Oh man. I just hit up two events today and I am positively overloaded with

SWAG.

My arms actually hurt from carrying it home (time to hit the gym again!!). It’s all very exciting! I shall post about it as soon as I can…

*giggle*

I love the show Mad Men. I love it because its entertaining and dramatic, and also shows what it was like working in an ad agency in the 60s.

I also love it because not a ton has changed since then!

Men are still paid more (I don’t love this part so much), people are relatively stylish, clients are still tough to work with and we still drink in our office.

So when I found out via FB that you could make a Mad Men-style avatar of yourself, I was totally stoked!

This was so much fun, and I love that my character actually looks like me! When I go out after work to a martini bar, sometimes I actually dress the same way my character does, including the red lipstick and hair! lol

Here’s what I will be using as my avatar from now on:

With a resurgence of interest in retro-styling and all things ’50s, a lot of the lounges and bars are starting to recreate the look, so below is pretty accurate, too!

It’s just so cool.

Have you Mad Men’d yourself yet?

The ramp up to summertime is in full swing, and so are the street teams and summer promo parties in my part of the world.

This is utterly fantastic on so many levels. As an ad person and a consumer I think it’s brilliant!

Not only am I entertained, I also want to buy one!

Hats off to the agency and client with the guts to pull this off!

Email/gChat: gingercorsair (at) gmail (dot) com
Twitter: @gingercorsair

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Well, since all the swag and cool ad-event stuff I post about is such a great draw to this blog, I thought I’d mention that I’m going to see Quantum of Solace, the new James Bond flick tonight.

Yes, tonight.

It doesn’t open in theatres until noon tomorrow.

Tribute Magazine is taking me and my friends to see it before it officially comes out. Cineplex also invited me for a showing tomorrow morning. But its weird asking my boss “can I go see a movie tomorrow at 9:30am?” Although she let me do that for Dark Knight and SATC.

Apparently there won’t be any freebies at this showing tonight which sucks balls. Usually for this sort of thing there’s champagne, hors d’oeuvres and free popcorn/candy/chocolate free-flowing. But I emailed the lady organizing and she said to bring money (!!!) if I wanted snacks.

Uncouth! Barbaric! ME paying for my own refreshments? *clucks tongue*

I get so spoiled sometimes. Oh well, it’s not like I NEED the extra calories, right?

I’ll let everyone know how the night goes in a later post. I’m sure the movie will be great!

Yes folks, we have some more swag!
I have some other stuff to talk about, but I’ll try and keep this post strictly on topic.
This was a relatively good week for free stuff! Perhaps I should list it by day?

Monday
A health & lifestyle magazine had a martinis and manicures party at Lux Spa in Yorkville. Oooh, swanky! I went and ate some really good appetizers, drank a gross bluish martini and had a pretty good dry manicure. Tis the season, so I got OPI’s Black Onyx colour. It looks fab! The lady did a really good job on my nails, and they stayed perfect until I knicked some colour off while cutting leeks today.

Tuesday
Another magazine came in an did a lunch presentation. It was awesomely catered. Normally food at lunch meetings sucks. This time they went all out and brought in steak and chicken, wine, beer and some fantastic salads and desserts. It was heaven. After the meeting there was a little “quiz” and we all walked away with Starbucks gift cards for our efforts.

Wednesday
A publishing company had a big shin-dig at the mammoth club CiRCA. Massive place, that. It was just the usual drink and schmooze, then there was a presentation by the creator of the CSI tv show, Anthony Zuiker. He didn’t look anything like I thought he would! Big nerdy guy, but nice! I schmoozed with him at the after party. Walked out with a modest goody bag which included a fancy cookie and a USB key.

Thursday
Today I went to the LOULOU shopping party at some place in Yorkville called RK. If it’s in Yorkville, you know it’s going to be great! Now, if you’ve never been to a LOULOU shopping party, you really should go. Everyone gets a goody bag and they’re usually pretty great!

So, what did I get?

