Let’s Get Dangerous

I think there’s something to be said for the wisdom hidden just below the surface of childhood cartoons. Today’s edition of Acumen Acquired via Adolescent-Aimed Animation (A^5 for short) comes from my favorite of the Duck spinoff universes, Darkwing Duck (with Duck Tales in a close second).

For those of you too old or too young to appreciate the glory that was Darkwing Duck, picture the lovechild of Donald Duck’s cousin and Batman, with just a dash of Don Quixote.  Our words of wisdom (and the title of this post) come from the titular character’s catchphrase: “Let’s get dangerous.” To clarify, I’m not advocating taking up chainsaw juggling (though if you do, please make more videos like this), but rather that you take a moment to move outside the comfort zone.

Some (I would argue most) of life’s greatest adventures come at those times when we’re a little unsure of what the outcome will be. Seven months ago, I decided that I wanted to play in a band again. One week later, I was the new bassist for Chicago’s Best AC/DC tribute band*, Riff Raff. Was I a great bassist? Absolutely not- I had bought the bass only a few months prior. Did I want to be in a band bad enough to answer a random ad on Craigslist and learn a 5-song set in as many days, not to mention buying a second amp on the way TO the audition (which has, to this day, not seen my apartment)? The short answer, of course, is yes.

How’s that gone so far? We received the honor of having one of the year’s best cover songs; appeared in America’s finest news source, The Onion; and have a summer full of shows lined up months in advance. Most importantly, I’m getting to travel all around Illinois playing kick-ass rock and roll and having an absolute blast.

To continue this trend, I’m making a commitment to myself to do at least one thing outside my comfort zone every week for the next 13 weeks. Why 13, you ask? By selecting a traditionally unlucky number, I’ve already taken the first step in living up to the title of the post. I’m defying superstition, thumbing my nose at the Fates, knocking on wood desparately and begging Destiny to be kind, pulling myself together and standing resolute in my new Devil-May-Care lifestyle.

For posterity’s sake, recaps of exploits to come will follow. Until then, keep it risky my friends.

Some light 2011 Dusting

Well, it’s only been another quarter of a year since I last visited these friendly pages. Not to fall into the New Years’ resolution crowd, but it feels like the time is right to return to regular writing that’s NOT on behalf of a client. Let’s play a little catch-up, shall we?

Work

My work with Weber Shandwick has been focused primarily on the digital side of consumer tech giant Motorola. It was a great win for our agency, and it’s been a lot of fun being on the ground level of a new client. The first few months between an agency and a new client is a lot like a first date, where you’d REALLY like things to go well. So far, I think this date has been pretty splendid. With our work at CTIA, the viral (yes, I mean it- 1 million views in 3 days makes it real) video and most recently our contributions to the CES conference, my time spent at work is never dull.

Play

Like I said, I’m looking forward to some writing that ISN’T client related, and there have been many exciting developments over the past few months. For many, 2011 brings hope of a new year- a better year- and in that regard I’m no different. I can’t wait to begin working with the Audience Development Committee of the Steppenwolf Theatre sometime this or next month; I’ll be working with a team of dedicated individuals who are passionate about the arts to help create a sustainable model to bring more Millenial members into the Steppenwolf family. If that weren’t enough, there are already quite a few exciting gigs lined up for the band.

What band? Oh that’s right- it’s been a while. After attending a concert at the Metro last fall, I made the rash and impulsive decision that I wanted to once again be in a band and perform music. After roughly 10 minutes of Craigslist searching, I happened across a listing for a bassist for an AC/DC tribute band. I thought to myself, “Hell, I like AC/DC. That’d be a lot of fun to play around town!”

Wait, what? When did I get a bass?  My oh my, it HAS been a while. This summer, I decided that I wanted to merge my love of rhythm and drums with my exceptionally mediocre guitar skills and pursue the bass. As fortune would have it, over the weekend of the 4th of July, my friend Ryan both needed a place to stay in Chicago while his band completed their Midwestern tour, but also happened to be selling a Fender J-Bass for a very reasonable price. Fast forward back to late September.

