The Game Of Commuting

The life of a commuter is like a long game of Monopoly. You can plan your moves and your purchases (I prefer buying all of the Railroads) and with just one roll of the dice you can find yourself in jail, going right past Go, and without $200.

Commuting can be that never-ending game. I’ve recently started playing the daily game of commuting to work (a drive on average 40 minutes one way) and I’ve concluded I’ll never be able to win. This conclusion of mine doesn’t stop me from playing though, it actually does quite the opposite and encourages me even more to whip out my best moves to try to beat the inevitable opponent: traffic.

The highs are deceiving. Just like you get excited about buying Boardwalk and putting a hotel on it, I now get genuinely excited about waking up extra early and getting out of the door by 7am. This is one of my best moves to beat traffic. It usually works.

The lows can be devastating…like when you get thrown into jail and don’t get your $200 dollars devastating. It is my social life or physical exercise schedule that suffers when on days my commute is more than doubled and I find myself in a basically parked car, sliding on ice on the highway without proper nourishment (coffee). Ouch.

Photo cred: http://bit.ly/1nsP6f7

Besides my ultimate desire to beat traffic, I aim to battle against its constant sidekick, the clock. It’s a widely known fact among fellow downtown commuters that leaving at certain times bodes you certain exasperating results. One of these times is 5 o’clock. Leave then and you can be certain, just like the groundhog always is on February 2^nd that we will have 6 more weeks of winter, that you will not beat traffic and will actually be stuck in it. Leave at 4:45pm and you are fine. Leave at 5:15pm and you can cancel all plans you had for the night or really just delay them a bit as you will be in your car much longer depending on where you need to go. (I tend to have a flair for the dramatics).

The battle I am waging though really isn’t against the clock or traffic…it’s against fellow commuters like myself who make up the traffic. So the name of the game is to think what they are thinking and then do the opposite. That’s one way to “win.” But no matter who I’m up against or if I am on a high or a low with the game of commuting, I secretly kind of enjoy it or that may be too bold, I make the best of it.

So to all of my fellow commuters who I may be stuck in traffic with come tomorrow, I hope you can enjoy it too.

Comebacks…they are the best.

I sometimes do this. I blog elsewhere like for my company, Fat Atom, and I share below. I am doing that again because this post has some good news in it that many of you will enjoy…or at least I did. So there you go, it is below!

You can find this original post here.

So there has been an avid rush of comebacks lately. I couldn’t be more thrilled.

If any of these images got you at least a little excited then we can be friends. I mean really, how can you NOT be excited about 98 degrees, Tamagotchi, and Boy Meets World re-entering our world as we know it? I’m thrilled about these comebacks and wish they could have come back sooner OR that I actually had an Android phone to play Tamagotchi, darn.

But regardless if you are excited or could care less about these 90s favorites making their return, this blog post does have something to do with marketing. These comebacks got me thinking about how things of the past resurface and we get so excited and euphoric about them. They stir up memories…typically fond ones of our childhood or college days. We can’t wait to re-listen, re-play, or re-watch something we used to love. It is this idea of stirring up emotions or memories that makes a memorable and usually effective marketing campaign.

Even though 98 degrees, Tamagotchi, and Boy Meets World are coming back and will probably be somewhat successful with nostalgic 20-somethings like myself, what never left is the importance of sound messaging in marketing. It is messaging after all that helps stir up emotions to make people act…the must have for effective marketing. And messaging doesn’t just have to be words. It can be words within images that people connect with online, on billboards, on a brochure, whatever. Or it can be images themselves. Having sound messaging that can connect and thus stir emotions with your opportune audience is something you need to have in your marketing. If you don’t…stop, freak out, breathe, and then call us for help to develop a plan. 

The impact of messaging is never going to make a comeback because it is here to stay…for the long haul, kind of like the Rolling Stones.

