A 20-something's Perspective

There was a lot of Milwaukee business news this week. Also check out the link below from @tdefren. The video he posted on his blog titled "Welcome to the Agency World" is hilarious.

• RT @Newshub See? There was an incident with drawn guns this afternoon on I-794. @rheoflux is somewhat vindicated. http://tr.im/mtwE
• European boutique opens in MKE's 3rd Ward May 28 & debuts w/ a runway show. I think I'll pop in after work. http://tinyurl.com/qq6oe4
• RT @ironhorsehotel We're looking for great bartenders, know anyone looking? send them here: http://tinyurl.com/ihh-empl...
• Learning abt @StreetzPizza. It will be interesting 2 see how they do. See @TheLarch's post 4 more info. http://tinyurl.com/p52v9c
• RT @chrisbrogan Great post by @conversationage on starting blogging - http://bit.ly/BqjqJ
• RT @AndrewWeiland @stevejagler: More than 90 % of economists predict recession ends this year ...http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id...
• Wisconsinites: Make sure to register your land and mobile lines on the do not call list. https://nocall.wisconsin.go...
• Levi's promotes gay marriage with white knotted ribbons. http://tinyurl.com/r3h83a
• Reading @TDefren - Welcome to the Agency World http://pr-squared.com/?p=1002 - If you work at an agency you will totally get this post.
• RT @TDefren Google's gonna own your ass. http://tinyurl.com/lxulsg
• RT @NewsHub: If you even considered smiling at the DMV, stop now. http://tr.im/mH47 - I always smile when I get my picture taken.
• Milwaukeeans: Remember it's downtown dining week! http://bit.ly/apWz $10 lunch and $20 dinner. I'll be @ Mason Street Grill tonight.

Follow me on Twitter for live updates @ladyhero.

There were a lot of good stories out last week. Read below for articles about social media, travel, some of the best cookies ever and WolframAlpha (It's like AskJeeves, but better).

• RT @danschawbel RESOURCE: Twitter Bible: Everything You Need To Know About Twitter http://tinyurl.com/q6apm7
• Personal-care services are up 4.5% this year. Find out what other sectors are doing well. http://tinyurl.com/owbfom
• RT @TDefren @briansolis updates his Blogger Relations ebook. Download immediately. http://tinyurl.com/qe6gnb
• In defense of Twitter by @PRluna. http://tinyurl.com/przlar
• Non-Profit Social Networking survey results http://tinyurl.com/oqm9tz (via @rohitbhargava)
• RT @wisdells Cool Tool for calculating travel costs for upcoming vacations. Cost To Drive http://bit.ly/UwU4w
• A great post on social media expectations & commitment. You can't go from 0 to 1,000 friends overnight! http://sturly.com/026
• These are some of the best cookies. http://www.k-suerte.com/coo... Thanks Spot Filmworks.
• RT @ironhorsehotel Motorcycle rentals & self-service bike wash are now available. http://twitpic.com/53sds - How cool!
• RT @AlKrueger How cool is that? Milwaukee is the 11th most uniquely American city http://digg.com/u13GPt
• How to get journalists to open your pitch e-mail (via @laermer). http://tinyurl.com/qbh9sl Hint: The subject line is important!
• Need to get away? Check out T+L's 45 best new hotels. http://bit.ly/Ntmiv
• Holy crap! I predict that my kids/grandkids will say, "What did people do before WolframAlpha?" http://tinyurl.com/q735x7
• RT @danschawbel REPORT: 50% of women say no to dating a jobless man http://tinyurl.com/pl6rp8 - Would you date someone w/o a job?

Follow me on Twitter @ladyhero.

In today's economy it can be easy to keep your head down and stick to what "works." This clip (courtesy of Agency Spy) of Leo Burnett helped remind me that even though many of us face potential layoffs and are uncertain about the fate of our agencies, it is not an excuse to lower our standards.

To everyone looking for jobs, battling to keep jobs and just hoping to make it through... Please do your best to stay inspired. Do your best work and come up with new ideas. Question the way you do things. That is the only way our industry will prosper.

I have been an ATT* customer for the last five years, and rarely received mail that was not a bill, so it surprised me to see a magazine from them in my mailbox. The magazine had articles like "Texting & Dating: the New Rules" and "New Offers that won't Break the Bank!"

