Editor’s Note: Matt Hardeman is a lover of all things music, movies and TV. The following post is from the HDROOM blog and is reposted with permission.

The following review contains MAD MEN spoilers, do not read any further if you have not yet seen this episode!

If you’ve been following my recaps, you’ll know that I’ve been rather pleased with this season of Mad Men, save for some seemingly off editing and thematic issues here and there. ‘At the Codfish Ball‘ not only manages to keep the season running in high gear, but truly feels like the show again. I can’t really put a finger on what exactly it is, but something about the overall feel of the episode just feels right. If nothing else, it’s quite welcoming and refreshing to see some of the advertising work aspects come into play.

A more apt name for the episode might be ‘Dinners and Daughters,’ as these two themes connect throughout the entire episode, serving to display this season’s continued focus on cultural and generational differences. Sally, Peggy and Megan all are looking to make a path of their own, but seem hung up on others’ acceptance which only leads to being let down. Along with the focus on these three young women, nearly every scene revolves around dinner in some form or another. This provides a sort of symmetry throughout all of the episodes storylines, but also serves as a great way to feature more of the cast without spreading each storyline thin.

Peggy has a slightly tough turn this week. Starting with meeting Abe at a nearby restaurant, Peggy initially thinks he’s going to dump her. After discussing with Joan, however, Peggy gets caught up in the idea that Abe is going to propose to her, only to be visibly deflated when he merely suggests that they move in together. It is a step further in their relationship and, in all honesty, one that Peggy would seem way more apt to go after. You can’t help but see her disappointment though as soon as she realizes there is no proposal or ring. This hurt is only furthered when Abe asks if she’s ready to eat and she simply replies, “I do.”

In celebration of their decision, Peggy invites her mother over, which, from what we know of her mother, was probably not the best decision. Even before Peggy tells her their plans, Peggy’s mother is already taking jabs at Abe’s Judaism and manliness. Once she discovers they plan to live together unmarried, Peggy’s mom comes a bit unhinged, as one that knows her character would expect. Peggy claims that she didn’t want her mother’s approval; she just didn’t want to lie to her. Her mother claims to have preferred the lie.

Megan gets a chance to shine a bit this week. During her earlier meal with her parents and Don’s kids, she stumbles upon a home run of an idea to use on the Heinz project. Not only does it get the show more focused on “the work,” but it’s almost mesmerizing watching Megan and Don genuinely working together. Their power couple routine then pays off massively at their dinner with Heinz. Megan learns that Heinz is going to quit working with SCDP, and helps set Don up on a wonderful pitch of her earlier idea that leaves the Heinz people floored and basically eating out of their hands.

The troubling part comes when everyone begins celebrating the next day, but Megan seems distant and indifferent. She runs into Peggy who is overjoyed and congratulatory, reminding Megan to take in this moment, because this is as good as it gets. To me, it seems that Megan’s made the realization that this isn’t what she wants to be doing. She’s spoken in that past about how she wanted to be an actress. This sentiment is echoed by her father later on as he insinuates she is living for Don rather than for herself.

Then there’s Sally. She’s back to talking to creepy Glenn, which in all honesty seems to provide something stable for her. It’s her phone call with Glenn that inadvertently leads to Grandma Harris tripping over the phone cord and breaking her ankle, leading Sally to spend with weekend with Don, Megan and her parents.

As everyone prepares for the Awards Banquet that Don is to be honored at, Sally presents herself in go-go boots and full on makeup, neither of which Don was prepared for or is going to allow. The night is not lost, though, as Roger is quick to be Sally’s “date” for the evening, and the pair has a great evening of cracking wise and note taking.

It all comes to an abrupt end, though, when Sally stumbles into the wrong room and catches Megan’s mother going down on Roger. This upsets Sally tremendously, as one would expect. To me, though, it wasn’t the act that disturbed her the most. Over the recent seasons, we’ve seen Sally start to explore herself and spy on a nude Megan. Sally’s obviously growing up, maybe more than we’re currently aware. To me, I think she was more upset that Roger would be her “date,” yet turn his back on their fun times as soon as he could.

