My first week at work
May 25th, 2009
Photo by The Pretenda on Flickr
I successfully finished my first week of work. A few of my co-workers asked if I would be returning to work now that I put in a full week with them. And yes, I’ll be getting up at 7am and headed right back to it.
I think the last time I worked a 40-hour week for someone else doing the 8-5 thing was the summer of 2004, that’s five years ago! But the transition has been great so far. Monday was a big adjustment, I was overdressed (yes, even I dress up once in a while), didn’t know where anything was, and was concentrating on just being able to remember everyone’s name.
Remembering Names
As a side note… this is one of the skills I’m most thankful for obtaining on my trip. Before my trip I had a much more difficult time remembering a person’s name when I first met them. That is one small thing that my trip solved. I had to meet so many people that I just found a way to better remember everyone’s name from the start. It’s very helpful.
Anyways… what a great first week of work. My desk had a basket full of various Post-It Note products and I’m very happy to have a sticky note for every purpose. I had my first meeting. I had my first day of travel where I went to Detroit to learn about the digital transformation the Detroit newspapers are making. I had my first co-worker birthday party, we went to P.F. Changs for lunch (I went with the chicken lo mein). And today I had my first BBQ with co-workers including the owner.
A good week.
Learning My Boundaries
The biggest challenge for me at the moment is not the work itself. I understand the work, am confident with my abilities, know what needs to be done, etc. But what’s new to me is the work environment. It’s been nearly three years since I’ve had an employer that wasn’t myself.
I’m a little cautious and uptight perhaps. Being careful not to overstep any boundaries, step on anyone toes, etc. And I’m busy stressing about what’s appropriate to wear to work, because anyone who knows me well knows that I’m a very casual guy, though not without a keen eye for fashion.
And in reference to the photo, yes, I am happy to say I have been having a little fun as well.
Ode to Marquette
May 14th, 2009
Photo by Yours Truly - Taken at Marquette’s Lower Harbor - Summer 2008
Now that I’m moving to Lansing I have sort of made a bucket list of things I want to do in Marquette before I leave. A few of them I’ve been able to do already. Well, without a doubt there are going to be a number of things I’m going to miss about Marquette.
I’ve been living in MQT for a year now and it has been fantastic, I really have fallen in love with this town. This is a great town full of awesome people. As others have mentioned I really wouldn’t be too surprised if I end up back here someday. It is a good place to live, so who knows. Also, I will be coming through town every now and then, I am sure of that. It’s on the way between Lansing and home in Baraga. So here it is…
The Top 10 Things I’ll Miss in Marquette & the U.P.
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Lake Superior - I have always told myself that I must always live next to one of two things: large mountains or a large body of water. Well, Lansing is as flat as can be and hardly has a trickle of water. Gitchigumi will be greatly missed. Growing up here I took it for granted. When I went to MSU for five years I learned just how special Lake Superior is.
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Skipping stones at Presque Isle - Most of last summer I got into a habit of skipping stones. It was fantastic. Almost every Sunday evening I would head to Presque Isle to skip stone and relax. It was the best way to clear my mind. And I’m getting pretty good too!
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Being able to walk everywhere - From my apartment at the corner of 4th & Baraga I can walk to many awesome locally owned restaurants, downtown, the bars, Lake Superior, and the events at Lower Harbor. I have found a passion for living somewhere that allows me to walk everywhere.
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Seeing my parents frequently - Up until living in Marquette for the last year I have always lived either at home with my parents or hundreds of miles away from my parents. But for the last year I lived just a mere 71 miles from home. That’s close! It has been fantastic to see my parents more frequently than any other time since high school. I think my relationship with them has prospered because of it and I will miss seeing them every couple of weeks.
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Four full seasons - Unlike the Lower Peninsula I’m used to four incredible seasons in the U.P. They are very distinct and all have their pros and cons. And they absolutely all have beautiful and unique qualities. In the L.P. the winter just isn’t as exciting, the fall colors don’t quite compare (though MSU is incredible in the fall), and summer is too hot for me down there. Yes, sometimes the weather in the U.P. can be a bit obnoxious, like the snow we had on Saturday, but I have a deep appreciation for it.
