Bounce for Bliss

I’ve learned that packing lunch really only works if you make it to a grocery store.  Despite having a car, grocery shopping has become my most despised chore.  The decision to go to shopping involves spending two things: time and money.  My record for shortest time is 1.5 hours.  My record for least amount of money was in the low $200 range.  Grocery shopping is something I have to mentally prepare myself for – and am usually only ready to do once the fridge is empty and I am starving.

Flash forward and I’m at Wendy’s for lunch today.  My school’s food court used to have a Wendy’s, so I have been pretty much avoiding the place since graduation.  I decided to give it another shot today.  The food was as I remembered but this Wendy’s was amazing.  I visited the Wendy’s in Downtown Crossing in Boston.  The order line divides into two sections, each leading to a single row of cash registers.  The catch?  The two lines each had their own kitchen!  To speed along the process, employees were stationed in the middle of each line to write down your order on a notepad so it could be easily handed to the cashier.  I literally received my order (#6 w/o mayo, baked potato, medium Dr. Pepper) before my friend finished paying for his.  Fantabulous service.  Bravo Downtown Crossing Wendy’s.

Afterward we went over to TJ Maxx so I could find an inexpensive strap to carry my yoga mat (first pilates class tonight).  Of course I exit the store without a strap, but instead have purchased (yet another) pair of stretch pants and an inflatable exercise ball.  For those of you who know nothing about me, know this – I do not exercise.  Would I like to?  I’m not sure.  My continuous purchases of useless exercise equipment seem to suggest that I would like to be in shape.  Maybe I just like to appear as though I care about my health and well being.  Perhaps eating a friend chicken sandwich at Wendy’s shows my true colors.  Either way, I now have to sneak this inflatable ball into my home.  My obsession with never-used-before exercise equipment has gotten so bad that not only do I have a basket designated for these objects, but there is now a stict “no more useless crap” house rule.  This time it could be different.  Only time will tell.

Releasing the Foodie Within

Changing tactics, I will now only blog about my favorite passion: food.  As any of my friends will tell you, my life has been a long love affair will all things edible.  When being introduced to new foods, my mother always said, “You don’t have to like it, but you have to try it.”  Not surprising, I liked almost everything I tried.  Even my father’s efforts to steer me a way from certain foods (“The only good mushroom is a dead mushroom!”) did not stop me from enjoying all sorts of fancy dishes.  I thank my New York City upbringing in helping me become the only kid I knew who preferred sushi and calamari over chicken nuggets and french fries.  Unfortunately, the economy has practically halted my quest to try every restaurant in Boston.  My new quest has more of a “I’m an old housewife” feel to it.  I’m trying to pack my own lunch (instead of eating out…daily…) and finding creative ways to keep it exciting.  I won’t be going as far as my mother, who diligently made tuna fish sandwiches with cookie cutters, but I will be trying my best with the budget I have.

Best,

Meg

Intimate Thoughts on Intimate Fun

Out of all the ways to sabotage potential job prospects, blogging about personal lubricant has to be up there.  It would definitely rank top ten.  Probably number six.  Amazingly enough, it also ranked number six in the seventh annual Most Memorable New Product Launch Survey (MMNPL), conducted by Schneider Associates, Mintel International and IRI.

K-Y Yours and Mine Lubricant was the first bedroom product to make it into MMNPL’s top ten list.  Honestly I’m pretty surprised.  I mean, let’s be honest here.  Apple generally dominates product launches.  They release so many new products that I’m hesitant to purchase anything they make.  It will be outdated in a week.  Plus their commercial songs are so damn catchy.  I end up buying the songs before the product.  But anyway, with so many new products, who would think of (or admit to) a lubricant as a top product launch of 2008?

I understand some of the other top ten novelties: world’s thinnest laptop, Wii personal trainer, video game that captivated fifteen year old boys across the country, chicken breakfast biscuit…ok maybe the last one shouldn’t have been grouped in with the rest.  But let’s think about this – this is the MOST MEMORABLE list.  Which means these products have to be new and innovative.  Since when is lubricant new and innovative?

