October 11, 2022, was not your typical day at the UK House of Lords, where Ai-Da, a humanoid robot artist, delivered testimony in response to questions posed by peers. The testimony came as some of Ai-Da's original artwork was displayed in a museum. In her answers, Ai-Da was candid about AI's threat to human artists but was also realistic about the role technology has always played in art. In this short mid-week episode, Neville and Shel review the testimony and explore some of the issues Ai-Da raises.
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The post FIR #288: A Humanoid Robot Artist Gives Testimony appeared first on FIR Podcast Network.

In this episode, Chip and Gini explore the real cause of the revenue roller-coaster and what agency owners can (and should) do about it.
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The post ALP 168: The Truth Behind Agency Feast-or-Famine appeared first on FIR Podcast Network.

Some companies were experimenting with internal podcasts -- for employees only -- before companies sent employees home to work remotely as the COVID-19 pandemic spread. Faced with reaching and engaging employees who now never interacted face-to-face with their colleagues elevated the value of a podcast, which could establish a personal connection. At the same time, podcasting had gone mainstream, making more employees receptive to listening to one from their employer. In this short midweek episode, Neville and Shel look at some of the companies that have adopted internal podcasting and how they plan to evolve them in the new post-pandemic world of work.
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The post FIR #287: Internal Podcasts Gain Momentum appeared first on FIR Podcast Network.

We read everywhere about increased productivity resulting from the remote work the pandemic forced upon companies. In fact, that increased productivity is leading several companies to adopt remote or hybrid work as the new status quo. But research conducted by Microsoft finds that not everyone agrees with the assessment. Managers are not on board with the notion that remote work has led to greater productivity, and the gap between what managers believe and employee perspectives is considerable.
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The post FIR #286: Managers Believe Remote Work Produces Lower Productivity appeared first on FIR Podcast Network.

If you have listened to Chip and Gini’s advice in the past, you are carefully tracking your team’s time to understand how much it costs you to serve your clients.
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The post ALP 167: Charging clients for internal agency staff time appeared first on FIR Podcast Network.

You have a business initiative, an organizational change, a new value proposition. Success depends on getting employees aligned around the vision and the path to get there. Could small group conversations be the means of achieving that alignment? A new study suggests it's at least worth a shot.
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The post FIR #285: Alignment Through Conversation appeared first on FIR Podcast Network.

Does your agency need a fractional CFO, COO, or head of HR?
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The post ALP 165: Fractional C-level help for agencies appeared first on FIR Podcast Network.

From experimentation, ideation, and storyboarding to producing the actual images to be used in an ad, advertising agency creatives are finding Artificial Intelligence image generators like DALL-E, Midjourney, and Stable Diffusion instantly useful, saving time and money without sacrificing the end results. Does this spell the end of the graphic arts business?
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The post FIR #284: Ad Agencies Embrace AI Art appeared first on FIR Podcast Network.

In this episode of the Agency Leadership Podcast, Chip and Gini discuss some of the more popular "single number" metrics that some advocate — and then explain why they may not be the best for your purposes.
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The post ALP 166: The One Magic Agency Business Metric appeared first on FIR Podcast Network.

Neville and Shel were together in person to record this episode, which focuses exclusively on leadership communication. The recording happened on Neville's dining room table as Shel and his wife were on a two-week vacation in England and Ireland.
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The post FIR #283: Communicators Helping Leaders Lead Through Communication appeared first on FIR Podcast Network.