A lot of my B2B and FMCG current clients are already back in their offices - presumably because if the factory has to go back to work, so do they. But I only know of one agency that is doing face to face client meetings and even they're not back in the office yet. The … Continue reading Agencies will be WFH for a LONG time
After six and a half years freelance I’m coming up to six months in at Bloom (I started at the beginning of January but couldn’t announce it until February for various reasons). I’ve been rather lax on the blogging front since I joined Bloom because there’s loads of things I’d like to write about but … Continue reading six months in
In May 2014, Guardian writer Oliver Burkeman wrote an excellent article titled Everyone is totally just winging it, all the time. It was a very reassuring piece for anyone who suffers from a touch of imposter syndrome from time to time: We're all mini-New York Timeses or White Houses, energetically projecting an image of calm proficiency, while … Continue reading *everyone* really is totally just winging it, all the time
I spent last weekend with some uni mates, all now late-30's professionals. The hot topic of discussion at brunch was How Much I Hate Managing People. Which made this piece about keeping workers happy (via @tudehope1) particularly interesting because in it the CEO of training consultancy Happy points out that because not all people are good managers, there needs to … Continue reading since when were great specialists great managers?
I'm signing off for 2014, so I leave you with this from the Christmas card I sent to clients: licensed from Andertoons, coloured with permission
Last week Timewise's 2014 Power Part Time List was published. It proves, it says, that "part time working is possible at senior levels, in all types of business". Included in this year's list from my industry (the whole list changes annually) are the Marketing Director at Diageo responsible for Smirnoff, the Senior Director for Marketing and Insights for … Continue reading all hail the Power Part Timers
I read this great post from Ben Kay over the weekend about the awesome documentary about backing singers 20 Feet from Stardom (which if you haven’t seen yet, you should). His agency-relevant take on it was that like many backing or background singers never becoming famous in their own right because they have the voice … Continue reading why Planners are the backing not the star
There seems to be a movement in the marketing community towards better work-life balance. Whether it’s Chime’s Amelia Torode championing flexible and part-time working for Mums or what seems to be a massive increase in senior staff switching to freelance, it feels like the traditional 10+ hours, 5+ days a week agency model is under … Continue reading on allowing good people to work where and when they work best
I've been making an extra effort recently to spend more time catching up with fellow Planners and Strategists (of all types) - and I've never come away from a coffee shop, cafe or restaurant without a post-it note full of scribbled ideas and To Dos. Notes of websites to visit, books to read, new business … Continue reading why agencies don’t value the modern meet up enough
I’ve been reading a lot about work-life balance recently, including this piece in Campaign (paywall, sorry) by Gail Gallie of Fallon London advocating a better deal for working mums in the ad industry and this enormous essay in Atlantic Magazine by Anne-Marie Slaughter (the former director of policy planning at the US State Department) about … Continue reading all of AdLand needs better work/life balance – not just working mums
