Portfolios with Professionalism, Personality, and Passion

5/31/2018 Unknown 0 Comments


This year, eleven BICsters from the Management/Planning track, ten from the PR track, and seven in the Creative track presented dynamic portfolios that serve not just as their Master of Professional Studies thesis, but as professional portfolios that represent product, process, and personality.  

Judged by senior professionals who held students to a very high standard, this year’s portfolios showcased projects on behalf of the United Nations, Diageo's Naked Turtle Rum, Mountain Dew, The Wall Street Journal, Oscar Insurance, the Grove School of Engineering, and the UJA, among others. The most powerful aspects of the BIC portfolio are not just the amazing real-life projects BICsters work on or the clients that they interact with; it's that students are required to repackage and elevate course material through their own professional lens in ways that spotlight personal strengths and talent. This gives each BICster a truly unique portfolio -- distinct from their classmates as well as within the industry. 

Starting at 8:30AM on Tuesday, May 29th, students presented in 25 minute sessions that included 18 minutes of presentation and 7 minutes of judge’s questions, comments, and push back. The judges praised not only the depth of expertise exhibited in the portfolios, but also the students’ passion and professionalism. “This is the future,” commented Creative track judge Gustavo Carvajal. That sentiment was echoed by all the judges. 

Congrats to the Class of 2018: All BICsters passed the Defense and celebrated the following day by marching in the divisional graduation ceremony. Top scoring BICsters in each track were recognized at the BIC Grad party later that day. Honors went to Tannya Luna (Creative), Surabhi Govindarajan (Management/Planning) and Nilda Valdez (Public Relations). Special thanks to all the BIC faculty who helped support the BICsters throughout their time in the program -- especially the faculty who taught the Portfolio Thesis Electives this year: Katina Scott, Gerardo Blumenkrantz, and Nancy R. Tag.

A BIG BIC thanks to our talented and tireless industry judges. You were all AWESOME: 

Management/Planning:  Michael Doody, Founder and Chief Strategy Officer, The _____ Project, Will Parker, Director of Strategy & Insights Integration, Horizon Media, Rodes Ponzer, President, Rodes Advisory, God-is Rivera, Director of Inclusion & Cultural Resonance, VML, and Michelle Rowley, Group Planning Director, Deutsch.

Public Relations: Emily K. Graham, SVP Corporate Reputation, FleishmanHillard, Michael Marinello, former SVP Strategic Comms, Turner, Mitch Markson, Creator, Markson IdeaCraft, and Josh Rosenberg, CEO, Day One Agency

Creative: Christopher Blunt, ACD, Denise Byrd, Writer, Gustavo Carvajal, CEO, IDEAcatalyst, John Colquhoun, Art Director, Sandra Scher, Art Director.

BIC Class of 2018, last presentation: May 29, 2018. Over and done...