the day jesus told me I look like his high school sweetheart.

He appeared out of nowhere. (Mad Jesus skills.)

I was hunched over Martin Lindstrom's buyology, frantically sipping on an iced latte and munching on McDonald's free Wi-Fi, checking my work email while trying to figure out where the hell I was. I mean, I was in Williamsburg, Brooklyn - I knew that much. But that borough is very unfamiliar territory to me. There are NO cabs in Brooklyn. Plenty of plaid shirts though.

Anyhow. All of the sudden he was standing there, looking all wise and holy (with a pair of brand new sneakers if I'm not mistaken?), saying I reminded him of high school and then he told me to 'keep doing what it is you do best, and if you need any help I'm always here' (See - Jesus!)

I smiled, thanked him and he walked up to the counter and ordered a burger. 'Lucky bastard' I thought, '...he could turn that burger into thousands if he wanted to'

I was writing an email to one of the guys whose apartment I was about to go view, then Jesus appeared again. This time he said: 'Excuse me, is that an important text you're sending?' I looked up, told him no, and put down my phone.

'I just wanted to tell you how much you remind me of this girl in high school, we went to prom together you see...' Jesus was smiling when he told me this story, but his eyes were sad (and a bit disoriented). I listened to his story like a good Christian, I mean, except that I'm an atheist - but no need to inform Jesus about my religious view. He finished his story, without revealing if it had a happy ending or not. Did he end up with his high school sweetheart? I don't think so. But I seemed to have brought Jesus a few moments of happy memories that Saturday afternoon in Brooklyn, which reminds us all, to put down our phones once in a while, shut the fuck up - and listen.

so this is when i should shut up?

So let's make an average length story short and a mediocre plot exciting here, shall we?

I was offered full-time employment at the company where I'm currently interning. I was offered 25k a year plus a 5k bonus. One word popped into my head: what a fucking insult. Whoops! (That was four words.) I said no. I was offered 28k plus the 5k bonus. Seriously people? Have you not noticed me here? Putting in an absolute minimum of 10 hours a day. Working til 4am? Replying to work emails during the weekends? Are you guys seriously not realising my value here? I mean, I'm currently using about 75% of my abilities here, and they genuinely expect me to bring it all to the table for a handful of peanuts? You know what David Ogilvy said; if you pay peanuts, you'll get monkeys...

Our HR person was clearly pissed off when I brought this up (again) after I was granted my absolute minimum requirement: 30k plus the 5k bonus (a bonus only paid if I meet the expectations (?)). The immature little pisshead living inside of me (oi, come on now, we all have one) wanted nothing more than to say 'fuck you and good luck', take my belongings and leave the office immediately - the beauty of being an intern, you can do that shit.

But.

Instead. 

Instead I listened to her rant that was in no way related to my initial question (regarding the healthcare plan), and had to sit through a bunch of 'personal opinions' concerning my way of addressing the issue. An issue I had addressed from the very beginning - i.e I want to see all of the details of the healthcare plan and dental care  (JoJo, you're not in Europe anymore), bonus system etc. Even after having brought this up on several occasions, I never got a clear answer. Hence, I'll get cheeky. Hence, it could potentially piss people of (HR lady). 

If you're straightforward with me, I'm straightforward with you. If you're taking the piss. I'll double that piss.

So to summarise:

Did I sit there like a good girl, listened, nodded and said I understood? Yes.

Did I let her 'smooth things over' by asking me about travelling to Scandinavia and other bullshit? Yes.

Was I for one second not completely aware of what was happening? No.

Do I 100% trust these people? No.

Do I like these people? Yes.

Will I prove to be so freaking fantastic that they will feel utterly ashamed of their salary proposal? A million times over.

But here I am, in New York, as planned. With a job offer and colleagues that I actually like. And that was when I decided to shut the fuck up, sign the contract and get on with my life. 

One thing at a time.

several sunday postcards to pete.

Here are a few photos to further convince my 'brother from another mother' Pete that his decision to come to New York is not just the right decision, but the ONLY decision. In life.

And then we can run the New York Marathon Pete, like these poor bastards.

