Lindsay Wright, Communications & Account Manager
Jeremy, my kinda cousin-in-law (he married my mom's cousin), recently posted a blog that described what he did for a living. Sounds like nothing, but I realized as I read it that I really have no idea what lots of my friends actually do all day - and lots of you probably feel the same way about me.So here you go. Here's what my world looks like from 9ish to 5ish, Monday to Fridayish.
I spend my days - and sometimes nights, and sometimes weekends - at Cocoon, a Winnipeg-based branding agency. Our clients are all over the map (geography, industry, size, how long they've been in business, etc) but - in a nutshell - they are all wanting to understand who they are, what makes them different, and how they want to be perceived. Once we've guided them through that process, we have a team of writers, identity designers, print designers, interactive designers, product designers, web developers, and other assorted consultants to help them carry their brand through every experience their target audience could ever have with them (that's the part that functions more like a traditional ad agency).
Because we're a small company - and because my background before I came here was kind of diverse - I wear two hats: Account Manager and Communications Manager.
As an Account Manager, I have a portfolio of clients who I am responsible for. I'm their primary contact at Cocoon, and I spend a lot of my time talking with our creative team, talking with our clients, and translating between them. I develop new project estimates, sit in client meetings, sit in internal meetings, organize photo shoots, and generally make sure that our designers have everything they need in order to produce quality deliverables on time and on budget. I'm paid to keep everyone else happy, whiny designers included. I say that it's awesome training to be a mom... hehe.
As Communications Manager, I play an active role in developing our clients' big picture brand strategies - researching their competitors, interviewing their employees and executives, defining their target audiences, and the list goes on. I get to play around with the written style and voice of their company and establish what they should sound like to their audiences - and then do the required writing or editing work to make that happen on everything from their website to their brochure to what their receptionist says when she answers the phone. Hmmm... What else? I create media plans and decide where ads will run (which billboards or transit shelters, which television or radio stations), when, and how often. I write and distribute news releases to journalists. I train our clients' executives to give good media interviews. I write strategy and planning documents. I give the final okay on every single thing that Cocoon produces, to ensure it's all spelled and punctuated perfectly. And about a thousand other random things that come up...
I swear, motherhood sounds kind of relaxing. (I expect to be eating those words sometime in early November.)
So there ya go. To my fellow bloggers and commenters who work outside of the home... How 'bout you? What do you do all day? :)
Labels: Cocoon
posted by Lindsay @ 5:12 PM
7 Comments:
crap! missed THIS one by a year (sooooooooo close)
Sounds like a pretty sweet job -- creative, social, sometimes solitary -- methinks you'll miss it through next winter. Glad my mundane account inspired this.
For real? Your mom's cousin is Tannis? Jer is my cousin and therefore Tan is my cousin-in-law. How did we not figure this out long ago ... or am I just as sharp as marble and completely oblivious to this fact?
Personally, I think your job may just be my dream job - at least when it comes to my field. Sadly I never made it quite that far before having Palmer.
So that is the Jer!
Where is his blog? That makes me his aunt! Eva
Hehe...
Jer, I agree. I'm working hard to swing some kind of casual freelance deal with them to help me through my mat leave. As much as I'm looking forward to this whole mommy thing, I know that I'll miss work during my year away. I'm having a tough time stomaching the whole concept of day care or the alternatives, but I think I'll be a happier girl if I manage to find a balance that lets me do both.
And Nicole - that's super-funny. I knew we'd find some sort of connection in this small, silly little world of ours. And there's always career post-children (at least, that's my plan!)...
My career is mommy-hood. So you'll figure out that job description in a few months : ) It's definitely a balancing act between being a mom, a wife, finding time to go for a jog (10:00 p.m. seems to work well), reading, blogging, having a bath, spending time with girlfriends (which we have to do soon), sleeping, etc., etc. Yeah, it's all good.
That sounds very smart. The moms we know who have made the best transition to motherhood have not taken an all-or-nothing approach (full-time work or no work at all) -- they've figured out ways to do some work, like maybe 6-20 hours per week. It seems to help to have a few things on the go outside of parenting, so you don't go too insane. But too much work is also a recipe for insanity because you just can't do it all...there's no potential for anything resembling balance.
Oh, and Nicole...I would think that this is another blog connection originally through Heather? Here's another weird one: guess who taught Lindsay in Niverville when she was in Grade 9 (I think)? ME, as a student teacher, and having nothing to do with the fact that we were related...'tis a strange small world.
And I can't believe Aunt Eva isn't a regular reader of my blog. I'm deeply hurt.
;)
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