Selling the Idea - how to pitch your work to clients

This Working Lunch is SOLD OUT.

Sometimes creating the great concept is easier than getting the client to recognize that the concept is indeed great. For our January Working Lunch we have assembled a panel of expert creatives who have learned the secrets of successfully presenting creative work to clients. Join us as they explore questions like:

• What are some of the biggest mistakes you have made or seen others make when presenting concepts to clients?
• How do you go about preparing for a client presentation?
• How do you deal with client fears about a novel approach?
• What is the most effective presentation you have ever made?
• What is the biggest presentation disaster of which you have been a part?
• Have you had to present in teams and how is that different than presenting as an individual?
• What concept was extremely difficult to get the client to buy into but ultimately proved a winner?
• In what ways have you improved or changed in your approach to client presentations?
• What advice would you give to new designers on how to present their designs and persuade clients?

Working Lunch Panelists

Alan Lidji
Lidji Design

Alan's career in communications design has spanned more than thirty years as a creative director, designer, writer and teacher. His work has been recognized nationally by Communications Arts Magazine, The New York Art Directors Club, the American Institute of Graphic Arts and others. His posters are included in the permanent collection of the United States Library of Congress and the Hiroshima Museum of Art.

Saul Torres
Vice President of Creative Services
RSW Creative

Saul has led creative teams at RSW Creative, The Richards Group, Eisenberg and Associates and Comedy Central in New York. Along with teaching advertising and design at SMU and Texas A&M Commerce, he has developed branding campaigns for Hilton Worldwide, HP, 7-Eleven and North Texas Food Bank, among others.

Marcus Dickerson
Creative Director
Witherspoon Marketing and Communication

Marcus has worked for some of Dallas’s most reputable design and advertising firms on projects ranging from annual reports, branding, corporate identity, traditional advertising, business to business marketing, publication design, direct mail, book design, illustration, copywriting, website design, multimedia, outdoor advertising, point of sale, packaging, trade show graphics, vehicle wraps, radio and television.

His work has been recognized in some of the industry’s most noted publications including Print, Graphis, Critique, Communication Arts, Black Book AR100, and has won awards from The Dallas Society of Visual Communications, the American Advertising Federation, Houston Art Directors Club to name a few. And his work has also been published in numerous design books.

Chris Bellinger
Concept Director
The Marketing Arm

Chris has worked on a variety of national brands developing the big idea for promotions, programs, and overall brand strategy. His accounts have included FritoLay, Quaker, and Dannon. Chris was a part of the original team that developed Doritos Crash the Super Bowl, a Doritos premier program that has been running for 7 years. Additionally he has developed a number of video game partnerships with CPG brands that have redefined how brands and gaming studios alike approach partnerships.  At The Marketing Arm he leads concepting teams on brands and projects, being responsible for identifying opportunities, relevant trends, consumer insights, and development of the “big idea” with 360 activation for partners and brands.