Jesse offers to drop me off to grab a few things and then we are off to get the festivities started.For those who don’t know Jesse, he has a Pathfinder with a sound system that was sent from the heavens…this system is seriously so loud that the deaf will hear it.Anyway, I knew this weekend was going to be something special when Jesse rolled up in a brand new fully loaded Dodge Charger.Things couldn’t have started off better…you have 2 friends who live life in the fast lane with a car that can handle the fast lane.
After that, we grab some food and I change and then we head to Jesse’s to pre-game…Rock Band Style.For those who don’t know what Rock Band is, it’s a video game that combines Karaoke, Guitar Hero and Drums. (Watch Jesse get down, haha)
After Pre-Gaming harder than most people party…we head out to Traditions.Traditions is a bar near school that we used to go to on the regular, until we decided to explore a bit and meet new people and learn about new places.Anyway, as you can see…it was a night to remember.
Weekend + Jesse & Amanda's Birthdays = A Night to Remember
It's Friiiiiiiiday!!! Hell Yeah! For those of you who don't know Jesse, he is my teammate on St. John's Volleyball team and he is the man. He's a real cool kid and always helps me live life to the fullest. So it's his birthday weekend and he somehow got his hands on a souped up Dodge Charger. Plus we are going to Traditions tonight (the main bar near St. John's campus). It's been awhile since I've last been to Traditions and last time I made out with 3 girls, got slapped by some random one and lost a shoe. Therefore, tonight should be interesting. Also, we have a big volleyball tournament this weekend and have to leave New York to head to Boston at 3a.m. on Sunday morning. In other words, we have to go out tonight and party enough to be satisfied for the next three days. I'll be sure to get a few pictures and a good video clip in. Knowing Jesse, expect pics/videos to involve girls, alcohol and rock band. Amanda is Jesse's girlfriend and it's her birthday too, so Jesse's just dying to party.
Jesse is the one person that when I say "I'm not going out tonight", somehow he'll find a way for us to hang out. Let the good times roll.
The beginning of the road for Good Luck Chuck and TNT NBA All-Star Weekend!!!
Happy Friday Eve!!! Wooo!!! Not too much to report about today, besides the fact that it was crazy random!!!
Good Luck Chuck As some of you may or may not know, one of the ways that advertising and marketing works is that advertisers will give a company money (which adds to their budget) and it is up to that company to help the advertiser's product reach the desired demographic. Sooooo, Good Luck Chuck is targeting college students and since one of the departments that I work for is the College Marketing Department, it was up to us to help push the DVD release. The way that we did this is by hosting viewing parties at campuses throughout the nation. We chose the campuses based on how useful we felt their campus representative would be for this kind of task. Warning: If you watch this movie...the following image will be burned in your memory and the rest of the plot will remain a blur. TNT NBA All-Star Weekend Another advertiser that we are currently working with is TNT. With NBA All-Star Weekend approaching, we chose to send out party packs to another network of reps to host viewing parties and promote the exciting weekend.
Aside from the viewing parties, we will be hosting events in Boston and one in Los Angeles and Playboy's Event Staff will be having a star-studded event in New Orleans.
Aside from out events, I am also excited for All-Star weekend itself. The Slam Dunk Contest should be one to remember. I mean come on...Dwight Howard is in it...remember when he kissed the rim before dunking?
Today was interestingly random as hell. I usually work for a few hours on Wednesdays and then go straight to class. While in this morning, my plans were to get things together for the Playboy|TNT NBA All-Star Weekend Events. However, while organizing that, I was summoned to a photo shoot for the Playboy Pulse, a monthly mailing that we send out to let people know whats going on in the "Youth World of Playboy". If you are interested in being on that mailing list, be sure to let me know at riseofcharlie@gmail.com. Furthermore, I was handed a Duran Duran Rock the Rabbit T-Shirt and a Playboy guitar (a bad-ass one too!) and they started putting film to use. Lisa K even got in on some of the fun and the winning picture wound up being (drum roll) : Good times! Note the Playboy Energy by my knee...fuel for the soul, my friends. Besides that, the day went by really fast. I realized that Valentine's Day was creeping up and needed to start to work on a Valentine...shit!
