Art is Subjective
Hey Folks,
Greetings from beautiful downtown Urbanna, Virginia, home of the 58th Oyster Festival where the sleepy town mushrooms into more than 100,000 people who cram the streets of this working waterman’s village, consuming ungodly amounts of alcohol and the Chesapeake’s bounty. In the shops on Main Street several artists feature their art. Some of it I like, some of it I don’t. Which reminds me this week that art is subjective. At Madison+Main we essentially work in the commercial arts business and whether we make you a Rembrandt or a Picasso, it doesn’t really make much difference if the only kind of art you like is by Thomas Kinkade.
The week at Madison+Main was busy and productive, as we have lots of assurance from many clients that they completely dig our art.
Monday, November 2nd– On Monday morning we were overjoyed to recognize partner and VP of Brand Strategy, Kara Forbis‘ 6th anniversary with the agency. We hired Kara right before the recession began and although we cannot blame her for the recession, she has stuck with us through thick and thin.
On Monday we finalized our first TV spot for the the Virginia Energy Sense program, and we are thrilled. Shot on various locations around Virginia – Virginia Beach – York River State Park – Richmond – Bald Knob Mountain – this spot will be running in many areas across the Commonwealth encouraging Virginians to value their power. Click here to see the Virginia Energy Sense spot, “Spend Your Energy Elsewhere.”
Tuesday, November 3rd – I was so excited about Election Day that I woke up and voted twice. Just kidding. This is Richmond, not Chicago. I am happy to report that several of my friends, all first-time politicians, were elected into various offices. Leslie Haley, who I have known for a long time and worked with as the County Council of PTAs, assumes the role of supervisor from the Midlothian district on the Chesterfield County Board of Supervisors. And in my home district, Matoaca, my friend Rob Thompson has just been elected to serve on the school board. Normally, I’m not doing political marketing work, but when good friends and good people run for office, I’ll be there to support them.
On Tuesday afternoon we were delighted to host our clients from Swift Mill Creek Theatre in addition to delivering our first work deliverables, we also talked about their upcoming 50th anniversary on December 2nd. Swift Creek Mill is a remarkable and venerable institution, a theatre and dining experience unparalleled in the Richmond market, housed in a historic mill that was built in 1663. To learn more about their 50th anniversary event, click here.
Wednesday, November 4th – On Wednesday I had lunch with an old friend… and competitor, Dave King, president of The King Agency, Inc. It was good catching up with Dave and having a great conversation about how art is subjective. Even the meal at Fat Dragon was artistically prepared. Dave and I get together and have lunch with each other every couple of years to commiserate with each other on how fun – and how challenging – owning an ad agency can be. Plus we’re both named Dave and we both own ad agencies. Another reason I like that guy!
Thursday, November 5th – At Insiders on Thursday morning, business psychologist Margaret Bradley, Ph.D, friend and author of “Wouldacouldashoulda: Rapids Results, No Excuses.” Margaret has counseled our team at M+M about avoiding excuses, and you can get a copy of her book on Amazon by clicking here. And even though Margaret is very self-effacing about the artwork in her book, I find it wonderful.
Lindsey and I made a grueling journey to Virginia Beach on Thursday to visit some of our favorite clients, Sally and Breyana at The Dragas Group. All lanes of 64 West were shut down at Yorktown and Durf and I moved 3 miles in 2 hours. Poor Durf, she was forced to have a very, very long conversation with me. We finally arrived for a late lunch with the team from Dragas and they were thrilled with (most of) the art we showed them, including direct mail pieces and testimonial videos for their website and social media.
We love working with these ladies!
Friday, November 6th – This morning I had the pleasure of doing a two hour seminar and a lunchtime keynote before the members of the Virginia Society of Association Executives (VSAE). Everyone was really nice and they nodded a lot, and some of them even laughed at my jokes. I enjoyed speaking to businesses and organizations about branding and marketing and the World Wide Web – it keeps me on my toes and gets me out of the office once in a while. And everyone on staff appreciates that. Especially Lindsey.
I did such a good job, I left work early and headed straight to meet friends at the Oyster Fest. If you’re looking for something fun to do this weekend, I highly recommend it. Drop me a line, send me a text or if you’re so inclined, tweet me… if you want to meet me… at Oyster Fest.
P.S. If this week’s email has typos in it, don’t blame me, I am drunk and I typed this directly into my iPhone.
“Beauty is in the eye of the beholder.”
– Proverb
“Beauty is in the eye of the beer holder.”
-Old T-shirt I had #artissubjective
-Dave