good-bye cubicle!

Sometimes I wish I could have everything I've ever wanted all at the same time. It would be nice to be able to have new chapters without giving up all the great things that already exist in your life. CMD is one of the things that will be hard to give up as I move on to the next adventure.

I have learned more here in the last eight years than anyone could expect from a college education. How to manage budgets and schedules, envision projects, manage people, manage perception and manage myself. How to say "I don't know, will you show me?" How to say, "I really think this is the right way and I'm going to fight for it." How to say "I think you're crazy, but I trust you, so we'll do it your way."

How to buy snacks for a party. Exactly how much booze CMDers will drink in a two hour window on a Wednesday. The best way to get a flight attendant to comp you some red wine and how much a room service cheeseburger goes for in Chicago. And that it is totally worth it after a 17 hour day on your feet, running to make sure that no one knows the roof is about to cave in or that perhaps the stage is on fire.

That people will go further out of their way for a friend than they will for a co-worker. That if you really want people to understand what it means to be on a team and pull off the impossible together, make sure that you have lunch together and go out to celebrate birthdays and accomplishments. At the end of projects, especially when they are the really hard ones, go out together and have a meal or a drink and celebrate them. Then, next time, you will perhaps even look forward to working together instead of still mad for some crazy project related reason. The projects aren't real. The relationships created through them are.

People will forget what you said.
People will forget what you did.
But they will never forget how you made them feel.

CMD has helped me to feel smart, talented, capable and supported.

Treat each other well.
See you at Touché in a few hours.
Stay in touch.
Maryjane