This is what I love about Dan.
He was invited to speak at the 4A's, an advertising group that shunned W+K when they were a brand new no-name agency back in the 80's, and a group Dan has refused to join ever since. This is a conference where advertising people get together to talk about shit that really doesn't matter. Well, maybe some of it does, I've never been. I can only imagine the riveting discussions at the American Association of Advertising Agencies' yearly conference.
Dan is known by everyone at this little shindig as the man who penned Just Do It. He's half the name behind an agency that revolutionized advertising because they had the balls to say and do things no one else would. Their brilliance is using brands as a vehicle, not only to sell people crap they don't need, but they often use the industry to send important messages, messages of courage and determination and strength and truth, to huge audiences around the world through their televisions, magazines, radios and computers.
But very few in the ad world know Dan for what I think is his most inspirational achievement, Camp Caldera. A camp of pure love he and his family built from the ground up that has changed the lives of kids who've faced challenges more difficult than most of us will ever know. What's important in life is what you give back, and just watching this video reminds me, once again, of all the things I've wanted to start but haven't yet found the time.
It's people like Dan we should be following - people out there who are doing not just it, but IT.
