At the ripe old age of 24, I was given the unique opportunity to design a complete corporate identity for a commercial real estate development that was to be erected on the South Shore of Massachusetts, a region that runs south of Boston along the shoreline of the Massachusetts and Cape Cod Bays. I was a junior designer at the time, and the creative director at the agency where I worked felt I was ready to take the project on, including defining the color, type and image standards for all promotional materials as well as designing the logo that would be featured on everything from the construction workers’ hard hats to the granite sign that held presence over the property.

I toiled away at my drafting table for well over a week—sketching and refining until I was ready to present my ideas to the creative director. That morning, I arrived early to the office to put some finishing touches on the work. One of the agency principals spied me out of the corner of his office and eagerly approached exclaiming, “Just the person I wanted to see,” as he handed me a cocktail napkin with a sketch scribbled on it.

“We’d like this to be the new logo for [property name withheld to protect the innocent].” To which I responded in bewilderment, “Um, OK.” He went on to say that he had been out for drinks with the client and the client’s wife the night before and the wife had a great idea for a logo, which she drew on a napkin for the agency to replicate.

“WHAT? Are you [expletive withheld to protect the innocent] kidding me,” is what crossed my mind. What crossed my lips was, “Um, OK,” as I proceeded to scrap my genius and finalize the logo for what is now a prominent, multi-building complex—a monument to the absence of managing a client. (I mean, come on. It’s bad enough when a client asserts control over our work, but the client’s wife?)

A few years later, I made the move from creative to account management—which makes some people gasp almost as much as the napkin story. But I’ll tell you, that early experience helped shape what I went on to enjoy as a successful career on the account side, working for external agencies as well as in house. Not only did it help me understand what it’s like when tactical eruptions are imposed on a creative person under the guise of a strategic breakthrough, it taught me the importance of client management—an art to which I dedicated myself for many years.

This month at IHAF, we’re talking about Client Management with all its feats and foibles. We’ll explore the client/agency relationship, the role of account management, the importance of partnership, and the sixty-four-thousand-dollar question: do clients really want to be managed in the first place? Join us as we unravel the mysteries of Client Management—or at the very least, share a few of the whoppers we’ve experienced along the way.