Lord knows this week has been kind to me, but it's also drained so much energy out of me I'll probably need one big stinkin' nap before I do anything this weekend.
Today was among the more hectic of the last four days, beginning with my late arrival to the panel on the future of print media. With the exception of the sweet-ass short film festival I got to attend on Tuesday (complete with free well drinks afterward) it was my favorite Advertising Week event of the week. I'm going to miss getting paid to go to awesome venues across the city in Tribeca, Chelsea and Times Square and eat free food and listen to really important people talk about less than interesting things.
What I will not miss is the tremendous amount of work-related stress going to all of these has put me through. So far I've covered seven events, with two more to finish things off tomorrow. Add to that two MediaWorks stories and my long-awaited feature for next week's book and I will have written TWELVE articles this week. That's a dozen! And you can't even fry, hardboil or scramble them either for a sandwich later...
My diversity feature impressed the M.E. so much she decided to make it Monday's cover story, which is both very exciting and anti-clmactic. Sure, I'm proud of the reporting I did for the piece and definitely think it presents some new information, but it wasn't my idea, nor did I really shape much of the story itself on my own. It was all kinda strongarmed either by the features editor or my contacts at City Tech. Not a bad thing, necessarily, but I'm reserving my utmost pride for the cover story I write that's based on my own ideas and source gathering.
Having said that, apparently I'm the very second intern to have a story run on the cover. Who was the first? Well, now she edits the Digital section for us, so that would seem to bode well for my chance at employment, right? We'll see...
Luckily, I didn't even have to wait for the weekend to reward myself for my immense productivity this week. Regina Spektor took care of that with the show I just caught at Town Hall tonight. It's a no-brainer: she put on one of the best female shows you're likely to see this year.
There just aren't too many singers — male or female — who can completely capture an audience's attention and interest with nothing but vocals and a piano for 45 minutes straight. Playing a lot of new material, no less. But Regina's songs are all so cleverly humorous (one of the new ones was about keeping a statue of the baby Jesus in her closet and feeding it bread and water), melodically intricate and damn well sung it's impossible to find her anything less than captivating. By the time she brought out the band for the second half, it was on like Donkey Kong. And "Samson" was just as heartbreaking to see live as it is to listen to.
I end this still in one of the most optimisitc moods I've been in all year, let alone since arriving in New York. I could not be more content with my social or professional lives at the moment, and am considerably less worried about my academics even though they remain unresolved. I'm still working on the romantic part, but perhaps I'll have some luck at the "Hedwig and the Angry Inch" sreening with John Cameron Mitchell I'm plannin on attending Saturday night!
Showing posts with label AdAge. Show all posts
Showing posts with label AdAge. Show all posts
Thursday, September 28, 2006
Thursday, September 21, 2006
Yikes!
First of all, much love to everyone who's been reading and commenting on the blog this week. I finally have an audience!
Secondly, I've barely been able to keep up with updates because I've finally gotten big assignments to work on at AdAge. I'm currently waiting on sources to call me back for this big piece for the book on racism in the advertising industry (heady stuff, I know) and couldn't be more excited to actually be working on a story that invovles more than congratulating an ad exec on his new promotion or the unveiling of the new Elmo (although that was admittedly pretty funny.)
But things will get even crazier this weekend when Dana, Kelly and Logan all come to the city at once for a big NYC free-for-all I've dubbed Hagfest 2006. There are talks of museum visits, party hopping, karaoke and Amy Poehler all in store for the next three days, with a big finish at "The Daily Show" on Monday night.
Even crazier, however, is Advertising Week, which kicks off Monday and will be held at a variety of swanky locations across the city (Rainbow Room, Tribeca Cinemas, Museum of Television & Radio, etc.) I've always wanted to go to and now have a reason. But the event I'm most excited about covering above all is the Crativity No Spot Short Film Festival at the Chelsea Clearview. I have purposefully linked to the festival at the list of directors because there are at least two who are pretty damn sweet.
Add to the excitment and rush of Ad Week the Stones and Spektor concerts and it's pretty much going to be my most fabulous week in the city yet. Best of all, my eds want me to write a column for the book at the end of Ad Week from a consumer's point of view, summarizing whether or not the week was effective to anyone outside the industry. Coming from someone who just learned what it meant for an account to be placed into review two short weeks ago, I'd say they definitely picked the right person for the job.
Finally, I will end today's post with a link to a video that has provided me endless mirth and merriment this past week. Strangers With Candy fans, take note!
http://youtube.com/watch?v=BCMStcns-Qs
Secondly, I've barely been able to keep up with updates because I've finally gotten big assignments to work on at AdAge. I'm currently waiting on sources to call me back for this big piece for the book on racism in the advertising industry (heady stuff, I know) and couldn't be more excited to actually be working on a story that invovles more than congratulating an ad exec on his new promotion or the unveiling of the new Elmo (although that was admittedly pretty funny.)
But things will get even crazier this weekend when Dana, Kelly and Logan all come to the city at once for a big NYC free-for-all I've dubbed Hagfest 2006. There are talks of museum visits, party hopping, karaoke and Amy Poehler all in store for the next three days, with a big finish at "The Daily Show" on Monday night.
Even crazier, however, is Advertising Week, which kicks off Monday and will be held at a variety of swanky locations across the city (Rainbow Room, Tribeca Cinemas, Museum of Television & Radio, etc.) I've always wanted to go to and now have a reason. But the event I'm most excited about covering above all is the Crativity No Spot Short Film Festival at the Chelsea Clearview. I have purposefully linked to the festival at the list of directors because there are at least two who are pretty damn sweet.