Some other notable moments and quotes from the episode:

- The episode’s title references a song of the same name sung by Shirley Temple, who often received pedophilic connotations to explain her stardom. A possible nod to Sally’s eagerness to grow up?

- The return of creepy Glenn. Why isn’t he wearing pants?!

- Sally referring to Grandma Francis as Bluto made me laugh.

- One of the first things Megan’s father says to Don is, “My daughter pretends to find interesting what I find interesting because she loves me.” Don sort of shrugs it off, but by episode’s end, this could be quite a telling line for Megan’s future at SCDP.

- “I see she’s convinced you she’s particular. I’m the proof she is not.” A lovely bit of self deprecation, courtesy of Megan’s father.

- Megan’s parents are almost completely dysfunctional. This serves to further why she needs everything with her and Don to be perfect, as she obviously does not want to end up like them.

- Megan’s father encouraging Bobby to refill his inkwell on the white carpet.

- “I thought you had married Jane because I had gotten old and then I realized it was because you had.” – Mona, taking a jab at Roger.

-Joan and Peggy’s mutual respect continues to grow and is a joy to watch.

- “Men don’t take the time to end things. They ignore you until you insist on a declaration of hate.” – Joan

- Roger was on point the entire episode. From his talk with Mona, to his newfound understanding thanks to LSD, to his interactions with Sally, Roger was by far the best part of this episode and, as always, the most entertaining.

- From the mouth of Roger Sterling:

“My whole life people have been telling me I don’t understand how other people think and it turns out its true.”

“For all we know Jesus was trying to get the Loaves and Fishes account.”

- Pete showing Megan’s father what “he does” was just a perfect Pete moment.

- Ray Wise showing back up as Ken’s father in law was a welcome sight. An incredible actor who did a wonderful job of letting Don know that respect does not garner business.

- That final shot of Don, Megan, her parents and Sally at the table, all of them putting on a mask of happiness in the face of disappointment.

The episode ends with Sally expressing to Glenn that the city is indeed a dirty place. Considering what she saw, one can’t really blame her. Sally, Peggy and Megan all suffered disappointments this week, and it will be interesting to see where next week and the rest of the season takes them from here.

- Matt Hardeman

This French Condom commercial is both funny and brilliantly creative. Kudos to TBWA PARIS.

Bathroom Stall Scrawls Could Be Made To Have a Storyline too. Who knew?

Click here to view the embedded video.

Project Phases Continued…

(To read part one of this article, please click here!)

Development and testing

With all of the planning and designing complete, the project team can now start to develop and build the components of the project output.

As part of this phase, you need to test these components thoroughly to confirm that they work as they should.

Training and business readiness

This stage is all about preparing for the project launch or “go live.” Do the following things during this phase:
Train users.
Put in place ongoing support.
Identify what’s required for the project to be effective from the launch date, and ensure that you adequately address this.

Support and benefits realization

Make sure you provide transitional support to the business after the project is launched, and consider what’s required before your team members are reassigned. Project teams are often assigned to other work too soon after the project has gone “live”, meaning that project benefits are often not fully realized.

Project close

Closing a project is not the most exciting part of the project lifecycle, but, if you don’t do it properly, you may obstruct the ongoing delivery of benefits to the organization. Make sure you do the following:
Complete and store documentation.
Carry out a Post-Implementation Review, so that you and your colleagues can use the experience you’ve gained in future projects.

Final thoughts

Project management is a pain in the rear. Why? Because of the project management BEHIND the project management. Whether it’s maneuvering internal politics or scheduling conflicts, these are nuances that are often not built into a timeline. Anything that makes project management easier and increases productivity is a win in my book. That’s why I use (and now work with) Tracky, an open social collaboration platform.

I use it to manage everything from assigning projects on various advertising campaigns to my team and pitches for this blog, to engaging audiences during speaking engagements to working with the Tracky team directly.

