Two members of the Hammock Publishing crew, Barbara Mathieson and Carrie Wakeford, celebrate Hammock Day today. Hammock Day? The anniversary of their first day on the job. We cornered them with a few questions to get the details...
10 questions with Barbara Mathieson...
1. May 3 is Hammock Day for you. How long have you been with Hammock Publishing? Iﾕve been at Hammock Publishing seven years.
2. What do you remember most about your first day at Hammock? An employee, who no longer works here, walked into my office and promised me that she would make my life here very difficult. I asked her not to do that.
During the staff meeting that morning, employees would give the status of a job, as TA bills June 15; JC Bradford bills June 30. Since I didnﾕt come from the agency world, I found that amusing.
When I left at the end of the day, I exited out the entrance to the parking garage. I remember being very rattled, after day one.
Also, there was a very destructive tornado in the southwest that evening. Was that an omen?
3. If you didn't work at Hammock Publishing, what do you think you would be doing? Possibly I would be at American Profile, another Nashville publisher. About the time I came to Hammock, American Profile was starting up, and I talked to them a couple of times.
If I wasnﾕt in publishing, I would be a zookeeper.
4. What is the last movie you saw in the theatre? I saw the documentary, Neil Young: Heart of Gold, which was shot at the Ryman Auditorium last summer by director Jonathan Demme.
5. What did you have for lunch today? A Hammock Publishing favorite, Jimmy Johnﾕs. I ate the #13 Gourmet Veggie Club on the 7-grain whole wheat bread.
John Lavey is the Jared of Jimmy Johnﾕs. Last year, John ate nothing but Jimmy Johnﾕs for 60 days.
6. What was your most memorable day at Hammock? That was the Friday afternoon when Rex came back to Hammock Publishing from smallbusiness.com. He addressed the staff after having to close down his dot.com business. I know that this was a painful day for him. I developed a respect for him that day that has grown deeper over the years, as he overcame other challenges to his small businesses.
Although I wanted smallbusiness.com to succeed, I was glad to see him come back because I felt that Hammock Publishing lacked a visionary leader in his absence.
(Side note: Visit the new and improved smallbusiness.com today. We think you'll like it!)
7. What's your favorite reality TV show? Would you ever participate? I despise all reality television. I find it exploitive. So, no, I wouldnﾕt participate. Plus I donﾕt look great in a bikini.
The Office to me is reality TV. It reminds me of my days in the corporate world.
8. If you were to win the lottery this week, what is the first purchase you would make? I would fund an exhibit for the Nashville Zoo, hopefully something I think is cool, like giant anteaters or komodo dragons. Then I would take an extended vacation.
9. Where did you grow up? I grew up in Winchester, Tenn.
10. If you could switch places with any other Hammock employee for one day, who would it be and why? I would love to switch with one of our editorial staff, because I always wanted to be a writer.
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10 questions with Carrie Wakeford...
1. May 3 is Hammock Day for you. How long have you been with Hammock Publishing? Two years!
2. What do you remember most about your first day at Hammock? I was very nervous about being the new person. Then when I got home I realized my fly had been down all day and no one told me. I could have died.
3. If you didn't work at Hammock Publishing, what do you think you would be doing? I would probably still be working at the Nashville Scene designing ads, desperately needing a change.
4. What is the last movie you saw in the theatre? Walk the Line
5. What did you have for lunch today? A bagel (plain) and a diet coke ﾐ not the most exciting meal.
6. What was your most memorable day at Hammock? Hmmmﾉperhaps my most memorable day would be the day after my first Hammock Christmas party (2004). We all had new iPods to set up. Then John made Shannon go get Krystals with the leftover cab money. Or maybe I could go with the most memorable Hammock trip to Chicago for the How Design Conferenceﾉ lots of fun!
7. What's your favorite reality TV show? Would you ever participate? I donﾕt think it is a secret that I am a fan of the Bachelor. Would I participate? Not unless Travis Stork decides to try again.
8. If you were to win the lottery this week, what is the first purchase you would make? First I would pay off my graduate school debt. Then I would give much of the rest to my dad. I think that might begin to pay him back for all the money I have borrowed from him in my 31 years of existence. Does that count as a purchase?
9. Where did you grow up? Albany, Ga., which is in southwest Georgia.
10. If you could switch places with any other Hammock employee for one day, who would it be and why? This might not be the point, but if I could switch places with anyone it would be Kerri Davis. Even though we are in the same department she is fast as lightning doing layouts. The best part is that her layouts while quick are always amazing and fresh.
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On May 21, Kerry Davis celebrated "Hammock Day," marking 11 years with the company. I bribed her to answer a few questions for us; terms of our agreement will not be disclosed.
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Because I've been talking about it for the past four months, it's no secret that I ran the Country Music 1/2 Marathon this weekend. Besides the sweet medal I took home (I came this close to wearing it to work todayﾑyeah, I'm glad I didn't either), here's what I took away from the experience: