Think

Yes, I'm one of them. I love being able to spend time thinking, contemplating and then working with others to make ideas into something real. At family functions or cocktail parties, I invariably get a "oohhh, that sounds so fun" when I describe my job.

While neither the IPA Strategy Group survey (their site requires membership) or Heather Lefevre's Account Planning survey (not exactly strategy, but...) really account for the work that I do -- Creative Strategy -- they both capture many of the challenges in this line of work.

Here is some food for thought:

Strategists feel valued by their clients (87%) and have confidence to deal with the challenges thrown at them by their clients and agencies alike (87%).

69% say they are happy working where they are.

Me too.

Coming from the museum world has served me well in this line of work. Turns out that the people coming to websites want to find information in fun, entertaining ways in the same manner that museum visitors want to find information in fun, entertaining ways. They don't want to be talked at, talked down to or really talked to much at all.

Using a conversational tone is a given, but starting a conversation is even harder. And starting an engaging conversation is harder still. When writing museum labels, I always tried to put on my novice hat. What if I didn't know anything about this topic? What words are too jargon-y? What questions would I have? And I usually checked myself by going out on the museum floor and talking to real novice visitors.

Designing experiences...