I planned on blogging yesterday (Monday), but truth be told...it was pretty boring. All day I was playing catch-up with school work that I missed while in Arizona. My teachers probably think I'm some lazy douche bag who just didn't feel like coming to class. Is there any point in really explaining why I wasn't able to attend class? Enough about Monday, today is Tuesday. Back to the office and the boxes and the e-mails. I had over 200 e-mails today...sweet! The thing about e-mails when working in an office is that 0% of it is spam. So that means I had 200+ e-mails that required my attention. Some people would sigh at that, but I think it's kind of cool that I have to have some level of importance if I'm getting that many haha. The boxes and envelopes, they aren't loved as much as the e-mails, haha. As you can see here on the left, our 200+ reps get monthly mailings with several goodies every month. One of my tasks is to individually label and pack each and every single one of these. This is what my cube looks like after a good 20% of the mailings being packed up.
While checking my e-mails, I found a jaw-dropper. One of the things that I do at work is correspond with our campus reps. It started off being only about Playboy, but now they come to me for advice, help, to vent out, etc. I would open up a rep from our Depaul Representative, Katrina, that was dated on 1/31/07. My guess: It would say Happy New Year or be wishing me a safe trip since this was the day that I left for Arizona. I was so wrong. Although it was a lengthy e-mail, one line burned itself into my brain. "I miss you...my friend Jay gave me two extra tickets to the Super Bowl, so if you and Chris want to come with us, give me a call while your in Arizona...I know that you're busy, so I'll just wait for your call." Fucking Hell!!! I deleted the e-mail and promise to try to forget about it as much as I can. The weekend was amazing, no need to be greedy.
Today, I should have auditioned for Resident Evil or Michael Jackson's "Thriller". I was such a zombie and hardly remember how the hell I made it back to New York. That was a gift and curse of Chris Duncan's, that everybody around him is able to worry less. He is pretty much always 20 steps ahead and is a very quick thinker on his feet. Without him, I probably would have ended up on the wrong plane or some crazy shit. I remember sharing a plane with the Official Chris Duncan, Chris Napolitano (Playboy's Editorial Director) and Lou (Playboy's Publisher). Just sharing a plane with them made me excited to get back to work. We are talking about my boss, Cee Dunk, and two major, major, major facets of the company. As accomplished as they are, there are so cool, funny and down to earth. It may sound cheesy and weird, but just being around them you get this feeling of wanting to become more/accomplish more. They both make me feel like I am a part of the team and that's more than enough to encourage me to haul ass at all times. I would end up making it back home and watching the game with two of my older cousins. I grew up with my mother and moved with my father two years ago and since I moved here, they have been like brothers and helped make my move to Queens an easy one. I must have devoured ten pounds of wings and a gallon of Heineken Light before half time. It was fucking amazing, I mean c'mon...I said wings and beer!
Now back in New York, my phone was ringing off the hook. Everyone wanted to know how the Super Bowl Party went and what it was like. How the hell can I even explain it!? I just smiled and said it was the best time of my life. Cheesy? Kinda. But would you understand if I told you the story over the phone, of course not. It was truly such a mother-effin amazing weekend!!!? Don't you agree, New England? The best/scary part of this all is that I am only 20 years old and in college. If I am experiencing all of this now, what the hell does the future look like?! As grateful as I am for the experience, I am learning to be confident and remain motivated knowing that although billions of people would kill for my job, not many can handle it. My Grandfather always told me one quote: "People are like teabags, only when you put them in hot water, do you know what they are truly made of". Can you handle the pressure?
On February 2nd, 2008, an occasion took place at The Rawhide in Arizona...the only safe bet for Super Bowl Weekend was knowing that I would rise to that occasion.
Super Bowl Weekend: Saturday Night (9pm-5am) Lights, Camera, Action!
