“Almost every session has about 30% juniors, about 30% mid, and about 30% extremely senior. There’s usually a CCO or an ecd in every session, so that makes for a fantastic conversation because everybody gets to hear different questions and different issues brought up,” said Bagley.
So far, Bagley has had 500 people go through the program, and now he’s ramping it up with more professional teachers. He also has support from the agency world, including W+K, Publicis Groupe, BBH and Saatchi & Saatchi.
Landing top talent
Landing the level of instructors was no easy feat, but Bagley noted that his time in the industry put him in contact with a lot of “very talented and accomplished friends,” which is why he was able to convince them to come aboard.
While it took a couple years for things to fall into place, the timing was right for the people he wanted as coaches, many of whom were transitioning away from full-time agency employment to more freelance work.
“It’s a testament to networking and building friends in the industry as to how I got them,” said Bagley.
Bagley added that the problem he had landing the coaches he wanted was the same problem the industry has trying to get mentors for rising professionals—the best senior talent are spread too thin or have too much demand put on their time. He counts himself lucky that he got the ones he did.
Classes for ASAP’s next program features courses for creative directors, art directors, social strategists, account managers and creatives, as well as how to sell great work to clients.
The course list so far:
- Bagley will head up a course on how the best creative directors lead teams and clients to world-famous work
- Boer will uncover the secrets and techniques of the world’s best art directors
- Levy will teach how the best creative professionals present and sell award-winning creative
- Monsey and guest lecturer Jordan Muse from MullenLowe show how to inspire teams and clients to unleash game-changing creative
- Gahan will teach social strategy and influencer marketing
- Patroulis will host an exclusive cohort of C-suite creative leaders mastering how to lead creative organizations to greatness
