I imagine the majority of the readers of this blog are working professionals working toward their career goals, or students earning degrees so they too can achieve their professional goals. We grew up knowing that we would graduate from high school, likely attend college and begin to accomplish life goals we set for ourselves at a young age. To people like us, some level of success is expected, and the ability to follow a “career path” is normal and, at times, taken for granted.
What many of us fail to realize, is that for a large number of Americans, the ability to even read this blog is a feat worthy of recognition. That is because 23 percent of American adults are unable to demonstrate reading proficiency (National Center for Family Literacy), and 53 percent have low or limited literacy skills (Literacy Chicago). In Chicago specifically, students in Chicago’s most disadvantaged neighborhoods are far more likely to receive instruction based on low expectations for student learning (Consortium on Chicago School Research), which translates to likelihood of professional development and achievement.
Discrepancies such as these make organizations like the Golden Apple Foundation increasingly important to the betterment of Chicago’s education system. Celebrating its 25th anniversary, the Golden Apple Foundation recognizes outstanding schoolteachers and provides integrated, innovative programs and resources that enhance the quality, resiliency, and creativity of classroom teachers and improve teaching and learning throughout Illinois. The organization is now planning to expand its professional development program in the Chicago area to provide quality services to teachers in low-income communities using the whole school as the unit of change.
And you can help. This Thursday, April 29 from 7 to 10 p.m., Chicago nightclub Lumen (839 West Fulton Market) invites Chicagoans to Casino Night, presented by the Golden Apple Associates Board. One hundred percent of the proceeds from this event will support the Golden Apple Foundation.
For just $35, guests will enjoy entertainment from DJ Lil’ Mikey, Dewar’s Scotch tasting, two hours of complimentary vodka cocktails, appetizers courtesy of Hel’s Kitchen and the chance to win more than 35 fabulous raffle prizes. If you would like to join us in raising money to better the education system in our own backyard, please visit http://goldenapplecasinonight.eventbrite.com/ and a purchase ticket.
Susie Schreiber
Account Supervisor
As publicists, we at Zapwater are constantly looking to our surroundings for inspiration. Inspiration for new partnership ideas. Inspiration for unique events and promotions. Inspiration for generating client publicity. You’d be surprised where we find our ideas. My latest inspiration comes straight from Chicago-based fashion blogger and style world sensation, Tavi (www.thestylerookie.com).
Did I mention Tavi is merely 13-years-old? And yet, her unique perspective and entertaining writing style makes her one of the most widely-known and controversial voices in the fashion industry today. My world at Zapwater focuses not on fashion, but rather primarily on health and education-based clientele. And yet, after reading the wisdom of a 13-year-old girl, I cannot help but feel renewed in my daily work.
Tavi has taught me to look at things from a different perspective. She pays attention to the minute details most would otherwise look over and finds happiness in the smallest and sometimes most simple things. Most importantly, Tavi has proved that everyone, no matter age or experience, has something new to offer, and I look forward to reading her perspective each week. Who says inspiration can’t come from the mind of a teenager? YAY LET’S MAKE A SANDWHICH! Sarah Marseille Senior Publicist
One of the perks of working at Zapwater is we always have fun events for clients that we get to go to – and the past couple of weeks have been especially full of them! Last week we headed over to the loop location of HALO [FOR MEN] to celebrate their one year anniversary. The place was packed with guests enjoying Pearl Vodka and El Mayor Tequila. There was even a surprise delivery from Berry Chill which topped the night off!
This week started with Meteo-RA-logy Madness at Ra Sushi on Wednesday night. Ra invited four of the city’s meteorologists Amy Freeze, Mary Kay Kleist, Ginger Zee and Duffy Atkins to create their own signature sushi rolls and partner with a non-profit organization to raise money for a cause of their choice. Each of the meteorologists’ sushi rolls were delicious but in the end Duffy Atkins’ ‘Fujita-Toro’ roll won, raising money for In Concert Chicago, an organization that arranges for Chicago-area student and professional musicians to perform for senior citizens at nursing homes, retirement communities and assisted living centers. Not only was this event for a good cause, but all of the sushi rolls were delicious!
