The word “summer” has a sunny, carefree feel to it. Everything’s brighter, the days are longer and people are happier. The summer season is associated with vacations, lighter works days, trips to the beach and family barbeques. Not to mention, living and working in the city, I was really looking forward to enjoying summer in the city (cue the Lovin’ Spoonful).
But then reality set in and I realized the workload doesn’t change. To the contrary, while colleagues are enjoying vacations in Maine or taking advantage of Summer Fridays (a nifty CHEN PR benefit) for an extended weekend on Cape Cod, the rest of us are here to fill the gaps (that way they can return the favor when our vacations or Summer Fridays come around)! And the idea that business slows down between Memorial Day and Labor Day? Wrongo! Even as the summer season kicked into high gear just a few weeks ago, many other business-related activities kicked in as well.
Within the past couple of months CHEN PR has welcomed a few new clients into the fold. It’s always exciting to get to know the people and learn about new products and the industries each client is a part of, but it can be exhausting, just like running into old friends who have come home to visit family, attend a wedding or celebrate Independence Day. By the time you get done catching up on the latest news, sharing stories and talking into the wee hours you are exhausted!
And just like summer weekends are packed with things to do and demands of your time it’s the same for the summer work week. There has been no lack of networking opportunities here at CHEN. Warm weather and long days are conducive to socializing, and it’s not as if businesses shut down, so there are a ton of events throughout the summer months that are the perfect excuse to get out of the office and build the CHEN brand—especially as more and more tech companies take up residency in downtown Boston.
And the bustle is not just here in Boston; next month one of the biggest security trade events of the year takes place when Black Hat convenes in Las Vegas. CHEN has ten clients attending, so you can imagine that will keep us busy straight through to August 2nd (and beyond). Between pitching, scheduling, creating briefing docs and conducting daily update calls–it’s like planning for a wedding! One of my best friends is getting married at the end of the summer and as a bridesmaid it is reminiscent of all the events I’ve been helping to plan leading up to the big day.
There’s also the regular everyday kind of stuff, including breaking news, industry stories and client happenings, keeping us all here at CHEN pretty occupied. Same goes for after work too—the nice weather and longer daylight hours always make you want to stay out and do something whether it’s meeting up with friends for drinks or heading over to Fenway to catch a Red Sox game. Mix these in with all of the above and you’ve got a very busy summer.
The expected summer slowdown never seems to materialize. Instead, the work schedule gets even busier—which is better! Whoever said you can’t have fun and work at the same time has never worked in public relations!