Perks - Ain't They Grand?

On occasion, I get to enjoy a perk or two from working off my booty to ensure our sundry sponsors and partners are happy. For example, our good friends at American Airlines invited us this year to Bette Midler's INSANE Halloween benefit for her non-profit NY Restoration Project, which, by the way is a super cool organization; check it out: http://www.nyrp.org/. She actually just completed a park with 50 Cent. I dunno, that just makes me laugh: Bette and "Fitty". Oh, and mark. (division of Avon) sent me a FABULOUS bag overflowing with all sorts of cosmetics and costume jewelry. That was pretty awesome. Regardless, tonight, we have another fun event that's a perk of partnership: NBC & Telemundo invited Calixto and me to their annual treelighting ceremony. Okay, I'll admit - meeting the Jonas Brothers isn't high on my list, but it's a really fun event that's pretty much as festive as it gets. When they count down to the actual lighting, everyone inside goes out to watch from the skating rink (yes, they obviously cover the ice). It's just really beautiful, really cheery (dare I say jolly??) and a quintessential New York moment. Plus, last year I ran into NBC sportscaster Bruce Beck, whom I know from back in the day when I worked for the Ultimate Fighting Championship (loooooong time ago) - super funny reminiscing with him. When we were there, it was getting banned across the country, we were forced to move the pay-per-view live event from Denver to Casper, Wyoming and John McCain made it the target of his senatorial re-election platform: family values. LOL. Now? Please! It's on basic cable (Spike) and makes money hand-over-fist. Who woulda' thunk?? That aside, it's lovely when our partners remember us during these times, especially since we work so hard to make them happy during the event. Plus, it's a good opportunity to chat casually with our folks over there and see what's happening for next year. I just pray we survive the budget cuts that are happening across the board. In the meantime, heck yeah, I'll have a drink on NBC. Cheers!
~ Liz
(P.L.H.H.)