Our agency, MMC, recently won an award from PR News Online for being one of the Best Places to Work in PR.
I couldn’t agree more! There are many reasons that I enjoy being a part of MMC, but I’ll share one that hits close to home.
I am inspired everyday working on a program to help empower diabetes patients. My Aunt Marguerite has diabetes and I feel like I am helping her in some small way. On behalf of Novo Nordisk, I work with Will Cross, a 40 year old expedition leader and world-class athlete. He is the first American and first person with diabetes to reach the highest peak on each continent and visit the North and South Poles. Will wants to show everyone with diabetes that they don’t have to be defined by their disease. It is exciting to work with Will as he shares his experience on his physically demanding adventures.
It feels great to be part of MMC and to work on a program that helps people living with diabetes!
Yesterday was my first day back at the office after maternity leave with Miss Lilly, pictured above. Shortly after a colorful 4th of July firework show on the Hudson, Lilly decided she too needed to see the lights of New York City. She made her debut on July 5th and since then each day has been a new and wonderful experience.
Lilly and I have spent the past three months becoming the best of friends. We sang sweet country songs to remind her of her family back in Louisiana. We learned to cook her daddy’s favorite recipes. We played dress up in far too many pink tutus. We strolled Central Park and watched summer turn to fall. After three months of our fairytale friendship, I headed back to the world of public relations in Midtown while she settled in to her first day of daycare on the Upper East Side.
My first day back at work was much like the first day of school. I woke up a few minutes before my alarm went off, had my first non-maternity outfit laid out and couldn’t wait to catch up with all of my old friends. Of course I couldn’t drop Lilly off on her first day without shedding a few tears though I shortly realized that this was a new beginning for her as it was for me. Each year that she grows and starts her first day of school, she too will wake-up on her own, pick out her favorite outfit and run to the group of friends she makes over time. Embracing new changes in life are exciting and yesterday we embraced the same experience together.
When walking into MMC it felt as though I had never been gone. That familiar feeling of creative energy flowing when you step off the elevator onto the shag carpet and retro design of our reception area was definitely present. I could not help but pause for a moment and feel thankful for the team that has supported me in my absence and allowed me to spend those precious three months with Lilly. The entire crew of MMC has been a tremendous support to me and my new family.
With lots of encouragement from my friends, co-workers and family, the day went off without a hitch. As a new mother, I felt more in touch with our client’s target consumer and Lilly came home all smiles from daycare. We spent our evening having one of our favorite Louisiana meals, laughing with daddy and catching up on snuggles.
Every girl learns one phrase early in life and that is “rinse and repeat.” Our next challenge is to leave each day behind and repeat the next as we get into our new routine.
For as long as I can remember, I have wanted to live in New York City. Hailing from Massachusetts, Boston was never good enough for meI wanted to be at the center of the action. I liked the Yankees, they were cooler, more successful, and have had most of the great players throughout history on their roster. I felt this to be symbolic of the city itself compared with everywhere else.
When I was hired at MMC after interning here for 2 summers, I was beyond thrilled. I was finally ready to start my New York life!
My first sign of adulthood was dealing with a mice infestation in my small (I prefer cozy) downtown apartment. When my super wouldn’t answer his phone I did the obviousstood on my couch for an hour and refused to get off until my super finally came and searched the apartment.
I realized a full time job is not always as glamorous as I had imagined. You cannot skip work because you stayed out too late, or because you simply don’t feel like going that day. You have to work all day, and then you have to come home and run your errands. There is no one to cook dinner for me anymore, or to clean up after me. I have to remember to turn off the lights, because I pay, not my father, and I have to commute on the subway with thousands of other people.
Though I have only been an “adult” for a month, I feel as though I have grown up exponentially. Unlike Carrie Bradshaw, I work 40+ hours a week, use my stove, can now set mouse traps, and though I do not have a closet full of Manolos, I am definitely beginning to learn the difference between price and value. Even with all of these realizations, New York City is still every bit as magical as I had imagined, complete with fun and different things to dofrom getting drinks at a hip new bar, to stalking the set of Sex and the City. As they say, if I can make it here, I can make it anywhere.
New York Fashion Week showed a renewed spirit this season after last February’s Fashion Week when the economy had the industry on edge. Last February, designers were pulling out of the tents, scaling back shows and canceling after parties (the horror!). But the fashionistas are back this season, and in a new way!
NY Fashion Week kicked off with Fashions Night Out (#fno or #fno09 if you’re on twitter), a night where retailers stayed open late, celebrities became bartenders and one model even showed off her Irish step dancing skills. FNO got people back into the stores and jazzed about the industry, but the jury’s still out on if it invoked a significant rise in sales.
Regardless, FNO kicked off an electric Fashion Week that was only made more exciting with MTV’s Video Music Awards thrown into the mix (Kanye, please don’t interrupt my blog post, even if there are some that have been better). What’s great about Fashion Week is that we can participate professionally, personally and virtually!
