#grateful for new friends and new vp tips

[wanderingaldecaldo]

The Streetkid

Pepe: Everything chill, hermana? V: Some bastard tried to mug me. I handled it. Pepe: Who? Local guy? V: You really think some local'd try to mug me, Pepe?

After I took a break in February and played Horizon Zero Dawn, I felt the need to start Cyberpunk 2077 up once more with my disaster bisexual streetkid. I wanted to play through the story fully, and not get distracted by photomode like I have all the other playthrus I started since I first bootcamped my MBP.

To that end, I am only playing with clothing replacers, which is highly ironic given the recent wealth of ArchiveXL mods. But creativity within restraint is something I always enjoy, and dressing Val this playthru has indeed been fun. It's made me go out of my way to shop for clothing, and check back with vendors whenever I'm nearby because I might finally stumble upon Mel's green plunge dress.

Also I have been thinking about Val in context of this AU (versus what I consider her canon, the Into My Arms series) and how she will call Rogue from the rooftop instead of Panam, and then contrasting that with Corpo Val and how she goes it alone with Johnny, and it gave me some good insight into their respective personalities.

To some extent Streetkid Val is used to relying on others—her cousin Mark, then Emma and her gang, then 6th Street and Atlanta and Jackie, of course—while Corpo Val grew up in the cold, distrusting corpo world. She had a few real friends but they were scarce so she learned to rely on herself most of all.

And a couple more, just because I can:

[anathewierdo]

Call of the Ocean  Chapter 10: She’s Real

Pairing: CEO!Mechanic!Dean Winchester x Mermaid!Reader

Word count: 5760

Chapter summary: After a heart-wrenching encounter with his ex and his Pop’s party, Dean goes back to Matagorda to get started on his new life and... well, I think the title kind of sort of gives away the rest 😉

Series summary: CEO of Winchester Auto Dean Winchester has had enough of the office life. With his father keeping him from what he wants to do, which is work on the plant floor, Dean decides to leave for a quiet life. In Matagorda, Texas, he finds something he never thought he would, a chance encounter with a mythical creature.

Call of the Ocean Masterlist

A/N: Ma dudes, life is crazy. It’s Independence Day here in Mexico, I just volunteered to be an online teacher for a social service program and I am swamped in assignments... It’s interesting, to say the least. This has all put a damper on all of my WIP’s and I am desperate to put something else out there besides this amazing series (’cause I do have some stuff I think y’all would like :) ). This series is a collaboration with @flamencodiva​ . Lovely text banners made by the amazingly talented @talesmaniac89​

Next chapter will be posted this saturday, september 19th :D

“Hi, Dean,” Cassie said before biting her lip. She seemed nervous. “I was hoping we could talk?” 

“I--” Dean wasn’t sure what to say as he brought his glass to his lips and took a sip. 

The amber liquid flowed down his throat giving him a slight burn. There was so much he wanted to say to her. Mostly he wanted to tell her to fuck off, but to make a scene in the ballroom would have all eyes on him. The last thing he needed was his family to be embarrassed.   

“I don’t think that’s a good idea, Cassie,” he gave her a soft smile. “Go back inside, have a good time.”

“But Dean, I–”

“Please, Cassie. I said no. I– I can’t. Go back inside. Let me at least have a decent, calm night.”

“Five minutes, Dean,” she begged. “Just five minutes and I’ll leave you alone. I promise.”

Dean pursed his lips and looked her in the eyes, trying to catch his breath and get a grip of himself without being too obvious. The one thing that flashed in his mind were the last words she uttered when he was down on his knee asking to marry her. ‘I cheated on you’. Those words had tore through him like a samurai sword slicing a bamboo tree. One look into her eyes through her mask made his heart clench. Swallowing the lump in his throat, he clenched his jaw and held on to his whiskey glass for dear life. 

“Five minutes,” he conceded. 

“That’s all I ask for,” Cassie nodded.

He didn’t let her take his hand, but he allowed her to guide him outside of the venue without anyone noticing. She always knew how to sneak them out of events like this to have some alone time, when she was feeling overwhelmed or he was feeling a bit too tired for him to keep up a friendly face. A little escapade, a little chat, a few kisses (sometimes more), and they would be alright again. His heart clenched a little at the memories.

When they stopped at the edge of the garden, he was pretty sure no one would come looking here for them. He could just barely make out the music that was playing; there was no way in hell anyone would hear whatever they were going to discuss.

“Say what you need to say,” Dean sighed as he looked at his watch. “Clock is ticking and I have to hit the road soon.” 

“I know we left it in a very, very bad place, Dean,” She licked her lips and took in a deep breath. “I know nothing I say will ever get you to forgive me… but I am so very sorry.” 

“Okay?” Dean gave a shrug. “You’re sorry. Which sorry are we? Sorry for leading me on? Sorry for lying to my face for who knows how long while you were seeing someone else behind my back? Or sorry that you destroyed five years of not just a relationship, but our friendship?” 

“For everything, Dean,” she replied. “I fucked up, and I am so, so sorry… when I woke up the next morning and I realized that the man lying beside me wasn’t you and I– I panicked. I couldn’t believe I had done that and I just–”

“Save it, Cassie,” Dean shook his head. “You’re sorry? Ok. Why couldn’t you just tell me that you didn’t love me anymore? Or was it when I told you that I was thinking about not being CEO anymore that you saw the dollar signs fly away?” he sneered. 