But if you don't want to do that, you can wait for me at the finnish line (see what I did there?) waving a Finnish flag like this guy:

Unfortunately, you'll get here in January so the weather will be shit. But it's still New York. And New York - is awesome.

a friday postcard to joe.

Not many people will get this post but I gotta look out for my fam soooo... this one is for you Pevans! Enjoy!

$1.99 smash and other life events.

So I've been fairly busy lately as I've started a second internship. That means I now have yet another person to try and impress. And I can tell you this - it's exhausting. More on that later though as there's been a shortage of images on this blog. So here you go, here are the main events in my life from the past two weeks:

I found smash for $1.99. Unreal. (It's the little things in life.)

I introduced the infamous '80's jacket' to the office. Always a win.

The Upper East Side went missing in a snow blizzard. So did our internet and my cell phone.

I was officially awarded a MSc in Design & Digital Media. That, dear readers, is a £6000 piece of paper. Graduation is on the 23rd, I shall be attending it virtually, watching the live stream of the ceremony and make overly witty comments (to myself).

As you can tell, my life isn't too exciting at the moment. This hunt for a visa sponsor is most certainly preventing me from making the most of New York City. However, I'm not here to fuck around, I'm here to do business. So do share if you have any exciting news, then I can live vicariously through you. I'll be eating my $1.99 smash and dreaming of visa sponsors until then!

this is the world we live in.

"...am I fired?"

Little did I know that my masters degree would prepare me this well for working at a startup. I remember the seemingly endless and equally frustrating discussions about logos, fonts and colours. If I didn't know better, I might as well be in the computer lab back in Edinburgh arguing my case in front of Tash and Sinead. Now I'm arguing my case on the 9th floor in SoHo instead. I've never worked at a startup before, and it's an interesting process to say the least. And as always in life, you need to know when to shut up and when to speak up. Last night - I did the latter. The founder is based in London and the CEO goes back and forth. Gmail and Skype in all it's glory yes, but sometimes, miss-communication is bound to happen. To make a long story short; I'm supposed to write a founding story. In order for that to happen, I kind of need to know how the company was founded. This was never clear, hence a story made up of words without substance and personality. Two things that are kind of crucial. So I fired away a fairly ballsy email to the CEO last night after he reminded the digital team that we needed an "About" story. I was pretty blunt, opening line being: "Can I be blunt? I'm gonna be blunt." - then I said my piece. I also might have mentioned that the founder's bio on his page was merely "a list of achievements, i.e bragging". And I said that reading it made me not want to buy anything from him. My conscience caught up with me at the end and I realised that maybe this wasn't my place to say these things, having interned at the company for only two weeks. So I ended my email with "...am I fired?" pressed "Send" and went to bed. Not only did I sleep like a baby, I also woke up to an email saying:


"Definitely not fired. Definitely going in right direction."


Shutting up: 0 
Speaking up: 1


Exhale.

"i wasn't sleeping!"

Yesterday I was working from home because I had a Skype interview. I was in the middle of doing research/writing copy when the phone rang. The guy on the other end introduces himself and points out the fact that we were supposed to have a Skype interview about 10 minutes ago.

Great.

Usually when I go to interviews I'm always ridiculously early. My record is two hours. Most of the time I have to awkwardly hang around the neighbourhood before it's a reasonable time to show my face in the reception. So now, when being pretty much "right there" the entire time - I'm late. Don't even get me started on the irony.

I'm wearing sweatpants and a t-shirt. Shit! I throw on a blazer, quickly jump on Skype and I phone the guy.

Me: Ahem.. so that wasn't the best first impression.
Mahdad: Were you sleeping?
Me: NO! (Even more ironic, I had been up for hours and hours.)

The guy is asking me some good questions, mostly focused on social media. I'm feeling the pressure. I need to make up for "being late". I like the guy, which is even worse. Because that makes me want to give an even better interview. I gave some pretty decent answers, I think. (I hate when you see them taking notes, it's like oiii come on, what are you writing there? A little peek please? Juuuuust a little one.)

As always, I was being honest about my situation and my search for an employer to potentially act as a sponsor for my visa. At one point the guy goes "you're from England so..." which results in me not only interrupting him, but semi-shouting "I'm from Finland!!". (Idiot. Stop shouting.) (And yay! Patriotism.)

