Working with the ‘In Crowd’
Christine Oldenbrook survived the ‘ugliest audit’ of her career just to hang with the marketing team.
Starting in high school, I knew I wanted to be in publishing. I was involved in my high school and college magazines and worked for a newspaper in college, where I was focused on the production side of publishing.
Years later, in the early 1980s, I worked in production for a business-to-business directory publisher. I became friends with the folks in marketing and wanted to transfer into their department because they seemed to be having the most fun. They assigned a project to me that would prove my commitment. It was a bit like being hazed for a sorority or fraternity, but I was determined to be part of that team. The project was the nastiest, most tedious initial BPA audit of my career. No one at the company had any circulation background, let alone experience with an audit. So I turned to BPA and learned everything I needed to know for my first audit from the Los Angeles BPA team—Bob McNally, Glen Giles and Glenn Hansen.
Bob and Glen and Glenn were so patient! The audit took almost three months, but there was something so satisfying about learning something so different. I loved that circulation depended on direct marketing and was going to challenge both sides of my brain.
So like most of us, I entered into this career by accident, or at least because I wanted to hang out with the fun marketing crowd. This initial experience sums up much of why I have stayed in circulation for more than twenty years—constant challenges, the fun of learning new things and, most of all, the friendships that have enriched my life more than I can say.
And now, new challenges abound! Rising costs of paper and postage, significant declines in response, technology advancements and a broadening of responsibilities have not only added to our challenges, but have increased our influence and position within the overall media profession.
Years ago, our responsibilities were primarily focused on operations, postal regulations and audit rules. I’m thrilled that our responsibilities have expanded, and we are now developing audiences across multiple platforms and using technologies we could not have imagined 20-plus years ago.
The changes in our profession have made me, a 24-year circulation veteran, very happy that I stayed committed and got past that first painful audit. Working for companies like Bobit Business Media, 1105 and Highline Media has given me lots of opportunities to contribute and learn. Working in challenging companies like Primedia Business and facing extraordinary situations—like starting my first day there on September 11, 2001—has made me learn new ways of being resourceful.
I’ve also had the honor of working with amazing circulation professionals, which brings me to the very best part of working in this profession—my colleagues. Most everyone will tell you that we are a close-knit brethren. We share, we consult, and we provide encouragement and lots of levity for each other. We have had to depend on each other because this is a discipline that is not specifically taught in college, and most of us didn’t set out to become circulators.
This year, I lost a friend and we lost a colleague that personified the qualities of a good circulator—Glen Giles. From the very beginning, he gave me daily encouragement and endless levity.
Our current challenges may seem insurmountable, but I think most everyone would agree that challenges come in cycles. Right now, we need to focus on opening up new sources of subscriptions, developing strategies to exploit new technologies and turn to each other for ideas and support—as we always have.
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