“I was not dating you for the money and you know that, Dean.”

“Could have fooled me,” he huffed. “I gave you everything I had Cassie. I gave you a piece of me I never showed anyone! And you sit there telling me it wasn’t about the money? Then what?” 

“I don’t know!” she exclaimed. “All I know is that I couldn’t believe I had done it. I never– I never meant to hurt you, Dean, I swear. And I didn’t want to lose you, I–” she stuttered. “But then I saw you down on one knee and I couldn’t do it. I couldn’t be with you knowing I had done that. I swear, I never meant to hurt you, Dean.”

“Well, you did.” -- he took a long sip of his whiskey and smacked his lips together-- “you said you were sorry, okay. Your time is up.” he looked down at the ground. Knowing that if he looked at her the wall would break. “I hope you have a nice life, I’m leaving in a few minutes. Kansas isn’t my home anymore.” 

“I hope wherever you’re going is a good home for you, then,” she mumbled. “I wish you the best, Dean. I really do.”

Dean didn’t know how to respond, so he just nodded his head and went around Cassie to go back to the party. He stopped after a few steps.

“When did it happen?”

He was certain that her answer to his question would not do him any favors. If anything, it would make the pain worse and open up wounds he thought were healed.

But he had to know.

“Remember that last trip I took with a couple of my friends from work? The little town they wanted to visit for all that bird-seeing?”

Dean nodded, “I remember. You were excited and I bought you everything you needed.” 

“Mhm… On the second day of that trip, we met this guy, one of the guides they had around. He was nice, invited me for a few drinks… and I didn’t say no… You know what happened next.”

Just like the night she confessed, the night she refused his proposal, Dean felt his heart shatter all over again. He had his answer, he was hurt.

But he was done.

Turning around one last time to look at Cassie, he gave her a wobbly smile and felt the tears pool in his eyes. 

“Thank you.” he nodded. “Have a nice life, Cassie. I hope I never see you again.”

“Dean--” she tried to reach for him but stop when she met his angry glare. 

“I got my answer. You knew for a month and strung me along,” he shook his head. “Just stay away from my family, Cassie. Don’t come to these things anymore. You broke what we had, there is no saving that. So I hope the next guy you decide to string along, won’t go for your bullshit.” 

With those last words, Dean opened the door into the ballroom and disappeared into the crowd. He made a beeline for the bar holding his empty glass. He knew he had promised, but fuck if he didn’t need another drink before he hit the road. He regretted listening to her, but he had closure, he got the answer that had plagued him for a good six months. As he placed a generous tip into the bartender’s tip jar, he never noticed Sam standing next to him. 

“Are you ok, Dean? What happened?”

“I’m fine Sam,” Dean hissed. “Just fine. Going to head out in a few anyways. The food sucks so I might get a burger before I hit the highway.” 

A smack across his head made him jump to turn and see his grandmother behind him. 

“Hi, Nana,” he gave her a sheepish smile.   

“Dean, so help me you are not going to cut out early. You will sit at the family table, eat the dinner your mother and I picked, and try to make it clear to Ms. Braeden that she is a leech.” She grabbed the whiskey glass from him and drank it. 

“I-- Nana, that’s--” Dean stopped when he met her glare. “Yes ma’am,” he grumbled. 

“Besides,” she placed the whiskey glass on the bar top and linked her arm with Dean’s. “Don’t worry, you are going to sit next to me, Sam is going to sit next to Pop’s and your father will sit next to Jessica far away from you. I also believe you said you were driving back to Texas tonight so no more whiskey.” 

“Yes, Nana,” Dean grumbled as she led them towards the dining area. Dean sighed when he noticed Lisa staring at him. “Ms. Braeden.” 

“Shall we go have dinner, Dean?” she held up her arm for him.

With a grunt, he reluctantly took her arm in his and made his way towards his seat. He helped Lisa into hers before sitting next to her. Sliding his chair slightly away from her, he smiled as he looked over the menu. He cursed himself for insulting The hor dourves. Looking at the main menu he knew his Pop’s had picked the food. Ribeye steak with fries and wild rice. 

“Didn't think I was going to let Nana put rabbit food out here, did you?” Samuel had leaned over to whisper to his grandson. 

Dean laughed, “No sir. I guess not.”   

Dean was grateful to not be near his Dad. He stiffened when he felt Lisa’s hand on his thigh and coughed giving her a sideways glance. Calmly, he reached down and removed her hand giving her a soft glare. 

“Ms. Braeden,” he huffed. “We are at a respectable party. Compose yourself.” 

“But Dean…” she whined softly. “Wouldn’t you rather go somewhere private and put those hands to good use?”

“I wouldn’t touch you with a ten-foot pole,” he growled into her ear. “I am in no mood for your games. And if this is how a VP of a company tries to close her deals it makes me wonder what kind of business you want us to enter with?” 

“And where was this attitude when we were having such a nice time the last time I saw you?”

“That was a lapse in judgment,” Dean sighed. “It won’t happen again. Now, I suggest you behave in a professional manner or you will force me to reconsider the contract,” he growled glaring at her. 

