Vanilla Extract and Brown Sugar

I arrived to my cubicle today and all I can smell is vanilla extract and brown sugar...I suspect that either someone used my corner desk to prepare cookie dough or that an office in my immediate vicinity held a recent workshop on the art of cookie preparation. Will look for flour trails later...

A couple of big events have happened recently. For one, I got to participate firsthand in a pitch to new business (when agencies compete for new clients or to fight for current ones.) It is, as you may imagine, a very busy time. Because on top of your normal workload, one must find time to invest resources in new business, which in some cases can be even bigger than your current workload. Now of course being an intern means I don't quite have as much stress and work to worry about, but it was still intense and fun to be apart of. I can't really divulge (or I feel that way) about any specifics but I was working on some fun copy that I ended up being utilized so that is always exciting.

The real kicker to this experience was how the office was when the client came in for the pitch. You could just feel the tension/excitement in the air. Gotta admit, McKinney pulled out some mad rabbits out of the hat for the pitch and for sure it left a strong impression on the client. It has been interesting to see how everything that has been done for this was able to carry a consistent message. For that to function we had constant contact with the Account Planners to ensure that our ideas were on target. Last thing needed here is a visual that stands out for being an anomaly.

Once the client had left, the place turned into a school campus on the last day of class. People were loud, relieved, etc. I even saw some people skipping down the halls. But perhaps that was because the bar taps were opened a couple of hours earlier for the staff to relieve some stress. I talked to a couple of people who had worked some crazy days leading up to the pitch so I am sure they were getting some much needed bar nourishment to wet their palates.

The other notable event of recent was an opportunity to have a sit down with a few other interns with our CEO. I had seen him around the office on a few occasions, but never took the opportunity to introduce myself formally. He started by going around asking our names and going through all those common little icebreakers everyone has experienced. What stood out to me, was that he knew who I was — more specifically, that I was the guy from Rock Hill, SC. I was impressed to learn that someone as important as him still takes the time to be in the know about his staff — even the unpaid ones.