Steady Eddie

So I may have been a little hasty in bragging last month about being ahead of my goals for dating.

Although I am technically ahead (for March), I find myself already panicking about who I am going to ask out in April. I was so concerned about this that on Friday night (March 8) I found myself trying to compile a list of possibilities, desperately wracking my brain for future targets.

When I informed my sister of my plight, she was predictably unsympathetic. “You’re only three months in and you’ve already run out of people? You’re going to have to broaden your search, join “Plenty More Fish” or something. There’s still three quarters of the year left to go.”

I feel that perhaps the problem rests not only with me, but with the fact that New Zealand has a relatively small population when compared to the UK, US, mainland Europe etc. plus the fact that it just seems harder to meet people in your thirties. When I compared notes with a couple of uni friends back in London over Christmas, they agreed that everyone in our age group who is still single finds it difficult.

As we discussed who our peers had ended up marrying/ shacking up with, my friend Tania said, “Let’s not forget, Sarah, how many people simply settle.” I quite liked this comment, and was congratulating myself for not “settling”, when my other friend Melissa brought me back to earth with a thud: “Sarah, you’re just going to need to lower your standards. You might need to find a ‘Steady Eddie’ and be happy with that.”

Although at the time I was pretty depressed by this comment,  I have subsequently concluded that she may be right. This may or may not be after after at least one occasion where I have found myself staring adoringly at my cat, Kathy, whilst listening to Elton John’s Your Song, I have realised that she may be right. (In case you’re unfamiliar with that classic, the lyrics are “I hope you don't mind that I put down in words/ How wonderful life is, now you're in the world”.) (Which I totally stand by, by the way. Kathy is THE best cat in the world. Even though she won’t let me touch her.)

Anyway, changing the subject, does anyone else have someone in their office who has a fondness for “REPLY ALL” to group emails? And – do they know they’re doing it?

This week, poor Unnamed found herself The Most Famous Person In The Building when she unwittingly “Replied All” to the whole company (around 224 recipients) around an invitation to come to a workout. The chain went roughly like this:

9:34am

To: Central Office Staff
Subject: Re: No Sunday arvo plans?

Morning everyone!

We need some background extras for a workout happening this weekend.

Etc etc

Group Fit

9:36am

To Central Office Staff:

Subject: Re: No Sunday arvo plans?

Hey Group Fit,

 I can do it.

 Thanks

10:54am

To: Central Office Staff
Subject: Re: No Sunday arvo plans?

Hey Group Fit,

 I can no longer come so sorry 

12:35pm

To: Central Office Staff
Subject: Re: No Sunday arvo plans?

Hey hey I can come again if you need me :)

However the best email of all by far came from another colleague who replied…

12:58pm

To: Central Office Staff

Subject: RE: No Sunday arvo plans?

This conversation is almost as dramatic and suspenseful as a plot twist in Married at First Sight

Thanks for keeping us all on the journey.

J

This conversation was almost as good as when someone working at BBC White City in London sent an email to the WHOLE of the BBC asking if anyone had seen their Tupperware that they left on top of the fridge. My colleague Daniel at the Drama Village replied, “Sorry we’ve not seen it up here in Birmingham, but we’ll be sure to keep an eye out.”

On a final note - I was recently given a wonderful reflections journal called a ‘Panda Planner’, which requires that for each day you list your “big wins”. I would like to share my “big win” for Friday, which was the realisation that I finally understand marketing speak! I was passing through the kitchen on Friday and heard a conversation which involved ‘CTA’, ‘CTOR’ and ‘OR’ and I knew what all of these meant! I am so clever!

I have now worked in the marketing team for almost 12 months and I have to be honest, for the first three months (and possibly longer) I had no idea what anyone was talking about. They speak a different language up there. They use words like “granular”, “elevate”, “B2B”, “B2C”, “ROI”, and phrases like “ducks in a row”, “first cab off the rank”…

I suppose everyone goes through this when they start in a new team. I remember starting at the BBC and hearing words like, “DOP”, “pink pages”, “AD”, “turning”, “rushes”, “SA’s”, “recce”, “First”, “block” and so on, and having absolutely no clue what was going on.

In case you’re wondering…

CTA = Call To Action

CTOR = Click To Open Rate

OR = Open Rate

ROI = Return On Investment

B2B = Business to Business

B2C = Business to Consumer

DOP = Director of Photography

SA’s = Supporting Artistes

AD = Assistant Director

See! Now you can work in marketing and telly too!

You're welcome :)