That seemed to do the trick as she licked her lips and cleared her throat. She seemed to realize that she had tried to push him a tad too far. Sitting back she huffed, much to Dean’s relief. He smiled when the food came and began to dig in. He and his grandfather continued to talk about Matagorda and his operations. He was excited to start right away. He mentioned that the former owner of the garage also owned a scrap yard, meaning Dean could restore some of the cars. If the business went well, Dean offered his grandfather a place to test the new engines and maybe make it a small branch of their corporation. 

“Now I do need to come to visit and see your garage,” Samuel smiled. 

“Garage?” John piped in from behind.   

“Just a small venture I’m sending Dean on,” Samuel winked. “The boy found something that could help us be more independent in our engine building. I like it.” 

“What?!”

“We can talk later, Pop’s. Besides,” Dean pushed his empty plate away. “Now, where is the dessert table?” 

Samuel let out a laugh as the desert table was presented with a cake in the center and an assortment of other treats around it. 

“Ms. Braeden I hope you have had a wonderful time. But, once I finish dessert I will be making my way to my new home.” Dean reached into his wallet and pulled out a few cash bills to hand to her. “That should cover a cab back to where you are staying.” 

With that, he ignored his father’s stares and made his way to the dessert table. Sam had watched the interaction and couldn’t help but smirk. But he knew something was off with Dean. Surveying the surroundings, Sam’s eyes landed on a familiar person and he sighed. He figured out Dean’s mood. Cassie must have cornered him. Walking to his brother, he cleared his throat. 

“So, you have a good night? Anyone catch your eye?” Sam tried to act casual. 

“Not really,” Dean looked over the different pies and frowned. “Man, I can’t pick one. They all look good!” he grumbled. 

“They do…” Sam conceded. “So… I just happened to see a familiar face…”

“Drop it, Sam,” Dean sighed as he picked up a place and placed a slice of pecan pie and a slice of apple pie. 

“What did she tell you? What happened?”

“She tried to apologize, I ripped her a new one and called her a gold digger.” Dean sighed. “Can we please just drop it. I’m never seeing her again, and I told her to not come to these things anymore.” Dean watched as Sam grabbed a fruit tart and rolled his eyes. 

“What?!” Sam exclaimed, then quickly composed himself at the reminder that they weren’t alone. “No. Nonononononono no you have to tell me everything– Dean, did you really– “

“What are you, a girl?” Dean raised his brow at his brother. “Look, she asked if she could talk to me, I gave her five minutes.” he made his way towards their table and Sam took Lisa’s unoccupied seat. “So we walk to the garden and she went in on how sorry she was and I asked sorry for what part of her being a bitch. She all but said that she had cheated me on that trip she went on a month before I proposed.”  Dean let out in one breath. “So I just told her that she wasn’t welcome to these events anymore.” 

“Holy crap.” Sam gasped. “Holy crap. Dean, I’m so proud of you.”

“It’s no big deal,” Dean tried to take a bite but stopped when Sam hugged him. 

“It is.” His little brother smiled. “It really is.”

“Can you be any more annoying, Bitch?” Dean growled as he gave his brother his best bitch face. “I’m trying to eat my pie.” 

“Ok, ok, eat your pie, you jerk.” Sam conceded. “Any other plans and interesting chats for the night?”

“Well, I’m going to enjoy my dessert and head on out. Benny sent me a message saying that Cas decided to join us, so they are both on their way. I need to find a spot to rest in between my drive back to Matagorda.” Dean smiled. 

“Well, from the way I see it,” Sam returned a smile of his own, “everything is starting to look up for you, don’t you think?”

“Yeah, it is,” Dean smiled. 

Dean beamed as he devoured the two slices of pie. With a look around he noticed his mother and Nana together. He decided it was time to say his goodbyes and make the twelve-hour drive back. He walked over and cleared his throat. 

“Ladies,” He smiled. “I need to make my twelve-hour drive. So I came to say goodbye.” He gave them each a hug and a kiss on the cheek. 

“Please call when you get there,” His mother caressed his cheek. “I don’t need to worry.” 

“Same goes for me young man,” Deana hugged him tightly. “You call me so that Pop’s and I won’t worry.” 

“I promise,” Dean smiled as he walked away and found Sam and Jess talking with some of the other company lawyers. “Bye Duffus,” he punched Sam’s shoulder. “Bye short stack.” 

“Be careful on your way home, ok?” Jess raised her eyebrow.

“Yeah, yeah,” He hugged them both before waving at his grandfather who was distracting his father. 

Jogging to his car, he froze when he noticed someone leaning against it. There stood Lisa Braeden. His jaw clenched in anger as he grabbed his keys ignoring her.

“Decided to leave without saying goodbye?” she removed her mask and looked at him. “You know I liked flirty you better.”   

“I thought I told you to be professional?” Dean growled. 

“What’s the matter, Dean?” Lisa walked to him, she was trying to pull out all the stops. “Do you really need to go that bad that you can’t have a bit of--” she placed herself dangerously close to him, “fun.”  

“Ms. Braeden, it seems to me that you cannot comprehend the meaning of the word no. And I don’t have time to explain it to you.” He peeled himself away from her. “I need to go.”

Dean made his way to the driver’s side and climbed in, quickly locking the door and starting the engine. He wasted no time in peeling out of the parking spot he was in and making his way to the highway, heading to Texas. 

About an hour in on his trip, his phone started ringing. 

“Hello?” Dean sighed. He realized he hadn’t checked who it was and sighed when a voice screamed in his ear. 

