One of our really fun clients is the Renegade Rollergirls of Central Oregon. You will probably never meet a group of more interesting ladies than the rough-and-tumble girls that are known as Renegades. The thing is, underneath the “my-mom’s-tougher-than-your-mom” persona, they are some of the nicest, most fun-loving people we know. It’s an honor to work with them.

This season kicks off on Sunday, November 21st at the Midtown Music Hall in Bend, Oregon. Tickets for this event are only $10 and kids under 10 are absolutely free. You can get tickets at the door or pre-order at the Renegades web site.

We really wish you ALL could come out and enjoy this event. If you don’t live close enough to make it, find your local team of Renegades and support the efforts of these ladies. You won’t be disappointed!

Fear seems to be the big ruler of large organizations right now. And understandably so. But fear is paralyzing and inhibitive. Exactly what we DON’T need right now. It’s a time of change and transition, but it’s also a time of growth and creativity.

Impersonal and disconnected just doesn’t work in this environment. People want to trust, want personal contact and definitely want a reason to believe. “Because I said so” isn’t acceptable any more.

Consider the strong trend of “social media”. People are looking for personal contact and a feeling of being personally connected. Granted, a lot of the “connections” are strictly virtual, but it’s still a direct connection with the outside world and information. Companies are slowly beginning to understand and several are doing new and innovative things with communications outlets like Twitter. Check out people like @zappos, @SouthwestAir, @JetBlue, @GMblogs and others. They are working to connect directly with their consumers. Some better than others.

One of my personal biggest frustrations when I was working as a creative director at the “big agencies” in New York City was the lack of connection and understanding of the business needs that were driving our assignments. We have so many tactics and medias available today I cringe at the number of dollars wasted simply because major decisions were made almost blindly simply based on gross tactical generalizations.

Now as a smaller agency, our goal is to truly get to know and understand our clients. Not just on the corporate laugh level, but to truly understand their challenges and their consumers and marketplace. That is the best way that we can effectively create a plan and execution that will work as effectively as possible with todays smaller budgets.

We strongly encourage our clients to give us a business challenge or a desired outcome rather than a request for a print ad or a “viral campaign”. This allows us to dig into the myriad of opportunities and medias to create a message that is as targeted and effective as possible. And last but not least, we strongly encourage our clients to be part of the process. The more we know and understand about you, your organization and your product or service, the better we can communicate that to your customers.

It doesn’t matter how big or small your company is, your consumers want to feel like you are vested in them and that you care about them and their business. We have been told time and time again that “it’s not personal, it’s business”. But business now is personal. What we do in business affects people in personal ways. And we should never lose sight of that.

This post was inspired by a post at harvardbusiness.org entitled “Why Small Companies Will Win In This Economy”.

As we weather these tough times, things are going to become more and more difficult for us. Clients are going to be more concerned with ROI and immediate gratification on assignments. This is how they keep their jobs. Get used to it. It will matter less and less how spectacular the artwork looks or how amazing the concept is if it cannot be justified from a business (read financial) perspective. And you know what? THIS IS GREAT!

This is a huge opportunity for us. This is a time to truly demonstrate how “creative” we actually are. Start thinking beyond typefaces, directors, awards, and Cannes. Step out of your comfort zone and instead of fighting the clients “needs”, find a way to be truly creative within “the box”. Start with a list of tangible things that you have to make happen and agree on it with your clients. Then is the time to be creative. Be prepared to justify every choice you make and explain how it will work to accomplish the previously agreed upon goals. This will help YOU grow as a professional and will build respect for what we do in our clients eyes.

Now I’m not saying that we should become marketing monkeys, jumping at every whim. No, we still have to deliver a final product that we can be proud of. It’s how we get there that has to change. We also have a voice and opinions when we get to the table. But now we have to be very prepared to justify that voice and opinion in an educated and respectful fashion.

If you really work hard, take a vested interest in your clients and demonstrate that you bring a valuable perspective and objectivity to the assignments you work on, you will find yourself at the client table sooner and sooner. You just might gain a very valuable understanding of what and why decisions are being made and maybe even have a voice in guiding some of those decisions for the better of all. Haven’t we been asking for that for years?

So “the box” is going to be here for a while. To be successful we’re all going to have to work, and continue to be creative in that box. BUT, as we respect our client’s needs, share the burden pressing down on them from every angle and creatively deliver new solutions that get the results they need, something amazing happens. “The box” begins to get bigger and bigger as we prove that we do work that works. And as all things pass with time, a lot of these economic pressures will loosen their constraints. And pretty soon “the box” will be so large that you won’t even know it’s there.

So please don’t give up on being “creative” just because it’s much harder right now. RIGHT NOW we need true creatives more than ever. Sally Hogshead posted on her Twitter (@sallyhogshead) the following: “Necessity is the mother of invention. A recession is the father of innovation.” Now is our opportunity to earn a little respect in these trying times and truly be creative doing it.