I was confused. First, I had never received a magazine like this before and second because I am signed up for paperless billing. Wouldn't an e-newsletter be a better choice? Clearly, they don't know their audience. With all the crap ATT has gotten for their 300 plus pages of iPhone phone bills you would think they would be a little more conscientious about printing materials.

I know some people would still rather get a hard copy, but for those who clearly do not want to waste the paper wouldn't you distribute the information electronically? That really got me thinking.

Sending a newsletter is a pretty old tactic. To be honest, I don't think many people read them. Sure, you might scan the headlines but a newsletter from my cell phone provider is pretty low on my priority list. Isn't there a better way to reach me? Creating a Twitter account might be a good start. What about creating cool apps that only work on the ATT network? ATT has started to use Facebook, but in my quick search I couldn't find an official fan page.

Here's an idea. One of the things ATT is known for are their rollover minutes. In fact, I have hundreds of rollover minutes that expire each month because I never use them. (Many Gen-Yers would rather text than talk. Most of the time it's faster, and there's no need to "make nice" with mindless banter about the weather.) My point?

What if ATT really started to embrace social media and create a Facebook app where ATT users could donate their rollover minutes to other ATT users? What a great story that would be! Can you feel the potential? People could start connecting with other ATT users all over the globe. Surely that would be a better way to spend time and money than writing cutesy articles and printing what I can only imagine is thousands of magazines.

So after all this I have only one thing to say. ATT, please stop sending me pointless magazines and start engaging me in ways that matter. To ME. Thanks.

*For some reason blogger won't let me use the "and" symbol so bear with me.

I will admit that when I first started to hear about the housing crisis and possible recession I was a bit naive. Okay, very naive. The financial crisis was going to have a big impact, but it couldn't possibly affect me. After all I don't own a house, I rent! I couldn't even lose much money in my 401K because I had only been contributing for 9 months.

Then things started getting worse. Gas prices spiked and getting loans got trickier. Despite all this I still thought I'd be okay. Until student loans hit...

You see, it has come to my attention that I am not as good as managing my money as I thought. I pay my bills on time and try to make more than the minimum payment, but it isn't always enough. Ever since college I've had a tendency to live above my pay grade. If I could "afford" to go to Spring Break and pay off my credit card in a few months what was the harm? I hadn't gone shopping in months. I work hard, I deserve a shopping spree. I graduated college, I not only deserve, I need a new car!

Sidebar - To be fair I did try to find a used Mazda3, but there weren't any available with all the features I wanted and in the right color... Okay, I had no excuse.

The thing is once you add up all the vacations, shopping excursions, new car and students loans I am left with a sizable amount of debt.

The solution? After the grace period lapsed on my school loans I requested a forbearance for a year. At that point I already had a second job and adding another bill was not an option. Ten months later student loans were coming and it was time to stop procrastinating and start consolidating. As you can imagine, this is where the credit crisis started to bite me in the ass. No one would consolidate my loans, so I am left with three monthly payments.

Today I am struggling, like the majority of Americans, to keep my head above water. (It's a good thing my parents are thrilled with home made CD's for Christmas.) I know a lot of people want to blame the financial institutions and auto companies for their failings, and I agree, but I think the American people need to take some of the blame too. After all, it's my fault I owe $5,000 to my credit card company. It's my fault I bought a new car without considering how much it would really cost each month once you factor in insurance and maintenance.

While I feel for families whose homes are in foreclosure they had a hand in putting themselves there. The financial institutions should have made better decisions and the auto makers need to be wise enough to run stronger business models.

I guess what I'm saying is that we need to stop pointing fingers and admit that we as a nation have collectively fucked up. We have all been living above our pay grades. Whether it's the CEO who tried to make the stock or home more valuable, the family who bought a house they couldn't afford or a college student who went on spring break, we've all been financially irresponsible and it's time to face the music. The government, businesses and individual people need to help one another get back on track.

Personally, I don't like the term "bail out." It sounds too much like a hand out, and Americans don't take hand outs. At least that's what Denny Crane would say. Instead, we all need a helping hand. The financial institutions, auto companies, families who no longer have a place to stay, recent graduates and current students who can barely afford an education and the millions of people who have lost their jobs. Our government needs to provide that helping hand, and in doing so they need to do more than hand us a blank check.

In return I'm going to do my part to be more fiscally responsible. Are you?