My first meeting was with Tom Camp at Pocket Hercules. I sent him an email to see if he’d take a look at my stuff. And by stuff, I mean portfolio. He emailed me back requesting I come in later that afternoon. I was the new guy at work had no time off earned yet and had already burned the sick excuse days earlier to complete a school project. I didn’t have a book printed and panicked. So, I did what any sane person would do. I ran into my boss’s office and told him my roomate just called me and told me she thought my dog was dead. Hook, line and sinker. I sped to Kinko’s where my buddy Pedro Assman hooked up a spiral bound book for me.
I was pretty intimidated at the prospect of showing my work to Tom. I was familiar with his work and knew he was a badass writer. I didn’t know what he’d think of me. I thought I’d be sitting silently while a stern man glared at my work and pointed out flaws. It was the total opposite. Tom is one cool cat. Zero ego.
We sat and talked for a bit and then he got to my book. He put a lot of thought into every campaign he looked at and made sure to pinpoint exactly what I was saying in them. He gave me some sweet headline advice; to pinpoint irrefutable truths. People may or may not like them, but they can’t argue with them. This has made an impression on the way I approach projects.
Then he took me around the shop and I met everyone. It’s a small shop but a sweet space with good energy. He showed me some projects they were working on. I was extremely impressed with their ideas and executions. I considered one of the projects genius. He didn’t have any work for me, but the feedback and the meeting was awesome. Tom’s been a great contact so far. We’ve shared work with each other through the weeks and I consider him one of my favorites in the business.
Tags: copywriter, Jr., Pocket Hercules, Tom Camp