In the flash of a camera, the stars were out in Arizona. As the party was about to begin, I met up with DJ Reach and gave him a rundown of what expect from a music standpoint (he was fucking awesome and already knew the deal). Within seconds, he was playing some of the sickest songs and mixes that I've ever heard. I danced my way over to the front of the venue, where I would start off my night. 9pm-11pm For the first couple hours or so, my task was to collect tickets right next to the red carpet. The A-List celebrities and All-Star athletes just kept flowing in, it was amazing! From Lauren Conrad and Audrina from the Hills, to the cast of Entourage, to Tiki Barber, Amare Stoudemire, Carmelo Anthony and Gabrielle Union, it was just a constant flow of renown celebrities. My server would run out of memory if I had to list all of the celebrities that were there. Before I could even let it sink in, Nick Cannon's manager texted me and it was time for me to escort them down the red carpet. As I walked up to Nick's car, I noticed that Hef and Common had arrived at the same time and were right in front of us at the red carpet. 11pm-12am Once I walked Nick to his VIP cabana, I had to run and meet Chris to escort the campus rep bus down the red carpet. We asked two Arizona Campus Representatives, Mike Knudten and Laurie Laird, to fill a coach bus with 50+ legal, sexy college girls and they came through marvelously. The bus was packed out with gorgeous, classy women and as they walked down the red carpet, time froze and everybody watched one guy (me, mother fuckers!) leading a long line of gorgeous girls into the event.
12am-3am Right after looking like a serious P.I.M.P., it was non-stop hustling. I was literally sprinting from station to station: handling tickets to re-stocking the gift shop to tending to the DJs then off to their managers to replenishing premiums that models were giving out (See mini-story with Olga below). On top of the craziness, women were grabbing me by the wrist, hot fucking women, locking their eyes on mine and licking/biting their lip, it was bananas.As tempting as it was to stop and make a move, I had a job to do and refused to be distracted. I turned into a social robot and even though it may be too late, I apologize to any socialites that I may have ignored amidst shifting my gears to overdrive. Side Journeys: While running tasks throughout the site, I encountered several mini-journeys involving women and celebrities. They were the facets that I would never forget about the party. I listed all the good stuff below, just keep in mind that these took place over several encounters throughout the night.
Olga (The Cigar Girl):Warning: If your name is Olga and you were hired to be the cigar girl for Playboy's Super Bowl Event, stop reading and e-mail Charlie at riseofcharlie@gmail immediately. While re-stocking the gift shop, I notice that some guy is giving the cigar girl a really hard time and is rudely snatching cigars after he already had a handful. I make my move to "assess the situation" and as I approach, the guy winds up walking away and leaving the cigar girl overwhelmed. I simply console her for a few seconds and she asks me for a hug, so of course I give it to one. In no time, she is all smiles and I somehow become her "official cigar replenisher" throughout the night (I had to make sure that she always had cigars to give out to the party-goers). When it comes to telling if any girl likes any guy, I'm the man and will know within seconds, BUT you should know that at times (like when the girl is smoking hot) I'm an complete idiot when it comes to myself. Believe me when I say tonight, I was no idiot! The eye contact was there, the whispering in my ear was there(even though I heard her fine regularly), every time that I escorted her anywhere, she locked my hand in hers and squeezed it. Later on, as I escort her to the staff area, she keeps complaining that she lost her lipstick. When we got to her break-room she says "Thank you, babe! I didn't mean to complain so much about my lipstick, all that I have left is the lipstick on my lips". Freaking out that people are going to think I'm missing, I smile and give her a nonchalant "No Worries, buddy!"As I turned away, she says"I should make you wear it and you'll know what I mean". Hint: The only lipstick she has is on her lips and she wants me to wear it. My heart exploded and I teared a little, then I got back to work...without wearing any of Olga's lipstick.
Grady Sizemore: While running to the DJ Booth, some guy dropped his drink right next to me. By freak coincidence, my volleyball reflexes kick in and I catch the drink, spider-man style, without spilling a drop. I smile and go to casually hand it back to an applauding Grady Sizemore & Co. He shakes my hand, gives me a hug and demands an introduction. I felt so cool! As I start to walk away, Grady says "I owe you a drink, Charlie!". No time for drinks, so I follow up with a "Next time, man...I promise!" Later in the night, while working the door with Dana, our Event Director, Grady stops me on his way out and gives me a hug, handshake and business card (which I lost within minutes). As he left, Dana turned to me laughing and says "What the hell was that about!?" I just couldn't explain it to her, but that moment was amazing.
