AD Club Leaders: How To Keep Your Team Inspired During The Summer

With awards season well underway, industry conferences occurring all over the country and vacations planned with family, summer in advertising can be chaotic. We wanted to ask some of our Leaders how they keep their teams creative and inspired during the summer months, and if they have any fun, company-wide initiatives or activities only the summer weather can inspire. We asked them: How do you keep your team creative and inspired during the summer months? Does your organization have internal initiatives or events to keep your team focused? What would be your advice to industry folks looking for ways to stay engaged and excited when the overarching pace has slowed from the fast pace of the rest of the year?

This is what they had to say…

Matt Miller, Executive Creative Director, BBDO San Francisco 

I’ve learned that summer is only a problem when it becomes the cruel taskmaster standing firmly between your people and the bodacious summer life they long for. Which is why, instead of pitting work and summer against each other, we encourage our people to bring the two together as much as possible. For example, we want them to go to conferences, farmers markets, summer concerts, water parks etc., and encourage them to pay attention to the inspiration that can be found there because you never know where a good idea can come from. A new, interesting environment can do wonders for inspiration.

Marla Kaplowitz, CEO, MEC North America – @meknyc

It is no secret that summer in particular is a time when people are in need of a break and crave a boost of inspiration. This challenge, among others, has given us the chance to cultivate an environment at MEC that stirs curiosity, drives engagement and provides our people opportunities to explore their personal passions.  We believe our talent is very distinct and powerful, and their growth is of the utmost importance to our agency’s success.

Through initiatives that align to our three Thrive behaviors – Perseverance, Entrepreneurial and Dreamistic – we aim to support the emotional well-being of our people through workshops such as Inspire Happiness, Vision Boarding, Two Awesome Hours and even a 21-day meditation challenge. We also host a monthly speaker series, Focus Live, and encourage simple things such as ice cream socials, a softball league, Yoga Means Business sessions, and Office Olympics (which we will be hosting for the first time in August!).