Author Archives: Amy Schoenberger

On Dreams

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I’ve been having a lot of crazy dreams lately.  Last night I had a dream that my mother, sister and I went to Haiti together, and upon arrival we stopped in an artist’s studio.  I walked outside onto the deck for a moment only to have a parade of elephants walk right by me.  Then I looked down at my arm and noticed I was developing a small rash.  I then remembered that you were supposed to get vaccinations to go to Haiti, and I had completely forgotten to get them.  And that’s when I realized that if I had taken the time to think about it, to get the vaccinations and get nervous about the health risks of going to Haiti – then maybe I wouldn’t have come, and maybe I wouldn’t have ever seen those elephants.  Guys, this dream was so real – even though I’ve been awake for hours I’m still not completely convinced it didn’t actually happen.  (Although 1- my mother would never travel to a place like Haiti, and 2 – there are no elephants in Haiti, so this was most definitely a dream.)

Two days ago, I read through  my friend’s book proposal.  Any time you read a book of memoirs from a good friend, it’s an amazing thing.  Seeing everything you’ve experienced with her, or everything you’ve heard her talk about so much, right there, written down all in one place, it’s this surreal experience.  I was fascinated scrolling down the pages of the novel, and I came across a chapter about an experience we had witnessed together.  The focus of the memory was on the atmosphere, and this one inspiring person we met in this story, but as I read through her account of that same memory, I noticed one thing was absent from her story – me.  I understood why, the focus was on this more inspiring person, and it made for the story to flow better, but I still couldn’t help but feel a bit hurt that I was omitted from this tale.

This is coming from a person whose presence in my life has been incredibly significant.  She would most certainly be in my book.  The fact that I was removed from hers showed me that even though I try to do so much…I’m not doing enough.  I’m not doing enough to impact the lives of others, to inspire others where they see me as a crucial part of their story.

The other night I was talking to someone over a glass of red wine about my life dreams.  How every time I’ve had a dream, I’ve managed to make it come true. How I’ve done things that are so far beyond what I ever could have dreamed I’d actually do.  He said I needed to dream bigger.  He’s right.

Which brought me back to my original dream.  The one that started before I ever embarked on any kind of path.  The one that was implanted into my head at a young age when I discovered my passion for writing.  The one that sent me to enter and win that young writer’s contest in Newsday when I was 13. The one that sent me to journalism school.  The one that inspired me to start this blog.

I want to publish a book.

However, I’m left with the same questions I faced years ago, the questions that made me think I needed to become a journalist and travel the world in order to collect enough experience that would one day give me material to work with.  Well, I’ve traveled the world.  I’ve lived in the most exciting city in the world. I’m still doing both of those things, and doing my best to make the most of every single second. But alas, I still have no clue what I’m supposed to write about.

Maybe I need to stop thinking, and just start writing.  This blog post isn’t about any significant event, or world travel.  It’s just about my most personal thoughts.  Maybe it’s not going to get me closer to publishing a book, but maybe it will.  In any case, this is me, making the decision to go to Haiti with no vaccinations, and praying that I see something as fascinating  as a parade of elephants from the deck of an artist’s studio.

Cause Marketing: Is Bigger Necessarily Better?

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I know I’ve been slacking – it’s been a busy three months.  I went to a few amazing events, we rang in a new year, I went to Sundance, and I have a million other things to share.  For now, here’s a post I wrote for my company’s blog:

Cause Marketing: Is Bigger Necessarily Better?

