I haven’t been out of the house in a while (working from home is more isolating that I thought!) so I was happy to go just about anywhere that wasn’t my home office. Plus, I like parties!

…or do I?

Turns out this was an ad party for Microsoft Advertising. *sad trombone*  I used to go to these things all the time, and have written about them over the years on this blog. The swag, the music, the special treatment, the open bars… they can be pretty swanky!

But I approached this one with trepidation. Both me and my friend have moved on from this industry and really don’t like most of the people and attitudes that are present at these things. But we couldn’t back out so we went and tried to make the best of it.

It was pretty much like every other party. They had a private concert for us (Naughty By Nature) and lots of drinks and snacks. That’s not the important part of this story though.

I felt strange. This was an environment that I’d spent lots of time in throughout my career. The awkward and uncomfortable feelings were familiar, but took on a different hue this night. I didn’t really belong anymore. And I liked that feeling.

I ran into loads of people that I knew over the span of my media career. Some were polite and friendly, some were downright cold. And some just didn’t acknowledge me at all. You know, I never actually did anything to deserve that kind of treatment. It just goes to show you how shallow the industry is. It’s one of the main reasons I decided to finally leave it after I lost my job.

Despite the cool reception, I managed well. Being at these things always made me feel unsettled, small and uncertain of myself. I was never… enough. I vowed going into this one that I’d try and be my confident, new self. I’ve been so much happier since I left media, I didn’t want this situation to drag me down!

So I did. I said hello to the people I wanted to say hello to; I told everyone how happy I was (and more importantly let them see how happy I was) and did my best to mingle and have a good time. I was still the standard shy & awkward Lisa/Ginger, but not as crippling as in the past.

I met some nice people (a rarity!) and a dude who actually had the cojones to stand up to me  and point out my one-upping (Hi Calvin!) which was refreshing.

I also finally got some closure for myself. Up to this point I would have occasional dreams about my last job, and look fondly back at my time there through my rose-tinted glasses. After going to this party, I am 100% done with the ad world. I still love doing marketing and advertising, but I don’t ever want to go back to the grindhouse known as the ad industry. It just isn’t me anymore, and I’m tired of selling my soul for diapers, shampoo and fancy stores.

I feel so free! I can finally let go of the past 5 years and not feel bad about it. I’ve learned a lot about the world and about myself through this journey and I’m thankful for all my lessons, but honestly. Good riddance!

Ad industry, I’m breaking up with you. I’ve found someone else… myself. And I’m not sorry.

LYSOL® Healthy Touch® No-Touch™ Hand Soap System

So what’s my beef with something that is supposed to help you maintain clean and healthy hands?

It’s simple: Redundancy.

You just don’t NEED this product.

The Lysol marketing pitch is that this product:

• Automatically senses your hands
• Dispenses the perfect amount of soap
• Provides antibacterial protection!!!!eleventyonee111!!

So that “you and your family will never have to touch a germy soap pump again.”

Pshaw. This is ridiculous.

First of all, the damn system takes FOUR AA batteries. They’re hard to install (yes, I actually set this stupid thing up and used it) and the sensor is a piece of crap. It’s really not as user-friendly as they claim. Multiple times I tried to get it to work, and when it finally did, it really wasn’t as cool as I thought it would be.

Second, it dispenses WAY TOO MUCH SOAP into your hands! So much was wasted down the drain, I felt guilty for trying to be clean! We’re talking gobs here, people. And there was no way to adjust how much was dispensed. We went through the soap refill container lickety-split, when normally a container of that size would last much longer. This wastage is not only bad for your wallet, but doubly-bad for the environment. The packaging was also way more than was necessary.

Third, it’s antibacterial soap. Unless you work in a hospital or doctor’s office there is NO NEED for antibacterial products. Proper hand washing with soap and warm water completes the job just as well without the harmful effects of triclosan and other antibacterial chemicals on your body and the environment. Read about the problems with antibacterial products/additives here.

Finally, it doesn’t matter if the damn soap dispenser is dirty! You’re going to be washing your hands anyway! Holy fear-mongering, Batman!

Overall I am disgusted by this money-grab of a product. They’re washing it with feel-good messages about protecting your family’s health, when it is anything but.

Expensive, hard to set up, redundant, requires batteries, extra soap refills, bad for the body and environment and overly wasteful in design, function and packaging!

This is one fancy gadget we ought to avoid.

/end rant

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 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?

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!

Readers/Bloggers

Dear Readers & Bloggers, I love hearing from you! Please give me a shout for:

• Questions & comments about me or my blog
• Interest in guest posting on Ginger Won’t Snap, or if you’d like me to contribute to your blog
• Interest in exchanging links and getting a little Link Love!

Advertisers

I do accept certain sponsorship, promotional and advertising opportunities on my blog. If you’re interested in working with me or having your product reviewed, please email me to discuss.

I currently work with Environics PR, RocketXL and BzzAgent in Canada doing word-of-mouth promotions, and with Chick Advisor as a Product Review Club member.

Please note that I do in fact work in the marketing world, so consider this before contacting me. On one hand it’s great because I know how to promote you the way that you want (and the lifestyle involved is one of the main attractions for my readers), but on the other there may be a conflict of interest depending on the company seeking my services as an influencer. Please contact me with any questions.

Be sure to read my Disclaimer and Disclosure documents as well.

Talk to you soon!

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!

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?