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Events - There are some great events in the U.P., top notch really. The U.P. 200 Sled Dog Race, bike races, Bridgefest, Winter Carnival, the events at Lower Harbor, and of course things like the Trenary Outhouse Race.
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Simplicity - What a simple place to live. People don’t expect you to have the latest and hippest clothes, the shiniest car, etc. People of all social classes hang out together, quite frankly because there aren’t enough rich people for them to all hang out together. There aren’t things to deal with like traffic jams and parking tickets. It’s very nice that our news doesn’t have murders and immense crime to report on very often at all. It’s a simple life and good life in the Upper Peninsula. There are a number of people I know who are committed to living here. The U.P. may not have the world class events, or Fortune 500 companies and huge shopping centers, but people find what they need to do to get by just so they can live in this majestic place.
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Hockey & Snowboarding - Unfortunately, for a number of reasons, I just didn’t get to play hockey and snowboard all winter like I wanted while living in Marquette this last year. Despite that, I will miss the importance hockey and snowboarding have in the culture in the Upper Peninsula. They are two hobbies I am immensely passionate about and they just don’t have anywhere near the same presence in the Lower Peninsula as they do up here.
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My Favorite Restaurants - I have to give a shoutout to some to some of my favorite places to eat. I’m going to miss them. It blows me away how many amazing locally owned restaurants there are around. And when you get to the bigger cities downstate all you see is chain restaurant after chain restaurant. So to name a few I’ll really miss: Stucko’s, Keweenaw Brewing Company, The Ambassador, Irene’s Pizza, L’Anse Hilltop, Baraga Drive-In, Vangos, Vierling, 3rd Street Bagel, and Togos.
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Only in the U.P. - There are certain things that one witnesses in the U.P. that makes him or her think, “Only in the U.P. would you see that.” I’ll miss all of those spontaneous, curious, and unpredictable things. I’ll leave you with just one short anecdote that’s fitting. I was sitting at my desk here in my apartment at 4th & Baraga while I was looking out the window facing the intersection and just watching a few cards drive by. And then, out of nowhere, a Zamboni pulled up to the intersection. The drive stopped, looked both ways, and continued on. It was fantastic.
Word of mouth
May 4th, 2009On Facebook this evening I was checking out my sister in-law’s Facebook page and saw that she’s excited to get a new laptop that my brother suggested to her. Very cool.
Here is a thread of comments that people posted.
Incredible!
During my advertising classes in college we often talked about word of mouth. My professors always talked of its importance and that it’s the best advertising a company can have (when it’s positive word of mouth anyways).
The old way to do it was to actually pay some mom to talk about Tide laundry detergent while talking to other mom’s at her son’s little league game. That always seemed a little dishonest to me, and it’s probably still done with some products in some places. But the internet has changed everything.
When my professor’s talked about word of mouth Twitter didn’t even exist yet and Facebook was only limited to a select number of colleges. Only a few years after that and it’s an entirely new ballgame.
Apple Computers couldn’t be doing any better. What an incredible testament that thread of comments is to their brand loyalty and the excitement their users generate over their products.
There are some companies that pay money to people to leave comments like this. Well, the good companies don’t have to. The good ones don’t even have to advertise. Some products are just that good.
Social media has completely changed the game for word of mouth advertising. It’s amazing to see a thread like this (and of course I’m a die hard Apple user myself) where customers do all the advertising for the company.
What’s up with the “bacon” URL?
May 4th, 2009Good question, I’m glad you asked.
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Bacon is meat candy. Tasty, scrumptious, and terrible for your health. What’s not to love about it?
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Doesn’t it hurt your SEO? (That stands for Search Engine Optimization for those of you who are new to the acronym.) And well yes, it just might. But now I might be getting lots of bacon fans to my site, and that’s okay too, those are people I can relate with.
