2013 Highlights

Last year, I wrapped up 2012 with this post recounting some of the most exciting moments of the year after seeing many publications I follow complete wrap-ups and predictions. Here are some personal highlights of 2013 called out and upcoming occasions to look forward to.

What happened in 2013? 

• Travel, travel, travel.

Having my Instagram photo map to keep track, I realized I've visited four countries and 23 states in the past year, visiting cities and states like: NYC, Princeton, Philadelphia, Minneapolis, Seattle, Kansas City & St. Louis, Iowa City, Champaign, Milwaukee, Dallas, Indianapolis, Cincinnati, San Diego & San Francisco, Denver, Lincoln and Omaha, Nashville, Louisville, Detroit, Springfield, Mass., Enfield, Conn., Atlanta and briefly Charlotte. Four countries: Argentina, Chile, Mexico and the USA. If only this could continue! 

I'm happy I had the time to blog about them and take some awesome road trips through the Midwest and to Colorado. It was also a blast to return to South America, explore Santiago, Valparaiso and Viñe del Mar in Chile and go to Mendoza, Argentina's wine country, a second time. 

• Writing and defending a thesis.

Eighteen hours of interviews, two literature reviews, a methods proposal and 90 pages later, my master's thesis was complete on 7-11-13. Want to read it? 

• Moving to and exploring downtown Chicago. 

Not only did I move out of Mizzou and back home, but signed a lease for an apartment north of the city in Lakeview and have lived here starting in October. If you would have told me that I'd live less than a mile from the lake and so close to North Avenue beach years ago, I wouldn't believe you. It's been fun to learn the CTA (especially the red and brown/purple lines), learn the various neighborhoods and realize how Streeterville is different from Gold Coast which is way different from Roscoe Village or Bucktown. I'm also happy that over the summer I had some time to explore Milwaukee and see what as a smaller city, it has to offer. 

• Starting a full-time, salaried job and visiting three of four Starcom offices. 

I returned to the Integrated Insights team that I interred on at Starcom, which is part of the company's Human Intelligence branch. As a senior research analyst on various accounts, I've learned a lot about LEGOs, consumer electronics and the auto parts industry, as well as quantitative surveys and focus groups. I even got to visit the New York and Detroit offices! 

• Running a Career Fair for 42 companies. 

Working with a fabulous team of three girls during my assistantship last year, we had a record-setting 42 advertising agencies and companies at Mizzou's Strategic Communication Career Fair. It was a good experience in public relations, cold calling, professional networking and learning how recruiters and talent acquisition departments operate and hire. 

• Attended conferences and professional networking events. 

My practice at work places a strong emphasis on continuing education and training, so I'm lucky to have attended a summit at Google's Chicago offices, a conference at Videology in New York and an Advertising Research Foundation conference. It's a cool atmosphere to meet other industry professionals, get to know your own coworkers better and learn together. 

• The year of surprises. (mere, kathryn, sherman, kara) 

As much as I love planning surprise parties, my inherent curiosity (or nosiness) has held me back from being surprised myself. That all changed this year when I had plenty of surprise visits from some of my best friends that made for some fun times. Meredith surprise-visited me at Mizzou, Kathryn flew in for my graduation party and Maria planned for my friends Sherman & Kara to eat dinner with us on a 20-hour trip to New York. What pleasant surprises! 

• The car hit 100,000 miles in July. 

On the drive down to Mizzou to defend my thesis, I was excited to see the CRV go from 99,999 miles to 100,000. And now it's already at 108,000…so the Artemas family doesn't drive at all. 

• Being open to trying new food. 

I was never a picky eater, but have definitely been more experimental in trying new food. Half by interest, and half by forced social situations. Cheese, hummus, onions, Coke, guacamole, seafood, beer and coffee are all new items in my diet that I never would have eaten in college. 

• Getting a tablet and adjusting to social media and pop culture trends. 

Just in the past year, I got accustomed to using my iPad reading list to follow news and books on a tablet, made my cousins watched goat videos after crying at how funny they are and became obsessed with Instagram. Experimenting with other apps like Flipboard, Circa News and transit trackers has been fun and made me feel more Millennial! 

By the (social media) numbers:

• 7,226 photos on iPhoto from this year
• 141 photos on Instagram
• 2,612 tweets total (nearly 600 in one year…yikes)
• 592 LinkedIn connections
• 3400 tagged photos, 11 new Facebook photo albums. 2,347 friends online 

What's in store for 2014?
Honestly, it's difficult to make this list since last year, I got my master's degree, job and apartment in the same week in July. Continuing to learn and explore, here are a few 2014 goals: 

• Enrolling in a MOOC (massive open online course), while they're still free
• Visiting Orlando and Houston as part of the 2014 travel agenda
• Spending more time with family and my goddaughter
• Going back to Mizzou and recruiting for the company I work for at the Career Fair I once ran
• Saving money
• Being Helen's maid of honor and starting to plan showers and the bachelorette party
• Continuing to explore Chicago and try things like Chicago Restaurant Week, and places in Wicker Park and the Gold Coast
• Cooking 

December quotes

Four categories in this month's quote-list: funny stories overall, family moments during the holidays, business world quotes and conversations about weddings. Enjoy! See past months' quote lists here.

FUNNY MOMENTS AND 20-SOMETHING STORIES

"And then I saw my cousin on Tinder. It was super awkward." -a girl in Atlanta

"Well Mr. Uber will know everything. -Kathryn, as the Uber cab driver overhears our whole conversation

"Congratulations, have a great night, don't get chlamydia." -Kathryn, to Auburn fans at the SEC Championship yelling at Mizzou fans about the loss

"Everyone's tweeting 'Mizzou had a great season! So proud to be a tiger.' There's another game left people!" -Andrew

"I think my mom’s favorite part of this weekend is that I'm with Katie and she knows what I'm up to- Every. Single. Moment." -Sherman, on our trip to Atlanta

"And by coming down here for a bowl game I decided I'm living with my parents a couple more months." -Sherman, on affording post-grad life 

"I would love to live with my parents again. Plus I'm a terrible cook." -Sam K., on life being a blessing living at home 

"I felt like I was watching Madden. It was the same play…over and over again." -Andrew, on the SEC Championship game 

"It's good for girls but if you're a boy, why would you be like I going to pay for 30 extra dinners?" -Andrew, on online dating sites 

"It’s nice weather if you're a polar bear." -Air crew on a Southwest flight arriving into Chicago

“My post-partum older sister looks better than me in this picture.” -Harriet, on a picture of her and her sister

"I kind of wish I didn't last that long because I spent so much money." -Cale, on Chicago's 12 Bars of Christmas

"Yeah and there’s those that say 'We’re actually from Chicago' and it’s like yeah, we get it. -Meredith, on people at U of I describing their hometowns or suburbs 

“We communicate on Facebook with stickers now.” -Jen, on messaging a friend

"Yeah there are Jewel Osco’s in the suburbs too." -Overheard on State Street, guy saying to a girl

(As a glass breaks in Dollar Store)

“Oh I thought you were my 5-year-old son.” -Northbrook mom

“No, just a 22-year-old klutz.” -Meredith

"Are you helping your mom cook for Christmas?" -Patients at a physical therapy location

"I’m just going to eat Chinese food." -Jessica, who is Jewish 

"Some think it’s funny and some just stare at me like I’m crazy. You’re in Highland Park, people, don’t you think that’s funny?" -Jessica

"He wrapped it with duct tape. Each little different tag has a different spelling of Hannukah on it." -Shaina, on her Secret Santa gift from Andrew

“There’s this magazine called Cooks Illustrated. They do all these reviews of different types of kitchen equipment and I read all of them." -Shaina 

"The whisk that we have in our apartment…Cooks Illustrated rated it the No. 1 whisk…and we get to use it everyday." -Shaina, can you tell she has a kitchen obsession? 

