I haven't been so out to lunch that I had nothing to write today. But just as I got home, happily full of ice cream (and mall details, and plans for RedStar's future campaigns), I got a wild piece of news: the company I used to work for has been merged with a major ad player.
You haven't heard a lot about my old job, the one I left (fled?) to come here into the blogosphere - at least not from me; I've been trying, vainly, to put it in the past and move on. I see that now. I see that because the news this afternoon caught me completely off guard and affected me more deeply than I might have expected.
As you may have guessed I put myself passionately into what I do - I am not a worker who can just go in, do my 9-5 and be done with it. I need to believe in what I'm doing, and what the company stands for. And I am lucky and blessed that I found - tripped over, really - Digitas when I did. It was a temporary gig - procured for me by the omnipresent J in Baltimore, to whom I am eternally grateful - that became a permanent one, and one that brought me from New York to Boston and changed my life. Anyone who worked there will tell you (we all said it) that it was the people you worked with that made it amazing, and it was. I have never worked with smarter people, people who cared more about the work, and who cared so much about each other and the community in which they lived.
But it was more than that - I learned so much from our leaders, people who could break down the latest trends and buzzwords in marketing, who could explain what we did, how we did it and how to measure its impact so clearly. Most of all Digitas brought to me a fabulous mentor, the woman who ran our HR department, who inspired me (and pretty much everyone she encounters) to try to do more, and be the person I should be.
It's easy to say that Digitas will not be lost in this merger; in truth, the Digitas I knew from when I started was already a fading memory when I left. But more to the point, the Digitas I knew was truly independent, out there, on its own, scaring the big guys. It is not simply melodrama that leads me to say it will never be the same, that something precious has gone, and I am sad for that. When a lovely flame dies, smoke gets in your eyes. And this is how a heart breaks.
Functionality...nuff said.
Posted by: jinbaltimore | December 21, 2006 at 05:26 AM
"I don't think male sheep make good pets. Do ewe?" Nuff said.
Posted by: jinbaltimore | December 21, 2006 at 06:32 AM
which brings whole new meaning to "No Surprises." nuff said
Posted by: jinbaltimore | December 21, 2006 at 09:12 AM
DOIT. nuff said.
Posted by: jinbaltimore | December 21, 2006 at 09:39 AM
"I'd like to reserve the Johnson from 1-2 if I may." nuff said.
Posted by: jinbaltimore | December 21, 2006 at 09:42 AM
Okay... Okay.... Have we reached our "enough said" saturation point, or not? :)
Posted by: weboy | December 21, 2006 at 10:25 AM
I'm so sorry to have been the bearer of such difficult news for you, though I am glad we can talk about it now. Perhaps soemthing precious has gone, but perhaps something different will turn out to be as improtant?
Posted by: Jennifer | December 26, 2006 at 03:18 PM