I’m back to writing the M+M Report this week, even though many of you wrote me while I was on vacation and told me how much you enjoyed last week’s report written by the Main-iacs. Yes, it was all very tongue in cheek, but I need to set the record straight: we did not paint the building pink, nor did zombies attack us, and Account Manager Sammy Yatco doesn’t play basketball for VCU.
I am sad to report, however, that Sammy’s boyfriend Andrew got a job in Ohio and Sammy was drafted by the Cleveland Cavaliers in the third round of the recent NBA draft. Best of luck to Sammy in her new career: pro basketball. The good news is we welcomed some new faces at Madison+Main this week, plus I got to see some new places last week on my trip to Ireland and the Isle of Man (see a quick video from my trip here).
Aha, I found my theme for the week: New Places and New Faces…
Monday, July 21st: My Monday started very early. I arrived at the Newport News/Williamsburg International Airport at 12:30am (via Newark via Belfast via Douglas on the Isle of Man.) It took me 25 hours to get home, but I was back in the office at 8:00am and barely functioning on 4 ½ hours of sleep. Most normal people would have taken the day off, but I wanted to personally welcome Casey Severinghaus and Jessica Black to the Madison+Main family (yep, we had two new Madison+Main-iacs start this week and I’ll be introducing them to you more formally next week).
In the afternoon, I popped my head out of my office a couple of times like Punxsutawney Phil. I was buried under a mound of email and voicemail. For those of you keeping score at home, I received a whopping 1,011 emails last week.
Tuesday, July 22nd: At Midlothian Rotary on Tuesday morning I had the distinct privilege and high honor to introduce Jay Stegmaier, Chesterfield County Administrator, who gave our club a “State of the County” update. I’ve been impressed by Jay’s leadership during tough economic times and appreciate his friendship.
Back at the office, our VP of Brand Strategy Kara Forbis was in town from Blacksburg and we worked on a couple of brand and strategy reports for clients. In the afternoon, Robyn Hirsch and Sharhonda Woods from the National MS Society dropped by to review 2nd quarter marketing initiatives for the Central and Eastern Virginia. MS Walk events that we helped market had the biggest growth in the mid-Atlantic region. Speaking of MS fundraisers, mark your calendars for Wednesday, August 20th: I will be the “Celebrity” bartender at Morton’s from 6-9pm that night and will be donating my tips to the MS Society. It’s going to be a very fun night, as long as no one forces me to make a pomegranate berry mojito.
Click here to RSVP for the event.
Wednesday, July 23rd: On Wednesday morning there was a Greater Richmond Chamberboard meeting at U of R. Being a board member of GRCC, I always enjoy these events. But on Wednesday, I was still jetlagged and slept through the “lead investors” event. Thankfully, I received a phone call from “Larry” at Dell Financial Services at 7:30am… it seems we were six hours late on our payment. But don’t worry, I called “Larry” back in Mumbai, and all is well with Dell.
On Wednesday, we worked on a joint RFP with our partners at Richmond-based Alliance Group, a top-notch PR and governmental advocacy group, and new partner Burson-Marsteller, one of the top PR firms in the world. We are very excited about this new partnership with Washington D.C.-based BM.
On Wednesday afternoon I had a top secret meeting with top secret business partners at a top secret location (Ashland, VA) and we took several steps closer to launching our new online business. Delicious details to follow.
On Wednesday night, I posted on Facebook that I was ready to “go drinking.” Despite dozens of “likes” and “comments” and almost 1900 Facebook “friends,” I couldn’t get anyone out on a school night. However, I have been flooded with dozens of requests for tonight. Does anyone have a limo and a driver they can send to my office around 5:00 pm? Thank you for your cooperation.
Thursday, July 24th: On Thursday morning at Insiders, Margaret R. Bradley Ph.D. presented me a first edition (editor’s version) of Woulda, Coulda, Shoulda. This is the first book written by my friend Margaret, an organizational psychologist at University of Richmond. Congrats!
My friend Margaret wrote a book about procrastination. One of these days, I’m gonna write a book.
On Thursday afternoon, the SkyZone crew popped by the corner of 1st and Cary to discuss social media strategy, which included a training on Facebook and Twitter. SkyZone is kicking it in social media with over 6,000 likes on their local Facebook page.
On Thursday afternoon, I reviewed the new Madison+Main handbook and removed 3 ½ pages of questionable material and gibberish. Highlights of the new employee guidelines include the ability to wear blue jeans on Fridays and new rules for spraying air fresheners after lavatory visits.
Friday, July 25th: Lindsey, Kara and I started work early this morning at 7:30am… or at least we tried to. A transformer blew out in Midtown, knocking power out to the building and causing all kinds of problems. It is amazing how completely reliant we are on Mr. Edison’s inventions.
This afternoon we welcomed Kim Loehr to the office from the Lightning Protection Institute this afternoon and had a great discussion with her about the new LPI website.
As I mentioned previously, Sammy is leaving for Ohio and we wish her the best of luck. Our sadness has only been comforted by the fact that Casey and Jessica made it through their first week, smiling and ready to take on their new roles at M+M. #superstars
Sue and the kids are still having a blast in the Isle of Man. For those of you that have not yet seen pictures of last week’s vacation, I’ve posted some below.
P.S. The tagline for Kazakhstan tourism is “The Land of Wonders.”