Tracky is an online open social collaboration platform that encompasses to-do lists, live chat, calendars, task management, people and project discovery, social accountability, cloud-based storage and more. We use it at Assurance Advertising, and we highly recommend it. Best part: it costs nothing to sign up.

Thanks for reading! Keep checking back as we’ll be delving more into specific processes as it relates to management in future posts.

FACEBOOK POSTS vs BLOG POSTS

Click below to take a look at Patricia Redsicker’s fantastic infographic listing not one, not five, but ten solid reasons why blogs are more worth it to businesses than Facebook.

FourSquare Day Vegas Shahab Zargari Interview at Callaway Golf Center on 4-16-12 by @VegasBill

Click here to view the embedded video.

Editor’s Note: Matt Hardeman is a lover of all things music, movies and TV. The following post is from the HDROOM blog and is reposted with permission.

The following review contains MAD MEN spoilers, do not read any further if you have not yet seen this episode!

“Everyone has somewhere to go today.” – Bert Cooper

This week’s episode of Mad Men, ‘Far Away Places,’ was by far the most daring and, dare I say, experimental of the series. Taking a narrative page from Kurosawa’s Rashomon, this episode focused on the same 24-36 hour time span for three different characters and the journeys they took within that time. This was a bold move for a show that’s normally very cemented in its storytelling methods, and I think it turned out wonderful.

Peggy kicks off the episode, panicking about her latest pitch to the Heinz company whilst fighting with her boyfriend Abe over whether she values her job more than him (news flash, Abe: she does). Just before the meeting Don announces he’s going out of town and taking Megan with him, leaving Peggy down a team member and now running the show. Despite delivering on everything Heinz asked for at their last meeting, they still aren’t convinced and this send Peggy into a tirade, berating them for continuing to turn down good work. It’s a move that’s worked for Don in the past, but Peggy’s not Don (not yet, anyway) and Heinz leaves flustered and Peggy gets booted from the account.

Having to get away from the office before she has a complete meltdown, Peggy heads to the movies. She notices a nearby patron smoking a joint that he gladly shares with her just before moving to sit beside her. He starts to slide his hand up her skirt, but Peggy quite literally takes matters into her own hands and shows that she’s the one in control.

Roger starts the day with a plan to get out of town and a dinner date with Jane and her friends by visiting a nearby Howard Johnson motel and taking Don with him. Don, in turn, steals the idea and heads out but, as we saw earlier, takes Megan instead. Roger reluctantly attends dinner with Jane, unaware, in part to his lack of paying attention, that he’s also about to do LSD.

The entire tripping scene is exquisitely put together, at times having an almost Lynch-ian feel. This scene, and frankly the whole episode, feels as though it was intended to make the viewer go through their own sort of reality displacement. Stoli bottles blasting opera when opened, characters speaking without opening their mouths, an instantly smoked accordion cigarette. Reality is played loosely, but somehow remains grounded and never topples over into the absurd. It’s also refreshing to see Roger, who’s had a pretty rough go of it this season, being on top of the world and enjoying life.

Roger and Jane end up back home and finally get to the heart of what Jane really wanted, for them to have a moment within “the truth.” The pair has a casual, yet heartfelt conversation about where they are with their relationship and how they both know that it must come to an end. Although they wake up the next day and Jane doesn’t recall the conversation, she admits that it was all true and that, not much to Roger’s surprise, that it will be expensive.

Don and Megan finish out the episode, and their part, to me, is the weakest. Having embarked on their weekend getaway, it’s evident that their “honeymoon period” is officially over. As in control of the relationship as Megan has seemed this season, it’s Don who is still calling the shots and his bossing around is driving Megan crazy. She wants to work and be a part of the team, but is constantly pulled away by Don, which causes her much embarrassment.

All of these issues come to a head during an argument that ends with Don driving off and leaving Megan alone in the Howard Johnson parking lot. Once Don calms down, he returns but Megan is nowhere to be found. Don becomes distraught and is thinking the worst. After seven hours of waiting, he finally gives up and heads home to find Megan in their apartment. On the way, he thinks back when he and Megan began this relationship, on the road back from California. Don loses his cool when she refuses to unchain their door and he kicks it in. They collapse in a huff. Don attempts to console Megan by assuring her it was just a fight and that “it’s over,” but she points out that each one of these fights “diminishes” what they have. Don clutches her tightly, saying that he thought he had lost her. Don comes off as an almost broken man.

