My day
6.38am: My alarm goes off with enough time for a 10-minute snooze to ease into the day. A quick browse of emails then up and out the door to get the train from St Albans into London.
7.34am: We’ve got a launch event for a client this evening so on the train heading into work I’m checking the news and social media to check nothing has come up overnight to distract the media and the guests from coming to our event – all looking good so far.
8.30am: Straight into work and a client meeting with my team as we discuss the updates on the guest list for tonight, talk through the media attendance and take the client through the event bible ensuring everyone knows their roles. 200 guests confirmed including media, celebrities, influencers, bloggers and the client’s investors – all looking good now we have to wait and see how many turn up!
10.00am: An internal meeting with some of my team who are heading down to Bournemouth University for an open day tomorrow. Bournemouth Uni is holding an open day for its first- and second-year students so it’s a good chance to do some marketing for the agency, meet potential future hires and let the final year students know about our upcoming grad scheme. We agree on what we are looking for from future interns and hires and I feel outrageously old as I realise many of those students will have been born in 1997. I mean seriously?!
11.00am: We have our weekly update to all staff, letting everyone know who’s on holiday, what events we have on that week, what help we need from the agency on new business and marketing and agree who will work on the drafts for the latest award entries we need to submit. Following our recent office refurbishment we discuss saying goodbye to the 7-ft tall Shrek that’s been in the office since we launched Shrek 3 seven years ago.
12.30pm: Internal meeting with our creative director to discuss a new business meeting tomorrow with an automotive brand. We run through the brief together and write up our list of questions to make sure we get what we need out of the meeting and fill in any of the blanks from they brief we’ve received.
2.00pm: It’s a long night ahead so something carb heavy is requested from the next ‘Shiner’ to leave the office and stroll the short distance up to Exmouth Market. The fabled ‘Shine Stone’ affects anyone in their first few months of joining the agency due to the office’s proximity to an array of eating establishments selling deliciously indulgent food.
3.30pm: I have a weekly catch up with our MD, we run through the latest new business opportunities on the table, update on any changes to the P&L and look at the implications on our recruiting needs then go through any key client actions for the week ahead.
4.30pm: Following our staff meeting earlier in the day one of our senior account managers has a bright idea for Shrek! His girlfriend is a doctor at Great Ormond Street which has just build a new playroom for the patients and their siblings. As the playroom is new, it has a large Shrek-shaped hole in it which feels like a perfect solution for Shrek’s new home!
5.00pm: I jump in a cab and head over to the Ham Yard Hotel to meet up with the rest of the team who are kicking everything off at our launch event. All under control as they work their magic on the attending media and bloggers so I can spend my time ensuring the client is happy and I grab a handful of something hot every time a waiter with a plate of canapés walks past!
11.00pm: A big success at the launch event as everyone we expected arrived and the media give fantastic feedback on our client’s product. Myself and the team are huddled around a laptop choosing the photos to put out on the wires and, hopefully, fill the pages of our key media tomorrow morning
12.40am: Taxi arrives at St Pancras and I just make the train in time to get back home to the sleepy Shires …
1.20am: Alarm on, emails off, eyes shut and time to recharge the batteries before another day of variety.
David Wiles is a director at Shine Communications.
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