Text Messages

It’s sometimes tricky to explain my work as a Public Relations professional. When people learn I’m an intern, it gets even more complicated and their first question is usually ‘Well, are you looking for a job?’.

My answer to that is ‘being an intern at Text 100 is a real job’.

Being an intern here at Text 100, not only do I feel that I am a valued member of this team, but I am reminded by the respect and guidance that I get from my colleagues every day. I am on three accounts where I’m responsible for owning projects and meeting deadlines, same as everyone else in the office. Being an intern doesn’t mean that I don’t have a job, or that I’m ‘in between’ it means I’m learning, it means I’m getting my foot in the door and gaining hands on experience that’s key for my professional growth.

But most of all, it means the Text 100 team has chosen me to be a part of their culture and gives me the opportunity to ask questions, take on projects and hone my craft as a PR practitioner . Truth be told - I have not once spent the day making copies or getting coffee.

Anyone who is currently an intern, or looking into being an intern even after having full time permanent positions, I say do it! It’s an amazing experience where you can absorb loads of information and really contribute to a place you may someday call your own.

-Lisa

If you’re observant, and I’m sure that you are, you’ve noticed some new faces in the Text 100 Boston photos. Mine was likely one of them (I joined Text in January).

Before I joined the Text team, one of the questions that came up in my interview (and is one that I would imagine comes up behind the closed doors of all interviews with potential Texties) was: “Text has an open office environment, is that okay with you?”

While I know this might not be for everyone, I have to admit, being in an office where there are no cubicles separating me from my colleagues has been a delight—though not having a large bulletin board to decorate my desk took some getting used to.

(Text 100’s Boston office layout)

There are so many benefits to this kind of work environment. As an Account Coordinator, I have the luxury of hearing my more senior and experienced colleagues discuss strategy and the reasoning behind particular actions. It’s the “learning by osmosis” approach…kind of like sleeping with your calculus book under your pillow (so I’ve heard).

Then there’s the “water cooler” conversation. This consists of brief bursts of chatter about the latest episode of the Bachelor or other TV show and the most recent viral video on YouTube.

It also doesn’t hurt that I can simply look up from my computer and ask if anyone knows of a social media tool to track an article or how to fix my phone and/or computer when I’ve pressed the wrong button.

This transparency and open dialogue spills over into many other areas of the Text 100 dynamic. I can easily reach out to other account teams in other offices for advice or resource. People here truly work together—- on more than one occasion Imight have definitely have heard the phrase, “one team, one dream” casually interjected into team meetings and phone calls.

Maybe it’s just me, but I think the open environment is at the root of the constant support and collaboration that I’ve experienced since joining Text. And, if I really need to indulge into decorating a bulletin board, I don’t think any of my fellow Texties would try to stop me.

-Lucy 

So as some of you know, I transferred to Text 100 Boston from Text 100 Madrid late last year, and so far it’s been a great experience. No matter where you sit in the Text 100 network, I’ve learned that the culture and collaborative spirit stays the same.

Not that long ago, collaborating with offices around the world would’ve been very challenging, but these days, thanks to the technology that surrounds us, we can work as if we were all in the same office space. While in Madrid, I worked on a daily basis with colleagues from UK, Germany, France and Italy. Every week, we all came together with our brilliant ideas and array of diverse accents. Of course, the loudest of all were my dear Italian friends, closely followed by us, the Spaniards. 

Left to right: Me (former Madrid Textie, now Boston textie), Valentina (from Text Italy), Malika (from Text France), Ben (from Text Germany) and Elena (from Text Madrid).

Working at a global company also raises your awareness to all the various national holidays that other offices celebrate around the world. Whenever there’s a holiday office closure, that office sends a global email explaining the holiday along with a few choice pictures. Now that I’m working from the US, I must admit I’m getting a little jealous of missing all the holidays I used to enjoy in Spain. Last week we received an email from the Italian office with a picture of a barbecue; Amsterdam celebrated Queen’s Day and sent a picture of people drinking and celebrating in their boats; and France sent a lovely picture of white flowers. I need to figure out when we get to send such nice holiday pictures from Boston!

