10 tips on client meeting and events

Sharing tips which could be useful for client meetings or events -

1. A day or two in advance, imagine a client meeting as much as you can (with a colleague if possible), including details. It will help put together things you need the next day. 'Victory loves preparation.' - from the movie 'The Mechanic'.

2. Rehearse a presentation on a projector before the actual client meeting. Your 'final' version may need changes when projected. Order or quantum of content, font size and colors that looked fine while preparing may need work when projected.

3. Clients love a thinking consultant – the reason they come to us in the first place. Think a bit before agreeing to what the client says. Offer other options. If you don’t agree, add to his thoughts instead of going against the grain (depending on your relationship). Example- ‘That is one way to go, or how about…’

4. Sit with an ideating group and sort out exactly why you need marketing materiallike banners, brochures or videos. What works for others may not work for you.

5. Videos needs much planning for the image they project later. Social media the world over can see what you create or upload; so prepare your material likewise.

6. Pick up the phone or walk across and speak with people. Direct communication still works better than email.

7. Don’t be afraid of appearing funny or awkward when addressing your team directly. It is better than not showing up at all. Appreciating someone for a job well done needs direct addressing.

8. ‘Tentative cost’ is dear for all. Share cost or quote from vendors with stakeholders before it is incurred even if the client or colleague has factored it in.

9. After the event or meeting, asking for feedback shows you care. Get feedback from chatting, emails or web tools.

10. Once in a while, take initiatives that do not add up to annual performance goals. Not everything needs to add up, tally or reach somewhere. You are human and that means quite a bit.

Hope these make sense!

Regards

10 tips on client meeting and events

Sharing tips which could be useful for client meetings or events -

1. A day or two in advance, imagine a client meeting as much as you can (with a colleague if possible), including details. It will help put together things you need the next day. 'Victory loves preparation.' - from the movie 'The Mechanic'.

2. Rehearse a presentation on a projector before the actual client meeting. Your 'final' version may need changes when projected. Order or quantum of content, font size and colors that looked fine while preparing may need work when projected.

3. Clients love a thinking consultant – the reason they come to us in the first place. Think a bit before agreeing to what the client says. Offer other options. If you don’t agree, add to his thoughts instead of going against the grain (depending on your relationship). Example- ‘That is one way to go, or how about…’

4. Sit with an ideating group and sort out exactly why you need marketing material like banners, brochures or videos. What works for others may not work for you.

5. Videos needs much planning for the image they project later. Social media the world over can see what you create or upload; so prepare your material likewise.

6. Pick up the phone or walk across and speak with people. Direct communication still works better than email.

7. Don’t be afraid of appearing funny or awkward when addressing your team directly. It is better than not showing up at all. Appreciating someone for a job well done needs direct addressing.

8. ‘Tentative cost’ is dear for all. Share cost or quote from vendors with stakeholders before it is incurred even if the client or colleague has factored it in.

9. After the event or meeting, asking for feedback shows you care. Get feedback from chatting, emails or web tools.

10. Once in a while, take initiatives that do not add up to annual performance goals. Not everything needs to add up, tally or reach somewhere. You are human and that means quite a bit.

Hope these make sense!

Regards

Independence ahoy!

Our Independence day was 'celebrated' on 15 August with a splatter of the national flag colours in newspaper ads. Local malls had the tricolour criss-crossing overhead, justifying the need to swipe your cards so they could clear off their stock. In Ambience Mall in Gurgaon, one of the biggest malls in the country, almost all shops sell imported material and international brands. In fact, the only thing that remains ‘Indian’ in the entire mall is Haldiram, an Indian fast food chain and ofcourse, Hindi movies that play in PVR cinemas. So it looks like when it comes to food and movies, we are Indian all the way, but when it comes to stuff and products, we fancy western material. Manufacturing is down, foreign brand invasion is up, and no thanks to our short-term, low-cost attitude to products, everything is made in China.

So what leaves us with any feeling of being independent? How free are we really? A volatile currency shakes the stock market; and the one thing that comes to our minds is to shop more before things go out of reach. At get-togethers and parties we lament on rock star politicians to save the nation. But no politician can change anything, unless people revolt. That is what is wrong with us. We take everything lying down. Other signs are more alarming - a sincere government servant is openly reprimanded for doing her job that hurts vested interests, price hike for a basic vegetable, violation of human rights, total disregard for women in all sections of society, public money for welfare is either squandered or unused, these are enough signs that we are not headed in the right direction.

