It's a Jin Win!!

BIC Helps Grove School Redefine the Future of Engineering

Change the narrative. That’s what BIC's Fall Non-Profit Capstone set out to do. With the Grove School of Engineering as their partner, BICsters were tasked with shifting current perception that engineering isn’t for women or people of color. Seizing on the #MeToo moment and disruptive voices in Silicon Valley, nothing could be more timely or appropriate for this prestigious engineering school at City College led by Dean Gilda Barabino — who is herself the first African-American woman to preside over a non-HBCU college of engineering.


On Thursday, December 14th, four teams presented strategically driven campaigns that leveraged traditional, online, social, mobile, and other digital communications vehicles to spread the message, align it with the Grove School, and shift public perceptions. Anchored in a "big idea," teams demonstrated how their campaigns would roll out with a timeline of tactical elements for a yearlong plan. Professor Douglas Davis oversaw their efforts.

Dean Barabino provided a clear brief at the beginning of the semester as well as invited members of her staff and faculty to judge final campaigns at December's Client Pitch. Throughout the semester, students were aided by BIC alums, Nikki Lebenson Angulo ’16 and Marika Bailey ’16 who provided insights into the unique marketing challenges of non-profit organizations. BIC alum Javier Garcia ’15 provided added support towards the end of the semester as students finalized their presentations.


Each team developed distinctive approaches, from  challenging existing stereotypes to identifying trailblazers in the field. The winning campaign came from BIC Team Incite, which focused on diversity as the key to innovation. By looking in unlikely places for solutions, the possibilities are limitless.

Past non-profit capstone clients have been Columbia Children's Health, the Colin Powell School for Civic and Global Leadership, and the UJA.

“PR Diversity: The Struggle is Real” a Double Finalist for 2018 SABRE Awards

In an amazingly competitive year, The Holmes Report just announced the 2018 Innovation SABRE Awards finalists and BIC Professor Angela Chitkara’s research on diversity and inclusion made the list in two categories: Best Agency Disruptions: Tools & Tactics and Innovation Excellence.

In addition, Professor Chitkara’s Spring 2017 event which invited industry CEOs to a panel discussion to reflect on her findings was placed on The Holmes Report’s Top Ten List of Events in 2017.

In its summary, The Holmes Report states that “months before the #MeToo movement turned a spotlight on widespread sexual harassment in the worlds of entertainment, politics and business, The Holmes Report partnered with the City College of New York's Branding + Integrated Communications program to focus on the industry’s diversity shortcomings. Based on research from associate professor Angela Chitkara, who interviewed numerous agency leaders about their efforts to drive a more diverse workplace, the panel featured CEOs from four agencies: DeVries Global (Heidi Hovland); Grayling (Peter Harris); Ketchum (Rob Flaherty); and Porter Novelli (Brad MacAfee). The participants agreed that 'diversity drives innovation,' and outlined some of the steps they are taking to make their firms more diverse.”

The winners will be announced on the evening of Tuesday, February 13 at the InterContinental Hotel in New York. The gala will follow the 5th Innovation Summit — North America that will explore the collision of content, media and technology.

For BIC Class of 2019, THEY'RE the brand

They’re baaaaaaaack! The Famous BIC Identity Guidelines.

With a nod to graphic designer Christopher Doyle, this semester-long project in Professor Gerardo Blumenkrantz and Nancy Tag's Idea Development course not only allows for personal reflection and analysis, but forces students to develop some basic digital design skills some for the first time. A requirement of the project is that all students use Adobe Photoshop and InDesign.

After the final presentations on November 15th, Professor Tag asked the question: "Before this assignment, who had never touched Adobe's InDesign software?" 90% of the class raised their hands. And yet, the results were quite amazing. For a larger sample of student ID Guidelines, go to our Bechance page portfolio page (later in December).

BIC Open House. Admissions Fee Waiver. Curious?

#NotFakeNews @BIC Lecture

BIC’s Castro Desroches’ Droga5 Film Awarded an Athena

Paying it Forward -- BICster Style

From BIC Program Director, Nancy R. Tag >> Here's how life works (when it works). Years ago, when I was getting my Master's in Media Studies at The New School for Social Research, I enrolled in two different courses taught by Dr. Thom Gencarelli.  Education is about getting multiple points of view, so I always sought out new professors and experiences. But Thom was the rare exception. He was a spectacular teacher -- brilliant and kind with insightful instruction. Years later, about the time that I started as an Assistant Professor at City College, I found out that Thom had moved on to become Chair in the Department of Communications at Manhattan College. We kept in touch.

In the meantime, I had the good fortune of having a few "repeat" students of my own. Javier Garcia was one. As an undergraduate in City College's Ad/PR Program, Javier had enrolled in three of my courses: Ad Copy, Ad Planning, and the Ad/PR Workshop. After graduation, Javier got a job at Y&R in account management. He was a real success story and I figured that the next time our paths would cross, it would be at some industry awards show. Instead, he decided to apply for a spot in my newly launched master's program in Branding + Integrated Communications. So I saw him A LOT -- and happily so. He was in our first BIC graduating class and went on to start his own business, SUYO, "an active apparel brand with a social conscience, dedicated to making a lifestyle of health and fitness accessible for all."


