Back from vacation is always a hard time…regardless of how exciting life is, it’s never as exciting as being on a fun little escape from the everyday. My little trip over the pond yielded so many points of inspiration, I can barely contain in a post (but hell, I’ll try). First and foremost, I feel so incredibly blessed to have amazing friends (in the industry and outside) that made me feel incredibly at home. I called it my own little “SXSW”, as so many people I admire and interact with on a (near) daily basis live out in jolly old London.

Warning: this post will be a little self-indulgent. I just don’t want to forget what I learned and want to share with those who are interested in similar learning, that’s all. {smile}

The most important thing I walked away with is a renewed sense of curiosity. A common thread of the interactions I had was the perpetual questioning and intense desire to know “but why?” and “what’s next?” There is always more to uncover, and the minute you feel like you’ve answered all your questions, it’s time to turn a new stone. There’s also a bit of a natural unrest — restlessness that I think comes from always wanting to know more and frustration that you don’t actually know everything you want to.

Further from “learning about learning”, I think we all know that in this business there’s a lot of smarts/skill that go into what we do everyday. And there is also a very important part of what we do that is completely intangible. It’s a charm, a charisma, a way of taking clients (and co-workers/friends) on a journey through conversation and being *truly* engaging. We rarely talk about this because it’s so ubiquitous. However, when completely inundated with it, it becomes completely clear that there are some folks that just have “it”. The only way to “get it” as I decipher, is A) god given talent and B) maturing around it.

A lovely lunching with the hilarious, frighteningly smart @malbonster (Tim Malbon to those non-twitter/instagram-ites) reminded me why I love creating things of value for the internets. It’s just not about simply making an ad or a communication…it’s about creating valuable properties that live WITH/FOR people other than just to tell them about something (If you’re curious about this, check out @madebymany blog, which is an incredible source of information/inspiration).

Lucky enough to meet up with a trifecta of a few of the smartest ladies I know (@dddiana, @melex, @PatsMc). As a gal slowly coming up in the ranks in the industry, it’s so inspiring to know such a powerful/dynamic generation of (female) leaders are at the reigns. A sisterhood of strong opinions, strong ideas and good shoes. I’ve never felt so optimistic about the future of our industry as I did after that little dinner. Totally humbled by their ideas and ambition.

Other “work-ish” folks of note are a couple of my biggest inspirations. I met a couple of very smart fellows at the original Planningness conference (also the time I decided I wanted to take the advertising/strategy world by the horns and steer away–pre-Twitter/social media days). Now creative directors, these guys (who are also incredibly humble) are taking the world by storm–focusing on creating things that live and breathe in the world that truly help meet unmet needs (not necessarily just ads), pushing brands forward in a very relevant way, that many of us talk about and admire. Needless to say, doers.  And also incredibly interesting and simply the nicest kind of people.

Net-net: the art of inspiration can be quite simple: make friends with people you really, truly respect and are completely humbled by. And then expect mind = blown.

And some fun (touristy) snaps from the trip below…