Getting all Daper

I've recently been getting a lot of acknowledgement (more so than usual) about my blog entries from my friends and I gotta tell ya it's pretty exciting to know that people are reading (let alone interested) in what I am doing and what I have to say (albeit somethings may get boring). I've been more consciously trying to capture the New York experience (through my eyes) as best as possible-- after all that was the intention of my blog to begin with. So-- thank you for your readership. I appreciate it more than you know.

If you've ever visited New York, which most of you have (and even if you haven't), I am sure you have an image in your head of what it means to work on 5th Ave., Midtown, Wall Street and Manhattan in general. For me, it meant men and women dressed in suits, large Blackberry telephones, shiny shoes, black socks, briefcases and taxi cabs. The past two days I've spent fitting this image while attending a conference here in New York. I got all decked out in the suit and tie schpeel (granted I only own one suit I needed to rotate shirts and ties). I've been told to invest in another 3 suits by fall... is this going to be common place? It's likely and the idea kind of excitements. I use to think the idea of getting all spiffed up in a suit was silly-- but for some reason (within the confines of the city) a certain confidence and swagger comes with wearing a suit and tie. It says-- I'm important and I have places to go, people to see and E-mails to reply to. Then I thought-- well anyone could wear a suit and tie and walk around the city and not have anywhere to go, no people to meet or E-mails marked urgent. Wouldn't it be funny if someone got all dressed up one day they felt particularly down on themselves and just walked around Midtown pretending they were some important executive? Now, for nearly everyone except for me-- that would work. I felt as though people on the subway thought I was going to a bar mitzuah or was on my way to church at 7 a.m.-- not work. I joke, but I really wonder what they are thinking.

The conference the past two days was for the Newspaper Association of America-- a client of ours. At the conference, newspaper corporations and their CEOs, COOs, and CFOs were scheduled to present their year-to-year projections and answer questions from prominent analysts. It was my chance to see the big guys battle in their arena. On one side you have the confident business CEO with the half-mocking sense of humor that reaks of wealth and on the other you have the sophisticated, hard-ass, no-nonsense analysts frantically checking their Blackberry's every minute (this is no exaggeration-- everyone had one and checked them in sync with their breathing).

Perhaps the best insight I gained from the experience was that I was actually in a room of really powerful people. I was amidst CEOs that earn millions (maybe billions?) of dollars to do what exactly? They really just seemed like faces on the corporations they represented-- think the logo of a brand. Granted this perspective may be a little naive and they may very well be entitled to the incomprehensible amounts of cash deposited into their bank accounts, but its just easier to picture them with their feet kicked up on their desk and not having a care in the world whether or not the company succeeds-- their still getting paid. This is a completely unrealistic look, but it's my blog [insert malicious laugh here].

So here's what I learned from all of this "rubbing elbows" with the CEOs. I use the term lightly as there really wasn't much communication between myself and the others there. I was there as a spectator and offer help to our client by taking charge of the microphone for questions. Nevertheless, the experience is worthy of documentation. In this city where it's been said time and time again..."If you can make it here, you can make it anywhere." Never has it rung so true to me as the last two days. This city is made up of ambitious, career-driven, smart and well-polished individuals all out to get the same thing you want...money (and to some degree power). So how do you stand out? How do you succeed in a city where it's so easy to just blend in and get lost in the crowd? More than anything I've come to realize that in order to get far in your industry (whatever it may be) you really have to be willing to put your ego and fears aside and lunge for it. The hesitation the resides within the bottomless pit of your stomach should never overpower the voice inside your head that says "go for it."

In general, people often steer clear of people who speak their minds or lack the little chip that tells them something just shouldn't be said. The "censor chip" if you will. I think-- lacking that reservation, that apprehension, that worry of where something may take you-- is admirable and almost necessary to survive in this urban jungle. I think you really do need to step up your game in this city and I say this because in the past two days the opportunity to further my career presented itself, but I shied away from it. This is what I've learned... and I've said it before. New York is a dog-eat-dog city. You either bite or get biten because chances are there is someone right behind you just as eager or more qualified than you to do your job-- but if you find it within yourself to persevere... this city is unbelieveable.