With a multitude of locations throughout Chicago, there is always a hard decision to be made when it comes to hosting events at any of the HALO [FOR MEN] locals. However, this time around, it was a no-brainer. With the re-make of Nightmare on Elm Street coming out next Friday, there was no question that a pre-screening party was a must at the flagship Gold Coast location on…dun dun dun…ELM STREET. Located at 21 W. Elm St., HALO [FOR MEN] turned into a Freddie Krueger’s dream night, a party full of stylish guys and girls showed up to check out a peak at the trailer, nosh on some fabulous RA Sushi, indulge in killer cocktails and of course, score a pass to see the film two days before anyone else next week. Victims were also treated to swag bags, shout out to Terry Hines and Associates and Warner Brothers, including t-shirts, water bottles, key chains and gift certificate to HALO [FOR MEN] and RA Sushi penny drink cards.
Almost as scary as Freddie himself, Zapwater’s own Assistant Publicist Michael Corrigan, who worked the door in his red tie, gray pants and shirt and perfectly placed fedora, way to rock it! PS, he did a FABULOUS job, can’t wait for the next HALO soiree!
One, Two, Freddy’s coming for you! Filmed in Chicago last summer, the anticipation is building in the city for Michael Bay’s latest horror movie remake of A Nightmare on Elm Street. To coincide with the film’s release, Zapwater client HALO [FOR MEN] will host an after hours event at their Spa in the Gold Coast (21 W Elm St) on Thursday, April 22 from 9-11 pm. Film fans are encouraged to grab their red and grey/green garb and experience HALO’s makeover into the infamous lair of Freddy Krueger. Guests will be treated to a night complete with complimentary “Krueger’s Claw” paraffin hand dips, bloody booze and killer cuisine. Don’t be tardy for this party; the first 50 guests will receive 2 complimentary passes for the Chicago premier private screening of “A Nightmare on Elm Street” on April 28th at AMC River East. All attendees will score a slashing swag bag with discount vouchers, t-shirts, mugs and more. RSVP to events@zapwater.com. If you are lucky you may spot yours truly rocking a chic version of Freddy’s signature killer glove. Don’t fall asleep, you may never wake up!
I can’t believe it, but it’s already mid-April. With this time of year comes, warmer weather, and as any Chicagoan will tell you, the best time of year to simply, live in Chicago. The grass is actually turning green, the flowers are blooming and allergies are in full gear; a hit I am willing to take if that means warmer temps.
Also with spring, comes cleaning. In lieu of my traditional Chicago apartment size I am revamping my small closet for the season. This means under-bed-storage of bulky sweaters and back-of-the-closet boots to make room for light cardigans, sun dresses and sandals. In my life pre-Chicago I would never have to perform such a task, simply because I had a “normal” size closet but things change.
I guess you can’t really say these are “new” changes, rather they are just things that happen at this time of year. As a Wrigleyville resident, another thought that crosses my mind this time of year during baseball season: does anyone work during the week in this town?
I hear people every day debating what caused the worst recession we’ve seen since The Great Depression. The conversations usually include comments about the Wall Street fat cats and their bonuses. While I absolutely agree that Wall Street greed is responsible, my anger has more recently shifted toward our government.
First, the American public is manipulated into purchasing homes. It’s the American dream after all, isn’t it? If you own a home, you get to deduct the mortgage interest and real estate taxes that you pay hopefully decreasing your total tax bill at the end of the year…and who doesn’t want to do that? So, work, work, work and save, save, save so that you too can one day own a home.
Then, in order to ensure that banks will lend, the government created Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Fannie Mae was created in 1938 during the Great Depression and Freddie Mac came along in 1970 after Fannie Mae was taken public in 1968 to prevent Fannie Mae from monopolizing the market. Now America’s two largest mortgage companies, Fannie and Freddie together hold or guarantee some $5 trillion in debt. Both companies are what we call Government Sponsored Enterprises. In short, there is an implicit guarantee that the US government will not let these companies fail. The purpose of both entities is to purchase home loans from lending institutions, pool them and sell them as securities to investors on the open market. This increases the supply of money institutions have available for additional mortgage lending so you and I can get a loan when we decide to purchase that home. Fannie and Freddie made home ownership a real possibility for almost anyone and at the same time forever shifted the fundamental practice of ‘making a loan.’ Lending institutions no longer had to hold the loans on their balance sheet, which meant they were not scrutinizing the borrowers as they previously had. Remember that childhood game of hot potato? As lending criteria loosened and more convoluted loan products were created that consumers didn’t understand, a vicious cycle began. Throw investors into the secondary market that have no knowledge of real estate or the CMBS market and you have sure disaster.
