You Now Have Justification To Attend A Conference

I get lots of notices for industry conferences. Everything from Large Format Printing, to Increasing Agency Valuation, to Finding Happiness at Work.

Lots of information. Lots of reasons to attend. Lots of reasons to tell your boss you have to go. And that does not include shopping and hanging out with friends in the brewpubs around the corner from the hotel – except after hours.

I have been to many conferences, spoke at a few and have found one thing to be true above all else: no matter what the subject or content, you will probably gain as much from talking to other attendees as from sitting in a session.

Not that sessions are boring or not relative to what you need to know (you should pay attention), but often, sessions provide the subject matter. They provide the topic to discuss and debate with your colleagues.

Conferences are also great for finding out what is working for others’ agencies, and applying it to your agency. Or the other way around – share what’s working for your agency.

And just an aside: you can find your next job there – or find out that you really don’t want to work at that legendary, dreamy agency – because they too, have just as many (and the same) problems you want to escape.

If anything I have learned over the many years of working in agencies and marketing departments – and with them is this:

Nothing is unique. No agency, no creative director, no project manager – no issue. Sometimes it’s a little more bizarre, but pretty much, we’re all alike.

So go to the conference and hang out with others – like-minded individuals. You’ll learn from them too!

You’ll find out that any successes or issues you have in your agency (and you do), are the same that others are dealing with. You aren’t alone.

So with that, if you are an Advantage/Webvantage user, check out their upcoming conference happening next month, October 19 - 22. Go to their site and check it out.

Added bonus, I’ll be there. I won’t be speaking, that’ll be up to their amazing staff, but I’ll be around to give you a first-hand account of the process of implementing what I consider to be, the best agency management program available.

I speak from experience on that one. I have worked with lots of software over the years. And as a disclaimer, I am a preferred Advantage consultant. Truly, I wouldn’t go out on the recommendation limb if I hadn’t personally implemented and used it myself – successfully.

And . . . this is your chance to get a little of my “advice” for free. Wow!

There’s even a more better bonus: It’s in Vegas. My hometown. Arrive a few days early and enjoy the Strip.

Conferences don’t get any better than that.

Making The Arrangements

When you’re in our line of work – project managers, you know, the basic Process People – nothing rings truer than a quote from Bob Hoffman, AKA Adcontrarian:

“Creative people make the ads. Everyone else makes the arrangements.”

For those of us who make the arrangements, I see our job as a facilitator, keeper of civility, manager of profitability, efficiency expert, therapist, and seer of All Things That Can Go Wrong. (You’d be amazed at the things I can foresee.)

We shouldn’t be a speed-bump, barrier, wall or unmovable object when it comes to getting great creative done.

However, I do believe everyone should get along and do their part so that everything in an agency can get done. On time. I'm not talking a kumbaya moment here. Just plain old cooperation.

Yes, I understand that everyone’s awe-inspiring creative is the most important thing in the agency. Ever. But I also understand that everyone else’s awe-inspiring creative is just as important.

That’s why people like us – the PMs, traffic, those who keep the work moving along – are important and shouldn't be eyed with contempt when they walk into a room.

We make sure everyone has what they need, projects are kept within budgetary boundaries (we always find a way), and move other work around while bargaining our last favor to squeeze extra help for your project. We’ve also been known to get food and drink to the creative masses as they work through the night to meet a deadline.

We’re also the ones at the end of the line, who make the arrangements (and often pick up and deliver) to get the decks ready for your 10am meeting.

So while the Creative People make the ads, the arrangements must be made by someone – and that someone is most often us – the PMs. The Process People.

Yes, we have our systems, and those seemingly tedious systems do make creatives crazy, but those very systems are the ones that give us everything we need to make sure your stunning project gets done. And everyone else’s projects get done too.

So please, don’t complain the next time we ask you to mark your task complete, or do your timesheet. All that stuff makes it easier for us to help you.

We make the arrangements.

Don’t Overcomplicate It. Process Is Actually Easy.

If I’ve seen it once, I’ve seen it a thousand times. A committee, or better yet, a Task Force, is convened to define Process.

Yes, it’s that P Word again.

I’ve defined process everywhere I’ve been. And as much as everyone hates Process, and the people who embrace it, there is, indeed, real value in it.

Let’s define process first. Dictionary.com says:

noun, plural processes 

 [pros-es-iz, ‐uh-siz, ‐uh-seez or, esp. British, proh-ses‐, proh-suh‐] 

1.   a systematic series of actions directed to some end: to devise a process for homogenizing milk.

2.   a continuous action, operation, or series of changes taking place in a definite manner: the process of decay.

Milk and decay aside, Process exists at some level in every agency – whether you know it or not, you probably have a process that’s unwritten, yet people are doing pretty much the same thing in the same way, every day, and everything works just fine.

There’s your process.

Then there’s the other side, where the steps are so detailed, so unwieldy, that process becomes The Job. This is usually the consequence of a project that went off the rails somewhere in the past – and probably not all that spectacularly, and no one can really remember what happened...

