First, let me ask anyone in an HR role to stop reading this article now. You are shielded from reality and should remain so.

Everyone has heard the story, no matter what agency you've worked in. The AE is out casually drinking with a client they have been working with for a while, the client makes a pass, and then an internal monologue happens..."Whoa! Did that just happen? Please tell me that it did not happen. Oh crap, what do I do? How do I respond. This is my job. My largest client. My livelihood. Help me!"

Male or female alike, it's totally terrifying for anyone. And for the AE, even more so. It has nothing to do with whether there is an attraction. AEs are out drinking, at dinner or having a late-night discussion over projects and deadlines with clients. They become very close and know intimate details about eachother. It's just that sometimes Mr. or Ms. Client does not remember the AE gets paid because of the work and not for that.

It's about power; power the client has and the AE does not. It is tilted. The client may assume that agency staff members are their friends, and they may become their friends. I view most of the people at my agency as friends -- well, except for you, Courtney (wink, wink) -- but that is based on relationships over time. The client dating or attempting to date anyone at one of their agencies is just, for lack of a better word, wrong. It can end in only two ways: badly or very, very badly.

Things happen. Putting single people in close proximity for long periods of time with alcohol is not a recipe for propriety. It's a lewd business we work in that rarely produces content worthy of Fox News, let alone a reputable paper. So how the heck do you manage it? For one, the great AE is not shy about telling their client, professionally, when they've stepped over the line. And it's the client's job to jump their ass back over that line quickly.

You spend all day managing the brand, molding it, shaping it, creating programs around it and having people adopt it, cultivate it, nurture it and respect it. Marketing is an image business. Respect yours. And always respect theirs.