People of France come out on the streets on the most basic things, and that keep their government on their toes. For the ‘great’ nation that we are, with rebels that India has produced, this is the time to stand up for stuff we believe in. We have to go beyond the discount offers in rotated star burst ads. Are we prepared to stand in queues and get our official paper work done, and not pay a tout? These changes will have to come in our own behaviour before we demand a change. Here are a few things I do from the core, hoping it would snowball with the efforts of others to make a larger change.

1.       Keep and repair old stuff. Don’t fall for the need to buy things you don’t need. If you feel like buying stuff, postpone the purchase by a week. If you still need it, you will know.

2.       Give back to society. In any that you feel fit- donate blood, spend time in a NGO school for a few hours on weekends, donate to organizations that work for the welfare of the girl child, old people, your choice. That time should be given away, and not go in owning, buying things or in any other personal benefit other that the satisfaction of benefiting someone underprivileged.

3.       Discuss atrocities that you notice. Share with neighbours and friends stuff that disturbs you. If you let it go, others will.

4.       Stop watching TV, read a book or paint. TV is made to sell you things you do not need, make you feel like a lesser mortal unless you buy. Everything is ad driven today to satiate a vague need. When you do other stuff, you start thinking. That is what a fascist hates.

5.       Eat less. The more you devour, the lesser you think. The less you eat, the lighter you stay, makes you want to get off your seat and walk the street. That changes things.

6.       Do not compare your lives and possessions with others. If you have reached this far on your own, it is because you defined what is important.

7.       Go to a place of worship other than that of your own religion. Understand other people just for the sake of it. Observe and respect what they do.

8.       Talk to people outside your trade. Know more about the world.

9.       Avoid discussing gadgets. Talk about relationships.

10.   Keep a pet. Being in touch with an animal is a grounding experience at many levels.

Surely there are other ways to ‘keep it real’. The whole point is to get back to being more human. Technology has not improved our social life. We interact much less than we ever did. We also have lesser friends than our parents have. That says quite a lot about the loneliness our lives are made of. All this can be fixed in a short time, but the effort has to come from all of us, at an individual level.

Independence ahoy!

Our Independence day was 'celebrated' on 15 August with a splatter of the national flag colours in newspaper ads. Local malls had the tricolour criss-crossing overhead, justifying the need to swipe your cards so they could clear off their stock. In Ambience Mall in Gurgaon, one of the biggest malls in the country, almost all shops sell imported material and international brands. In fact, the only thing that remains ‘Indian’ in the entire mall is Haldiram, an Indian fast food chain and ofcourse, Hindi movies that play in PVR cinemas. So it looks like when it comes to food and movies, we are Indian all the way, but when it comes to stuff and products, we fancy western material. Manufacturing is down, foreign brand invasion is up, and no thanks to our short-term, low-cost attitude to products, everything is made in China.

So what leaves us with any feeling of being independent? How free are we really? A volatile currency shakes the stock market; and the one thing that comes to our minds is to shop more before things go out of reach. At get-togethers and parties we lament on rock star politicians to save the nation. But no politician can change anything, unless people revolt. That is what is wrong with us. We take everything lying down. Other signs are more alarming - a sincere government servant is openly reprimanded for doing her job that hurts vested interests, price hike for a basic vegetable, violation of human rights, total disregard for women in all sections of society, public money for welfare is either squandered or unused, these are enough signs that we are not headed in the right direction.

People of France come out on the streets on the most basic things, and that keep their government on their toes. For the ‘great’ nation that we are, with rebels that India has produced, this is the time to stand up for stuff we believe in. We have to go beyond the discount offers in rotated star burst ads. Are we prepared to stand in queues and get our official paper work done, and not pay a tout? These changes will have to come in our own behaviour before we demand a change. Here are a few things I do from the core, hoping it would snowball with the efforts of others to make a larger change.

1.       Keep and repair old stuff. Don’t fall for the need to buy things you don’t need. If you feel like buying stuff, postpone the purchase by a week. If you still need it, you will know.

2.       Give back to society. In any that you feel fit- donate blood, spend time in a NGO school for a few hours on weekends, donate to organizations that work for the welfare of the girl child, old people, your choice. That time should be given away, and not go in owning, buying things or in any other personal benefit other that the satisfaction of benefiting someone underprivileged.

3.       Discuss atrocities that you notice. Share with neighbours and friends stuff that disturbs you. If you let it go, others will.

4.       Stop watching TV, read a book or paint. TV is made to sell you things you do not need, make you feel like a lesser mortal unless you buy. Everything is ad driven today to satiate a vague need. When you do other stuff, you start thinking. That is what a fascist hates.