They return to work the next day, both wearing forced smiles. Before he can make it into his office, Don goes into the conference room to talk with Bert Cooper. It’s here that Bert finally lays some truth on Don that he has needed to hear all season. “You’ve been on love leave,” Bert tells him, noting the obvious laid back approach Don has taken on since marrying Megan. The work hasn’t been as good and Don’s been none the wiser. Bert leaves him in the glass room, and Don just stands there, watching all of the up-and-coming employees pass right by.

Other notable moments:

- Peggy’s laugh when Ginsberg begins his “Mars” tale.

- Ginsberg’s story itself and the truths it revealed

- Roger intentionally saying “Frank Lloyd Rice” to Jane’s friends just to make them angry.

- The Beach Boys ‘I Just Wasn’t Made For These Times’ playing during the tripping scene not only worked within the scene, but was another perfect example of a song fitting this season as a whole.

- Megan gorging down all of that orange sherbet made my teeth hurt just to look at.

- I’ve seen it mentioned elsewhere, but could Megan’s reaction to cigarette smoke, immediate hunger and tasting perfume be nods that she might be pregnant?

- Don whistling “I Wanna Hold Your Hand”

- Bert Cooper telling Don to wake up and reminding him whose business SCDP is.

- That final shot of Don in the conference room. It’s this whole season in a quick glance.

- From the mouth of Roger Sterling:

“You always say I never take you anywhere.” (as he and Jane both take their hits)

“Well, Dr. Leary, I find your product boring.”

“I’m sitting here listening to these people have a conversation that has nothing to do with me. That’s incredible!”

“It’s gonna be a beautiful day!”

All in all, I felt ‘Far Away Places’ was another great Mad Men episode. I loved the narrative switch and thought it was pulled off beautifully. I did find the stories to be a tad uneven in their effectiveness, though. Roger’s was a homerun. I could have watched his side of thing for hours. Peggy’s worked the most towards growing her character even more. She’s becoming more and more like Don, for better and for worse. Don’s story fell a little flat for me and in some aspects seemed forced. He’s always been one to keep a moderately cool head, but this season he seems ready to snap at any second. On top of that, he’s almost childish in his reactions. I’m hoping that between Megan letting him know she’s not his slave and Bert reminding him he has a job to do that we see some of the old Don return. But if some comes back, does that mean all of him will?

- Matt Hardeman

Structuring your project

Effective project management involves following a precise methodology that adheres to a set of project phases, with common processes that run across each phase. This mode of thought is particularly good for those interested in turning out flawless project success and completion.

You must first understand that projects are delivered in stages. And what you must do is control each project phase with a defined exit gate. By working in stages, you can make sure that the deliverables at the end of each phase meet their purpose and that your team (or teams) are ready for the next stage.

Project Phases

It’s not really rocket science, but the way it would work is as follows: You must first identify the required deliverables for each phase. At the end of each phase quality control signs off on the deliverables. Once the deliverables are approved, the phase is completed and the project team can pass through the “gate” to the next phase.

Keep in mind that the phases listed below are not set in stone. The exact phases, and the order in which they’re completed, may vary from project to project depending on what you need to achieve.

The phases are as follows:

Project strategy and business case.
Preparation.
Design.
Development and testing.
Training and business readiness.
Support and benefits realization.
Project close.

Today we will cover in detail the first three phases above.

Project strategy and business case

In this phase, you define the overall project requirements and will propose the approach or methodology that you want to use to address them.

The gate at the end of this phase is the approval of your project proposalwhile also showing that you can achieve the project’s goal within the required timelines and budget.

Preparation

Here, you work with key stakeholders and project team members to complete a detailed Work Breakdown Structure.

Work with appropriate project team members to produce detailed plans at each subsequent phase. This ensures that they have a sense of ownership of these plans.