So, I kind of lead a double life. By day, I do PR for one of the largest brands in the world. By night, I run the New York board of a small charity that came into existence a few short years ago.
You’ve probably heard of Tide. You probably do your laundry with it. What you might not know is that Tide has an amazing program called Loads of Hope, which provides clean clothes to families who have been affected by disaster.
About four years ago, I found out about a nonprofit organization called Nest that provides loans to women artisans in developing countries. I loved the idea, and about one year and a trip to Guatemala later; I had taken on the role as president of the NYC board.
What’s most interesting is that even though these programs are so drastically different, a lot of the principles in how to create a successful cause marketing campaign are the same. Here are a few of the things I’ve learned by working simultaneously on cause marketing efforts for projects big and small:
Make the Most of the Resources You Have:
With Tide, we are backed by a large company that invests wisely in its marketing efforts. There are dedicated teams of people at top creative agencies whose full time jobs are to come up with ideas and ways to turn those ideas into actual programs.
With a small nonprofit, you are most likely dealing with a minimal to nonexistent budget. If a nonprofit is fortunate enough to have one or more full time staff members, they most likely have to spend their time courting big donors and thinking of new ways to fundraise before they can turn their focus to marketing. Nest, with only two full time staffers, has to rely on their network of hundreds of volunteers across the country, most with demanding full time jobs who can only help with Nest in their limited free time.
Get Creative:
With a well known program like Loads of Hope, trying to come up with new ideas and to make such an established program feel fresh can be difficult at times. Yes, we are always going to different disasters and it’ll always be local news to the residents of the affected area, but in terms of the bigger picture, what can we do to engage more people around the country in our cause?
On the contrary, with the rapidly growing nature of Nest, new news is constantly pouring in. Between new partnerships with retailers, new loan recipients and events happening in each city, we’re flooded with information. The challenge here is how to choose what people outside the organization will find interesting. We’re often sifting through the clutter and determining what the most important news is and how to use it in a way that will get our target consumers involved.
Keep the Focus on the Mission:
The one thing that remains constant in my work on both Tide and with Nest is the bottom line. Both programs have a very clear mission-to help people. Whether sitting in a woman’s home with her children in Morocco or standing in the freezing cold by the Tide Loads of Hope truck in Fargo, North Dakota with a man whose home was destroyed, it’s the people who keep us all inspired to continue doing what we do.

Originally posted at:
http://www.devriespr.com/2011/01/cause-marketing-is-bigger-necessarily-better/

Apparently I Love Culturally Significant Crowds

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So, it turns out I really love big crowded events that massive amounts of people flock to.  I didn’t realize this until I found myself in DC the weekend of October 30th, going to Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert’s Rally to Restore Sanity and/or Fear.  Armed with our posterboard signs, Joya and I walked over to the national mall, where we became so smushed in a crowd of people that we couldn’t even see the jumbo screens set up around the mall, let alone the actual stage where the various performances were taking place.  Sure, we had a few good laughs at some of the wittier signs around us, “Save Jon Stewart, he’s our most important Jew,” and “Mr. Stewart, my mommy says you’re my daddy, but all I want is a hug,” (ok, that was my sign), and “Rally to Restore Santa,” held up by a man dressed as Santa Claus.  But when out of nowhere, Cat Stevens took the stage to perform Peace Train, we were all pretty startled and amazed by what we were about to witness.  First of all, who knew Cat Stevens was allowed back in the country after being put on the no fly list because of his pro-Muslim sentiment?  Second, we never thought we’d hear Cat Stevens sing this song live, in our lifetime.  Third, the performance made us understand what we were doing there.  It didn’t even matter that seconds later, he was interrupted by Ozzy Osbourne playing “Crazy Train,” as part of Colbert’s schtick – we all got the message loud and clear.  Jon Stewart brought this Muslim man on stage, a man who was also known for his song about peace during a time of political and global unrest, quite the antithesis of what Muslims are usually thought of in our country. 

It was pretty damn inspiring.

 I went home to New York the next day, only to meet two of my friends an hour after arriving back in the city to march in the annual Village Halloween Parade.  I hadn’t celebrated Halloween much that weekend, and marching in the parade sounded like a fun idea – I had been to the sidelines to watch the parade and it had been a disaster in years past, but marching sounded less intense for some reason.  And it was.  Waving to groups of Asian tourists in my Dorothy costume was one of those incredibly unique New York experiences that I won’t soon forget.  I plan to go again next year, but in a much less generic costume.
This Sunday, my best friend Drew ran the New York City Marathon.  I went to watch the marathon about half a mile from the finish line so I could see her as she passed.  But in the 45 minutes before she came running by, it was really incredible to watch these thousands of people who were about to complete a race that started 4-5 hours earlier, took them through all five boroughs, and was about to give them the feeling of accomplishment that only incredibly dedicated runners can ever obtain in a lifetime.  I even caught a glimpse of the Chilean miner who had been rescued two weeks earlier after being trapped underground for over two months.  Talk about dedication.  Also, walking through the streets after the marathon, whenever we saw people with the signature “burrito” wrapping signifying their completion of the race, we went up to each person to congratulate them.  Some people were wincing in pain and limping, but it seemed to lift their spirits when we, strangers on the street, stopped to tell them how proud we were.
So apparently I like big crowded events that have widespread meaning and cultural significance.  I guess it’s like having school spirit.  And I’m always going to be a cheerleader for uplifting events that bring all types of people together for one unified cause, from a political rally in the nation’s capital to a silly Halloween parade.

