Franklyn Ideas Happy Birthday Song
We are having a contest to see who can come up with a new Happy Birthday song for all of us to sing for our birthday parties. The song should be easy to learn and fun for all. See Laura to submit your song lyrics, if your song is chosen it will be sung at the next birthday cake for everyone to vote on.
The winner will not only receive a prize, but will also go down in FI history.
Monday, February 26, 2007
Thursday, February 22, 2007
Writing Captions for Photographs: Best Left to Professionals
Here's a blast from the past because I'm on vacation this week:
I was doing the final check on a newsletter before it went to the client for review. A couple of grey boxes marked where photos would be inserted later. I noticed that beneath the placeholders, someone had diligently written captions.
I couldn't find the photos in the job jacket, so I looked around and eventually found them on an art director's desk.
Back in my office I laid the photos out and compared them to the captions. One picture showed some guy pointing at a little handheld device. The caption said, "The team diagrams their winning strategy."
In the next photo, a group of people smiled for the camera. The corresponding caption, first row (L-R) indicated "Delores" was the name of a distinguished-looking gentleman in a green tie. I went over to see our (former) copy director who had written the captions in question:
"What's with these captions?"
"What do you mean?"
"They don't match the pictures."
"Well. I was not given the pictures."
(This is just another example of Why I Dislike Being a Manager)
I was doing the final check on a newsletter before it went to the client for review. A couple of grey boxes marked where photos would be inserted later. I noticed that beneath the placeholders, someone had diligently written captions.
I couldn't find the photos in the job jacket, so I looked around and eventually found them on an art director's desk.
Back in my office I laid the photos out and compared them to the captions. One picture showed some guy pointing at a little handheld device. The caption said, "The team diagrams their winning strategy."
In the next photo, a group of people smiled for the camera. The corresponding caption, first row (L-R) indicated "Delores" was the name of a distinguished-looking gentleman in a green tie. I went over to see our (former) copy director who had written the captions in question:
"What's with these captions?"
"What do you mean?"
"They don't match the pictures."
"Well. I was not given the pictures."
(This is just another example of Why I Dislike Being a Manager)
Tuesday, February 13, 2007
Cheese Glorious Cheese
On 2/13/07 10:44 AM, "Jill" wrote:
There is more cheese in the kitchen. Help yourselves.
On 2/13/07 10:49 AM, "Juan" wrote:
Jill...
I don't want to look a gift horse in the mouth....
But where are you getting all this cheese?
On 2/13/07 11:34 AM, "Jill" wrote:
From my nightly raids on the cheese factory down the street from my mouse.
On 2/13/07 11:54 AM, "Eric" wrote:
That sounds like fun - can I join you?
(Count on a mouse to live near the cheese!)
On 2/13/07 11:57 AM, "Juan" wrote:
Everyone:
Please note I am working from home tomorrow.
On 2/13/07 12:05 PM, "Eric" wrote:
Yes, but do you have cheese?
There is more cheese in the kitchen. Help yourselves.
On 2/13/07 10:49 AM, "Juan" wrote:
Jill...
I don't want to look a gift horse in the mouth....
But where are you getting all this cheese?
On 2/13/07 11:34 AM, "Jill" wrote:
From my nightly raids on the cheese factory down the street from my mouse.
On 2/13/07 11:54 AM, "Eric" wrote:
That sounds like fun - can I join you?
(Count on a mouse to live near the cheese!)
On 2/13/07 11:57 AM, "Juan" wrote:
Everyone:
Please note I am working from home tomorrow.
On 2/13/07 12:05 PM, "Eric" wrote:
Yes, but do you have cheese?
Saturday, February 10, 2007
Pay-A-Compliment Day Disintigrates
On 2/6/07 9:44 AM, "Laura" wrote:
Everyone,
Please go out of your way to pay a compliment to everyone you meet today. Having something positive to say is a great way to make someone's day.
It's great to work with such wonderful people like you.
On 2/6/07 9:54 AM, "Barry" wrote:
That was a great email Laura! You're so good at sending emails and organizing ping pong matches!
On 2/6/07 910:12 AM, "April" wrote:
On behalf of your proofreading team, otherwise known as Pull This! I'd like to let everyone know what a pleasure it is to proof your work at 4:00 p.m. on Fridays.
On 2/6/07 910:35 AM, "Juan" wrote:
To Everyone in the office. Yes. Everyone:
Thank you for taking entirely too much time out of your lives to make sure that I develop an intricate psychological complex. One which prevents me from wearing mustard colored shirts, giving people the “thumbs up”, and using my name in public for ANY reason. This newfound disorder has also manifested itself in a serious phobia of calendars, cardboard, and Jell-o.
So in conclusion, I’m happy to be surrounded by such creative and artistic individuals. You all make the idea of being institutionalized a very pleasant one. Thanks for all the laughs and for making this place so very enjoyable
Love,
Juan
On 2/6/07 910:48 AM, "April" wrote:
A round of applause for our eloquent friend.
