Different kind of H20

Calling all wine lovers in watertown. New to watertown, looking for wine buddies to start a watertown wine tasting club.

Have been visiting the wine stores for wine tasting but the wine stores here don’t seem like a place you really want to spend alot of time in, savoring the wine. They are more of a grab the wine and run kinda place? Not talking aout fancy wine bars of course, I’m interested in the wine more than being seen in the right places.

Also would be nice to know like minded people to drink wine with. Always a good thing to end a stressful working day with good conversations and a nice glass of Pinot Noir… or Malbec… or (insert your fav appelation).

Also I think a better idea than hitting wine tastings every other day would be to have a wine tasting group where everybody can bring a bottle according to the theme (foreign wines, Californian wine, wine to drink while eating Asian food etc.). Would be easier to taste different wines that way… economies of scale!

So fellow wine loving watertownians, what do you say? I’m already thinking about my Cloudy Bay from New Zealand!

What do account planners really do?

Yeap, that’s me after 3 weeks of work.

I started work as an account planner and boy has it been a wild ride. For those who are unfamiliar with advertising jobs, an account planner is *cue wikipedia* “”Account Planning is the discipline that brings the consumer into the process of developing advertising. To be truly effective, advertising must be both distinctive and relevant, and planning helps on both counts.” Okie that really means I plan the strategy for each advertising campaign based on the research and data conducted on the brand, consumer, competitors and market place.

Okie still confused? Let’s see, when a company comes to my agency to ask for an advertising campaign, the account director and account planner (me!) will meet with the company to decide on what they want, what they need and what they really can do with the ridiculously tiny budget they dare propose. With that, the account planner (me! me!) goes back to his little cubicle, stares into space and then magically comes up with tons fo relevant and insightful data to craft a strategy for the advertising campaign. After that, mr. account planner makes sure that everybody in the agency and the client stays committed to this strategy to achieve optimal results.

Okie I simplify, that’s really a 5 year old explanation of my job, there’s alot more to it, namely office politics, bitching, hand holding (usually those of clients) and blindness after staring at spreadsheets and focus group transcripts for too long.

I’m essentially a business analyst, account manager, strategist, nanny, cheer leader all rolled into one. I work with alot of people and make sure that they believe in what I do and stay committed to my vision. So that’s alot of work, after a long day at the office, I turn into this guy:

One thing I’m surprised at is how small the advertising scene in Boston is. If i’m not wrong, the only big size agency here is BBDO. There’s Arnold here as well but Arnold is more of a mid size agency. All the other big agencies are in New York… not much of a community here it seems. I would love to meet other account planners here in Boston, maybe a Thursday dinner to discuss ideas and strategies (don’t you just love how that word makes everything sound more “strategic”?) Okie fine i really just want to complain about work with other planners but hell, there’s no better reason to drink that that.

So Boston planners! What do you say? Ready for a Boston planning charter?

Hit me up!

Holidays are best savored after…

Apologies for the short break from blogging, I just got back from a whirlwind tour of the Yucatan region of Mexico and started work two days ago. It’s been a hectic hectic three weeks…. I feel like I’m starting a whole new life rather than just a new job.

And just for you, my greetings from Mexico memory land. Check out the pristine beach and blue blue waters, the Maya Riveria is insanely beautiful.

Now I’m bombarded with “So how’s Mexico?” questions and I do my half smile and go “Oh it’s nice”, my “I kinda liked it but didn’t” polite answer. If you got nothing nice to say then keep (semi) quiet right?

In truth, Mexico paled in comparison to the South American countries of Peru and Bolivia I visited last year, where everything was bigger, brighter and cheaper. Everybody there were friendlier and less Americanized, no hispanics wishing they were blinked out thugs there… everybody wanted to be friends and had visibly less concerns about making money. I doubt Mexico is poorer than Peru and Bolivia but the poverty in Mexico seemed more desperate and urgent.

The Mayan ruins were great, but again (boyfriend J will roll his eyes at this) less impressive than the Inca sites of Machu Piccu and others. I did like the Yucatan rainforest setting of most of the ruins but really it’s hard to beat the breath taking mountain view of Machu Piccu. Add the occasional Llama violently spitting grass in your face, Machu Piccu is pure magic.

And the food? The first grilled meat and tortilla was nice. The second, not bad. The third, nice. The 424th, not so good. I’m quite surprised by the lack of diversity in Mexican, or rather Yucatacan, cooking. I did fall in love with Sopa de Lima (chicken soup with mucho mucho lime) but beyond that, nothing really exciting that I would eat again and again.

And on top of that, I find Mexico somewhat expensive. Meals never went below $4 USD even in cheap dives and accomodations were distinctly more expensive than South America. I blame the hordes of American tourist for that! (glares angrily at boyfriend J)

Next trip, Cuba? Wait for me Fidel!

Technorati Tags: Beach, Mexico, Yucatn