Today is large.

Today brings a wide variety of new possibilities and opportunities. Not just a single moment of truth, but the potential for several of them.

Prior to today, the vaunted “advertising agency” carried, for me, aspects of a Shangri-La. It was a distinguished, sophisticated place that used unorthodox methods to achieve higher professional purpose. I wanted to be there, and imagined that my levels my education could facilitate just that.

Today, I begin to etch past the mental veneer I have given to the agency and discover the truth for myself.

Assumption #1: Things are just better at an agency.

My own, similar assumption came from a self-centred place. Inexperience tells me that I’m a star, and it’s just a matter of time before they see it.

Reality: Everyone here exudes individual talent and ability. Individual perspective and experience drive the uniqueness of the product, but the collective is key in propelling and polishing.

From my initial observations, an agency isn’t an All-Star Team, it’s an Olympic Squad.

2) Assumption #2: There will be client swag EVERYWHERE.

My assumption was that an agency defines itself by its clients. Every business I have worked for previously was an absolute deluge of self-promotion.

I have yet to see someone covered head-to-toe in client promo swag at this agency. I doubt it’s something I will ever see. But yes, some areas register like a greatest hits package. However the remnants of completed projects seem to serve as mementos of both the good and bad times in the creative process.

Reality: It’s the full process that defines the team that defines the brands.

3) Assumption #3: Armani. Always.

I might add that my assumptions in these matters have nothing to do with Mad Men. Just to confirm, I did not at any point believe that an ad agency resembled a sixties set piece.

That being said, it may have occured to me that the high-end nature of this side of business would see its talent in a state of cocktail party-readiness at all times. I suspected that the competitive nature of the agency would manifest in a certain one-upmanship re: dresscode.

Reality: Though there’s a deficit of couture pieces, people dress to express. It’s a function of cherished individuality around here, resonating in the way people carry themselves, and ultimately the way they dress.

It’s possible to be well put together, without dressing like you’re in a Rat Pack tribute act.

Yes, we often run articles on social and traditional media here on the blog. But new year, new horizons. Onwards and upwards. Tally-friggin’-ho.

While gaming has always played a huge role in shaping our love and relationship to the digital environment, 2011 has already begun to show signs of being a definitive moment in gaming – and therefore interactive – culture.  With CES kicking off this weekend in Las Vegas, PlayStation’s imminent release of an Android-powered phone, and gadgets like the Kinect hitting the shelves, we want to know what you think: will 2011 be Game on?

Created by the Canadian company Lymbix, ToneCheck is a plug-in that flags “emotionally intense words and sentences” to ensure your emails don’t have a negative or easily misconstrued tone.

When applied to the workplace, this plug-in has the potential to keep voice and tone (and therefore brands) consistent. On the other hand, it may also compromise any remaining vestige of individuality – the last shred of a human touch from the people that truly make a company work (and make it worth doing business with).

Using ToneCheck in the workplace also brings up the important issue of employee-employer trust. If a company doesn’t trust their employees enough to let them craft emotionally appropriate emails, then why on earth did they hire them in the first place?

At the very least, ToneCheck needs to seriously reconsider their user interface. The series of windows that this plug-in is sure to stoke the fury of any enraged employee looking to fire off an email in the heat of the moment. After a little poking around, I came upon this short animated film Pentagram did to illustrate the concept of emotional spell-check for New York Times Magazine’s Year In Ideas. Maybe Lymbix should take its design cue from them – in the interests of doing that much more to check their audience’s violent tendencies.

Or, y’know, maybe people should lose the plug-in and buy a stress ball instead.