Don Draper being who he is - Creative Director of the Manhattan Advertising Firm, Sterling Cooper Draper Pryce - I thought it would be interesting to interview him about some of the changes that have happened in business since his heyday in the 50's.

Dustin: So tell me a little bit about what changes you have noticed in the creative industry since your days in the business?

Don: Like what?

Dustin: Well, for starters, like the move toward digital – website, emails, & social media – I'm guessing that's got to be an interesting change to the advertising world you experienced, one you would have never imagined.

Don: I'm not following you. You're going to have to be more specific.

Dustin: Ok, well let's take email. I imagine that has changed the way work is submitted, feedback is generated, and ideas are shared. That's got to have changed the way we do things now compared to how you did them.

Don: Explain email to me, I still don't understand.

Dustin: Ok…..hmmm. Imagine if instead of having to have your secretary write every letter for you, then waiting days for it to be mailed, received, and read – you could just quickly type out a letter that would automatically appear on someone's desk as soon as you wrote it. You wouldn't even have to be that formal – you could just send quick messages to people whenever you wanted and check in, get feedback, and the like. Think about how much time that would have saved you.

Don: That sounds ridiculous. If I could write a letter whenever I wanted and it just appear on someone's desk, then I'd be receiving hundreds of letters on my desk all the time. There would be no effort or barrier to communicating with me. I would never have time to do actual work. I'd just be reading and writing your magic letters all day.

Dustin: I don't think you're getting the point – it makes things easier…communication would be faster.

Don: Then explain to me how I'll ever get anything done if I'm getting magic letters on my desk all day?

Dustin: You just manage your time well.

Don: So I'm going to spend half my time with these letters, and the other half managing my time on how to deal with all the letters?

Dustin: You're not getting it Don. Let's just move on. Let's talk about the actual work. What changes have you noticed in the creative work being produced since your days in advertising?

The interviews stops there for now. We were interrupted by Don's secretary with what she said was an emergency, but Don promised to meet back with me again to discuss further some of the differences he's experienced since the advertising world of the 50′s.

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