If you had asked me back in May what I would be doing right now, I don’t think I would have told you I would be working in a full-time position in PR in New York. There are a couple of reasons for this; the first being that I had no idea at that point in my life that I would be moving to New York. Every time someone asks me how me, a girl from Birmingham, Alabama, ended up in New York, I really don’t have an answer. It’s not that I didn’t want to be here; it’s more that I didn’t realize that it was even a possibility. Much less staying here…
Long story short, at the end of September I was offered a full-time position at Weber Shandwick in the Consumer Practice. I’m about to start my fourth week there and I couldn’t be happier. I am working on several accounts that span several different categories – from beauty & health to tech to home goods.
Even though I’m no longer working in a specifically digital practice, I have made an effort to keep up with what’s going on in the social media world. The most exciting update I have today is that I just received my invite to test the much-hyped Google Wave. I’ve played around with it a little today, but I can tell that I need to go back and read through all of my archived Mashable articles in order to figure out how I’m supposed to use this thing. I just read an article in Time about how it feels like you’re being invited to a super-exclusive party and it’s pretty accurate. The only bummer is that none of my friends (except for my dad – who gave me the invite – thanks!) have arrived yet. I hope it doesn’t take too long! I hear that I have eight invites I can give out, but I haven’t quite gotten to that point yet.
Anyway, I can tell that this week is going to be a really long one, so I’m going to try to get some sleep. I’ll have to put the “waving” on hold til tomorrow…
Today I did something I usually judge people for: I Googled myself. I was just curious – part of me wanted to see exactly how many Lauren Branders there are in the world, and part of me wanted to see if I had, somehow, accomplished anything newsworthy (in someone else’s eyes at least) recently. What I found surprised me.
The first listing that popped up was my LinkedIn profile. I’ll confess – I’m not a huge fan of LinkedIn. It feels to me like a car without the works. There are a lot of buttons there that show you what you could do if you upgraded to the premium package, but until then you’re stuck with a constant reminder that you’re cheap/broke.
The other curveball Google threw at me was Twitter. I know that whatever I say on Twitter lives forever and ever, but I didn’t realize that, when someone searches my name, almost everything I’ve ever tweeted shows up. Even posts from February or so – more than six months ago! I’ll definitely remember that next time I decide to send an oh-so-witty update before I’ve had my morning coffee.
The lesson from this exercise in humility is that I really need to manage my Google. That means filling out the LinkedIn profile, even though I think it’s a pain. It means actually doing something with my branded Web page (that just sits, and sits). Thanks Dad; I can already hear the “I told you so.”
Let’s be honest. The first time you meet someone, or you get an introduction, what do you do? If you’re like me, you Facebook them. Then, after you realize they (probably) have a protected profile, you Google them. I’d just like to know what people are finding.
So much for writing every day… That lasted for a whopping one day. I really want to try, though. The problem is that my work comes in waves – one minute things are nice and peaceful and the next everything has gone to chaos. It’s amazing how much can change in the course of one hour. I’m off to an extra long day at work, but I’m hoping that the fact it’s Thursday (almost Friday) will pull me through.
Or rather, the people here can. For some (maybe good) reason I’m always skeptical when anyone tries to give me free stuff. Especially here. That’s why, when a guy on the subway this morning (7:30 a.m. no less!) offered me his seat, I looked at him like he was crazy. He wasn’t crazy, he was just being polite.
On the other hand, I live in a city of extremes. As my friend put it today, “We live on a tiny island full of f***ing freaks!” It’s true – the island is relatively small, especially for how many people, and different types of people, who are crammed in here. And not all of them wear their crazy on the outside.
A month or two ago I was walking down the street with a friend during my (rare) lunch break and the strangest thing happened. A man, not anyone who I would pick out as being a loony bird, came up to me and got about three inches from my face. He proceeded to elicit a startlingly loud “QUAAAAAACK!!!” in my face. And then he walked on by. Now, had he been pacing back and forth and talking to himself, I would have been prepared: ” This guy’s probably going to do something a little strange.” But no – he blended in.
I’m learning – by experience – to expect the unexpected. I carry my umbrella at all times because chances are it’s probably going to rain the second I’m not expecting it. I plan alternative routes, just in case the subway happens to decide it doesn’t want to stop at my intended destination on a Wednesday morning. Unfortunately, I have also started to become a very skeptical person. I’m just hoping that this skepticism doesn’t turn into cynicism. I want to be pleasantly surprised when someone performs a random act of kindness. Not rustling around in my purse to make sure they didn’t swipe my wallet while they were at it.
