Breaking the Radio Silence

Hey! Here I am!

It's shameful how long it's been since I've posted here. Since early April — yikes!

Well, here's a quick snapshot of what's happened in the last 3.5 months:

• I got a new job. In mid-June, I was recruited away from AutoTrader.com to work for a big public relations agency. (Yes, my degree is in PR, but I actually have a passion for corporate communications and employee engagement, which I will continue to do at this new gig.) I'll miss my peeps at ATC and my responsibilities there, but I'm welcome to this new, exciting opportunity.
  
• Just a month into my new job, I bonded with coworkers over a terribly tragic event. On Friday, July 15, a gunman shot and killed a woman from my building in the parking deck adjacent to my building — then opened fire on a group of girls walking across the street for lunch. Two of my colleagues were shot, one of whom still has a long recovery ahead. It turns out the gunman was a security guard from our building and the shooting occurred on his lunchbreak. We don't yet know if the deceased victim was at the wrong place at the wrong time, or if she was targeted. No matter what, that Friday was a terrible, sad, senseless, disturbing day. I am proud of everyone at my new office. The victims have been strong, positive and encouraging. Everyone else has come together in this tough time to be honest about their fears and expectations: better security, our right to trust security, etc. We're all reminded that life is short and your plotted course can change within the blink of an eye. Give all your friends and family a hug and tell them how much you love them. (News story here: http://www.ajc.com/news/atlanta/midtown-shooting-victim-was-1018502.html)
• I've been blogging semi-regularly to my other blog, Savvy in the City. Most posts focus on being able to dress well without spending a fortune (Goodwill FTW!), eating, online shopping and things to do around Atlanta.
• Dan and I got a new, sod lawn! I shouldn't put the exclamation point here because as of right now, it's been more of a frustration then a triumph; we found out right as the sod was being laid that we don't have enough water pressure to power the sprinkler system we had installed... so while we wait to have a second water meter installed, my sweet (and did I mention handsome?!?) husband has been manually watering the grass in the wee hours of the morning.
• I've been playing tennis. Tennis is fun — it's one of the few things that gets me off my tail and sweating. AND, in the league I joined, you pick your own schedule. It's called T2 Tennis. T2 is a "flex" league, which means you and your opponent e-mail and discuss a time that works for each of your schedules. No matter what your skill level, there's a T2 league that fits with your play experience/ability. I didn't play so well this season, but I'm enjoying it, and I'm enjoying Dan playing, too. (Ultimate Tennis is a similar deal-io).
• (Nothing I've accomplished lately is earth shattering or exciting, but I can't say that I mind.)
  

Things I'm grateful for today:

Family:




Upcoming weddings (my friend Julia's, and my brother Ben's):


Fresh fruit ripening on the window sill (from the Your Dekalb Farmer's Market, which always puts me in a good mood):


I won't be so long 'til next time... promise! But remember to check Savvy in the City for more regular updates.

Katy's Soapbox: Networking

I try to keep my blog light. However, every now and again I feel compelled to jump on my soap box and share something that irks me.

Today's topic: networking.

I still keep in touch several professional contacts I respect very much. I had mentioned to one of my contacts a few months ago that I "owe him" for all the good feedback and recommendations he's given me over the years. Since he's a busy guy, I encouraged him to send me any young, hungry marketing or communications professionals or students who want to network or get some good advice.

Earlier this month, I agreed to meet up with a recent grad (Marketing) to discuss her career. After all, I am eternally grateful for the many professionals who met with me when I was a college student -- many of which I'm still in touch with today. I feel inclined to spend some time with young professionals and recent grads because I remember how tough it was to meet people and find jobs.

So the recent grad was perfectly nice, albeit a little clueless about what one does at an informational interview. Of course an informational interview means that there's not a job opening -- but it's a chance for a job seeker to make a good impression on a working professional. Informational interviews are a great way to add people to your network who may have job openings in the future or fantastic other connections to introduce you to. It's also an opportunity to explain your strengths, talents, interests, aspirations and more.

So based on how that convo went, I've compiled a list of informational interview "musts..."

