Business Tactics & Investor Relations

I'm always happy to entertain friends that come into town. I suppose it is because I get the opportunity to act like a tourist-- without being a tourist. With my friend CJ in town, it's nice to be able to dabble in the activities usually reserved for those on a tight schedule to squeeze the city into their allotted holiday time. While she's been to the city many a times-- there were still a few things she had never done. For instance, she's never seen a Broadway show or musical. Now, my logic is this...whether you're a fan of theatre (Lee it's spelled t-h-e-a-t-r-e ... and it is not underlined in red, so it's recognized by spell-check) or not being in New York it is almost as customary to see a show as it is to take a picture of the Empire State Building. So, she arrived yesterday mid-afternoon and I prompted her to sign up for the lottery certain theatre's offer patrons for discounted tickets. According to the Web site, it was to begin at 5:30, but when she arrived at 5 she was notified that the lottery had already been finished. Here's where this story is blog worthy....upon my arrival at the theatre I insisted on finding out why the Web site had misinformed me. I approached the ticket counter where an older gentleman, who had previously been curt with my friend CJ, was happy to help me out. He informed that the lottery was earlier and there were no tickets available. Long story- short...I managed to get him to give me two tickets for the $21.50 each (regularly $125.00). I'm not exactly sure what I said or how it came about, but I gotta tell you I was impressed with my business swagger (or is it personably demeanor?) that got me to check out the show for a price I was more comfortable dishing out. Perhaps the best part of the deal was that we got front-row seats. No obstruction of views. I secretly laughed (internally of course) at those other attendees and their naivety to pay extravagant prices for a show. It should also go to show that there are alternatives in this city that won't leave you hungry (and with enough money to pay your subway ticket-- I'm still annoyed with this idea).

This post got me to thinking about a question I've been asked a lot and is probably the most relevant and pertinent question of how and what I'm doing in New York. What is Investor Relations? Well, I can tell you that my job consists of a few day-to-day tasks that somehow or another keep me busy. I've also begun to appreciate the sophistication and intellect my job requires-- especially when I'm meeting people my age working in Investment Banking earning $60,000 a year (unfathomable to me). So what do I do? A large part of my job consists of working on 7 accounts assigned to me on my first day. Each client is different, but generally require the same technical materials. For instance, because my clients are primarily large organizations, corporations and businesses (all public with investors and stakeholders) and in drastically different industries (spanning Pharmaceuticals, Satellites, Semi Conductor Wafers, Broadcasting, Cable and Internet Video Programming) each deals with analysts and other financial disclosings. This may include announcing quarterly earnings (releasing their revenue and expenses etc.), announcing the promotion of a CEO, CFO, COO, dealing with competitors, monitoring industry news and keeping their largest investors happy. I suppose in one word its: consulting. However, at the same time it is very much being the liasion between the corporation and it's primary stakeholders (investors) because without happy investors there is no money to keep the business going. So, this requires me to do a lot of monitoring of analyst reports and the stock market. It really has been a nice integration of public relations (my major) and business/finance (my minor). It alsohas a lot of promise for advancement and pay. Especially if I'm considering getting an MBA somewhere down the line.