“Where the fuck are you?!” His father’s voice made him put the phone away from his ear, cringing at the volume his father was screaming at. “And would you care to explain to me why I just received the news that Benny and Castiel quit the company?!”

“Huh?” Dean began making stacking noises. “Dad? Is that you? I can’t hear you.” He smiled to himself. 

“Do not fucking play dumb, Dean Winchester!”

“Hello?” Dean continued to play dumb. “Hello? Dad? Look if you can hear me, I guess you should know that I’m opening my own garage so I guess I took the best guys for the job with me. So you go ahead and have fun replacing them.” Dean pulled the phone away and hung up before his father could respond. 

Dean put his phone on silent as his father tried to continue to call him. It was nice to make his father angry. He knew that Benny and Cas were the backbones of their departments. Benny especially at the plant. Plus now that he was out of there, it would be hard to maintain clients. Halfway along his trip, he found a motel in Ada, Oklahoma.  After making himself as comfortable as he could be in a motel, he grabbed his phone to see twelve missed calls from his dad. 

“Wow,” he chuckled. “He must be really pissed.” 

Pressing a button, Dean decided to check his voicemail.

“Dean, answer your goddamn phone! What the fuck did you do?! What in the hell are you doing heading back to Nowhere, Texas?! Get your ass back here and do your job as the company’s CEO!”

*Beep* 

“DEAN! GOD DAMN IT! What the hell is going on? You need to answer me damn it!” 

*Beep* 

“Dean you better fucking answer your phone!”

*Beep*

“Dean if you don’t call me back you can kiss coming home goodbye! If this is how you are going to thank me for trying to --” 

He cut the message off, not wanting to listen anymore. 

“Sorry dad,” he tossed the phone to the side, then slid his hands across his face.

Picking up his phone, he looked at the time and dialed his mother.  It rang a few times before he heard the sound of her picking it up. 

“Mom?” He sighed. 

“Hang on a second, honey,” his mother mumbled. He heard his mother’s footsteps for a few seconds, and the sound of a door closing. “Where are you, Dean?”

“Motel in Oklahoma,” he answered. “How– How’s Dad?”

“Sleeping on the couch,” she sighed. “He’s upset. But I laid into him really good. I know that he said you can never come back, but don’t listen to him. You just keep ignoring him. I think he’s just hurt. He had big dreams for you, but he has to realize that his dreams aren’t your dreams.” 

“I know, Ma,” He sighed. “Just… make sure you keep him in line, I guess. I just miss how we used to be before he got this idea of me being behind the desk.” 

“I will try, Dean, believe that,” Mom promised. “I’ll see what I can do… For now, just get yourself to Matagorda. Your business is not going to open itself.” 

“I was just calling to check-in,” he muttered. “Going to sleep and I’ll call you when I make it to the house.” 

“Thank you for doing that, seriously. And hey, cheer up honey, you’re gonna do great in Texas,” she assured. “I love you, Dean.”

“I love you too, Ma,” Dean gave a soft chuckle. “I’ll invite you over once everything is settled. I should get some sleep.” 

“I can’t wait to see that famous house near the beach of yours,” Mary chuckled. “Good night, hun.”

Dean hung up the phone and plopped himself on the bed. He didn’t bother with changing out of his clothes, but he did kick off his dress shoes. He would worry about it in the morning. He drifted off to sleep, his mind wandering to his beach house.

It happened again. He could feel the salty sea air hitting his face. The sun shone brightly as he looked over the railing of his porch and watched where the shore met the water. The sounds of the waves crashing seemed to soothe him. 

‘Dean’ 

The voice sounded like a melody. He stood straight as he looked around for the source. He walked down the porch steps and made his way to the shore. He was barefoot, and as he neared the edge he could feel the water splash along his feet, the sand squishing between his toes. 

A few yards away, close enough to the sea to let the water splash her up to her ankles, was standing the same woman from his other dream. She was wearing a green sundress, her hair loose and flowing with the wind. He found his way towards her, but the closer he tried to get, the farther away she seemed to be. 

‘Wait,’ he called out. ‘Come back.’

Dean found himself surrounded in darkness before the feel of arms held him back. He turned to see Lisa holding on to him. 

‘She’s not what you want, Dean.’ 

He shook his head. ‘You don’t know anything about what I want.’

‘But you are mine, Dean.’ she hissed. ‘I’m not going to let you go.’

Dean felt himself struggling to get out of her grasp until he was engulfed in darkness.

He sat up on the bed, his face covered in sweat and his heartbeat going fast. Looking at the time, he had only gotten five hours of sleep. 

“Dammit,” he cursed. 

The dream was worse than the others. It was ominous, and the fact that Lisa was in it made him shudder. Shedding his designer suit, he took a quick shower. Letting the hot water wash off all his worry. All he needed to do was get back home and relax. 

It was barely nine am by the time he checked out of the little motel. He bought himself a breakfast burrito and a soda from a nearby fast-food restaurant and went back to the road. Matagorda was so close yet still so far away. He was itching to get there and just be in his home. As he was on the road his phone began to ring. This time he made sure to check the caller ID before answering. 

“Benny!” Dean smiled. “You find the house okay?” 

“We sure did, De!” Benny greeted. “Can’t believe you found such a nice little cozy place.”

“You and Andrea can use one of the rooms. The one at the end of the hall on the second floor is mine. Make yourselves at home.” Dean smiled and looked at the time. “I should be there in a few hours.” 

