By Gini Dietrich
I cannot tell you how happy I am to see Chicago this week.
After spending three days with a client in Oklahoma City (and going to the memorial, which was incredibly moving), Laura Petrolino and I boarded a flight to Chicago (where she would connect to Portland) on Wednesday afternoon.
I’ll cut the story short, but let’s just say—with tornadoes in Kansas and Oklahoma and severe thunderstorms in Chicago—we did not make it.
We ended up diverting to Peoria, where we spent the night in the lovely Marriott Courtyard in the city’s downtown. After arriving there at 11 p.m., I got myself back to the airport at 5:00 Thursday morning (Laura had to stay until today), where we were delayed another four hours.
As I told a friend this morning, I never want to see that town again (no offense to those who grew up there or live there now!).
But Laura found Peoria Airport t-shirts and threatened to buy me one (I hope it was a threat!) so I never forget our trip there.
She’s headed toward Portland as I write this and I keep kissing the ground in my office. I’m VERY happy it’s a holiday weekend.
And speaking of holiday weekends, I hope you’ve either already started yours or about to soon (which means your boss let you leave early today).
You can take Gin and Topics outside with you…it works on phones, tablets, and laptops so take us on the boat, to the BBQ, or to the park.
This week’s videos are courtesy of Amy Bailey, Lubna Sadik, Aimee West, Mr. D., and yours truly.
Gin and Topics: Vegans, Meat Lovers, and Sushi
5. Laughing Chewbacca Mask Lady. I’m starting with this one because it’s likely you have already seen it. But just in case or in case you want to watch it again…this woman is not only hilarious and this is not only the best thing ever, she really capitalized on her 15 minutes of fame this week. I mean, she was on The Today Show earlier this week! She said she had to hire a publicist to manage all of the media calls she was getting. And why not? She’s adorable.
4. Framing Houses in Minnesota. A construction company in Minnesota created a video to entice people to come work with them and it’s probably in the top five best company videos ever made (Wendy’s still maintains the number one spot with their training video on how to serve drinks). This is a tough act to follow if you have hiring videos in your marketing plan, but watch and learn.
3. Jimmy Fallon Makes Blake Shelton Try Sushi. And at Nobu, to be exact. He’ll be spoiled for life after eating sushi there. When Jimmy corrects how Blake says “rice wine,” I nearly spit water at my screen. Notice the chopsticks he’s using…hahahahaahah! It’s how you teach kids to use chopsticks. That’s probably my favorite part of the entire video.
2. If Meat Eaters Acted Like Vegans. “I’ll have the tofu spring rolls. But I don’t eat tofu so do you have like a tofu-flavored chicken you can put in there?” I’m vegetarian and I’d like to think I’m not this snobby, but some of it is totally me. My friend Daren Williams, who is senior executive director of communications for National Cattlemen’s Beef Association, will love this!
1. Magazine Cover Talk with Billy Crystal. Oh. My. Gosh! This is so great! I feel like this would be a great activity for dinner parties. Who wants to come over and try it??
Have a great weekend!