People, for informational interviews, please, I beg of you:

• Bring your resume to the conversation (for both discussion and for critique)
• Bring your portfolio (even if you don't have professional writing, project management or design experience, your classwork is still a good read on your style and work quality)
• Spend more time asking questions of the person who agreed to meet you versus talking about yourself (you'll get more leverage out of these conversations if you seem interested in the person you're meeting's career; in other words, flattery goes a long way)
• Write some interview questions out before you meet ("What's your career path been up to this point?" "What do you enjoy most about your job?" "What suggestions would you offer a recent grad?")
• Know what you're looking for in your next job
• Take notes during your conversation (If I tell you the name of some companies to look up or resources to check out, act like you care and plan to research them)
• WRITE THE PROFESSIONAL WHO TOOK TIME TO MEET UP WITH YOU A FREAKING THANK YOU NOTE (preferably handwritten, but e-mail is better than nothing... I'm still waiting on mine)

Follow these tips and you'll keep from looking like a total goober. Who knows? Maybe you'll impress someone.

Katy

Halloween Costume Madness

My office held a fall festival on Friday, complete with a costume contest, chili cookoff and bake-off. Never the one to skip out on an opportunity to dress up or cook, I participated by wearing a costume and chili cookoff. My actual Halloween costume wouldn't have made sense without the husband (not to mention it wasn't made yet) so I went with an old standard and easy costume.

Some photos from the day (thankfully I wasn't the only employee to participate in dressing up):

HR does its best Smooth Criminal impression.

Gene is...? Redneck?

Balloon Boy's dad. This was one of my favorite costumes (gotta love a pop culture or current events reference costume)

These ladies called themselves "Ebony and Ivory."

There was food (baked goods here).

And more food (chili).

Julie was someone from NCIS (I don't watch the show but I heard she was spot on)

Can you guess what this is?

Love this costume. "The Most Interesting Man in the World" (aka the Dos Equis man)

Yep, I wore regular clothes from my closest and donned a collapsable witches hat.

I had to save my real costume for Saturday night. :)

We had a Marilyn and a Xena.

Flash forward to Saturday night. I PROMISE that Dan planned to do this costume before the untimely death of the infomercial star himself. If you look below, you'll understand more about 1) why I wouldn't make sense by myself and 2) why I wouldn't have been able to sit down at work wearing this.

Self explanatory, right?

I think Dan's look was perfect. Kudos to Maria for suggesting I be the infomercial prop.

Anna planned to rock my American Gladiator costume from last year. She went ahead and made this shield in preparation. Too bad I couldn't find it. AT THE VERY LAST MINUTE. Two hours, $5 fabric and a royal blue long john's shirt later, she had a costume. Phew. I'm glad I have that sewing machine.

Photo evidence of costume construction project:

Alan (Anna's bf) was a creepy old flasher. Yes, he really did shave the top of his head.

Kyle and Maria were totally authentic (mummy and Cleopatra).

I already can't wait for next year. I LURVE Halloween.

Making a List, Checking it Twice

Today, I join the ranks of unemployed America.

Before I continue my post, allow me to explain that I understand and respect the company's decision to do a small layoff. It's no secret this is a tough economy — and in the business they're in (or in any business for that matter), it's increasingly tough to secure new business and maintain current client budgets. I enjoyed my year there and have benefited tremendously from the experience. Management treated me well in my departure — and I hope to stay in touch with my former colleagues. Thank you for the experience — and thank you to those who offered to write me letters of recommendation or share contacts.

Resume post. Seeing in that I'm going to have a lot more free time, I should start brainstorming things to do. And what's better for brainstorming than making a... LIST!?!

Ideating... things to do in the next month:

• Get a massage (thanks, Dan, for scheduling one today!)
• Increase average LA Fitness visits per week statistic
• Work on my tan (and margarita quota)
• Make a list of corporate communications and agency folks to network with
• Read What Color Is Your Parachute and Carve Your Own Road (i.e. to help me think more about what it is I want to do with my career and my life)
• Hang out with Olivia and baby Collins before Olivia has to return to work
• Finally sew that dress (I've seriously had the pattern and fabric chillin' in the closet for nearly a year)
• Detox my closet and dresser drawers; bring detoxed items to Goodwill and The Nearly New store
• Paint the living room and dining room
• Master the art of low-cost meal preparation
• Mix some fiction books in with my serious/professional reading
• Network (see bullet 4)
• Generally help get our house ready to sell
• Learn yoga
• Start a book project I've been putting off...
• Try not to spend money (free time = too much shopping)

I'll keep you all posted on my endeavors!

Farewell to Devon — Tag-along Ding Dongs

Devon (left) with Dawn at our office Christmas shindig (Dec. 2008)

Devouring a Tag-along Ding Dong

Today, we bid farewell to our colleague Devon. While we're all very sad that she's leaving the company (and Atlanta), our collective office is excited about Devon embarking on new things...

To commemorate Devon's last day, the talented Dawn brought in Tag-along Ding Dong Cupcakes. I am not totally sure how the name evolved — but I am sure these things are sinfully delicious. See Dawn's post about the cupcakes (and how to make them) here. These treats encompass everything you want in a dessert: chocolate, peanut butter and an easy-to-execute recipe. (Check out Dawn's blog for lots of great photography, craft ideas, party inspirations and general warm-fuzzy-feel-good posts.)

We'll miss you, Devon. Cheers!

Is there a better way to end a work week?

Thank with cheese, grapes, olives and olive tapenades, wine and Michael Jackson tribute music?

I think not.

THANKS TO ASHLEY FOR COORDINATING!

My Office Garden

Not long after Allison gifted me with a gorgeous arrangement of pink flowers, my awesome girlfriend Maria brought over some precious little daffodils (and some carrot cake — mmmm...). Then maybe an hour later, a florist delivered some hyacinths from my father and stepmother. 

It looks (and smells) like I'm growing my own little garden in my office. I love it!

New Office Accessories

I have a few new office accessories as of today!

My secret Santa (Devon!) made me little magnets decorated with the colors and emblems of my favorite football teams (Green Bay and The University of Georgia) and Dan's favorite teams (Dallas and The University of Tennessee). I think these would look great on the metal border of my dry erase board. (You can learn to make similar marble magnets by visiting this fun site).

Thanks for the groovy magnets, Devon!

Recipient of my secret santa gift (Christmas tree skirt not pictured), with Olive

My SS, Devon (left), with Dawn

Also, I decided today to bring in a framed photo of Dan for my desk. I think it looks quite nice if I can say so myself!

Cookie Swap

Yesterday was my office's 2nd Annual Cookie Swap—but my first. 

Each employee was asked to bring at least four dozen cookies (preferably more) with two dozen for swapping and two dozen for sampling.

I tried to impress the creative crowd with Heidi's banana chip cookies, which also included roasted walnuts and chocolate chunks. They were tasty but not quite the decadent and indulgent taste of their cookie swap peers. 

Our "cookies" ranged from old fashioned maypos, traditional Greek Easter cookies and iced sugar cookies to chocolate covered pretzels, oatmeal/cranberry/macadamia nut cookies and coconut macaroons. I went home with a box of at least 20 kinds of cookies that probably weighed five pounds. Let's just hope that's not how much I gain as a result of this cookie tradition madness. Can you say diabetes?

Photos care of Julie S's camera

Awesome Anniversary Gift!

No, it's not quite time to celebrate my first anniversary with Dan. We still have just under 11 months until that rolls around.

I will celebrate an anniversary before October 4, 2009: my anniversary with my current employer!

Historically, the company has given employees their favorite bottle of wine, a balloon and a nice card on their employment anniversary. This has been well appreciated by our 30 or so employees—at least until our company president came up with an even better idea. Here are some excerpts from his e-mail announcing the new anniversary gift plan:

To remind everyone, we are changing how we recognize employees on their employment anniversary date. From now on, we are giving employees Kiva credit, which you will use to make microloans on the Kiva website. Oh, and balloons and the card with a touching comment from me, too. 

For this year, we will be giving everyone $50 for every year they've been here. After this year, we will add $50 in Kiva credit on each of your subsequent anniversaries. Pretty quickly, [our company] will be approaching $10,000 in Kiva loans.  

You can get to our team page by visiting kiva.org, clicking on community and typing [our company name] into the search function. 

I, too, have $600 in our team loans. I made my loans this morning. I elected to complete two loans that were not yet fully funded. One was to Beatrice Kimbugwe in Uganda who owns a small general store. The other was to Juliet Algekaen in Nigeria, who also owns a small general store. It felt great that my $600 worked out perfectly to complete both of these loans. 

 I look forward to choosing my loan recipient on July 1, 2009. How cool is that?

Dogs Love Halloween, too

Like my coworker Ashley often feels, I felt I couldn't resist posting this adorable photo. Jay J (or is it "J Jay?"), one of our office dogs, tried on a pair of googly eyes from my stepmother's Halloween candy/gift care package.

Bidding Farewells

I finally bit the bullet this afternoon and e-mailed my current colleagues to let them know I'm leaving. Despite feeling that it's time to move on to another job, it's still tough to bid farewell to those I've enjoyed working with.

