Why You Should “Toe the Line” – And Other Lessons Learned at the NYWICI Annual Meeting
We met a lot of new faces at the 2009 NYWICI Annual Meeting, which was held at the Paley Center for Media. And while the meeting is generally held to address the organization’s financial state—which is doing quite well thanks to the Matrix Awards!—we also saw the passing of the torch to the new incoming president Denise Warren. Other people who were honored included the following:
1. 2008-09 President Nancy Rabstejnek Nichols, who welcomed the attendees.
Nancy Rabstejnek Nichols welcomed members to the NYWICI Annual Meeting
2. Joan Cear, the new president of the NYWICI Foundation, which awards thousands of dollars in scholarships annually.
3. Amy Conaboy, winner of the Young Communicator Award. She is also NYWICI’s own Gossip Girl, as the source behind NYWICI’s Twitter (the secret’s out!).
4. Jeanne Byington, who won the Liz Hoover Award for her involvement in the organization. She volunteered on many committees, including the scholarship committee.
5. Catherine Carlozzi, a freelance business writer, won the Distinguished Service Award. “Membership is its own reward,” she said during her acceptance speech, quoting one of her clients, American Express. “But it is directly proportional to the sweat equity you put into it.”
To finish off the meeting, Nancy Ravstejnek Nichols took the stage to hand the floor over to Lauren Zalaznick, president of NBC Universal’s Women and Lifestyle Networks (like Bravo, Oxygen, etc.), and Pat Mitchell, President and CEO of the Paley Center for Media, who engaged in a brief question and answer session.
NYWICI members filled the Paley Center for Media auditorium
What did we learn from these leading women in communications? Well, if you never thought you should “toe the line” before, Zalaznick thinks you should. For your career, that means making sure you’re in between total immersion and standing at a distance, she told the crowd. Her advice fit nicely into the theme of NYWICI in general – the idea that your career and your life should balance each other out, never leaning too much in one direction. Instead, always “toeing the line.”
Zalaznick drew on her own background in much of her advice, which focused on having the courage to believe in and challenge yourself. After majoring in semiotics at Brown, she did production work on big-budget movies before switching to making Indies. She eventually moved on to television, where she championed for the highly successful “Pop up Videos” at her first television job at VH1. Later, at Bravo, she trusted her intuition about Project Runway, which wasn’t working at first but eventually became a major hit for the network.
After discussing successes and mistakes within her company, Zalaznick’s final remarks regarded a more personal approach to success. “I don’t run marathons or grow heirloom tomatoes, but I still can balance my work life with my home life.” Looks like she really knows how to “toe the line.” Now if only we all could.
~Emily Freisher, Temple University c/o 2010
