“Kickoff meeting” sounds like you’re either about to get a kick in the shins or we’re all about to have a party where we chat about your project while sipping some champagne, munching on a nice crudité, and dancing. That’s pretty much what it’s like, except instead of champagne we have flavored coffee or herbal tea. Perhaps one of our account managers will do an interpretive dance for you at some point?

All kidding aside though, the kickoff meeting is very important for several reasons. First, you get to meet the creative team who will be working on your project. That’s pretty cool, but what’s also important is that we talk about your contract and your scope of work. These documents are incredibly extremely magnificently super important because they contain all of your project details and they help set project expectations.

The kickoff meeting is designed to help us get to know each other and to understand more about the project before we officially start work. There are a few things you need to do to prepare for this meeting. We know you’re crazy-busy and that it’s hard to make time to meet with us, so we want to make sure that you get as much out of your time with us as possible.

Here’s a list of things you can do to help us help you.

The more you read, the more you know!

The first thing you should do is read the contract and the scope of work thoroughly because therein lie the details of exactly what we will be doing for you. If there are things you want that aren’t in there, we need to know so we can make adjustments. We don’t want you to have any surprises once work has commenced, so read the contract and the scope and jot down any questions you have for us. 

Sometimes our clients have a hard time articulating what they want, but then feel disappointed when they don’t get it later on. The last thing we want is for you to feel negatively about the end result, so it’s very important to keep the lines of communication open.  If there’s something that you are expecting and don’t quite have the words to describe, try anyway.  There’s a very good chance we’ll understand just what you mean.

No matter what, always remember that we’re very nice people and we don’t mind answering questions one bit. And if we’re talking about something technical and you don’t understand, say so and we’ll explain it better. This is where an interpretive dance might be appropriate. Our account managers love when we offer this service to our clients. They even made outfits.  It’s…a thing.

What do you love? 

Another thing that happens at the kickoff meeting is we get to know you a little better. Whether we’re working on a website, a print piece, or a video, we need to have a place to start, so even if you don’t know exactly what you want, come prepared to share your ideas, your inklings, whatever you have. Even if those ideas are in the form of competitors' websites, printed pieces or videos you’ve seen that you like or dislike, that’s ok. Before the meeting, do a little shopping around the Internet and write down a few things you’d like to show us. Even if you walk in and say “I dislike the color red!” That’s good to know! The more information you bring to the table, the faster and easier we will be able to create something you’re going to love.

Sharing is caring

The combination of your unrivaled knowledge of your business and our expertise will give way to a solid partnership and a successful project, so come prepared to share some business-y details with us. We’re going to ask you about your target demographic, what you hope to accomplish with your project, who your main competitors are, etc. The more information we have about the way your business functions at the kickoff meeting, the more successful the project will be. In exchange for your wonderful information, we’ll tell you about our process and what you can expect from our end.

We try to be as thorough as possible at the kickoff meeting so that we spend as little time as possible emailing to bug you for information. But don’t worry. We never bug people for information unless they’re being terribly stubborn and then it’s GAME ON.

So, those are the basics of the kickoff meeting. What will take place specifically will depend on what your project is. Just make sure to come having read your paperwork and having put some careful thought into the project and we’ll be off to a very strong start!

And nobody will kick you. We promise!