Thought it was about time for a wordy post as opposed to a picture post (the main reasons for which have simply been that I worked out* how to update my blog from my phone, which is handy as I can’t upload any of the photos from it to my Macbook).
I currently have a third week’s work as a Peter Kenny replacement which is working out nicely. It’s strange being back in this building, but pleasant bumping into lots of old faces (scattered across the 3 agencies now here) who greet me with a perplexed ‘What are YOU doing here?” followed by a hug. Nice.
Also, because Peter Kenny LOST the highly valued blackmarket key fob which would get me through locked doors, I spend quite a lot of time lurking on landings like an abandoned waif (until Betsy comes and lets me in).
I’m finding the work interesting too, and the first lot of concepts I’ve worked on have been received well by both the suits and the client. They’re very keen on meetings here though. Am sure I had a meeting about a meeting yesterday. And I definitely had one where there were about a zillion people on a teleconf call, one of whom spent 20 minutes (out of 45) telling us why it was really important to get through the meeting quickly as he didn’t have much time. Go figure.
*Accidentally stumbled across.
Tuesday 31 March 2009
Sunday 29 March 2009
Friday 20 March 2009
Thursday 19 March 2009
Wednesday 18 March 2009
Back in the saddle
Ooops, it’s been a while. Things have been a little quiet on the work front. I had a very strange couple of days at the beginning of the month with a short-notice gig over in Farringdon. (I am so used to not commuting anymore – an hour and a half each way in rush hour, hellish). It was through a designer I used to work with a few years ago who remembered a status update I did on Facebook a while ago which mentioned I’d gone freelance. Woo yay for Facebook.
Very odd but interesting company, not really an ad agency, but more of an ideas agency. My brief was to come in at the end of a very tight timescale and help create some new alcoholic drinks. But weirdly, it was all conceptual. So rather than know if something would actually taste nice, or it would actually be possible to create something ‘dark, sweet with smoky undertones’, it was more a case of well… just making it up really, and then trying to tie it to specific demographic groups (mainly within US males aged 21 – 24).
The lady I was working with had been flown in from San Francisco and just would not loosen her grip on the overall presentation document, which was riddled with typos and spelling mistakes. However she was really stressing about 10 mins before the client presentation, so I swooped in with an offer to proof it and hopefully got all the howlers out. Frustrating and challenging but also interesting. Would definitely like to work on another project although possibly with a different team…
Since then I’ve had an unexpectedly large monster of a tax bill which, although I can claim a lot of it back, I have to pay up front which is going to be really tight. Thankfully I have negotiated paying it in 3 installments over the next 3 months (first one went on Monday morning) and will just have to cross my fingers that my next 3 invoices get paid on time. Can just about manage it but it's wiped out my financial 'cushion' - and the tax I was saving for next year. First signs of the wolf at the door nipping at my heels.
I’m now filling in for the excellent Peter Kenny while he’s on holiday in Guernsey. It’s for a healthcare agency in the building I used to work in with PK and Him Next Door (HND). And it turns out the brief I’m working on was written by… HND (he works for a sister agency on the floor below) although he's on holiday at the moment, thus depriving me the opportunity to disagree with his proposition in person. It’s a funny old world.
Also means I can cycle to work along the river which is just ACE and a great way to start the day.
Very odd but interesting company, not really an ad agency, but more of an ideas agency. My brief was to come in at the end of a very tight timescale and help create some new alcoholic drinks. But weirdly, it was all conceptual. So rather than know if something would actually taste nice, or it would actually be possible to create something ‘dark, sweet with smoky undertones’, it was more a case of well… just making it up really, and then trying to tie it to specific demographic groups (mainly within US males aged 21 – 24).
The lady I was working with had been flown in from San Francisco and just would not loosen her grip on the overall presentation document, which was riddled with typos and spelling mistakes. However she was really stressing about 10 mins before the client presentation, so I swooped in with an offer to proof it and hopefully got all the howlers out. Frustrating and challenging but also interesting. Would definitely like to work on another project although possibly with a different team…
Since then I’ve had an unexpectedly large monster of a tax bill which, although I can claim a lot of it back, I have to pay up front which is going to be really tight. Thankfully I have negotiated paying it in 3 installments over the next 3 months (first one went on Monday morning) and will just have to cross my fingers that my next 3 invoices get paid on time. Can just about manage it but it's wiped out my financial 'cushion' - and the tax I was saving for next year. First signs of the wolf at the door nipping at my heels.
I’m now filling in for the excellent Peter Kenny while he’s on holiday in Guernsey. It’s for a healthcare agency in the building I used to work in with PK and Him Next Door (HND). And it turns out the brief I’m working on was written by… HND (he works for a sister agency on the floor below) although he's on holiday at the moment, thus depriving me the opportunity to disagree with his proposition in person. It’s a funny old world.
Also means I can cycle to work along the river which is just ACE and a great way to start the day.
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