The Caireen years

Caireen is the agency’s Production Manager and with the exception of Ray and Sam is the agency’s longest serving member of the team:

1996 – 1997
The blame all falls on my big sister. In an attempt to get me out of her flat she pointed out an advert for “Office Junior in Advertising Agency” in Midweek magazine (remember, the freebie one that came out along with Ms London and 9-5). A phone call, from one Samantha Ward came a week later, and included the conversation where she told me I was too over-educated for the role. But I won the day, with the argument that I could be as stupid as she wanted for the right money.

An interview at Ward Payne Communications followed – in a little office in Farringdon – where the hell is Farringdon?! Then it seemed like the hellish end of the city, no good for shopping and building sites everywhere (not much has changed, except the names of the bars, but at least I now know that Farringdon is the easiest place to get to from anywhere else in London!). The interview consisted of a spelling test (separate, not seperate) and apologies for their art director using the boardroom as the smoking room – yes it was that long ago.

So there I was, team member number 5 in a titchy office with a hotel room fridge, a kettle, no email, internet or mobile. But as happy as Larry – even if everyone did refer to me as Kez!

After the initiation ceremonies of media parties (a blur), client introductions (scary) and Moscow Mules (ask Sam) life at the office fell into a steady pace. The Office Junior tag lasted only as long as it took for Ray to find out I could write 20 fifty-word insurance ads in one day and for Sam to find out that I could work the Amipro PC system better than most! New faces joined, as well as new machinery in the form of our first Mac! And as the PC “wiz”, I was given the task of coming to terms with something called ISDN – the end of faxed proofs! Our first Studio Manager, Dave Hanson, soon followed with a second Mac and there my true vocation started to emerge. Typing the 50 odd insurance ads directly into the waiting housestyle seemed to save time. Helen, the second of Sam’s graduate trainees, typed and left. I, however, wanted to know, “how do I change that?”, “how can I do this?”. Dave, flattered that anyone would find typesetting fun answered my questions and kept on answering them until soon I was handling clients by day and 50% of the typesetting by – well also by day, but you get my meaning!

Christmas Conferences
1996: 2 nights in Brighton (all is revealed, again ask Sam. Or Ray)
1997: Antwerp Hilton (late night and lots of Rubens)