Old work stuff can be quite nostalgic. On a recent staycation, I went through a bunch of boxes of work stuff hidden in the basement. Here is some of what I found:
- Stacks and stacks of old-school media coverage books for products I led the PR on. There were thick ones for Microsoft Word, Microsoft Money, RealNetworks, Avenue A (which became aQuantive), InfoSpace and more.
- A massively thick Microsoft Bob media coverage book (I totally rocked this PR!), Bob shrink-wrapped software, Bob frisbee, Bob mouse pad, Bob baseball cap, Bob pin, Bob bumper sticker, the CES badge where we launched the product, and more. (See separate future post on this. Bob was quickly dismissed as a product despite all the strong initial media interest and coverage.)
- Video tapes of me doing Media Training for Seagate Software in Vancouver BC, California, Florida, London, Paris, Frankfurt and Munich.
- Video tapes of happy client testimonials from my days leading the Emerging Technology Group at DDB Worldwide Communications.
- A souvenir plate from a new ship launch that I worked on extensively for Holland America Line.
- Several paper copies of the Fast Company issue wherein I placed a 6-page feature story, complete with images, on Avenue A (which became aQuantive and was later bought by Microsoft for $6 billion).
- Gifts and cards from former direct reports and clients. This included a big framed, creatively designed, thank you piece from the Microsoft Bob team for the great launch PR.
- An old Microsoft Word Reviewer’s Guide we created. (Here is a very belated sorry to the folks at WordPerfect. We kicked their you know what with all our hard work and, of course, a great product!)
- 10-Year Anniversary program for the Waggener Edstrom (now WE) employee celebration that included a company weekend at the lovely Skamania Lodge.
- Leadership coursework from an all-day offsite for the leaders at Waggener Edstrom. (I still pull from those learnings daily in my mind.)
- About 25 business books. Some were good…about leadership, marketing, advertising, branding and sales. Others made me laugh out loud (e.g. “How the Internet Works”).
- Coursework for the executive class at the Haas School of Business at Berkeley, titled “Strategic Planning During Uncertain Times” that DDB enabled and paid for me to take.
- Old self-reviews. Honest, impressive and heartfelt. Many of them oozing with ambition.
In the end, I allowed myself to keep only one box of all of this and I got rid of the rest. It wasn’t easy to choose, but it was also somewhat freeing to let it go.
Thanks for reading!
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