The interview is a wrap and the guy says jokingly "you can go back to sleep now". Which again, results in me semi-shouting (no actually - I was shouting this time) "I WASN'T SLEEPING!" and making a sad face. Pouting and everything.

We hung up.

In the afternoon, I was offered the internship.
I must have done something right.

If my @bangonthemoney Twitter account was still connected to my phone he would have received a witty comeback. Unfortunately, I just saw this now. 

What a joker. Too good! Kudos. TVI Designs. Check it out, folks.

the interview from hell.

I was early for my interview. As always. Standing in front of a door marked "Room 303". The door was locked. I could hear a loud voice coming from inside. "What the hell is going on here?", I thought to myself. I knocked, not really sure what to expect. A friendly looking guy opened the door and it turned out I was in the right place. A bunch of boxes were piled up in the corner, a massive shark balloon was lounging out in the middle of the room and there was a huge table over by the windows. In case you didn't know - because I sure didn't - these are all attributes that help in the creation of an awesome first impression.

They were nice guys the two founders, friendly looking, happy. They asked me the usual; background, experience and all that. Then they talked about the website, how it works and so on.

Then all hell broke loose. One of the guys told me to pick one object in a hotel room and then sell it to them. I asked if I could pick any object in this imaginary hotel room. Sure, I could. First thing that came to my mind was a giraffe. Seriously Jo, don't say giraffe. I went for something more conventional. A TV. "Are you ready?" one of the guys says.

Words coming out of my mouth: "If I have to be."
Words in my head: "I wonder if I would die if I jump out that window?"

So I pretended to sell them a TV. It went something like this:

Me: Hi, I'm Jo from........................................................ Jo's TVs.
The boys: Jo's TVs! (Laughter.)
Me: So can you tell me about the TVs you have in your hotel right now?
The boys: You don't know? You didn't do the research?
Me: Uhm. Apparently I didn't. Refresh my memory, please.(At this point a loud drilling machine goes off in the hallway. Excellent timing. Also, how do you do your research on something that was made up five seconds ago? Is there an app for that?)
The boys: We have Apple TVs and they are the best ones.
Me: .....I can not only match that product, I can top it.
Guys: How?

Questions that followed were "Does it come with a remote control?" and "How can we make money off this TV?".

This was by far, one of the worst things that has ever happened to me during an interview. I understand that this is a Sales & Marketing Internship - but seriously. I repeat: seriously.

I looked like a moron. The most obvious reason for this? This was a fictional environment. Put me in a real-life situation like this, i.e put me in front of the customer, and you'll get the real me. And a pretty awesome one. Why would they have me do this act, when, in 2011, acting is the last thing you should be doing as a marketer. I know how to talk to customers. I'm genuine, personable and likable. I've been doing it for 12 years. That's 4380 days (leap years excluded). You pick up a thing or two.

However, I don't think we're a match. In fact, I think we're from different worlds. I think I have a different approach and a different perspective - and I don't think these guys are looking for a new one. One of the guys might have a Goldman Sachs Global Leader Award but has he dealt with a customer who's taken a shit in a store?

Exactly.

That being said, I withdrew my interest in the internship. It's a great product and I'm sure these guys will be doing very well for themselves. Best of luck to them.


In hindsight - I totally should have gone with the giraffe.

waiting, rejection and 90 seconds of christianity - DNYHM vol 6.

Now, let's cover my second week in New York. Not nearly as busy as the first week and I held back with my applications while waiting to hear from the ones I had interviewed with, slightly (read: majorly) blown away by the overall response. 

For Monday (September 26) I had to make a video for sourcing company BAMKO following my successful application. What the hell. I don't want to work in sourcing! Hence, they didn't get a video. Also, check out their website. How evil looking?

On Tuesday I had a phone interview with The Charter Network for the role as Marketing Assistant. My friend said the website looked like some sort of Scientology organisation. It does. Phone interview went alright and they said they would get back to me at the end of the week. They did. I didn't get it. Pheew. If it would have been offered to me it would have been a "no" - so everyone's happy! (Tom Cruise too. Suri, not so much.)

