BICsters Defend 33 Portfolios to 25 Pros

5/31/2019 Unknown 0 Comments


With eleven students defending in each track (Creative, Management/Planning, and Public Relations), BICsters presented digital portfolios that demonstrated both mastery of discipline and interdisciplinary finesse. BIC Program Director Nancy R. Tag challenged this year's Class of 2019 to be ambitious in concept and execution. Afterwords, she commented that this year's portfolios were not just spectacular professional presentations of product, process, and personality, but yielded new theories of best practices in the communications industry.


Judged by powerhouse professionals who held students to high standards, this year’s portfolios showcased projects on behalf of Sandy Hook Promise, the United Nations, Diageo's Baileys Almande, the Grove School of Engineering, and the Citibike, 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 28th, 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.

Congrats to the Class of 2019: 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 Emily Herrera (Creative), Nai Chen Liu (Management/Planning) and Matt Hamilton (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.

This year, BIC invited 25 communications professionals to judge in six different sessions. A BIG BIC thanks to them all. You were tireless, considerate, and AWESOME:

Management/Planning:  Singleton Beato, Global Chief of Diversity & Engagement, McCann Worldgroup, Michael Doody, Founder and Chief Strategy Officer, The _____ Project, Rolando Leal (BIC '16), Account Supervisor, Ogilvy, John Noe, Founder and CEO, ROKKAN, Stinson Parks, Global Head of Social Media, American Express, Michelle Rowley, Group Planning Director, Deutsch, Liz Scordato, Director of Project Management, Strawberry Frog, Chip Walker, Head of Strategy, Strawberry Frog, Nicole Wasserman, Head of Client Services, PureRED

Public Relations: Abisola Adekoya, CSR Strategist, Salterbaxter, Amber Micala Arnold, Account Director, MWWPR, Diana Friedman (BIC '17), Director of External Affairs, Research to Prevent Blindness, Michael Marinello, former SVP Strategic Comms, Turner, Mitch Markson, Creator, Markson IdeaCraft, Kate McShane, Principal, KLM Communications, Donna Renella, President, ABW Solutions, Bjorn Trowery, Director of Communications & Brand Public Relations, Heineken.

Creative: John Colquhoun, Art Director, Meghan Dailey, ACD, Burns Group, Whitley Edwards, ACD Burns Group, Jake Kahana, Cofounder, Caveday, Michael Parrott, Group Creative Director, mcgarrybowen, Ken Sheldon (BIC '16), Senior Art Director, Weber Shandwick, Ricard Valero, Creative Director, Ogilvy and Mather, Susan Young, Executive Creative Director, BBDO.


BIC's BIG Night at ONE Club's YO Awards Includes a Silver Pencil and Bronze Cube

5/15/2019 Unknown 0 Comments

In an All-Star Awards Ceremony celebrating The ONE Club's Young Ones finalists, BIC teams took home a Silver Pencil, a Bronze ADC Cube, a Client Pitch Honorable Mention, and two Merits. Instructors Jason Stefanik and Andy Currie were also part of the celebration. The biggest BIC winner of the night was “The Crisis Collection,” by Roxie Xie, Melissa Orr, Jose Fresan, and Lorenzo Lasagna, which won a Silver Pencil.

“Be the Canvas,” an out-of-home campaign for Il Makiage by Yimin Wu, Kenneth Medina, John Holliday–Stewart, Diana Arutyunyan, David Puccio, and Mohamed Amribet, won the Bronze ADC Cube.

Both teams walked across the stage to receive their awards in front of a packed audience at Metropolitan West. Merit Winners Carmen Quang, Taylor Becker, Carlos Matias, and Raymond Sein, who created an experiential campaign for Brooks Running entitled “Brooks’ Non-Runners Non-Running Club,” were also in the audience. The “Be the Canvas” campaign also won a One Show Merit.

“The Crisis Collection” also received Runner-Up honors in The One Show’s Client Pitch which was presented on Monday, May 6th and announced at the Tuesday awards show. Among the other ten Client Pitch finalists, Natalie Alcide, Sahana Chowdhury, Sara Ledra, and Amera-Rime Lulu also pitched their Il Makiage campaign "Malaria Can't Stop Fabulous."