• A copy of LOULOU magazine
• A beautiful pashmina from RK. I almost bought one just like this, and I’m glad I didn’t since I got it for free!
• Redken hair care samples & haircut discount at some fancy salon
• 2 condoms! woohoo!
• Frizz-ease sample
• Biore face wash sample
• LOULOU mini nail file
• Bubble bath that smells delish
• Jergens lotion sample
• ANOTHER razor (I have like 18 of them now!)
• A pack of 5 gum
• mmmm delicious purse pack of Dove chocolates
• iPod Touch bungee case (now I only need an iPod Touch!)
• Full size lipstick
• Full size lip liner
• Full size Victoria’s Secret lip gloss (Why did we get this? Did Vicky come up to Canada??)

I also got to drink some really nice champagne/wine type stuff (strawberry!) and eat some hors d’oeuvres. Not bad, just for showing up! I was only there for 10 minutes, tops. No way I could afford anything in that store, even with a 30% discount. But they had nice jackets.

Well, that’s all for now. I don’t anticipate anything remarkable will happen on Friday, but you never know, right?

This week did not have a good start to it. Yesterday morning I twisted my ankle getting out of the streetcar, I was unable to “get my groove on” at work to get things done, and my internet poops out for the SECOND time in 3 days, requiring a second tech to come out and fool around with the wiring again.

I’m hoping the rest of the week will be better than Monday was.

So far this week I’m going to get my eyes scanned again since I may need the laser surgery again which means a half day at work today, but I do get a free lunch thanks to a training session.

I’ve also got a rep lunch on Friday which is immediately after…

My pre-screening of Sex and the City at 9:30am on Friday!!!!

Ahahah! Sorry guys, I just had to rub it in for all those North American SATC fans out there! Our Cineplex reps have reserved a theatre for us to watch the movie before anyone else in Canada. Heheh it’s caused quite an uproar in the office! Not all the bosses are letting their staff go, but my team is made up of chicks, so we’re all going

Anyway, I just thought I’d share.

I probably won’t be able to post much over the next week… like I said, stupid Communications Company has pooped out at my house so I don’t have the internet. Booo.

The topic of raises at work has been circulating around the Blogosphere a lot recently, and it got me thinking.

I’m due for a “salary review” in July, and I have no idea what to do about it. At my last job I really had no idea what I was doing and I hated the job and therefore did not perform to optimum level, so I sort of took whatever they gave me at my one-year mark.

This time around I’ve been doing really well at my job, and I definitely want more money. But I just don’t know how to go about it. I hope that if I lay out all my information in here, you guys can offer me some advice.

Background:

• I have been working at this new agency since November 2007 (8 months as of July)
• I come with 2 years of previous industry experience, but not specific to my role right now
• I’m holding a title that is sort of entry-level except for the fact that I am more valuable and senior due to my experience
• I had an excellent 3 month review, in which 2 challenges were issued for me to complete before July
• I have completed the one challenge, presenting on blogs, and had rave reviews
• The ad industry is hard to judge in terms of salaries. Other assistants at the office are (I’m guessing) making less than or just at 30k. So am I already being “overpaid”?
• All the other newbies got a raise at their 3-month reviews, but they also started at a lower pay than me
• Both of my bosses are new on this account and to the agency, so they don’t know much about me or my work, other than what’s in my file

Questions:

• Am I due a salary increase since all the other newbies got one at 3 months? Have I been here long enough?
• Is it likely I would still get another raise at my 1-year mark if I get this one?
• Do you think my excellent reviews so far will help me get more $$?
• How much more should I ask for? Percentage? Number?
• What would I likely get?
• Aside from compiling a list of all the amazing things I’ve done, how else should I approach asking for a raise?
• Should I take the initiative and set up a meeting to discuss this if my boss doesn’t set one up in July? I don’t want to seem too eager

Any other tips or suggestions?

I’m sure there’s a ton of advice on this topic out on the web, and I will get around to reading it all. I would just like to know from real people what their thoughts are on this situation. What’s an average raise % for most people? How did you deal with asking for your raise?

I hope I get lots of replies to this, I need all the help I can get!

Thanks!