You know you are getting old when ...

(Julie Rusciolelli and Don Novello (Father Guido Sarducci at the Venetian Ball gala)

Last Friday night I had the pleasure of attending the Venetian Ball, Toronto’s grandest event in support of Villa Charities and the wonderful work they do in the Italian community. This is also a client and I also sit on a yearlong organizing committee in order to mount this extravaganza.

And even in a recession we managed to raise more than $1 million dollars for the charity and we had well over 1,500 guests (that’s up from 800 a year ago).

When identifying for talent for the evening, it’s a long and arduous process of fit, availability and of course .... price!

This year we blew it out of the park with two incredible Italian-American talents who treated us to humour and song with Father Guido Sarducci (played by Don Novello) taking the stage first and then singing sensation, Frankie Valli. Both created a considerable buzz amongst the guests, with Frankie Valli performing a sizzling set for one hour that got people up dancing instead of scarfing down truffles at the sweet tables! (I went for the cheese station myself!)

But you know you’re getting old when you enthusiastically tell your “younger” employees that Father Guido Sarducci is coming up for this! And the collective response is “Father who?” So then you go into the whole bit on SNL -- the Mother Theresa skit, the “bill from the Last Brunch” ... still no reaction. My stock answer to those blank stares is .. “go YouTube him.” Gotta love YouTube. Sarducci’s best stand up is the Five Minute University bit. A classic.

Thank god Jersey Boys was playing in Toronto, otherwise I would have been going into the third chorus of Sherry Baby at the office to get some reaction to Frankie Valli.

Lord, bring me some grey hairs to the firm .....

Those two little words

The greatest lesson I learned in the PR business was about 15 years ago.

I busted my hump for a client, stayed up nights fretting over a launch event, did the “pride swallowing siege” thing with media, and became a living nightmare around friends and family as I prepped for this project.

Naturally (ahem), the launch was beyond brilliant: coverage galore, flawlessly executed, on time, on budget .. yadda, yadda, yadda ...

I was expecting just one thing from the client: a thank you, some recognition, a verbal token of appreciation.

I got bupkis.

The next day I hightailed it into my boss’ office where I unleashed a 10-minute soliloquy of “Don’t they know how hard I’ve worked on this?” and “Didn’t the client see the effort?” and, of course, “Why was I not thanked for my efforts?” and on and on I ranted.

She looked at me and didn’t bat an eye and said, “The client pays us and keeps us on retainer month after month. That’s how they thank you for the work you do.”

Blimey! I always hated it when she was right.

The client didn’t need to thank me. As I quickly learned, they did so by their commitment to the agency and entrusting us with their brand. And, in turn, it was my job to continuously deliver results.

That was 15 years ago, and to this very day I never expect to be thanked for the work we do. Don’t get me wrong, I still love to hear those two little words of praise. When it does come our way, it’s a great a bonus of recognition and makes us all feel warm and fuzzy inside. But today I remind my staff not to get all hot and bothered if a client doesn’t express thanks after every initiative. When it happens, relish it, bask in it, but move on to the next thing ... ‘cuz our clients have moved on, too.

The late great Bette Davis once said that if studio heads would have thanked her just once for a performance, she would have worked harder and may have even took less money – that’s how much she craved that verbal recognition.

I agree ... well, maybe not on the less money part.

TIFF: Stargazing at La Bruschetta

I love when TIFF (Toronto International Film Festival) rolls around. We work a few blocks away from all the action and like every year, I pop into Yorkville hoping to catch a glimpse of the rich and famous ... but I never do!

Well, for you stargazers, you don't have to go to snooty Yorkville to get a glimpse of your favourite star. Nope, just head on over to my friend’s restaurant in Little Italy on St. Clair Avenue West called La Bruschetta. This incredible family-owned Italian eatery (which celebrates 30 years in the business next month) not only serves up the best pasta and veal dishes on the planet – but serves them to celebrities each year during TIFF.

Last night the Piantoni family were honoured to have hosted Warner Brothers and movie star hunkie Matt Damon at their restaurant last night.

In the picture are owners, Benny, Anna and Franca.

Everyone had a marvellous time and the food was spectacular!

Too bad my friend Silvia forgot my invite in the mail – well, at least I got this photo!

Back to work baby mama

Congratulations! You’ve had a baby. Oh, the joys of parenthood are just too many to list. You’ve had a year off, watched junior grow, watched your baby take that first gulp of pablum, changed hundreds of diapers, lay awake nights waiting for the next wail for feeding time, and marvelled at her little toes and hands are wondered how you ever created such a breathtaking human being.

Reality sets in and it’s time to go back to work. Time to dip back into stockings, high heels and plastering on the war paint (I’m obviously speaking to women here, but if you’re a guy and this sounds like you, too, call me – we need to talk).

