I’d like to use my first post on this blog to make a formal request to the Global Amalgamated International Agency Network (GAIAN) to, from this day forward, stop saddling young creatives with the dismissive title of “junior.” I mean really, who gains from this? Juniors know what they are and if they, in a moment of hubris, sometimes forget the rung from which their career currently hangs, their paycheck arrives every two weeks or so to remind them. They’re the ones reheating ramen noodles to eat at their desks while those of us with a few more years and a few more pounds under our belts tawdle in from our client or vendor lunches saying “Mmm, the prosciutto-wrapped prawns were especially piquant today.” And yet for some reason agencies still feel compelled to hand these hard-working, talented art directors and writers business cards that effectively tell clients, “Feel free to dismiss my ideas for I am but a lowly junior.” If they were good enough to get hired, and their ideas are good enough to go to the client, why stigmatize them just to serve some HR person’s idea of how an org chart should be expressed?

By the way, this rant should in no way suggest that I’m against the title “Assistant “ for young (or old but inexperienced) account executives. That’s a job description. They actually assist account executives. I know because I was one.

- James Brown