Decision Time

For any readers who have 1. planned a wedding or 2. are planning a wedding or 3. planned someone else’s wedding, you know first hand that the one constant among price tags, color schemes, decorations, dresses, invitations, gift registry, DJ’s, etc. is that you, YOU, the bride or planner, have to make countless meaningful decisions. You may be like, “Katie, come on now, duh, of course you have to make decisions, it’s your wedding!” And yes, I’ll side with you there is some “duh” factor to what I am saying but I’m a few months in to this whole wedding planning business and I am sitting here typing still in shock at how many decisions I/we have to make and how bad at times I am at making them.

What color ribbon for the flowers? Where do I want to go on my honeymoon? What decorations do I want? What is the wording for your invitations? What kind of cake will you go with? What songs will you play at your ceremony and reception? What is your something borrowed? Something blue? Where are you going to register? What will you get the bridesmaids? What are your vows?

The questions could go on so to save space or my sanity I’ll stop there. But do you see what I mean? Making decisions is like going to a buffet when you aren’t that hungry. You want to get your money’s worth so you put items on your plate but you can’t decide what to put on their as there are so many darn delicious looking choices. The pasta dish or the stuffing or the apple pie? And no in this written example, you can’t have all three. It’s a tough call but you have to make a decision before the lady with her tray next to you gets even more agitated OR the serving staff behind the counter is too annoyed with your indecisiveness.

What’s my problem with decisions? I think my main problem is there are too many of them all at once (just like the buffet) but my worldly struggle to want to make just the right decision doesn’t help matters either. Decision time isn’t easy and no this blog isn’t about how I have figured out to make it any easier. But what I have discovered is that during my current reality of wedding planning, decision making is a must. So here’s my pledge to make decision making more FUN rather than _______[anti-fun words go here].

And back to the buffet, I think I would choose the stuffing. You?

I am a swan, what are you?

I have no idea how one of my coworkers came across this website. I don’t ask. We are lovers of the interwebs and do plenty of personal research to help us get inspired for the creative marketing work we do so someone in their inspiration search found their way to this interesting website. And of course I took this quiz.

Although each question didn’t have a great answer that described me I still forged ahead and took the quiz. And I found out that my spiritual animal is a swan…which is actually pretty accurate. “Your good nature often leads people to think they can take advantage of you, but they should be careful- beneath that serenity lies a fighting spirit.”  That nails it on the head.

At work, my boss has dubbed me as a sweet and flowery pit bull. I think I like swan better as they are much more graceful but whatever the animal, I live up to the description.

So I’m a swan, what are you?

Blogging Elsewhere

This week I bylined a blog that is elsewhere on the web…I thought I would share it here as I think it is a funny story about how white boards are my office best friends. Enjoy!

Blog first seen on: fatatommarketing.com/blog

Title: White Boards: An Account Manager’s Best Friend

Subtitle if blogs had subtitles: The Effectiveness of White Boards in a Creative Marketing Environment

There are five of them in our office. They are hung up like artwork (because in reality they are) and our marker collection rivals an art teacher’s paintbrush inventory (we have a lot). What are they? Well if you didn’t read the title or the subtitle (can we say skimmer?!) the “they” I am talking about are white boards. Glorious, awesome and beautiful white boards.

My white boards are my best friends in the office. They help me as Account Manager do my job more effectively. They help our team get creative and brainstorm for client projects. And they are just fun.

Job Effectiveness Increases with White Boards

Example 1

One white board in the office is MY white board. It is off limits to my team or anyone else really. It is the space I put the details for what we need to get done for each of our awesome clients. It is MINE! It is something we all look to for reference at any given moment during the day, and something that helps me stay on top of the work we need to deliver to clients. It is a vital piece of our team’s resources to make sure we are on the same page and completing the work we need to do. We’ve tried online task manager systems. I (and they) still prefer white boards. Thus…my white board helps me be a better and more effective account manager.