For COVERGIRL, we went backstage to introduce the beauty looks and upcoming trends created by legendary makeup artist Pat McGrath and we participated in the CVS Reinventing Beauty Lounge at Robert Verdi’s Luxe Lab, by providing COVERGIRL makeovers throughout the week. There were pop-up stores, elbow-rubbing parties, and lots of free champagne! And if you felt like a night off, Twitter feeds offered real-time updates so you were always in the know.
Even though Fashion Week’s focus is on the upcoming season, it’s never before been more about right now. Nothing waits, there are no lead times and by next season it’s already “so last year.”
Today’s the last day of New York Fashion Week
buzz, buzz, buzz goes the city until next season!
This past weekend I did something that I rarely ever do. After months of putting it off and numerous nightmares about the results, I finally faced the fact that it was time to get a haircut. It may seem like I’m being a little dramatic, but keep in mind this is my hair I’m talking about.
People close to me know “it’s all about the hair.” Nothing makes me happier or more excited than a good hair day and trying new product on my locks. I plan my daily schedule around my hair routine which never fails to include my trusted blow dryer and flat iron that transforms my naturally wavy hair in to a sleek, straight mane. With all of this prep work, it’s no wonder I end up with those dreaded dead ends that inevitably send me to the salon chair. Given my hair obsession, you would think I love these frequent salon visits, but after a few haircuts gone wrong and some questionable highlights, the thought of seeing my stylist is enough to make me cringe.
When I said I got a haircut this past weekend I should have been a little more specific. A haircut to me is taking off an inch or less. I am most satisfied when my “haircut” goes unnoticed with as little difference between the before and after as possible. You can only imagine how thrilled I was when my closest friends failed to acknowledge my “new ‘do.”
After recently landing my dream job at MMC doing PR for popular P&G hair care brands, beautiful hair is a must! It looks like I’ll be facing my fears and visiting that salon chair more often.
One of my most favorite times of year is fast approaching the kick-off of fall TV season. Sure a few shows have already started the reboot of Melrose Place, episode two of Glee, but the real fun starts next week with back-to-back-to-back new shows.
For me, gearing up for fall TV is a ritual. All summer long, I devour spoilers on various TV gossip sites: EW’s The Ausiello Files, E! Online’s Watch with Kristin and Zap 2 It’s Korbi TV. I love reading about what’s to come on my favorite shows and which shows look promising after the initial views at the Upfronts. And then, in mid-September, the best magazine of the year comes out Entertainment Weekly’s Fall TV Preview, which I read from cover-to-cover and plan out which shows I’ll try out. Thank goodness for DVR, as this looks to be a busy TV season!
One of the returning shows I’m most excited about is Fringe, a J.J. Abrams sci-fi drama focused on a series of unexplainable phenomena called “The Pattern” mixed together with some off-beat humor. This show continued to improve last year and by the finale, I was sitting on the edge of my seat, trying to figure out what was going to happen next. From what I’ve read, critics are expecting next season to up the ante, pushing the boundaries of what’s possible. I would never have called myself a science fiction fan, but I absolutely love this show!
In terms of new shows, oddly, I’m most looking forward to another sci-fi series called FlashForward. The show has gotten great early buzz the world gets a glimpse of their future due to a mysterious event and the central group of characters try to figure out whether they can change their destinies. Only time will tell whether the show will live up to expectations; ask me in mid-October whether I’m still watching.
What shows are you excited to watch this fall?
First off, let me thank MMC for letting me take Tuesday as a vacation day so I could attend the U.S. Open! As you probably figured out from my moniker, “Tennis Enthusiast in Well-Being” I am rather passionate about tennis and this is the time of year when I get really excited. I’ve played tennis ever since I could hold a racquet, and have managed to keep the competitive spirit alive in my adulthood by playing in a USTA league in Manhattan. I have gone to the U.S. Open annually since I have been living in NYC and look forward to sitting in Arthur Ashe stadium every year to watch the champions battle it out.
This year, I have felt particularly inspired by the latest newcomer to women’s tennis, Melanie Oudin. Only 17-years old, it seems like she came out of nowhere to beat three top players at this year’s U.S. Open, including Maria Sharapova. Well, actually, she came from Georgia
and despite being “vertically challenged” at 5’6” (as compared to other female players, who are close to six feet), she is the youngest American tennis player to play in the quarterfinals since Serena Williams. The crowd goes wild for her now, and she’s the new darling of women’s tennis. Everyone can’t wait to see how her story will unfold.
This year, the crowd is also rooting for Kim Clijsters, who is returning to the circuit after a hiatus when she dealt with the death of her father, and also gave birth to her daughter. The 2009 U.S. Open is her first Grand Slam Tournament after her break. The commentators noted that she could become the 3rd mother in tennis history to win a Grand Slam title. What a remarkable accomplishment that would be!
Being that I am always thinking with my communications/marketing hat on, it occurred to me that these two players are building a great brand themselves! Sure, you have to be a decent player, but the personalities and stories that go along with the players are what the fans love. When people connect with the players emotionally, either because they are young with a promising future, like Melanie, or because they are working towards a unique goal, like Kim, that’s when the buzz builds. It pretty much works the same way with marketing products and communicating about them. At the end of the day, the emotional connection is key. I am pretty sure these players will get to enjoy sizeable endorsements as a result of their successful “brand” marketing!
