Flying!!

Our meeting with the client this morning could not have gone any better!

I was a little worried that my director and our CEO would take over the show and not really give me or our account service person the opportunity to show how we have stepped up into the positions leading this account. However, I can definitely see how that guidance is sometimes needed. But I guess the point was that we had done our work to make this run smoothly and we both wanted a chance to show that.

I was able to talk strategy to set up the meeting. I went over the objectives, who our target is and why this issue is relevant to them, our single most inspiring idea, and the tone. I tried to use everything I discussed with the creatives to set up their work in a way that would proactively counteract any concerns. I think the creatives mirrored my set-up very well even in how they presented the work to try to overcome some of these potential barriers.

The client did bring up a bit of that concern so I was glad that I had thought through that and talked to the creatives about it, but they were overall very impressed with every idea that was presented and decided to move forward with the one our agency recommended. I think it's a bit easier to be bold on this front because this is a non-profit client, but it's very important that everyone gets on board and is excited about the idea we move forward with.

Near the end of the discussion, there was talk of conducting a few informal focus groups to get a read on what the target thinks of the ideas. I would love to put together a mood piece of their reactions so that it can accompany the work and just help that much more in selling this idea. I was really excited that they wanted to do that because I am all up for it! :)

Overall, I was just really excited to have the experience of getting in front of a client and working as a team to present an idea and get it chosen. I think everything went exactly as we would want it to and I was just so thrilled. I'm very excited to be working on this project and I hope that it provides more valuable experience like this that will just help me become that much more confident as a planner.

You know, this exercise really did make me stop and think: am I creative enough to be a planner, opinionated enough, smart enough, tactful, understanding, and strong enough? I am still working to become stronger in all of these areas but I would say that I am doing all of the right things to get there. Having passion for planning is a start, but maintaining it and even reigniting it plus invigorating it feels even better.