As the readers here know, based on an epiphany and an encounter I had in April, I have taken on a mission to recreate the account management department at our agency to act, and be perceived by their peers, as more than notetakers and communications conduits between clients and creative teams. There are a lot of aspects to this shift, but one major piece is that the account managers have to think of themselves as creative and thereby contributors to that creative process and output. To quote the book:

“While a designer will solve a problem visually, a manager may solve it by developing a new process. But they’re both using the same creative tools and wrestling with many of the same obstacles.”

I have been doing a lot of work against this effort, mostly in the form of research and notes, without much implementation yet. I believe this  book can explain to my team how important their creativity is, that they are all creative, and they just need the right attitude, approach and plan to be creative in their contributions to the agency, their teams and their lives. To that end, I am going to ask everyone on my team to read this book. (Don’t worry, I’ve learned none of them read this blog, so I am not spoiling any surprise for them by posting it here. Although, if my boss wrote a blog about our business, I would definitely be reading it regularly. Perhaps that is a post and vent for another day.)

The book starts by walking through the hinderances to creativity, especially those in an ad agency. Then, it takes the reader through recommendations for overcoming those obstacles. I am not going to outline them for you here, you have to read the book. Some of the recommendations seems so obvious, but none of us our doing them, making the time to even attempt to do them or thinking twice about skipping over the obvious steps to creativity just to check something else off our to-do list. Other recommendations are easy to accomplish, it is just a matter of setting out to do them and getting them on the calendar.

So, why is this book my new “life guide”? “The Accidental Creative” it also about leadership, team work, time management and life happiness. To quote the book again:

“It is more and more difficult in today’s world to segment your life into buckets like ‘work,’ ‘home,’ ‘relationships,’ hobbies,’ and so on. Every area of your life affects every other, and a lack of engagement in one area will quickly infect the rest. As you implement these practices, you will find that your newfound creative energy will infiltrate not just your work life, but other areas of your life as well. A rising tide raises all boats.”

This book is a definite recommend.

Turntable is that online version of being around people who know more and are teaching me when an in-person lesson is not an option. The reason that I am talking about here is the social and gaming aspects of site participation are interesting:

• Anyone can set up a room and DJ to a theme of their choice. Up to five people can DJ in a room and the control rotates between them.
• Anyone can join the room and “vote” on the song playing as “lame” or “awesome.” When you vote “awesome,” your avatar’s head starts bobbing to the music. You can see how the song is fairing on the lame/awesome meter while it plays.
• The more people that favor your song, the more points you build as a DJ. With more points, you can change your avatar (choices open up at different point levels). Every visitor can see your score.
• There is a chat column in each “room” and visitors talk about the music.
• The name/title of the song shows and there are built in features for sharing the song to your social networks and saving the song to your music player of choice.

CNN recently called it the “cool kids’ Pandora” and offered some spinning tips for the new visitors.

I am loving it right now. Check it out.

I wanted to highlight the entire book. It inspired me to think about my day-to-day job approach differently and to think about possibility and opportunity differently. Rather than complicating business with structure, people, planning and excuses, Rework advises–among many other things–things like making do with what you have to force creativity, doing every job in the office before you hire someone else to do it, doing what you have to do not what you could and want to do, making decisions and moving on rather than sitting on things, and not always worrying about the details.

The book is short and easy to read. Pick it up, read it and be inspired.

Stone Ward is seeking an Account Manager with 5+ years agency experience. Experience should include a demonstrated ability to think strategically about the client’s business and a demonstrated ability to direct and recognize results-oriented marketing communications that are on brand strategy.

The Account Manager will be required to provide business and marketing counsel to clients at an executive management level and oversee an associate account executive in the daily execution of client projects. The Account Manager will also oversee the client profitability and will be responsible for managing the client budget and agency revenue.  The Account Manager will report to the Director of Account Management.

Job responsibilities will include:

• Serving as an agency leader across all disciplines to lead an integrative approach to all client marketing communications.
• Acting as a leader for agency teams, creating a culture of team-level responsibility for achieving agency and client goals.
• Developing strong relationships throughout the client organization, particularly at executive management level, maintaining thorough understanding of client satisfaction and ensuring client retention.
• Maintaining a thorough understanding of client’s business, category, competitive landscape and customer base to ensure agency is proactive in delivering strategic marketing direction.
• Recognizing and contribute to creative account planning that is excellent, results-oriented and strategic.
• Providing strategic consultation about client’s business and marketing initiatives on a regular basis.
• Supervising clients budgets and billing, as well as agency profitability by client.
• Continuously seeking out education and information on communications tools, techniques and trends to apply to client’s communications initiatives.

Desired traits in an Account Manager include (in no particular order):

• Flexible
• Proactive
• Organized
• Innovative
• Cheerleader
• Collaborative
• Numbers nerd
• Detail-oriented
• Not reactionary
• Strong work ethic
• No shrinking violets
• Calm under pressure
• Know when to say “no”
• Ability deal with multiple personality styles
• Willingness to learn new things
• Willingness to take hit for team
• Good written communications skills
• Good verbal communications skills
• Producer-type personality
• Ability to defend creative
• Good time management
• Good creative instincts
• Ability for forethought
• Good negotiator
• Problem-solver
• Thought leader
• People person
• Open-minded
• Good listener
• Team player
• Multi-tasker
• Technophile
• Self-starter
• Passionate
• Confident
• Realistic
• Creative
• Diligent
• Patient
• Leader
• Coach
• Agent
• Calm
• Fair

About the Account Management department at Stone Ward:

The Account Management function at Stone Ward serves an extension of the client’s marketing department, with a specialization in creative communications and customer experience interactions. We are a partner in the client’s strategic communications planning, execution, budgeting and measurement.

“A recent major survey of high-level executives, including chief executive officers, chief financial officers, and presidents, revealed that 70 percent of them regularly play casual computer games while working. That’s right: the vast majority of senior executives report taking daily computer game breaks that last on average between fifteen minutes and one hour.”

I wouldn’t believe this startling statistic had I not spotted one of my clients playing Solitaire during a meeting, and another playing Words With Friends while walking to a meeting. The bottom line is that everyone is playing games and in surprising numbers. Games have huge power and potential influence over our behavior. Because there has been a lot of talk in the technology and social worlds of this influence of gaming and its growth potential, and because I believe know nothing about gaming–not being a gamer myself–I decided to read the most talked book on the subject. While I am still trying to figure out gaming and how it can be used in our business as an effective tool, this book did shed some light on the appeal of games and how they can influence change:

“The real world just doesn’t offer up as easily the carefully designed pleasures, the thrilling challenges, and the powerful social bonding afforded by virtual environments. Reality doesn’t motivate us as effectively. Reality isn’t engineered to maximize our potential. Reality wasn’t designed from the bottom up to make us happy.”

Reality is Broken: Why Games Make Us Better and How They Can Change the World by Jane McGonigal explores why people play games, the psychology behind good game mechanics and gives real examples of games that have the potential to change behaviors for world-wide good. I have a new appreciation for both game developers and game players after reading this book. McGonigal walks through specific games, like World of Warcraft, and talks about specific skills the gamers learn and build by playing these types of games.

Ultimately, McGonigal is saying that game play makes people happy, and when they are happy they will play more, and when they play more they will ultimately reach the defined game goal:

“There are many ways to be happy, but we cannot find happiness. No object, no event, no outcome or life circumstance can deliver real happiness to us. We have to make our own happiness–by working hard at activities that provide their own reward.”

…

“On the other hand, when we set out to make our own happiness, we’re focused on activity that generates intrinsic rewards–the positive emotions, personal strengths, and social connections that we build by engaging intensely with the world around us. We’re not looking for praise or payouts. The very act of what we’re doing, the enjoyment of being fully engaged, is enough.”

So McGonigal wonders if we can define a goal within a game that can fix really big world issues, and that is the impetus for the book:

“What if we decided to use everything we know about game design to fix what’s wrong with reality? What if we started to live our real lives like gamers, lead our real businesses and communities like game designers, and think about solving real-world problems like computer and video game theorists?”

…

“Game developers know better than anyone else how to inspire extreme effort and reward hard work. They know how to facilitate cooperation and collaboration at previously unimaginable scales. And they are continuously innovating new ways to motivate players to stick with harder challenges, for longer, and in much bigger groups. These crucial twenty-first-century skills can help all of us find new ways to make a deep and lasting impact on the world around us.”

With this as her premise, McGonigal walks the how games are created, defined, played and improved upon. From the basics like the four defining traits of a game:

• A goal
• Rules
• A feedback system
• Voluntary participation

To the details like scalability and social integrations. With this kind of detail and range, this book is great for a non-gamer looking to understand what impact games have and how to go about thinking about game design. I enjoyed reading and learning from McGonigal’s extensive experiences and would definitely recommend this to anyone curious about game mechanics and design.

• 232 million monthly active users
• $597 million in revenue in 2010

Mashable provides a list of 11 other interesting stats about Zynga’s success.

Zynga is the company behind social games like FarmVille and Mafia Wars and is highly dependent of Facebook for its players.  ”The company admits that basically all of its revenue comes from its partnership with Facebook: ‘We generate substantially all of our revenue and players through the Facebook platform and expect to continue to do so for the foreseeable future.’” This fact may make investors a bit wary of buying in immediately, but with the success of LinkedIn and the talk about growth potential of gaming/games in general, Zynga will probably fair well in this market.

Productivity

Evernote

Evernote is an app that you can download on your phone, tablet and computer, set up one account and it automatically syncs across all the devices. It stores text documents, photos, audio files and attachments, organized as individual files or in notebooks. It is really like your mental file cabinet, scrapbook and notebook or binder combined into one digital app.

I have used Evernote for a while now, but several weeks ago I left my actual, physical notebook at home and was lost for the entire morning until I could go home and pick it up at lunch. Since that day, I never travel or go to a meeting without pulling all my work documents needed for reference into an Evernote notebook so they are accessible on my phone and tablet for easy reference. I hope to never be dependent on a piece of paper again.

Wunderlist

That same day that I left my notebook at home was the day I set out to find the perfect to do list app (my to do list was a strip of paper with sticky notes attached and stuffed in the back of my notebook). And in my search, I found Wunderlist. And it is indeed perfect. So much so that many of the staffers at Stone Ward are now also using it.

Like Evernote, Wunderlist can be downloaded across multiple devices and using one account, the user can sync the to do lists. Multiple lists can be created (for example, one for personal, one for work, one for travel, etc.). The list can be sorted, scheduled and annotated. Additionally, you can share the lists and even add items by email. And there is a checkbox to mark when you complete the item, if you need that satisfaction of checking something off your list. No more sticky notes.

Travel

TripIt

I love this one so much, it has its very own review on Ms. Adverthinker.

Instapaper

With the introduction of iOS 5 and it’s new features in Safari, Instapaper may become extinct. But until then, it is great for travel when on planes or in areas without Internet access. Instapaper is an app that you can download for you phone and tablet, as well as bookmark on your desktop browser. When you find articles you want to read, but simply don’t have time, or want to save it for later, click the Instapaper bookmark in your browser.  When you open the Instapaper app on your phone or tablet, the articles sync to that device and make them available without Internet access. Then through Instapaper, you can save the article to your favorite social bookmarking provider or share via social channels once you have had a chance to read it. The social integration feature is brilliant and may keep Instapaper alive once iOS 5 launches. Tip: remember to launch the app and sync before you get on the plane, while you still have Internet access!

Presentation

Keynote

Keynote is the alternative to PowerPoint, and it is so much better. It is easier to use, creates more beautiful presentations and nicer transitions. However, it is only available for use on Mac computers. And it is now available on the iPad and iPhone. Through the app, you can create, edit and present. For those with these devices, but no Mac computer, you can now experience the difference between Keynote and PowerPoint. You will never want to go back to PowerPoint again.

Remote for Keynote

This app syncs with via Bluetooth with your MacBook to control your Keynote presentations. No more remote needed. And every presenter can sync their own iPhones to control their individual parts of the presentation. It is both handy and impressive.

Staying Current/Education

Twitter

Twitter has its own app that allows you to view all links, photos, videos and follower details right within the apps sliding windows. The interface is friendly and gorgeous. There is no reason to use another third-party Twitter app.