"Why are you recording it?" -Kathryn's grandfather as they bake cookies

"So I can show people on Facebook." -Kathryn

"People on Facebook want to see that?" -Kathryn's grandfather

"You’ve been lusting over handbags and I’ve been lusting over immersion blenders." -Shaina

"I hope we can all laugh about this when Sherman meets the girl he’s going to marry tomorrow at the matzo ball." - Shaina, on the matzo ball, a Jewish singles pub crawl on Christmas Eve

"One thing I’m actually really excited about is Dunkin Donuts." -Laura, on her upcoming visit to Chicago

"My mom thinks my dad needs to ride the L. So I have to get them to ride the L." -Hannah, on her parents visiting for the afternoon

"And do you have cronuts?" -overheard Hannah asking this on the phone to numerous bakeries 

"I look at these babies in Brooklyn and I’m like you’re going to be shocked at your life, kid." -Kara, as we see a mom breastfeeding at a bottomless mimosa brunch 

"Our moms met at Momma-size, like Jazzercise." -Meredith

"Momma-size? That’s like everything I hate- exercise and small children." -Kara

“He’ll drink anything a 10-year old girl would drink.” -Stacey, on one of her college friends and alcohol

"And it blossomed into a beautiful friendship because I tried to turn him into a feminist and he tried to turn me into a submissive Christian wife." -Kara, on a Georgetown friend 

"I'm going to stop drinking Diet Coke in 2014. It’s the only thing I’m doing right now that’s mildly unhealthy. I’m quitting cold turkey." -Hannah

“Julie is watching this bunny while my mom’s coworker is out of town so all my family does is sit in the basement and watch this bunny run around.” -Stacey, on life's exciting moments 

“Policemen whose job is to give out tickets just have a horrible job…to make people pissed off.” -Stacey

ON WEDDINGS

“If you tell someone this, I’ll kill you. Actually, I won’t let you be a bridesmaid.” -Helen, on the phone with a friend

“It is quite a ton of money for the other half.” -Steve, on answering why people don't get engaged sooner

“You should start a separate bank account just for weddings.” -Mom

“He went and bought a car instead of a ring.” -Dad, on how a relationship ended 

"What’s your tolerance for the duration of services?" -Dad to Steve 

"Apparently you can’t just ask anymore." -Steve, on Helen asking me to be her maid of honor with a wine bottle 

"It's like kindergarten all over again." -Dad, on invitations to weddings and who gets to go

BUSINESS WORLD

"Why they still use a blue disk to save beats me, it should at least be a USB." -Excel class teacher commenting on Microsoft Office

"The bottom line is you can waste a lot of company time changing the background of your chart." -Excel class teacher, as he instructs us on how to beautify charts  

FUNNY FAMILY STORIES 

"Yesterday I sat by the window and watched the snow fall down." -Yiayia Sophie, on life in a nursing home 

"Have you practiced walking in your walker so you can get to Jeanie's tomorrow?" -Mom, to Yiayia on the phone, being realistic

Playing dealbreaker with the family:

"They say you're not allowed to work." -Eleni
"Not a deal breaker AT ALL." -Maria

"If your guy drives around in a Prius, he does not have my approval." -Dad

"Fomo is definitely a thing in this family." -Eleni

"They ripped me off. I got a Greek salad and it didn't even have feta." -Papou, on a restaurant in Crete 

"And there's our neighbor with her pet goat. Wherever she goes she carries her cell phone and a gun." -Papou, on a friend in Crete as he shows us pictures of Greece

"I want the fire on the screen and the crackling but not the background music." -Dad, on a first world pain on the TV

"And then they had some American friends too." -Dad

The wall gets thinner and thinner

My master's thesis explored the topic of the wall between news content and advertising, and how newspaper executives were adjusting their communication in the changing media landscape to address each other and business needs appropriately.

This morning I came across this New York Times article that discusses how Time-owned publications will be having the newsroom staff report into business departments, a big change in how journalism operates.

Time Inc. will abandon the traditional separation between its newsroom and business sides, a move that has caused angst among its journalists. Now, the newsroom staffs at Time Inc.’s magazines will report to the business executives. Such a structure, once verboten at journalistic institutions, is seen as necessary to create revenue opportunities and stem the tide of declining subscription and advertising sales.

As a safe spin on the strategy, Time Inc. is making its former editor-in-chief Norman Pearlstine the "chief content officer" to oversee the change. Should be interesting!

Tips for surviving a mega conference call

In the business world, I quickly learned that large conference calls are often held with many constituents to a business to touch base on various projects.

Funny occurrences include people speaking over each other, forgetting to take your phone off of mute so no one can hear you respond, hearing background noise when people forget to mute themselves (ex: barking dogs, someone's keyboard, someone eating, etc) and having an actual meeting over the conference call by calling in with 3-5 people in a room, muting it and mocking those actually having the meeting.