Just some random event that really pissed off someone, be it the Partner or, God Forbid, the Project Manager.

Then you get new rules. Lots of rules. Rules that become process.

Rules about the Order For Approval. Proofer has to see it first (but they’re at lunch).

The rule about Rush Jobs. Two days constitute a Rush Job (but there’s a huge opportunity to do something amazing for the client – today).

The rule about Account standing over Creative and giving direction. This one I’ll stick by. NEVER is this acceptable.

Lots of little rules that add up to a giant pain. For everybody.

Anyway, there are a bunch of Rules. And a bunch of Steps. And a punitive jerk or two who wears the mantle of Project Manager and gets in your face. Every day. Because you didn’t follow process.

Well, an agency needs process. It doesn’t need to be complicated. It just needs to make sense to everyone who’s involved. Or else your amazing team will simply ditch your carefully diagrammed process.

You will be the butt of jokes. Mocked. Scorned. Dare I say, despised.

Let’s make it easy.

Map your workflow. It can be a numbered list - please skip the Microsoft flow diagrams, they're icky and time-consuming. This is supposed to be easy, right?

1. What are the logical steps it takes a project to enter the door and leave? 
2. Who touches it at each of those steps? 
3. What tools are used for that individual to progress through those steps (and know what's going on)?

About tools: they can be as simple as using email (which I will personally shoot anyone who uses email for managing work, but hey, if that’s your system, then by all means. But fair warning of disaster ahead). Or you could have something a little more sophisticated and organized. If you don’t want to pay money for software, then at least go with Google Docs. Or even an organized folder structure on a central server. Bottom line: give everyone a place to find shit. Okay?

Here’s an example: The client calls, the AE fills out a job order and turns it over to the PM. The PM good-naturedly takes the job, applies a schedule, confers with creative and turns it over to the chaps ready and willing to do marvelous creative. It gets reviewed and proofed, then back to the AE to present to the client, who then loves it and writes a big, fat check.

It all comes down to: what are the logical steps? Some projects are more involved and require more steps and more touch-points, and some fewer.

Yes we can do a Rush Project. We note them as such. And no, not everything is a RUSH.

Now go, map your workflow. That’s the foundation of your process. When things go wrong – and they do (or else you’re not in advertising) – look at the mapped workflow and note what basic step was skipped – or perhaps missing. Chat with the individuals where the error occurred and ask them how to avoid it in the future. It could have been a one-time thing. Lesson learned, and move on. Don't create another rule. 

And by the way, it is good policy to ask the people doing the work how they see workflow. What are the steps that lead to them, that if done properly, make their lives easier?

The process will be written and owned by the users.

No Committee. No Task Force.

Back To Work. Back To School.

Lydia is prepped and ready for her first day of school!

Many of you had a three-day weekend. You may have celebrated Labor Day by getting the day off work and gathering with friends and family for a barbeque. Or maybe you spent the day getting ready for the First Day Of School.

My daughter, whose birthday is tomorrow, is celebrating her big day by sending her daughter off to The Big First Day Of School. Kindergarten.

It’s an exciting time. There’s a new backpack, pencils, composition book, lunch box, a couple new things to wear.

It’s all so simple. And all so worth taking the time to enjoy it.

Happy First Day Of School, Lydia!

I’ll get back to advertising tomorrow.

Labor Day. Say Thank You.

It’s labor day. Nee-woll-ah*

“Labor! Oh, the problem of labor in India is gargantuan.” Auntie Mame**

Most of us have the day off, although there are plenty of people working to ensure you have important things like food, healthcare, safety, and we can’t forget school clothes and a shot at winning big in craps.

I live in Las Vegas, and right now, there are tens-of-thousands of people working on the Strip making sure our visitors have good food, a clean room and a constant flow of cold drinks while cold hard cash the guests earned is going into machines. Most return home with a good experience, and some return with extra cash.

I like the people who work in the casinos. The ones who are cleaning rooms, serving food and dealing your blackjack hand. They are the labor force that is bringing in the dough.

No matter which city you’re in, the workers are doing their jobs. Today. On a holiday.

Many are thrilled to be working and earning, hopefully, just a little more than they need.

So say thank you. Leave a tip – and just a little more than 15 or 20 percent if you can afford it.

**The line above is from Auntie Mame; a book, a play, and then a movie that starred Rosalind Russell. My favorite actress.

*Nee-woll-ah comes from the movie classic Picnic, with William Holden and Kim Novak. - which Rosalind Russell was also in. To me, that is the quintessential movie about Labor Day. End of Summer. Desperation. Change.

And an awesome scene delivered near the end of the movie by Ms. Russell, where she, as Rosemary the spinster teacher, is begging Howard (played so well by Arthur O’Connell) to marry her. It was done in one take. I couldn’t find the scene on YouTube. Just watch the movie.

Have a wonderful autumn!