The manual

Step 1 Soak seeds in water for a few hours.

Step 2 Drain the water from the seeds, place a damp cotton ball on the bottom of the glass and place the seeds on the cotton ball. Cover the seeds with another damp cotton ball.

Put the glass in a dark place (e.g. drawer of your desk). Water the seeds twice every day to ensure they stay moist, but do not drown them. Once the seeds begin to sprout put the glass in a bright place – no direct sunlight.

Step 3 As soon as the leaves grow, throw the top cotton ball away.

Step 4 After 4-5 sprouts days should be ready for harvesting. Pimp your lunch sandwich or salad with the tasty sprouts. Boost your brain and enjoy!

The more is more

All good things come in threes. This is the third mailing and grand finale. I received a lovely and personally written email from Droga 5. Although they liked my idea, they said they are not currently hiring.

Fair enough, that means I can’t support the team actively by becoming a part of the in-house team. Well, but I can support them passively :) Let’s try some kind of “Guerrilla-Marketing” ;)

The Happy New Year idea involves surprising everyone in the team with a sprout-growing kit.Why sprouts? Because sprouts are full of nutrients and vitamins, which boost brain activity, thinking and ideas.

I made 38 sprout-growing kits. I would give anything to see their faces when the parcel arrives. It’s like Kinder Surprise for adults ;)

The follow up mailing

I sent the first follow up today. The mailing contains fertilizer for Petunja, wrapped in a flower lookalike packaging. The message calls them up to unleash my energy for fertilizing Droga 5.

How will I fertilize Droga 5? I will give Droga 5 a few weeks of my valuable lifetime, before I start travelling again – that’s right, I don’t ask for money, it’s about helping each other.
I’ll take weight from the shoulders of Droga’s team by taking over work wherever the pressure is the most. In addition my thoughts will refresh and enhance ideas of the creative thinkers.

How does Droga 5 fertilize me? I know that my mind comes up with beautiful things when I listen and discuss with passionate people. Such an awesome feeling, when my mind is sparkling and plenty of ideas are coming up. I like Droga 5 help me get this feeling every day!

Meeting Droga5

Ready for boarding…

… and happy for leaving cloudy Melbourne, not knowing, that it’ll be worse in Sydney ;)

Shit happens most likely last minute. Finding the right team, is what one needs for trouble shooting. I found a brilliant team. Thanks Adriana and Anthony from WYSIWYG for professional support to a decent prize.

Wow, I’m almost there. I can feel my heart pounding, it’s so exciting…

Last chance for wishing all the best. I’m almost sad. “Take care Petunja and see you soon ;D”

Thanks Andrew, for kindly welcoming Petunja :)

The Main Players

PROFILE TANJA

Roots: Grew up on a farm in the sticks’ close to Switzerland. Lived and worked in Berlin
Interested in: Innovations, social media, emotional intelligence, learning and improving
Passionate about: Solving problems, adding value, digging deeper
Leisure time: Kite surfing, surfing, boxing, rock climbing, learning new things
Best meal in Australia so far: Self caught, oven baked Red Snapper
What I like about Petunja: She makes my room smell spicy
What annoys me about Petunja: When she lingers on the bench getting sunburnt forgetting that the sun in Australia is much more dangerous

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….

PROFILE PETUNJA

Roots: Came over as a seed to Australia, as farewell present and grew up in Melbourne
Interested in: Growing bigger and looking good
Passionate about: Flourishing
Leisure time: Lingering in the sun and viewing bugs buzzing around
Best meal in Australia so far: Fertiliser sticks
What I like about Tanja: Her ability to empathize
What annoys me about Tanja: When she‘s too focused to stop working on her projects and leaves the light on at night, when I need my beauty sleep

The Make-Up

Preparing Petunja for the journey. Petunja will deliver for me the cover letter, a quick overview of my skills and a QR-code.

The skill overview is easy and fast to browse: The bigger the word the more skilled I am. Convenient access to the blog Petunjas Journey: The QR-code needs just to be scanned with a mobile phone, no typing in letters.

The Message

The Mission

Ok guys, now my aim is clear: I wanna be part of the Droga5 team. I want to learn from/with them and create well-considered, user-involved campaigns.

Yes, that feels right. Now I need the right strategy to get their attention. Probably they can wall paper their whole office 1,ooo times with all the applictions they have received. With all the inspiring campaigns I viewed, it would be incredibly inappropriate to send an ordinary application. I don’t want to end up on the wall-of-lame.

The last couple of weeks I’ve had heaps of fun creating my application. Let’s get into it:

With Petunja in my hand luggage I will travel back, to where my journey began: Sydney. Petunja is very excited about her journey. She daydreams of her new home. A new bench to linger on (a wider one perhaps), surrounded by the like minded, maybe she’ll even be watered more frequently!

When arriving at Droga5 studio, I will hand over Petunja in her withering condition. Her mission is to deliver a message for me to Naren and Sudeep.

The Inspired Mind

Back at my house, I checked my plant Petunja. She’s already a bit floppy. I felt sorry for her… she must feel kind of neglected by me and my infrequent watering too, poor thing. Even my flatmate gave me a despondant look. Sorry poor girl, it will never happen again. Well… now I’ve got to consider this… I’VE GOT AN IDEA!

The Mind-Blowing Presentation

I attended Semi Permanent in Melbourne a few days ago. Somehow I can’t stop thinking about one presentation. There were two guys, Naren and Sudeep from Sydney, presenting the work of Droga5. Check out the website, you won’t be disappointed.

From the beginning I was excited by their work and the way they elaborate on concepts. I fell instantly in love with the interdisciplinary way of thinking and collaborating. I like the things they said about collaboration, that it’s not about like-minded people sitting in a room, working together feeling that you’ve got all the right questions and you can answer all the questions. The say collaboration is about diversity, seeing the world in a different light, it make us learn new things. That people come up with things other people never ever thought of before. They recommended asking stupid questions, even though it often feels awkward and uncomfortable. Too many people were afraid of asking questions.
They said it was bloody hard to let go of control, especially with Client expectation, but at times, one has to let go of all control and let others control the process. I noticed, even though they do have great teams, ideas and clients, they still have to deal with the same problems as any agency.

For innovation it’s neccessary to take risks. These days everyone wants to be innovative, but very few really have the guts to take the needed risks. Either you risk something or you are just a follower. These guys are definitely no followers. It became clear that being brave doesn’t mean being fearless. Naren advised: “There is no guarantee for success. Jump off the cliff and hope for the best. You need to manage the Angst.” As a result every project had a brilliant concept, well-conceived with appropriate use of social media tools. I could spend hours watching this great stuff, even though it’s advertising. I never spend time watching commercials on Telly! Most likely no one does.

As I walked out of the room after the presentation, I thought that I must have been numb the last few months from not knowing what I was looking for. Suddenly, like nothing before, it was so obvious. I want to collaborate with these unique characters and develop with them concise user-entertaining campaigns. It felt like I was taking the first breath after nearly drowning … like finally being refreshed with water after withering like an un-loved plant … oh dear, my plant …