Team Brainstorms Succeed with White Boards

Example 2

We are in the creative business. Coming up with wild and crazy ideas is something we thrive on and love to do. Team brainstorms for a client project succeed 10x more with white boards than without them. It is a proven fact. Okay, it is not an actual scientifically proven fact, but I know brainstorms work much better with white boards. We all get a marker (I always get pink) and we write our ideas out on the board. We erase the ones we don’t like. We keep the ones we do. It’s brilliant and it is successful.

White Boards Are Fun

Example 3

Who doesn’t like drawing on white boards? Although I can’t draw anything beyond stick figures, having art time on an erasable surface is just fun. Our designers blow steam by drawing fun creatures. I don’t usually draw but rather admire their work and even that is still fun.

So there you have it…three clear reasons why white boards are my office best friends.

Saving Pennies Inside a Black Hole

So I love Target. It is a fabulous store. It’s a place where not only can I buy gift wrap for someone’s birthday present, aloe for my sunburn, wine for a girls night in, but also my favorite go-to, a V-neck t-shirt. It’s brilliant, and if you have ever been there you know what I mean when I say, it is a black hole. My money just seems to go “poof!” and disappear when I make a Target shopping trip.  I go in there for one thing and walk out a cart full an hour later tossing it up to thinking “I really needed all of the things in my basket. Well, maybe not the green nail polish but I love that color!”

I don’t know if I am showing signs of my age or maturity (possible) or just live far away enough from a Target now (likely) that I have a new black hole stealing my pennies: the grocery store.

Like clockwork, the grocery store robs me each and every week! I know we all have to eat and food is practical to fulfill that need but jeeze-o-peet, my grocery bills would seem like I am feeding either an army OR eating like a Queen.

I think it is a mixture of both. I love serving others and not eating alone. I’d rather you come over to enjoy a meal with me in my table-less apartment (it’s actually fun to eat on the floor!) than eat with only me, myself, and I.  Conversation is better that way, the food is better that way, and life is just better that way when meals are shared.

I’m not really living or eating like a Queen either.  My paycheck won’t really allow me to eat like Queen E across the pond but I just don’t take shortcuts. I like my fresh fruits and vegetables and I buy them.  If you are like me then you know eating fresh can add up.

I have to figure out how to save pennies while inside my black hole. I can’t simply take a detour because this girl’s got to eat. Coupons? My new best friend. Meal planner? Something I’ll add to my routine every weekend.

Have you figured out the secret to saving pennies inside your black hole? Share your wisdom in the comments below, my wallet would really appreciate it.

Chipped Nail Polish Will Have To Be Good Enough

I love a fresh manicure.  Who doesn’t? (Well maybe not the male readers, but take my word for it, a fresh manicure is wonderful!) Even better is a fresh gel manicure. I mean really? Perfect nails I can’t mess up when I wash my hands religiously or nick when I am baking. Brilliant idea.  I thank you gel nail polish creator. Bravo!

What’s the worst? Chipped nail polish.  Although I have an abundant love for manicures and all things pampering, my wallet does not.  This means 3 out of 4 times I’m painting my own nails. This is a great pastime for “me” time or hang out time with my girlfriends. Take an hour, file your nails, start with a base coat, add the color x2, finish with topcoat, sit and enjoy!

But I rarely get to the enjoy part. Sitting is my problem. I have a really hard time sitting post polish for my nails to dry. Even if I don’t have a problem sitting on the day I paint my nails, I still manage to mess them up, chip them, smudge them, do something so that they look nothing like they gloriously did right after I put my brush down. I can never enjoy them.

Sitting really isn’t my problem though, patience is. I have a hard time sitting and doing nothing when I could be up and doing something. Is this your problem too? Maybe you don’t have any problem sitting but it’s the getting up and doing you find problematic. Whatever you may find troublesome, patience or the doing, I’ve learned it’s okay to not be good at either. It’s okay to not be perfect but to try to grow in whichever you are weaker at.  So for me it is patience. For you?

This coming from a recovering perfectionist but chipped nail polish will just have to be good enough!