Posts Tagged ‘Chicago’

Chicago PR – A Day in the Life

Tuesday, February 24th, 2009


Chicago PR – A Day in the Life from Allie Osmar on Vimeo.

I’ve been meaning to do this for a long time—I gathered these clips back in August, 2008 and never got around to putting them together. This is the start of a few “day in the life” features I’ll be doing over the next few weeks. Although it’s rare that two days are alike in public relations, I’ve asked a number of young professionals I know to document a single day from their jobs. You’ll see those soon, but for now, here’s one day from me.

  • 6:35 AM Wake up
  • 6:37 AM Feed the cat
  • 6:45 AM Jump on the elevator to head downstairs to the gym
  • 8:00 AM After getting ready, prepare breakfast
  • 8:03 AM Eat breakfast while catching up on Google Reader
  • 8:26 AM Time to walk to work—it’s about 3 blocks from my apartment
  • 8:36 AM Arrive at the Aon Center and head upstairs
  • 8:40 AM Coffee from the Starbucks machine at work
  • 8:43 AM Settle into my desk and start in on conversation research and insights, preparing a brief survey for a new client
  • 10:30 AM Meet with Phil to discuss the online lessons we’re creating on digital insights and social media
  • 11:00 AM Work on the online lessons, my main project at Edelman
  • 12:30 PM Lunch time – Head across the street to grab lunch with my colleagues
  • 1:06 PM Head back to work
  • 1:15 PM Continue to work on research and insights
  • 2:45 PM Snack time – every Tuesday and Thursday Edelman has free fruit for all employees, along with snacks for 50 cents each.
  • 3:30 PM Head upstairs to meet with the PR team to brainstorm ideas for an upcoming project
  • 4:30 PM Back to working on the online lessons
  • 5:30 PM Head over to a Chicago networking event with colleagues, and head home by 8:30 or 9:00 PM.

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What is it Like to Live and Work in Chicago?

Monday, August 11th, 2008

Brazen Careerist , the twenty-something blogger network that I’m a part of, has been featuring articles on various cities from the perspective of young people who live there. I recently wrote an article on what it’s like to live and work in Chicago—and why Chicago is more manageable than many other large cities.

Read the article: My City, Chicago

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High Gas Prices? What High Gas Prices?

Sunday, June 8th, 2008

Gas Prices at Station Between rising gas prices and the push for greener living , there couldn’t be a better time to live in the city. My $75 monthly Chicago Transit pass allows me to travel the city as much as I want, and I can walk to the grocery store, restaurants, beach and plenty of other places in the city for free. Your pain at the pump is my ignorant bliss.

And is there any wonder why urban living is kinder on the planet ?

Photo Credit, Diane-B.

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5 Surprises About Moving to the Big City

Thursday, November 29th, 2007

Most young people (myself included) have a very glamorous image of moving to the big city after graduation. I can only assume that this is sparked by various television shows (Sex and the City, anyone?). So many (myself included) move to one of those big cities to see what they might find. And I mut admit, it has been fantastic so far. I can’t see myself anywhere else at the start of my career. But there are definitely disadvantages. Here are a few things that caught me a bit off guard when about my new city life.

1. Transportation. I love not having a car. I feel good about taking public transportation, and it ultimately saves me money. No car payment, insurance, maintenance or repair – just one easy unlimited pass for $75 a month. But sometimes it’s so inconvenient – waiting in the cold for the train or bus, standing the whole way in huge crowds, not being able to drive to pick up larger items (we wanted a Christmas tree this year, but there’s no practical way to get one).

2. Noise. This wasn’t entirely unexpected, but it is really noisy sometimes. Of course I live in Wrigleyville, so I may have had it a little worse than others during Cubs season.

3. Everything Takes Longer. It’s a big city, which means there’s a lot of ground to cover. If I have a few errands, they could take up an entire evening as I hop from one location to the next to find what I need. I had to go to three separate stores tonight to find everything on my shopping list. No Super Walmart here.

4. It’s expensive! Again, maybe not quite so unexpected – but you do get used to paying a higher price for just about everything. I didn’t realize how much I had adapted to this until I went back to Michigan and I was commenting on how inexpensive everything was.
Do Not Use the Laundry Room. Police Order!pepper spray for my key chain, and I have had some uncomfortable moments. Just the other night I was walking about two blocks from a restaurant to the subway and a man started following me (looking for money), and he wouldn’t leave me alone until I went down to the subway. Today, I carried my laundry to the apartment laundry room, only to find this note on the door.

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Why am I doing this?

Monday, November 12th, 2007

Last year when I was still a student at Michigan State, I started a sort of experiment. After going to New York City for the AWNY Conference (Advertising Women of New York) and gathering loads of great interviews, I started publishing them to a podcast that I called “Path to Adland.” It was a great opportunity for me to pick the minds of all sorts of interesting people working in a business I wanted to get into, and I liked the idea of getting that advice out to other students who couldn’t make the trip to talk with these people themselves. As it turned out, people actually started listening.

Now that I’ve crossed into the (ahem) “real” world myself, I’ve got a bit of advice to give too…some things no one ever thought to tell me – like what it was like to move to a new city (and state and time zone), leaving my friends, family and boyfriend behind. Or what it’s like to move to the (expensive) city fresh out of college, having just spent a good chunk of money on a “this is my last chance at freedom, I better go to Europe while I still can” trip.

I still consider myself to be a bit of a transitional adult (note: I still have a futon in my living room), and I’m still learning A LOT every day, but I know there are plenty of people out there with good advice to give us all.

So I think I’ll seek them out and pick their brains.

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