When I was working at Alexander Communications in the late 1990s (about the time Alexander was acquired by Ogilvy PR), one of the biggest technology shows in the world was COMDEX. It happened every year in Las Vegas.
It was at this show that I was reminded of something from my client Lonn Johnston, vp of communications at TurboLinux. Over time, Lonn would become my friend, boss and mentor.
The lesson: business can be fun.
We hired the Flying Elvi (plural of Elvis?) to skydive dressed in (Linux) penguin costumes and land in front of the hotel where Microsoft CEO Bill Gates was staying. There was more to the campaign, but the main thing was IT WAS FUN. It was a blast!
Fast forward to now. I started my own little agency in April of 2009. Since our first 2 clients, we've grown a bit - we now have 4 staff and revenues are up 683%. With that kind of growth happening in one year, I worry a lot about the continuos quality of work, making the right new hires, taking the right client partners, etc.
But one thing I won't forget is that business can and should be fun.
I got a reminder of that today from a new intern at Cisco Systems, Greg Justice. He did a great video as part of a "I am the world's most interesting intern" contest.
Corporate raps aren't the only way to have fun, but here are a few others I've enjoyed in the past year (I know some, but not all of these folks):
Ok, I like the last one because it's about me. But folks like Jennifer Cloer, Greg Justice, Ray George, Kim Terca, J Chris Anderson and Claire McCabe are all having fun.
Thanks for that.