P.S. Jell-O is spelled with a capital “O.”
- Pull This!
Everyone,
Please go out of your way to pay a compliment to everyone you meet today. Having something positive to say is a great way to make someone's day.
It's great to work with such wonderful people like you.
On 2/6/07 9:54 AM, "Barry" wrote:
That was a great email Laura! You're so good at sending emails and organizing ping pong matches!
On 2/6/07 910:12 AM, "April" wrote:
On behalf of your proofreading team, otherwise known as Pull This! I'd like to let everyone know what a pleasure it is to proof your work at 4:00 p.m. on Fridays.
On 2/6/07 910:35 AM, "Juan" wrote:
To Everyone in the office. Yes. Everyone:
Thank you for taking entirely too much time out of your lives to make sure that I develop an intricate psychological complex. One which prevents me from wearing mustard colored shirts, giving people the “thumbs up”, and using my name in public for ANY reason. This newfound disorder has also manifested itself in a serious phobia of calendars, cardboard, and Jell-o.
So in conclusion, I’m happy to be surrounded by such creative and artistic individuals. You all make the idea of being institutionalized a very pleasant one. Thanks for all the laughs and for making this place so very enjoyable
Love,
Juan
On 2/6/07 910:48 AM, "April" wrote:
A round of applause for our eloquent friend.
P.S. Jell-O is spelled with a capital “O.”
- Pull This!
Sunday, February 04, 2007
Essential Vocabulary Additions for the Pharmaecutical Workplace
Belly Buttons - Most advertisers count eyeballs. The insurance/managed care industry counts belly buttons. "This policy change affects 3 million belly buttons."
Hairball - Any tangled mess. Frequently refers to an organization's ridiculously complicated maze of rules and regulations. "No, I can't help unless you email me your 27-digit FTP74 number, obtainable via a multi-step process which few know and even fewer actually agree upon."
Budget Rubble / Budget Dust - Cash which is lost if not spent by "EOY" (End Of Year). Results in frantic activity right around the holidays-- exactly when you want to use up your vacation days, a calamitous coincidence exacerbated by Sarbanes-Oxley. See below for further explanation.
The Sarbanes-Oxley Quiz Show - Fun, although time-consuming segment where a vendor determines how much money a brand team has to "budget flush" by "EOY" without actually asking directly. Generally consists of a little game in the ilk of 20-Questions. It goes something like this:
Vendor: "So, let's just say we only ship to 2,000 doc offices instead of 3,000. That'll bring your cost down 25%."
Marketing Manager: "You're getting warmer."
The Sarbanes-Oxley Hotseat - Where a vendor sits while a marketing manager third-degrees a timeline. For example:
Marketing Manager: "So you are 100% certain that you will ship by the first week of the new year. I mean, for reals."
Vendor: "The majority of what we consider chargable expenses will be accrued on or prior to the specified deadline, yes. Fo' shizzy."
New! Levelset - I have no idea what this means but it keeps working its way into meetings. As in, "Let's get the project team together to levelset."
Compulsory lexeme in the corridors of power:
Recommendations for Review: Traction, On the Radar, To resonate, To have legs, Robust, PDFing, Deep dive, Deck (ie PPT Deck), Mission critical, Heavy lifting, face time, Metrics, Value proposition, BHAG, Action items.
Hairball - Any tangled mess. Frequently refers to an organization's ridiculously complicated maze of rules and regulations. "No, I can't help unless you email me your 27-digit FTP74 number, obtainable via a multi-step process which few know and even fewer actually agree upon."
Budget Rubble / Budget Dust - Cash which is lost if not spent by "EOY" (End Of Year). Results in frantic activity right around the holidays-- exactly when you want to use up your vacation days, a calamitous coincidence exacerbated by Sarbanes-Oxley. See below for further explanation.
The Sarbanes-Oxley Quiz Show - Fun, although time-consuming segment where a vendor determines how much money a brand team has to "budget flush" by "EOY" without actually asking directly. Generally consists of a little game in the ilk of 20-Questions. It goes something like this:
Vendor: "So, let's just say we only ship to 2,000 doc offices instead of 3,000. That'll bring your cost down 25%."
Marketing Manager: "You're getting warmer."
The Sarbanes-Oxley Hotseat - Where a vendor sits while a marketing manager third-degrees a timeline. For example:
Marketing Manager: "So you are 100% certain that you will ship by the first week of the new year. I mean, for reals."
Vendor: "The majority of what we consider chargable expenses will be accrued on or prior to the specified deadline, yes. Fo' shizzy."
New! Levelset - I have no idea what this means but it keeps working its way into meetings. As in, "Let's get the project team together to levelset."
Compulsory lexeme in the corridors of power:
Recommendations for Review: Traction, On the Radar, To resonate, To have legs, Robust, PDFing, Deep dive, Deck (ie PPT Deck), Mission critical, Heavy lifting, face time, Metrics, Value proposition, BHAG, Action items.
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