Ethnography of a Village: Havas CHI
When I found out I was selected for Havas Lofts in Chicago, many people from my office (Havas Toronto) shared what they know about Chicago: Chicago-style hot dogs, deep dish pizza, jazz, museums and architecture.
Interestingly, the first thing that came to my mind was the Chicago School. I remember studying the works of the sociologists of the Chicago School. For the most part, their works were ethnographies that explored social relations in the city of Chicago, and I remember visualizing the Chicago of the 1920s and 1930s.
Fast forwarding from the 1930s to October 23rd, 2017, and here I am in Chicago standing in the Havas lobby, about to start the first chapter of my first ethnography. But unlike the Chicago School that chose the city as their “laboratory”, I will study a village — Havas Village Chicago.
Havas Village Chicago brings all of Havas’ creative and media agencies together under one roof to promote collaboration and integration between disciplines. The teams that work on the same client sit together in the office. That’s why I did not find the analytics people all in the same place, rather, they are all working as part of different client teams. While the Village model is now implemented in Havas offices around the world, the Chicago Village in particular has a true feeling of being small and tight-knit. Here’s why:
Feeling of Community
The central point of the Village is the Town Hall, where the agency gathers for All-Agency Meetings to “give a damn”. It’s close to the “Public School,” a kitchen with snacks and fresh fruit. But unlike other Villages — and offices in general, you can also find a barbershop and blowout salon, a massage therapy room, a makeup room and even a cinema (popcorn included) where our Lofts orientation took place. The IT department is even cleverly named The Pharmacy, as it’s where you can bring your laptop if it caught the flu or needs a Band-Aid. Seems these folks know a thing or two about the power of branding.
Our initiation involved hosting a special edition of the Beer Cart on Monday afternoon. While pushing around carts of beer and popcorn, we Lofters were able to introduce ourselves to many of our new co-workers.
Common set of values
Above all, Havas Chicago shares a common value of believing in creativity. If you consider the graffiti on the walls here the same way the historians interpreted cave paintings, you see that Havas Chicago’s people worship the children in themselves, and encourage creation and ownership in their people.”
When it comes to common values, I witnessed how the office has fought together for a cause. Most recently it was to raise money and awareness for Breast Cancer. And, when the whole Village came together, they met their goal for donations (and received a day off in return).
Neighbourhood, Rules and Traditions
As neighbours in the Village, we all live close to each other. Though the office has an open concept, everyone shows respect for one another. One rule is to take personal calls in the red rooms (which I have used a couple times already).
Village unity is usually expressed in rituals, such as celebrations. I was lucky to see how the agency celebrated Halloween. And, what I can say, these Villagers know how to party! Halloween was full of amazing creative costumes, live music, Mexican food, and surprise art installations at The Annex space.
So, after just four days of being an “observing” participant (or ethnographer, if you will), I can see that Havas Chicago is truly a community with its own vibe, traditions and values. And, if I could paraphrase what Mahatma Gandi said at the beginning of 20th century about Indian villages, I’d conclude that:
