Pleasantly surprised by Minneapolis

Earlier this month, a group of Mojo Ad students, two TAs and a professor went on an advertising agency tour of Minneapolis. Each year, Mojo has the opportunity to expand our reach to another market and students have the chance to explore a city they could potentially work in. Since I didn't go on last year's Chicago trip, I had the option to go on the trip under one condition...if I planned it.

We all know that I don't say no to:
1. The opportunity to plan a vacation
2. Anything where expenses are covered!

So Minneapolis in the middle of the winter, here we came! Ginny, the Mojo operations TA, and I spent months making the trip as perfect as it could be. Ginny planned meals, I coordinated agency visits and became acquainted with the talent department of pretty much every advertising agency in the Minneapolis metropolitan area. We arrived on a Sunday evening and could not wait for what the trip had in store, even amidst the -10 degree weather with wind chill.

Our first day of agency visits, we already had an awesome grasp on Minneapolis. I was pleasantly surprised by the city as a whole, especially coming in with low expectations. My brain tiers larger cities like Chicago and New York City in one group, mid-tier cities like Kansas City, Milwaukee, St. Louis and Minneapolis in another and smaller towns like Columbia and Champaign in the last. While I anticipated Minneapolis to be the size of St. Louis, it felt more like Philadelphia with its large size and energetic feel.

Everyone in Minneapolis LOVES Minnesota. It's very livable with an active LightRail train system, apartments downtown and in the suburbs and a rich history. We noticed this firsthand staying in the Mill District and visiting a flour exhibit at a nearby museum. The city was also very sustainable, with a lot of bikes, unique internal design and cool architecture. Any city with a body of water takes a step up in my book, so the fact that we were by the northern most lock on the Mississippi River was also pretty cool.

Economically- Best Buy, Target, General Mills and other company headquarters are there, so plenty of jobs exist. We quickly learned that the advertising agencies are like an incestuous family, with turnover and employee circulation within the same few, large agencies. Each advertising agency had its own unique culture, feel and high spirit amongst the employees. It was easy to observe the impressive creativity the companies had and they were nothing but welcoming to our group of Mizzou journalism / strategic communication students.

Leaving the trip after three days of business, I would happily return to Minneapolis again - especially during the summer when the arts & festival scene pops up. Overall, it was a successful trip logistically and opening my eyes to a city I never expected to love!

The group on the Carmichael Lynch rooftop by the Minneapolis skyline

We found the skywalks that make the whole city of Minneapolis stay out of the cold outside!

The Mill District from the Mill City Museum, with Pillsbury across the river

Anna, Kathryn, Sam, Grace and I at the Mall of America Nickelodeon theme park, where we went on a roller coaster in our business casual attire. 

A view of the river from the Guthrie Theater, where we saw Long Day's Journey Into Night.

Want instant gratification? Upload Facebook photos

We live in a world where we seek affirmation. As verbal compliments become rare and less genuine, and optimism, positivity and "thank yous" are at a low, the internet becomes the place we look for to seek this instant gratification.

There is no better way to get this immediate reassurance that what you are doing is cool than by posting photos on Facebook. As the unofficial designated photographer of my friends and family, I've dissected the art & science of uploading Facebook photos and found the following:

1. It's all about the time of day. 
Although it might be easy for you to upload Facebook pictures a time that's convenient to you (ex: 1 a.m. instead of studying for your test the next day), if you really want gratification, post them at a time when everyone is online. I quickly figured this out when I was posting my Argentina photos as I studied abroad. Your photos, if cool enough, can disrupt someone's daily routine by being so good-looking that they make someone want to click on them in your news feed or on the ticker bar. Plus, your pictures will naturally show up on news feeds right after being uploaded so posting them at a time when everyone's signed on puts your pictures right in their face. Some of these "prime times" are Sunday evenings during the school year, and weekday evenings around 8 p.m. If you're in the work force and your friends work on computers daily, that time can shift to an 11 a.m. break from work. Plan accordingly!

2. If you post pictures too much, no one will like them. Or, "Like" them. 
If you are posting often, it's too regular for everyone to see your posts and they no longer become exciting. Same thing with statuses in this category--when you post a lot, people start to not care because you're a source of information overload. But if you only post photos and statuses when something awesome is happening, everyone from hiding seems to "like" what you're doing. Your high school math teacher, mom's best friend and that kid who sat next to you in an elective class freshman year. So space out your uploads!

3. Tag people and places.
While a main function of tagging is to share these posts with the friends who want them, tagging also is a way to target your post to get to the audience you want. Even if it takes time to tag the big group photo from dinner, each of their friends are going to see the picture. If you tag a location, others see where you are and look at the rest of the album for interest in that regard. In addition to over-informing, tagging definitely calls more attention to your album.

Following these simple tips will not only get you a temporary self-confidence boost, but also provide reassurance when posting your photos. Enjoy!

Lessons from graduate school: Being a TA

In graduate school, a lot of journalism students hold teaching assistantship positions (commonly called TAs) for experience, pay and tuition reductions. Assistantships range from grading papers for a lecture course, planning events for a university department (ex: the study abroad office), create agendas and even as intense as creating the lesson plans and class presentations.

My assistantship is serving as the Career Fair & PR Manager for Mojo, the in-house advertising agency I worked for through the university last year. It’s giving me a varied experience by allowing me to plan the Strategic Communication Career Fair, oversee three public relations account executive positions, plan a trip to Minneapolis and other agency events and watch the strategy of three campaigns and assist teams on their way. 

While in this position, I'm really learning the intersection between academia and organizational hierarchy. It's a tough line to determine where a TA falls and how much responsibility or control they have on certain matters. Here are some lessons I've taken away from one semester, that will definitely enhance my 2nd semester experience:

• Stay out of drama. Any group of people working together will have conflict or some miscommunications, but the more you dwell on it, the more it escalates. It's important to position yourself out of petty little fights, speak clearly and not create "he said, she said" situations. 

• Keep your personal life to yourself. There are plenty of days where I am not in the mood to be somewhere or am frustrated about something else going on academically, but when class or TA responsibilities are presented, you must put everything else aside and worry about the rest later. It sometimes feels like wearing a separate hat, but you don't want the people you work with to see your other attributes first. They won't respect someone who complains, and people need to know that you care about the work in front of you and not just everything else you are juggling. While it's definitely a challenge to not talk about yourself, it's for the better and keeps you a better listener. 

• Articulate well and speak with a purpose. When you're in any position of power, people don't want to read through the lines of what you are saying. They take your words and interpret them literally, so being clear is to your greatest advantage. When giving feedback, make sure your message is presented clearly, answers the "why it matters" question and is something actionable and not abstract. 

• Present yourself professionally. It seems simple, but professionalism is such an important attribute. This not only means dressing a step up to how you usually would in most situations, but also having good email and communication etiquette. Emails should be direct and well-written, and texts and phone calls should be purposeful and need-based, rather than a norm of texting students back and forth with their every question. That just feeds into stereotypes about our Millennial generation wanting constant communication. Therefore, look at your daily duties and infuse professionalism into them by evaluating your language, conversations and presence in social situations. 

East Coastin'

My college roommates and I have gotten to visit most of our hometowns and families throughout college, but finally worked out a trip to Philadelphia and the East Coast to visit the Jankowskis! Kathryn lives in Bucks County in Pennsylvania, so we spent our first day exploring Philadelphia, the second day in New Jersey and our third day in New York. Kathryn, Laura, her boyfriend Ryan and I have squeezed a lot of sightseeing in the past few days and had a blast! We are definitely getting to the age where a lot of travel wears us out, but it has been well worth it.

Day 1: Philadelphia

After getting our first Philly Cheese Steak sandwiches from Jim's for lunch, we walked down South Street toward Independence Hall and a lot of American historical buildings. We saw the first ever bank, viewed an art gallery in the Second National Bank, and got a tour of Independence Hall where a guide pointed out the Signing Room for important documents and other historical facts. After this history lesson and the Liberty Bell, we headed to more of the corporate downtown area, checking out the largest organ in the world in the Wanamaker Building, Love's Park downtown and a video wall show in the Comcast building!

Ryan, Laura, Alex, me and Kathryn in front of Independence Hall 

Day 2: Princeton, New Jersey

Tuesday started off with a trip to Princeton University and the college town around it. Kathryn's friend Tory is a senior there and gave us a tour of campus, and my GBN & Torch classmate Nick Jones also joined us! Between our conversations with them and hopping onto a campus tour later in the day, we learned about Princeton's educational philosophy with junior independent work and a senior thesis, as well as "Eating Clubs" for a social scene and fraternal group of friends. Women were not accepted to the university until 1968, and not even allowed in all of the eating clubs until 1993 - an interesting fact to hear.

The campus was comparable to Northwestern, but instead of hipster like Evanston, Princeton was classy and very uniform with stores like Kate Spade and Brooks Brothers lining campus. We had ice cream and dessert at the Bent Spoon, and again at House of Cupcakes since it won Cupcake Wars on the Food Network. Then, I got to see my Thea Stephanie and two cousins Kira and Sophia in New Hope for dinner, where all of us met at a nice restaurant and brewery called Triumph! She even brought a vasilopita for us to cut at dinner.

