What a day. Part of it was really good and enlightening. We had our monthly companywide marketing meeting at the corporate office today, and that was the part that was enlightening. I got to meet many of the other coordinators from the different offices. And then we had a presentation from a fellow affiliated with the Society for Marketing Professional Services (SMPS) that was absolutely excellent. It was very relevant to what we do, and addressed so many familiar issues that we encounter constantly in our jobs. (For instance, the technical people/project managers not being timely with their responses to us in the face of a critical deadline). It was nuts & bolts of the philosophy of putting together a proposal and what to look for, what to think about (what the client wants and needs, not patting our own-selves on the back) -- and what to avoid. The technical people/project managers really ought to sit in on this type of presentation. Ultimately, they must buy into these philosophies, and they tend to not because they are too busy, they don't like to write (but think they are good writers even though they aren't), they hate the idea of marketing (they went into engineering to engineer, not market), and they have an affinity for catch-phrases that in our industry are nothing but cliches. Every place I've ever worked, it's been a major butting of heads between marketing and engineers (or architects, who seem to "get it" better than engineers, but their egos get in the way). My boss (Ms. Tongue Stud) seems to have a lot of these guys in our office wrapped around her lil' finger. She has no trouble whatsoever telling them what's what and they listen to her. I will be paying close attention to figure out what her magical method is. But, the vast majority of us have trouble with that. I think the reason is because to be perceived as professional, we feel the need to come across as flexible, agreeable, pleasing. Which stems from the "clerical" perception of marketing, which is changing. Many of the people in our company (and from my previous company, except for Micrmngr Boss Bitch) have degrees in Communications or Journalism. Taking on the marketing hat and wanting it to be my niche in order to get away from the clerical perception has been very difficult for me, partly because I don't have that degree, and also because it's hard to teach old dogs new tricks (meaning the engineers who have a black and white view of things). I always hated "Secretary's Day" because I'd get a flower or lunch out with the office staff or whatever. I resisted (and resented) that for a long time, until I just decided to go with the flow and call it good because it was a free lunch. (Because my resistance wasn't well-received -- "she's not very flexible."). Some people get away with being a bitch and still being respected. That's just never worked for me.
How did I get off on this tangent? Well, I guess today's presentation made an impact on me and got the juices flowing. I love learning things, and being enlightened.
We also had lunch -- it was so good! We had fajitas and margaritas! (Alcohol-free -- but you know, from those frozen slushy mixes -- and served in cute and keepable margarita "glasses" with an umbrella). This is the monthly meeting that I have been tasked to arrange NEXT MONTH (with the help of a marketing guy from one of our other offices). I'm pretty aghast, because following in today's footsteps is a tall order. Gulp.
OK, the rest of my day was the "Good God!" part. A huge proposal has been dumped on me from a coordinator that left this afternoon on vacation. It's a very fast turn-around, and I'm completely in the dark and will need to coordinate with the Denver office. There's just a ton of stuff I need to have done by Tuesday, which gives me only one work day (with Monday a holiday). And I can't work on it over the weekend -- no internet connection at Harstine where I could hook up to the office. I've got nerve endings doing the "I wanna fleeeee" dance.
Double gulp.
