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This posting is not about angry guys. “Mad Men” is a new summer series on US Cable Channel AMC. Because I have Rogers’ super cable I have AMC. This first episode was last Thursday and I watched the second episode last night. Quietly simply it is great TV.

In the age of blogs, podcasting and social networking groups, “Mad Man” proves that content is always king regardless of the medium. And yes, television is not dead it just needs great content. Plus, the executives behind “Mad Man” are smart. You can buy and download each episode on ITunes the day after they premiere on television.

What is “Mad Men”? Set in 1960’s New York ad agency Sterling Cooper, the series follows the lives of various agency employees but focuses mostly on Creative Director Don Draper. “Mad Men” is apparently a term coined by the 1960s’ ad men themselves, at that time, when America (and likely Canada) was obsessed by advertising and glamourized the lives of these ad men/mad men. North Americans were still heady consumers coming off the post-Second World War, 1950s’ buying binge.

The series captures the feel of 1960 perfectly. The American Civil rights movement had not started in earnest, all women were “the girl” regardless of her age and the IBM Selectric was breakthrough technology. In every board meeting, party or bedroom scene the characters are smoking like chimneys. I almost felt myself choking in sympathy.

But the real star of the show is advertising. In the first episode the client crisis is a recent Reader’s Digest report that smoking may be bad for your health. Don Drapper is tasked how to respond on behalf of his client “Lucky Strike”. Last night, the advertising challenge was how to pitch the Gillette Right Guard business - first aersol deteorant can. In a scene alot of time was spent debating the merits of promoting this new “space age” technology to the American male.

Those that planned the actual advertising program for “Mad Men” were pretty smart themselves. During the advertising breaks for the program they link the product being advertised to a fun fact about that category’s advertising or about that specific company’s advertising history. For example, Maytag is an advertiser and prior to showing the Maytag ad they flashed a fun fact about the “Maytag Man” and when he was first introduced to the public before becoming an advertising icon.

“Mad Men” is great TV. It is very clever, extremely well written and works on a variety of levels. As a flashback into the not so past (I worked on an IBM Selectric) we have a come along way baby. Some of the scenes with the Africian American characters make you gasp - they’re not violent - what is more striking is the absolute power of racism that is delivered through mundate, every day human interactions.

But the people behind “Mad Men” obviously love advertising and love the process of developing great advertising. As the Don Draper character says to his team of copywriters, “Gentlemen, what is advertising? Advertising is happiness”.

Based on today’s integrated marketing and communications approach Don would now likely say, “Gentlemen, what is great communications? Great communications is happiness”.

We have tried to embrace our “Change Rules” mantra to heart. Whether it is about promoting condoms use or the latest in computer technology we want to push our clients. Better us pushing them than them saying, “You guys really aren’t challenging us”.

I have been back at GCI now for pretty close to two years and one of the real differences I see this time versus before is that the client is really looking for agency partners that push them and also play well in the sandbox with other agencies be they traditional advertising firms, interactive groups or promotions houses.

Our best client relationships (collaborative, results-driven, respectful, fun) come from working as part of a great team of people. We have been on some interesting journeys over the past year as part of multidisciplinary agency teams. It strikes me that it is alot life a successful marriage or friendship. There are good days and bad days but you hang in and work through the tough stuff and celebrate and savour the great stuff. Luckily for us, we are fortunate to work with some great cross disciplinary agency teams and some of them are really hitting their stride (ie “your idea is better than ours, you do your’s”)

Recently I attended a brand summit with one of our great clients. All the usual suspects were there. As I sat through the meeting it struck me that we were working in the old way. All the agency partners were working in silos and we meet once a year at the summit. For the most part we had little understanding of what was going on with the other agencies on behalf of their client. Conversely, they had no idea what we were doing. This meant that the client was loosing opportunities, possible synergies and truthfully possible budget efficiences.

I spoke to the client afterwards and gave him my two cents on the subject, namely why don’t we work as one integrated team. Easier to manage and a way better outcome. I think he was a little surprised that I would raise it. His response, “Wow”. “Let’s do it”.

Could it mean that GCI might possible loose some portion of its budget to another agency partner in the future? Sure. Conversely, it could also mean more multidimensional, enriching work and a longer term client relationship.

Recently while surfing I stumbled across a great site www.poptech.com. This is the site for Pop!Tech! a “thinkers” conference that happens every September in Camden, Maine. Apparently it is an eclectic (and electric) gathering of technologists, innovators, industry leaders, scientists, artists and educators. A Fortune 500 CEO can be found chatting about solar energy to an artist and according to the site “while an African blogger is deep in conversation with a polar explorer”.

I have now put attending Pop!Tech! on my “life list of musts”.

In the meantime, Pop!Tech! provides aptly named Pop!Casts! on its site. Through Creative Commons, the conference podcasts are available and the list of speakers is amazing - Malcolm Gladwell (”Blink”), Chris Anderson (”The Long Tail”).

For our last GCI book club session, we downloaded Thomas Friedman (”The World is Flat) sharing is argument with Pop!Tech! delegates on the inverse relationship between the price of oil and human rights. Compelling and provocative.

Check out Pop!Tech!. It’s great brain food.