Graduates visit

Yesterday 6 past graduates from the college paid us a visit to show us their work and talk about life in the industry. It was a bit crazy to begin with as there were SO many students there so i gave it chance to calm down and came back about 20 minutes later so i could actually talk to the graduates. I didn't catch all their names but mine and Rosie's favourite was Liam, he was very friendly and seems like he genuinely wanted to help us. Whereas some of the others seems to just want to show their work and asked the polite, small-talk type questions. I was surprised at how many people left the room once the first part (and the cakes) had gone, saying they weren't learning anything and had work to do. We all have work to do, but this future advice is happening now - don't miss your chance.
I learned:
- to ask publishers for commissions and send your email and blog address, so even if they don't need work now they know where to find you.
- to build a rapport with art directors and editors, so you're the first one they think of when a job comes up.
- to ALWAYS MEET DEADLINES!! If you miss a deadline, so does the editor and chances are they won't want to work with you again in future. And word spreads fast in the industry.
- an agent is good if you aren't very confident with money or on the phone etc, though many aren't interested unless you have a years worth of commissions under your belt to 'prove you're worth their while', so to speak.