It was tough to write the e-mail, decide who to send it to, press send... and read the responses. I am so overwhelmed with the support and compliments of those I've worked with, some of which I've never met since they work all around the country. Note, the person who mentioned the smile works at my office. If not, that would be creepy!


I will miss you. It has been a pleasure working with you. You did an exceptional job on [the employee magazine]. May your new career be everything you hope for and keep the creativity flowing. Thanks.

We are going to miss you and all the energy you devoted to [the employee magazine]. It's been a pleasure working with you and I wish you the best in your new job.

We will miss your shiny smile.

CONGRATULATIONS. I know we have never met face to face but, you have always been one of my favorite's. You will be missed but, never forgotten. I wish you and your family the best that life has to offer.

It's been great working with you. I don't believe we've ever met, but your e-mails are always happy and positive so I'm sure you're a wonderful person. Best of luck!

You have done an excellent job & we appreciate your hard work. It has been a pleasure to work with you.

Sorry to see you go Katy. I will miss your enthusiasm and your excitement for life. Have a wonderful transition period and maybe our paths will cross again in the future. Good Luck!

Best wishes to you personally and professionally. Thank you for all your support of the volunteer activities....you very effectively helped in many ways to spread the word and encourage volunteerism at the Rock. I'll miss you!

What an honor it's been to work with such a broad range of great, appreciative people. I'm going to miss this.

A Pivotal Time

Yesterday marked a pivotal time in my career.

After months of soul searching (and later job searching), I put in my two week notice with my current employer. Working here has given me so much more experience and opportunity than I ever expected when I applied for the job.

If I can recall correctly, the job listing titled “Corporate Communications Coordinator” for this packaging, paperboard and merchandising display company seemed very support oriented, not that I was going to complain about that. After all, I was applying just before graduation and I had been looking for a job for the entire semester. The monster.com job description mentioned helping with the employee magazine, assisting with vendor research and generally supporting a Corporate Communications Manager.

This all sounded great to me for several reasons. First and foremost, it was a “real” job versus an internship. So many of my friends who were graduating from The University of Georgia’s Grady College of Journalism either had to take internships post-graduation or decided to work outside of their areas of academic studies. I personally, at times, wished I had gotten the memo that jobs in journalism and communications were few and far between, not to mention relatively low-paying compared to other fields out there.

Secondly, there was irony in the company’s core businesses. My dad works for a major packaging and paperboard company and has for 30-plus years. Who would have guessed that I would follow in his footsteps, as well as my mother’s (she did corporate communications for a major supplemental insurance provider), and work for one of his company’s competitors? I’d joked and made fun of him for years for being a “pulp and paper engineer.” But there I was, going to work for a company that made boxes, cartons, protective packaging and the like. I would imagine that my knowing a little more about the business than the average bear helped me get the job.

Thirdly, deep down inside, I didn’t want to do public relations, the degree my diploma reads. I would have studied corporate communications if UGA had offered it. This was an opportunity to get my foot in the door doing corporate communications and some marketing.

So I started on June 6, 2005, with my supervisor leaving for a great opportunity only four months into my employment. Her, what I thought was an untimely departure, ended up opening quite a few doors and windows. I was trusted to do projects that I never would have expected and her position was never rehired.

And it’s been a neat nearly three years. My time here has dabbled in internal announcements, the employee magazine, marketing literature, videos, meeting planning, presentations, annual reports, corporate citizenship, human resources communications and more.

As I reflect on the last few years, I have some tinges of guilt. Our employee magazine seems to mean so much to the company’s hard working, blue collar employees. Many of these people don’t have access to e-mail, the intranet or so many of the modern technologies we office dwelling employees have. The magazine has been their chance to be recognized individually or collectively as factories for volunteerism, safety achievements, production records, excellence in customer service, health and wellness, inventions and more. I know everyone is replaceable; regardless, I somewhat feel like I am letting down some of these employees.

I have a letter from one of our retirees that I plan to carry with me from job to job. This particular retiree asked to be on the mailing list despite his being retired for many years from a paper mill in Minnesota. He sent me a Christmas letter last year that read,

“Thanks for remembering us retirees. Some of the last to retire, I can still remember their first date of hire. Nice to hear what is going on in our other plants. […] my clock keeps ticking—hope to be around for many more years to come. The snow here is 22 inches plus five more tonight. I don’t shovel, just watch it snow. Nice to be retired this time of year. Sincerely, MG”

This note reminds me that there is meaningful work out there, even doing work for a corporation. To this gentleman, seeing updates on his former colleagues and seeing the company grow has brought joy.