On Wednesday I had my interview with Oriel Wines. My favourite by miles, and miles and miles (not Davis)! Was given a bottle of wine to take with me. How awesome? I left after being introduced to everyone in the office, wanting it more than any other of the internships I had applied for. Gave up my atheism for about a minute and a half and prayed to baby Jesus that I would get the job.

Did I? Maybe I did.

At the very end of the week I had a casual Sunday interview with blogger Rachel, the girl behind Pizza Rulez. I can't even begin to describe how good it felt to (professionally) swear during an interview. Waiting to hear back from her. (Maybe I should have washed my mouth pre-interview? Nah. Allow.)

there's a new girl in soho.

It's me. Yesterday was my first day at the office as the new Digital Marketing & Content intern. The company shall for now remain a secret. (I'll tell you why later.)

From where I sit I probably have one of the best views in SoHo.

On-desk necessities. 

Sights on my way home are not too shabby either. Also, I must get a decent camera at some point. As much as I love my iPod it doesn't take the best photos.

Things could be worse.

the best of #iphone5. no, wait - #iphone4s.

Among the whys, WTFs and "When is iPhone5 out?", Twitter, while heavily permeated by disappointment, delivered at least some comic relief:

designmilk Design Milk 

I was really hoping to see Tim Cook in a black mock turtleneck and jeans. #iphone5

Rove Rove McManus 

I think I like Apple's other grey-haired guy with glasses better. #iPhone4S

collinspencer Spencer Collins 

Why is no one making Tom Cruise/whatshername jokes. Isn't their daughter named Suri? #iphone5

TheDrunkySingle The Drunky Single 

I'll buy the #iphone5 if it hovers over water & the ground & follows its owner when drunk otherwise Ill still lose/drop it at some point.

Don_Cote Hector Hernandez 

“I expected a unicorn but all Daddy gave me was a pony!” #iphone4s

frigginbrownie Mike Brown 

Just heard that the new season of Arrested Development will be exclusive to the never to be released #iphone5

fair enoughs and failures - DNYHM vol 5.

Here comes the honest and uncensored update on my job hunt in New York City - full disclosure guaranteed.


Week #1:


The Tap Music - Waiting to hear back about visa business. But other than that, I'm all aboard. (Extracted JPGs from my 3D animation below.)

Vizlingo - I declined the offer because of my interview with Oriel Wines. Bold move perhaps, but I'd rather be bold than boring. Let's hope it was a winning move too. Otherwise, I will feel like an idiot.


Mid-writing update! Wicky from Oriel Wines just emailed me saying: 


"Just wanted to let you know that I really enjoyed meeting you last week. I'm meeting with my team today to have one final review of all applications, and make a decision. You are one of my favorite candidates so I just wanted to make sure that you're still available. Please let me know!"


Everyone - keep your fingers crossed! It's an order.


Shecky's - I withdrew my interest in the Sales Internship even before knowing whether they had chosen me or not. Still, they emailed me the other day and asked me to get in touch about their Marketing Internship. Roger must have liked me. Or at least I assume it's a good thing when someone says "you remind me of myself". Will I get back to them? I don't think so, other than to kindly thank them for the email. As much as I liked Roger I think I'm more compatible with other companies I have had interviews with.


Ology Media - This is the place where I had the unexpected Skype interview as the Marketing Director had to work from home that day. This was also the guy that praised my website. The interview went really well (at least I thought so) but.... I haven't heard from him. And now I'm crazy paranoid that my post-interview tweeting ruined my chances. I have a habit of making up my own hashtags, it's something I do for fun. This time it was #TheCameraDoesntAddWeight followed by #ThatsWhatYouLookLike. I was blatantly (not so "blatantly" to others perhaps) referring to myself. Because I always tend to stare at that little window of myself thinking "Jeez, you look like a moron" when video skyping. Let this be a hashtag lesson. A painful one.


UrbanDaddy - One of my favourites. A tone of voice and swag about them similar to my own. Interview went okey, not brilliantly. Especially when I hadn't had the time to do my research properly. So as I was sitting there, I was praying that Kristin, the Talent Recruiter (funny title), wouldn't ask me about UrbanDaddy's competitors. She did. I died. Haven't heard from her. I don't think I'll be getting a new daddy this year. Fair enough.


