Bold ideas stop traffic
MAGALIESSIG – It took Shaun Teles three months to plan how he was going to stop traffic for 15 seconds.
Imagine stopping traffic on Witkoppen Road just to grab the attention of a company you desire to work for … this is a story of Fourways resident, Shaun Teles, who did just that.
“I am a graphic designer by profession and I thought that in order to land a job at a brand design and communications agency called Sunshinegun, I had to do something mind-blowing and different in order to grab their attention,” he expressed.
Teles added that he decided to stop traffic on Witkoppen Road at 3pm on a busy Friday on 19 August, with a banner that faced the agency when he knew the executive creative director would see the banner.
“I had to plan the whole thing meticulously. I had inside help from the company who alerted me as to when the ECD would walk into the boardroom that was facing traffic so that me and my friends could stop traffic and raise the banner for the ECD to see,” Teles said.
The resident explained that he received help from six of his friends – he had two friends lifting the banner, two barricading traffic and one video recording the whole endeavour.
“My banner had a pay-off line and unique hashtag, #GiveShaunAJob, which would redirect the ECD to my portfolio and contact information. The banner took close to three months to complete, as detailed planning was put into place on how I was going to stop traffic for 15 seconds without any casualties,” Teles said.
Teles said that for the first five seconds of lifting the banner, he and his friends could not see anyone at the company’s boardroom window. “After five seconds of lifting the banner, I thought no one from the company would see our attempt, but soon after, someone came to the window, the ECD also came to the window and I could see them applauding, so were some motorists as they hooted and cheered me on. On the other hand, other motorists wanted to drive passed,” Teles quipped.
“In the first week, the video managed to get 719 views on Facebook and 13 shares which, for an average unknown Joe, is a lot. The company made a personalised mention on their Facebook page applauding me on what I did.
“Due to the fact that I grabbed their attention, I am to meet up with them soon. I am glad that I went ahead with what I had planned to do because I learnt that, even with no budget, and with a good group of people willing to help, nothing is impossible.”
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