The group on our tour of Princeton's campus

Kira, Thea Stephanie, me and Sophia in New Hope 

Day 3: New York City


Friday morning, Kathryn, Laura, Ryan and I took NJ Transit from Trenton into Penn Station and started off our day at the World Trade Center memorial site. Since it was Ryan's first time in New York, we really got to do a lot of sightseeing and enjoy the touristy occasion. We walked to Battery Park and saw the Statue of Liberty & financial district, and then walked through NoHo and NYU. Our attempt at hopping on an NYU campus tour failed as the tour was ending, but at least we got to hang out in Washington Square before the rain. We took a nice walk through Greenwich Village to get to the Chelsea High line where we ordered lunch, then hopped on the Subway to Central Park. There, we walked to the top of the Belvedere Castle and enjoyed listening to some violinists in the Bethesda Terrace, even with the fountain off for the winter. With Rockafeller Center as our next stop, we walked up 5th Avenue and window shopped everything we can't afford.

Ryan got to see Radio City Music Hall, which was important because it's where the draft is held :), and then we visited Kathryn's former UBS building from two summers ago to eat at Heartland Brewery. Here, we had a well-needed recoup from the busy day and devised a plan for the night: a fancy hotel crawl of New York. We would go to the nicest hotels we could think of, check out the ambiance and order a drink at their bar. Despite the skyrocketed prices, we just took turns paying the rounds and enjoyed observing the type of people at each bar, what the menu had to offer and even how nice the hotel bathrooms were!

Stop 1 was the St. Regis hotel, where our "New York New York" and "Gora Martini" cocktails were probably the strongest I've ever seen in my entire life. We were the youngest at the hotel by far, but had a nice time hanging out in our own little side room in the lobby. The Waldorf Astoria was Stop 2, with a Peacock Martini and Grasshopper cocktail tasting like mint chocolate chips + Kahlua. We got seats at the bar this time and it was still a very high class hotel, but we fit in a bit more once we started hanging out with the Albanian wait staff and talking about their time and views on the United States. It was a perfect end on our voyage through Grand Central Station en route to Times Square, where we sang in the street and stopped in the Disney Store. Stop 3 was the Marriott Marquis to check out the lipstick elevators and amazing lobby, which thoroughly impressed us all! It wouldn't be New York without some Cosmopolitans, so we ended the night strong and hung out in the 8th floor lounge. "Good Girls Go Bad" by Cobra Starship, a song that Kathryn, Laura and I would sing our freshmen year, was blasting when we walked in the lobby - a perfect token at the end of the night. We made a midnight train back to Bucks County after our 14 hour day, so I'd call it a success.

Me, Laura and Kathryn in the Belvedere Castle at Central Park 

In the lobby of the Waldorf Astoria Hotel

Sipping cosmopolitans in the Marriott Marquis at Times Square- what an ambiance!

On our last day, we met some of Kathryn's high school friends for a waffle breakfast and went to Bucks County's finest Parx Casino for Kathryn & Laura's first time gambling, and of course got Rita's Water Ice. Now, it's time to take a break and relax, watch football and basketball games (even though most of our teams lost), pack for school and prepare for mine and Kathryn's trip to Minneapolis tomorrow! It's been another great vacation with friends and who knows what's in store for spring break! 

2012: Life lessons learned

Between graduation, graduate school and starting a lot of new chapters of my life this year, it's been an incremental time for wisdom and the molding of important morals and lessons. Through education, experiences and friendship, here are some takeaways engrained in my head after this last year. Some of it might sound cynical, but it is what it is! Qué será será.

Be confident in yourself and your decisions - don't base things off of what others think. 
It's important to be aware of the rationale for the decisions you make. Having a one-line answer for most of life's important questions is a good way I have learned to be concise and answer tough questions. Why do you want to work here? Why do you want to live in this city? Why are you voting for this candidate?

If you don't have answers to these questions yourself before they are asked, you start to let others' thoughts and insults get to you. I had to keep my composure as someone told me in a public meeting that the $80,000+ fundraiser I ran was a flop, and respond immediately with why I participate in Relay For Life. I've listened to dozens of people tell me graduating early was stupid, and (if they even asked) tell them why I did it. This isn't even talking behind people's backs, this is people putting your life decisions down in front of your face. At the end of the day, we can't be pessimists and allow this commentary to let us down. Acknowledging and understanding the reasons we are doing things helps us get through these times, rationalize our time and find a sense of purpose in the world.

