Email Series: Internship Program

Introduction

These two emails were part of a larger campaign to recruit interns for six open summer internship roles at Vert. The audience included college students who had opted in to the internship mailing list, and people who applied for an internship at Vert in the last two years. The goal was to inform people about the open roles and encourage applications before the deadline.

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What does HR look like in 2022?

This article was written by an employee at Vert Digital and was published on their blog on May 17, 2022.

Today is a particularly special day at Vert – it’s HR Appreciation Day! We’d like to take a moment to shine a light on our Head of People, Debbie Aiken. Behind the scenes of all of the strategic campaigns that our Vertbags support, Debbie works to help support the people who power the creativity here at Vert.

Before Debbie, Vert’s HR needs were covered by the Executive Leadership Team and Culture Club, one of Vert’s committees. It was largely a group effort between many Vertbags on how to better support the people that work here. But as Vert grew in size, it was evident that there needed to be someone who could dedicate their time to the Vertbags’ needs on a full-time scale — enter Debbie. 

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Marketing & People Ops: An Unlikely Match?

This article was published on Vert Digital’s blog on January 26, 2023.

Hi there! I am Vert’s new head of people ops, the first full-time Vertbag hired specifically to serve HR needs (woo hoo for agency growth!). My focus is in human resource management, recruitment & hiring, culture & engagement, and retention & recognition. You might be thinking, why would someone want to work at a marketing agency — in an HR role? You might be surprised to learn that the two areas have a lot in common, and as someone with a marketing background, it’s what makes me love my role even more!

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10 Songs that Defined the 2010’s

I was chatting with a friend recently who was trying to narrow down his top ten favorite songs from the past decade. I knew I could do the same, but began to wonder if I could I make a playlist that size of songs that truly defined that era – songs that were from albums or artists or trends that influenced the music scene so much between 2010-2020 that their impact could not be ignored. I took at stab at it – and this is is what I came up with!

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I turned my garage into a master bedroom!

My husband and I bought the second house we looked at on the first day of home shopping. I started crying in the driveway and we both just knew it was absolutely perfect for us, with one exception – it only had three bedrooms and an open loft.

We have a family of five so we were looking for a four bedroom house, but standing in the driveway that day we made a plan: our son could temporarily have the loft as his bedroom while we renovated the garage into the master bedroom.

“Six months”, my husband said, when I asked when he thought we’d have it completed. Three years later, we finally moved in (and our son got a bedroom with a door)! The actual work took us about eight months, since my husband and I both work full time and only had weekends to work on it. Factor in busy weekends, vacations, and the holiday season, and it really seemed to drag on forever!

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248 seconds of 2017

I thought it was a novel idea; you use an app to record one second of every day of your life. At the end of the week, or month, or year, you can watch a video of your life flashing in front of your eyes. I did this throughout 2017 and it was fun, and sometimes a burden, and I didn’t start until late March and missed an additional 81 days, but it turned out to be a unique and enjoyable way to document my life. Continue reading

In Defense of Facebook Birthday Wishes

facebook gift

A little presumptuous, isn’t it?

Last year I got irritated at Facebook and their insistence that I wish every single one of my friends a happy birthday. It’s one thing to remind me when someone has a birthday approaching, it’s another to prod me to post on their timeline or suggest I use the convenient and totally impersonal method of just pressing “1” on my phone. It seems that one of my friends has a birthday just about every day. And now I’m also being pressured to buy people a gift – with real money!

What’s the point of a virtual birthday greeting anyway, when it is sometimes the only direct interaction I have with that person all year long. An acquaintance from high school or the girl in the other department at work won’t notice if my “happy birthday!” never comes. Continue reading

The Family Book Club: Month 1

Photo Jan 31, 1 00 43 PMI want to read more books.

I read a lot of industry articles, longform stories, and Instagram captions, but I haven’t made a dent in my “Books to Read” list which now has over 100 items. I want to read the newest popular fiction making the bestsellers list, and I want to read the classics I should have read long ago. So in 2016 I made it a resolution to read at least one book per month. Naturally, I’m dragging my family along for the ride.

There are five people in my family ranging in age from 8 to 40 (just to be clear, I am not the 40-year-old). Some of us prefer YA dystopian novels and others are strictly military/true crime nonfiction readers. Creating a family book club to provide an opportunity for us to share our love of reading and inspire each other to explore books in other genres was a challenging undertaking, but I’ve made some good headway.  Continue reading

Buying Broken Toys with Fake Money

Seany centsThis is “Seany Cents.” I can use it to buy things from Sean’s room like masks, toys, magazines, or pencils. The prices are determined by the number of LEGOs placed in front of each item on the carpet. You must have a ticket to enter the Seany Shop, which Sean will give you if you ask. Remember, all Seany Cents expire in two days, so act now!

I knew Sean was up to something this morning when his older sister asked if she could change the channel on the TV and he replied “Sure, I’m busy making up my own money system.” I was busy folding laundry and she was getting into a new episode of her favorite show, but before long we were haggling prices and strategically spending our “money” in the Seany Shop. I purchased a talking Woody doll (that no longer talks), the front cover of a recent LEGO magazine, and Pantyhose, a stuffed black panther that was mine as a kid, which Sean discounted to one Seany Cent, just for me.  Continue reading

My 2015 Goals & Why I’ve Already Abandoned One

New Year’s Resolutions are for losers. Yeah, I know it’s good to reevaluate and all that, but really, it’s just an excuse to put off something you should have started doing a long time ago. I do, however, like setting goals; for the year, for the summer, for the month. It keeps me motivated and always working toward something. This year I have three goals… Okay maybe only two; I’ve already allowed myself to give up on one of them. (I fully realize that I’m posting this 6 weeks into 2015. I’m busy; give me a break.)

#1: Run a 5K, a 10K and a half marathon.
Last year I started running and I’ve come to really enjoy it. I get up at 5:00am two days per week to run on the treadmill, but much prefer my outdoor runs on the weekends. I ran my first and only race in October 2014 – a 5K all by myself because I couldn’t find anyone to join me – and barely managed to run the entire time. This year I set the bar a little higher. I’ve recruited friends and family to run with me in the Atlanta St Patrick’s day 5K, the Peachtree Road Race in July (I even joined the Atlanta Track Club for guaranteed entry), and the Disney Wine and Dine half marathon in November. Continue reading