His photoshop skills are renown, his dislike for stock photography is known the world over, his office looks like a construction zone (good for making custom logos) and he sports an angry snake tatt… he’s the most interesting Creative Director in the World… well that part is up for debate, but he’s our favorite creative director – Darren Dunham!
This is the first post in a series featuring our fearless CD Darren’s likes (and sometimes dislikes). While its great to toot our horns, we’d like to highlight some of the work that others are doing that we think deserves some accolades. And whom better to provide these insights than our fearless, aesthetic leader.
So, with no further Ado… The first in the Series – D. Says
Highlight #1 – Opulence, I has it – Direct TV
“This is my current all-time favorite, love the opening “Opulence, I has it” clever, funny, entertaining and the best of the big cable/satellite wars… The tiny giraffe is the best thing I think I’ve ever seen.”
- Darren Dunham
So far working remote has been great. I’ve actually been really productive (maybe even more so as I have no distractions) and able to communicate with clients the way I normally would. However, I’ve hit my first snag – time zones and ical/entourage calendars.
I’ve been traveling so much lately I’m not sure what time zone I’m in and my poor ical/entourage is trying to catch up. I’m taking a ton of meetings on the fly and I always have to double check to make sure I’ve got them scheduled as the correct time. the math get’s crazy due to the variables. Here’s a great example:
1. The client is on the East Coast (EST)
2. My development partner is in Texas (CST)
3. I’m in Idaho (GMT) but will be flying to San Diego the day of the meeting (PST)
4. And I’m told by developer the meeting is at 1:00 pm.
You tell me what time I’m supposed to put into my calendar!
Fortunately I’ve been on top of it and haven’t had anything go astray. However, I’ve had some close calls and this is definitely something to consider when working remotely, or building a remote team. Everyone needs to be on the same page with time.
Well, I’ve got to go… I have a meeting, at least I think I do.
6:00 a.m. – Phone call with the folks in Qatar to present some mood boards (I was in the mood!)
7:00 a.m. – check in with the office (still there)
8:00 a.m. – create site charter for new client (and what a site!)
9:00 a.m. – Skype meeting with Breast Cancer Foundation and our friends at BuzzShift (wait a minute, I don’t know how to Skype!)
This was to be my first Skype meeting with a client and I was a little nervous about it. Would my personality come through okay? Would I be able to read the client through a digital window? Would I be able to project strategy via a tiny web cam? And most importantly, would I know where to look?
And then I realized, I had to get out of my pajamas… well at least the bottoms!
The meeting was great – I felt like I was in the room. I could read people’s body language and see their reactions. It was amazing. I highly recommend it for anyone that is out of the office and needs to conduct a meeting. Much better than a conference call. I’m not sure if I would say it is the same as an in-person meeting, but I’ll have another chance to compare next week when I have my second Skypefest with the same client.
And if you’re wondering how the day ended… well, it hasn’t yet. I’m packing to head for the airport for a 7:30 pm flight to San Diego to meet with clients tomorrow… No rest for the remote!
Advertising is a service business, especially for those of us on the account management side. I spend most of my time strategizing, communicating messaging points and creating deliverable deadlines between the creative team and the client. Much of this communication is done in-person.
Not for the next two weeks. As of today, I have set up shop 2,000 miles (give or take a few) from my desk and computer and most of my clients. Some of them are remote and will notice no difference. I’m the cheery voice on the phone and the chipper e-mail they receive in their inbox. But for some of my clients I’m the person who brings them donuts or sits in on five-hour meetings to lend some insights. For these people, and me, these next two weeks will be interesting.
There are also the coworkers to think about. What about them? Those who “enjoy” the sound of my 3-inch heels clacking down our concrete hallways (okay, maybe they don’t enjoy it, per se, but you get the point). I meet with our designers daily, just dropping in unexpectedly (ask Darren, he just loves it!) to share some feedback from a client or some impending deadline that may or may not have slipped someone’s mind. And what about the art of the creative brainstorm? This feeding frenzy of sharing creative ideas via voice, pen, crayon — whatever means necessary. Can this be done as a virtual head? I guess we are about to find out!
Working remotely has become a fairly normal thing for many industries. Advertising hasn’t been one of them. So consider this the Jeanne Experiment. Everyday I will blog and tweet about how working remotely went. I’ll be totally honest and discuss the positives and the negatives. One negative has already surfaced — timezones! This is one that already exists having clients in different areas of the country, so maybe I can’t blame this one on working remotely, but tomorrow I will be taking a conference call at 6 a.m. because the client is in the Middle East. Get the coffee brewing!
So, tomorrow I truly start working remotely. I’m armed with VPN to access the server remotely, iChat to communicate with my design team quickly, Skype to meet with clients “face-to-face” and my office phones being forwarded to my iPhone. Let the remote games begin.
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