MindComet

Who Do You Want To Be?

As another birthday approaches, I find myself reviewing my actions and my state of being. I’ve learned many lessons, some more than once, and feel both a sense of growth and of slide. I think (or at least I hope) that’s normal. I’ve not been perfect, I’ve made mistakes and as hard as they were to endure at the time, I believe that those battle scars will improve the person I am now and will pave the road to the person I want to be. I also examined my New Year’s Resolutions (1. Asking for what I want and 2. Being more direct and positive in my daily communication) and I feel like I am still on track with them. It has not been easy and I’ve had unexpected results, but it’s progress and progress is never bad.

I utilized the old stand-by “Write Your Own Epitaph To Help Define Who You Want To Be” exercise when I started to think about the upcoming year. It was an interesting experience and I think the outcome is both true to my nature as well as challenging. My epitaph is “Laughed, Loved, And Tried… Even When She Was Scared.“. At some point, I hope to move past being afraid but I am no longer letting fear stop me. Again, it’s progress and progress is never bad.

What lasting statement defines who you are or would like to be?

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Posted by Jennifer Carey on Apr. 27, 2011

Truly Great Engagement

I was having a discussion with a friend about advertising and was forwarded an article about truly great advertising and customer engagement. I had not seen this before, but I think that Target’s agency did a wonderful job. Check it out. Enjoy!

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Posted by Jennifer Carey on Apr. 18, 2011

It’s Been Five Wonderful Years

Yesterday was the completion of my fifth year of employment at MindComet and I am as happy today as I was five years ago. I’ve gained knowledge, had many wonderful experiences, and met many interesting and amazing people. While I would like to think that I’ve made an impact on MindComet, it has been the other way around; MindComet has had an impact on me. I have grown and changed so much in my time and through my experiences here and I am very excited to see what the future holds. I am grateful that I work with such amazing people and I look forward to coming into the office every day. I had read recently that “marrying well” is the most important decision you will ever make and that isn’t just limited to your life partner, but who you do business with, who you befriend, and who you choose to be around. I feel like I married well when I accepted employment at MindComet and that feeling has only grown. Did you “marry” well?

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Posted by Jennifer Carey on Apr. 05, 2011

Office Rituals and Traditions

When does an activity become a ritual? How does something become ingrained in the culture of an organization? These types of questions float through my head as I think about MindComet rituals. We have our annual retreat, our love of both St. Patrick’s Day and Cinco de Mayo as well as the ever present costume events. But there are quieter rituals that happen every day. One of these is the daily “Roo Run”. Now you might be thinking “what the heck is that, a race?” and you would be correct in that it is a physical activity. It’s just not a strenuous one. The “Roo Run” happens everyday between 2:30p and 3:30p when a majority of the office gets up, goes outside, and walks down the street to our neighborhood 7-eleven. Yes, we’ve named our walk to the 7-eleven the “Roo Run” and you might be thinking “... umm, why is walking to the 7-eleven called the Roo Run?”. Therein lies the reason it is a ritual. Our neighborhood convenience store wasn’t always a 7-eleven. Many moons ago (I really can’t remember when the change actually happened) it was a Kangaroo Express. We called it “The Roo”. When store ownership changed, we were excited but we never changed the name. New MindCometeers will invariably ask “Why do we call it a Roo run when it’s the 7-eleven?” and the honest answer is that just more fun to go on a “Roo Run” compared to “walking to the 7-eleven”. Rituals are a huge part of the culture here, like the Roo Run and Pants. Do you have any rituals are your workplace?

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Posted by Jennifer Carey on Mar. 11, 2011

Superpowers And You

At MindComet, unusual conversational twists arise out of normal day to day interactions and this is magnified when we’re working late at night or on the weekends. Today the subject of superpowers had come up. Three people said they would choose the ability to stop time as their superpower, someone else chose the ability to see into the future, a third person wanted to be omnipotent, and I would like to walk through walls and be invisible.  When I asked “Why do you want this power?” I received interesting/fascinating responses.

For the gentlemen who wanted the ability to freeze time, the theme revolved around inappropriate touching of their wives and/or stealing money from banks. For the person who wanted the ability to see into the future, she wanted to see winning lottery numbers. The person who wanted to be omnipotent said with omnipotence he could then get whatever he wanted. This actually spurred a little riot with jabs such as “That is the laziest, lamest superpower ever AND it breaks the rules. It’s the equivalent of asking for infinite genie wishes. It’s not allowed. You’re lack of imagination disturbs me.” To which the wisher responded “You’re just jealous you didn’t think of it!”. This went on for a few minutes and at the end nothing was settled. As for my ability to be invisible and walk through walls, again it was a thievery and espionage theme.

As I look at this I realized that in the real world, anyone with actual superpowers would not be a hero, they would be a villain. What would your superpower be and what would you do with it?

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Posted by Jennifer Carey on Feb. 26, 2011

Cause Marketing, What Speaks To You?

You may have seen ads in media (television, print, digital) asking for donations in the form of “adoption”. In my household, there has been a hard push to adopt a polar bear, mainly driven by the cute video and the fact that they’re advertising during children’s programming. I will probably concede to this request as a way to teach my child about the value of “giving back”. But recently, I ran across “The Girl Store” site and find it’s level of personal engagement to be exceptional. It offers a variety of price points, in a “one time only” format, and gives illustrations of girls I may possibly be able to help. Both causes are near and dear to our hearts for personal reasons, Caboose because he loves animals and polar bear cubs may be one of the cutest things alive, and myself because I am an ardent supporter of women’s rights and advancement. What do you support and do you support it with time, money, or both?

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Posted by Jennifer Carey on Feb. 18, 2011

Fire Safety, It’s Important

Recently, I was the peripheral victim of fire.  My neighbors had a grease fire and I have water damage.  I am very lucky.  I was not harmed and have no loss of property.  I am, however, temporarily homeless.  It is my experience that spurred this post.  Fire safety is something to keep in mind at all times and being prepared will hopefully prevent you from repeating my mistakes.

Let’s start with my culprit, the grease fire. I was under the impression (naively, it seems) that everyone knows that you DO NOT extinguish a grease fire with water. According to FireSafety for Citizens, diligence in the kitchen at all times is the main preventative measure against kitchen fires. But if you do inadvertently start a grease fire, please follow these simple steps;
1. Call 911
2. Cover the pan to smother the fire
3. Turn off the heat
4. Leave the pan in its original location, do not attempt to move the pan
5. NEVER USE WATER or flour on cooking fires. You may use baking soda, but you will need a lot of it.

Lack of preparation was my mistake. When the fire alarm sounded, I did was I was taught in elementary school; I put my shoes on, grabbed my keys, locked up, and went outside. It was only after I had been outside for about thirty minutes did it occur to me that I didn’t bring anything else; no coat, no wallet, no cell phone. I was unprepared because I failed to have an emergency evacuation plan. I was allowed briefly back in and was told “Quickly pack a bag, then go”. I did what I was told and frankly, did a horrible job packing my bag. I did some research and have the following as a suggested “Evacuation Kit”. Don’t make the same mistake I made, think about your emergency evacuation needs and plan ahead.  For interesting reading, here is a statistics breakdown.

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Posted by Jennifer Carey on Feb. 08, 2011