Thursday, August 24, 2006
I saw Kiefer Sutherland at a concert the other night, and people were acting crazy!! They were surrounding him. I doubt he could even breathe. That behavior is one of the huge differences between NYC and LA. NYC people would just walk on by...
Here are the differences I have observed in my three months here:
1. People just don't care about your pedigreed education. I really don't mind (unless it's a job interview) because it saves me the embarrassment when someone goes "oh my god, that's like, the best school, like ever, right?!?!" And I have to say, "yeah, pretty much." Status in the east coast sense is not a high priority. I think there are other measures of status, like a brand new Mercedes, but a name brand education is not one of them.
2. There is a lot more physical activity. People are running. People are biking. People are perfectly comfortable wearing work out clothes anywhere. It's pretty cool.
3. People are more pleasant, but also less likely to just tell you things about themselves openly. Again, not a bad thing, because sometimes you just don't want to hear personal things about someone the minute you meet them.
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Here are the differences I have observed in my three months here:
1. People just don't care about your pedigreed education. I really don't mind (unless it's a job interview) because it saves me the embarrassment when someone goes "oh my god, that's like, the best school, like ever, right?!?!" And I have to say, "yeah, pretty much." Status in the east coast sense is not a high priority. I think there are other measures of status, like a brand new Mercedes, but a name brand education is not one of them.
2. There is a lot more physical activity. People are running. People are biking. People are perfectly comfortable wearing work out clothes anywhere. It's pretty cool.
3. People are more pleasant, but also less likely to just tell you things about themselves openly. Again, not a bad thing, because sometimes you just don't want to hear personal things about someone the minute you meet them.
Let me elaborate on my week at Creative Artists Agency. You may be wondering why an MBA from one of the best business schools in the world (yes, that's me shouting out to my alma mater and being super arrogant) would decide that it would be a good idea to register with an entertainment temp agency. Well, I'm easily bored. And I was getting very broke. And I thought the temp agency was so incredibly amusing (especially the part where the woman had no idea what an MBA was, and definitely no idea what Wharton is) that I couldn't help agreeing when they called and told me I had this amazing opportunity to work at CAA. Of course, the minute I accepted I regreted the decision deeply. But, I have always been curious about the allure of the agency life. We visited William Morris during a career trek, and they told us that even MBAs had to start in the mailroom. Everyone thought that was insane, and I doubt there is anyone would would even consider such a stupid idea. They had an argument around "learning the business and the players" and I have to say I was curious to see this bizarro world system in action.
You walk into these places and it's just a long hallway of twenty somethings sitting in front of offices. They are terrified. They are wearing headsets. It's either creepily silent, or someone is yelling something incredibly innapropriate. The job of an assistant at an agency is to help their agent develop a massive ego that will dominate any other agent. This is accomplished by: listening in on all of their phone calls so they don't have to actually ask for anything, handling all of their personal dinner reservations, doctor appointments, and lunch plans, telling them when they have a meeting to go to, and never leaving the desk when they need you. It's the devil wears prada, basically. I found it shocking that anyone has a job like this, because in corporate america executives (with the exception of very high level people) are generally expected to schedule their own meetings in outlook, call people themselves, and know where they are supposed to be at any given time. I can't imagine what cognitive disability has caused agents to lose all capabilities of a normal adult, and expect someone who makes about 10% of what they do to handle the most boring aspects of their job and life.
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You walk into these places and it's just a long hallway of twenty somethings sitting in front of offices. They are terrified. They are wearing headsets. It's either creepily silent, or someone is yelling something incredibly innapropriate. The job of an assistant at an agency is to help their agent develop a massive ego that will dominate any other agent. This is accomplished by: listening in on all of their phone calls so they don't have to actually ask for anything, handling all of their personal dinner reservations, doctor appointments, and lunch plans, telling them when they have a meeting to go to, and never leaving the desk when they need you. It's the devil wears prada, basically. I found it shocking that anyone has a job like this, because in corporate america executives (with the exception of very high level people) are generally expected to schedule their own meetings in outlook, call people themselves, and know where they are supposed to be at any given time. I can't imagine what cognitive disability has caused agents to lose all capabilities of a normal adult, and expect someone who makes about 10% of what they do to handle the most boring aspects of their job and life.
Pinky nice juice is back. Check it out: http://www.pokeythedog.com/pinkynicejuice/blog.html
Josh is now traveling the world and writing about it, so hopefully his link still works. I'm too lazy to check right now.
I am now gainfully employed, which is fabulous. I have my own office. My commute is not bad at all. And I get to look out the window onto some Fed Ex planes. I'm still in TV, because honestly I can't imagine there is another product I like more (well, perhaps my Apple computer, but I already tried to work for those geniuses without any luck.) I'm no longer on the "creative" side in any way, instead I help sell DIRECTV. Though I was trying to work in one of the studios here in fabulous Los Angeles, I think this is actually about a million times better. First of all, because I am so obsessed with my television I actually know quite a lot about all of the user interface parts of it (refer back to my many discussions about the various benefits of each DVR, interface, remote etc earlier in this blog.) And, this company has none of the horrible parts of entertainment which involve plastic surgery, stupidity, and massive egos. Well, not that you can entirely avoid massive egos anywhere people congregate, but I can say for sure that the contrast between working here and spending the worst week of my life at Creative Artists Agency is quite dramatic.
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Josh is now traveling the world and writing about it, so hopefully his link still works. I'm too lazy to check right now.
I am now gainfully employed, which is fabulous. I have my own office. My commute is not bad at all. And I get to look out the window onto some Fed Ex planes. I'm still in TV, because honestly I can't imagine there is another product I like more (well, perhaps my Apple computer, but I already tried to work for those geniuses without any luck.) I'm no longer on the "creative" side in any way, instead I help sell DIRECTV. Though I was trying to work in one of the studios here in fabulous Los Angeles, I think this is actually about a million times better. First of all, because I am so obsessed with my television I actually know quite a lot about all of the user interface parts of it (refer back to my many discussions about the various benefits of each DVR, interface, remote etc earlier in this blog.) And, this company has none of the horrible parts of entertainment which involve plastic surgery, stupidity, and massive egos. Well, not that you can entirely avoid massive egos anywhere people congregate, but I can say for sure that the contrast between working here and spending the worst week of my life at Creative Artists Agency is quite dramatic.
