Extensive Meetings, Marathon Calls, And Early Mornings

It may be a bit crude but it fits and its funny.

In hind sight, the past few weeks have been a bit of a blur merging together into one continuous memory of a meeting. In addition to the usual daily duties and account work, a few of us would lock ourselves in the conference room and hash out, sometimes vigorously, a public relations plan for a new prospect. This was all stemming from my business day trip back in May.

For hours we would go back and forth starting with the high level view and basic outline. We would take a couple of days off to research and make our own suggestions (margin time as I like to call it) and finally we would come together for the detailed dive into what needs to be said, what needs to be reworded, and pull together what strategies would work best to achieve what the prospect thinks they want and what we know they should want. Fortunately, in this instance, there was a synchronicity to these objectives.

All told, we each spend approximately fifty hours in meeting over the past couple of months pulling all of these things together. This culminated in a conference call yesterday when we were finally able to present the results of our hard work. This is always a time of uncertainty but we present the plan with confidence and emphasize the process and experience that has brought us to our conclusions. However, you have to keep in mind, while this was a time consuming step it was only the first of many (second if you count the initial input).

While the prospect agreed with what we had presented, there were still a number of things discussed that we will have to incorporate and a few things that we will have to change. And, of course, every presentation has a speed bump here or there and this one certainly had a big one as the recent investors in the company have just now informed us of an open competition and that many other proposals have been received. With the only honest and realistic plan on the table I am confident in our future with this company but it still means that there is even more work that we are going to have to complete and more meetings that will keep us in the conference room for the next couple of weeks.

It looks like a few more long days at the office presenting me from arriving home before the summer dusk and probably at least one or two early morning conference calls like the one that was scheduled this morning for 7am. While I am undoubtedly biased, I know that we are the best firm for the business and I know that the long discussions and even longer hours will pay off in the end. But, for now, it is time to relax when I can, work when I am able, and sleep during those rare instances when the luxury of time is in my favor.