I had another three people to get back to to schedule interviews. One which I had completely forgotten about and found when looking through my inbox at the end of the week. Based on that, I clearly wasn't that interested. You don't forget something that you want. As for the remaining two, I emailed one of them based on the chances of them being able to accommodate my need for a visa. He didn't reply. Ouch.


I've got more to tell you but I've decided to split it into two posts bearing in mind the kind request from Niklas to not overwhelm you with text. (I'm such a good friend.) Anyhow, that's week numero uno for you!

so that's how you start the week.

I'm gonna go ahead a proclaim this effort of the week - that's right, on a Monday. Bold move, Johansson. But if there's something I noticed since I arrived in New York, it is that you want to get up early to catch the sun these days. So I did what so many other New Yorkers do, I put on my running shoes and headed to the park in the AM. Like a health freak. Eww.

Gorgeous morning by the Reservoir.

Love it when people that have about two decades on you pass you... not okey.

Keeping up the sock trend. This morning: swallows. I'm definitely the only one wearing my socks massively pulled up over my track bottoms. (Because I'm cooler than you.)

After about an hour I was almost dead. Now I'm in a safe place, i.e sitting down. 

a montauk fog and a pizza blog.

I replied to an ad posted by the girl behind Pizza Rulez the other day. She was looking for an intern to help her get her fashion oriented blog off the ground. I replied with the requested "brief summary of yourself, one recommendation you have for PIZZA RULEZ, and some other third thing you come up with on your own." My third thing being the photo below (I'm seriously making socks my thing).

My recommendation for Pizza Rulez was to first and foremost establish a graphic profile reflective of the author and build a consistent brand.

Rachel (that's her name) replied. So this evening I headed down to Soho to meet up with Rachel and her roommate Angela. We chatted for about an hour and she paid for my drink. Which means that this interview immediately went straight to the top alongside Oriel Wines. Lovely girls both of them. This should be a good gig in terms of where I see myself in the future, i.e brand management. Come on Rachel, make the right choice here, go for the gregarious Scandinavian chick with the semi-British accent and the quirky socks.

A 6th Avenue/West Houston view of a fog enclosed Empire State Building.

a sunday postcard to dan.

Here's a Sunday postcard to my gooooood friiieeeend Dan. This is where we will be celebrating when (not if) you arrive in New York. I foresee an exquisite culinary experience.

Love, love, love.

in bed with Martin Lindstrom.

You'd think that a 25-year-old who recently moved to Manhattan would be out on town a Saturday night, possibly drinking Manhattans (tried that in Vegas once, a nice gentleman in a bar in Caesar's Palace sent them over to me and my friends. It was a nice gesture. The drink - not so much). Anyways, I'm not out getting drunk (this should make you very happy, mother), I'm reading a book I picked up at Barnes & Noble today. Education never ends.

This is me pretending that Barnes & Noble is a library.

This book got to come home with me. Let's see what truths and lies Mr. Lindstrom will reveal. Also, I'm a sucker for canned cherries and now I've found a candy that tastes exactly like them. As artificially heavenly as you can only imagine.

kelley? who the **** is kelley?

My dad, aunt and distant family friend (who my aunt emailed to notify that I nowadays reside in the US, as does he) have all sent me a message through my contact form on my website (bless them!). Today though, I received a message from someone who is not a part of the Johansson household. I received an email from a, I'm hesitant to use the word "businessman" here, let's say... aspiring business... coach? 


The message read as follows:


"Hi Kelley:

I used your website contact form at http://bangonthemoney.com to send you this message. Ichose this method rather that a call to allow you to decide if having additional profits in the next ninety days and thereafter was of interest to you. I am offering to teach you how at no risk to you. Yes, no strings attached. If I don\'t succeed in getting you value you don\'t pay. In fact, I will not invoice you at all during that ninety days. Visit www.xxxxxxx.net to discover more.

I am making this offer to add 300 new students to this revolutionary new program. This offer will be removed once that number of students is reached.

