PRedicament: The importance of thinking on your feet

The equally-parts crazy and wonderful thing about working in PR is that when you walk into the office in the morning, you never know what kind of day it’s going to be or what it holds. I don’t just mean that in the “every day is different” kind of way, but that literally anything could come up that you will have to deal with, and you need to be able to think on your feet. In this profession, a collection of random knowledge will help you go far.

For example, this past week we were shooting a scene for a TV spot that required a hand model. I was just sitting down at my desk with a steaming mug of TAZO Zen, when the model rushed to my desk and breathlessly whispered, “Help! I chipped my manicure on my way in!” She had gotten a French manicure per the art director’s instructions the night before the shoot and there was no time to go back to the salon. At this point it was 8:30 AM, and I needed to fix it before the videographer showed up at 9:00. We had a beauty Predicament.

Behind the Scenes: Burst Marketing Ribbon Cutting

Burst Marketing moved into a new office space in Downtown Troy and formed a strategic partnership with its new roommate, Smith & Jones. As the resident PR girl, they asked me to organize a ribbon cutting ceremony to get the word out about their new location and collaboration within the agencies.

While they moved in November, we decided to wait for the dust to settle and the holidays to pass, so we picked a date in mid-January. We partnered with the Rensselaer County Regional Chamber of Commerce to fill the room with local dignitaries, including: Rensselaer County Executive Kathy Jimino, City of Troy Mayor Lou Rosamalia, President of the Rensselaer County Regional Chamber Linda Hillman, and Executive Director of the Downtown Troy BID Elizabeth Young.

An Introduction

“Describe your fiancé in one word,” a reporter from The Huffington Post prompted my fiancé, MPR.

After a taking a few moments to reflect, he replied decidedly, “Organized.”

What?

I was slightly horrified that the man I chose to spend the rest of my life with thinks “organized” is my most attractive trait. Does anyone ever really want to be described as “organized,” unless it’s for a job interview? Not exactly sexy. However, after mercilessly teasing him for months, I’ve come to the conclusion that he was right.

As of today, I have been engaged for exactly one year, and I have the stack of bridal magazines, color-coded spreadsheets, and binder bursting with contracts, receipts and Pinterest print-outs to prove it. But the funny thing is, before this year I never really thought about my future wedding.