Early this morning, a colleague of mine mentioned that today is International Women’s Day. Honestly, I wasn’t all that familiar with what exactly this was and did a quick google search. According to Wikipedia, the day, originally called International Working Women’s Day, has some interesting local origins dating back as early as 1909. It was first observed in the West as a popular event after 1977 when the United Nations General Assembly invited member states to proclaim March 8 as the UN Day for women’s rights and world peace.

Today, where you are in the world likely determines how you might celebrate - from taking the day off or giving flowers to women in your life to donating to women’s causes or protesting, whether it be for working rights, equal pay or political freedom.  Regardless of how one publicly marks the day, I found myself thinking about the women I know and those who have influenced me most.

I thought of bosses I’ve had and other women I’ve worked with, mentors and competitors alike.  I thought of friends and doctors, family and famous women. But my thoughts kept returning to my mother and the example she set for me growing up.  My mother was a full-time working mom long before it was the norm.

My mother was a teacher and specialized in teaching English as a second language to high school students who either grew up elsewhere or came from families where little to no English was spoken. My mother loved what she did and never viewed teaching as “just a job.” Over the years she’d show me letters she received from former students who were excited to share their success with someone who’d made a difference to them along the way.

While my mother and I have had very different careers, I don’t know if she realizes that her choices had a tremendous impact on my decision to not only work but to build a career, doing something that would challenge me each and every day.

Over the years, it’s been eye-opening to see smart women, women who worked hard all through college, let their career aspirations slip away because these aspirations conflicted with how they wanted to raise their families. For me this was never a consideration - I had a role model who had shown me it was possible to be a terrific wife and mother and spend your days doing something you love. For this, I celebrate my mother.

We just returned from our fourth trip to Disney with the boys and one of my funniest memories was of watching a woman beg an ice cream stand server at Epcot to please plug in her dying phone so that the rest of her family could find her.

This time round mobile technology played a big part of our trip, partly because the boys are older and more tech savvy and partly because we have all become so accustomed to finding information at the tap of a screen in our pocket.

Once we arrived at Disney it became all about the apps.  I first tried to download the official Disney app developed in partnership with Verizon.  As a life-long Verizon subscriber I was surprised and annoyed to discover that this app wasn’t available on my handset or the millions of other iPhones in use all over Disney World.  Assuming that other apps had to be available, I did a quick iTunes store search and downloaded the Undercover Tourist app.

This app was a treasure trove of Disney World information from park maps and ride wait times to restaurant menus and parade routes.  While I really liked checking the menus for our upcoming reservations the kids lived by the ride wait times and the most common refrain of the trip was “Mom, check your phone.” I have to admit, charting your course according to which park was least crowded and ride wait times was a great idea. With this information and Disney’s Fast Pass system we never waited on line for more than 20 minutes, despite the typical February break crowds. We all remembered how we had waited on line in previous years, including a very long two hours for Toy Story Mania.

What we did do was criss cross each park multiple times, racing from ride to ride and killing our feet and our iPhone batteries in the process. One of the most frustrating aspects of our plugged in Disney vacation was the complete absence of charging stations. What good was all this information if you were out of juice by mid-day?  One night I even had the hostess at Shula’s Steakhouse recharge our phones.

I must admit that I found it odd that Disney, usually a stickler for details, could fall so far short when it comes to technology for its many guests. This makes it’s Tomorrowland far from the only thing that seems woefully out of date.

Words with Friends, the highly addictive iPhone app has gotten more than its fair share of press. There was Alec Baldwin getting kicked off an American Airlines flight for refusing to power down in the middle of his game. And there was the Wall Street Journal article that portrayed the bonding that comes with playing Words with Friends as one of the off-the-field activities that helps the Super Bowl-winning Giants play so well together on the field.

At any given time in my house you can find someone deeply ensconced in a game. The kids love playing with their friends (and against me) and I am often juggling 20 plus games at a time. Given that there are many addictive iPhone games, I started to think about what makes this one so special.

One night, after a particularly long day of work I was too wound up to sleep but weary enough to want to lie down in bed. The rest of the house was sleeping so I picked up my phone and logged on to see if I had any moves to make. One of my girlfriends, someone I never have time to visit with during the week, was also awake. The two of us played a game from start to finish that night, using the chat function to comment on moves we made and say hello.

That night it dawned on me - Words with Friends is the cup of coffee I don’t often have time to grab with my friends. Could this be the definition of social gaming for time-strapped moms everywhere?

I was recently in a car accident, arguably one of life’s most awful experiences. In this instance I was pretty lucky, walking away without a scratch. The car wasn’t quite as lucky.

My first call was to my insurance company, Travelers. If ever there ever was a low interest category, for me this was it.  My insurance broker had recommended who we use and the only time I gave them much thought was when it was time to renegotiate my premiums. I absolutely viewed car insurance as a commodity purchase.

That changed post accident. Travelers arranged for their concierge service to handle everything - from taking my car from the city tow lot to the concierge location nearest my home, to preparing an estimate and negotiating with the body shop to have the work done.  But it didn’t stop there. They encouraged me to see a doctor and called multiple times post x-rays to make sure I was feeling ok. They arranged for my rental car. And they have called me every other day since Christmas with an update on my car’s repair status (yes, it’s still in the shop!). My experience has been so positive that I’ve been going around talking about car insurance, telling everyone how great Travelers is.

With my car in the shop, I needed a rental car and Travelers arranged and paid for one with Enterprise. Typically when I needed a rental car, Enterprise was not even part of my consideration set. That is now forever changed. Evan, the assistant manager at my local Enterprise location, greeted me by asking how I was feeling, aware that I had recently been in a car accident. He then took me to the lot to look at the available cars to see if they had one that would provide a comparable driving experience to my own car. Not happy with what he had, he arranged for an Infiniti G37 to be brought down from another location and delivered to my home. And, a few days later he called to see how I was enjoying driving the car. I’m not sure the dealership who sold me my car ever did that!

In each of these instances the customer service I experienced was so superlative that it changed the way I thought about (and talk about) both of these brands. Smart companies will recognize that customer service is the next big opportunity in brand marketing. Exceptional service can make all the difference between a satisfied customer and a passionate brand advocate.

Which companies have you seen get this right?

This post was originally published in PRWeek.

Flowers, chocolate, jewelry, a night on the town. Valentine’s Day now rivals Christmas and Mother’s Day when it comes to holiday specials and marketing promotions and the real meaning of the day often gets lost amidst all the spending opportunities. This year, when my husband asked me what I’d like for Valentines Day, my answer was simply time together as a family.

What I didn’t expect was the very best Valentine’s gift coming courtesy of my son, Jacob. It began a few days ago at bedtime when we were talking about the upcoming holiday and I asked the boys if they were going to give anyone a valentine this year. Jacob pulled me close and whispered the name of one of his classmates. He then buried his head in his pillow afraid that he’d be too embarrassed to actually go through with it.

A few days later he brought it up again and decided he was ready to acknowledge his first crush. We went shopping together and Jacob picked up an adorable stuffed animal (two puppies for my puppy lover) and chocolate hearts. He wrote a card telling this little girl that she was “cool, smart and pretty” as my heart melted. I drove him over to her house and watched from the car window as he rang the doorbell and offered his Valentine’s Day wishes. I couldn’t have been prouder - he had the courage to follow his heart and the confidence to express his feelings.

That night at dinner Jacob asked if I thought his crush might return his Valentine’s wishes and give him something as well. For a minute my heart stopped as I realized his courage had put his own heart on the line. While I explained that there was no guarantee that he’d get something in return, I secretly hoped he wouldn’t be disappointed.

The next evening as I was coming home from work my cell phone rang. It was Jacob calling to tell me she’d given him something in return. I could feel his smile through the phone and the minute I walked in the door he proudly shared the Snoopy with a rose in its mouth that he’d received.

How lucky I am that my son shared his secret with me. I couldn’t have wished for anything better.

I live with two eight year football fanatics so I knew last night’s game was must-see TV.  I expected running commentary as the boys’ beloved Giants battled the Patriots.  What I didn’t expect was tonight’s dinner conversation – a detailed post-game review of their favorite Super Bowl ads. At first I thought their favorites would only be for things they already knew and liked, but was surprised that their top 10 list included three car commercials and a Bud Light spot.

Sam’s hands-down favorite commercial was M&M’s Just My Shell.  When I asked what he liked about the ad he said it was funny and that he liked that it featured one of his favorite songs.  He then proceeded to deliver the commercial’s entire storyline ending with his own version of the “wiggle, wiggle, wiggle.” His other favorite spots were Pepsi’s King’s Court “because it was funny” and he “loves X-Factor and Melanie Amora” and Fiat’s Seduction, again because it was funny and had “a cool car.”   

Both boys agreed that Coke’s Polar Bears were funny, Doritos Sling Baby was hysterical and Honda’s Ferris Bueller parody was great, especially because they loved the movie (and I didn’t even know they’d seen it).  While they had no idea who Jerry Seinfeld or Jay Leno are, they were able to tell the story about one guy trying to get a new Acura and losing out to another guy in a flying squirrel suit.  They also got a kick out of a French Bulldog in running shoes for Skechers.

What got to me most, however, was Jacob’s explanation of his favorite ad, Bud Light’s Rescue Dog.  He’s partial to puppies so that was a big part of the draw for him, especially since he’s far from legal drinking age.  But when we were talking about the ad which he referred to as “Here Wego” he was concerned that the people were using Wego for their own selfish reasons – to bring them beer.

Now I’m used to the kids giving me the play-by-play after a game, but never did I think that the ads had this much of an impact on them. I was amazed by their ability to recall the spots, name the brand each ad was for and recite the scripts verbatim.  Of course as one friend put it, “this year’s ads, rife with sophomoric humor, must have been designed with a bulls-eye target of an eight year boy.”

But marketers can take heart - as Sam puts it – “You know an ad is good when the kids like it, cause then they bug their parents to buy stuff.” 

I guess Pepsi, Bud Light, Doritos and a new Fiat are on my shopping list!

When you live with two eight year old boys and have countless kids in and out of your house all week a vacuum is a major necessity. When we bought our house five years ago, we purchased a Dyson, a high-end, high-priced cleaning machine and expected that it would last forever (or at least close to it).

The other day I found the vacuum in my home office with a note from the cleaning lady informing me that it was broken. I started looking online for both repair shops and new vacuums, trying to decide the quickest and least painful way back to household cleanliness. My husband, ever the practical one in our relationship, suggested that I spend a whole lot less on a replacement vacuum, thinking the cleaning lady wasn’t in need of such a pricey “gift.” I decided to wait until morning and see what the folks at Dyson suggested I do.

My call with Dyson customer service may truly be the best customer experience I have ever had with a brand. Nelson, my customer care representative, spent 49 minutes on the phone with me and helped diagnose my vacuum’s problem. By listening to the sound of the vacuum cleaner he was able to detect a clog and stayed with me as I found a lovely assortment of batteries, rocks, pens, paper clips and small plastic toys stuck in the cleaning hose. He then proceeded to help me fix it, staying on the phone with me until my vacuum was purring like new.

Other brands take note: never once did Nelson try to sell me anything and never once did I feel like he wished he was doing something else.

When many think about the changing of the season they picture the greens, red and golds that make up the beautiful fall foliage.  With October being Breast Cancer Awareness Month it’s gotten awfully hard not to think pink. 