Sorry for the unconventional way I have approached you, however, what is important is that you now have the opportunity to participate."

I could not believe what was in front of my eyes. First of all, who's Kelley? The first introductory line on my website (following the massively dope title "Awesome. You're here.) is: "I'm Jo." I'm now contemplating to add "Not Kelley".

This guy is offering me his help. But by the looks of it - he needs mine. Dear sir, I hope you read this and I hope that you seriously re-evaluate your approach to acquiring new business. Our you'll be out of business. Best of luck to you.

Regards,

Jo

(Not Kelley)

lies and wines - DNYHM vol 4.

Yesterday morning I had another interview. This time it was with The Charter Network. It was the usual "How did you find out about us and why did you apply?" combined with "Why do you want this job?" (Marketing Assistant). It went alright considering I hate phone interviews with a passion. They can't see my body language, accompanying gestures and funny faces. And I make some gooood faces from time to time, I'll tell you that. They should be witnessed in person - not imagined. Also, sarcasm doesn't tend to work that well over the phone either. Not that this was the kind of organisation where sarcasm would have been overly appreciated. So I kept my cool. They said they would get back to me at the end of this week and we hung up.

And then I realised. Before I left Europe I told my friends a massive lie. I said I would take any job at any company as long as there would be potential to grow within the company, climb the corporate ladder etc etc. That's not true. I will not. I simply can't take a job at a company where I wouldn't feel passionate about the company, the brand and the product/service. I would die on the inside. My integrity would be irreparable. So with that being said. I take it back. I will only accept an internship/job offer at a company where I feel that I'm working towards something, creating something, have a massive impact as to what happens with the brand and how people perceive it. Don't mess with passion, people! I'd rather go home broke and heartbroken than live in New York with no integrity. Turns out, I'm not a sell out. Damn it.

Enough of that. Today I headed down to Soho for an interview with Oriel Wines. What can I say... I want to work there. Badly. So much stuff going on - good stuff, exciting stuff. And it's not every day you leave an interview with a bottle of wine. Kudos. K-U-D-O-S.

"i think you have used all of your luck today."

Yesterday, after eight days in New York and two days in my new apartment, I lived through my worst nightmare. Key words being "lived through". In the morning I discovered that I could slide open my window screen. Neat, I thought. Then, after a day out and about I came home to an exceedingly humid room, the window was open but the window screen was down. So, I did what I had done in the morning, I slid it open. Except that the entire thing unhooked and flung off. From the 15th floor. My first instinct was to jump after it. My second was; "that will hurt". So there I was, helpless, staring at the window screen making its way to the ground. I saw pedestrians passing by on the sidewalk below. I thought, "Please, please, please don't hit anyone". The wind grabbed a hold of it and it looked like it was gonna crash down on one of the cars parked along the street. Nope. It took another direction, back toward the building. The outer window sill of a first floor window dampened the fall before it hit the ground. As this happened I shouted at the top of my voice: "WATCH OOOOOOOOUUUUUUT!!!!!!!!!!!" The bush next to the building entrance further dampened the fall before it hit the concrete.

Now picture my head out this window looking really, REALLY scared:

The damn window screen.

View is still good though. And no casualties. All in all, a good day. Pheew.

No one was hurt and I'd like to thank my lucky star, baby Jesus and the Easter Bunny for that. I'm never touching that window screen again, I would rather sweat than kill someone.

Sergio, my landlord, said he thought I had used all of my luck that day.
I agreed.
That's why I didn't leave my room for the rest of the evening.

news of nomination.

I emailed one of my former colleagues at whitespace the other day to ask for the campaign posters I wrote the copy for so that I can add them to that starving portfolio of mine. She sent them my way along with some great news. Apparently the posters for Cycling Scotland's I Love My Bike/I Hate My Bike campaign have been nominated for Scottish Creative Awards! Congratulations to them (and me)!

Close ups for the crew (click to enlarge!):

to niklas.

