Thank You For Being a Friend

A couple side notes before I dive into this post:

1). I'm writing from a client's office in Pasadena, and Pasadena is gorgeous (if you ignore the hazy layer of smog that covers all of LA and surrounding cities!) It's my first trip to Cali, so yes I'm excited.

2). A big hip-hip-hooray to everyone who voted yes to pass the slight tax increase and keep the zoo (see post below).

OK -- on to the post. Back when I was a college student and had about 374842 less worries in my life, I had an amazing job as an advertising rep at CM Life, Central Michigan University's student-run, on-campus newspaper. I cannot express how much I loved this job and the creative people I collaborated with on a daily basis. Working with 40+ clients, learning how to thrive in a team environment and managing client's day-to-day expectations prepared me more for my job in public relations than I could have ever imagined when I initially accepted the ad sales position.

My experience at CM Life would not have been nearly as memorable if it weren't for the amazingly talented people that I worked with. Many of us keep in touch to this day and get together every so often to catch up on all the twists and turns we've experienced since departing our beloved campus. We just had a CM Life reunion last week at Kona Grill in Troy (uber cool after work atmosphere...I highly recommend it!). I will admit it now: I hate change and I hate losing contact with friends. That's why I find our get-togethers to be such a testament to how important it is to remain in contact with people and set aside time in your busy life to catch up with old friends. Seeing all those familiar faces from CM Life (as well as few new ones) and hearing what's new in everyone's world helped fizzle the tension we all felt in our respective lives and at our respective jobs.

I learned that many of my CM Life pals were blogging like myself and using social media to advance their own knowledge, as well as their clients'/employers' knowledge, of the rapidly changing world of Web 2.0. Check out some of their blogs:

Staircase to Earth's Loveliness

Radiant Thoughts

Life is a Journey

I am so grateful to have amazing people in my world like my fellow CM Lifers to share experiences, ideas and life lessons. I love that we are all committed to remaining in contact with one another, and even if we only gather face-to-face once a year, at least we know there's always a reunion in our future.