In Chicago, they visited the Leo Burnett Advertising Agency, hosted by Delphi parent Cheryl Berman, Chief Creative Officer of Leo Burnett USA. Burnett is one of the top advertising firms in the world, whose clients include Disney, McDonalds, Visa and Hallmark. Students met with the young team that had just completed a successful TV campaign for Pop Tarts. The team explained how they developed their ideas based on the client's criteria, created storyboards, met with animators and editors, and worked with the music department. The team spoke about the importance of integrity in the creative process.

Business Trip 2005 Students also met with a recruiter for the firm who discussed what advertising businesses look for when hiring, and of general hiring practices in corporate America. She stressed the importance of a college degree to improve chances of a resume being read, and that good communication was the most important quality she looked for.

Later, students sat in on a high-powered meeting with Leo Burnett's top creative executives, who were preparing their final presentations for a special, two-minute advertising proposal. Artists, editors and producers read aloud their proposed ideas from scripts they had written. The students saw that each presenter possessed an exceptional grasp of the English language and could deftly construct scenes, characters and moods with a minimum of words.

Business Trip 2005 Students visited the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME), hosted by a senior security official who stood with the students in the balcony overlooking the trading pits and explained the beehive of activity below. At first, the students simply saw waves of people screaming and waving their hands frantically, but soon each action made sense, and they could see the effect that news flashing on TV monitors had on the trading activity below. The CME visit cleared up numerous confusions some students had by connecting the information learned in their textbooks to the real world.

While in Chicago, students also visited with Delphi parent Scott Jacobs at Post Effects Studios, where students learned about audio and visual productions.

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