Holly Grande: Short and Sweet

Last night, Sistergirl and I went to Athenos’s “Two Truths and a Lie” event at Cellar 56 in Atlanta. Although I’ve been back in Atlanta for months, I haven’t had too much time to go out, so I was looking forward to the event. Plus, this was my first “blogger event” through 20SB, who had been contacted by Athenos’s PR team to select some VIP bloggers to attend.

Google map directions in hand, I picked up my sister from her dorm and we headed out at around 5:30. Neither of us had been to Cellar 56, and we were both very impressed. Set back from the road, the building had a bit of the rustic look so many Italian restaurants aspire to replicate. We felt like we were walking into a hotel restaurant, all tiles and echoes in the entrance foyer.

Posted by Holly at 1:24 PM 0 comments  

I am not a very good liar. Sure, I can keep a secret, but I am a terrible liar.

When I was a kid, I lied for attention. I told stories about witnessing bad guys commit crimes or flowers that granted wishes. I made up stories, and as I grew up, those kinds of lies turned into fiction and poetry.

As a teenager, I lied to get out of trouble. I didn’t know who broke the picture frame, or I had no idea that I had gotten home so late past curfew. It never worked.

So, as an adult, I rarely lied to begin with. When I did, it was for the sake of someone else, to save them the embarrassment, or to play along with a game. But even then, I couldn't hold a straight face, and I utterly failed at games like "Two Truths and a Lie." I just didn’t lie for myself anymore; at least, that's what I told myself.

Once, in college, several classmates of mine were discussing immigration and border control. These classmates were well educated, but what began as a political debate quickly turned into an outright attack on immigrants. Annoyed and insulted, I interrupted their conversation and self-righteously told them, “You know, my dad immigrated here to start a new life.”

Oh, how the backpedaling began: “We didn’t mean people like you! No, we meant those other, illegal aliens.”

It was a total lie. While it was true that my great-grandfather immigrated here from Italy, and I have cousins in Puerto Rico, my dad was born in America—and wasn’t I being just as awful by creating this false history of a father who risked his life to travel across Latin America to start a new life for his children? I appropriated the story of a man I knew to teach a lesson I wasn’t qualified to teach, and I felt awful.

But they believed me.

I let it go on for a little while until I couldn’t listen to the backpedaling anymore, and I confessed that my family was Italian-American, but three generations ago, they were immigrants, too, and people hated them for it then. I thought they might have seen the point I was trying to make, but there was no moment of inspiration, no epiphany, no magical, after-school-special moment: my classmates were pissed.

One of the girls didn’t speak to me for an entire day, which doesn’t sound like much, but she was my roommate at the time, too. Later, she would pull this story up as an example as to why I was a terrible friend to her. She remembers it because she was embarrassed; I remember it because I felt awful for the lie.

I can forgive a lie, but I do my best not to tell them. Even with the best intentions--or the most misguided ones--lies won’t solve anything. I wanted to teach my classmates a lesson. Instead, I looked like an idiot, and they didn’t learn anything.

It applies to PR, too. You might have your client’s best interests in mind, but the whitest of white lies still isn’t a solution. Eventually, the truth will come out, and regardless to what that truth is, people will wonder why you lied in the first place.

So maybe it’s for the best that I’m not a very good liar. Not telling the truth just isn’t an option in PR, and it shouldn’t be.

That all said, I am a little curious: What is the worst (or best) lie you ever told? Anonymous comments are turned on, so keep your real name a secret of you'd like, but tell me your untruth.

[In the spirit of truths and lies, here's some full disclosure for you: This post is for the Athenos Two Truths and a Lie Party in Atlanta, where they're giving away lots of cool stuff, including a free trip to South Beach! I'm going, so if you're local and thinking about attending, RSVP here.]

Posted by Holly at 6:46 PM 0 comments  

Labels: contest, PR

This year, my sister, brother and I played Super Bowl Ad Bingo. We typed up as many Super Bowl advertisement clichés we could think of (with the help of the Internet) and randomly assigned them to half a dozen 5x5 grids. In between the game, which was fun because my brother is a loud, vocal Colts fan and...I'm not, we called out the different tropes we saw.

