After a quick cab ride, Mari and I walked into some random office building and jetted up to the 16th floor to Ripley Grier Studios. This is what greeted us at we stepped off the elevator:
No, we didn't mistakenly wind up at some cheesy tanning salon; this was the correct location for the conference, which turned out to be some sort of casting agency, so we were surrounded by lots of would-be actors, actresses, dancers and singers. Oh boy!
Luckily, the conference was tucked away upstairs, and we didn't have to worry about all the other craziness going on around us. After a couple donuts and cups of apple juice, the conference got under way with a little "ice breaker" game in the form of the "Name Game" - you know, the first person says her name, the second person says the first person's name and then her own name, and so on. Silly, but not to tough - usually. This time, however, these were the names I had to remember before my turn came around (yes, I cheated and wrote them down, but didn't use the list when I had the floor): LaTonya, Erica, Nile, Shelda, Keita, Lyn, Erica, Ramlah, Priscilla, Bettina, Chantel, Heather, Yunis, Monica, Wanda, Taneisha, Ayana, Audia, Stacy, Mari, then me. And just for giggles, here's the rest of the names after my turn: Jenai, LaShonda, Malissa, Kateisha, Crystal, Tasha, Taneisha, Sharonda, Rachel, Ohameika, Tiffany and Melissa. Mercifully, they stopped the game only about halfway through the room. Phew, that was a doozy!
Next up, the keynote speaker, Ms. Millie Monyo [see below], one of the girls from the MTV reality show "PoweR Girls," which focused on Lizzie Grubman, her agency Grubman PR, and four girls working under her. It was a ridiculous show, which made the girls out to be celebrity-obsessed airheads, so I was curious if that impression was created by the editors or if was truly the "reality" of these girls.
Well, I am sorry (or happy?) to report that the show seems to have been right on target. I don't want to do a whole lot of shit-talking on here (email me in private for all the real scoop if you want), but without a doubt, I didn't learn anything new from Millie. First of all, she didn't even have a talk prepared, she rushed in late and simply said something like, "I'm not really very good at just talking, so do you have questions for me?" Huh? You're the keynote speaker! You're supposed to speak and we're supposed to listen, maybe ask some questions after all that jazz! But, of course, everyone had plenty of questions for her because she works with celebs and was on TV, so I thought I'd give her a chance. Hmmm, yeah, I should have known better. My favorite part: in response to someone asking how to gather media contacts, Millie began with, "Well, there's this thing in a magazine called a masthead..." Now I know that the average Jane doesn't necessarily know this (but I still think a lot do), but if you're at all interested in magazines or PR you absolutely do know about the masthead that lists all the editors. I'm trying to think about how I would have started my response, and yes, I probably would have mentioned the masthead, but the thing that gets me is her patronizing assumption that no one else knows what exactly a masthead is. Okay, that's enough about mastheads.
A few more winners from the darling PoweR Girl that sprang forth during her participation in the subsequent panel discussion "Publicity to the Stars":
"It's really good to be a people person." Duh, especially in public relations when the whole point of the job is to relate to the public.
Addressing the fact that you have to already be in the industry to get invited to press events and networking opportunities, which exactly where people want to go to get into the industry - "It's a double-edged sword." Hmmmm....yeah, maybe, but I think it's more like a catch-22.
And one more actually useful lesson I learned during the conference: Even though you (like me) may be excited to have your very own business cards, don't just hand out them to anyone and everyone (even those who aren't interested), especially without talking to them first. A particular woman was doing this, and it was just plain tacky. Mari was waiting for me to finish with some picture-taking and was merely standing within a ten-foot radius of this woman, who, assuming that Mari must want to speak to her very knowledgeable and important self, gave her the I'll-be-with-you-in-just-a-minute gesture and then handed Mari a business card because of course she must be dying to get one just like everyone else! I think I ended with 5 of those cards or something. Ick. Just don't do it.
So yeah, we left the conference soon after that because we were sleepy (yeah, neither Mari nor I are really morning people, and remember, I was still going on only 8 hours sleep in the past two days - I'm full of excuses) and I don't think I could have handled getting anymore business cards. We headed home only briefly before heading back out and downtown to do a little wandering and shopping in Soho.