DJ Booth: While constantly checking in with the DJs, the mobbed area around the DJ Booth kept making my visits take longer than expected. It was crazy and confusing, but totally manageable. Once you get behind that booth there is a million things going on at once. This is what it is like behind the DJ's booth at Playboy's Super Bowl Party: As you can see in that quick snippet, shit was confusing! While helping there, Kendra was talking on the mic for a few minutes and I was passing Reach and Nick some towels (they were literally dripping). Kendra bent over to grab her drink and we made sharp eye contact for a good 2-3 seconds and then both turned away. What the hell did that mean? Who the hell knows/cares? Not me! As I was on my way out of the DJ area, Nick Cannon's manager approaches me and tells me how hungry he is and that the server is taking awhile. I make my way to the catering area and find their server only to hear that she can't get to their area because it was way too crowded in his cabana.Rule # 1 in Marketing and Events: When Plan A doesn't work, use Plans B-Z. I took the trays of food and then simply take the trays out of her hands and walk over to deliver them myself. As I got within 20 feet of them, I hear Nick's manager yell "Yeah, Kid!...Charlie, you the shit!" I took that as them being excited for the food. Not only that, but anybody near us with ears thinks I'm the shit.McLovin:While on the way to replenish the goodies at the gift shop, I hear a roar of applause andyells of satisfaction. What the fuck is going on!?Sure enough, right in the middle of it all was Christopher Mintz-Plasse (a.k.a. - McLovin). Of all of the celebrities and athletes in attendance, it was extremely clear that Hef and McLovin shined more than the other stars at the night's festivities. McLovin was a huge fan favorite and what made it funnier was that nobody knew his real name.
All in all, it is a night that I will never forget. Although I wrote several letters to give to the staff to thank them for including me in this experience, the letters would only be delivered to my trashcan. They would never do, how the hell could I possibly word how grateful I am? It is so hard to explain how grateful I am for such an amazing experience and opportunity. Especially for me, I'm just a 20 year old guy, I'm sure there are tons of people out there that are smarter, better looking, more fit than I am, but for whatever reason...they make me feel like I truly belong on this team and as long as then do, its infinite percent effort on my part.
3am-5am The rest of the night was cleaning and packing time. We cleaned the venue, packed up everything that had to be shipped back to the office and prepared the shipment to be picked up in a couple days. I would make it back to the hotel at 6am sharp, giving me one full hour to pack my clothes before leaving to go to the airport for my flight back home.
Super Bowl Weekend: Saturday Afternoon (4pm to 9pm)
Shockingly, there wasn't as much traffic as one would think for the day before Super Bowl Sunday. Therefore, we made it back to the conference room surprisingly fast. While loading up the cars, one of our PR (Public Relations) girls, Traci, called and asked us to buy her a few extra supplies. Chris knew of a K-Mart nearby, so it all worked out perfectly.
Once we even made it to the K-Mart parking lot, all of Arizona knew we were from out of town. As if having a mohawk and lines shaved in the side of my head wasn't enough, my loud dumb ass just rolls up blasting music and having a conversation with Chris from across the parking lot.
While in K-Mart, all eyes were on us and it was fucking weird and semi-awkward. It was the kind of looks where you can't tell if they are checking me out or if I had boogers or whatever the hell it was. Trying to get the hell out of there, we grab the supplies and are out! When we go to pay, the cashier was CLEARLY checking us out. She asked us where we worked (even though we had HUGE Playboy passes on our necks). Then asked us if we were French. French!? What the hell is the matter with her!? Haha. She was actually really cute, but we had to power-walk the hell out of there. When we got back to the venue, things were clearly taking shape. Check out how crazy of a difference the venue becomes when the production company and decor are put together.
