Dispatches from Gradland
I’ve re-entered graduateland, where life is crazy busy and my existance revolves around studying, working and occassionally venturing out and remembering that there’s a world of fun and free time out there.
So until May, expect rather boring posts. I now get excited about research articles, interesting lectures in class and campaign activities that I’m working on.
-Nonprofit job has changed a bit. While my job title didn’t change, I got a raise and more responsibiliites. The change is pretty cool, and I’m now working directly with the state directors of three regions in the U.S. I get to handle the online grassroots activities of these three regions, which is scary and requires a lot of organization and multi-tasking. I’m definetely seeing a possible long-term career path in grassroots development, especially since I’m focusing my thesis on that subject. It just seems to be a really good fit for me.
-Yesterday, we got to sit in on a video conference call with the president of promotions at MGM in Hollywood and heard about the promotion campaign behind Rocky Balboa. While I hate the Rocky franchise for reasons that some of you understand, it was fascinating to hear about the promotion campaign. MGM guy explained how the box office gross is broken down, how movie trailers are strategically placed, budgets and the print campaign. It’s amazing how much money is invested in movies when the ROI is really not that high. The downside was sitting through about 20 different Rocky trailers and hearing MGM guy describe how each collection of the same scenes was different.
-I’m really loving this DC smoking ban. The now infamous SOC Dance Team has planned a couple of outings this semester. It’s so nice to be able to wear a coat to a bar or club and not immediately head to the dry cleaner in the morning. It’s also nice to be able to see my friends instead of peering through a smokey haze. But most of all, it’s nice to not use my inhaler pre-emptively and arriving at a club unintentially buzzed and then worrying about an alcohol/inhaled steroid cocktail. Needless to say, I’m all for smoke-free laws.
-Tuesday, a union organizer spoke to my communication and social change class. Given that I was raised by two ardently anti-union parents who break picket lines when they have a chance, this was a painful lecture for me. I about fell out of my chair when the organizer lady said she focuses on recruiting ministers to support unions. Her main selling point: if your congregation earns more money, they tithe more and that’s more money for your church. Where do I even begin to explain how wrong that is!?! I think she picked up on my feelings when I asked if DC had Right to Work laws and was the only person in the room who knew what those were.
I kept thinking that this woman was a little nutty but couldn’t quite put my finger on it. Then she gave her background and admitted to being a former staffer for Cynthia McKinney. Yes, that Cynthia McKinney. Suddenly everything made sense.