That's right, kiddies, I was finally making the pilgrimage to my mecca - H&M. We got off the subway, sent Michael on his way and made a beeline for the store. In less than two minutes, I had at least 8 garments over my arm and had barely made it past the entrance. In the end, I could only afford a few tops, but they're damn cute if I do say so myself (black cargigan with a slim silouhette - great basic - and vintage-looking turquoise knit shell - it'll make a great layering sweater vest in the winter, too - with chartreuse and white scallops and accents). Love it!
By the time Mari and I emerged from H&M, it was pissing rain outside and we were starving, so we met up with Mike at Broome Street Bar for some yummies. He quickly deemed the place is his favorite bar in NYC and convinced us to eat there even though Mari wasn't too keen on the idea. And thank God we did, because Mike ordered the most hilarious burger we'd ever seen - it was served in a pita pocket! Witness below:
I couldn't tell if he was enjoying it so much because it actually tasted good or just for the novelty of the whole thing. If you care enough to divulge your email address and register with Shecky's (it's really easy and quick), check out their review of the place, which actually mentions the "unfortunate" pita burger.
Oh, and I forgot to mention that while Mari and I were doing our own shopping, Mike stumbled upon a "huge" sale at Broadway Panhandler, a kitchen store, and showed off all his goodies while we ate dinner - new knives, a chopping board and the BIGGEST saute pan ever! Check it out in all its glory:
All that junk was so bulky and heavy that we had to take it back to the apartment before we headed out for the night instead of wandering around the neighborhood during the evening. Silly Michael. No matter, we had a lot of fun with each other just chilling at the apartment - I surfed the web while Mari and Michael had a tickle fight, then Michael decided to invade my privacy and take a picture of me in the loo. Again, I have no shame, because I'm sharing it with you:
Classy, yes? I swear, Mike is like the annoying (yet lovable) brother I never had growing up.
All that craziness could only keep up entertained for long - we really had to get to some drinking! We headed back downtown and met up with Emily, Kim and Meredith at some random bar in Gramery Park (Mike desperately wants to live there) called Still. At the risk of sounding like a crotchety old lady, the music was crazy loud and all I could keep yelling was "This music is too loud!"
Needless to say, we only stayed for one drink, and then Mari, Mike, Emily, Meredith and I headed to my old stomping ground around Union Square to Nevada Smith's, a "pub" we hit up several times during my summer in NYC. During the week it's a pretty chill English-style pub that caters to fanatical soccer fans, but on the weekends it can get a little "clubby" with a dance floor in the back, more loud music, lots of scoping out the opposite sex, etc. We pretty much hung around with each other, though, and the 2004 ASME interns that Emily knew. Our boy buddy from our summer as interns, Jared, met up with just a bit later and I was so thrilled to see him (it'd been almost two years)!
We all had a great time together, and though I didn't even get a buzz from nursing about 3 beers throughout the night, I was starving by the time 3am rolled around. For more reminscing, Mari, Michael and I headed to Amore's Pizza (I'd link to it but they don't have any web presence!), where the girls and I used to get late-night munchies and greasy hangover cures all the time because it was right next door to our dorm. I got a delicious pepperoni roll (basically a cinammon roll with cheese, pepperoni and canadian bacon instead of all that sweet stuff) and Michael got a heartattack on pizza dough: the Lasagna Pizza. It was so much food that he could only eat half of it:
You really had to see it in person!
And after an uneventful subway ride home, I think we all finally fell asleep around 5am.
Although it was loads of fun to see all the old hangouts and it certainly made me miss those special months I spent in the city, I was also happy that my visit there and, in fact, myself were different than those heady ASME days. I didn't have the energy to stay out way past closing time (4am) like I used to, I didn't have any desire to drink a lot and/or get drunk, and I wasn't interested at all in flirting with and/or meeting any guys. Therefore, I don't have the same sort of wild stories to report as those old days, but at the same time, I feel a lot happier and truer to myself.
Sunday preview: I slept until the early afternoon (I really needed to catch up!) and went to Brooklyn to visit with Emily and see where a lot of the girls (Emily, Kim, Kerry and Kristen) call home. Details to come in the next post...
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