This post is dedicated to my friend Niklas. He inboxed me and complained about my blog having too much TEXT and that a simple miner like him gets all his information from pictures. As a marketer I know how important it is to please my audience (which most likely consists solely of my friends and family, big ups for reading guys!). So here you go! This guy, on Columbus and 87th, scared the shit out of me last night when I went over to my new apartment to drop off my suitcase. I'm gonna stop writing now so that the amount text doesn't overwhe....

midtown ologies and daddys on broadway - DNYHM vol. 3

As mentioned in my previous post yesterday I headed to Midtown for an interview with Marketing Director Jarrett Cato at Ology. He wasn't there. Physically, that is. So I was put in a room with a laptop in front of me for an unexpected Skype interview. Good thing I like the unexpected! My awesome this-should-score-me-some-extra-points plan which I was about to execute flawlessly in the conference room I was put in first, was unfortunately destroyed as I had to move into a smaller room because of a meeting. I had written "I really like my new desk! Thanks!" on the whiteboard behind me. Cheeky. Then I quickly had to scribble down "Sorry guys, wrong room!" when I had to move. Oops. Interview went well I think and as it is a very small world Jarrett actually used to work with the guys at The Tap Music! Crazy.

Then I headed towards Union Square to meet Kristin at UrbanDaddy. At first I was planning on answering all of the questions as if I was my good friend Dan. That would have been well funny (for me). "My name is Dan, I'm Colombian. I'm from Twickenham. I love football and I'm really good at making tea." It was tempting, I must say. But I settled for explaining my love for the novelty of using daddy, or more accurately so; dodi! (This is not going to make a lot of sense for a lot of people.) Kristin looked at me funny. So then I had to say serious things. Went pretty well I think. Not that I have heard from her yet. After that I decided to have an interview free day as my brain surely will fry. Good call I think.

You guys, this is fun!

red trousers, water leaks and look alikes - DNYHM vol. 2

My first interview crammed day has come to its end. It went exceedingly well. So well that I had Key Lime Pie for dinner, hahaa!

The crew at Tap Music was a chill bunch. There was a dog in the office/apartment. That says everything. These guys need some help though, even if I decide to take another internship or job I intend to keep in touch with these people, it's called evangelism marketing. It's the good stuff.

After that I headed downtown to Vizlingo. What was supposed to be my first subway ride since I arrived turned into a 76-block walk. No trains on the blue lines due to a massive water leak. Good thing I had time to kill. Allison, who interviewed me, said they'd love to have me and we shall be in touch in the next couple of days.

After a celebratory ice cream break (seriously nutriously satisfactory day) in Washington Square Park I continued my unintended Manhattan excursion down to Soho and Sheckys. That's where I met Roger. Roger wants Sheckys to become the biggest brand in the universe (in their market). I liked Roger. He had a very American spirit - and a beard. He must be one of the good guys. He said he'd get back to me within the next couple of days.

Most definitely a good start to the week! Tomorrow I'm heading down to Ology at 11am and then UrbanDaddy at 1.30pm.

On my way back to the hostel I passed a restaurant where two girls in their 20's were sat at an outside table having a drink. I could see the one facing my way giving her girlfriend the "look-at-this-girl" nod, so that she would turn around and look at me. I let this scenario play out, walked past them, then a few meters later I turned around and gave them a massive smile. They looked slightly embarrassed but they smiled back. Have these Manhattan chicks never seen a girl wearing rolled up bright red trousers combined with a pair of badass shark socks before? If that's the case, them lot are in for a treat.

Another funny thing was a random guy telling me I look like Brooke Shields. He thought he made my day. I HATE BROOKE SHIELDS. Her face has always annoyed me. Also, she's 46. Hahaahaa, too funny. (Will take it easy with the eyebrow pencil tomorrow.)

Time for bed. I'm shattered. But happy. Happy shattered.
Good night!

preparing for sharing - DNYHM vol. 1

While writing this I'm in Starbucks on the corner of Lexington and 96th street. I just accidentally glanced at my neighbour's computer screen and he was on a website called "Flirting With Models". His identity shall remain anonymous, but I wish him the best of luck.


I've been in New York for almost three days now, and as expected it feels like home. So good to be back! This post will be the first in the series I have twitterly titled #DearNewYork #HireMe (DNYHM). So let's hope it doesn't go on for too long eh...!


