Ad blogging was once a rich, vibrant community.
It was amazing how much people looked out for each other.
A lot was driven by Russell Davies … but the effect of it was something pretty special.
I met a lot of people because of that community … some, still even come on here.
Occasionally.
But when you compare it to the toxic, ego-filled bullshit of ad twitter … I can’t help but feel the blogging community was a much more valuable and positive resource for adland.
Especially if you were a junior.
While there are many positives of social media, learning the strategy discipline through 280 letter tweets is not really going to drive the craft forward.
Nowadays there seems to be only 2 people still blogging.
Martin and me.
Or said another way …
Nowadays, only Martin writes a blog that has real value and depth for the industry and discipline.
One of the people I am saddest at having stopped blogging is Andrew Hovells. Better known as Northern Planner.
I’ve written about him a lot in the past.
From how much I respect him to how much I liked trolling him by sending him to see Queen in concert, when he absolutely hates the band.
But I revisited his blog recently and there’s just so, so much amazing stuff on there.
Stuff for people curious about planning.
Stuff for people just starting planning.
Stuff for people having a career in planning.
Stuff for people leading work and teams in planning.
Stuff for every level and need in planning.
And while there are many other resources for this sort information on the internet, Northern Planner’s is especially good for 3 reasons:
1. It comes from someone who could have worked at pretty much any of the best agencies in London, but didn’t and instead chose to stay ‘oop North’ and bring the planning discipline to a part of England that [i] didn’t have it and [ii] needed a lot of convincing to see it’s value. Not only did he achieve that – and validate the discipline for more people in the region to become a part of it – his work gave the supposed London ‘superstars’ a run for their money.
[He also turned down coming to cynic, which still devastates me, because he would have made such a difference to us. But it also shows how smart he is. Unfortunately]
2. He doesn’t give you a process to follow, he gives you a way to look at the discipline and the roles within it. Meaning you’re developing your own planning style and voice … not regurgitating someone else’s.
3. All of it is free. Every last bit of it.
Given the amount of amateurs ‘flogging’ their questionable, superficial and inauthentic courses that don’t have the right to even be in the same universe – let alone industry – as Andrew’s generous, considered and carefully explained lessons and insights … I know who I recommend people spend their time learning from.
I really miss Northern and his blog.
But the planning community should be missing it even more.