I had a classic New York consultant’s experience last week. It was a classic consultant experience because I was “on the beach” – unstaffed, between projects, and free for a galavant. It was a classic New York experience because it was spontaneous, random and, in a word, awesome. I hung out with a bunch of naked dancers!
Ok, they had previously *posed naked* while dancing for a photography series. But we still had a little celebratory drink at the launch party for this evocative book of poetic profiles against city scapes. They were there to close the circle on their part in this multi-month, hundred-plus person effort to make Dancers after Dark (link below).
“I’m on page 122” one man glowed as he handed his book over to photographer Jordan Matters for signing after the jam-packed selfie with the participants – which including Alan Cumming, a.k.a. Eli Gold from The Good Wife! I wasn’t quite quick enough with my camera as he was leaving, but I was still excited to get a partial shot. “That’s Ei Gold’s neck!” I text-squealed as I shared a photo with my fiancé. “LOL” he replied, sharing my glee in a different fashion.
How did I find myself in such a random scenario, you might ask? The Skint! It’s a free daily e-newsletter that tells you the cheap or free stuff happening all around NYC. Now what sets it apart from other e-newsletters? How does it manage to be both engaging and galvanizing? Unlike the barebones nonsensenyc.com and the flashy UpOut pushing hard to monetize my time, the Skint provides the optimal amount of information and options at just the right time for me. My erratic schedule, and the last-minute habits of most millennials for that matter, are a perfect fit for their just-in-time e-mails. They make it sooo easy to digest the goings-on of the city, with highlight headlines in the subject line and a summary in the body. And they are downright practical when it comes to the logistical barrier to participation: they list events in the time-sequenced order of occurrence, with the start time and the NYC neighborhood listed! If it’s close enough at a time that I’m free, and the event looks appealing, I can just click on the hyperlink for more information and RSVP where required. And voila! My social life and engagement with the city has just been amplified, with minimal activation energy required.
MBA in the City 