Jet lag is a terrible thing.
Last week, I was physically out of the office, and this week, I was mentally out of it. While I was visiting family in the U.K., I let the lunatics run the asylum.
Special thanks to Madison+Main-iac Kent Brockwell for writing the weekly report in my absence. He always does a great job and, although I try to unplug from my laptop and iPhone, I did see a dozen emails complimenting Kent. I’m sure he has a good time poking fun at the boss. Now 7,100 people know my middle name. #ThanksKent.
This week, I arrived Tuesday morning at 5:30 a.m. — 12 hours delayed — so I wasn’t very useful to anyone until Wednesday afternoon when I finally snapped out of it.
I know many business owners who are afraid to take a vacation. They worry incessantly over work and are frightened by the prospect of turning over the reigns to colleagues. Not me. I barely looked at a computer last week and upon my return found out that things ran smoother without me being there (I wonder if this means I can retire early? Probably not.)
It just goes to prove that if you hire good people, you should step back and let them do what they do best. That’s not a crazy idea is it? And yes, it is okay to let the lunatics run the asylum every once in awhile.
Monday, August 7: Moving Forward
On Monday, Account Executive Meredith Mason met with Cathryn Lowe and Garrett Johnson from Families Forward for a working session to develop their marketing plan.
We also conducted a few more intern interviews for our graphic design and account management internships for the Fall 2017 semester. We have some great candidates this year and it’s going to be a tough decision. #ChoicesChoices
Tuesday, August 8: Farewell Amber & Kennedy
On Tuesday, we said goodbye, good luck, and “get out” to the last of our summer interns Kennedy Heidel and Amber Parker. For their last meal on the M+M dime, the ladies chose Hibachi Box. I was at home still recovering form my jet lag coma, but I hear there were embarrassing stories, lots of laughs, and more than a few rounds of Heads Up.
This summer, besides the copious amounts of research, project work, and character-building errands (read: soul-crushing chores) that we piled on them, we also asked each intern to write a letter to future Madison+Main interns. Here’s what our summer 2017 interns had to say about their experience at M+M.
Wednesday, August 9: Matt Ong is Rocky Mountain High
Marketing & Partnerships Coordinator Sophie Fisher attended the monthly Chesterfield Chamber meeting at a new location — Chesterfield Career and Technical Center. Publix store manager Brad Hupp gave a wonderful talk about quality customer service and what it takes to treat your customers “like royalty.” He also talked about opening new locations across Virginia.
It was also amazingly quiet and calm around the office all day on Wednesday. That’s probably because Project Manager Matt Ong is out of town. Matt, our office’s notorious rabble-rouser and rapscallion, has headed off to Denver for some high altitude R&R. Like many offices, we have an unofficial tradition at M+M of bringing souvenirs back for our co-workers when we go on vacations. Officially, I hope the TSA doesn’t monitor the Weekly Report. Looking forward to my “Broncos keychain,” Matt!
Thursday, August 10: What Would Dale Do?
On Thursday, Kara Forbis and Kent joined me for a great meeting with our friends Matt Oliverand Jason Moreau from Marketing Buddah to chat about a few SEO projects that we are planning for our clients.
That afternoon, Creative Director Art Webb and Mr. Brockwell went to their final Dale Carnegie Training course, where they received their certificates of enlightenment/completion. I’d like to offer a big thanks to Senior Certified Trainer Rick Dunkum for taking on the challenge of training my two toughest Main-iacs (just kidding, boys) and going a great job.
Friday, August 11: Making Some Mooves
No rest for the weary, I guess. Today, I am on the road again with Senior Account Manager Kaitlin Riddle and I’m writing this Weekly Report on the way back from NoVA! We had a productive meeting with our friends at Maola Milk (formerly Marva Maid) where we presented some new concepts for an exciting new branding campaign we are working on together.
“A question that sometimes drives me hazy: Am I or are the others crazy?” — Albert Einstein