Encourage the public to purchase a home…fine. Encourage and create an environment whereby lending institutions will lend…awesome. Wall Street AND our government worked in tandem to create a market where everyone makes money on us, the borrowers, several times over, and neither one is looking out for our best interest. Wall Street…fine. But, our government was elected to represent us.
The bonds that were created from our home loans were supposed to be appropriately rated by rating agencies like Moody’s, Fitch and S & P. What ultimately brought down the whole market was that these agencies were not doing their job and assessing risk. It comes down to the basic premise that the company seeking an objective 3rd party opinion, whether it be for financial results (Arthur Andersen and Enron – ring a bell?) or for securities, should not compensate the company that is providing the opinion – it creates a conflict of interest. A bank pools several loans together knowing full well that the securities they are backing should not be rated AAA and asks Moody’s to rate the issuance. Moody’s knows that if they don’t provide the AAA rating requested, the bank will simply go to another agency. I am left frustrated. All of our Congressmen are aware of this and have done nothing. We are going on three years since the collapse of the market and nothing has been done to avert this from happening again.
Eight Zapwater colleagues and I hopped on the bus and headed to Maggiano’s for our monthly trip to the PCC Lunch. We sat at our table and anxiously awaited the food to arrive (by the way, it was quite delicious—chopped salad, fried zucchini, baked ziti, chicken marsala and cheesecake).
As the meal wound down and we were sipping iced teas and coffees, the panel for “Solving the Suburban Media Market” was introduced. Editors from WGN/CLTV, the Daily Herald, Triblocal.com and the Sun-Times Media West group shared insider tips regarding how to get noticed in the suburban market.
We quickly learned that each and every one of these media groups has undergone some major changes within the past few years, including mergers, buyouts and the introduction of user-generated content. With these changes, they have learned the value of the web and have been experimenting to determine the most effective methods to get the news to their target audiences.
One of the most interesting points came from John Lampinen, Editor of the Daily Herald. He said that Facebook has become a really useful tool for journalists and editors to connect with PR people. Since it is different from other social media outlets, it allows people to build relationships and get to know one another in a social, as well as professional, environment. These strong relationships with media professionals are crucial to the public relations industry. On that note, I guess I better go and “friend” all my journalist contacts on Facebook! Maria Leigh Mianecki Intern
Get ready, Chicagoans! There’s a maki storm in the forecast. RA Sushi, the stylishly edgy sushi restaurant and bar, is excited to announce the upcoming debut of their Meteo-RA-logy Madness contest. Meteo-RA-logy Madness is a contest that features a line-up of Chicagoland’s favorite weather people, picked to create a signature sushi roll and partner with non-profit organizations, to raise money for a good cause. The event is taking place at RA Sushi’s Chicago location at 1139 N. State St. on Wednesday, April 21, 2010 from 7 to 9 p.m.
Each weather person has created and named an original sushi roll that will be prepared by RA Sushi’s expert sushi chef. The rolls will then be sampled and judged by a panel of local media personalities, as well as the crowd in attendance. Each roll will be judged based on creativity of name, ingredients, presentation and most importantly, taste!
• Mary Kay Kleist, CBS2’s lead meteorologist for “Monsters & Money in the Morning,” has created the “Maximum Vorticity” roll. Mary Kay is playing for The Randy Salerno Foundation, which assists bereaved children and families in McHenry County.
• Amy Freeze, from FOX Chicago News, is hoping to freeze out the competition with her roll, “The Freeze Front.” She has partnered with March of Dimes whose mission is to improve the health of babies by preventing birth defects, premature birth and infant mortality.
• NBC5’s very own Ginger Zee has her eye on the prize with her roll “Hurricane Ginger.” Ginger is representing The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society, which works towards finding a cure for leukemia, lymphoma, Hodgkin’s disease and melanoma and improving the quality of life for patients and their families.
• Last and certainly not least, Duffy Atkins from WGN/CLTV has coined the “Fujita-Toro Roll.” Duffy is playing for In Concert Chicago, an organization that arranges for Chicago-area student and professional musicians to perform for senior citizens at nursing homes, retirement communities and assisted-living centers.
The winning roll will be featured on its own menu from May 1 through May 15, 2010 at all three Chicagoland RA Sushi locations (Chicago, Glenview and Lombard.) A portion of the proceeds generated from the sale of the roll will benefit the winner’s charity of choice.
During the event, guests can also dine on RA Sushi’s entire menu of delectable dishes, as well as sample the restaurant’s specialty cocktails and assortment of sakes. Meteo-RA-logy Madness is open to the public and attendance is free of charge.
