ACCOZZAGLIA

one of my talent agencies locally, whom i’d all but lost out hope for, phoned me with a real possibility for the first time since i moved here a year ago.

the art director for a monthly magazine is having to leave due to family emergencies, and they may or may not be able to return to their position. i feel bad for them, but their loss may ultimately end up being someone else’s gain.

i could use some gain in a big way.

so, my talent point person and i went down their laundry list of wants in an ideal candidate:

1. needed immediately
2. previous magazine experience
3. head a three-person department (as occasional publisher/editor & manage 2 people + freelancers)
4. they wish to avoid candidates with trade publications experience
5. actual experience photo directing
6. step in as editor while being the art director (redux of #3)

so, if ultimately this becomes a permanent role, and if they somehow like my credentials, i could find myself in a job — working my arse off (i might add) — for $50-70K per annum. which, as some of you are aware, is easily twice than what i’ve ever made at any time in my life.

of course, this is my experience set:

1. art direction experience demonstrated best with my furniture client from 2001—2003
2. magazine experience included two-month stint as advertising art director (which in many ways was a glorified graphic designer and one-person internal design house position in both pay and scope, though i didn’t mention this) for a local 30,000 circulation bi-weekly magazine, where i did all of one photo direction session for an advertising client
3. created a 16-page advertising section for Minnesota Monthly magazine in 2001 as per client spec (they already had their idea, combining that with the style they used the year previous)
4. supervising one other person at Minnesota Public Radio creative print department, plus creative service management experience for an entire creative team for three months at an assignment for an environmental design agency
5. editing (and writing) experience for newsletters, product content, ad copy, Web content, etc.
6. available now.

so, uh, i don’t know if employers ultimately bend to compromise anymore, now that the market is all theirs to call the shots on their own terms, but if they still have to, do any of you see any unusual bending here for one party to accommodate the other? do you see a reasonable, cozy middle point?

i have no idea whether i’ll be called in to interview or not. there’s just no way to know. and even so, there’s no guarantee that i’ll be their chosen one.

but i should look to this as the most optimistic thing left facing me in Seattle. i’ve come to the end of the line here, and i’ve ardently been scoping out options, leads and opportunities elsewhere. i can’t afford to sit on life any longer than i have. there’s too much i still have to do. and want to do.

thanks for listening.