Identify and recruit project members.
Select third parties to be used in the early project phases.
Put actions in place to secure key resources.

Design

Start the work involved with creating the project’s deliverables, using the project strategy, and business case as your starting point.

Make sure you get input from everyone on the team, not just the person who has ultimate approval power. This helps build business ownership of the project deliverables with every member of the team.

If changes to processes are required, use a Flow Chart to create a detailed map of how things will work. At this stage, you must do everything you can to think through and deal with project hurdles before you start to build project deliverables – problems are almost always easier and cheaper to fix at design stage than they are once the detailed work of implementation has started.

Select team members carefully for the detailed design phase. A good detailed design is more likely to lead to a good project deliverable. If the detailed design is poor, the project deliverables are much less likely to meet requirements!

For projects that have significant technical risks and uncertainties, consider including a feasibility or proof-of-concept phase. This increases your certainty that what you’re planning (probably at great expense) will work, while allowing you to cancel the project at minimum cost if the proof-of-concept fails.

Thanks for sticking through this post all the way to the bottom. That is TRUE dedication! NOW, CLICK HERE to check out the post where we conclude this series on Effective Project Management!

One of the most common errors that occur in the print industry is when blues come out purple!

So here’s some food for thought!

When using blue in your designs, always make sure to leave at least a 30% difference in your Cyan and Magenta values.

For example use: C-100 M-70 Y-0 K-0; this allows enough color differentiation to ensure that your blues don’t look purple when printed.

If you have any other valuable tips for our readers, be sure to leave them below!

Editor’s Note: Matt Hardeman is a lover of all things music, movies and TV. The following post is from the HDROOM blog and is reposted with permission.

The following review contains MAD MEN spoilers, do not read any further if you have not yet seen this episode!

“I know cooler heads should prevail, but am I the only one that wants to see this?”

Not at all, Roger. I’m pretty sure we’ve all been waiting for this.

It’s taken five seasons to get there, but in this week’s Mad Men episode, ‘Signal 30,’ Pete Campbell finally caught the punch in the face he’s been asking for since day one. It was just as glorious as I’d always hoped it would be.

There’s not a complete satisfaction with it, though, as there is something about Pete that also makes you care about him. Under all the smarm and incessant power tripping, there is a guy that has everything, yet feels like he has nothing.

The idea of that isn’t initially easy to agree with. On the outside, his life is damn near perfect. He’s got a lovely and loving wife, a new child, a wonderful new home in the suburbs and is well beyond secure in his work and dealings for SCDP. One would be hard pressed to find a shortcoming within all that.

Yet, Pete is filled with them. He never wanted the baby in the first place, and, as indicated in this season’s premiere, having the baby has made Trudy less concerned about her appearance than she was before, which is getting to Pete. He’s always very conscious of the surface. Pete also never wanted to move away from the city, but now he has to please his wife. He basically has the perfect life, save for the fact that it’s not the life he wanted.

I’m honestly wondering if said life is one Pete wants to keep living. At every turn that he sees as a high note, he’s torn down by those around him and his own expectations. He begins taking a driver’s education class and flirting with a young girl in the class, only to be shown up by a younger, “handsome”-er guy. He invites the Draper’s and the Cosgrove’s over for a dinner party, only to get shown up by Don when the sink he “fixed” breaks again. Later he partakes of some prostitute fueled infidelity, surely thinking himself as one of the gang, only to feel shame and judgment from Don, who has surprisingly become the pillar of sainthood in the office. The final straw was insulting and demeaning Lane in front of his peers, which led to some office fisticuffs and Pete picking himself up off the floor.

It is Pete himself that actually led to his office beat down. If not for his insistence that Don, Roger and he take over for Lane when it looked like he couldn’t close the deal, the whole thing could have been avoided, at least until something else came to pass. The Jaguar man’s wife discovered his night of infidelities, not only negating any business that could have transpired, but also humiliating Lane in the process. Pete takes this opportunity to kick Lane while he’s down, and Lane realizes the monster that he has helped Pete become.

