Interview
I just had a 2.5 hour interview with the Social Marketing Group, and overall it went quite well. The main contact seemed to really like me, and we had lots to discuss. He is a brilliant guy, working on both Social Marketing projects as well as Sustainable Development work with UNESCO.

I'm in quite a bind now since i am quite close to getting a job here, but it's starting over AGAIN- and it's an intership to start (damn advertising agencies! they get away with murder!). I know the position will be very challenging yet it will in a very interesting emerging industry. Being apart of that would be very meaningful, and closer to meeting my need to help others driver.

What am i going to do? The interview even said that it was down to basically 2 people, and even in the end they're looking to hire 2 people within the next 6-12 months anyway. We had also discussed me coming early next year (when I had previously thought about approaching them again), because I like it wehre i am now and am getting tons of experience in project management / marketing communications. I don't think i'm ready to make the jump yet, even though it's much closer to what i want to do with my day job. I'm sure the guy 6 months ago would slapped me now!

Weakerthans
After the interview i went for an afternoon dinner with a friend of mine downtown. It was great to meet up right after so i could unload about the job and flush out my initial feelings. After some food we went to Future Bakery where I saw an ad for the Weakerthans in concert... TONIGHT! What were the chances? They were paying in 1 hour at the Mod Club. I swear it was a calling. I almost went to Guelph to see them (among other bands though) and now they're playing at a small club downtown!?! I coudn't pass this up.

And so after finishing up some apple crumble cake I walked all the way there. It was totally worth the walk, and the $15 cover. It was funny since I felt totally out of place b/c i was wearing interview clothes! Here i am standing with a blue pinstriped fitted shirt, khakis and hushpuppies when i'm surrounded by casual ringer shirts (i did see a DMB shirt--sweet) and birkenstocks. Ah well, I didn't care!

The band was AMAZING. They looked like regular guys you could see chilling at their local bar. They had the "i can't believe we're this big" high, which made it seem more genuine. I'm happy for this band from Winnipeg - yay for more Canrock! :).

The club was close one of my friends so i just spontaneously called him and hung out/spent the night over there. What a night! This weekend i'm off to the jazz fesival in the beaches. I was supposed to go last night as well with some work friends, but unfortunately something came up :). I'm sure the music will be incredible today, and let's hope it doesn't rain!

Take care,

RE

"And I'm leaning on a broken fence between Past and Present tense.
And I'm losing all these stupid games that I swore I'd never play.
And it almost feels okay." -weakerthans

So I have some funny news. Over the past week I have gotten some random calls about job opportunities with various companies. The first was with one of an old recruitment company that I was using in the fall. They called me to see if I was available to talk about a new job opportunity. These jobs are usually entry level contact jobs, so I wasn’t too keen on this one. But nonetheless, it’s cool to see that I am still on the radar.

Then I got a call from a “management recruitment” head hunter. Basically he was calling to tell me about a possible account executive / account management role with a promotions agency. This promotions marketing firm is apparently Canadian and is focusing on packaged goods in North America. Sound familiar? Yep, sounds like a direct competitor to my company. Heh. I talked to him about it and he still made it sound like I needed him, but honestly this job didn’t sound worth the hassle to move. He wanted me to send over my resume, but I decided not to since I knew nothing much about the job. Why would I want to move to a job similar to what I’m doing right now? I’m sure it would be the same work and same type of pay. For what’s it’s worth, the job I have right now it pretty good w/great people, and the only major issue I have are the hours, stress and the fact that I’m not working for social causes.

Here’s the kicker. I also got a call from a global advertising company that I had interviewed with in late January, and at the time they told me that they were 99% about to hire someone already; I was just a bit to late contacting them (see January 19 post). They gave me the cliché “but you are still an impressive candidate / we will definitely keep your resume on file” speech back then and I just took it like I usually did. This time it was different because they actually called me back!

It was a total surprise to me and it seems that 5 months later they’re looking for another person. There were 2 or 3 candidates from the last round that stood out, and were calling to see what we were up to these days. I told them about where I was these days and my job, and he seemed impressed. I’m now going into an interview this Friday (July 23)! I updated my resume and have to look around for some writing samples to send them for review.

To refresh your memory, this job would be in a new Social Marketing Group, focusing on developing marketing campaigns for non-profit organizations / NGOs / companies focusing on charitable programs (e.g. AIDS walks). Sounds totally up my alley eh? Yep!