Reeder

I am a huge Google Reader fan. I scan my 100+ feeds throughout the day on all of my devices through Reeder. It pulls them seamlessly in through the categories I have set and syncs across the devices so it knows which ones I have read already. Additionally, it has a built in sharing feature, so I can bookmark the ones I want to reference later through my Delicious account, save them to Instapaper, share to Facebook or Twitter, among many other options.

TED

I am addicted to TED videos. The topics are always interesting and thought-provoking, and never longer than 20 minutes. The TED app is just as beautifully designed as the website, allows for easy search and access to all TED talks.

Public Radio

Public Radio is simple: local NPR stations streamed through an app.

iTunes

The iTunes U podcasts are an amazing resource. Free to download and listen at your convenience and from the best schools in the country. My current favorite series is the Stanford Entrepreneurial Thought Leaders podcasts. Check them out now and thank me later.

Convenience

Starbucks Mobile

This one is just cool to use. Register your Starbucks gift card through the app and when you are ready to pay at Starbucks, simply pull up the app and scan the barcode that appears on your screen with the scanner at the register. The amount of your purchase is automatically deducted from your card balance. No more fumbling with payment; it is all on your phone. You can reload the card or add the balances from other cards to your account through the Starbucks website. Love it.

Wordbook

It is a dictionary. I am a terrible speller and I am always concerned that I am mispronouncing words, so I use this app frequently. The definitions include an audio pronunciation.

What are your favorite apps?

Square, founded and run by Jack Dorsey (also co-founder of Twitter), is a product and software that allows any smart phone user to accept credit card payments through their phones. The company announced late yesterday that it had raised $100 million in venture funding. “The new round of funding means that Square’s value has jumped more than 6x in the last six months.”

It seems that Jack Dorsey has been everywhere lately. He was recently honored in Fast Company as one of the 100 most creative people in business for 2011. And, he has a great talk available through the Stanford Entrepreneurial Thought Leaders podcast series.

Keep Square and Jack Dorsey on your radar for great things to come.

Tech companies are staying private longer and building up evidence of actually being able to generate revenue. Now that social media outlets have been established and are continuing interactions with large databases of users, they are starting to enter the public ownership realm.  What makes companies such as Groupon, Zynga and Facebook valuable is the list aggregated information they have on individual populations of people and sectors.

“For the most part, today’s social media companies are generating (or at least forecasting) real accounting earnings.   And nearly all of the popular offerings are based on businesses that actually have customers (instead of just a concept). But it is quite amazing to see the flood of capital competing for ownership of social media companies, and the implied company valuations.”

The response to LinkedIn has set the stage for other social-media IPOs, including Facebook, which is being rumored to go public in 2012.

I have been using Tripit now for several months and recently upgraded to the “Pro” version for the added features. I don’t know how I traveled without it before.  Here is why Tripit rocks:

• Forward my email itineraries in whatever format they come to me to the Tripit email address and all the travel details are automatically uploaded into the app: flight, car rental, hotel, confirmation numbers, and maps.
• Check into flights directly from the Tripit app.
• Push notifications of delays and gate changes.
• Automatic sharing of travel information with the people that you put in your “inner circle,” like family, friends, co-workers, etc. This is my favorite feature. (Now my dad doesn’t have to write down all my travel on his calendar; he can just access it in his own Tripit app.)

I love that I can pull up Tripit and see all the details for the four upcoming trips I have booked without having to search emails or shuffle through files and papers. If you are a traveler, definitely check it out.

Subway

Subway has partnered with Scvngr to promote adding avocado to its menu. Twenty-five Scvngr players can win two free tickets to the premiere of “The Green Lantern.” Other players can receive free tickets to see the movie in their local theater. “Scvngr players can win the tickets by earning points with the following game-like activities: ‘Superhero Fuel’ points will be rewarded to players who create their own sandwich with avocado as a central ingredient. ‘Quote It’ points can be accrued by users expressing their favorite Green Lantern quote. ‘Flex for the Camera’ points will be rewarded to those who take a photo of themselves next to a Subway logo, while flexing their muscles.”