5.       Eat less. The more you devour, the lesser you think. The less you eat, the lighter you stay, makes you want to get off your seat and walk the street. That changes things.

6.       Do not compare your lives and possessions with others. If you have reached this far on your own, it is because you defined what is important.

7.       Go to a place of worship other than that of your own religion. Understand other people just for the sake of it. Observe and respect what they do.

8.       Talk to people outside your trade. Know more about the world.

9.       Avoid discussing gadgets. Talk about relationships.

10.   Keep a pet. Being in touch with an animal is a grounding experience at many levels.

Surely there are other ways to ‘keep it real’. The whole point is to get back to being more human. Technology has not improved our social life. We interact much less than we ever did. We also have lesser friends than our parents have. That says quite a lot about the loneliness our lives are made of. All this can be fixed in a short time, but the effort has to come from all of us, at an individual level.

addlepated katzenjammer

Heed the words of a benedict-  Infantalize each other with syllogism and irrelevant, effusive banter, for this chicanery will hold not a candle to the éminence grise - your future wife.

------------
addlepated - being mixed up : confused
katzenjammer - hangover
benedict - a newly married man who has long been a bachelor
infantalize - to treat like an infant or young child
syllogism - deductive reasoning
chicanery - deception by artful subterfuge or sophistry : trickery
éminence grise - one exercising unsuspected or unofficial power

addlepated katzenjammer

Heed the words of a benedict-  Infantalize each other with syllogism and irrelevant, effusive banter, for this chicanery will hold not a candle to the éminence grise - your future wife.

------------
addlepated - being mixed up : confused
katzenjammer - hangover
benedict - a newly married man who has long been a bachelor
infantalize - to treat like an infant or young child
syllogism - deductive reasoning
chicanery - deception by artful subterfuge or sophistry : trickery
éminence grise - one exercising unsuspected or unofficial power

Knowing history helps

For all those moments when you wondered why it helps to go into the history of things, there are ample reasons how one benefits from studying the past.
Of the 4 years I spent in art school,  my batch studied art history for an unusual 3 years. Art history was supposed to last no more than a year but due to some alteration in our course design, we ended up watching slides of paintings of a bygone era for 3 exasperating years. Though it was an ordeal back then, in hindsight it was a blessing to have studied the works of the great masters. The basics got drilled, nailed and cemented in our fuzzed-out juvenile minds.
How does that help?
Last weekend I was in a discussion with a friend and potential client who may in time comission me as a consultant for a product targeted at European buyers. We started talking about certain types and styles of graphics. As we spoke more I was able to better articulate and classify the styles as Renaissance,  Baroque,art Nouveaux, art Deco and Bauhaus. This led to a detailed understanding of tastes, preferences and a way ahead for the project.

When you know the history well, you are able to process the current information in context of time. There you go- I couldn't have articulated it better than that. When you are aware of where the material originated from, you are a few steps ahead of others because you would or could be the only person to take forward the matter or project from there on. 'To see the future, we must look into our past', goes the adage.

So dwell into the past once in a while, purely from a futuristic point of view. The neighborly historian or librarian could well be the next soothsayers if they apply resources to study trends over time.

Knowing history helps

For all those moments when you wondered why it helps to go into the history of things, there are ample reasons how one benefits from studying the past.
Of the 4 years I spent in art school,  my batch studied art history for an unusual 3 years. Art history was supposed to last no more than a year but due to some alteration in our course design, we ended up watching slides of paintings of a bygone era for 3 exasperating years. Though it was an ordeal back then, in hindsight it was a blessing to have studied the works of the great masters. The basics got drilled, nailed and cemented in our fuzzed-out juvenile minds.
How does that help?
Last weekend I was in a discussion with a friend and potential client who may in time comission me as a consultant for a product targeted at European buyers. We started talking about certain types and styles of graphics. As we spoke more I was able to better articulate and classify the styles as Renaissance,  Baroque,art Nouveaux, art Deco and Bauhaus. This led to a detailed understanding of tastes, preferences and a way ahead for the project.

When you know the history well, you are able to process the current information in context of time. There you go- I couldn't have articulated it better than that. When you are aware of where the material originated from, you are a few steps ahead of others because you would or could be the only person to take forward the matter or project from there on. 'To see the future, we must look into our past', goes the adage.

So dwell into the past once in a while, purely from a futuristic point of view. The neighborly historian or librarian could well be the next soothsayers if they apply resources to study trends over time.