CREATIVE MEETINGS:
The ritualistic gathering of advertising professionals with the purpose of taking simple thoughts and ideas and giving them life. This time is used to define messaging, develop new tv commercial concepts, or any other problems that need some creative panache.
THOU SHALT HAVE A “FOCAL POINT”
We like to organize our topics early in the week and give our staff plenty of time to let the ideas marinate. Without a focus, our Friday meetings would be just an excuse to sit around and gorge on baked goods, or as some offices call it, “Tuesday”.
THOU SHALT EMBRACE MENTAL WARM-UPS
Our collective wits are always sharp thanks to Thomas Manley, Creative Director, and his countless creative warm-ups. From inventing new sports to defining what each fellow FPM team member would be if he or she wasn’t in advertising we are always creatively stimulated and ready to brainstorm!
MAY THY COFFEE BE AT LEAST 195ºF
Some offices don’t take their coffee culture serious. As Steve tells everyone in the office, your brew must fall in the temperature range of 195º – 205º but never any hotter as it will burn the coffee and most likely ruin your day. As the resident gourmand Steve prides himself on brewing exceptional coffee for the office.
MAY THEE SAVOR DELICIOUS PASTRIES
Trying to be creative on an empty stomach is pointless. This is where pastries come into play. At Focal Point we keep the spread as lavish as possible. From donuts and cookies to the occasional muffin spread, we always have an array of delicious treats to keep tummies full and minds sharp.
THOU BUTTOCKS MUST BE COMFY
It goes without saying that if your behind isn’t comfortable, you won’t hit peak creativeness. It’s just science.
THOU SHALT NOT WEAR THEIR FEELINGS ON THY SLEEVE
We encourage each other to remove personal investments in their own ideas and focus on selecting and expanding the best strategic idea for our client’s production. Luckily we have a stellar team from top to bottom at Focal Point. This makes for fun and lively meetings that are all inclusive – because everyone contributes so much to the process. Two heads are better than one, four better than two, so on and so forth, get the picture?
THOU SHALT NOT SHY FROM SHARING IDEAS
The best comparison here is the act of free-thinking. We don’t see any idea as being “bad”. We use these meetings to explore many ideas regardless of how they are formed or what they consist of. We try to think of EVERY possible angle!
HE/SHE WHO SITS FIRST IS HE/SHE WHO TYPES
Someone has to keep track and organize thoughts and ideas in the room by recording all ideas. A rule we loosely enforce, but when we do it’s usually Derek. He’s the gatekeeper. Plus he’s a keyboard shortcut wizard.
THOU SHALT BRING WRITING MATERIALS
Creative meetings usually cover extended periods of time and there are several ideas flowing all at once. In order to keep up, our staff is encouraged to bring pens and notebooks to the meeting. Digital makes things convenient but we find that the best ideas sometimes are the ones that were jotted down.
THOU SHALT EMBRACE TANGENTS & REFRAIN FROM BEING
“DEVIL’S ADVOCATE”
As a few select members of our staff can attest to, tangents are vital to an idea “getting legs”. Once an idea is tossed into the ring we love to see the team explore it to its full potential before the “devils advocate” is applied.
In order to achieve the best possible outcomes for our clients we at FPM adhere to the ten commandments of creative meetings at all times.