FIR NW is a student-run advertising agency at Portland State University. Guided by industry professionals, students gain hands-on experience in genuine agency conditions.

In my first semester with FIR, I worked on both copywriting and strategy. In the second term, I was voted Executive Director by my peers and mentors. As agency director, I had two main focuses:

First, in our weekly meetings, I found interesting ad campaigns—whether successful or not—for us to review and discuss. I aimed to emphasize the importance of developing my team’s creative voice. What attracts you like a magnet? What are you naturally repelled by?

Second, I sought to consolidate our resources. Many of the companies we represented had potential connections that we were missing. For instance, we represented a certificate program at Portland State that offered a retail certificate and also had an empty office with high foot traffic. We converted the empty space into a pop-up and created a multiple cross-promotion. This initiative expanded to include some of the restaurants we represented and even the food delivery app, Slurpalicious.

My experience with FIR was invaluable. Below, I have carousel of some of the work my team and I created, both from events we coordinated and online efforts.