So what are some tips to get by these crazy experiences as to not make them miserable wastes of your time?

• If you're listening on mute, pay enough attention to respond
• When you do respond, make sure you un-mute your phone so the call can hear you.
• If you're in an area with a lot of background noise (i.e. an airport), warn the call beforehand so they don't judge you. 
• Avoid being in settings like the airport mentioned above (and other public spaces) when possible. 
• When calling in from a large room, don't forget to ask questions and engage the remote audience - there is a reason you're including them. 
• It's sometimes awkward, but reach out by mentioning their names and asking if they have any questions and are following along.
• Pause every ~5-10 minutes and make sure everyone can see the presentation or Webinar. It assures that everyone is still on the call, still attentive and doesn't have a frozen sound or screen. 
• Don't trash talk the call or people on it ever; you'd be surprised at how often this happens and how often they forget to turn on mute. 

Good luck!

Detroit: Not as bad as you think

When I tell people that Starcom has a Detroit office, they often laugh. Who would want to go to the bankrupt city, nonetheless reside there?

A few weeks ago, I got to travel on business to Detroit and had an incredible experience. I had not seen the city since my family's road trip to Niagara Falls in middle school, and it was a nice refresher to see the city as an adult. Definitely a city to drive around, it reminded me of Philadelphia with its older, classic and historic feel but large metropolitan area.

My manager took me for a ride on the People Mover on our lunch break, a smaller public transit option that circles around downtown. All of the sports arenas were right in the middle of the city, along with Renaissance Center and the River Walk.

The only sign of the 'dying city' aspect America hears about Detroit now was a myriad of disorganized and unoccupied buildings in the downtown area. One particular building that we passed on the People Mover had large, dirty windows with desks full of shuffled papers on top, and when I asked what it was, I was told “Oh that’s the city hall building.” Besides that making me laugh, it was a pleasant trip and I look forward to going back and exploring more.  

The view from the SMG offices on Jefferson and my hotel, of the river and Renaissance Center on the left (GM headquarters)

Inside Renaissance Center, GM Headquarters practically has its own auto show and showroom open all year. There is also an adorable food court and restaurant scene so we ate at Zoup!, similar to Corner Bakery.

Another view of the River Walk and Windsor, Canada from the hotel

I'm thankful to have my godfather who lives in Detroit take me on a driving tour through the city. We ate at Public House in Ferndale, a cute neighborhood outside the city down the historic Woodward Avenue. He even drove me by 8 Mile Road on our way home.

The MoTown Museum

I discovered immediately that Detroit has a huge casino culture, especially in Greektown. There is an MGM, Caesar's Palace, Motor City Casino and others in Windsor. I look forward to checking out these nice, Greek restaurants and bakeries next time! Greektown also ends with a Greek Orthodox Church on the edge.

The art of making decisions

A simple phrase on the radio caught my ear:
"The most important decisions are often the easiest."

As the campaign tagline for Blue Cross Blue Shield of Illinois, I am moved by this simple phrase that guides the power of making decisions. Naturally, I looked up Blue Cross Blue Shield's creative advertising agency of record, which is McGarry Bowen in Chicago. The campaign's video ads linked here are not my favorite, since I don't think they deliver on the insight as well as the audio spots do, but check them out and see what you think yourself.

The truth in this statement teaches a consumer more than how to overcome the overwhelming decision of where to get health insurance (wait, Healthcare.gov isn't working?). It allows individuals to relate to Blue Cross Blue Shield brand's position by considering the other decisions they make daily and in the grand scheme of their lives.

As humans and not potential consumers- where to live, what industry to work in, who to be friends with…should be simple decisions. These do not have to be complicated matters, because if you are truly confident and going to buy into your own decision, there will be no hesitation. This nicely-crafted tagline will stick in my brain as I strive to see the big picture in important decisions.

iPhone trick of the day

Want to send a text message to multiple people, but not want them to see who else it is going to on your iPhone?

Have no fear, a friend just taught me a solution to this!

• On your iPhone, go into Settings --> Messages
• Turn off iMessage.
• Under SMS/MMS, turn off Group Messaging
• Send a text and it will send as an SMS text to everyone on your list, not showing them who else is on the thread.

Ah-ha!