I received a prompt response from the listing and was set to play 5 songs with the band to see if I had what it took. The following Wednesday. Though I had purchased a small practice amp the week before, I knew that it would not have enough juice to be heard over a full band. So I returned to the place that helped me locate my job, my first apartment in Chicago (complete with two lovely roommates), my bass and my potential band: the internet! Roughly 10 minutes of Craigslisting again, I located a very reasonably priced Ampeg 105 watt solid-state 1X15 amplifier. After a few email exchanges, the seller and I agreed on a price and a pick-up date: Wednesday. After purchasing the amp on the way to my audition, I briefly thought to myself, “What the hell am I doing?”

That thought was quickly squashed when precisely one week later I was not only the new bassist of an AC/DC tribute band, but we also had acquired a weekly gig at Lilly’s Bar on Lincoln Avenue. What’s the old Allstate motto, life comes at you fast?

Fast forward three months and you’ll find yourself here. I gotta say, 600+ words later; it feels good to be back.

Since U Been Gone

I’m not only breathing for the first time, I’m screaming at the top of my lungs for joy.

First, I would like to address my loyal readers who may have wondered about my extended absence: sorry Grandma. I hope you still love me as much.

Now that that’s out of the way, it’s time to get through the daunting task of bringing this blog up to speed on the goings-on of my, at this point, wildly exciting and incredibly optimistic life. For example, I just signed up for my 401k. Not words I really thought about 5 months ago. Let me get down into the nitty gritty.

1. Pardon my French, mais mon emploi c’est foutrement génial! I couldn’t be happier anywhere else. Tomorrow marks my 3 month anniversary working with Weber Shandwick as an AAE, with my 90-day review following on Thursday.

2. I sold my car. While this may not make much sense as to why it falls under the exciting category, it translates to $350 a month in my paycheck, rather than to a car I haven’t seen in nearly 6 months that I get to spend in a city where public transit can get me any/everywhere I need to go.

3. I still live in Chicago. Yes, I know that some of you were worried that in my absence perhaps I had lost my job, sold all my belongings and hitchhiked home to Ohio, or worse… Logan County, and abandoned all hope to ever finding happiness. Though I appreciate your concerns, I assure you- I am fine.

Though it’s late and I’m tired after a long day’s rocking, this post is essentially to mark the joyous occasion of my return to blogging. Though sometimes it’s not easy to work on social media projects all day and still find excitement and joy in telling my story, it’s something that brings me joy and, one day might have a little sentimental value. If nothing else, it helps keep my writing sharp and my ideas alive.

It’s good to be back.

Intern Report 2: Living the Dream

I can honestly say that I’ve never been this broke in my life. I put myself through four years of college with minimal (but much appreciated) help, but have never approached the level of ‘I’m broke’ as that in which I currently sit. And I couldn’t be happier.

Sure, I don’t have enough money to buy food this week (I’ve got bread and peanut butter at work, and the Corner Bakery downstairs has jelly for free) and I’ve been wearing the same contact lenses since at least December (significantly longer than the two weeks they’re meant to be worn) but guess what: I’m living in the third biggest city in the United States, working for one of the world’s biggest and best PR agencies, getting to create the social media voice of national brands and working with some truly wonderful people. I’ve got 10 pounds I could afford to lose anyway, right?

The point of this post is this: once you find the dream, pursue it at any cost. Granted- there is a possibility that in several months time I will be completely contradicting this post. Destitute, heart broken, jaded, cast out on the street and damning everything I ever wrote about optimism and pursuing goals. But right now, despite the potentially bleak conditions in which I find myself, I know in my heart that it’s just a step toward something incredible. I’ve already gotten a taste of what’s possible in my first two weeks at Weber, and I can’t wait for the Social Media Club Chicago event at the end of this month. After years of reading about PR and Social Media, I’m on the front lines- helping to draft content, establish personality and think how to communicate strategically on behalf of nationwide brands. Pardon my supreme nerd-dom, but this is AWESOME!

So keep your fingers crossed that Weber and the angels of the Culture Club (the folks behind the wonderful things that give #WSCHI such a welcoming environment) decide to bring free food this week, or that a great uncle I’ve never met leaves me a sizeable fortune. Or at least that I find some motivation and crank out some freelance articles to get a couple bucks to buy a sandwich. If not, at least I’ll look a  little thinner for beach season.

