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O P I N I O N
A (proud) marketing weirdo Many of us in the marketing clan ended up in it by accident, but in an industry that once considered us a no-no, we have chosen to stay, and to succeed.
I n my more than 20 years in the AEC industry, I have yet to meet anyone working in marketing that consciously chose to develop a career in this space. Admittedly, it’s somewhat crazy to invest one’s heart and soul in an industry that, in the not so distant past, considered marketing a no-no in the way they conducted their businesses. While networking throughout the years with my colleagues, one thing has become crystal clear: I am not alone. Indeed, we have a cult, a fraternity/sorority of sorts. And guess what? We’re all weirdos!
Javier Suarez POP MARKETING
We all face diverse challenges and our strengths and passions vary greatly, but for the ones that have stuck around, we have fallen in love with our endeavors. I roamed away to another industry for “In my more than 20 years in the AEC industry, I have yet to meet anyone working in marketing that consciously chose to develop a career in this space.”
Premier rock band Radiohead shared a sentiment in their ‘90s staple, “Creep,” eloquently stating, “I’m a weirdo, what the heck am I doing here? I don’t belong here.” These lyrics hit close to home to most of “us” after starting our first jobs in the industry. Think about all your friends in college studying marketing, business, journalism, even English. How many times did you hear them say, “I dream of working at ‘that’ engineering firm?” Let’s face the ugly truth: The majority of our clan members ended up here by accident. What is fascinating is that we stayed put in this collage of stressful deadlines, respect wars, and questionable career paths.
See JAVIER SUAREZ, page 12
THE ZWEIG LETTER December 19, 2016, ISSUE 1180
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