For the last 15 years, I have had the pleasure of joining Med Ad News the pharma agency industry celebrate the industry’s great work. Being the parent of an 11 year old, the year I was forced to decide between a vacation in Belize (her school started April 21) or attending the Manny’s. As much as would love to tell you it was a tough decision, I went for Belize.
You decide?
If frequent flier miles are any indication, 2015 was a huge year for Filament. Just Delta has close to 200,000 miles flown. For a little company and one airline…yikes.
We had our second biggest year in terms of revenue, just missing our biggest year by just 4%. At the same time, we added 12 new agency accounts this year. Adding six accounts is a good year. Adding 12 is huge. As we add more accounts with more specialties and different cultures, we get an even deeper look into what is working in the ad industry and what is not working.
This year’s new accounts ranged from small, specialty shops to an enormous, worldwide digital shop. Each agency brings their own set of strengths and challenges to the marketplace.
Hopefully, 2016 will bring both Filament and our clients’ new successes.
Warm Regards,
Mark, Pam and Brian
This October, Filament celebrated our 18th year in business. Where does the time go! It has been and continues to be fun as we see the ad industry go through changes. Some of those changes like digital and mobile have opened entirely new opportunities for employees and for clients. Other changes like the .com bust and the recession have forced our industry to contract at times and find new ways to do more with less. Regardless, it seems as though our industry in many ways is stronger than it was when we started Filament.
Thank you to all of our clients. It is a pleasure to work with you all and look forward to working with you for years to come.
Warm Regards,
Mark, Pam and Brian
Pitch Therapy blog entry: Finding your individual presentation style can be a difficult journey. Here are some thoughts…
Having worked at 100+ agencies and trained or coached thousands of people in presentation skills, I have reached a conclusion that are plenty of different ways to a great presentation and just as many ways to do a poor presentation. While this may seem counterintuitive, my point is that there is no one way to do it.
The problem is that when well-meaning people try to help others with their presentation skills, the end result is advice that basically says “do it just like me and you will be great.”” This creates many unintended consequences like having a group of people that all look the same or having many presenters that simply look out of sorts, trying to be something that they are not.
Continue reading: http://pitchtherapy.blogspot.com/2015/07/finding-your-presentation-voice.html
For over twenty-five years, Med Ad News and agency professionals come together to recognize significant contributions to, and celebrate creative excellence in, healthcare communications. Hundreds of pharma advertising colleagues gathered this year to celebrate greatness in the industry.
Filament clients were well represented in numerous categories. For the 15th year in a row, Filament clients were nominated for Agency of the Year – Category I. While our clients do not win every year, it is very exciting to be able to contribute a small part to their success.
At last year’s Manny’s, Filament clients were nominated 15 times and took home 6 awards. At the 2015 show, our clients were nominated 17 times and took home 5 awards. Needless to say, some champagne was consumed.
With everyone running at launch-speed, it was nice to kick back and spend a little time breaking bread and reconnecting with some friends. Sadly in some years, the Manny’s is one of the only times to catch up with friend. It was great to see everyone again.
Congratulation to both Med Ad News and the industry for a special evening celebrating the great work in the pharmaceutical advertising industry from everyone at Filament.
Filament is happy to announce a new, one-day Presentation Training Program. In the past, we have stuck to a multi-day format because the extra time allows the opportunity to review video brings about transformative change. That methodology has served us well over the years.
ut our clients have asked us for training programs that help to introduce people to the art of presenting. Perhaps they are a little newer to the agency business or the agency has too many people to train. Shorter programs, with more attendees lowers the cost of training per person and introduces a new set of people to techniques to improve presentation skills.
We still include video and have people presenting but there is more peer coaching and less private coaching. We also use lunchtime as a time to view morning videos and prepare for presentations in the afternoon session. The end result is a lower cost skill development while still creating a “learn by doing” environment.
While the one day format is not right for all organizations and staff, it offers another option to human resources professionals looking to improve the skills at an agency.
Check out the Pitch Therapy blog for thought on Loctite winning the Superbowl and Katy Perry bringing the much needed tween demo to the game.
http://pitchtherapy.blogspot.com/2015_02_01_archive.html
Filament co-founder, Pam Bloore, has created the first in a series of webinars for the4As call the Glass Ladder series. The series of webinars will address issues that disproportionately impact women in the ad industry.
The first webinar addresses finding the proper management tone. The webinar is scheduled for January 22, 2015 and is titled Management Skills for women. Click here for info on this and other webinars.
Update as of February 1, 2015…
The Management Skills for Women webinar was a huge success with a tremendous turnout from all over the US. Congrats to Pam!
Like many people in the ad industry, everyone at Filament has a creative outlet or two.
Brian is on the board of a local theatre and has at one point or another done whatever it took to make sure that the show goes on. Pam enjoys pottery and loves to create new projects and get muddy. Mark is a musician and continues to find new opportunities to perform and make music.
We are proud to announce that Mark is playing trombone on Neil Edwards’ funk/jazz CD Gotta Get My Groove On. Mark and Neil have worked together for years, performing at different venues but this was the first opportunity to record together. “It is such a pleasure to work with Neil. He is great player and seems to bring out the best in my playing” Mark said. Mark continued “I learn something new every time we work together.”
Congratulations to Neil and Mark! Who knew Mark could be so funky 🙂
This October, Filament celebrated our 17th year in business. What started with just a few clients in a few different industries has grown over the years to be a highly specialized training and consulting firm targeted at the communications industry. Some of the changes we planned, like specializing in the communications industry. Some of the changes were unexpected like our relationship with AAAA.org, our industry’s premiere association.
Over the years we have been brought into work with some of the world’s most respected agencies, speak at conference, publish articles and a variety of other exciting projects. Whether planned or unplanned, these changes have helped us to grow and work with some of the most exciting clients in the industry. We thank you all for showing faith in us and letting us into your organizations.
Warm Regards,
Mark, Pam and Brian