Integrating back into the work environment after cocooning with baby and family can be rough if you’ve been completely cut off from the mother-ship. You see, while you’ve been off at Gymboree classes, your office hasn’t stopped winning business and supporting clients. And this whole Twitter thing you’ve been hearing about? It’s very real and pervasive and you should have been tweeting on MAT leave!

So now you’re back and ready to take your rightful place back in the office as you should. But you’re not the same you! You’re a mom now and proud of it. You want to tell your co-workers, managers, clients, media, suppliers, the janitor, and anyone who comes within ear shot just how wonderful baby is and motherhood.

Well, I feel for you and have been exactly in that position. I love babies, baby stories, stories about how you had to leave a party due to baby’s mudslide incident on the back of the sleeper. I love baby pictures, mom stories, baby talk, cool new baby toys ... you name it, I can spend countless hours talking to you.

But guess what? Not everyone wants to hear about bambino. So, let me share with you my Top Five Baby pointers for being a Baby Mama at the office:

1. Don’t build a shrine to your baby with a collage of photos on your desk. A couple of choice photos makes for a nice display. Show the baby-in-the-bath pix only to your best friends.

2. When someone asks you how your weekend was, remember, a one-syllable answer is what is expected (fine, good, great ..etc.) Start in with a telethon of “let me tell you what junior is up to” and you may lose everyone at the first hello.

3. Don’t complain to your boss that you are very tired ‘cuz junior was teething all night so you didn’t manage to get any sleep. This is a big no-no. Never blame the kid for anything. You are Super Mom and that’s why there is Red Bull, eye concealer and, hopefully, a helpful husband or night nanny in the evenings.

4. Wash out your clothes with the dried spit-up milk on the shoulder before getting another wear out of it. The aroma of rancid milk wafting in the boardroom is a turn off. Your nose may be used to it, but others don’t want that whiff in the air.

5. And never, ever, ever discuss lactation issues, birthing horrors, stretch marks or stitches around men. Women who have been there can sympathize and often relish in a new mom's misery.

Hope this helps! Welcome back mom.

My blog is bloglining

There is flatlining when the heart monitor displays you are “sleeping with the fishes.” And then there is bloglining, when your blog goes flat from a lack of content being published.

Okay, I made up that word. But truthfully, a blog should have a constant pulse (a little beep) to keep readers aware that you’re not dead, that you’re serious about blogging and that you have an opinion to share.

When you've bloglined like me from a lack postings, you get calls from friends and family: “Why aren’t you blogging? Have you been sick or something?”

I really hate the “I’m too busy to blog” excuse. It shows a lack of commitment. No matter how good of a writer you are or how strong your desire is to blog, you must carve out time to do it. I admit that for the past few months I’ve been disenchanted a little bit about the whole blog thing. I mean, blogging is the first tool you think about in social media, but what’s so social about it? Most of the time you’re alone in front of a glowing screen pounding out a message for someone else to read. That’s being social? There's no one in sight! I also think the summer (or lack thereof in rainy Toronto) seemed to have put the entire city in a bad mood ... and I felt that I would probably rant too much on my blog as a way to cope with a lack of vitamin D.

But enough whining already, Rusciolelli. It’s time to go back to basics and re-energize my blog with fresh new, exciting content.

After all, I’m a broad with an attitude and 20-plus years in the biz to back me up. Lord knows I have something to say.

My blog hasn't flatlined... Looks like I just found the defibrillator!

Many voices at Maverick

For those who enjoy reading my blog, please make sure you also RSS the entire Maverick blog site by clicking here. I'll be posting blogs on this site as well ... You'll get a better sense of our agency, people and our POV -- a better experience for sure than just reading my discombobulated ramblings.

We’ve encouraged the entire Maverick staff to blog .. sounds crazy and dangerous doesn’t it? A totally green-field opportunity for our staff to express their thoughts and opinions and better still, no censorship on management’s part.

I’ve set only one ground rule: Don’t write anything stupid.

I should probably follow that rule once in awhile.

Happy reading …

Our facelift is complete

Well, we could have gone for a shot of Botox up in the forehead and few band-aid solutions, but our web site needed a massive face-lift to get it where we wanted.

I’m so thrilled to announce that we went live with our new site this week! Check out the much new and improved Maverick web site. Hope you like it -- and would welcome your feedback. There’s a few more tweaks coming in the weeks ahead, but we’re really happy with this puppy. The site will be a lot more active and relevant than our old standard brochure-ware site.

I want to thank the wonderful folks at Igloo Software, a terrific Canadian software company that re-architected our site and gave us the tools and know-how to really develop a site worthy of being called “kick-ass.”

I also want to give a huge thanks to Dan Riley at Openminds (a Venture Communications company) for truly inspired creative. Dan, you not only have an open mind .... but you can read my mind most of the time! Hugs to you!

And of course, our very own SVP Stephen Rouse, who quarter-backed this non-billable, thankless initiative and who worked tirelessly to ensure this site finally got airlifted.

Hats off to everyone involved!