The Interview: Anthony Kalamut, Creative Advertising Professor & Program Coordinator

Ten words. Two letters each. “IF IT IS TO BE, IT IS UP TO ME.” What makes you do the things you do? It’s all up to you to do it. My professor taught me this. Anthony Kalamut is a professor and program coordinator of the Creative Advertising program at Seneca College in Toronto. I’m happy to share that he is my professor and has taught me the value of having a strong mentality. Anthony Kalamut shares his experience with Gen Y and the way Gen Y learns.

Can you tell us about yourself?

I’m an agency guy. I’ve worked with national brands that have truly tested, pushed and nurtured me. I started out as an art director, then became a creative director working for national and multi-national brands. I reached a crossroad and asked, “What’s next?” I had an opportunity to teach part-time and that told me that I want to make an impact. I love advertising. I first taught colour theory and layout classes. Then I was asked to take the Creative Advertising program at Seneca College to the next level. Now I am the program coordinator and a professor of the Creative Advertising program at Seneca. I like being challenged. I enjoy giving people challenges to become better talents, and show them how great they are.

What is your teaching philosophy?

I believe in Karma and follow this Jackie Robinson quote, “A life is not important except in the impact it has on other lives.” I’m not here to train “adgeeks.” I care about transcending everything into life, not just advertising. I want to motivate and bring out the passion in students so that they can be better people.

What do you do to help students be the best that they can be?

Find it within. Ask, “how do I want to do better?” Ask questions. Sure there’s textbook learning, but find challenges. I believe in experiential learning. I try to keep my students engaged. I understand that Gen Y breathes the social media realm so I provide three sources for them to learn. I have Twitter, Facebook and a Blog (for detailed learning). I keep things up-to-date so that I can create a dialogue and have conversations in and out of the classroom.

How can students be successful in the classroom and in their careers?

The classroom provides stepping stones to a successful career. It is about challenging yourself. Chris Taciuk (VP, CD of DraftFCB), Cam Boyd (Copywriter, Taxi 2), Randy Stein (Partner CD, Grip Limited), Aaron Starkman (CCO, Zig Ideas) are successful because they did not treat learning as an assignment, they saw learning as building skills and character.

What do you think about Gen Y’s level of commitment toward education?

Gen Y, like every generation, understands the importance of education. With post-secondary school, Gen Y cares about delivery on its own terms. If they can get information and learn, they are willing to experiment change. They want to see the benefit out of learning, which is a good thing. Once they see an idea, they are committed. The way of learning has changed, which is the expectation of getting an opportunity to learn what they want.

What do you think about Gen Y’s creativity skills?

Gen Y is very one-idea committed. The problem is stopping too soon. There are deeper solutions. The analogy of an onion is to cut through its layers until you reach the core where you start crying. Paul Cappelli, (Former CD, McCann Erickson) said, “for every ad you do, there is a dozen more ads that are better in the waste basket.” It’s a generational thing, my generation feels that the next generation does not come up with more than one solution.

Gen Y feels that they have no time to do anything. What are your thoughts about this?

There’s too much shit distracting them.

There are moments when students feel like they are failures. What would you suggest to them in this case?

“IF IT IS TO BE, IT IS UP TO ME.” Remind yourself why you are here. If you commit to failure, then you will fail. Look for a vision and set goals, “what is it that I want?” Students should go back  and re-evaluate why they started out.

Does Gen Y have a different approach to solving problems compared to previous generations?

The difference is access. Gen Y can now access the Vatican Library naked, while eating toast, watching 90210 and tweeting all at the same time. There are new and fresher tools.

Do you think Gen Y has a different perspective on the importance of education compared to Baby Boomers and Gen X?

Boomers did it for their parents. Education was expected. At this time, parents were immigrants and wanted the best for their children, so education was mandatory. For Gen X, education became a privilege because access to education changed. They felt that success is attached to education. For Gen Y, they are aware that people succeed without formal education. They feel that there is still hope to succeed without education.

You worked with Gen X and Gen Y. Can you give us a comparison?

Gen X’s perception is that they work harder, which is true. When I did layouts, I used a magic marker and hand-drew everything. I worked twice as hard. Gen Y works hard too, but they have different tools. When it comes to level of professionalism, there is no difference. Both are here for the same goal.

Do you think Gen Y engages in the classroom differently compared to previous generations?

There are far more distractions and disruptions, which is why Gen Y is so opinionated. There is a lot of access and information. Those from the last 5 years did not challenge me. My suggestion is to take technology out of the classroom because Gen Y’s attention span is shorter. I want students to know the difference between listening versus hearing. Technology can get in the way of that because it is tempting. I try to remove distraction when I am lecturing.

Follow Professor Anthony Kalamut via Twitter, Facebook and his Blog.