I recently joined the SharedBook team, which is based on Wall Street in New York City. Even though I’m in Alabama, I’ve been in the publishing industry for almost fifteen years, so trips to New York were regular occurrences, with home base being a hotel room and death-defying cab rides the transportation of choice. But with SharedBook I’ve enjoyed the new-found benefit of a local office with a view of the Statue of Liberty and strong encouragement from upper management to take advantage of cheaper, faster, and presumably less fear-inducing public transportation.
Armed with a “flashmap,” explicit directions from Rick Hunt (our office representative for the Metro Transit Authority) and a Southern girl’s sense of adventure, I mastered the 6 train, delved into the R train, and got completely lost taking a bus. Everyone in New York seems to move with such a sense of purpose that I’m loathe to stop someone and ask directions (other than a UPS driver—always an excellent source of information). It’s not that New Yorkers are unhelpful; on the contrary, I have always found New Yorkers friendly and warm once you get them to stop moving. It’s more that as soon as I open my mouth, my Southern roots are readily apparent and I don’t want to look like an out-of-towner who needs help. So I’ve spent a few extra minutes (hours?) wandering around looking for my next meeting, but you can stumble upon superb hidden gems that way. Like one night I arrived safely early for a client dinner at Balthazar and walked a few blocks to kill time. And there, behind a gray façade, nowhere near what I knew to be a shopping district, was --wonder of wonders-- a Bloomingdale’s. Who knew! I love this town. So, in honor of my first blog post, I’d like to announce one of our newest personalized products, the University of Alabama Football 2008 Media Guide. The Crimson Tide is having a stellar regular season, capped off by a trouncing of in-state rival Auburn36-0 this weekend. Ranked number one and soon to be playing Florida for the SEC Championship and a spot in the BCS Championship Game, even Bear would say Saban is earning his $4 mil. If you know anyone who learned to say Roll Tide before their ABC’s, they need this for Christmas. Just go to www.rolltide.com and click on Bama Stores.
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