“Thanks, brother. Andrea and I are going to take good care of this place while you get here.”

“Just make sure you guys take a look around.” He smiled. “Once I get there we’ll head to the market and I can cook us up some grub. Did Cas make it yet?” 

“He had to stay back and deal with some last-minute stuff. Should be here somewhere between tonight and tomorrow morning.”

“Sounds good.” Dean smiled. “I’ll let you and Andrea get settled. Just make sure you guys are dressed by the time I get there.” he teased. 

Benny’s laugh was loud even on the phone. “I make no promises! Get here in one piece, brother.” 

“Yeah, yeah,” Dean laughed. “Just make sure I don’t see your pale ass when I get home okay. I should be there in about three more hours.” 

“Got it! See ya later, brother!”

With that Dean hung up the phone and focused on driving. He couldn’t wait to get things started. The first thing he was going to do was to dive into the ocean. Even after moving in, he hadn’t so much as dipped a toe into, what looked like, the refreshing ocean water. 

Three hours later and he sighed in relief when his new home came into view. The rumble of the impala soothed him as he pulled up next to Benny’s own Chevy. A nice cherry red Camaro in pristine condition. It was one of the things that made him like Benny when they first met. Their love of girls, booze, and cars. Benny helped him pick himself up after Cassie. Hell, Benny was the one who stopped him from trying to win Cassie back one night when he got blacked out drunk. He was glad Benny came with him. He couldn’t see himself doing this venture with anyone else. Grabbing what bags he could, he fished his house keys out of his pocket and made his way up. With a smile, he unlocked the door, and slightly opened it, before kicking it with a force. 

“Honey, I’m HOME!” He belted out with a laugh as Benny and Andrea rushed to see what the commotion was.  

Benny almost tackled him in a hug, then punched him hard on the shoulder when he pulled away. “Fuck you, you son of a bitch! You scared the crap out of me!”

“It’s a good thing you’re dressed. Anyways,” Dean laughed. “You two take your time, I can head to the market and pick up some food to cook. Fish okay?” 

“More than okay,” Andrea nodded. “We’ll set the table and get everything ready for when you come back.”

“I’ll just put my stuff in my room and head out,” Dean walked past Benny and up the stairs making his way to his room at the end of the hall. 

He had picked the room because it was closest to the small cliff. He could hear the waves crashing in the middle of the night. With a smile, he took in his surroundings. He felt at home. 

As small as Matagorda is, the food, as far as Dean is concerned, is freaking amazing.

Being so small and so close to the Gulf, Matagorda is a hot spot for fishing. Fresh produce from the ocean hits the market every day, and Dean, being anxious to learn how to cook everything Matagorda had to offer, introducing himself as the new mechanic, asking around with some of the locals to learn the best tips to make some decent grub.

Ellen had been the nicest one, showing him around the best places to eat, taught him how to tell the difference between the good produce and the not-so-good ones. Climbing into Baby, after putting away his stuff, he drove down the small street, the only one really, that led to Mainstreet and the market.

With traffic being basically nonexistent, the trip took less than he expected (Dean still hadn’t gotten used to getting somewhere, anywhere really, so quick), and parked his car outside one of the best places to buy fish around there according to Ellen: Buddy’s Market & Seafood. He smiled and waved at some of the neighbors who he had met when he first moved in. Some of them blushed as he walked by.

“Mrs. Baker,” he gave her a small wave. 

As he walked by he couldn’t help but smile when he heard her whisper. 

“That’s the new Mechanic I was telling you about Betty,” she gushed. “Easy on the eyes, if you ask me.”

“More like a sexy stud muffin,” Betty had whispered back. “Is he single?” 

“I think so,” Mrs. Baker smiled. “But don’t even think about it. I already have my Granddaughter coming to this year’s Clam Bake. I call dibs!”

Dean shook his head as he walked inside. Heading towards the section of the store where they kept the fresh produce, Dean looked around for anything that wouldn’t be too difficult to make (he was good, thank you very much, but fish is fucking tricky). Catching sight of a few fish on the display case, he smiled at seeing crevalle jacks amongst it. He was walking along with the case when he bumped into someone. 

“I’m sorry,” the voice made him freeze. He recognized it. 

Turning around, he came face to face with the woman of his dreams.

“It’s no problem,” he assured her with a soft smile, trying as hard as he could not let it show how stunned he was. 

“I should be more careful,” she tucked a few of her stray hairs behind her ear. “My friend says I’m worse than a guppy who got lost in the ocean.” she chuckled. And seemed to freeze in embarrassment.  

Dean cocked an eyebrow, “well, that is an analogy I had not heard yet.”

“I’m not from around here,” she blushed. “I’m visiting a friend.” she avoided looking at him, scared of embarrassing herself anymore. 

He was about to introduce himself in an attempt to take away some of the awkwardness she was feeling but was caught off by none other than Ellen Harvelle.

“Y/N!” Ellen gave a deep sigh of relief. “Darlin’ you move faster than a dang cheetah. I thought I lost you.” she shook her head and turned to smile at Dean. “Well hey, Dean! Didn’t realize you got back.” 

“I just did, Ellen,” he smiled back, “Hit town about less than an hour ago and I want to buy something for a couple of guests I have back home. Was thinking of giving them a crevalle jack.”