(Text 100 Madrid, my old home)

We’re also exposed to so many other languages. It’s not uncommon to receive emails from colleagues in all sorts of dialects. Earlier this week my colleague Alison even found herself having to translate a news article in Arabic for a client.

Thanks to all colleagues around the world for being so amazing to work with everyday. If you ever need to learn Spanish, just let me know!

- Virginia Romero

(Text 100 Boston, my new home)

For well over the past year, we’ve had the pleasure of being serenaded (and I use the term loosely) on a daily basis by the music blaring from the Cosi shop across the street.  Despite snow, rain or hurricane (seriously), the operatic ballads and smooth jazz melodies floating out of Cosi’s speakers never fails to distract us from nearly everything we do.

We tried reasoning with them - we’ve used all our savvy social media PR skills to Tweet at them, and even went in to the shop on a couple of occasions.  This last attempt at shutting the DJ down was FINALLY successful and Cosi even offered us free lunch for our troubles!

The food came today and while it doesn’t completely wash away the annoyance we’ve felt these past months, we can definitely say one big THANK YOU to Cosi…for feeding us and for saving our ears, at last.

Plus, who DOESN’T enjoy a good Chicken TBM? Yum.

-Kate

Dear Bravo hiring executive, 

You should consider casting for the Real Housewives of Boston. This town may not have as many platinum blondes as Beverly Hills or be as catty as New York (no offense to the NY texties!), but I think we have a lot to offer:

1. ME! I’d be a fabulous housewife. Not only can I bring the table-flipping drama, I’m also one of the few people in the Text Boston office who wasn’t on the verge of losing it during the 3-part Atlanta reunion special (speaking of which, don’t even get me started on Kim’s weird plastic hair). Which means I have a higher tolerance for women screeching! C’mon, that logic is foolproof.

2. Nerds Bright young minds. In a series where getting alimony or starting a handbag line are the most viable sources of income, Boston could bump the average RH IQ up a notch or two. Maybe adding a pseudo-literate housewife to the bunch isn’t such a bad idea? At the very least, she’d probably use her awesome vocabulary to come up with better insults than “prostitution ho-ah” and “slut pig.” (Sooooo I was a lit major. Just saying.)

3. You’ve got your lead-in fully baked. After the fantastic voiceovers – featuring such gems as “I HAVE A TASTE FOR LUXURY…AND LUXURY HAS A TASTE FOR ME!!” and “DON’T CALL ME PRINCESS. CALL ME THE BOSS!!!” – each series opens with a shot of the cast holding local produce. Apples for NY, oranges for the OC, firearms for New Jersey (or something). Anyway, the Boston Housewives could hold baked beans! What more delicious way to acknowledge the nickname ‘Beantown’? Steaming fistfuls of chowder would also work well.

Oh and don’t worry, my departure won’t come as a shock to my colleagues – they know all about my reality TV aspirations. Check out the birthday card they gave me (yours truly is in the middle): 

I am available to start filming ASAP. Please contact me at your earliest convenience; I look forward to hearing from you. 

Sincerely, 

Rachel Round, future real housewife

Within minutes that ticket sales for this year’s Bacon and Beer Festival went live online, they were sold out.  I was fortunate enough to have a very dedicated food partner-in-crime (Ian) who diligently bought the tickets for both of us.  As soon as Ian scored the coveted tickets, we were counting down the days until we could revel in a world exclusively dedicated to two of our favorite things: bacon and beer.

First of all, we waited in this line, which was incredibly annoying:

But once we were inside the House of Blues down by Fenway Park (after a substantial 30 minute wait that felt like FOREVER), it was magic.  We were surrounded by Boston restaurants serving up dishes that somehow involved bacon, as well as breweries offering up delicious beer.  Now, to partake in this event, you have to be really committed.  Check out this crowd we had to fight through:

Worth it.

Some of the food was downright nasty (the bacon flan and the bacon float with ice cream jimmies, specifically), but most were absolutely incredible. Here are some pictures (though I ate many of the tasty things before I could take pictures of them), and will let them speak for themselves:

Bacon cookie, bacon ice cream, and bacon and greens on a flatbread.  YUM.  

Bacon chocolate milkshake. Life-changing.

