• Where Do You Go to Get Into the Zone?

    July 14, 2014

    I work from home. I used to work from a corporate office, but now I work from home most of the time and I have to tell you, I love it. I’m a hundred times more productive working from my home office than a traditional corporate setting. So as IHAF wraps its discussion on work environments this week, …

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  • Culture: The Ultimate Interior

    July 02, 2014

    • by IHAF Staff

    When we think of the stereotypical agency environment, images of Ping-Pong tables, lava lamps and overstuffed fluorescent chairs come to mind. Sure, outside agencies may have more freedom when it comes to furniture choices and paint colors, but that shouldn’t condemn in-house interiors to be …

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  • The Benefits of Independent Digital-Media Trading

    April 07, 2014

    New developments in programmatic trading over the last few years offer in-house agencies advanced insights about audiences, allowing greater transparency into how much is being spent (to what effect) and where, as well as breakthroughs in media efficiency. Yet, most in-house agencies are missing …

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  • Seizing Opportunities for Improvement

    February 24, 2014

    Seven months ago, I was given the opportunity to lead the Corporate Marketing team at Nationwide. Prior to this, I served as CMO of our Property & Casualty business unit and most recently, led of our Financial Services marketing team.

    Now that I’m on the “other side of the desk,” there are …

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  • Our Constant Evolution

    February 19, 2014

    The in-house team at Boston University has changed a lot in recent years. We’ve gone from a customer service group to a project management group to an account management team. And we're going to change—or should I say, evolve—even further.

    Early on our group was exclusively focused on print-design …

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  • Meet Two New Board Members

    February 17, 2014

    This month, IHAF is exploring the topic of Operational Excellence and what it means to in-house agencies. As part of this series, I asked the two newest members of IHAF’s Board of Directors, Mark Gibson, Assistant VP of Creative Services at State Farm and Wayne Barringer, Director of Creative …

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  • Do You Want it Fast, Cheap or Good?

    February 10, 2014

    We may be witnessing a harmonic convergence of sorts in the name of operational excellence. While the inclination for any business may be to try to do as much as it can with the resources it has on hand, that’s not always effective. Sooner or later, what seems like the fastest, easiest path to …

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  • Operational Excellence: It’s How We Do It

    February 03, 2014

    Some years ago I had the privilege of attending an industry event that included CFOs from top-shelf advertising agencies. At the time, I had been in my current role for a short time. I was eagerly seeking nuggets of wisdom that I could apply to the day-to-day operation of the in-house agency for …

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  • Is Your Approach to Leadership Instinctive or Deliberate?

    December 16, 2013

    As a manager, I never gave much conscious thought to the principles of leading. I simply dealt with daily issues as they arose without considering how to implement a particular approach to leadership. With my career in transition, I’ve been meeting with people to discuss new opportunities and I’ve …

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  • Leading Your Team to Greatness

    December 11, 2013

    Whether you lead the creative, account, production or entire internal agency team, helping your group be recognized, valued and positioned for success within your organization takes focused initiative. It takes more than just putting out good work to get your team in the limelight.

    To lead your …

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