This product made the list because it openly discusses who the product is for.  Let’s be frank here – I can’t remember a lubricant ever being marketed towards women.  We all know who it’s for and what it’s going to do.  In 2008, K-Y reminded us that “intimate fun” actually involves two people.  Shocking, I know.  Their website even says, “Introducing a revolutionary new product for couples…”  They’ve taken a product that seemed, well, sleazy, and domesticated it.  All of the advertisements feature married couples.  One of the couples even admitted to having three kids.  These people have gone through the whole “well I just want to please the other person” phase in their relationships. They know what works, what doesn’t, etc.  It’s no longer about sacrifice.  Speaking from observation alone, marriage is about give and take; giving your spouse what they need but being a little selfish too.  K-Y’s new product understands that.  Hence why it’s great on your own, but even better with the one you love.

So to those who, while conducting background checks, have decided not to hire me due to this post, I please ask you to reconsider.  I really do have much more to offer than writing about lubricants.  However if this is all you need in a future employee, I am still available for interviews.  Bye for now…

Bad Blogger (Part Two)

Ok this time I’m the bad blogger. I suddenly disappeared and for that I apologize. I could make a million excuses, many of which revolving around balancing school and work, but excuses won’t make us move forward. It only dwells on the past. So here I am, a month before I graduate, asking you to follow me in my job search. You may have thought Indecision 2008 was over, but for many recent grads, it’s an ongoing process of uncertainty. A process that will probably continue well into 2009. Years ago I thought I was getting ahead of the game by graduating a semester early. Having little knowledge of the stock market (and the future), I was unable to predict the economy I would find myself in as I begun my job search.

I have been told to find an employment agency or perhaps get a part time job while searching for my career. Honestly I am ignoring these suggestions because I am afraid of getting stuck in a job rather than a career. Jim in The Office confided in a video diary that he did not want a promotion because it was just one step closer to his job becoming his career. People my age generally don’t know the difference between the two, but rather call a career a “real job,” as if the others don’t make money or provide security or happiness.

So I have started my search for my “real job.” I have visited my career services center to perfect my resume, and also received advice from a friend at my last company. I apply to companies like I pitched for my previous job. RESEARCH. “Spray and pray” is the best way to pitch if you DON’T CARE about your client. I hate to pull the whole, “don’t vote if you don’t care about your rights” speech, but let’s be honest here. If you want something, you put in the effort to get it. So before applying for a job, I do my research. I look into recent press they’ve received, their case studies, clients, work ethic, what they stand for, etc. In my custom cover letters I try to bring out what I have done to show the company what I can give them. Inside knowledge about consumer products, how to deal with feisty authors, how to save the company money by going green…

So here is some advice that I’ve learned along the way. I hope to continue posting more to help others like myself who are battling the overwhelming job search.

1) Have great stories! You can say “sure – I’m a leader” but what examples do you have to support this? This is probably the English major in me. Don’t say something unless you can back it up with proof. A good story is much more effective than a general statement.

2) Know your company! Know where they’ve been, what they are doing, and where they want to go. My mom once made a pretty bold move in an interview with an advertising firm. She brought in nine of their advertisements and critiqued them. Showing that not only she knew about their clients, but also how she could improve upon the results, helped her land the job.

3) Go to career fairs! I’m serious about this one – even if you don’t see anything you like. There was nothing for me at the last three career fairs I went to. I thought at least one of them would have something in public relations, but that was not the case. With the pressure off, I was able to have candid conversations with hiring reps about how to interview, the best handshake and making the best first impression. I also got some valuable advice – which leads me to my next point…

4) Enroll in Job Hunt 101! For all of you still in classes, I received amazing advice for an EMC rep who graduated from Holy Cross. She told me to treat your job search like an additional class. My classes meet for 200 minutes a week. Then I have approximately five hours of homework for each class per week. I know it sounds like a lot, but dedicate the eight or so hours a week to researching and applying for jobs. Try not to save it all for your weekends when you have other homework. Treat it exactly like a class. Try like an hour and a half every Monday, Wednesday and Friday for applying. Save your research for the weekend when you are likely to be surfing the internet anyway.

So I hope my recent knowledge has made up for the lack of blogging. I will be sure to keep you posted on applying, interviewing and advice along the way.

All my best in Job Hunt 2008

Bad blogger ::shakes finger::

I love starting off the morning with a little bad behavior. Yesterday I posted on transparency not only when talking to bloggers, but also while writing your own blog. In my “about” page I have stated what company I work for and who I have worked for in the past. I throw my name all over my blog (more for personal gain on a Google results page rather than for transparency issues). However here is one man who clearly is not in my social media class.