So what can I say? I’m in a total bind. I’m just starting to get into the groove with my current job, gaining some great experience and working in a great environment. The people are great (how many people can smoke up with the president of the company, or partake in a “Lobster Fest”, importing lobster from NB via same day flight delivery?). So we’ll see. Sure, this is in Social Marketing, but if the culture is dry and uptight, I’ll be miserable. On the other hand, I could be working on such things as a UNICEF marketing campaign in Brazil, or with UNESCO!

I’ll at least go into the interview and see how my gut takes me. That’s really all that I have to go on right now. Until then, I need to find some good material that helps showcase my writing ability! J

Take care,

RE

“I wait in 4/4 time. Count yellow highway lines that you're relying on to lead you home” -weaktertans

So last week I saw DMB 3 nights out of 5 days. Pretty crazy eh?

I went to 1 show in Toronto on June 30 and 2 shows at Saratoga Springs on July 2 and 3. My trusty companion could not make it for the Saratoga run, so my SBF came with me. It was a special occasion for both of us b/c I was not used to being with another HARDCORE DMB FAN (e.g. wetting pants when I hear quarter-note snare hits, clearly signaling an out-of-this-world intro to ANTS MARCHING), but rather someone who was taking it all in for the first time. It was a cool change since he had a good time and really enjoyed the energy, musicianship and overall entertainment of the shows.

We stayed in a pretty run town called Schenectady (I pronounce it SHIT-NECK-TIT-TEE). They claim to be one of the oldest towns in the US, and boy, did it show. The ppl were nice, but the houses looked like they were about to collapse at any second. There was also a random college campus in the middle of it all. It was actually well kept and therefore a direct contrast to the surrounding area. This town is about the same distance to Saratoga as Oshawa/Pickering is to Toronto. We found a hotel for $52 USD a night, rather than the $100+ in Saratoga, probably b/c of the long weekend.

I also went to my first strip mall in the US -- I don't remember the last time (or ever) going to one. It was uneventful, going into a TARGET for the first time as well as a few other stores. When i first walked into TARGET the first thing I uttered was "WOW, it's...is so ugly and massive!" :) Oops. Sadly it was a new store but decorated like it was a old Winners from the mid-80s. Why do they TRY and look old? Sorry sister, but highligher PINK carpets will NEVER be in again. (i pray).

Oh yeah, the shows
Speaking of highlighters, back to some of the highlights of the show. This year (and last) Dave has been perfecting his skat-improv vocal technique. In 1998 he started with indian chants and calls (e.g. Don't Drink and Water and even Halloween), and he's gotten funkier and edgier since. In Toronto, for Jimi thing, he got into a HUGE vocal improv-skat solo that was mind blowing. Jimi Thing the highlight of the night for me. See a clip of the vocal solo here. (editor's note: Video is coming)

For Saratoga, I got really into their new material. They played all their new stuff on the 3 nights so by the 3rd time I starting to get the groove of the tunes. I think there were about 4 new songs they were playing with, and you could tell that a few were almost done and a few were still in the works. On the first Saratoga night they played one since that barely had a structure; it was Dave singing what sounded like a few verses and somthing like a chorus, and huge jamming between. Dave maintained direct eye contact with all the band members the entire time so they could keep with him on what he was doing. I felt so special to be part of new songs being created - I can't wait to see what happens to this song in a few months when it finds it's shape.

Ok, so i just checked the setlist on the DMB site to see if they had names of the new songs. Guess what! Ok, I was late for the first 2 songs of the show in Saratoga (it took forever to get there from T.O.!). And what did i miss...PIG AND THE STONE!!!!!!!!!! HOLY FUCKING CRAP!!!!!!!!!!!!! OF ALL SONGS!!!!!!!! NOOOOOOOOOO!! Life isn't fair sometimes, i guess. But MAN, there's not fair and there's pouring kikkoman soya sauce on my open heart wound!! However, the rest of the show was still great (CRY FREEDOM / RECENTLY (w/wicked Butch Taylor keys solo) / BEST OF WHAT'S AROUND / BILLES) ... AND PIG/STONE!!!. Checkout the setlist if you get a chance (July 2).

Woah, I need to get these shows so i can hear all of them again. BUT MAN, PIG OPENER??!!? Perhaps daveheads can only understand this, but honestly, yeah. HOLY CRAP. Why oh why!

Ok, i need to stop. I've venting my diarharrea of emotions on a freaking blog. I need to get some fresh air :).

Take care,

RE

"don't beat your head, dry your eyes and let the love in" -PIG!