This week, you might say I blazed two new trails.
Client meetings are a part of the job in what we do. Often, we spend many hours in offices and conference rooms, plotting communications strategies and, hopefully, building relationships in the process. This past week, though, we broke the mold.
It was the client’s idea – but I embraced it and am very glad I did. Instead of a doing a semi-annual strategy meeting inside a windowless office, our client and I met, quite literally, on a trail.
It was a bicycling trail and we biked all of it, while having our strategic discussion. All 34 miles of it.
Now, as much as I enjoy biking, I had never gone that far in a week, much less one straight shot. But, I completed the physical challenge and the exercise fueled a very productive professional discussion over the hours. I know we now feel ready to communicate for the second half of the year and have established yet another way in which Tanner Friedman is changing agency-client dynamics for the better.
Also this week, I set up a Facebook account. If you are on there, please make me a “friend” and mention the blog. Being on Facebook is going to mean even more time online for me (and I feel like I’m on constantly as it is). I’m even set up on my Blackberry.
So far, in 48 hours, I have strengthened existing relationships and brought back old ones. In just two days, I have received a possible business referral, connected with a girl I took on a few dates in high school (now a mother of 3), heard from my two-year college roommate for the first time in 11 years and linked to many members of my radio alumni association from Syracuse. Some say social networking is the future of PR. For now, I say it’s fun, but I’ll keep the readers of this blog posted on how this site is changing communications.