NEWS
Inside: Grip Limited
Having just celebrated 10 years of operations, Grip Limited has produced some great work, and have picked up several awards over the course of the past decade. You’ve probably read their blog, Big Orange Slide at least once and have almost definitely seen the creative they have produced for their clients.
We met with Associate Partner, Patrick Robinson and Director of Production, Interactive, Kathy Herrera for a few drinks to chat about being one of the few independently owned big agencies in Canada, their approach to managing talent, and of course; their office space.
Being independently owned (there are 11 partners) makes business and creative decisions easy (in theory.) This seems to working out nicely for the guys and girls at Grip, as the agency has grown into a creative force in Toronto; producing consistently solid work.
Their offices are housed in what used to be a factory and then a gallery. Most of the buildings original features have been maintained, though they have obviously made some alterations such as a sound editing studio and a big, orange slide that connects the ground floor with the lower levels.
On the bottom floor, there are sliding televisions and stadium seating to accommodate their lunch n’ learns as well as various industry events and educational events that are free for design students.
Grip prides itself on their freeflowing structure. Employees are encouraged to work outside of their titles and change roles within the company’s ecosystem — Account Managers become Copywriters, Copywriters become Programmers, Programmers… You get the idea. They also have Creatives present on all three floors working alongside Account Managers. And, everyone wears nametags to maintain some sense of community among their 100+ staff whose extra-curricular projects such as the Tour De Grip biking team are supported by the company. Not bad.
Comments
I've worked in this office and looks can be deceiving. I would warn anyone against interning with Patrick Robinson. He's known for taking advantage of interns. He'll entice naive young designers with the promise of gaining valuable work experience. However, instead of having you work on actual clients, he'll have you working on his own personal "projects". He basically uses these sham internships as a way to trick you into working for free as his personal assistant for a few months. He's also known to make unwanted sexual advances toward female juniors. Ask around. In an industry noted for being filled with scumbags, he's a noted scumbag. But hey, it's all worth it because the office has a f-ing slide.
@Once bitten, you sound like one of the many naive, entitled types that I see floating through the ad industry. Eat sour grapes much? I work at Grip and have to laugh that you've chosen Patrick, of all people, to slag here. There's no need for me to call out Patrick's reputation as a mentor and a leader, that's well enough known. Ask around.
He definitely doesn't suffer fools, no, and it's pretty foolish of you to think that an intern would be on client work until they've proven themselves. Grip's not a playground. Patrick mentors a lot of people (not just interns) but only the hard-working, deserving ones make it.
If you would like to know more about me or about opportunities at Grip, you're invited to join the 100+ students I have lead through the agency this year and the dozens whom have come back for an informational interview. Informational interviews and tours are scheduled most Thursdays between 4 and 5:30 p.m.
I encourage anybody considering an internship – wherever they are considering it – to do their research and set clear and realistic goals. As for any other character references, please do ask around. Here's my LinkedIn profile: http://www.linkedin.com/profile/view?id=23407342&trk=tab_pro
My goal for internships is that they be worthwhile and learning-focused. Ideally, they lead to employment, either with me, or through my network. Expectations can and should be high, and I stand behind my positive track record. The majority of internships throughout my career have lead to employment. More importantly, I hope they have also been a catalyst to proactive career planning.
Patrick Robinson
Patrickrobinson [at] griplimited [dot] com
Speaking of being "entitled", I just checked Mr. Robinson's linkedin page and it looks like he has a "self directed" MBA. That's interesting. I never realized that you could just give yourself a masters degree. It's almost like he ENTITLED it to himself. It's bad enough that everyone is claiming to be a social media expert these days but to declare yourself an MBA without actually going through an accredited MBA program is pretty shady business.
"Once Bitten" definitely sounds like a whiney teenager and this Patrick character definitely seems like a sketchy individual as well.
"Gripper" you had a nice rant going there until you declared that "Grip is not a playground." Dude, there is a SLIDE clearly visible in the pictures above. I understand that you were being metaphorical but you probably should have thought of something other than a playground. Maybe daycare or frat house?
Anyway, sounds like there is some fishy business at this office.
Damn, looks like Grip is losing clients and losing the flame war. Bahahaha!!!
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