As Pete has climbed the ladder, he’s carried and kept fewer and fewer friends along the way. Yet, he’s almost always looking for someone to back him up, and never realizing why it is that no one does. When he insults Lane, he’s looking for everyone else to agree, yet gets stone faces. As they are about to fight, he looks at Don to save him, but that’s just not going to happen.

Once the day ends, Pete drags himself out of his office and shares an elevator with Don, hoping for something. He stands there, defeated inside and out and tells Don that he “has nothing”, which we all know is furthest from the truth, but Pete doesn’t see the truth. Either that or, as I’ve mentioned, it’s a truth he doesn’t want.

Either way, I’m starting to think it wasn’t mere coincidence that Pete was asking for a window in his office earlier this season. The broken man that he is now is just a few short steps away from calling it quits for good.

Other notable moments:

- The entire dinner party was wonderfully set up and paced, with just the right amount of camaraderie and awkwardness.

- Don’s jacket. It deserves its own sitcom.

- Neither Don nor Megan knowing Ken’s wife’s name was hilarious, made even more so with Don’s “Hey, you!” line and Megan blurting out “Cynthia!” once she realizes her name.

- “There are a lot of varmints. ” Oh indeed, Pete.

- Cynthia accidentally calling Charles Whitman “Widmore/Whitmore”: intentional conversation flub or LOST reference?

- Did anyone else think Pete said, “Dick!” when he walked in on the broke sink, spilling Don’s big secret? I’ve watched it over and over and I’m sure he’s saying “damnit”, but it caught me off guard initially.

- Don fixing the broke sink assuredly created some handsome plumber fantasies. He made the ladies of the party swoon and, in the process, made Pete look even more like a joke in his own home.

- Don’s doodle of the noose. Is it a callback to his murderous fever dream revealing there is something dark inside or is it simply displaying how he feels in these meetings? I’m leaning towards the latter.

- I like that Peggy and Ken still have their pact, although I don’t think they will ever need it.

- Roger showing Lane the ropes was an incredible scene and gave an excellent peek into how Roger works. Sure, we’ve seen him in action, but hearing his steps and tips showed why he’s the best or was at one time.

- If you’re ever in dire need of a high class whorehouse, Roger Sterling is your man.

- “You’re a grimy little pimp!” – Lane Pryce

- “Because he was caught with gum on his pubis!” – Also Lane. He’s giving Roger a run for his quotable money.

- Once Lane assumed old-timey boxing stance, I knew Pete was done for.

- Joan telling Lane after the fight that he’s a better man than all the others, only for him to immediately and awkwardly kiss her on the mouth.

- Ken using Pete and his depression as the inspiration for his new story. “It might have been living in the country that was making him cry. It was killing him with its silence, and loneliness. Making everything ordinary too beautiful to bear.”
- From the mouth of Roger Sterling:

“Listen, honey, I’m not going to bore you with compliments.”

“Cup of what?” (in response to Layne saying England won the World Cup)

“The last words I want to hear out of his date’s mouth is ‘Next!’”

“I don’t know about you two, but I had Lane.”

This Mad Men episode, directed by none other than John Slattery himself, was, in my opinion, the best of Season 5 to date. While it focused heavily on Pete, the story managed to include just about everybody. Even more impressive is that it managed to do so with more than half the episode taking place outside of the office itself. All of the pacing and editing, which has been a bit shaky so far, was absolutely on point this week. Vincent Kartheiser continues to turn out impeccable work as Pete Campbell, the man who has everything but, as in his mind has nothing. Alison Brie did some stand up work with her bit of screen time as Trudy. I enjoyed her assertiveness and hope she continues to get her moments throughout the season.

- Matt Hardeman

Harry Potter is Over. What now, you ask?

J.K. Rowling and her team put together this free-to-use website which builds a new online experience around the reading of the Harry Potter books, often with web exclusive content. There’s a store as well, where you can directly buy ebooks and audio books from the Pottermore Shop.

Here’s a video of Rowling herself explaining the vision behind the site’s inception.

Click here to view the embedded video.