Monday, April 29, 2013

WHCD: A Festival of the Media, By the Media

White House Correspondents Dinner 2013

The 2013 White House Correspondents Dinner (WHCD) was held on April 27th at the Washington Hilton. I was invited to a pre-dinner party by Thomson Reuters and got a chance to experience the spirit of the White House Correspondents Dinner. The venue is very convenient, a few blocks from the Dupont Circle Metro (I expect not many attendees would use the Metro) and about 2 miles from the White House

The lobby of the Washington Hilton has a section cordoned off for photographers and when any celebrity enters you can see the flash bulbs go off and the celebrities stop and pose for the photos. Nothing of this kind happened as I walked in ;). The main event is a "back tie" affair. The receptions (Yes- There are many of them) also specify black tie yet it didn't seem to matter as long as you dressed well.The 2013 White House Correspondents Dinner is a celebration of the media and a chance to mingle with the subject of their reports in a causal atmosphere. The Thomson Reuters party had a Photo Wall where they showcased the best pictures from Reuters which were amazing and memorable. Any organization sponsoring events would like to reinforce their brand and Thomson Reuters did a great job. There were many celebrities at the Thomson Reuters party including Kathleen Turner and actors from Downtown Abbey.
White House Correspondents Dinner 2013

Celebrity Spotting was fun. Ariana Huffington very gracefully responded to my greeting.

@ArianaHuff got a great welcome at #whcd

Other celebrities I recognized - Aasif Mandvi, Julia Dreyfuss, Nicole Kidman (My photo is blurry), Gerard Butler, Newt Gingrich (See photo below), Juju Chang - 'Good Morning America',
#whcd Newt Gingrich

I was at the party with author and speaker on B2B Marketing Paul Gillin, Giovanni Rodriguez- CEO of SocialxDesign and a contributor to Forbes, Jen McClure - Senior Director, Digital & Social Media of Thomson Reuters and was awesome to meet Lauren Young- wealth editor at Thomson Reuters and host of Money Clip - in person.

Tuesday, April 16, 2013

My Commute Has Gone North with My New Job

As I enter the 4th week of my new job at The Bozzuto Group I wanted to share my commute experience. For the first time my commute is in a northern direction from the Rockville/Gaithersburg area on I495.  This also means I am entirely in the State of Maryland and there is no crossing the American Legion bridge. Best of all it's a shorter commute.

5 things to learn on a new commute :
  1. Gas stations : Looking for the cheapest gas, I think Greenbelt has cheaper rates than Rockville/Gaithersburg but since the Bozzuto offices are right near the interstate exit going for gas is a detour.
  2. Banks : No change here as Capital One banks are everywhere
  3. Alternate routes and traffic backups : As you spend a lot of time on a particular commuter route you get used to which lane is the best. I do not like changing lanes much so I choose one lane and stick to it. In this new route , I have not chosen a route yet that I can stick to from end to end. The Metro is not a viable option since the Washing ton DC Metro does not have a circular line so there is nor interchange between the green line and red line other than going to downtown DC. The ICC is more than 8 miles added to my commute and also  $4 more expensive.
  4. Restaurants : There are a lot more to discover and I have been to the TGIF, Chefs Scret, Osaka and of course also took a colleague for lunch to the IKEA restaurant. I am looking forward to try the restaurants around the Bozzuto Apartment Community The Palette Apartments not far from Greenbelt in Hyattsville specially the BusBoys and Poets.Of course restaurants in downtown DC are only 10 miles away
  5. Beer Run : I want to try the http://fenwickbeerandwine.com/ which was voted one of the best places to buy beer in the DC area. I will however miss my detours to Total Beer and Wine in McLean and the nearest Total warehouse to Greenbelt is in Laurel again about 10 miles in the wrong direction.
On the whole my office in Greenbelt is kind of centrally located  Close  to DC, Baltimore, Montgomery  County and not too far from Arlington.

I am sure there is a lot to discover on this new commute route. Do you have any suggestions?

Saturday, April 06, 2013

The 25th Anniversary is a Great Time to Start at the Bozzuto Group


On April 4th The Bozzuto Group (I am proud to let you know I work there as VP, Digital Marketing) celebrated it's 25th Anniversary. The story the founders of the company and other employees narrate in  a video is very interesting. I would recommend a visit to Boozuto25,com to check out the video and the timeline of the past 25 years.

The celebration was held in downtown Baltimore at the American Visionary Art Museum. I love my infrequent visits to Baltimore. This museum was really fantastic. I took the time to see some of the exhibits of the American Museum of Visionary Arts and want to go there again with my son. included in the celebrations was a superb  Bozzuto museum with a collection of some great memorable pieces collected from over the years.





As I settle in my new job and share my excitement of learning a lot about the real estate world, the community of my friends has been very supportive and encouraging. Mark Alves posted this awesome update a few days and many of you have sent inspiring messages and updates.



Thank to all those who shared and congratulated The Bozzuto Group on the 25th Anniversary.

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