Add to the excitment and rush of Ad Week the Stones and Spektor concerts and it's pretty much going to be my most fabulous week in the city yet. Best of all, my eds want me to write a column for the book at the end of Ad Week from a consumer's point of view, summarizing whether or not the week was effective to anyone outside the industry. Coming from someone who just learned what it meant for an account to be placed into review two short weeks ago, I'd say they definitely picked the right person for the job.
Finally, I will end today's post with a link to a video that has provided me endless mirth and merriment this past week. Strangers With Candy fans, take note!
http://youtube.com/watch?v=BCMStcns-Qs
Tuesday, August 29, 2006
Roller skating with the stars
Well, I can scratch "celebrity party" off my list of things done during my first week in New York.
And I'll keep the words "celebrity" and "party" in quotes because both aspects were rather questionable for the Roxy release of Jessica Simpson's Public Affair.
First of all, Jessica is one failed movie and ignored album away from being right back on the C-list. That said, she was still the biggest star by far who showed up at her own party. And even she only stayed for two hours.
I arrived around 7:15, after grabbing some dinner at a nearby Chelsea diner where no less than three other journalists swung by to grab something before the relentless circus that is a red carpet photo shoot — or purple in the case of this Yahoo! Music event.
In case your'e wondering how I got tickets, by the way... Well, Claire in all her fabulousness (not all of which has to do with her being British, but that plays a huge part) swung by my desk today to tell me about the shindig and, with a laugh, asked if I'd like to go. "You don't have to if you don't want to," she said in all seriousness.
Most people in my generation — including Joey, who happily came as my plus one — would say, "bitch, you crazy! It's Jessica Simpson!!!" And even I thought it was going to be pretty sweet when I saw the guest list — Ashlee, Lance Bass and Lil Jon were all "expected," while Fergie, Diddy and "all Epic talent" were under "unconfirmed."
If this were the album release for, say, Justin Timberlake (who incidentally was also on the list) those people might actually have showed up. But since it's Jessica Simpson, whose last album no one bought until she ruined "Take My Breath Away" and ripped Robbie Williams' "Angels" to shreds, you get slim pickin's.
Try Oksana Baiul, Gavin DeGraw, Paige Davis, Richie Rich and a handful of socialites/MTV stars/faceless rich people who even the photographers had to ask for their names.
I got the feeling that this might be the typical celebrity event — the guest list is always 10 times as fabulous as the attendance, the freebies are fantastic (free skates, candy, hot dogs AND all-you-can-drink booze) and the gossip columnists are more fascinating to watch than the guests themselves.
Seriously. I got more of a kick out of seeing MIchael Musto from The Village Voice (with those instantly recognizable glasses of his), Perez Hilton and George Whipple (he of the immaculate caterpillar eyebrows) than I did of seeing anyone other than Jessica.
OK, I will admit, I got a little tingly with surrealism when the singer of "The Sweetest Sin" (strangely my fave song of hers for whatever reason) skated past me on the rink at one point. And skating right next to Gavin DeGraw was cool in a trapped-in-an-episode-of-TRL sorta way.
But otherwise, my first celeb party in NYC was a bit of a disappointment. Luckily, Fashion Week starts in two weeks, and as the editor announced during yesterday's weekly staff meeting — "everyone will be covering that."
Yesssssss.......!!!!
And I'll keep the words "celebrity" and "party" in quotes because both aspects were rather questionable for the Roxy release of Jessica Simpson's Public Affair.
First of all, Jessica is one failed movie and ignored album away from being right back on the C-list. That said, she was still the biggest star by far who showed up at her own party. And even she only stayed for two hours.
I arrived around 7:15, after grabbing some dinner at a nearby Chelsea diner where no less than three other journalists swung by to grab something before the relentless circus that is a red carpet photo shoot — or purple in the case of this Yahoo! Music event.
In case your'e wondering how I got tickets, by the way... Well, Claire in all her fabulousness (not all of which has to do with her being British, but that plays a huge part) swung by my desk today to tell me about the shindig and, with a laugh, asked if I'd like to go. "You don't have to if you don't want to," she said in all seriousness.
Most people in my generation — including Joey, who happily came as my plus one — would say, "bitch, you crazy! It's Jessica Simpson!!!" And even I thought it was going to be pretty sweet when I saw the guest list — Ashlee, Lance Bass and Lil Jon were all "expected," while Fergie, Diddy and "all Epic talent" were under "unconfirmed."
If this were the album release for, say, Justin Timberlake (who incidentally was also on the list) those people might actually have showed up. But since it's Jessica Simpson, whose last album no one bought until she ruined "Take My Breath Away" and ripped Robbie Williams' "Angels" to shreds, you get slim pickin's.
Try Oksana Baiul, Gavin DeGraw, Paige Davis, Richie Rich and a handful of socialites/MTV stars/faceless rich people who even the photographers had to ask for their names.
I got the feeling that this might be the typical celebrity event — the guest list is always 10 times as fabulous as the attendance, the freebies are fantastic (free skates, candy, hot dogs AND all-you-can-drink booze) and the gossip columnists are more fascinating to watch than the guests themselves.
Seriously. I got more of a kick out of seeing MIchael Musto from The Village Voice (with those instantly recognizable glasses of his), Perez Hilton and George Whipple (he of the immaculate caterpillar eyebrows) than I did of seeing anyone other than Jessica.
OK, I will admit, I got a little tingly with surrealism when the singer of "The Sweetest Sin" (strangely my fave song of hers for whatever reason) skated past me on the rink at one point. And skating right next to Gavin DeGraw was cool in a trapped-in-an-episode-of-TRL sorta way.
But otherwise, my first celeb party in NYC was a bit of a disappointment. Luckily, Fashion Week starts in two weeks, and as the editor announced during yesterday's weekly staff meeting — "everyone will be covering that."
Yesssssss.......!!!!
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