Sears

“The retailer is offering shoe discounts to Scvngr players who check in at stores, complete challenges, and upload content to the app. The challenges include: snapping a photo of sneakers/shoes; picking three sets of colorful footwear and taking a picture; and telling a brief story about where the player would like to walk to if she could go anywhere in the world.”

New York Public Library

I love this one! Not only does the New York Public Library have its own Foursquare badge, but in May they launched a promotion that allowed a limited number of participants to sign up and spend the night in the library to go on a scavenger hunt. The promotion appeals to the younger, tech-savvy target and gets them into a place that rarely need to visit anymore: the library. Smart.

“’Find the Future: The Game,’ devised by renowned game designer Jane McGonigal, is a series of ‘quests’ delivered via an app on players’ mobile devices that can be completed at the Library’s 42nd Street location. … The challenges are designed to encourage players to explore and reflect upon the objects from the library’s collections. A player might be tasked, for instance, to scan a QR code located at the Declaration of Independence, and then respond to a creative essay prompt. Once enough quests have been completed, they will be “unlocked” for the public, who can begin playing the game online May 21.”

There is even a video to go along with it:

Snoop Dog Fragrance

Through Facebook, the more people that like the Snoop Dog fragrance, the cheaper the price gets for the fans to buy it. Kind of fun.

Buffalo Wild Wings

Earlier this year, Buffalo Wild Wings partnered with Scvngr to allow “customers [to] complete challenges on their smartphones and win prizes, like Buffalo Wild Wings and Coca-Cola, which are redeemable on the spot. Such challenges, like snapping a photo with a fan of an opposing team, earn fans points that go toward winning the grand prize of a trip to see the NBA finals with Scottie Pippen, formerly of the Chicago Bulls.”

There are many other examples brands experimenting with game dynamics floating around out there, and most of them seem to use Scvngr as their partner in the efforts. While results remain to be seen, the approaches seem on track and look to be engaging for customers.

“The study quantified some long-suspected but never quantified aspects of media behavior. Distraction media was ubiquitous, with 94% of TV and 73% of online video viewers using some type of companion/distraction media. While companion media included everything from laptops, video games and crossword puzzles to physical mail and musical instruments, the smartphone proved to be the true “disruptor” in regards to video attention levels. Of all of the companion media used, the smartphone accounted for 60% of TV and 46% of online video distractions.”

The article goes on to give statistics about the level of engagement with commercials and how viewers who fast forward through the DVR version actually pay more attention to the commercials than those that simply put their heads down to engage with their smart phones while the commercials continue playing. Think about the opportunities that exist for marketers using a transmedia strategy to drive the viewers to their smartphones purposely for the story and message continuation.

Instagram is now up to five million users and is adding about a million users a month.  According to a New York Times article this weekend, “Those who study the way people socialize online say cellphone photos are becoming an integral part of sharing and communicating.”

“Professor Sundar said people once tended to take photos on special occasions, like birthdays and vacations, then post a big batch on services like Picasa and Flickr and share a link with friends. But with the introduction of smartphones with improved cameras, coupled with the rise of services like Facebook and Twitter, people are more accustomed to constantly documenting moments and sharing throughout the day.”

And brands are starting to experiment and use the tools available to engage their customers with photography.

“Brands like Oscar de la Renta, Brisk Iced Tea, Kate Spade, Starbucks and Red Bull are also on the service. Cecilia Liu, digital marketing manager at Kate Spade, said the company added Instagram to its social media lineup this year. She said it was appealing because the company could mix in a little more personality and behind-the-scenes glimpses than it would on Facebook and Twitter.”

Starbucks was one of the first brands to sign on to Instagram.  Now, when you search the Starbucks tag on Instagram, over 10,000 photo hits come up.

“We’ve been using Instagram for a couple of months and think it’s a fun, different way to share photos of what’s going on behind the scenes,” says Product Manager Brad Nelson. “We’ve also found a lot of people already sharing Starbucks photos, so it’s been a joy to look through those.”

As people are using mobile photography and sharing to these sites to document their lives, what are they taking the most photos of? Food, of course.

And, to find all of this great photography online, last week, Twitter introduced a new version of its search that incorporates photos and videos.

Brands that are figuring out how to incorporate photography sharing into their engagement strategies are connecting with their consumers on a more intimate level.