The six finalists for Young Ones 2019 was BIC’s best showing EVER. Twenty-seven of our incredibly talented BIC students brainstormed, collaborated, conceived, and ultimately executed six campaigns in the Spring Competition Ready one-credit intensive taught (once again) by Jason Stefanik, who helped BICsters win two GOLD Pencils and a Merit in 2016 and 2017. This year, he was joined by Andy Currie as co-instructor. Sessions started back in November and culminated in six submissions on March 15th. It was an amazing ride characterized by tremendous hard work. As Jason states, "Our humble goal was to get our students into the One Show. Today we found out half the entries in our class are One Show Finalists."

According to The ONE Club, this year's Young Ones competitions — the Young Ones Brief, Young Ones ADC and Young Ones Portfolio — attracted an especially talented group of students. When the dust cleared and the esteemed juries finished their scores, 432 entries from 22 different countries made the Finalist list. Even better, a record 100 different schools are represented here, showing that budding young talent is coming from everywhere.


More about Creative Week:  this year, it was held from May 6-11 in New York. It is the preeminent festival showcasing the intersection of advertising, innovation and creative thinking. Home to The ONE Show, Young Ones Competition, The ONE Show Creative Summit as well as networking and learning events that highlight the power of creativity, attract thousands of creative types from all over the world.

More about The ONE Club: The One Club exists to champion and promote excellence in advertising and design in all its forms. It is the world's foremost non-profit organization devoted to elevating creative work in the industry. It seeks to celebrate the legacy of creative advertising and to use that legacy to inspire future generations. The One Club is the 'keeper of the flame' for advertising creatives. The One Show remains the pinnacle of achievement by providing a showcase of the world’s best work, and by inviting collaboration among individuals who are actively developing outstanding work.  Further, The One Club exists to educate and inspire students of the business and to benefit the next generation of creatives through scholarships, portfolio reviews and annual student exhibitions and competitions. 







For more photos, please go to our gallery here >>

Sir Martin @BIC Tells All with Vision, Wisdom, and Candor

5/15/2019 Unknown 0 Comments

Sir Martin Sorrell with BIC Professor Michael Farmer and BIC Program Director Nancy R. Tag. 

24-Hour Idea Wins $25,000 Startup Prize at Zahn's Pitch Night

5/15/2019 Unknown 0 Comments


BICsters Win Best Team Presentation at H&A Grad Symposium

5/14/2019 Unknown 0 Comments



Marcus Graham Project Picks Jen Cuffari for Summer iCR8™ Bootcamp

5/05/2019 Unknown 0 Comments


This summer, Jennifer Cuffari BIC '19 will be heading to Dallas to participate in the competitive Marcus Graham Project iCR8™ Summer Bootcamp where she'll join 12 other awardees to form a pop-up agency to provide consultancy for a select non-profit organization as well as a large corporation and a start-up. As one of BIC's stellar art directors in the Creative Track, Jen had been honored last year by The LAGRANT Foundation with a scholarship as well as a 3-day pre-professional development workshop and networking event in New York City.

Jen follows BIC alums from the Class of 2019, Natalie Alcide and Kelvin Morales, who worked on a MGP project last summer with Procter & Gamble which led to a produced social campaign to encourage more diverse perspectives. Running in February 2019, it was not only created by Natalie and Kelvin, but prominently featured them.

ABOUT The Marcus Graham Project: Inspired by a blog written by Tiffany R. Warren, Chief Diversity Officer of The Omnicom Group and Founder of the AdColor Industry Coalition, the goal of the Marcus Graham Project's iCR8 Summer Boot Camp is to identify opportunities in the industry and those interested in pursuing them. The curriculum design was inspired by the 1969 Agency Primer written by Bill Sharp entitled, “How to Be Black And Get a Job in The Advertising Business Anyway.” Approaching its 9th year, the Marcus Graham Project’s experiential learning methodology is specifically designed to provide diverse aspirants in the field of marketing and media, including advertising, PR & social media with the exposure and experience necessary to solidify careers within the industry.