I think our friends from Monty Python had it right.

And so it begins

Have you ever had one of those days where it just felt like everything was lining up in your favor? Where you hit every green light, there’s someone holding the door for you wherever you’re headed and then you find $5? My first day of work as an intern with Weber Shandwick in Chicago (read: yesterday) did not start off as one of those days. It started with the night before.

I had every intention of being a responsible, intelligent human being and went to bed at a reasonable hour, knowing full well that I was to be at work the next morning at 8:30. Wanting to be impressive, I was going to show up at 8:00 to show that I was extra eager to begin. The clock struck 11 pm and I knew it was time to be hitting the hay. I jumped into my brand new bed, covered up, closed my eyes and quickly drifted off to slumberland. For about 45 minutes.

Though I’m not sure what it was that woke me up, there was no returning to the peace I had been enjoying. Aside from being extremely excited for my new job, my roommate (still a senior in college) and her friend were over talking and watching South Park. Since I was far too awake to attempt to sleep, I joined them for what I had planned to be about 15 minutes. Unfortunately for my chances at having an overwhelmingly good day, my quick 15 continued to evolve and grow larger like a magic sponge you get for a quarter in Taco Bells in bad neighborhoods. By the time I finally recommitted myself to the mattress, it was (much to my utter horror and total dismay) right around 6:00 am. To make matters worse, when my alarm went off 45 minutes later I, Dexter boy genius thought it wise to hit the snooze button (sorry Dad).

At 7:30 I awoke in terror. After the world’s fastest shower, I ran downstairs intending to grab the next Red Line (the train two blocks from my apartment for those not familiar with Chicago) but instead hopped on the bus that pulled up in front of my door. For those looking to move to Chicago, it’s always good to know the route before you hop on any CTA bus. In this case, I did not- I only knew I saw the words Michigan and Express and that was good enough for me in my panicked state.

I watched as time painstakingly crept forward at what felt like an alarming rate when we finally stopped picking up additional riders and got on the expressway. Not a complete idiot, I had the smarts to check my phone and see what stop would be best for me to depart the bus. Like a complete idiot, I checked the wrong bus. As my bus sailed past Michigan Avenue on Wacker, I vigorously pulled the “Please, for the love of God stop!” cable and jumped off the bus with such vigor I actually elicited a gasp from the driver.

Nervously, I checked my phone. My heart sunk. 8:17. I have since Google Maps searched how far I travelled (.8 Miles) but I knew how far I had to travel. Refusing to let my own irresponsible behavior get in my way, I grit my teeth and began running as hard as I could in dress shoes carrying my new hire paperwork. I pushed through the revolving door, panting, mashed the up button on the elevator, wiped the sweat from my brow as I pressed 10 and waited. I dare not check the time until I step out of the elevator, and as I do I breathe a sigh of relief. 8:29. I had made it, and was even (technically) early. Regaining my composure, I smiled and walked behind two other employees to start my new journey. The lovely and friendly lady behind the front desk informed me that she was to take my picture and that she’d call whoever it was that would be training me.

As I sat on the couch in the reception area, smiling at the thought of starting my career, a thought occurred to me: I hadn’t eaten, and it wasn’t likely soon I’d get the chance. At that precise moment, the receptionist turned to me and informed me that it would be about 20 minutes before my colleague would be joining me. “Orientation starts at 9:00.” It was as though the clouds had opened and a heavenly chorus descended upon me. I breathed another sigh of relief, smiled and went downstairs to the conveniently located Corner Bakery to have a breakfast sandwich.

After an initially rocky start, the day did a complete 180 and was great throughout. For fear of violating any agreement I’ve signed, I’m keeping the details from my day minimal, but suffice it to say that I am incredibly enthused by the way this new chapter of my life is unfurling. I’ve been assigned to three incredible accounts and have been fortunate enough to come in right at the beginning of two social media campaigns, allowing me the opportunity to be instrumental in their creation and implementation.

As Pandora blesses me with Boston’s “More than a feeling” I can truly say at this moment, in the words of the king of the trailer park’s t-shirt, “I’m livin’ the dream.”