This year, Coca Cola teamed up with The Simpsons for a funny, weird ad about their product. They take their story lines about the "power of Coco Cola" and throw it into the Simpsons universe. It's not a very rememberable spot, but it's cute--not a word I'd think to use to describe the Simpsons!


One of the clichés I included was a company re-brand, and it wasn't something I was sure that we would see. Re-brands are risky, and even my sister, another communications/business student, was confused as to how a company could re-brand with the Super Bowl (I think the example I gave her was if a certain Web domain provider decided to stop using breasts to sell services and focused on what they actually offered).

Then, we saw the Google Parisian Love ad. It was sweet, simple and it told a story. I like that in an advertisement, and I liked that the target audience was families and people who might not be very technologically savvy. It was a nice change to the usual Super Bowl ad fare.


My favorite spot this year was by far the toy monsters commercial for Kia. It's so cute and clever--there are no words. I want those toys. And maybe that car. But mostly the toys.

There were a few other great ads from Intel, Monster.com and Budweiser, but I think these three stood out as my favorites. What are your thoughts? Who would you include in your top spots?

Posted by Holly at 11:46 AM 1 comments  

Labels: advertising, communication

Amazon may have had its share of service hiccups, but the site has consistently gone above and beyond at the individual customer service level. This is a story of ineptitude, not by any fault of Amazon, but because of my own inability to read directions. Yet in spite of the massive amount of customer fail on my part, Amazon continued to be helpful.

Posted by Holly at 9:12 PM 0 comments  

Labels: amazon, customer service, win

Since moving back to Atlanta, I have been using local Web sites and community-based listings to aid me in my career search. Of these, craigslist has been a constant source of leads. As you are aware, the want-ad behemoth lets companies post job listings for free or for a low cost, making it an important, low-cost tool. Unfortunately, that also means not all of these leads are legitimate.

I am shocked by the sheer number of positions that claim to be entry-level public relations jobs. I have found everything from cold-calling, customer service jobs to borderline pyramid schemes masquerading as marketing jobs.

One of the biggest warning signs I've found for these jobs is the requirements. When a listing announces: ENTRY LEVEL NO EXPERIENCE NECESSARY WE WILL TRAIN!, I know they aren't looking for skilled professionals. What I want to do requires four years of study, and another two training as an intern. I am the first of my family to earn a bachelors, and I am proud of my education. I don't want to learn to sell in two weeks just to make calls off a list.

Language is usually a hint, too. Promises of huge earnings in one year or commission-only compensation sets off loud alarm bells. Excitement that can only be expressed in ALL CAPS isn't something I want from a firm, nor are promises of incredible rewards.

The frequency of these posts, or a large number of openings, is another sign. It tells me that turnover is great, and if the positions were as incredible as the company is claiming, why would there be so many openings?

One last warning sign I have come across is the call for a head shot. Head shots are perfectly fine when you are auditioning for an acting job, but not for a PR professional. Why is my appearance important if I am a communicator? I want to write content and strategy, not show off my good looks. When a job asks for a head shot, it tells me that they aren't looking for communicators, they are looking for pretty girls and guys to sell sex, not their client.

I am sure that there are people who are right for these jobs, but they are not what I want to do. Weeding through the clutter has made me all the more driven to find that right position, but it's tough. What sets off your alarm bells when looking for a job?

Image copyright National Geographic.

Posted by Holly at 9:20 AM 0 comments  

Labels: career, job search

Over the past year, I have been keeping track of the positions I apply to in a spiral-bound notebook. After every query and cover letter, I would write down the date, the name of the company, the position and the person I contacted. Later, I would try to update the entry with any responses I had received or telephone interviews. The method worked, and it was a great way to keep my thoughts organized until, one day, I couldn't find my notebook.

Posted by Holly at 8:57 AM 0 comments  

Labels: career, job search