We invite colleagues, competitors, clients and other skilled people from (or relevant for) the industry, for a coffee. Todays guest is Maja Folgerø. Maja grew up at the last stop of Kolsåsbanen, and was not allowed to ride the tram further east than the central station. She is still nervous about not having a ticket when someone in an oversized parkas gets up. Maja started the copywriting course at Westerdals when she was 19, then quit, then started again. She (finally) got a diploma, but realized her ideas were already outdated. Then detoured around the world, stopped at Berghs in Sweden, finished school (again) and got a job as a creative at BBH New York!

What inspires you?

It changes regularly, but I admire people who do the exact opposite of what I do. At the moment I’m tired of all the talkers in creative circles, me being one of them. I want to be more of a doer, and people like my friend Masa inspires me:  He moved back to Japan when everyone else left after the earthquake, and started PARTY creative lab in Tokyo. And Zach Lieberman, who I’ve never met, but would love to work with.

How do you keep exploring and learning?

I love going on Social Safaris. Usually places I end up by accident, or where I’m the pink elephant in the room. Could be eating pretzels in an Amish town or fistpumping in Jersey. I never talk to the hot guy at a party, but usually the weirdo that studied insects for 5 years. It’s not a brilliant way to reproduce, but I meet a lot of interesting people.

When were you amazed last?

I wish there was a better word to describe it than interactive, but this play kind of is: wearing a white mask you walk around in an abandoned hotel where actors appear/disappear. Feels like you’re in a David Lynch movie, drifting in and out of the storyline. Sleep No More: If you’re in NY, go!

(Oh, and yesterday when my brother told me I have the introduction book to Scientology in my bookshelf. Amazing. And very disturbing)

What is your favourite resource library?

Google for everything, really. I never got the hang of rss feeds, so I’m rediscovering blogs these days. And I’ve found adding them to twitter is the best trick. Then I can get all the beautiful/geeky/funny updates in one feed. But no, I’m not giving much back.

What’s the biggest challenge the digital communications industry is facing right now, and do this lead you to some predictions?

I think a lot of people in the industry are blinded by the endless digital possibilities. Just because an idea is feasible it doesn’t mean people will interact with it.
People’s needs will obviously change with the devices they use, like Foursquare apps are useful now, but wasn’t 3 years ago. But our job is interesting because we (still) communicate with human beings. And if our ideas are not entertaining and/or useful, why would anyone want to engage with it?