I’m not exactly the most spontaneous of people. My impulse buys usually come from the beauty aisle of CVS and I consider it ‘last minute’ if I make plans with my friends one day before. It’s a trait that causes me to be thought of as ‘responsible’ and ‘practical’ by my parents and employers, but also means that my life could rarely be described as exciting. So imagine my surprise when, a day of hearing about the Her Campus National Intercollegiette Conference, I found myself on a plane headed to New York City. Granted, I was already headed north from my home in Atlanta for my family’s annual Maine vacation and I had a stop in Philadelphia planned, but still! I changed flights around, bought a bus ticket, and arranged to stay with a friend, all within a day! A big deal for me…
As I planned out my outfit and set my alarm for the conference (why does it always end up that I have to wake up earlier in the summer than the school year?), I wondered what the day would be like. I anticipated a lot of quick friend making, mediocre food, and perhaps some very useful advice and connections. And to be honest, there was some of that. Luckily, the food was awesome (SO MANY SNACKS!) and I got to have my first Chipotle burrito, which was predictably delicious. And there were two other HC Bowdoin girls (Madison Rex and Olivia Rotenberg) plus an HC Bowdoin alum (Joanna Buffum) there so the friend making was way easier than anticipated. And you know what? I actually learned a ton! Some of the lessons were things I already knew, like that there are a ton of very ambitious, very assertive girls out there (and that I am not one of them), but some were new lessons, like the value of sending a handwritten thank you note to your interviewer.
The day began with a lovely breakfast and a talk by Anna Post, who as great-granddaughter of etiquette grande dame Emily Post is the go to person on etiquette in the modern day. She gave some stats about technology and fielded questions, the best of which was posed by a girl looking for the kindest way to tell her mom to stop posting so many pictures of cats on Facebook. I almost snorted iced coffee out of my nose at that one. The day continued with panels by real women in the real world (they exist! They have jobs! I am given hope!), on subjects ranging from what it’s like to work at a magazine, to working in journalism for 5+ years, to getting into the Marketing/ PR world. Of course, some of the panels seemed more relevant to me personally than others, but on the whole, I thought the panelists were really insightful. They told us to be persistent and not to give up when we get rejected, because it will happen but it’s not the end of the world. They emphasized how important connections are and how it really is okay and cool to ask people for help. Most of all, they told us how impressive we as a group are and that all we have to do now to be successful is make the most of what we already have. I’m skipping over details, clearly, but the overwhelming message was one of inspiration and optimism, even for someone like me, who is rarely assertive and never aggressive. I left with the confidence that while finding a path isn’t going to be easy, it can be done.
The highlight of the day was the lunchtime key note speaker, Ann Shoket, editor in chief of Seventeen Magazine. She was as charming and personable as Miranda Priestly is devil in Prada-esque. She was funny and even provided us with fool-proof tips to getting a job (write a letter to the CEO/ Editor in Chief/ etc, sit tall on the edge of your seat, and always follow up with a thank you note)! By the end of her talk, I wanted to have her life and/or be her. Post lunch, there were workshops with the Her Campus founders. I learned about HC branding, which looked at how the website uses font, color, and symbols to make sure that things are recognizably ‘Her Campus,’ as well as a sneak peak of the new site design launch (shhhh!!). Lastly, we talked about swag (a term I was sure HC made up until I learned it’s apparently accepted vocabulary…) and how to get it from vendors. An HC campus correspondent told us the incredible true story of how she got over $20,000 of free stuff and a fragrance debut at her chapter’s launch party, which just made all the rest of us look sheepishly at the floor and kick ourselves for not knowing anyone who works at Armani, while also being crazy impressed by her sales skills. We got some ideas of fun things to do here at Bowdoin (just wait, y’all!! It’s going to be awesome!!) and in general, just had a grand ole time. And let me tell you about the free stuff!! Ok, so some of it was lame (a collapsible water bottle and $5 off coupon to an online jeweler? Really?), but there was also amazing lip balm and a set of Stila lip glosss, plus a hair treatment I can’t wait to try and a coupon for a free burrito/salad/burrito bowl/ etc from Chipotle! The door prizes were pretty great too, although the only prize won by a Bowdoin representative was Joanna winning Snooki’s novel… crickets… At the after party at the Juicy Couture store on 5th Avenue, we drank strawberry lemonade through striped straws and ate mind-blowing macaroons. Oh, and ogled the too gorgeous to be real servers (LOVE New York City and its endless supply of actors/models needing work). All in all, a good time was had by all (even Joanna and her begrudgingly accepted book)!