After peeling my lethargic self from my bed and digging my way out from under the mountain of tear-stained tissues that remain as evidence of my “post-party depression,” I made my way to the office for Week Four of my internship. Luckily, I did not have to suffer this ailment alone, as the Style Girls and I were summoned to the conference room for a monthly marketing meeting. Rather than get straight to business, Publisher Pam Deller initiated the sharing of personal and professional good news from around the table.
I was surprised at the way she began since I had always pictured meetings to involve color-coordinated PowerPoints and very little feedback from the crowd. I liked the way we started the meeting, it made me feel welcomed into the Style family. I was touched that the ladies genuinely cared about not only each other's professional victories, but each of their personal successes, as well.
Soon Pam transitioned into official meeting topics, rattling off some facts and figures that did not make much sense to my number-shy brain. Her adorable tortoise-shell glasses made me feel ten years old again, wishing for my eyesight to be just a little bad so I could rock the “nerdy-chic” look (you can see where my mind went once numerical values entered the conversation).
The meeting moved steadily along, discussing details of the Women of Style networking event scheduled for August 21st, “Best of the Lehigh Valley” party suggestions for next year and an interesting segment where employees were encouraged to share client success stories. Because of my current lack of clients and probability that I will fail to ever acquire any, I am saddened at the impending negative forecast that I will never be able to participate in this section of the meetings. However, if anyone desires to become one of my clients, please call my agent (also known as my Mom).
Later that day, I was invited to yet another meeting, this one editorial-focused. Led by Editor-in-Chief Lisa Gotto, the ladies had a pre-production discussion about the August issue. This is when we find out how many pages will be in the issue and how long each feature will be. It was neat to see how this enables the staff to be “on the same page” when it comes to how an issue will look and read.
Leaving both the meetings that day, I felt content knowing that although not every day in the office can be a party, it is certainly worth it to RSVP to a company that truly cares about its employees and clients like family.