I have three interviews tomorrow so I headed down to Fifth and bought some interview appropriate attire today. I don't know how appropriate it is though considering I spent nearly 12 months locked away in a computer lab wearing colour combinations that would make Anna Wintour question her entire career. I've definitely toned it down but there's no black in sight so I hope these guys tomorrow can handle it!


First stop at 11am is The Tap Music, an online community devoted to the creation, discovery, and support of quality music. This is the one I want the most so that's why I made them a little animation, watch it here. 


After that I'm heading downtown to the guys at Vizlingo, a start up operating out of NYC and Silicon Valley with a concept based on a messaging tool that translates your words into video. Well keen to ask these guys some questions.


Final stop for the day at 5pm is Shecky's down in Soho. Judging by the look of the website it's not something I'd usually go for, but their ad was well good. And if they are willing to take on someone answering their list with "this is a plus skills" with the following is definitely worth talking to:


Pro Tools - Hammers and stuff? Check!
Photography - I own a camera, check!
Videography - I sometimes film stuff using my ipod.... check?
Bookkeeping - I have bookshelves.
Spelling - I tink I can spells fairly god.
Creative/artistic abilities of all sorts - Endless. Like, seriously.
Competitive athletics - Show jumping! (That's on horses.)
Dog walking - Mad walking skills, check! Check! Check!


(Sarcasm win.)


Right, I'm gonna do my research now. I've got two hours left until Starbucks shuts so. Something I've learnt during these three days is that you have to get below 100th street to get decent wifi. The free wifi at the hostel is free because it doesn't work. That's lovely.


I will update you on my hopefully successful day tomorrow evening. I shall also stick to my promise of telling you about my failures as much as my conquests. If I fuck up, you will know! Laugh, cry and cringe people! 


Later!

craigslist behaviour.

When you're on Craigslist and you click the marketing/pr/ad section listed under "jobs" you expect way more from those posts than say, accounting+finance and biotech/science. I mean, these people are, by trade, supposed to know how to get your attention, engage you and sell you something - in this case a job. The majority of these companies don't give away their name (yet are still happy to claim they are industry leaders, more often than not working with Fortune 500 companies). Right. How am I supposed to target, tailor and interview proof my application unless I KNOW WHO YOU ARE. (Sorry, that simply had to be said in capitals!) I mean, generic copy/paste cover letters are for people who like their inbox to look like this:

Inbox: - (0)

Post-recession job hunting can be pretty degrading and sometimes even humiliating, I'm trying to keep my integrity on a decent level by not clicking titles like these:

$70K-$100K Be a leader, Its only POSSIBLE if you BELIEVE it

100% THE MOST LUCRATIVE OPPERTUNITY BEING OFFERED TO MAKE 10K+ MONTH!!

ARE YOU READY FOR A NEW CAREER? $50-$100K-TRAINING & SUPPORT PROVIDED

Thankfully, at times, you get blown away by funny requirements like these:

- A writing style that doesn't sound like it came from a term paper or a corporate handbook
- Ability to operate independently and under pressure
- In possession of some really solid people skills
- Comfort with Macs and Gmail/Google Docs
- Awesomeness
- Permanent U.S. work authorization
- Someone, at some point in your life, told you that you have a lot of common sense. And they weren't being sarcastic.


Despite all the bogus that's out there I do enjoy navigating through all the crap. So how am I doing so far? Well, I'm bagging interviews like it's going out of fashion, and I'm truly humbled by all the responses so far. Fingers crossed they'll like me offline as well!

barcelona - unrobbed.

Here comes the best from my anti-"double dip" and "holy-cow-I'm-done-with-university" holiday in Barcelona!

Recession friendly airline; "anti" doesn't mean "ignore" guys!

Thought I'd give them a hand (leg) adding some towers, maybe they'll finish before 2026 now. 

Product placement on Playa de Barceloneta.

Headed toward Montjuïc.

Made it to the top!

At MACBA embracing my alleged "arty" ego.

Hey Europe! More of this please! Free Wi-Fi.

Love paella and all that, but this ticket was by far my best Catalonian investment.

My last night in Barcelona at Camp Nou, money well spent! Barcelona vs. Villarreal: 5-0.