Rant & Roll 5: creatives! it's not just at work you need suit-like friends!

You pray that your friends are as efficient in time management as the good suits in the office. Certainly they're better than i am!

And yes. The unbridled joy of finally qualifying for marriage.

The culmination of months of hard work

Photos courtesy of Norman Tang of Sunday Photography Studio

It had to happen.
It was going too smooth.
Even my bride wasn't surprised at my apparent absent-mindedness.
I've spent months choosing the ring.
Weeks preparing logistics and stuff for the registration.
And the days leading up to it fretting over the guest list.
But i could've potentially ended up with jack. Not juli.
All because I didn't bring my identification card.

What can be learnt from this experience though?
Since this blog's posting is about ranting and rolling?

Well.
How bout this.
Lesson 1:
ORGANISATION!
Imagine that you spent a week working on some crazy-assed it's da shit award-winning creatives
Clients have approved it
On the day of launch
Someone forgot something as simple as, well... the thumbdrive that contains all the final artwork
And then unsightly things hit the fan, because clients have trusted you, brought their friends and colleagues along to show off, your entire team's counting on you,
AND YOU FORGOT YOUR THUMBDRIVE?

Creativity is important. But just like the gym. You gotta work your left side as well as your right.
(It's a metaphor for the left and right brain ok!)

Focus. Make a list. Check it twice and thrice. Rehearse it in your head. Keep a notebook. Preferably not a smartphone. Cause you'll end up playing Bejeweled 2.

Lesson 2
YOU'RE ONLY AS GOOD AS YOUR TEAM.
Yes. When unsavoury things hit the fan, one can't possibly clean it up himself.
You need a bunch of people who accepts your mistake
and focus on the problem at hand as a team
rather than pointing at the fan and saying, 'you did it!'
I am rather fortunate to possess such individuals in my circle both at work and in life
(they're mostly the same people. lines blur when you do what you love as a job)
So if you've a great team around you, which i do, it shows!
and how would you know if you do have a great team?
All i can say is, remember the fan?

Lesson 3
THE SHOW MUST GO ON
Often. People freeze. Or they hide under the table. Or they point finger. Or they take emergency leaves.
If the fan's stuck because of regurgitated undigested substances
It's your reaction to it that matters the most at that moment.
Smile. Own up. Follow through.
Do what you can. It doesn't have to be a domino effect.
Be resourceful. If it's mission critical, stall, buy time, distract, entertain, divert.
Laugh in the face of potential danger and imminent singledom.

Lesson 4
BUILD GOOD RELATIONSHIP WITH YOUR CLIENTS
Just because you're creative don't mean you can hide in your little room to brainstorm and win trophies.
Meet the clients.
John Hegarty did. David Ogilvy did. Akira Kagami did. Everyone in the Copy Book did.
And that's cause the best ads came from insights into the client's business
and nobody knows it better than they do
and even if they didn't, and you knew better than them
that's when you know they'll trust you with their business.
In this case, it was my wife-to-be
she didn't freak. she laughed it off. and that really helped calm some nerves.

All in all.
It was a memorable way to kick-off matrimony
And in the end
The drama and suspense worked to our advantage
All because of the above lessons
which hopefully i will take the next time metaphorically faecal matter hits the fan professionally.