We had our semi-periodic “Guys Weekend this weekend, and it was less than stellar, is a matter of fact it was downright crappy. See we needed to complete a project. Two of us were working for the other at the time so we thought, what a great excuse to head up to my buddy’s Sun Valley condo and crank out the needed document (work), kick around Sun Valley(play), and drink some great Beer and Whiskey(booze). Well here is what happened…
We thought…”this will be great, we work for a few hours, complete the project, then have the remainder of the weekend to hang out, watch movies, drink, play pool, whatever. There is lots of good trouble to get into up in Sun Valley. I had visions of going to nice restaurants (which we did a little), playing pool and shooting darts( which we didn’t do any), drinking good Beer and Whiskey (which we did far too little of and one guy did far too much of) and getting a project pounded out in a few hours…(yeah, right).
Here is what actually happened. The guy that we were working for was under the gun to get this report done, and he was nervous. It was a pretty big deal for him, but me and my friend had worked for him before and always pulled together a good product and in the end our other friend(the client) was very happy. What we didn’t anticipate was his level of anxiety about this particular project. We started working the minute we got to the condo. 3pm on a Saturday. We had a couple beers and it was ok, we kept it pretty low key. We went to dinner and I was thinking we would watch some netflix when we got back…Nope, more work and more drinking until we went to bed at midnight. Our Friend (the client) was cutting loose drinking about 2/3rds of a fifth of the Glenlivet Nadurra that night! That is about 12 ounces of 110.2 proof scotch!
The next day we all anticipated working, so we got up, (our friend had to clear some cobwebs) had a nice breakfast and then began working. Did I mention we thought we would be done in a few hours? We worked all day long starting at about 10:30 am and going until after 7pm. All the while drinking a bit of Russel’s Reserve Whiskey, Knob Creek, and several nice beers. Afterwords we all felt pretty good about where we were at and that the project, while going a bit too long, was in a good place. We went out to a nice dinner, came back and that evening we did watch a couple movies, while our friend (the client) drank a lot more whiskey.
Yesterday we woke up and immediately began to re-edit the document. This went on from 7:30 am until the time we finally left Sun Valley at 3:30pm. See, for some reason the client freaked out a bit and got all carried away about how the document was put together, wording, etc. Mind you he was there putting it together with us the whole time, but I think I mentioned he was nervous about this, and it came out full force on Monday! YIKES!
At the end of the day it was all better. We got things to a good place, but let this tale be a cautionary one for you all. NEVER mix Work, Play, and Booze. You will end up working the whole time, not playing enough and the Booze just tends to make people grouchy while working! Lessen learned. Next time I leave the work at home!
-Don
Beer & Whiskey Brothers 
That goes double for airline pilots who do aerial acrobatics on the weekends, Don.
OK, Important safety tip!
Damn straight. You don’t want to see the interior of a 757 flown by a drunken pilot doing hammerhead stalls. Looks and smells like a bathroom floor in the Port Authority!
Apparently you don’t work in advertising, Don. I know this because play and booze (not necessarily in that order) pretty much fuel our work!
No Chad, I am not one of the lucky ones that can use the booze to fuel creativity. I pretty much have to be “on” in my gig. So this little disaster has just pretty much emphasized that point.
Amen, Chad….but that fine line gets blurred sometimes, and that booze that could nicely fuel the creativity suddenly has you seeing double…not good when you are a designer!!!
Just close one eye, set the feather to 2 pixels and you’ll be fine!
True Katie. An imperial bomber probably isn’t a good call unless I’ve got a light afternoon of editing or somebody wants to share (somebody always wants to share).
I might think I’ve concepted some breakthrough advertising after drinking 22 ounces of Unearthly, but the next day I realize most of the ideas suck. So yeah, have to choose your libations and timing intelligently, but at least our industry is flexible enough to let you do so!
Do you guys get a beer budget as part of your compensation package? Or does the boss just stock the fridge every now and then? I can’t get a freakin’ soda out of my boss, and you’re drinking craft beer every day! Not that I’m Jealous or anything…
Ha, no, Don. No company craft beer budget. They do stock the fridge from time to time, usually macros though. The agency founders do have what’s called the “Founders Lounge” in their office that’s generally stocked with spirits and always open if the door is open. I do have a mini fridge stocked with my own craft beer supply for afternoon tastings. And we did just have the company Thanksgiving lunch today. I was handed me $50 for a beer run. Got various cases of winter seasonals to enjoy. Afternoon might be a little less productive today. ;^)
Great for you! Enjoy! 😉
Haha,
Good advice, Don. One time buddy Zak came over to help me hang dry wall on the ceiling in my kitchen. He was really lit and continued to drink Mike’s Hard Lime. I ended up ntearing down the ceiling later and redoing it.
Fortunately there were no “tear downs” needed, but some people get really surly when they drink and are under pressure, even if the two things are not related. In the future work stays at home, and does not go on the “guys weekend”!