Here’s what went down: A Cisco employee “authored an anonymous blog commenting on various policy and legal matters with which the company has been involved and on which he worked. In addition, Cisco employees who knew he was the author circulated links to the blog without revealing that a Cisco employee authored the blog.” So what’s next? Cisco gets sued. Shocker. Cisco does its best to respond by revising their employee blogging policies. My favorite part of the policy is the line encouraging its workers to use “common sense.” The man behind the blog, Patent Troll Tracker, is Richard Frenkel, a director in Cisco Systems’ intellectual property group. Perhaps common sense is not a requirement for his position.

So transparent I can see right through you

It was Saturday evening and I was with a group of people in my living room watching a documentary on KISS. There was this one guy who kept talking about how great KISS is and how teachers should be including this band in their curriculum. However when the girl asked this guy a question about the band, he couldn’t answer it. He then explained that part of the reason people should learn about KISS is because he knows so little about the band.

This bothers me just as much as people who claim to be fans of a certain sports team yet can’t name five players. Or how people will suddenly become fans of their local team only when the team is doing well. For example, I used to go to the Northeastern University hockey teams on a regular basis. The team started doing well and were in pretty decent standing by the time Bean-Pot rolled around. Suddenly everyone was a hockey fan. People who never went to a Northeastern hockey game were in line for a Bean-Pot ticket, sadly sometimes taking the spot of a person who regularly follows the team.

Posing is done not only in social settings, but also online. I’m taught in my social media classes to be transparent when talking to bloggers. Be upfront in saying that you are as annoying as telemarketers at dinnertime in public relations. At my last company, one of my fellow co-workers was told by a reporter that there will be a special place in Hell for her. She retorted that at least she’ll be in a special place while he’ll be grouped in with the masses. Let’s be honest, we are not the most liked people. Last week I got a back-handed compliment. I gave a blogger gift certificates to giveaway to his readers. One of his co-workers posted about giving some love to PR people who were “doing it right” (aka giving stuff away without catches). He added, “Just goodwill towards a community they’d like to be noticed in.” Ouch.

Despite being honest with these bloggers, I still feel a little sketchy commenting on one of their recent posts in my pitch email. I mean they have to know that I don’t read their blog. I love Mommy bloggers, and can see myself being one when I’m older, but currently the compelling research into the best type of stroller does not keep me on the edge of my seat. If I was truly transparent, wouldn’t I just tell them the truth? “Your blog is of no interest to me, but since you get a lot of monthly visitors I have to outreach to you.” I suppose that kind of transparency wouldn’t get me very far. I guess I look at it as being a girl trying to buy a drink for a guy at a bar. The more traditional people can imagine a guy trying to get a girl a drink. First a compliment about their attire or where they are going (I’ve been out of the “game” for too long to even think of something without sounding ridiculously stupid). Then follow up with a sly, “whatcha drinking?” Or in my case, “How about some delicious ice cream?”

The same type of transparency goes when writing your own blog. I started this blog to talk about public relations and advertising. I’d be lying though if I said that is what I wanted to talk about all of the time. Sometimes I feel like writing about my Saturday night with the worst KISS fan club ever. Sometimes I don’t quite feel like writing at all. Luckily that hasn’t been the case lately. I hope to post more soon.

All work and no play makes Meg…an employed girl?

For the February newsletter of the Publicity Club of New England, I wrote about the power of Google in terms of getting a job. I’ve heard from several professionals in different industries that they will sometimes type in the name of someone in Google before even interviewing them. One of my co-workers said that she looks up each potential new intern on Facebook.com. Of course as soon as I heard this I jumped online to check out what profile picture was displayed during my interviews. I was slightly tanner, wearing a low cut tank top at a party over the summer. I was clearly having a fabulous time. And why shouldn’t I be? I’m in college. Even when I get out of college I’m still going to be having a great time. My pictures reflect that. Moreover, if any of my pictures have me consuming alcohol, it is because I am of legal age to drink. Funnier still, most of my “drinking pictures” are at family functions (more the reason to drink if you ask me).

Facebook.com came out in the first semester of my freshman year of college. It really couldn’t have come at a better time. Everyone had just left high school and was looking to stay in touch while still making friends at a new school. It was only available to college students at the time, which really made the whole experience that much more elite. Of course being Facebook friends means nothing, however the “relationship status” is still seen as the most official part of the whole profile. Call us losers, but my girlfriends and I were all a buzz when our hot male friend’s relationship status went from “In a relationship” to “It’s complicated.” Clearly Facebook.com is a social networking site. So why are people trying to rob us of this?

