Cheers…and welcome to Miner Thought.

What is MT and where will the future hopefully lead us…an open letter from an honest creative.

So…I’m the punk. Or at one time I was. Though the dreadlocks and pink mohawks of my youth have long since gone away, the loud music and the spirit of doing things differently whether hell or high water still remains a deep part of my moral fibre. I once promised myself that I would never go “corporate”, but as I got older and things began to cost money and somewhere along the way entered the engine I once fought so hard to be against. Call it selling out, call it growing up, call it irony. Whatever you call it, it happened. And you know what? I don’t really mind that much. Part of aging maybe. Or perhaps realizing that once I got into it that we are all very similar (and I’m still glad that I have managed to work for independent agencies and boutique firms). But being in advertising and marketing for what is fast approaching a decade I have still managed to do what I want and move from industry to industry and experience to experience.

So the rebel is still in there somewhere. But is it possible that it manifests in a different method now? I was once told that I seem to be the sort of person who moves from project to project and challenge to challenge with the thought: “…hmm…I think I can do something cool with that…”

With that thought I started to look at what was missing in my professional life and came across a new thought: I work for a lot of cool brands at a senior creative level and with a lot of cool people and it rocks…but at the end of all things when the curtain does fall I fear it may feel a little selfish. What am I doing to help?

As the about page will tell you Miner Thought has been a lot of things (it was once called Toy Twuk Studios…what was I thinking…) and in my career – which is now entering its second decade – so have I. So why not put that creative experience, curiosity and developed skill sets to something tangible and valuable to really helping others. Not just organizations and charities – but community centres, individuals, groups, schools, hospitals, events, heroes and victims. Why not offer creative help to those who have such an IMPORTANT message but sometimes lack the media experience or dollars to make that message not only relevant to their target but look engaging and well designed.

In 2010 Miner Thought had begun to evolve its own mission and is actively recruiting (more on that soon). We no longer simply want to do nice branding and design – but do it for people who need help. But with that thought comes an obvious reality. I have clients that trust in me after all this time and new ones who want to work with me and the teams I work with. So for now we are looking at operating as much as we can in the non-profit sector when we are not working on paid work. This may sound impossible but it’s not – as I and those who will hopefully join MT in the coming months as we ramp up all still have day jobs or strong freelance careers working actively in the paid sector. (I am currently a Senior AD for a downtown Toronto digital agency). That helps pay the bills and helps us pick our clientele.

As mentioned on the non-profit side of MT I am looking at growing a small and dedicated team of do-gooders who are looking to dedicate some of their time to help. I’ve already talked to a few of you and I hope to talk to many more. Part of what makes this so much fun and fulfilling is connecting with the organizations and charities out there and helping them beyond creative services by simply spreading the word. Letting others know about them, their projects, their efforts and more. I hope the blog part of MT will evolve into a platform to profile others as well as let MT individuals cover some of the things they do to help beyond the work.

So with all that together I hope that this site will not only work as a strong project showcase for what MT is doing but a social conduit for what our team is doing and what YOU are doing. In the end always helping.

In the long run, I hope and imagine that Miner Thought will eventually work as a pure 100% non-profit creative service group, surviving off of sponsorship donations to help us put food on our tables and continue to donate our time and imagination to helping those we can.

I hope you will help and if you think you can PLEASE contact us.

Cheers,
Todd Lawson – Owner | Creative Director

This entry was posted on Saturday, January 16th, 2010 at 8 44 am and is filed under All Blog Posts, Inner Thoughts. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.

One Response to “Welcome to MT”

1. Steven says:

   January 23, 2010 at 8:58 am

   Impressive vision Miner Thought. Can see the potential – looking forward to seeing your projects (especially the non-profit work) and reading more blog posts. You should profile charities but also individual stories too!