Braised bacon with fava bean puree (Ian’s event-appropriate pork tee shirt in the background)

Chocolate bacon bark.  Definitely had seconds (and thirds) of this one.

And that, in a nutshell, is Bacon and Beer Fest, one of the many things that makes Boston so great.  It was amazing, and I can’t wait to go next year.  Until then, I will be taking my daily dose of Lipitor.

-Ilena

After a really long week of doing great client work, nothing hits the spot like a Text on the Beach. Thanks to our awesome Fun Committee for coming up with the perfect pick-me-up for a Friday afternoon.

Cheers friends!

-Michele

How cool it is to be watching Real Madrid’s Champions League semifinals game while at work???? Well, it doesn’t get any better than this. Text 100 is the coolest place to work for, no kidding. Actually, Text 100 has been named the Best Midsize Agency to Work For by the Holmes Report, two years in a row!!!! You can check out the announcement from earlier this week here.

Ok, coming back to football (soccer) or better yet, fútbol….so for those in my office who don’t understand why I was jumping off my chair yesterday (see Alison’s below post), this is a huge deal for people in Europe. I mean, the UEFA Champions League, the best European teams fighting against each other to get the amazing trophy, is la crème de la crème. We…. I mean Real Madrid… (yes I contributed to these wins as well J) hold the record for the most victories, winning the competition 9 times since its inception. Real Madrid won the inaugural competition. We’ve also won the competition the most times in a row - five times from 1956 to 1960… So, when we lost against Bayern Munich at our stadium, Santiago Bernabéu yesterday, I was really upset. But, as one of my colleagues said, life goes on…at least we’re really close to winning the national league, so there’s SOME consolation….

Thanks my dear colleagues for letting me watch the game, for putting up with me yelling and running around the office like a maniac….for teaching me so many “American” things… I’m so happy to be at Text 100 Boston!!

-Virginia

Everyone who knows me, knows that I love to eat.  A lot.  And while all of my New York City friends will fight me on the fact that they *think* NYC cuisine trumps Boston, I beg to differ.  As a Long Island, New York, transplant, I am quite familiar with NYC food.  And while it is delicious, and there are significantly more restaurants per square foot in NYC, Boston can absolutely hold its own.

Now that my NYC mini-rant is over, I’d like to actually dig into the purpose of my post today: burgers.  It’s a movement we’ve probably all noticed in the past few years – more and more restaurants are presenting us with delicious gourmet burger options, and plenty of them are in the general Text 100 Boston office area (score!) 

My adventure into fancyburgerland started with Radius, a high-end restaurant close to the Text office, located at 8 High Street.  It changed my life and opened my eyes to the world of truly amazing burgers (and was totally worth the 20something dollars it cost).  Plus, the ambiance is cool and they have pretty sweet cocktails, including an amazing drink called the Ginger Face (props on the name alone).

My next downtown venture was at a prohibition-era-style restaurant and bar called Stoddard’s, over at 48 Temple Place.  I hesitate even writing about this place because the dining service is so horrendous (I am still seething from a horrible experience I had months ago), but they do serve up a very tasty burger, as well as delicious fondue (mmmm melty cheese), and superb cocktails.  For that reason, I recommend sitting at the bar – the bartenders are great, make an amazing drink, and have tremendous knowledge about the many delicious beers they have there. 

Last, but most certainly not least, my newest obsession: jm Curley, also on Temple Place (21 Temple Place, to be precise).  I’m sure every one of my coworkers reading this post just rolled their eyes and thought to themselves “of course this is in Ilena’s blog post, since this is the only place she has been talking about for the past month and a half.”  This may be true, but, this place is phenomenal.  jm Curley offers daily specials, including various types of gourmet popcorn, dinner platters, appetizers, homemade cookies, gourmet burgers and more, as well as regular menu items (which includes my current favorite burger in Boston).  Also, the bartenders are some of the coolest people ever, service is incredible, and the selection of beer is amazing.  Cocktails are solid, too.

So, yes, my burger obsession will continue, and my coworkers and friends will have to hear me discuss it on a near-daily basis.  I am thrilled to work in the perfect neighborhood to, quite literally, feed the addiction.

The jm Curley burger, as seen on bostonburgerblog.com

-Ilena