More and more I am hearing that people need to “clean up their profile.” Despite the privacy, I have been told that companies can find ways to see my profile and my pictures. I’ve also heard the other end of it: “I wouldn’t work for a company that frowns upon me enjoying a drink with my friends.” I feel as though the problem would be if those two worlds combined. If my personal life does not affect my work, then why should this be an issue? Perhaps I’m still living on my mother’s stories about partying with her cigarette and casino clients when she was in advertising. In fact, some of those playful outings helped keep her client happy or even secure new business.

The New York Times published an article today on a new Facebook.com change: “Starting on Wednesday, Facebook’s more than 67 million members will be able to create and manage lists of friends that are granted different levels of access to information on a member’s profile.” Thus, your friends might be able to see a different amount of information than co-workers. No offense to my lovely co-workers, but I’m not in any rush to friend request them. Just like I would not be asking my friends to connect to me on LinkedIn. However at this point, even the president of my company is on Facebook. Another employee said she gets job offers through the site. I overheard another today, who coincidentally deleted hundreds of her pictures this morning, saying that Facebook is “sooo college anyways.” So would making my Facebook profile more professional help me get a job? Could showing that I have an active out-of-work social life hurt me in getting a job? What is a twenty-one year old college senior to do?

Nice Sweater, Neighbor

I am absolutely fascinated by the power of branding. I love the way that something so simple can have such a powerful meaning – a meaning you may not even realize you know.

David Newell, the public relations director for Family Communications, Inc. (the nonprofit company founded by Mr. Rogers in 1971), has requested that everyone wear a sweater on March 20th, the day that would have been Mr. Roger’s 80th birthday. FCI’s Margy Whitmer explains, “We wanted to recognize Fred in a way that would reflect his deep appreciation of what it means to be a caring neighbor.” How interesting that they chose an article of clothing rather than cleaning up the neighborhood or perhaps helping a neighbor. Too much to ask for? The sweater, especially that red zip up one, is synonymous with neighborly love. Mr. Rogers is branded in such a way that a person wearing a sweater will be thought of as a good person despite past grievances.

I remember watching Mr. Rogers when I was very young. We had quality shows back then. One of the most common topics among my friends is the shows we used to watch. For someone who did not watch much growing up, being able to talk about children’s programs has served me well. From “Doug” to “Are You Afraid of the Dark?,” these shows were landmarks in our blurry childhood. Doug is still a popular Halloween costume at parties. What children shows today are worth remembering in 15-20 years? I suppose Hannah Montana might make a stamp in young girls’ minds. Dual-identity characters have always been popular. When I was growing up the big thing was to have super powers like Alex Mack. How awesome it would be to morph into a shiny puddle. Boys and girls could relate to that desire to have magic powers. But now the desire for girls is to be a superstar. What about just being a kid? Or a “good neighbor” for that matter? Perhaps on March 20th the little ones can get a lesson from the older folk – a lesson that tv doesn’t necessarily teach anymore.

Guerilla Advertising

I feel like these people worked for Target because their branding skills are awesome. Anytime anyone sees the black lips on a flyer they will automatically think of the band and, hopefully, the concert. The only unfortunate part of guerilla marketing is the date mix up. However thanks to MySpace, every band on earth has its own page with dates, times and maybe a few songs to rock out to before the concert.

clipped from www.adrants.com Why Post Flyers When There are So Many to Vandalize? Okay, we love this. Instead of posting flyers for its East Village concert (which takes place either last night or right now), Black Lips (or its fans?) used ads around town to spread the word. Black lips were drawn across the faces of models and actors, alongside the concert place and time: 3/10/08 and/or 3/11/08, Bowery Ballroom. See more at Guerilla Communication. Black Lips’ MySpace confirms the concert takes place on the 11th, not the 10th. Oh but wait, Copyranter insists it’s Monday the 10th. Well, this is guerrilla so shit happens. Either way, you missed it. (Bummer.) by Angela Natividad��� Mar-11-08�� Comments (0)��� File: Events, Good, Guerilla, Poster, Promotions ��

Shut up already!

I’m a person who loves to talk. Before starting this blog I researched web sites such as “shutupalready.com” and “goullet.com” to see if I could purchase one just to have some place to write about things like fun advertisements, crazy PR tactics, and general rants about living life in the fast lane. This was free. So there you have it. Please feel free to comment, mock, compliment (always a good thing), laugh, etc. on all future posts – as frequent or as lacking as they may be.