The Girl Effect

Aside

I really wish more people knew and/or cared about this problem. I learned in reading Nicholas Kristof’s book, Half the Sky, that maternal mortality and young girls being kidnapped and sold into the sex trade are the biggest problems women in the developing world face. And the developing world is a lot larger than the developed world. I know it’s easy for people to turn their heads and ignore the problems that exist outside their own backyard, but I urge you to take a moment to think – what if it were you who was born into an Ethiopian village as a baby girl?

The Girl Effect, a wonderful organization I learned about this week while watching the speakers at the UN’s Social Good Summit, simplifies the message in this compelling video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1e8xgF0JtVg&feature=youtu.be

When I was 12 years old, my biggest concern was my braces and a math test. What was yours? We’re extremely privileged to have been born into this world. Let’s do something for those who were not so lucky.

Ok, New Orleans, I finally get it.

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My summer of 12 hour workdays came to an end when my team and I traveled to New Orleans to put on a concert commemorating the anniversary of Hurricane Katrina. I’ll spare you the details, since I don’t want to make this a work related blog, but we basically paid a high level spokesperson (Faith Hill) to perform a concert in New Orleans to honor those who have stayed in the area in the five years since Katrina hit. I wrote about this in communication materials, spoke about it to media and spent months preparing for it, but I don’t think I actually GOT it until the evening of the actual concert. See, we made sure the theater was filled with local residents as well as people who worked at relief organizations in the area. About an hour before the concert, we realized a mistake had been made, and we had about 50 extra tickets right in the front orchestra section.

After I got over my panic attack and readjusted some of the seating, I took a handful of tickets, and right before the concert started, I made my way up to the upper balcony section. I went up to a couple and asked if they were with a relief organization. They actually said, “No, we’re with the fire department.” I looked at them quizzically and said, “Well, that’s certainly a relief organization,” and handed them two orchestra section tickets. They were amazed, and thanked me before going downstairs to take their upgraded seats. After handing out a few more tickets, word must’ve spread throughout the upper balcony to what I was doing. One elderly man came over to me and tapped me on the shoulder as I was giving out some more tickets to some folks from Homeland Security. He said to me, “I hate to ask, but is there any way you can upgrade me and my wife? We’re sitting all the way up there…and I know you’re giving these to relief organizations. I’m from St. Bernard’s Project, and I helped save thousands of lives when the hurricane hit.” I smiled, and handed him the two tickets I had that were closest to the front. He thanked me, and I said, “no…thank you!” I was thrilled to be the person to give something to this man who had clearly given so much to his community.

Later that evening, as the lights went down and Faith Hill took the stage, I was amazed that my team and I had just put on a large scale concert. But as amazing as that feeling of accomplishment was, the part of the evening that stood out most was being able to give something to that man I met in the upper balcony. In all communication leading up to the concert, we kept saying how this concert was about the people of New Orleans. And as great as it was to have coordinated such a high profile event, what we had been saying all along really held true, the evening wasn’t about the theater we had decorated, the production we had coordinated, or the celebrity we had signed on – it was wholeheartedly about the people of the area.

After the concert, my boss took us out to show us the “real New Orleans,” on Frenchmen Street. Again, I finally understood what people love about this town. We entered a small, dark bar, where there was a five piece brass band playing and four or five couples dancing in a way I had only seen in old movies. The quickness of their feet, the energy they exerted into the room, you couldn’t help but stop and stare…and wish you could dance like that. I felt like I had been transported to the 1940’s. And I loved it. After finishing an Abita beer, we headed to the next bar, where there was another brass band playing, and a female singer who had the most amazing voice, again feeling like we had been transported to the 1940’s. There was even a piano in the ladies room of this bar. It was hilarious, and incredible – like nothing I had ever seen before.

