Comfortable Shoes
Hey Folks,
It was one of those weeks, where comfortable shoes seemed to be the norm. From Monday to Friday, we tried to forego the dress code and opt for comfort. Snow days make us uncomfortable, whether it’s driving in the city or shoveling a driveway, and we seek comfort in everything; food, the thermostat and even in our footwear.
It’s casual Friday at Madison+Main after a long, demanding week and in case you can’t tell, simply look at what we wore today.
The Madison+Main-iacs and their assortment of comfortable shoes.
Monday, January 25th – Yes, despite 15.5″ of snow, I opened the office on a 1 hour delay Monday. Normally I am a wonderful and thoughtful boss, but on Monday everyone hated me for making them come to work. Kaitlin “Crocs” Riddle was iced in and I drove all the way to Petersburg to pick her up. On Monday, we welcomed our new Associate Creative Director Art “Just Do It” Webb and we are very excited that he has joined the team. Art is a veteran designer and art director, who was most recently at Allianz Global Assistance. He survived a merciless hazing process this week, under the direction of Kaity “Cowgirl Boots” Carr.
On Monday we also welcomed a new client, Cudas. The Ashland-based company was founded in 1991 byAndy Jacobs and they make awesome sandals and water shoes! As you can tell by this week’s Weekly Report theme “Comfortable Shoes,” we are very excited about welcoming Cudas to the Madison+Main family. You can check them out here!
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On Monday we launched our 2nd video for the Virginia Energy Sense program, featuring Jack.
Tuesday, January 26th – No school in Chesterfield means no Rotary meeting for Dave “Docksiders” Saunders, so my colleagues were surprised to see me on time Tuesday morning. It was a whirlwind at work as we finished the final PR and marketing push for The Little Lion, Swift Creek Mill Theatre’s world premiere production of a book by Nancy Wright Beasley, friend and fellow Rotarian. You do not want to miss this show! Saturday is sold out, but there are tickets available for Sunday and the play runs through March 5th — click here to get yours! Celia Wren wrote a nice story in the Richmond Times Dispatch andHarry Kollatz, Jr. wrote a great article in Richmond Magazine about the production.
Speaking of great, I am delighted with the super-talented group of young people who are interning at M+M for the spring semester. Matthew “Sperry” Ong has decided that one abusive stint at Madison+Main wasn’t enough and he’s back for more punishment this spring! VCU senior Heather “High Tops” Hudginshas the unfortunate task of being my sidekick this semester, as our copywriting intern. Sophie “Sketchers” Fisher and Mary “Janes” Batchelder have joined us as account management interns and Lucy “Hush Puppies” Yen gets to hang out with the cool kids in the creative department. #TuesdayShoesday
Wednesday, January 27th – After a productive morning, I left Abby “Pink Laces” Spence in charge while I attended the Virginia Council of CEO’s Quarterly Luncheon. In the afternoon I had a short but productive meeting with my good friend Larry Elinskas, President of Elin Associates, Inc. Larry is a trusted advisor for human resource services and he specializes in helping small businesses navigate the complex HR landscape. I highly recommend him — you can check out his website at elinassociates.com.
On Wednesday Steven Walker invited me to the iHeartMedia mixer at Ruth’s Chris Steakhouse. How could I say no? Great people, a great time and lots of great meat, all laid out on a long table. It was good to see many familiar faces from iHeartMedia (formerly Clear Channel)… GM Stacey Trexler, Denny O’Shea,Kat Simons, Billy Surf and Jeff Wicker. Lite 98 is now Mix 98.1 and it’s good to see so many great people involved in the new format. Proud to say that Vera’s Fine Jewelers is a big sponsor of “Wicker in the Morning.” At the party I ran into Richmond’s “Godfather of Shoes,” the one and only Gary Weiner, owner ofSaxon Shoes. My wife Sue is his single biggest customer and he is a self-described “regular reader” of the Weekly Report. Last week Saxon Shoes sponsored the 78th VCU Men’s Basketball sellout at the Seigel Center. Yes, the Rams had a sold out crowd, despite the 11th biggest blizzard in RVA history.
Thursday, January 28th – Lindsey “Doc Marten” Durfee and I traveled down to see our clients at theDragas Companies and we should have worn our comfortable shoes. We took a tour of new homes in theSpence Crossing development, crossing gravel, mud and mulch. Marketing Director extraordinaire Sally Horvath navigated the muck but Mark Breyana Baggett literally got mired in the sod with her 3.5″ heels. It’s always good to see these guys… it feels more like play than work when we meet.
Do you remember that time that Kanye West got “Kanye’d” on Twitter by Wiz Khalifa?
Friday, January 29th – “Award Season” launches today and that means the Madison+Main-iacs will be busy submitting an array of great work to Richmond AdClub, PRSA, the Telly Awards and other arbiters of creativity. Last year, we went 9 for 9 at the Telly Awards, thanks to great production partners like BES,Broadscope Media and Abandon Films.
Tonight my beloved VCU Rams go for their 11th straight win against the Davidson “not so” Wildcats. The action on the court sometimes takes a back seat to Coach Wade’s wild antics. #WildWillWade
“I want to write a book about shoes that’s full of footnotes.”
– Jarod Kintz, Author – E-mails from a Madman