Why I Love Mondays

Conor Bofin is Managing Director at Firstcom where he has worked since founding the business in 1993.Back in the day, we were an advertising agency. Digital was the face of a fancy alarm clock radio. A lot has changed in that time.

Company: Firstcom helps great companies shape strategy and activate their brands through world-class digital, identity, advertising and marketing. We are unusual in that we are a real one-stop-shop for clients’ communications requirements. The web has shrunk the world and allows us make a difference for customers across the city or across the planet. There are a dozen of us in Firstcom handling everything from web development, through social media management to corporate identity design and branding to traditional and digital advertising. We also work as an outsourced marketing function for a number of our clients. We tend to be pretty busy around here. The Firstcom website is at www.firstcom.ie.
Job description: They say that variety is the spice of life. Running Firstcom, I get plenty of that. My daily routine starts with me organising myself and any projects with which I am involved. I spend a lot of my day either with customers or talking to them. It is a pretty hands-on operation and I love being deeply involved in solving our customers’ problems and helping them grow their businesses. I have a mind-set that if I’m sitting behind my desk, I’m not earning my keep. Though, I do have to spend a deal of time behind the desk keeping an eye on the numbers. If we’re not keeping things profitable, there is not a lot of point.
Likes: Making a difference to our customers’ businesses. We fundamentally believe that if we are not making a real difference to our customers’ bottom line, then we should not be at the table. Ultimately, business is about making money and the communications process needs to add to that to be of any value.
Career ladder: I have been asked numerous times; “Why did you go into advertising?” My response tends to be “Because I was too short for the army?” In truth, I love the communications business. I started out over 30 years ago, carrying lead blocks and bundles of newspapers around the city for Eason Advertising. I went on through the production departments in a number of small agencies before joining Wilson Hartnell, then the biggest agency in the country. I was at the forefront of technology back then as I had what I believe to be the third fax machine in the country on my desk. After 5 years in WH, I joined Davitt & Partners for eight years before setting up what is now Firstcom. Lots of ad people bemoan (either privately or publicly) the disruption that digital has brought about. I take a very different view. Digital brings a huge opportunity to think differently and to open new channels of communication and business opportunity for our customers. Communications is not the only business to have been turned on its head by digital. Everything has.
Qualifications: After the Leaving Cert, I completed the first ever full time advertising course in what is now DIT. I put a huge store in life-long learning. It is essential for us all to keep adding to our academic as well as our practical qualifications. Most recently, my partner in the business Gavin Byrne and myself completed the Enterprise Ireland Management for Growth Programme. This is run over a full year by EI working hand in glove with DCU and the IMI.
Working hours: I like to start the day early. There is no 9 to 5 in this business. With clients in different time zones, we often have to adapt to their requirements. So the day can be very long. The key to managing time is not looking at work life balance but looking at work life blend. Fundamentally, one can’t do what I do and switch it off at a particular time. Getting out on the bike up in the Wicklow Mountains does a lot to keep me balanced. So does getting out to Leinster Rugby.
Breaktime: We have lots of cafes and restaurants around us here in Sandyford with more opening as the economy shows signs of recovery. We have plenty of lunchtime choice. I do like to use my lunchtimes to catch up either with colleagues, suppliers or customers.
Social media credentials: I do have reasonable social media cred for an old fella. I write a food blog in my spare time. This allows me write, photograph and cook. These are three things I love doing. The nature of blogging is one uses every available social channel to get the word out. I use Pinterest, I use some of the better food site aggregators and I Facebook, +Google and tweet when I have something to say. When I don’t, I don’t. You won’t catch me tweeting about being stuck in traffic or Instagramming a jam sandwich. I don’t do 4Square and I don’t use Flickr. You can find the blog at www.conorbofin.com. You can get me on twitter @conorbofin and I also go under my own name on Facebook. My Pinterest board is full of food stuff. Search on there for Conor Bofin.
News sources: I read the Indo, Irish Times and FT on the iPad before I get out of bed. I regularly (though not daily) take in some Silicon Republic news. Like most people in the business, I like the weekly IMJ ezene and I love to keep it real with Post Advertising .
Onsite or offsite: Like the service, you can find me across the desk, across the city or across the world depending on the day or the needs of our customers.
Digital strategy/vision: Most of our work is digital strategy in one form or another. It keeps changing and evolving. That keeps things exciting.
I love Mondays because: Waking up on a Monday certainly beats the alternative. I am a positive guy and I love life. What’s not to like about Monday?