But here's the real "pay it forward" part: a few semesters ago, I got a call from my former professor Thom Gencarelli. He was looking for an instructor who could teach his Advanced Advertising course. Javier immediately came to mind. After pitching the possibility to him, he jumped on the subway and headed up to the Manhattan College campus in Riverdale, met Thom, and got an offer. As I'd expect from Javier, he turned the syllabus up a notch and into a dynamic course that blends academic learning with real world projects -- something he learned at CCNY.


As Javier says: "My goal in teaching...is to provide the kinds of knowledge and intensive work experience students might encounter by having them pitch for a client's business by creating their own in-class communications agencies." The class project was recently featured in the Manhattan College Newspaper. Read the whole story here.

Nice, huh?

BICsters are not just industrious, creative, and smart, but they are also among the most generous people I know. So I'm happy to share this happy story about Javier Garcia, BIC Class of 2015. It is one on a long list of amazing tales of BICsters making an impact by giving back and paying it forward -- BIC style...

Novum Features CCNY's 170th Anniversary Branding

BICster on Winning Team in Nestle Skin Health SHIELD Hackathon

This semester, the Zahn Innovation Center teamed up with Nestle Skin Health SHIELD to bring together different departments and programs across the City College campus (from BIC to the CUNY Medical School) to form interdisciplinary teams and compete in a one day Hackathon. Competitors got serious at a Design Sprint on September 8th and then came together for an all-day Hackathon on October 6th at Nestle Skin Health SHIELD headquarters in midtown Manhattan.

Teams were tasked to come up with design solutions -- from apps or wearables, to skincare products, to marketing campaigns or multi-media projects -- that address some aspect of skin health. Students interested healthcare, technology, dermatology, engineering, research, business, or just in healthy skin, joined forces to build something innovative.

One BICster was among the 13 teams to physically pitch  their ideas on Friday evening. Guess which team won? The one with the BICster!! Surabhi Govindarajan (BIC '18) and her team “Skin the Know” won first prize for creating an app that recognizes the ingredients in skincare products and helps consumer to understand their efficacy. First prize included a $3,000 award.

The Hackathon is the culmination of a partnership between Lindsay Siegel, Director of the Zahn Center, and CCNY alum Dr. Warren Winkelman, Senior Medical Director and Head of Medical Innovation at SHIELD. As he’s stated about the Hackathon approach: “Events like this represent what SHIELD is about: multi-disciplinary and multi-generational collaboration to advance skin wellness through innovation, both low tech and high tech.” BIC Program Director Nancy R. Tag and CUNY School of Public Health Professor Chris Palmedo joined Dr. Winkelman and Aaron Windfield as judges of the pitch.

About Nestlé Skin Health SHIELD
Nestlé Skin Health SHIELD is a global network of innovation and education hubs gathering today’s most creative and visionary thinkers from diverse disciplines to generate, develop, and incubate ideas to advance skin health for tomorrow. SHIELD explores creative partnerships, new concepts, and technologies to help preserve lifelong skin health; mitigate the emergence of skin conditions; and integrate the skin dimension into the public consciousness, discourses on policy, and the organization of age-friendly spaces.

Zontee Hou is among 50 Influential Women in Content Marketing

Y&R M+M Celebrates BIC's 5th

To celebrate our FIFTH class, BIC held its annual Mix+Mentor networking event where we launched back in 2013: Y&R Headquarters on Columbus Circle. On Wednesday night, September 27th, a crowd of over 150 guests mixed, mingled, and promised to mentor the 38 students in BIC's Class of 2019.
Industry professionals, consultants, and recruiters from agencies such as Y&R, Ketchum, FutureBrand, VaynerMedia, Droga5, Samsung, True North, MBooth, VML, NYTimes TBrand Studio, McCann, Horizon Media, DirectTV, Citizen Relations, BBDO, ARF, Publicis, Rooney Partners, Berlin Rosen, ABW Solutions, HA Roth, Silicon Harlem, DigitasLBi, and Saatchi Wellness offered encouragement, exchanged business cards, and made a commitment to be a mentor. Colleagues from City College including MCA Chair Jerry Carlson and Humanities and the Arts Dean Erec Koch were in attendance. Honored guest CCNY President Vince Boudreau was also there to celebrate this landmark occasion.


BIC Program Director Nancy R. Tag was introduced by Y&R’s Global Chief Client Officer Shelley Diamond who hosted the evening in Y&R’s spectacular event space overlooking Central Park. The crowd included several “mentor-worthy” BIC alums who have gone on to professional brilliance at such places as Y&R, Droga5, BBDO, the NAACP, RooneyPartners, The New York Times’ TBrand Studio, BerlinRosen, NBCUniversal, Samsung, SAP, and McGarryBowen — to name a few.

Professor Tag thanked all the guests for exhibiting such great commitment to the industry by agreeing to mentor the BIC Class of 2019 as they move through the program and graduate to become our future leaders. “By being here tonight, you surround yourselves with actively engaged students who are dedicating two years of their lives to getting a master’s degree – not a certificate or a refresher course. But a master’s degree. Tonight, you’re surrounded by students who work by day and walk that hill at night to take courses in our BIC program. These are committed, passionate people. Passionate about knowledge. Passionate about this industry. Passionately eager to shape the future."



Special thanks to our amazing friends at Y&R who brought this lovely evening to life, especially Belle Frank, Dot Giannone, Raysa Figueroa, and Stephanie Bernardi. Past sponsors of the BIC Mix+Mentor have been Ketchum, McCann, GREY and R/GA — and we are grateful to them all.


More photos in our GALLERY.