Eric

Eric moved to NY from the Windy City one year ago in order to pursue his Master's Degree in Communications at NY University. While pursuing his advanced degree, Eric is also juggling a part time job in advertisement at MTV and a research job at Columbia's MBA School. Even though balancing two part time jobs and a full course of study can, at times, be a little overwhelming, he has embraced this unique opportunity to live, work and study in NY, because it is the epicenter of commerce, fashion, culture and the culinary arts. Eric hopes to be more marketable upon receipt of his Master's Degree, especially considering the tough competition he faces in the advertisement industry, which has been hard hit by the economic downturn. Most recently, Conde Nast announced that it will be shutting down four of its magazines, including Gourmet, as a result of the steep decline in advertisement. Similarly, The NY Times announced today that it is planning to cut 100 newsroom jobs by year's end due to the same reason. In spite of the somber news released by powerhouses like these publishers, Eric remains cautiously optimistic and welcomes small but promising signs of the financial recovery. During his limited and valuable downtime, Eric likes to catch up on the HBO hit series, Entourage. Eric Murphy, who plays the role of Vincent's Manager, is our real life Eric's favorite character. Like some of the young actors in his favorite TV show, Eric's overall demeanor was polished and casual, borderline metro sexual and he sported trendy jeans and a leather jacket. But surprisingly, the advertisement professional doesn't believe in spending hundreds of dollars on designer wear. He believes it is up to him and not for the industry to direct how and what he purchases. Simply stated, he likes to be hip but for less so he looks for bargains at places like Urban Outfitters, Century 21 and other local boutiques. As we were wrapping up our conversation I noticed that he had an iPhone so I asked him which one is the best application in his phone. He showed me how Shahzam works by identifying music tracks and then allowing users to buy them. The best part of this app is that it can be downloaded for free. It's been six months since I got my iPhone as a mother's day gift. It is the best phone I have ever owned but as usual, I only use about 40% of its features/potential ... may be Shahzam will be the first app I download.