“And here I figured you were a steak and lobster kind of man,” Ellen let out a laugh. “Oh,” she smiled and turned to Y/N. “Y/N, this is Dean. He is my next-door neighbor. Dean this is Y/N, she’s visiting from out of town.” 

“Pleasure to meet you, Y/N,” Dean winked as he offered his hand for her to shake.

Y/N stared at his hand for a moment, before realizing what he was doing and put her hand in his, remembering what Ellen had taught her about handshakes and gave him a strong grip. “Nice to meet you too.” 

Dean felt a small jolt of electricity as his hand touched hers. He couldn’t help but look deep into her eyes and felt the wind get knocked out of him. He hadn’t noticed he was holding on to her hand longer than he should. 

“Is he supposed to hold my hand for this long?” she whispered to Ellen. Not realizing that Dean could hear her. 

“Oh! No– I’m so sorry,” he stuttered as he let go of her, giving an apologetic look. “I just got distracted for a moment, thinking about ways to cook that crevalle.”

“Dean, are you sure you want to cook it? If not cooked properly, you could poison someone.” Ellen raised a brow at him. “There is nothing wrong with traditional steak and lobster.” 

He turned to look at the older woman. “Hmm? Oh, yeah… I hadn’t thought of that part…” he confessed as he scratched the back of his head. “Maybe I will stick to the steak. I haven’t had my cooking classes with you yet, Ellen.” He gave both women a sheepish smile.

“Well,” Ellen smiled at the way Dean looked at Y/N. “I’m sure the next time Y/N comes to town she would be sure to join you. I’m teaching her how to cook shrimp gumbo tonight.” 

“Ellen, I… I’m sure Dean has better things to do than watch me learn to cook--” Y/N looked down at her shoes. 

“Nonsense!” Ellen assured her, “I, for one, could use another couple of extra hands to help me teach you and Thasman how to cook. And Dean here definitely needs to learn how to properly cook with fish. Win-win, ya see?”

“Is Thasman your boyfriend?” Dean felt his heart sink a bit when he heard that there was a man with Y/N. 

“Oh, Poseidon, no!” she exclaimed, shaking her head frantically, “He’s my friend, we came here together.”

Dean smiled at her exclamation, “Never heard anyone use Poseidon’s name like that. I like it.”  

“There are a lot of things she and Thasman do differently.” Ellen smiled fondly at her, “you’d be surprised.”

“I think we need to find those shrimps you mentioned, Ellen.” Y/N blushed furiously as she played with the hem of her shirt nervously. “Nice meeting you, Mr. Dean.”

“It was nice to meet you, Ms. Y/N,” Dean gave her a bright smile. “Will you be back in time for the Clam Bake in a few weeks?” He had said it before he stopped himself.

“I do hope so,” Ellen chimed in. “Are you askin’ her out, Campbell?”

“I thought she could use a friendly face to help ease her,” Dean defended. “Besides, I’m new to the area too. We could both learn together.”  

“I don’t know,” she whispered sadly. “I might have a prior engagement.” With a deep breath, she gave him a soft smile. “It was very nice to meet you.” 

With that, she excused herself and began to walk away. Ellen tilted her head at how sad Y/N looked. 

“Huh,” she gave Dean a smile. “Don’t worry. I’ll see what I can do to get her here for the Clambake. You worry about feedin’ your friends!”  

“Thanks, Ellen,” Dean gave her a soft smile. “I hope I didn’t offend her. I was only trying to be friendly.” 

“I don’t think you did boy, don’t worry.” Ellen sympathized. “I gotta go before I lose her again. See you later, Dean.”

“I’ll see you around, Ellen,” he smiled as she made her way to chase after Y/N. 

He couldn’t believe it. The girl of his dreams bumped into him. But there was something wrong. She looked sad. Almost as if she was worried about something. 

Whatever it was, he hoped it wouldn’t stop her from seeing him again.

And so there’s chapter 10! 

Any and all types of feedback is greatly appreciated :D

My asks are open in case you wanna send feedback, have questions or wanna be added to the tag list :)

My requests are also open, in case you want me to write something specific.

Call of the Ocean tag list: (if your username is in bold italics, that means tumblr didn’t let me tag you)

@67-chevy-baby​ @tmiships4life @cloudyskylines​ @chelsea072498​ @carryon-doctor-lock​ @samanddeanwinchester67​ @thatgirl1456​ @satans-0-spawn​ @waywardrose13​ @secretsthathauntus​ @parinarain​ @swagfancroissantpizza​ @roonyxx​ @roxytheimmortal​ @starryeyeseunbyul​ @rintheemolion​ @abeautifuldiaster124​ @lovely-lynns-likes​ @ladyofmaidensandwine​ @starchildwild​ @peachyafshawn​ @idksupernatural​ @mimzy1994​ @winchest09​ @katehuntington​ @superfanficnatural​ @waywardbeanie​ @janicho88​ @malfoysqueen14​ @whatareyousearchingfordean​ @emoryhemsworth​ @jensengirl83​ @atc74​ @deanwanddamons​ @crashdevlin​ @hobby27​ @notyourtypicalrose​ @babykalika2001 @deanmonandnegansbitch​ @kickingitwithkirk​ @sandlee44​ @fandom-princess-forevermore​ @desertmoths​ @cookiechipdough​ @akshi8278​ @theflamecrystal​ @tessellaneous @mrswhozeewhatsis​ @afangirlsbubble​ @invisiblexnobodyximportant​ @supernatural-love14​

Supernatural tag list:

@bi-danvers0​

[system76]

System76 News: Platinum Luxury Bonus April Edition

Subscribe to our monthly newsletter to get the latest monthly scoops straight to your inbox!

As the 4th month of the year comes to a close, we celebrate the 4th release of Pop!_OS, which had updates to GNOME, Ubuntu, and the Linux kernel, as well as new additions such as Dark Mode, Slim Mode, and Refresh Installs. Continue reading to get the scoop on what’s next for Pop!_OS and more!

Firmware

Coreboot is one step closer

We’ve expanded our Coreboot testing to the Intel model of Thelio. Galago Pro models and the Darter Pro have also received bug fixes for suspend, and improvements have been made for Thunderbolt. There are still some bugs buzzing around Coreboot, but initial tests look promising.                                  

Pop!_OS

Updates Galore with 19.04

In case you missed it, Pop!_OS 19.04 landed on the 18th! Here are a few features and upgrades released in 19.04:

The Slim Mode option maximizes your screen real estate by reducing the height of the header on application windows.

Dark Mode gives your applications a relaxing ambience for nighttime viewing. Both Dark Mode and Slim Mode can be activated in the Appearance settings menu.

Refresh Install allows you to reinstall Pop!_OS without losing Users and any data in your Home directories. This feature is available from the recovery partition on new installations (not upgrades) of both 19.04 and 18.04. For more information on how to do this, see our article on using the recovery partition.

Pop!_OS icons: The icons for Pop!_OS applications, files, and folders have been redesigned to complement GNOME’s icons under their new design guidelines. If you’re grieving the loss of the previous look, don’t fret; Pop! Planet offers the older icon theme as an option.

GNOME has been updated to version 3.32

See our blog post for thorough details on all the new updates and instructions on how to upgrade. Note that 19.04 will continue to see more features to help improve the desktop experience, so stay tuned in social media for those updates.

Software Packages

Discord and Alacritty were packaged for inclusion into our repos, though they will not appear in the Pop!_Shop until the appstream metadata is also added to our repositories.

Lutris, Gamehub, and VS Code have all received version updates.

Alacritty is a terminal emulator that uses the GPU to render the terminal and its contents. If you wish to set it as your default terminal application, you can do so by running the following command:

sudo update-alternatives --config x-terminal-emulator

Thank You Pop!_Volunteers

@stratact submitted a patch to refactor some of the code in Popsicle

@stratact also wrote a library and tool to aid with creating DEP11 appstream metadata, which is now a Pop! project.

@kylecorry31 has migrated development of the Do Not Disturb extension to our repos, which have also been updated. Repo

Conferences & Meetups

Upcoming Events

LinuxFest Northwest | Bellingham, WA | April 26-28

System76 is headed to LinuxFest Northwest on April 26th-28th! Come visit us at our booth over by the raffle area. Meet Emma, Thomas, Aaron, and Levi of our support team (and Alex, who also does things) and enjoy some banter with us about Linux, superheroes, the color pink, and any other topic you’re in the mood to talk about! We’re not too picky. Be sure to join Jupiter Broadcasting and System76 for our parking lot BBQ on Saturday, April 27th! RSVP on Meetup, where you can see all the details, or with Emma.

KiCon | Chicago | April 26-27

Louisa, our VP of Marketing, will be at KiCon in Chicago on April 26th-27th to talk about our work in KiCad designing the IO board for the Thelio desktop line. PCB there or be square!

Pop!_Release Party | Denver | May 4

On May 4th, come join us at our office in Denver, Colorado to celebrate Ubuntu and Pop!_OS 19.04 release! Meet System76 staff and members of the Colorado Ubuntu community, indulge in food and beverage, and take a tour of our factory. RSVP on Meetup, where you can see all the details, or with Emma, and May the 19.04th be with you!

Past Happenings

GNOME Party

On April 20th, we gathered at The Grateful Gnome in Denver to celebrate the release of GNOME 3.32! Drinks were shared. Tales were told. Pointy hats were dearly missed, but we still felt at gnome among friends.                                     

Press Coverage

Linus Tech Tips

Pop!_OS was featured on Linus Tech Tips this month! Watch hosts Anthony Young and James Strieb reenact the Matrix as they discuss gaming on Linux with Pop!_OS!

Level1Tech review of Thelio

Stares into the camera abound in Level1Tech’s new review! Enjoy the many faces of Wendell as he unpacks his first impressions of Thelio.

Opensource.com article on System76 manufacturing

Don Watkins of Opensource.com discusses System76’s use of open hardware in manufacturing Thelio.

Destination Linux and This Week in Linux

Michael Tunnell from Destination Linux and This Week in Linux was in Denver this month and decided to drop us a visit! You could say we were...his Destination. We treated him to lunch and a grand tour of le factory. We’re looking forward to seeing his reactions to his visit on his shows this week!

Customer Stories

Rock the TASBot for Mental Illness

Team TASBot is headed to Utah for their annual Desert Tesla Charity Drive, which will be streamed on the Oryx Pro! This Twitch stream features dwangoAC and TheAxeMan as they become wildly uncomfortable in their respective Teslas, as donations determine the methods of discomfort. Viewers are encouraged to use Crowd Control to alter a car’s features, such as the max speed, car horn, music, and internal temperature, and even make the car dance.

