Even if you're on the account team and don't work on the actual creative files, it's important to understand what the main programs are and what they're intended for- basically know your graphic design tools. I've noticed that it's not uncommon, especially when working with a small creative department, to come across an inexperienced artist (sometimes even ...
So Cal Agency Life
A couple weeks ago, I had the sweet treat of having the other half of my team visit from Milwaukee. We were all meeting at our office in Irvine, CA for our client's quarterly business review. In between the prep, last minute touch ups to the presentation, the actual presentation and scheduled meetings, we still ...
Daydreams issue 1
Hi there everyone. March has been such a super busy month. It’s the end of the fiscal year, so my reality has become this whirlwind of spreadsheets. Spreadsheets with multiple tabs, shared with multiple program managers, saved on a shaky server, made even shakier through an undeniably unpredictable VPN connection.
I miss marketing and brainstorming creative. It seems like all I’ve been doing lately is forecasting numbers, searching for mysteriously missing costs, and trying to explain to executives why my margin is the way it is only to find out there was a typo in cell F12:B60 under postage.
Needless to say, I’ve been in great need of some gorgeousness. Here’s where my mind has been wandering off to lately…
Stylish Mouse Pads
Ironically, small work spaces can be a bit of a challenge to keep pretty. You wouldn't think that's the case since you have less area to make a mess; when really, you just have less space to keep things hidden. If you're working in a tiny space, it's important to keep things tidy and invest ...
Fab Office Supplies
New year. New office supplies. Fabulous ones, that are pretty. Just taking a moment to revel in these little Kate Spade notebooks and pens my friend Lisa sent me. I absolutely adore them. As much as we'd like to, we can't always pick up a new Kate Spade handbag whenever we've had a draining day. But ...
AWESOME COWORKERS MAKE EVERYTHING BETTER
The end of the fiscal year is usually pretty UN-fun. It’s the time when you’re planning budgets for next year, preparing a bunch of ever-changing documentation for your Finance department, as well as your clients, and forecasting revenue, aka predicting the future. See, no fun. It’s around this time when I find it really easy to fall into a funk… luckily, I have awesome coworkers who keep me laughing hysterically every day. They basically make any situation bearable.
End of Year Tidying
Hope everyone got some much needed time off for the holidays. Mine was filled with endless food - from tamales to eggs benedict to knishes to chow mein to pie and sprinkles. I think I spent all of Sunday "recovering" with naps and lounging with Netflix. And if you're lucky like me, you were back to ...
AdobeMAX 2014
Did anyone attend AdobeMAX this year? AdobeMax is an annual conference that brings together creativity and technology. This is an excellent resource for agency creatives to learn, from the experts, what’s new in design. If you didn’t get to go, don’t worry. Our girl Rae Hamilton from Design Sellout has got us covered.
Agency Gift Guide
If you're anything like me, you're not even close to finishing your holiday shopping. Things aren't slowing down at the office so the thought of spending the weekend fighting crowds for gifts feels a bit overwhelming. Thank goodness for the Internet. Here are my picks that are perfect for agency friends - best of all, you can ...
5 WAYS TO KEEP YOUR TEAM COHESIVE
I’m so excited because half my team members are flying into Southern California today for a quarterly business review with our clients. It’s common in agency life for your team to be spread out all over the country, and sometimes even overseas. My current program management team consists of 5 people in Milwaukee, Wisconsin and 3 people (including myself) in Irvine, California. On top of that, a couple of us work from home offices, and us California folks are hardly ever in one place since our week is usually littered with offsite client meetings. Yet, we all work on the same account, with the same group of clients. With that said, keeping cohesion within the team isn’t always easy. It takes constant effort to keep apprised of each other’s projects so we don’t get disconnected from each other and, more importantly, so our work doesn’t end up getting disconnected to the client. Here are a few things my team does to create and maintain cohesion: