Just as it appeared that my dog Abby’s injured leg was started to heal, it seems that we are presented with another canine health problem. Earlier this week, I noticed that she was spending a lot of time scratching her right ear with her right hind leg. And every time she would scratch, she would whimper and squeal like she was in pain.

Since it was her right hind leg that was injured, I assumed the whining was due to some lingering pain in her leg. But on Tuesday night, I rubbed the side of her head when I got home from work (she usually loves that), and she made the same whimpering noise. Then I noticed that every time she took a few steps, she would shake her head from side to side, oftentimes lying down to scratch again (despite the obvious pain).

As the week has worn on, Andrea and I have felt worse and worse, since Abby is obviously hurting, and sleeping even more than usual (and that’s a lot). We called the vet on Tuesday, but because of work, the first time either of us could take her to get checked out is tomorrow (thanks to DDA’s trusty 4-day workweek). So unfortunately, she has to wait just one more day before we find out what’s wrong (I’m assuming ear infection, but who knows).

This reminded me just how important communication can be. Obviously, I can’t communicate with my dog like I can with a person, but eventually, even Abby told us what was wrong. It just took a lot longer than it would between two people.

At Dynamic Digital Advertising — an innovative and trend-setting marketing and advertising agency just outside Philadelphia — we take communication very seriously. Not only do we have a structured Carbon Copy system for our emails — so that every copywriter, programmer, videographer, animator, graphic designer, and SEO specialist involved with a project stays on the same page — but we also stay in close contact with our clients at every step in the process. We are constantly asking for feedback, approval, suggestions, critiques, and ideas about design proofs, content pages, video scenes, and programming modules. That way, the finished project meets (and usually exceeds) the client’s expectations, and there are no surprises with clients saying, “I didn’t know it would look like that, I hate it!”.

This process sometimes slows projects down, especially if clients take time responding with feedback. But that little bit of added time is what allows us to create such incredible finished projects, and keep many long-time clients coming back over and over again. At DDA, communication is key.

There is an age old question: “If a tree falls in the forest and there is no one around to hear it, does it make a sound.”  This morning it was snowing when I left the house, and it certainly didn’t make a sound.  Coupled with the cold weather, it reminded me of living in the upper Midwest (though thankfully I’m not there, my former homes are well in the negatives today).  The main problem though was that I didn’t know it was snowing, which then of course gave me less opportunity to correct my departure time, knowing that there would be delays on the roads, either caused by over-cautious drivers or various municipal snow equipment.  It struck me as a bit of a metaphor.

DDA’s programmers are a quiet bunch.  We spend our days glued to the computer screen scanning over our secret languages doing our best to provide DDA with the vital services that would leave every website rather useless without them.  When we begin a project, it is like going to bed the evening before a snow storm.  There’s no thunder, no lightning, just a quiet accumulation.  You wake up in the morning with a blanket covering all that you can see.  Programming isn’t just a small piece of what we do, it’s everywhere, and you wouldn’t even know it until it’s all up and running, looking like some sort of natural beauty.  Now don’t get me wrong, just like the snow, we cause a lot of accidents, regardless of caution, it’s just the way things are, sometimes you just don’t see that icy patch coming.  The best we can do there is plan ahead and have the salt and cinder trucks out as soon as we can.  In any case, the worst thing we can do is drive fast.  On snow-covered roads, the best approach is to drive at a reasonable speed and keep an eye out for stuff that could cause problems.  Driving fast to make up time will, more often than not, cause the problems we all seek to avoid.

Last night after working at our advertising agency on copywriting for two brochures, the struggling economy hit home as I found out that my sister was laid off from her job and my husband was informed that he could be laid off  any day. Both work(ed) in two very different industries in businesses that, prior to the economic downturn, were strong and growing. Family aside, they are two very skilled, talented, hardworking people who not only deserve a job, but deserve high pay!! I was both saddened and mad at this recent news, so much so that I started participating in political blogs to, as a start, have a voice. January 20th (Inauguration day 2009) and CHANGE can’t come soon enough or we will be a nation void of prosperity and a people void of motivation.