Before:
After: All of the staff was together and the Playmates were arriving. There was even a fucking goat somehow; however, human or not, no guest list...no entry. Before I can even put my bags down, my phone alarm was going off like crazy! I had Nick Cannon and DJ Reach, who were our DJs for the night and make sure that they were on time and everything was running accordingly. After touching base with them, I got on top of the car service, this way there would be no issues later. (Note: Car services are the demons of the intern world). Right after hanging up with them, I morphed into a promo robot and started pumping out tons of promos, from custom printed pillows to custom printed water, into the venue. Next thing I knew, it was 8:30. Time to get dressed and add some finishing touches. I went and said whats up to the security and Playmates and then it was onnnnnnnnnnn! It was game time and I wanted the ball!
Last night was semi-lame, but I still had a lot of fun and the rest was much needed. Truth be told, we rested up. We had a 21 hour work-day the next day and knew we’d need our energy (I know it sounds un-Charlie-like, but this is a marathon, not a sprint). The initial plan was to go to a concert where Your Vegas would be opening for the Bravery, we were invited by Kaki and the PR (public relations) girls. I was so excited to follow through with these plans because Kaki and the PR girls are fucking awesome and aside from that Your Vegas kicks ass! (Didn't give much of a shit about the Bravery though). Unfortunately, the plan didn't fall through because we weren't able to make it back to the hotel in time to hitch a ride there (remember how spread out Arizona is).
So, like Pinky and the Brain, our plans to take over the world were haulted and we wound up staying in on Friday night to wind down for the big day. I hardly remember what the hell we talked about, but I remember us freaking out about Pau Gasol being traded to the L.A. Lakers and discussing how our plans went the night before. This was when I first heard about Chris' infamous Roy Williams video.
Anyway, that was yesterday and now it was the morning of the party. Once we woke up and made it to the conference room, everybody was loading up the cars to transport over all of the decor and supplies and Chris and I were going to make a second trip to scoop up whatever was left of it. When we arrived at the venue, it was extremely clear that the production company was on their A-game. For the most part, the venue was empty as far as promo materials and decor, but it was decked out and furnished to a T. In no time, it was easy to see the vision of how things would look once they were done with the promos and decor.
While getting my things together with Chris to run out and grab the second load of supplies, I came across a curtain that was full of people who were already working hard. You can only imagine what was behind curtain # 1. . .Dude, I know.
In those few seconds I swore to hate any lucky men that were behind those curtains, until Mark Frazier, the infamous body painter, came out from behind the curtain. We talked for a few minutes and aside from having the coolest job ever, he ranks in the top 5 coolest people I have ever met. Still, just watching him work made me buy Crayola paint once I got home.
The clock was ticking, the press was getting their film together and you could feel it in the air that tonight was going to be one to remember for years to come. I grabbed the keys and Chris and I head out to scoop up the rest of the supplies from the conference room.
After a great night, it was easy to wake up smiling ear to ear. Chris and I headed to the lobby and woofed down some homemade waffles. After breakfast we did a few tasks at the venue and it was time for me to head to the airport to pick up the girls.Lucky for you, I recorded the beginning of that venture.
When I made it to the airport, I text Kimberly Holland and let her know that I am at her baggage claim area. After not hearing from her for a bit, I text Lindsey Vuolo because she was supposed to arrive on the flight after Kimberly.
I meet up with Lindsey and we talk for a little and catch up (Last time I saw her was at the Cuervo Playboy Party...Remember?). After catching up for a bit, we talk about how her flight was and what she's been up to. Eventually, we realize that it's taking really long for Kimberly to get back to me and Lindsey was also trying to reach her for awhile, so they could meet up at the airport. We decide to drive over to Kimberly's baggage area anyway and hope that she's there. The entire ride there, Lindsey is telling me how hungry she is and she was starving. Right away I imagined Lindsey turning into some ferocious cranky beast that wanted some damn food! This caused me to drive faster and sprint to Kimberly's baggage area.
How the hell am I supposed to pick up somebody that I have never seen before? As usual, I turned to the Great Chris Duncan and asked him what Kimberly looked like and would be told she was "blonde, has a big chest, short". I immediately found what I was looking for and asked her how her flight was and how she's feeling. We would talk for about ten minutes until Kimberly texts me and I would find out that there were two short, blonde, big chested women on that flight.
After meeting with Kimberly, whose flight was late, we wait for her bags for a good half hour and realize that it never made it on her plane. The entire time we waited, she was explaining to me how she has the worst luck with planes and the shoes she went through hell to make to match her bunny costume were in that bag. To get a bunny costume is a huge privilege in Playmate land and Kimberly felt like she fucked it up. While trying to brush off Lindsey's "hurry up, I'm hungry" text messages, I try to cheer up Kimberly and we go try to find some answers about her bag. At this point she is trying really hard not to cry and I wind up feeling really bad for her. She was so honest and such a sweet girl, on top of that she had the sincerity that most attractive girls lack. We would wind up getting the tracking information and finding out that the bag would arrive later that night.
We finally make it out of the airport and into possibly the craziest traffic I've ever seen. Knowing we were going to be in the car for hours, we let the interesting conversations begin! Kimberly told me she came from Utah and based on a past trip there, right away I thought she was Mormon. You can imagine what was going through my head, but I would later find out that her flight only had a stop in Utah and she was actually from Florida. Awesome!!!
While stuck in traffic, I was getting continuous calls from the Event Directors and Event Specialists asking if I was alright and how much longer I would be. I would be about 3 hours. It was annoying enough that Arizona is extremely spread out, but on top of that there was crazy traffic from everybody in town for the Super Bowl. We make it back to the hotel and I head to the girls rooms to help them carry their bags. They were really happy to be in their room and offered to take me out to eat. Unfortunately, I had to decline and make it back to the venue ASAP to help out with anything that I could.
My last task for the day was to drop off the Playmates, then grab the Step and Repeat (a backdrop for the Red Carpet) and drive that back to the venue.
My entire work day, I was trapped in a car. Was it bad? Being stuck with Playmates? Ummm, What the hell do you think!? It was awesome. Juicy conversations and radio karaoke to the fullest.
Okay, so set-up wasn’t too crazy, but it was awesome to get a look and feel at how things are and I always love to imagine a party before, during and after anyway.Today mostly consisted of shopping around for supplies and preparing to drive over all of the décor and other materials.
Being drained from waking up at 4am to make my flight, my intentions were to pass out and recharge my batteries for work the next day.Once I get back to our hotel room, Chris lets me know that he’ll be heading to the Madden Bowl.
Before I can even put my bags down, Chris yells for me to get dressed and lets me know that I’m going to a concert with Kaki and 3 of the Playmates. Works for me!!!Kaki, our Event’s Specialist, hits me up on my cell and tells me to meet her at the lobby. I ran my ass over there and was greeted by Shannon James, Hiromi Oshima, and Deanna Brooks. Seconds later, our Ad-Sales Rockstar, Ron, hands me over a VIPPass to the VH1 Super Bowl Bash.Fucking Righteous!
It took awhile to get there, but the open bar, amazing food and performances by Maroon 5, Mary J Blige and Ne-Yo was well worth it.
It was an amazing experience and was really larger than life, I was about to be entirely grateful and be cheesy and bask in it, but then Hiromi grabbed me by the wrist and pulled me over to a mountain of desserts and we were laughing and having a blast. While dancing with Hiromi and Deanna, again I was about to take a breath and thank God for this amazing opportunity, then Shannon wiped frosting on my face. Lesson learned:Fuck being grateful, enjoy the good times to the fullest, they are memories that cannot be bought, borrowed or stolen…they can only be made and it’s up to you to make the most of it!..and believe me when I say we did! Shannon, Hiromi and Deanna were all fucking awesome!!! Let the good times roll!!!
We were on the way there until we realized that Deanna had to be camera ready by 5am (it was now 2am).On top of that, I remember that tomorrow I have to pick up Playmates Lindsey Vuolo and Kimberly Holland at the airport.
We call it a night and head back to the hotel.Check back in with you guys tomorrow!!!
Meet The Bosses
