By now, you probably know the routine. An employee celebrates their anniversary with Hammock Publishing (a.k.a. "Hammock Day") and we corner them with questions to get to know them better... What makes them tick? Their taste in movies? What do they really think of Martha Stewart? Today, Emily McMackin tells all...
1. June 1 is Hammock Day for you. How long have you been with Hammock Publishing? 1 year
2. What do you remember most about your first day at Hammock? It was so quiet. When I arrived at 8 a.m., it was dark, and nobody was here except for Bill Hudgins, who graciously pointed me to a machine that made individual cups of coffeeﾑthe coolest office contraption I'd ever seen. I thought about how different this office was from the daily newspaper I had come from, where mornings consisted of people yellingﾑand sometimes sprintingﾑacross the room in the rush to get the paper out, and the coffeepot was a decade old and made a toxic brew. I was impressed by how friendly everyone was here and how much they smiled, something that didn't happen often at the paper. I knew I was in a better place, and I was glad.
3. If you didn't work at Hammock Publishing, what do you think you would be doing? Freelance writing for magazines or maybe teaching English overseas for the Peace Corps.
4. What is the last movie you saw in the theatre? "Poseidon." a movie that has many moments that seem like a modern version of Titanic, except the plot doesn't revolve around a love story or an iceberg.
5. Do you have any pets? No, except for the geese in my apartment complex that perch on my porch.
6. What was your most memorable day at Hammock? When we won one of our major client accounts. Rex shut down the office at 3 p.m., and we all went out for drinks. I realized how nice it was to work in a place where accomplishments were celebrated, and the attitude wasn't "Congratulations, now get back to work."
7. What's your favorite reality TV show? Would you ever participate? I know the critics panned it, but I really liked "Martha Stewart: The Apprentice" because it was not only about making money, but also working together on creative projects. I'm not sure that I would have the guts to face Martha in the boardroom, though. She can be scary.
8. If you were to win the lottery this week, what is the first purchase you would make? A round-trip ticket to Europe for a month, and if any money was left over, a house with new furnishings.
9. Where do you hope to retire someday? After taking a trip to the Virgin Islands, I discovered a spot where I would love to spend my last daysﾑSt. John. It is so beautiful, and it is spiritual. Since I doubt I will ever make enough money to live there, I would settle for a little house with a porch swing in my hometown of Tuscumbia, Ala., for my rocking chair years.
10. If you could switch places with any other Hammock employee for one day, who would it be and why? Shannon McRae. She gets to work on so many different kinds of projects for her client and that takes so much creativity. Even though she is crazy busy all the time, she always has a smile.
--------