I finally understand why everyone falls in love with this town. Once I veered away from the chaos of Bourbon Street, met a few locals, and entered a few dark jazz clubs, it all began to make sense. And I won’t even get into the part of the evening when we followed the “bicycle balladerist” out of what our cab driver dubbed “the safe zone” and got some po’boys in the ghetto of New Orleans. Another experience I won’t soon forget. Our night ended with the Westin room service guy delivering complimentary ice cream to my room at 4 a.m., while I was devouring po’boys and other New Orleans delicacies on my bed with my bosses. Now, where else can you have an experience like that?

A Much Needed Local Mini Vacation

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I haven’t enjoyed this summer at all. It started off as being filled with one obligatory event after another, disappointing experiences here and there, but then it kicked in to full on insanity when my normal workdays turned into twelve-hour-can’t-stop-for-one-second-to-breathe-or-eat-lunch kind of days. Then one morning I woke up to a phone call from my sister that her boyfriend had been hit by a car. He survived but was in critical condition. It was incredibly scary for the first few days until the situation became much less seemingly life threatening. Now he’s stuck at home in a neck brace for months, can’t move his left arm, and takes daily trips to various doctors. Last week I had heart palpitations and found out all the valves in my heart were leaky. Today my dad was in terrible pain and they think he has kidney stones.

No one is enjoying their summer. We only get three months of good weather and it’s at this time that everything seems to be spiraling out of control. I know, it could be worse. Everything is on the mend and will be ok. I finally got to enjoy my summer this weekend for the first time. I went out to fire island with a group of friends and left everything behind. Ironically, it was the most beautiful weekend of the summer. We spent three days sitting on the beach until sunset, barbequing, sitting in the hot tub on our deck and boozing til the sun came up. I almost didn’t sign up for this summer share, but even for three days on Long Island, not so far from home, this weekend was the most necessary vacation I’ve ever needed. Here’s the view from our deck. I can’t wait to go back in August.

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From Cheesy to Cheesier

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Although I can’t stand Atlantic City, for some reason I was excited to go New Orleans for the first time on a business trip this week. I was kind of disappointed to find that it was just one big cheesy spring break spot. I’m sure there’s local culture somewhere, but I definitely didn’t see it. Maybe it was because I stayed right in the French Quarter and didn’t know where to go to find the good jazz clubs and the famous New Orleans cuisine – although I did enjoy a delicious breakfast of chicory coffee and beignets at Cafe Du Monde. I also don’t recommend going in July, the humidity was like nothing I had ever experienced. I broke into a sweat upon exiting my hotel room, and walking around was brutal. I took three showers in one morning so I wouldn’t be a complete disaster when arriving at the venue I was checking out for our upcoming work event. I did stumble upon one really beautiful art gallery that featured local artists, mostly focused on jazz paintings and colorful fish murals. They were displayed in an outdoor garden which was really lovely to browse in.

Through the disappointing experience of seeing this new place I had always been curious about, I wondered if living in New York just made me completely immune to being surprised and impressed by anything anymore. Even the beautiful cathedral in Jackson Square, slightly removed from the cheesiness of Bourbon Street, was only okay to me – it looked like a less impressive version of the national cathedral in D.C. I didn’t even see the damn oil spill. At least that would’ve made me feel relevant and connected to something that’s going on in the world right now. Hopefully when I return next month for the actual work event, I get to explore more of this city and find out what the big deal is…

Atlantic City

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It’s hot and sticky out, and Atlantic City might be one of my least favorite places, but we’re really lucky to be here this weekend because it’s my grandma’s 90th birthday, and she loves gambling. Needing a break from the casinos, we decided to take a walk on the boardwalk.

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Pure Yoga Event benefiting Nest

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Nest was featured at a Pure Yoga event on the Upper East Side a few weeks ago. The event showcased several women entrepreneurs, mostly beauty, health and wellness professionals, and in an effort to help other women based businesses around the world, all proceeds went to Nest.

At the event, I was interviewed by Cortney Renee, a model/blogger with a passion for philanthropy. She writes about companies that work towards making a difference. I look very short next to her. Enjoy!