HTML Giants

Beauty lies beyond the eye
An open window to the soul
Who knows then how to bring her forth
Then knows the beauty of control

Unofficial Company Motto, written by Fabrice K. Gautier, President and Worldwide Creative Director, !Gautier LLC.

"Thank you for coming in so early." The company president said. It was icy cold in the conference room, despite the entire staff being huddled there. "I want to tell you two things"

"One. We are in the midst of a revolution. I want you to understand that this is a revolution sweeping throughout the advertising industry. It is an ugly revolution but a revolution nonetheless. We have prided ourselves for so long now on the power of poetry, on the power of beauty to strike to the core of the consumer. To elevate them. To make their purchase decisions matter. This relationship is now in flux. For every generation technologies emerge, they challenge how we perceive life, how we engage with one another. The written word is dead, I have destroyed all of my books and I urge you to do the same. The printed ad is dying, the magazine industry... Ah..."

His speech dissolved into sobs. There were many heads nodding thoughtfully around the room. The Deputy Senior Associate Group Account Manger stepped forward, resting a comforting arm upon the President's shoulders.

"This is a trying time for us all" The Deputy Senior Associate Group Account Manager continued where her president had left off.

"As an agency we intend to meet the challenges of a new world head on. When you return to your desks you will each find a questionnaire. Please fill this out and return it to me as soon as possible this morning. It is imperative that we are aware which of you is conversant in modern technologies and which of you is not. Thank you so much for your time."

The employees shuffled from the conference room and returned to their seats.

At his desk Mark studied the questionnaire that lay before him. It was a very simple 'yes' 'no' box ticking affair. Do you understand HTML, do you understand Flash, do you understand social networking. He was disappointed to find himself ticking 'no' for a large number of questions. He could operate a facebook page but he couldn't have told you how the thing was designed. He looked around at his colleagues. Each of them was staring down, a look of deep concentration fixed upon their faces. He looked particularly at the older Senior Associate Creative Directors. If new times called for new methods and new strategies, where would they fit in to all of this?

Later that afternoon, after a day of filling out purchase order forms and expense sheets, he was beckoned into the General Manager and New Business Director's office. The General Manager and New Business Director was a thin man in his early forties. It was his job to steer the ship so to speak, to oversee each of the accounts, and to generally manage. "Mark, please take a seat." He said.

Mark sat on the pilates ball that doubled up as chair. It was good for posture, but left its user bobbing in such a way that it was difficult to conduct serious conversations whilst straddled across it. It was for this reason that they had been banned from client meetings and new business pitches.

"Mark" He began. "I want you to understand that we value the work that you have done for us here."

Mark phased out.