I’m NOT a mom!

We all do it. Sign up for emails to get a discount once, or rattle off your address to the cashier when they ask. I have over the last couple years signed up for many emails from retailers,  professional development organizations and even other blogs I subscribe to. What I’m saying it that I get a lot.

Yesterday, I got an email from New York & Company with the subject line: Great Finds For Mom!

I was totally thrown off and mildly offended that they would think I was a mom, considering I have given no indication that I am.

I was so thrown off that I decided I wasn’t evening going to open the email.

Obviously later I did open the email to discover that they were referencing things I could by for my mother for Mother’s Day.

Subject lines should be simple and compelling, yes. But we need to be more aware of the context and of the possible alternative interpretations consumers might see.

College Friends or Professional Cube Neighbors?

Networking is a serious part of my professional life. It’s how I got most of my internships while I was in college, it’s how I got my current job, and it’s how I know I’ll get my next one. But it’s not always about networking with the more seasoned professionals.

Until recently, I never took into account how important it was to be “networking” with my peers. I was able to pass down one of my college internships to generations of underclassmen below me. There have now been four interns from my peer group to hold that internship. It keeps getting passed along through recommendations from our peers.

Even at my current job, many of our new hires come with recommendations from current employees. As of Monday, I will have graduated college with both of my cube neighbors. I never expected to work at the same company as most of my college peers and now I work so closely with some of the ones I least expected.

This is a complicated concept for me because I’m an overly competitive person. I need to learn that although I may be competing with these YPs, I can also use them to my advantage. Maybe they know a seasoned professional at my dream company, or maybe they’ll be my boss someday.

It seems almost just as important to have a peer network as it does to have a seasoned professional network.

The Beauty of Busyness

There’s nothing like having your whole day/week planned out and to-do lists made and having a bomb drop with a new project that needs started ten minutes ago. It’s moments like this that fuel me forward and fill me with so much uncontainable energy! I love it! Granted, I love my lists and my routine and my schedules, but I love even more the pressure of a massive project with an absurd deadline and insurmountable odds to finish the project with perfection.

I like the idea of routine but it can get boring. I love walking into work every day never knowing what to expect, what fires need extinguished or what craziness will ensue.

Reason # 462 I’m a busy body. I’m glad I have found a work environment that gives me the opportunity to experience this energy.

Pomp and Inspiration: Jansing to speak at OU commencement

Tonight, along with a small group of my fellow communication majors, I met an inspiring woman. Chris Jansing is an Otterbein College graduate of 1978, an anchor and correspondent for MSNBC, but most of all a person, striving to humanize the news in a world of technology, natural disasters and war.

Getting to listen to this year’s commencement speaker the night before graduation, was absolutely worth waiting three extra hours because her plane from New York was delayed.

Jansing was interviewed by a good friend of mine, Jayme Detweiler for the WOCC TV-3 news. Then, the 15 of us in attendance were offered the opportunity to ask Jansing questions about her job, life and advice for aspiring journalists.

Some of Jansings proudest and most emotional moments were while she was reporting after the 2001 attack on the World Trade Center. As Jansing recalled a couple personal stories from the weeks following 9/11, you could see the emotion in her face change. She went from energized and encouraging to disheartened and grim. Listening to Jansing share stories of sources she interviewed for the story, we knew they were more to her than sources; they were humans.

If I were to go into journalism at some point in my life, I know I would do the same. Although I can never see myself doing what strong women like Jansing do, I know that bringing a personal and human aspect to my stories would be at the top of my priorities.

Regardless, chatting with Jansing was inspiring and energizing. Even though I work in advertising, I can’t wait to go to work Monday morning!

Thank you, Chris!

Coming soon: View the interview with Jansing and Detweiler.

Chris Jansing

Chris Jansing is a 1978 graduate of Otterbein College, where she spent much of her time in the WOBN radio station. Originally from Fairport Harbor, Ohio, she stumbled upon Otterbein on accident.

Jansing worked in radio and local TV before moving up to national news with the “big dogs,” where she has covered stories for Dateline, Nightly News with Brian Williams, The Today Show and many others including her own show Jansing & Co.

Jansing has covered stories like 9/11, the Tucson shootings, an erupting volcano, hunger, homlessness, the Pope and a Veitnam war hero meeting the Viet Kong general that ordered the ambush of his platoon (airing next week).

Although Jansing has lived in California and Ohio and travelled the world, she shared that she loves New York City.

In her free time Jansing enjoys reading, baking and spending time with her brother, nieces and nephews, friends, and when she can, her college roommate, Bev.

Follow Jansing on Twitter

Read her bio on MSNBC.com