I’ve fallen off the wagon. I lasted for a while, but before too long the lure of a good night’s sleep (six hours is a luxury) and sushi delivery was too much. I caved. To be fair, blogging isn’t the only thing I’ve been less than strict about – I have gone running exactly once this month. I don’t remember the last time I cleaned my apartment. My laundry has been sitting at the laundromat, pressed and folded, for three days (believe it or not it’s actually cheaper to send it out than to do it in my apartment building!).
So… for my final summer project I propose: get my life in order. It’s not a simple task, but it’s definitely do-able I think.
To Do:
1. Budget! I’m not great at this one. Mint.com is good in theory, but the problem is that in New York, so much of daily life is cash-centric, which is hard to monitor. Nevertheless, there’s no excuse. I need to develop a weekly budget at least, you know, so I can pay rent and all.
2. Career! It took me a while, but I finally found what I love to do. I know where I want to go. Now I just have to build up my tools to get there. Not so hard, right? Sure…
3. Blog! So it looks like I’m going to have to go back on my blogging diet. As in the once-a-day-because-I’ll-forget type. Dad will be proud. Hi Dad!
4. Personal Brand! OK, enough with the !!! I know. I need to get a move on with all this personal branding situation. I realize this. It’s difficult though, when you spend all day working on other people’s/companies’ brands, to come home and work on your own.
5. Health Doctors’ appointments, exercise, eating meals that don’t come in little plastic cartons you stick in your freezer… you know, the basics.
So, there it is. My get-my-life-in-order plan. Now all I need are strategies, tactics and a SWOT analysis. What? It can’t hurt.
I feel like I live in more of a time-share than a three-bedroom apartment. Almost every day I wake up and leave before either of my roommates’ alarm clocks even think about going off. Every day I get back from work after they go to sleep. The apartment looks exactly the same as I left it. Sure it has its benefits, but not sure overall how I feel about it.
One of the most eye-opening things for me in writing this blog, in exploring Facebook (and Twitter and LinkedIn, etc.) and in this PR internship is that people are always watching. It sounds really creepy, but it’s true. I remember my freshman year of college being warned by all our teachers and the older girls in my sorority to be very careful what shows up on your Facebook profile. They would tell me that potential employers were looking, but even though I knew that it was a possibility, I never thought that someone my parents’ age would take the time to sign up for a Facebook account and check to make sure that I wasn’t doing anything inappropriate. I was so wrong.
My dad was on Twitter before I was. My grandmother just friended me on Facebook. Yesterday, my boss posted a comment on this blog. If you ever need a reminder that what you’re posting online can have real world consequences- there it is. I can tell you that my Facebook profile is squeaky clean, as well as any other site to which I contribute online. I mean, it has to be; my grandmother is reading it.
When I was growing up, my dad told me to never put in writing (as in an e-mail) what you wouldn’t want to see on the front page of The New York Times. While it may have been an exaggeration then, just look at Gov. Sanford to see the truth in that statement. It doesn’t have to be that juicy though. A simple comment about how your boss made you mad at work, or how a friend fell through for you could be misconstrued and blown out of proportion, causing some major consequences.
Finally, please don’t complain about your job on your MySpace profile, or blog, or Twitter. Chances are, your company is watching. It’s one thing to say, “I’m so exhausted from staying late at work,” but it’s quite another to say, “I hate f***ing working here, the people all suck.” You see, companies are now so concerned about what’s being said about them online that they’re hiring people to read it for them. A big part of my job every morning is to read through blogs and Twitter posts to find mentions of certain brands and companies, and compile a report of the most important ones and send it to them. With nifty little tools like Google Blogsearch, chances are your personal post griping about your job will appear. And I will have to include it in my report. And that makes me feel terrible because I know you’re just having a bad day and venting online. So don’t do it- talk to your dog or something instead.
So I know I’ve been complaining on and on about how rainy and depressing it’s been in New York since I’ve moved here. However, something exciting happened on Friday… It stopped! I had a long day at work on Thursday (curse you Microsoft Word AutoFormat – If I had wanted an indent there I would have pressed the TAB key!) I went to bed early, exhausted, only to wake up barely before noon to the sunshine streaming through my window. Wanting to take advantage of the beautiful day, I decided to take a little stroll around town and down to the Nike store (to pick up tennis whites for Connecticut). The problem with taking a stroll in New York is that you totally lose track of how far you’re going. Or, more importantly, how far away you are from home. Also- “comfortable shoes” take on a whole new meaning. I thought my Jack Rogers (flip-flop like flats) were comfortable, but after wandering around for five miles they were anything but. I have quarter-sized blisters on my heels and an awesome limp to boot. On top of that, I was on the 6 train on my way home and something strange happened – The train just stopped on 77th. I heard someone shriek “STOP THE TRAIN” and the doors just never closed. I heard something going on in the car over and the police were called in. About four minutes has passed now (which in New York is an eternity apparently) and meanwhile a sketchy 60 year old guy sat down next to me and started to tell me his life story, about how the police arrested him for “defending himself” on the subway once. I’m not sure which sketched me out more, the train being stopped for five minutes (especially with all the tragedies in the news lately) or my new sketchy “friend” but I decided that walking/limping an extra 20 blocks home to get away from it all wasn’t really THAT bad of an idea. As I sat on the edge of the tub tending my freakish blisters I questioned whether I made the right decision though.