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Most of all, this is my playground. That’s the epitome of Bugsy Rocker. it’s a site where I get to play and do things the way I do things. Which doesn’t always make sense, not even to me.
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I was tired of the same old thing, every URL has domain.com/blog/ these days. I figured if I was going to change it up I mine as well spice it up.
And just so you know… I prefer my bacon nice and crispy, well done, dark (the photo of bacon here is the best I could find on a white backdrop, but it is clearly not cooked enough), and it should break like a chip.
Moving to Lansing
April 30th, 2009
A new chapter is about to begin in my life. I find it a little embarrassing to admit, but it has been 3 years since graduation from MSU and I have my first ever employer. I guess I’ve just always done my own thing.
Within the last week I accepted a position as “the secret weapon” (yes, I’m serious, I’ll show you the job offer if you want proof) at a wonderful marketing agency in Lansing, M3: Motion Marketing & Media.
During the last month I determined that my new project in life was going to be to find a salary, and I didn’t have to wait long. I’m excited to fill my new position.
At M3 I will get to work on developing ideas for clients and helping out on the website end of things as well. Hopefully I can do my part to help Michigan companies grow and thrive. I told myself I wanted to stay in Michigan, do my part for a struggling economy.
While in Marquette I struggled to find the social life I had hoped for. And it will be hard to move Yooper Steez, but I’ll enjoy the challenge of running a U.P. based company from toll-land. In addition, it will be sad to leave Marquette. There are a lot of things I love here.
I also realize how fortunate I am to have a job offer in this economic climate. Hopefully that is a testament of my abilities. This is going to be a great opportunity and challenge for me. I’m confident M3 is going to provide an environment that will allow me to thrive. I start on May 18th.
Though I’m sad to leave Marquette, Lansing is going to open a lot of opportunities. It has been three years since graduating from Michigan State and nearly three years since I have lived there. It will be fun to visit my old stomping grounds as a young professional.
Top 10 Things I’m Looking Forward to in Lansing
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Friends! - I’m very excited to see a number of friends that I very rarely get to see, if ever. The other advantage is that all of my friends who are MSU alums will also becoming back to town once in a while, so I’ll get to see them from time to time.
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24 hour coffee shops - Sometimes I like to stay up late working, sometimes really late. If I am in the mood to work late I like to have a venue where I can sip down some tastiness. Biggby’s here I come!
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Work environment & team - I’m eager to have a team of people to work with. It will be awesome at M3 to have an office space other than my desk at home, people to communicate with daily, clients to work with, and a team environment.
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Networking - Quite frankly, Lansing is just a better place to network than Marquette. More people, more business, more events, etc. I’ve always wanted to join some things like a young professionals association.
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My old professors - There are a handful of professors I had during my time at MSU that played huge roles in the success of my Hometown Invasion Tour. It will be a great opportunity to get to know them more and I hope they will continue to give me advice on new projects I work on. With that in mind…
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Potential of grad school - Now this is a big decision and I haven’t made any yet, but most people who know me understand that I have always flirted with the idea of grad school. With MSU in my back yard a masters program sounds like a intriguing idea.
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MSU football & hockey - Season football tickets with Kevin and Eric already sound like an awesome idea and I would love to get season hockey tickets again. There will be lots of fun to be had.
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Teaching people about the U.P. - From co-workers, clients, new friends and everyone else they’re going to have to put up with a Yooper super-ego. I will be happily teaching them how to properly pronounce pasty and sauna, how a 6″ snowstorm is nothing, and where Marquette actually is.
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Tweetups - Yes, I’m very much looking forward to some big tweetups. Twitter has been such a successful tool for me. And I have always wanted to attend some of the tweetups in Detroit that I hear about so often.
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My old favorites - I’m anxious to return to my favorite places: MSU Rose Gardens, Crunchy’s Bar, MSU campus in the fall, Charlie Kang’s Chinese & Korean, Menna’s Joint, and the list goes on and on.
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BONUS! - Going on a mission to find the best chicken nachos in Lansing!