Benedict Advertising - Business Building Solutions

As part of my job, and most of my coworkers’ as well, I travel to client meetings a few times a month. These trips aren’t always as cut and dry as they seem, and sometimes I will be on the road for a few days attending back-to-back meetings. Against my wishes, the world does not stop when I am out of the office so I still have emails to respond to and voicemails to return and client jobs that need to be opened or dealt with!

This is where technology comes in and thank goodness for it! Through the wonders of the Internet and other gadgets, I am able to stay informed and up-to-date even when I am out of the office! I am lucky to have an iPhone that I can use to keep up with emails and return phone calls. I can even use the Map application if I get lost on my way to a meeting. We also now have a program that allows our internal job tracking system to be accessed online, which is a huge help! If anyone out there is in need of something like this, check out CurrentTrack. Through this program, I can approve artwork, send artwork to clients and communicate with other staff members on the status of jobs. This is very helpful so everyone is aware of what needs to be done at that moment and nothing falls through the cracks!

I know we all complain about technology every now and again when our email isn’t working properly or the Internet is down, but in the scheme of the things our lives are greatly improved by technology and all of our gadgets!

- Annika Elston

Being creative is a challenging daily requirement with sub-layers of focus; depending on what projects I am working on, there is the occasion where a creative block will drop right before the juices start flowing. Leaving a crusty, dry, inhabitable thoughtless mind. There are a few things that I have tested/proven/failed/ and finally perfect to destroy the unwanted dam. I won’t bore you with the mundane details, instead I’ll break down quickly how i decompress  in four different ways:

#1 Morning coffee: This ritual applies to work, home, commuting, meetings, face booking, chatting, surfing the web and most importantly brain storming.

#2 Video games: Now before you start to shout out “nerd” all too quickly, there is something mellon collie about unwinding while remaining solely focused playing a video game. The games can range from a simple round of Uno to shooting the shit out of someone via Xbox live.

#3 Bike riding: This is my favorite way of resupplying the creative nodes.  Ripping through the trails allows me to express creativity within a different medium, using talent that is only limited to the fear of losing focus. Thinking of anything else causes a crash or a missed opportunity to hit a hidden jump.

#4 Shots, shots, shots! If all else fails, then it’s time to hit up a good bar for some forced mind erasing. Numbing the innards of your skull is pretty easy once you throw back a few shots of jager. Or, if you prefer a bit more of sophistication, then I suggest a few glasses of red wine. I usually go for the house red, but after a few glasses it’s okay to mix and match.

There you go. I hope that I have helped you expand your methods of decompression.

-Joey Ramos