I went out with Jess for a bit on Friday – back to Blockhead’s and we tried out a new bar called Public House. However, I think my severe caffeine dependency kicked in so I had to call it a night at around 11 p.m. Woke up the next morning and headed out to Southport to visit Addie’s family and finally get some beach time! The “Summer Fun” photo from above is from the pool at the club- 5 jets flew overhead advertising some sort of casino in Connecticut?! Anyway, the “summer fun” part still looked pretty cool. I don’t want to write too much about the weekend festivities (we had a cookout for the 4th- complete with s’mores!) until I get the pictures from Kallie but we had so much fun!
A little bad news though- when I got home I discovered that I had accidentally maxed-out my credit card (sorry Mom and Dad) which is really frustrating for two reasons: 1. I had enough money to cover it in my debit account! I just used the wrong card by accident! and 2. I caught it before they charge me. So now I can just transfer money to the credit account and cross my fingers (in vain) that it goes through before the charges (2 train tickets) do. Bleh. I never do this. And after they hit me with the crazy fees (in theory- aren’t they supposed to decline your card if it’s over the limit?!) I won’t be making that mistake any time soon. It just goes to show that credit limits go a lot faster in the city.
Finally got to go on the super-run that I’ve been needing. Ran around five miles in Central Park today – absolutely beautiful! I just wish that people who decide to congregate on the very narrow reservoir path would be considerate enough to leave a lane for runners/walkers to get through. And I’m sorry, but please don’t get huffy and upset with me when I run through the picture you have set up across the path. I guarantee I won’t be the last one to do it and it comes with the territory… I would love to run around you have managed to take up the entire path. Sorry!
When I first found out I was moving here, my parents told me that I would get plenty of exercise from just walking around the city. That was before the never-ending monsoon came. I absolutely love running through the park, but I know it’s not safe to run at night. That means, during the daylight hours I have two choices: 1) Wake up at 5:30 a.m. and get in a quick 45 minute run before work or 2) Come home extra early and get a run in before dark. Almost every day since I’ve been here, at least one if not both of those options has been eliminated by rain.
I’m one of those people who has to be active to be happy. I have to run, or do pilates, or exercise in some way in order to maintain my peace of mind. I’m starting to feel it now, and I’m worried if this rain keeps up that I’ll start to get unhappy – the kind that sort of sneaks up on you. I would try to join a gym or take classes or something, but what 22-year-old has the time or the money for that? Tomorrow morning my mission is to find some sort of free online pilates class, or something similar. If anyone has any suggestions, please let me know!
Sanjaya in the NYU dorms on 23rd
This weekend has absolutely flown by. Friday night I went out with my friend and a few of her friends from high school. She lives in the NYU dorms over on 23rd & 3rd, which are incredibly nice by the way. They’re huge! Brand new appliances and walk-in closets. The security is a bit of a pain though – you have to individually sign in guests, but I guess it’s worth it for safety. Anyway, as we were signing out, we run smack into Sanjaya of American Idol “fame” and more recently “I’m a Celebrity Get Me Out Of Here” (guilty pleasure- don’t judge). So that was kinda cool.
We ended up going to this cool little place in the Lower East Side called the Sunburnt Cow. It had a teeny dance floor (blasting MJ tunes of course) and an unmarked back room that sorta reminded me of the journey through the body exhibit at Epcot. They have an all-you-can-drink brunch for $18, which includes one breakfast item, such as banana pa
ncakes.
Today I went down to 21st & 5th to watch the gay pride parade. It was a beautiful day and so much fun! I also hit up Flurt for some frozen yogurt, which was amazing on such a hot day. I still need to check out Pinkberry though- the passion fruit flavor sounds delicious. I swear I could live off of falafel and frozen yogurt for the rest of the summer. I might try it – save some money and all.
After being totally unproductive all week, I think I’m going to do the wake-up-early thing tomorrow and go for a run in the park. Then we have our intern night (diner and drinks I think?) after work. Still need t find time to put my bed together and to do laundry. I’m looking forwad to getting some good weather (maybe!)
