Category Archives: CTMichaels

Sincerely, Truly Yours…Or Are You?

Some email signatures are so ridiculous. Why doesn’t anyone use ‘Yours Truly,’ ‘From,’ or ‘Sincerely’ anymore? It seems like everyone tries to be lovey-dovey in a last attempt to create a bond with someone. Honestly, some lines just make me want to vomit.

Here are some closing lines that I can’t stand and my interpretations of them: Continue reading

Tricks of the Trade: Elevator Etiquette

Elevators are one of those things that we all encounter at some point or another during our lives.  From the subway to the mall, there is an elevator almost everywhere you turn.  Sometimes frowned upon and looked at as pure laziness, if you are are going to step into an elevator, there are certain rules that all should take into consideration. Continue reading

The New King of Late Night Television

The battle of late night television has been going on for years.  Whether it’s David Letterman or Jay Leno, Conan O’Brien or Jimmy Fallon.  Nevertheless, if I do flip on the television to fall asleep, I always turn Cartoon Network for a great Family Guy session. (Don’t judge, if you go to sleep smiling you wake up smiling – try it out)

I am now hooked on one late night television show, and it’s all because of one man – Andy Cohen.  Andy is the host of Watch What Happens LIVE! (WWHL) a live, late night talk show that airs on Bravo at 11 PM EST. WWHL started out once or twice a week, where Andy would have on different Bravo stars from their lineup of programs from Top Chef to the Real Housewives series.

Now WWHL has guests ranging from Questlove of the Roots, the regular Sandra Bernhard, all the way to the Mary J Blige.  What’s most exciting is that the show is now on five nights a week. Continue reading

Tricks of the Trade: E-Mail Etiquette

Communication has changed over the years, and I’m pretty sure that everyone would agree that most of our daily communication is over e-mail. I think sometimes people forget that they are still talking to people even when they are writing to them. A lot of things irk me in life, but when I get an e-mail that has some of the following features, I really lose it: Continue reading

Breaking Up is Hard to Do…

It happens in every job, usually in January and June, sometimes at random times throughout the year, but it always happens. I mentioned in my last post that it’s hard not to develop a friendship with coworkers and sometimes it’s better that way because all good things come to an end. You know what I’m talking about, the departing of a coworker at your company.

Whether it’s your partner in crime, your mentor, or someone you absolutely hated and wanted to push them out the door, there is now a void in the atmosphere every day. That last two weeks with them can be an emotional time, especially if you have worked with someone for more than a year or they were your neighbor. Do you talk about it? Do you take offense to it? How is one supposed to cope with this? Continue reading

Team Building and Bonding

I’ll be the first to admit, I am always skeptical about team building and bonding things. Many public relations agencies have their methods of team bonding, from purge days to beer Fridays. Being part of a team is integral to working at an agency. Got to have trust right?

Now I’ve been through my fair share of team building exercises over the years, from ropes courses to stupid scavenger hunts where you have to go into a diner and just say “burgermeat,” but recently I encountered the most amazing team building exercise – one that I will back 100% and recommend all agencies get involved in…Intramural Sports! Continue reading

If You Don’t Have Something Nice To Say…

As many of you know, I speak my mind, sometimes without censorship, but I speak it.  Whether it is an attack on someone, talking about bodily functions, making fun of public figures, whatever, sometimes I have diarrhea of the mouth. It’s a blessing and a curse I guess, but I am learning to calm it down a bit. (I guess old age is setting in…)

I say it how I see it, regardless of what it is, and regardless of who is around me.  Sometimes that gets me in trouble, sometimes it doesn’t, but it always sparks a conversation, which is the point 99% of the time.

In the generation that we are currently living in, with Internet and blogs at our fingertips, sparking a conversation is easy. There are a plethora of people out there that probably feel the same way that you do or completely disagree, which is awesome. There are some posts on this blog that have sparked conversations for days and it’s amazing and only helps us all grow. Continue reading

A Social Media Unity

Two groom figurines on top of wedding cakeI have been working on this post for almost three weeks.  Every time I think it is complete something else happens which makes me add more to it, as you will understand as you read.

Over the past few years, gay rights have been in the spotlight.  With states legalizing gay marriage, shows like Flipping Out and Queer as Folk debuted, and, stations devoted to the gay demographic such as LOGO surfaced, an acceptance of the gay population had made many strides in most of America. And isn’t it about time?

As we have seen with the acceptance of the gays, the embracing of social media as an important form of spreading awareness. Not only has social media been able to spread the word about issues, but it has made voices of those previously-unheard  heard. Continue reading

You’re Only as Good as Your Clip Book…

Full 3-Ring BinderTrue or False?

Over the past few weeks I’ve been discussing this statement with a bunch of people in the industry. From entry level to senior level. A lot of people in the PR industry have differing views about it. I’m not exactly positive of which way I lean, as I’m relatively new in PR…but I sure do have a hell of a clip book – not the point of the post, but had to throw that in there…

What is the perfect clip book? Bulk? Features? Mentions? A clip book is a great representation of a person’s skills (or luck in some cases) as a publicist. Someone I spoke with mentioned that a good balance and variety is really the best kind of clip book there is. It shows that someone can handle almost anything and be able to know how to pitch a feature, a commentary, placement, etc. Some people I spoke with even judge people entirely on their clip book. Obviously quality is way better than quantity, but is a clip book really that important? Continue reading

The Reality of Being a Publicist

Spinning TopRemember when you were a kid and had all these aspirations of success when you grew up? An astronaut, the president, a chef, a cashier, the sky was the limit. However, it really isn’t until the senior year of high school where reality sets in and you have to figure out what your path will be. Lucky for my generation and future generations we have something called “Reality Television” which can give us good insight to what we want to do. From Ice Truckers to Cake Boss, there are reality shows for almost every profession these days.

What was my calling? Powergirls. Remember that show? The show of a small PR Firm in NYC run by Lizzie Grubman? What a cool job they had. Planning events, hanging out with celebrities, always around pretty people…I would fit in so well. I was too short to be a model, so I decided to become a publicist and declared my major. Continue reading