I’ll admit it, I’m not a big fan of regular meetings. I generally think they’re 1.) not that productive, 2.) don’t really lead to actionable items to get more things done, and 3.) likely to become a void for weird energy rife with confusion and a lack of direction. Not to mention a great excuse for mid-day group therapy. They seem to be urgent, but really don’t seem that important. That said, though, what I am a big fan of is the lunch or breakfast “catch-up” strategy big picture meeting. These are where you have time to eat, chat, catch-up, and think of things you’d normally only think of if you were flying on a plane. Like, hey — here’s a new business idea and we could do X and make Y happen. I happen to love those and think they’re a blast. But the trick with those types of meetings is that they’re important, but not urgent — and other things tend to tempt one to “push” the meeting to sometime later on. Things always come up and get in the way, but I’m in this phase lately of Hey, if I’m putting a meeting in the calendar, I’m gonna make it to that meeting. Unless I’m in the hospital for a sprained wrist. In any given week, I try to have at least 4-5 “meal-centric-meetings” with Whoever It May Be. Working on all of the stuff for this company, along with other things in the comedy community keeps the social time to a minimum — and the so-called “business meetings” really turn into functional and fun-filled social calls. And the internal “hour-long” clock always kicks-in and sets everyone afoot onto the next thing. So, to sum-up: fan of the right kinds of meetings with the right kind of loose agenda. Work meetings in conference rooms should be reserved for discussions that would take longer if typed on endless email threads. Work meetings in restaurants should be reserved for hanging out — because that’s where the real work takes place.

I’m a big fan of getting to know my local “guy” down the street. There’s the Subway guy, the Cleaners guy and — believe it or not — even the guy at the local Chase branch on Lawrence. I like to frequent the same places of business as often as possible — particularly when I’m in need of some Skittles or a Diet Coke. And when I get something like a Diet Coke, which in a local store costs about 80 cents, I like to let the guy keep the 2 dimes. Some background: I don’t like change in my pocket, ever, unless it’s a few quarters. With quarters, I feel like I’m getting ahead of the game for laundry day. But I usually just collect random loose change and take it to my guy at Chase for some paper in return. Anyway, I’ll often tell my guy at the store down the street that I only need the quarters back. And every so often, I’ll grab a Diet Coke and he’ll wave me through like I’m a regular. He’s like hey, there’s the guy who’s let me keep those dimes for the past month, he gets this one for free. Kinda like I’m accruing fun-based karma in the form of cans of Diet Cokes — sort-of a random fun way to invest in the local guy down the street and at the same time feel like a high roller. Thing is, though, there’s a guy on Damen who never gives back — and if something’s $4.03, he won’t give me the 3 pennies even though I’ve dropped about 9 dimes. 9 dimes. Dig? So it doesn’t work every time. But there’s nothing better in the middle of a city full of millions of people than knowing you can grab a Diet Coke for free from an actual store when you’re low on cash. Plus, that guy would probably let me use the phone. Who knows when I’ll need to use the phone. But, hey. It’s there.

I’ve been a part of the board selection process for a few nonprofit organizations over the past 10 or so years, and after having several conversations with some friends about board development in Chicago’s artistic community.  If you’re thinking of starting a company (or already have one) — and if you’re thinking of board development in any way (not just in the arts community) — you might want to consider this. 1.) Don’t ask someone to be on your board because they’re famous in a certain sphere. Being well-known or respected doesn’t mean they’ll support your mission, be qualified to evaluate budgets, or have skillsets in the realms of long-term planning and high-level staff dynamics. 2.) If you do find someone who does meet that criteria — and if they’re well-known in your specific community — buy them lunch today and get them on your board. 3.) If you’re working in the arts, consider loading your board with tax advisers, attorneys and number crunchers of any kind. Don’t get other directors, actors or designers for your board. Consider creating an Advisory Board comprised of people you respect and support your mission who can create non-binding resolutions and help you think bigger. These folks have the field experience in your specific industry, and you’ll need their counsel — but they won’t want to pilfer through budgets for four hours on a Saturday, because they’ll be in a tech rehearsal at the theater across the street. 4.) In the State of Illinois, the minimum number for any nonprofit board of directors 3. When you start your company, only pick 3. Have a founding member be one of these 3. Eventually, as you develop your board, that person can become an ex-officio (aka “non-voting”) member of the board. This means they get to attend closed sessions but can’t vote. Crucial, because boards can always go into “closed session,” shut the doors, and rewrite the Constitution. They probably won’t, but they can. 5.) Remember the board’s mission. The board is in place to support your company’s mission, and to act as fiduciary (aka “fiscal”) stewards of your company. They want you to operate in the black. Let them help you do this. Every company member has their own pet project, but see your company’s growth in terms of years instead of months. They’re there to help you see the decade-to-decade instead of the day-to-day.

This was our first logo, designed in October 2006 by the very talented Dave Cenko.  When you start a company, it’s very easy to spend weeks thinking of the perfect company name that will just blow everyone away and perfectly reflect your product or thing and be awesome for your branding and blah blah blah. But the truth is, nobody will really care. What they’ll care about is you, what you’re doing, and how that might help them in their pursuit of their thing. So my advice to small businesses — especially if you’re a freelancer or small group looking to incorporate — is to keep it extremely simple. When I started this thing a few years ago, I went through a lot of possibilities — mostly company names relating to space and the cosmos, because I thought it’d be cool. Apogee, LLC was a top contender. Yup. But I settled for “Marshall Communications” originally because I figured having my name on the company would keep me accountable, and “communications” was broad enough to include our broad blend of services. A couple of years ago, I dropped a few hundred bucks with the State of Ilinois and changed it “Marshall Creative” because the bulk of what we do is creative new- and enhanced- and re-branding. And, it sounded like a smaller company than Communications. And even though we’re fortunate to collaborate with a big group of very talented freelancers and artists, our core group is pretty small. Anyway, back to the name – the company starts with you or you and your buddy, so keep it tight and just start it out with your last name (s), LLC. So, there’s that.

For those of you who aren’t skiers, the image to the left is the “double black diamond” — a designation ski resorts display for trails labeled “experts only.” We need to create a similar set of naming conventions, from easy to super impossible, to describe the ways in which you can go about creating a new business. My two cents: if you’re thinking of starting a new business in 2010 (and as we all know, a lot of people are saying that this is a great time to start a new business and buy a home) you’d be smart to write down the words “Keep it simple” and have those at your side for the next 2-3 years. Keep it as easy, painless and stress free as possible. The concept of “Creating a new business” is so open-ended that for most people it’s impossible to think of a structured way to climb such a large mountain, so they end-up waiting until tomorrow. So is the idea of “writing a business plan.”  We’ll get to that — but for now, write a business mission in a single paragraph and don’t change it for a year.  Keep your business plan to a single page. Divide it into Today, Tomorrow, and Next Year. Then update it every day. But keep Next Year the same. Write down your desired income for a year from today, and stick it in your wallet. Start an expense report on Excel and keep it on your desktop and update it daily. A year from now, this will become your budget. Things might get ‘spensy, so don’t get something unless you really need it. You’re fine to use those old pens in the kitchen for a while; being a small business owner doesn’t mean you have to go to Office Depot and drop 20 bucks on a box of nice Pentel’s. Make your life easy. Read “Getting Things Done” by David Allen and bookmark the Inc homepage. Gut your old files and shred your super old financial statements.  Lenders only need the most recent 2-years tax returns anyway.  Don’t hoard files or piles.  Hoard ideas.  Cancel your magazines; read ‘em online.   And organize and store your stuff so you don’t have to see it every day.  If your idea is Your Business, that’s enough to keep you busy for at least a week.  And above all else: back that stuff UP.