Another fond memory of working on the magazine was a cover art contest we held about two years ago. Many people entered, though one person called regularly to see if we had judged the contest yet. When we finally pulled together a cross-divisional team of people from many functional areas, the committee actually chose this guy's art. He was a production worker with a passion for design. When I called him and told him that he'd won, he told me that it was the best day of his life. When I went on to say that he would also be receiving a monogrammed company jacket and a framed copy of his magazine cover, he said that was all just a bonus.

Now I am on to the next chapter in my working life, a chapter I am excited and eager to begin. I will be an account manager at a highly renown design and strategy agency located here in Atlanta. I am beyond flattered to have been extended an invitation to work among the firm’s creative minds. The scope of work includes mostly annual reports and corporate communications, two types of work I’ve truly enjoyed. I will also be helping, through discovery and a fantastic collaborative approach, companies find out how they want to be perceived by employees, brought to market and seen by Wall Street. I already know I'll be able to learn a lot from this smart, witty and interesting team of communicators and designers. I also hope I don't disappoint.

Thanks to all for supporting my growth, forgiving my mistakes, allowing me to work on high level projects and understanding my need to move on.

– Katy

What do you want to be when you grow up?

When posed the question that titles this blog, my answer has changed along with my age. This question was a topic in my father's engagement toast to Dan and me (he recounted a story about how I told him I wanted to be a septic tank technician when I was four because one came to our house... and I suppose I thought it was cool).

Age 4. Septic tank technician. Actually, I think I said, "I wanna be a sepick tank lady." The technician who came to our upper Michigan home to suck out the contents of our Lake Bluff home's icky tank had a big truck, a long hose and what seemed to be a good job. The story goes on to say that after the technician left, I went and put on my little brother's kid-sized flight suit, walked out to the backyard and put a hose into a hole in the sandbox and proudly declared, "look! I'm a sepick tank lady!"

Age 8. While I didn't come out and say it per say, I think I wanted to be some kind of actress or director. Plays, aerobatic performances and other theatrics were regular occurrences in our backyard and living room. I usually enlisted friends and family, coordinated roles and the schedule of events and recruited friends from the neighborhood to come watch our "shows." On second thought, maybe my calling was event planning or project management during this time in my life.

Age 12. Making a career as a lawyer seemed like a good idea. My mom told me that I was good at listening to both sides of any story, asking tough questions, brainstorming possible scenarios and communicating my ideas. Wait, maybe my mom thought I would be a good lawyer. Thinking back, I'm not sure I did. Good thing I can use all these capabilities as a journalist/communicator (what I have chosen to do in the end).

Age 14. Extreme exposure to Law & Order, criminal investigation shows on TLC and movies about serial killers and other assorted criminals got me thinking that I should consider a future in criminal psychology or forensics. I mean, how cool would it be figure out what goes on in the mind of a psychotic killer... or to be the one who breaks a case by considering the pizza man or the concierge as suspects when no one else would. Maybe it was the idea of not being able to sleep at night or being the next victim that turned me off of this bright idea.

Age 17. At this point, I really had it figured out. What could be more interesting and have more variety than working as a broadcast journalist, specifically as a reporter for one of the television news magazines (think Dateline, 20/20, Primetime and 60 Minutes). With a position like that, you have the honor of interviewing and investigating politicians, entertainers, scientists, economists, psychologists, criminals and other famous (and notorious) personalities. When I completed all my core classes during my first two years at the University of Georgia, it wasn't the scope of work that eventually deterred me from being a broadcast journalist; it was finding out that you get paid peanuts for decades (not to mention have to move every year or two) until a select few make it to the coveted seats on television news magazines. Screw you Ann Curry, Barbara Walters and Keith Morrison.

Age 20. After figuring out that broadcast wasn't for me, I settled on studying public relations and journalism. My degree reads "ABJ," which sounds like an associate's degree; but it actually means "Bachelor of Arts Degree in Journalism." In this program, I learned more about writing, handling public relations campaigns, graphic design, persuasive presentations and researching opinions and markets. If UGA, which happens to be one of the better journalism schools in the nation, had a corporate communications program, I probably would have done that. Nonetheless, I am glad I took the route I did.