We know nothing. 
Whenever you think you have learned a lot, think about how much more there is out there that you don't know. I've been in multiple conversations alone this year that make me feel stupid and without knowledge, but that's how you learn. Whether conversations are religious or understanding the Evangelical Orthodox Church, learning how Alaskan residents get paid by the state or more Spanish vocabulary words, there is always more that you don't know.

International news matters. 

Meeting international students, traveling and studying how news events abroad disseminate throughout the US has taught me the importance of paying attention to international news. With funding cut for news hubs, small sections for this in the newspaper and little coverage in local news, it takes extra effort to learn about what is going on in other countries. But it can and will affect us and is important to know. 

Don’t join an organization that you cannot contribute anything to.

We should be past the point in our lives where we're doing mindless things as resume builders. Hence, joining a group you know you will not do the work for hurts everyone. It doesn't only make it bad for your sense of contribution or belonging to a group, but for the organization's operations. I was in a meeting of 30 people earlier this year for a student foundation at Mizzou and when asked for two volunteers for an event, no one in the room offered. There is no point of even having a club if no one wants to participate. Therefore, even if timing and conflict will arise between activities, discover why you are passionate about the organizations you are a part of so you still want to help them even when you're busy. 

People don't grow up.
Adults fight and create drama in their work environments. They hold grudges and have exclusive lunch and dinner dates with co-workers they trust or become friends with. 30-somethings still pretend it is someone's birthday at dinner to get a free dessert. Bosses play favorites and move others around for grave reasons. People steal. These and many other examples show that even adults settle to these levels of behavior!

A lot of people are selfish. 
There's nothing I value more than true selflessness. I haven't met many people who achieve this, but someone who can listen in a conversation and not contribute comments about their own lives are the most admirable out there.

We are at a time in our lives where everyone wants what is best for them. That could be serious things like the best job or relationship, simple decisions like the best time to go grocery shopping or even situational decisions like having control and exerting opinion. This is a lesson I can say I had a tough time grasping. If someone sent me an email, I could never stare at it and not respond. I get anxious if I don't reply to someone's call or text message within hours of it being received. I have learned to acknowledge that other people do not operate like this, and can leave your voicemail on their phone for a month without even listening to it. Ignore your text about lunch, or never deliver on what they said they would in an email. Everyone's definition of important and priorities are different, so know that people do what is best for them.

2012 Highlights

As I publish my first blog post of 2013, it's time to recall some notable moments from the past year.

• I turned 21 and got a horizontal license. 

With amazing celebrations both in Chicago and at Mizzou, I had a great time spending my birthday with friends. We stayed in the nicest hotel suite I'll probably have in my life, and I was lucky to have everyone I wanted to see come and share drinks together!

Sherman, Kathryn, me, Shaina and Andrew at the Hilton Chicago Suite January 2012

21st at the Heidelberg in Columbia

• Chaired Mizzou's Relay For Life, which fundraised more than $85,000 for American Cancer Society.

After a year of planning, the 5th Relay For Life of Mizzou was on March 16-17, 2012. The event came together very well with representatives from Relay For Life nationally, more than 1,200 participants and about $8,000 fundraised just that evening. 

Charlie, Bret and I (Relay co-chairs) at Relay 2012 with Truman

• Traveled across the country. 

Traveling is one thing I didn't realize how much I do until I thought about it. I went to:

-Colorado to visit Jesse

-San Diego to explore with Elena

-Project Mexico for another homebuilding trip!

-Iowa to see Helen

-Michigan to see Stacey and Nouno Peter

-Kansas City to stay with Laura over the summer 

-Missouri and Illinois (duh)

-Wisconsin pretty much every week of being home for church 

-New York, New Jersey & DC with Stacey over spring break and saw Maria, Kara, family & Evita the musical!

-Ohio and Indiana visit Yiayia Sophie

to total 14 states!

Jessie and I at Rocky Mountain National Park in February

Stacey and I in Times Square for Evita on Broadway in March

Project Mexico June 2012 for the first home build of the summer

My first Michigan football game with Stacey in November

• Best teamwork experience of college working as a researcher for Mojo Ad.

After surviving my management of strategic communication class that I'll soon be the TA for, I was accepted into Mojo Ad, Mizzou's student-run ad agency, with the researcher position. There was an open spot was on Team Maven and my team developed a "Let's Happy Hour" campaign for TGI Friday's and won!

Team Maven at our client presentation in April 

• Went alumna from my sorority after a great three years, some awesome socials and planning a sisterhood retreat! 

After three years in Phi Mu serving as PR, VP and sisterhood chair, I went alumna and am no longer an active member. My pledge family is closer than ever and I am forever thankful for my daughters Dani and Liz, Shelley and close friends from my pledge class and floor- Kathryn, Alex, Jen, Emily & Jordin. 

