Cassie D'Kae + Michael Schwandt

Stepping off the elevators at Colle+McVoy, employees and visitors are immediately greeted by sounds of Minnesota’s beloved, eclectic radio station, The Current, pumping through the speakers. Its presence isn’t just a welcomed distraction, it helps define and capture the energy of this agency. The Current doesn’t have a specific format — it’s not top 40, it’s not classic rock, it’s not lite jazz. It’s a station that tries to share the most creative and interesting music that programmers can find, whether it’s a gem from the past, or an obscure new artist on the cusp of stardom. Colle+McVoy has a similar desire — to foster a community of creativity and share the most innovative work we can with the rest of the world. Our music choice is definitely no accident.

It is apparent from one walk around the offices of C+M that our love for music definitely does not stop in the lobby. Desks are adorned with headphones and speakers of all shapes and sizes. Personal rock out sessions or cubicle dance parties can spontaneously erupt at any time. And there is always someone talking about a show they saw, will see, or wanted to see but couldn't attend. Music permeates our walls and ears 24/7. It truly is creative fuel that plays an enormous role in establishing a fun, inspirational and open atmosphere, rather than a stale, dry one.

So what is it about music that is so intrinsically tied to creative-driven industries, advertising in particular? According to Don Campbell, author of The Mozart Effect and a renowned authority on the transformative power of music, "Music can be used to stimulate, activate, and relax the mind and body.” All of which are key elements in a successful creative process, and hence, producing stand out work for clients. What’s more? Elena Mannes, author of The Power of Music, states, "scientists have found that music stimulates more parts of the brain than any other human function."

At Colle+McVoy —based in the heart of urban, arts-heavy Minneapolis— music offers employees respite in the middle of a stressful day, provides sonic caffeine for late nights and early morning deadlines, and gives us just the right amount of inspiration to successfully complete a project. For C+M, creativity is not a department, but an expectation of all employees. So although musical tastes are wide and varied at C+M, there’s no doubt that it positively impacts every individual, acting as a catalyst for us each to reach our full creative potential.

A fierce advocate of music in almost any environment, Campbell believes, “More and more businesses are recognizing the importance of music in the workplace." This is certainly true at C+M, and has been for some time. Since music surrounds is ingrained in our culture and pushes us to do great work, we have decided to go one step further by bringing bands and musicians to perform live at the agency. This initiative, dubbed C+M Sessions, will kick off its inaugural performance this evening, Thursday, Aug. 2, with local roadhouse rockers, The 4onthefloor. It’s time to take off your headphones, put on your dancing shoes, and swill a cold beer to some rock and roll in the summer sun.

Dan Mandle

Whether we see them as an early start to the weekend or as a jumping-off point for well-earned, longer-term vacation, we love our summer hours at Colle+McVoy!

This year, the program is back again by popular demand, even being mentioned by the Star Tribune in their selection of Colle+McVoy as one of the Top 100 Workplaces in Minnesota.

With summer in mind during last week’s rooftop carnival-cum-quarterly-meeting, our CFO urged us to take advantage of the extra time to get out of the office and explore a little bit more of the state we all call home. Disclosure: As a member of the Explore Minnesota team, I will unabashedly take any and all opportunities to proselytize about how diverse (and great!) the options are for vacations right here in Minnesota! I absolutely LOVE that there are more of us at the office who feel the same way!

I also love working for a creative advertising agency whose leadership implores us to get out of the office and use our vacation time. Only 38 percent of Americans actually take all their vacation days, according to this article in CNNMoney. That figure could surely be increased with a leadership group as supportive as ours.

In any event, my coworkers will all be asking themselves similar questions as Friday afternoons approach:
Are our loose ends tied up for the week?
Have we called our clients and wished them well for the weekend?
Did we do our timesheets?
If so, we’re free to depart for distant shores. The caveat again being that I really, truly hope those shores are located in-state. An early start to backyard tasks and household chores is also fair game.

So what do Colle+McVoyers actually plan to do with their summer hours? We took an internal poll recently to find some answers. Our own Sean Cooley helped make sense of the numbers.

Here’s to the #solstice. Happy summer!