone receptionist had secret copywriting missions. Some days I would stop by Lee Clow’s office and ask him if he could take a look at what I was working on. He’d always indulge me and never made me feel beneath his great presence—he was always so terrifically unassuming.

I left Chiat/Day in 1990, the same year I gave birth to my first son—unfortunately, I had a terrible case of morning sickness and I knew my boss at the time, Hank Antosz, deserved better. It was an agonizing decision.

In the end, I never had the opportunity to pass under those huge binoculars. My memories of Chiat/Day will forever stay in that magnificent warehouse. It was supposed to be a temporary space, while we waited for the real deal. Yet somehow, I think it was the real deal all along.