Not even a near-blizzard could keep Edsters from attending this year’s first happy hour last Tuesday at Professor Thom’s in the East Village. The “Win a Chat with an EIC” giveaway proved to be a big incentive: About 60 Edsters from magazines ranging from The New Yorker to Parenting to Seventeen turned out for the event and the raffling off of two highly-coveted meetings: One with Susan Reed, editor-in-chief of O and the other with Michael Freidson, editor-in-chief of Time Out New York. The second floor bar at Thom’s was perfect for the large group of networkers—the loungey, library feel kept the atmosphere casual and the low-playing music made it easy for Edsters to converse—so much so that the drink special was extended for an extra hour!
Whether people came out for the cheap drinks or the win-a-chat, one thing was clear across all conversations: People are willing to try just about anything to land a job in this scary economy—and getting involved in networking events is a great place to start. Though there were a few brave souls who circulated the group introducing themselves to strangers, others used the event as an opportunity to get to know their co-workers better. Jenna Joyce, a freelancer at The Knot, was happy to bond with her colleagues a bit. “It was nice to connect with some people at my office who I don’t usually get to talk to and meet people that they know in publishing.”
People also attended the happy hour to get more information about what’s really going on in the magazine world. And who better to get information from than the industry’s players themselves? Joyce thought she got the inside scoop at the happy hour: “I wanted to find out if any companies have lifted their hiring freezes,” Joyce says.
Two lucky job-hunters won’t have to try too hard to get an insider’s perspective on the industry. Jessica Derschowitz, an editorial intern at Niche Media, and Brittany Gevanter, a recent graduate of Quinnipiac University’s Journalism Graduate program, were the winners of the “Win a Chat with an EIC” raffle.
Gevanter won a meeting with O’s EIC Susan Reed and already considers this opportunity a dream come true. “I have always seen myself becoming an Editor-in-Chief of a magazine someday,” she says. “And I am just so happy I get to meet someone who can tell me step by step how to make this dream a reality.” Though they haven’t set up their meeting yet, Gevanter is already preparing herself. “I have so many questions for her; I’m just hoping there’s enough time in our meeting to ask all of them!”
Derschowitz isn’t planning on bringing a list of questions to her meeting with Michael Freidson of Time Out New York, but she is hoping that he will have lots of tips for her. “If he has any advice on how I can make the jump from intern to full-time in this awful economy, I’d love to hear it!” she says.
Check out photos from last Tuesday’s event here (http://www.ed2010.com/gallery/february-3rd-happy-hour), and stay tuned for info on our next happy hour!