Numerous companies have jumped on the pink bandwagon and according to The New York Times, “the pinking of America has become a multi-billion-dollar business, a marketing, merchandising and fund-raising opportunity that is almost unrivaled in scope.”  While some of the brand tie-ins seem silly or gratuitous, it’s hard to argue with the $420 million raised by the Susan G. Komen Foundation in 2010 alone.

The Ford Motor Company (client) donates 100% of the proceeds of its Warriors in Pink Gear to Komen and during the month of October donated $1 per like of its Ford Warriors in Pink Facebook page.  Martina McBride launched her new album, Eleven, via a cross-country train tour on the Pink Together Express Powered by Amtrak (client) culminating with a performance atop the Empire State Building and lighting of the building in pink, all to raise breast cancer awareness.  Then you have the NFL, whose games featured players, coaches and referees wearing pink game apparel, on-field pink ribbon stencils, special game balls and pink coins all to support the fight against breast cancer.

But my favorite pink campaign this year was by American Airlines.  I stumbled upon their efforts by happenstance – as I boarded my flight from NY to Chicago I was handed a pink and white airplane-shaped cookie asking me to #tweetthecure.  Not realizing that I was flying on the day of the airlines’ global, system-wide “Pink Out” I was surprised, and I have to admit, delighted, when I walked through O’Hare enjoying the creatively decorated ticket counters and gates.  My two favorites were a pink  bowling alley asking customers to help Strike Out Cancer and a photo display of employee’s pets called “Paws for Pink.”

The energy and enthusiasm of American’s employees for the cause was catching.  I found myself lingering in the airport and photographing their displays. I joined their efforts to raise $1 million for breast cancer research with a donation of my own.  And, as a testament that pink marketing can really make a difference, I attempted to switch my return flight from a competing airline, but alas my ticket was non-refundable.

What pink efforts did you enjoy this October?   

I spent yesterday afternoon at Bowlmor Lanes in Times Square with my colleagues from @erwwpr. A busy last few months resulted in a belated summer outing termed “fall fest.” Management talk about the value of employee activities and how much the young people enjoy them, but something often seems to come up last minute that prevents them from attending. I know because I’ve fallen victim many times myself.

So, today, instead of letting a pressing rfp and assorted other items keep me tied to my computer,  I spent the afternoon getting to know my team better.  I learned that the women on the health care team have wildly creative bowling names such as Spider and Brand, that one of our newer employees is passionate about dogs (and is willing to dog sit any chance she gets) and that our head of HR is a really good bowler who led the day with a score of 149. 

The camaraderie that developed over the course of the afternoon is further proof of the value that comes from time spent off-site in an active and social setting. I may have bowled a personal best and broken 100 for the first time, but it is the high-fives and cheers that came with each spare and strike that I will remember most.

How often do you talk about sex?  And when you do, do you raise an eyebrow? My posts and tweets on this topic tonight seemed to have raised quite a few.

We live in a world where young children start off embarrassed about their sexual curiosity - and I know this from experience with my own kids. Eventually they grow up and stories about their sexual conquests permeate conversations with their friends. So how is it that as we age, sex once again becomes a taboo topic, particularly among those married with children?

Tonight’s “Get a Room” event was for Durex, maker of condoms and sex toys and one of our clients. Bridget Marquardt former “Girls Next Door” star was on hand granting folks permission to talk about sex and try things they’ve only dreamed of.

As guest enjoyed suggestively named cocktails such as the Joytini and Temptation and were treated to various sexual vignettes - featuring everything from aromatherapy to assorted aphrodisiacs - the entire evening was designed to serve as sexual foreplay.

Yet in the era of facebook, twitter and foursquare where many of us are quick to check in and share the details of our daily lives, sex seems to be the one topic where our privacy settings remain secure.

At tonight’s party, my husband and I each picked up a key with a card attached - mine read flirty and Michael’s naughty. Did we accept this invitation to make those our personas for the evening?

I’ll never tell…