the set-up

In the heady days right before the "dot-combustion", I happened to be working (happily) for Creative Source International in Boise, Idaho. Our company was declared the "high priest of high-tech" by Promo Magazine, I was heading the growing Interactive department, and life was good. That should have been my first warning.

Our owner was planning to retire, and had been shopping the company around - by April 2000, he had an offer on the table from Aspen Marketing Group (second largest marketing conglomerate in the US, at the time). Within a month, the deal was done. From what I understand, the high priest was also high priced, but I wasn't privy to that kind of info.

Once we were in Aspen's hands, we began a sort of "revolving door" search for leadership. Our existing president made it about 6 weeks in the machine. Then a professional "rescue" CEO was installed. Six more weeks. Then we (our company) were combined with two other companies (B-12 of NYC and Aspen Interactive in FLA) and I had the rare pleasure of meeting Scott.

hello New York

You need to understand that I, a simple native of the Northwest, was completely unprepared for the challenges of Scott, a denizen of the Big Apple. He was the head of B-12, and became the head of our company for a period of time. Internally, I refer to that time as "the time of constant discomfort and vague unease."

My favorite recollection of Scott was the night he joined myself and two account people for dinner with a key client in NYC. The client was about $300K a month of business, and had been considering leaving us. Dinner was at a fancy club that we chose because it was said to be a favorite of Jennifer Lopez (alas, no appearance by J-Lo). Things started out tough as Key Client A started in on me with all of his concerns. Over the course of 90 minutes or so I did a pretty good job (if I don't say so myself) of calming him down and hanging on to the account for all I was worth. After I had him settled down, I took the opportunity to check around the table, and things were not good.

hello alcohol

I should mention that B-12's client list consisted primarily of alcoholic beverage clients. Perhaps that explained why, after 90 minutes, I looked about the table to find Scott completely *tanked* and lavishing (unwanted) affection upon Key Client B (a female, in case you were curious). This was clearly a bad thing. I quickly looked to Account Person A for assistance when I got my second surprise of the night - also under the influence. She was laughing at Scott, in fact.

Desperate, I looked to Account Person B - he had already entered survival mode, and his glassy stare said he would be of no use. What to do? Distraction seemed like the only strategy that had a chance - I proposed a trip to the bar. Scott expressed much enthusiasm and I managed to whisk both clients out to a cab. That done, I want back in to extricate my account people. No problem getting Account Person B, but Account Person A, clearly in an alcohol stupor, elected to go with Scott (ewwww... you should know that Scott is a very hairy fellow, and seemed to get a little sweaty when drunk.)

So who is Mr. Creative?

Scott, of course. Here's a couple gems he shared with me:

  • During the year 2000, Scott wore the same clothing every day: black slacks and a white button-up shirt. He had a closet full of white shirts and black pants. "That way, I don't expend any creative energy thinking about what to wear!"
  • Also during 2000, Scott never selected what he was going to eat when dining out - he simply said, "I'll have what he's having," and pointed to someone else at the table. Again, more power for his creative batteries.

I left the company a month later. We lost the client when I left. Scott was still in charge for a couple months, but apparently he was also creative in accounting. He lost track of a couple million dollars, and was relieved of duty.