Over the last few weeks, I’ve received numerous pings on Facebook suggesting that I become a fan of this or that candidate. I always click “ignore,” and a few days later, some will ping me again with another invitation (multiple invites from candidates and businesses alike, however, are a whole other discussion that merits its own hour).

Those of you who know me won’t find it surprising that I haven’t fanned any candidate. It’s not that I don’t agree with anyone’s view, it’s that I’d like to keep my business apolitical — not an easy task in Florida’s capital city.

The Conversation Question: Why publicly align yourself with any political candidate if your business has nothing to do with politics? It seems to me the affiliation could really hurt business (and yes, I understand there’s an upside such to alignments)?

Do you fan candidates on Facebook? Why or why not? Are you outspoken on twitter? Do you merely observe? Or do you land somewhere in the middle? Do you know if it affects your business either way? Have you decided to patronize a business or avoid one because of their public political views? (I certainly have, but my decisions had to do more with the tone and intensity with which they offered their views, not solely because their view was different than mine.)

As we head into election season and those invitations when fanning requests and event invitations start barreling in, it would be a great to discuss it all.

Guests are limited to 10, so please let me know as soon as possible if you’d like to attend.

WHERE: The Conversation Factory
WHEN: Friday, April 2, 2010; 12pm – 1pm
COST: $10 (includes pizza & beverage); Students: $5
PARKING: Please park at the BrackenChase parking lot here.

If you’ve already attended Conversation Fridays, consider joining our facebook group.

It’s an awesome phenomenon, and a playing-field-leveling reality, and it’s something you’ve heard time and again: big concepts don’t need big budgets to come alive and pull viewers. Everybody can think. Everybody can produce. But seldom do people get both things right.

Today, Calvin Lee retweeted a message from Chris Brogan who retweeted a message sent to him by Matt Holt. They were sharing the link to the video below. It’s just one of a million examples of something any of us could have done, but misheardlyricsguy did it first (mind you the video was posted 2 years ago and it’s still being “discovered” after more than 3,000,000 hits).

It made me laugh out loud. It was hi-fi thinking executed in a lo-fi manner.

By professional design standards, the graphics are cheesy and show no aesthetic taste whatsoever. But they’re perfect. What they show are a personal point of view, solid thinking, and a sense of humor — not to mention the simple that mishearing lyrics (and mis-singing them) is a universally shared and sometimes embarrassing experience.

There will always be a need for designers and writers and photographers and directors and so on, but I’m happy folks like misheardlyricsguy have sprouted from technology’s lo-fi loins.

After reading In today’s Advertising Age post, Why Metrics Are Killing Creativity in Advertising, Patrick Sarkissian’s subhead reads: “When marketing decisions are based on numbers, we lose the desire to be creative.”

Damn that’s bleak. And I certainly don’t see it that way.

What clients are asking for is accountability. They want results for their investment in our big freaking brains. And we have to deliver. Why? Because there is no going back to hoping something works, especially when the price tag for such work is six and seven figures deep. In the article, Patrick Sarkissian explains:

Recently, I had a wicked battle with a client determined to let the numbers fully dictate a new creative strategy.

Thing is, you cannot truly quantify creativity. And in ever-increasing fashion, our clients’ (and our own) rote dependence on the dusty world of metrics is exactly why creativity is going to hell.

Here’s the thing: when you leave it to marketers to explain their business and numbers to you, you’re done.

Think about sitting in a board meeting with them. Shadow them for a week and see what pressures they face. Make them go over the metrics before you sit down and develop a strategy. Once you see their business through their eyes, you’ll probably get a deeper understanding of why your pretty comps spray mounted on black foam core don’t mean a fucking thing to them.

It’s up to agencies and creatives to take the lead and explain to marketers how the world has changed and how bigger ideas — and yes, more creative ones that tug at the emotions or take a sledgehammer to the funny bone — are their best chance to emerge victorious in the constant fight for attention.

I think clients and marketers want to trust us again. They want to be able to have a partner they can look to and solve the problems they face. But if we just stand around bitching about metrics and accountability, that day will never come.

If you’ve lost your desire to be creative in the face of metrics, please feel free to refer those clients to me. I’d be more happy to find freedom within the numbers.

Thanks in advance.