I am sure that many of you wonder what executives such as myself do when we are elsewhere and you see our offices empty.

Let me give you a recent example:

Last June, I received an invitation from the head of the Effie Awards, Poland that they and the Harvard Business Review, Poland were planning a Marketing Forum on October 22, and they asked if I would address the conference. The audience would be Marketing Directors and CEO’s of major companies in Poland.

I immediately contacted Christina Fritz, Deputy Managing Director of our office in Warsaw to determine whether or not this would be a useful exposure for Wunderman, Poland.  She and her colleagues thought that my participation would be a major benefit for the agency and so I agreed to attend and to speak.

That part of it was easy. All done by email and phone. The first issue always to be solved is: What should the content of my talk be. What would this audience want to be informed about? How best could I make a meaningful contribution to their knowledge? What could I say that would differentiate us from all of the other agencies that would be presenting?  I was assigned a subject which was; “The alchemy of direct marketing success. New tools for using direct marketing to build effective customer relations and to enhance customer loyalty."

And so I began to think about the subject. I made notes, I talked to myself, I put some trial thoughts into my computer. Early in my career when I attended classes on creativity and imagination, I was taught that if you consciously pose yourself a problem, your subconscious mind immediately begins to work on the solution. As a famous author once said, “I put all the ingredients in my head before I go to sleep and when I wake up the bread is baked.” And so after days of false starts and frustration the “bread” indeed began to bake. I wrote the headline for the talk as if it were an ad although speeches have themes not headlines. It was, “The Customer and The Relationship as Hero” and once having the subject in focus the rest was relatively simple.  The audience responded enthusiastically to my talk and as a result, I was asked to appear on the leading television talk show in Poland and be interviewed by a well-known TV anchor.

So what happens on a day that my office is empty? Plenty!!
When you pass my office and see me there, you’ll know I am not In Warsaw or any of the other 108 offices in 55 countries that now comprise the Wunderman network

Agenda Warsaw, Poland (as provided by our Warsaw office)

October 21
1:40 Arrival in Warsaw

October 22
9:00 A meeting in the lobby of the Bristol Hotel with Cristina Fritz.
Three press interviews.

Transport to the agency

9.30 Interview at agency with press

9:45 Interview with press

10.45 – 11.45 Meeting with the agency people

11.45 – 12.30 Interview with press

12.30 – 13.30 Lunch with agency personnel at Venti-Tre Restaurant

After lunch meeting with journalist

3:00 Speech to Marketing Forum

4:30 Return to hotel

7:00 Attend Effie Gala at National Theater

9:30 Return to Bristol Hotel


October 23
9:15 Transport to Wunderman Poland office

9:30 Press interview

10:00 Press interview

10:45 – 11:45 Meeting with agency personnel

11:45 – 12:30 Interviews with press

12:30 – 13:30 Lunch with agency personnel (Restaurant Biblioteka)

13:30 – 14:10 Interviews with press

14:10 Go to TV station for a live interview

15:00 – 15:30 Interview at TV station

16:00 – 16:45 Interview with press

16:45 – 17:45 Return to the hotel

17:45 Pick up at the hotel

18:00 Cocktails with clients and press

21:30 Return to the Bristol hotel


10/24/07
Free day


10/25/07 
15:15 Pick up at hotel

17:15 Flight back to New York


And so four action-filled days were over, but as always the memories of such a trip continue to echo in my mind. What's important to know is that I enjoyed every minute of it as I always have and I believe that I always will.