Phi Mu Sisterhood Retreat at Great Wolf Lodge in Kansas City in February

Last Phi Mu Formal in April

• Oh, I graduated college. 

It was a little anticlimactic since I've stayed for grad school, but I walked in Mizzou's graduation ceremonies for Honors and Journalism graduating cum laude. 

Mom, Dad and I on the quad after the Honors Graduation Ceremony in May

• Starcom internship.

Working a rigorous internship in media research taught me the reward of working an intellectually stimulating job and sifting through information. A lot of work is proprietary or disclosed by NDAs, but I had the opportunity to work with an excellent Integrated Insights team and group of mentors at Starcom MediaVest Group this summer, and am even back for winter break. 

• Got to know downtown Chicago. 

Throughout our 11 years living in Chicago, we have stuck to visiting the same few places with and kept to the touristy places downtown. As college have progressed and I was working in the city on Wacker & State Street, I was at the prime location for exploring River North and other parts of downtown. After work my friends would go to happy hour, meet up in different areas like Lincoln Park and even staying at some of the nicest hotels like the Hilton Chicago, Palmer House, Allerton and Hyatt Regency. Those adventures made me not look past living downtown for a few years and want to continue working at Starcom and exploring the city.

The Chicago skyline from a boat cruise I went on with work from Navy Pier

At Oak Street Beach for a free vendor event in August

• Went skydiving. 

Inspired by a Groupon email, my sisters and I went skydiving together in July! It was as exhilarating as you think it would be and felt like flying frozen in time. We dove from more than 15,000 feet in the air at 100+ miles per hour, and the biggest shock for me was the temperature change in the 2.5 minute fall. It was definitely a success!

Eleni, me and Maria before the dive 

In the air!

• Started to explore Milwaukee after leaving Sts. Peter & Paul.

This June, my dad was reassigned from our Glenview church to Annunciation Greek Orthodox Church in Milwaukee. Despite the details, commute and driving past six other churches Sunday mornings, Milwaukee parishioners were welcoming and we had some nice summer adventures at the pool.  

The family at our last Easter at Sts. Peter & Paul after 11 years, the longest we've lived somewhere!

• Started grad school and got my first 4.0.  

This semester, I was enrolled in graduate classes focusing on international journalism, the history of the mass media, qualitative research, convergence journalism and Missouri business news. If taking five classes and being a TA wasn't enough, I was adjusting to conversational courses, intelligent debates and classes with nontraditional and international students. I was reading about 1,000 pages per week, writing 3 papers each Monday and learned a variety of tools to produce this deer hunting story. It was an intense semester!

• Worked an assistantship. 

Being a TA has been one of the most intense experiences I have had in college (and next semester- I'll be a TA in two capacities). The opportunity to work with professors, manage students and review their work has been an insightful one and I have learned a lot from a business and educational standpoint. 

• Celebrated Mizzou joining the SEC.

This September, Mizzou had its inaugural SEC game against University of Georgia! Although it was a rough football season, the tailgating was worth it and the basketball games have been great.

Our first Mizzou football game in the SEC vs. Georgia in September

• Lived in my first apartment with the best roommates ever- and dealt with it burning down. 

Memorial Day Weekend, I got a phone call that the Brookside apartment complex my friends and I were moving into in August had burned down. After a lot of stress and doubt, our apartment was in the 1/3 of the building that was ready in August and Kathryn, Shaina, Laura and I moved in together for the first time since freshman year- with Sherman, Andrew and our friends Cliff & Stein next door. It's been a blast and an adventure dealing with our landlords- but always nice to have company! 

Kathryn, me, Shaina and Laura at a wine tasting in Hermann, Mo. 

Both of our apartments at Kathryn's birthday celebration

• Watched TV and enjoyed it.

Revenge, Girls, the Newsroom and Nashville have kept me looking forward to watching weekly television- something I haven't done since Gilmore Girls and Veronica Mars in middle school. TV gives you so much to talk about and look forward to! 

I'm thankful for a great year!

By the numbers

• 25 Facebook albums, 213 new friends, 36 pages liked, 3223 tagged photos and 2020 tweets 
• 349 birthday wishes online 
• 457 LinkedIn connections 
• Retired my old Macbook Pro with 22,1260 pictures saved on it

What's in store for 2013?

• Traveling the US the next few weeks- 8 states this month! 
• Acclimating to a new computer and camera 
• Running a Career Fair
• Writing a thesis
• Being employed
• Receiving a master's degree 
• Going to weddings