Funds raised during the stream go towards supporting the National Alliance on Mental Illness, an organization that advocates for educational programs and public policy and offers a free hotline for providing support and information.

If there's anything else you want to hear about in these newsletters in the future, be it tech or office dogs or anything in between, just shoot an email over to Katie.

[cryptocoinguides]

Bitcoin Bad News

Today for the bitcoin price and believe it or not, i have news to share with you, which are not easy to share with me here in regards to bitcoin, but nevertheless the truth has to be told. I wan na go here with you into the charts and tell you exactly what we are looking at here right now, why we were getting this big, big red candle and what we can expect for bitcoin right now, in the immediate short term, we are going to Talk about v-launch as well, and many many more things so make sure you’re watching this video until the very end, you are smashing the like button up to 15 000 likes on that video. If you’re watching this, you are asking yourself chris, why didn’t you make a video yesterday scroll down smash up the like button to 15 000 likes and now get let’s get straight into it. Just on a quick note guys, if you want to go a little bit further, even please make sure you are sharing this video with your friends on whatsapp telegram if you feel comfortable with it. This is what helps the channel algorithm the most now.

Let’S talk about the bitcoin price and just wanted to show you this beautiful surrounding i’m on the tip of one palm leaf on the dubai palm. You have the beautiful sunset in the back, which i’m always very grateful for every single day and obviously now i don’t want to bother you with these set with this sentimental stuff and go straight into the content. So, and we are here on the daily canvas. I don’t want to stay on the daily canvas. We will revisit them, though, if we are going over to the four holy candles for bitcoin.



You can see something interesting unfolding because well right here i told you don’t go short if you’re going short, you’re running the danger to get liquidated, we pumped out out of this falling wedge, which has a bullish bias. We perfectly reached my price target. Obviously this is the first profit taking area. I was mentioning also potential higher price targets, though now the question is: are we aiming out here and is bitcoin going lower? Well, let’s first of all look at the previous price action because right here you can see how we had a nice w pattern.

Bitcoin actually broke higher perfectly to the price target of the w pattern. It’S a bullish pattern! Now we are seeing, though, an m pattern here, it’s not a perfect m pattern, as the second high is higher than the previous one. So it’s not like an extremely bearish amp pattern, but we broke the neckline because if i am pulling out here the horizontal ray you can see, we broke the neckline here to the downside, and that is of course something we have to acknowledge and the price target Of that would be actually a little bit lower, so we didn’t even reach the price target yet so, however, you want to take it. It is not the most bullish thing which is happening right now: bitcoin breaking the neckline of the m pattern and actually breaking lower.

Also one thing which i don’t like to see and i’m i didn’t expect this to happen honestly. I did not expect this to happen. I want to make this very clear here that is bitcoin here right now, breaking the ema ribbon, which we previously broke right here. I gave you the bullish signal and, yes, we went much higher, but i expected bitcoin to hold it so far. However, we broke it to the downside and the reason why this was maybe happening can give us the daily candles.

If i am going here over to the daily canister, ladies and gentlemen, you can see. We are, of course, still below the daily ribbon here being below the daily ribbon. Of course, on the daily candles shows us, we did not break the trend, yet bitcoin actually have to break, and this is something i mentioned before the 52 000 to 53. 000, us dollar level. This is what i said before.

Actually, so let me quickly consolidate. Yes, we reached the 52 000 level check mark behind my price target, but in order to actually flip bullish on the daily candles for the mid run as well, we need to break the 52. The 52 is on the vp vr very important, it’s extremely important because it was the previous high actually for bitcoin in the start of the falling wedge, and it is extremely important because it marks slightly above it marks the the trend change on the daily canvas in Accordance to the ema ribbon, so 52 000 that is, and actually yesterday i was posting over on twitter. By the way vpat was the number one trading cryptocurrency worldwide on dextools, that’s crazy. I mean even sos, which was which everyone was talking about.

Yesterday, vpat was in front of that. This is insane something i was posting yesterday actually 17 hours ago. Is that bitcoin has to break the 52 000 us dollar level. To make me happy, and the reason for this is of course this is the most important level to watch right now we had that the previous high vp vr resistance and the ema ribbon as extremely important daily psychological resistance as well. So as long this is not happening well, we can go lower for bitcoin at least reach the price target, which is just slightly lower here of the m pattern around the 46 to 47 000 us dollar price levels for bitcoin.

So what i would be doing right now, if you are in a long trade, you already took some profits at the 52. My first price target – fine. I am staying in this trade, unlike unless we are not breaking the previous uh resistance, which should now be turning into support. I am staying in the trade i am leaving the remaining in, as if profits are already taken well, the trade can sometimes go against us as long as you are having a proper stop-loss in this is so far what i want to talk about, bitcoin and, of Course, the further we go, the less likely it gets that we are reaching this very important. 60.

000 us dollar price level, i’m gon na say it right now, most probably, we are not going to reach 60 000 worth in december. That means that on the monthly candles and that’s very important to understand, listen how quiet! It is here very beautiful that, on the monthly candles we are going to close below 60, we are going to close below the monthly support and it is having bearish implications on bitcoin for the next few weeks to come. Unfortunately, this is something i just. I just have to speak the truth here, right, um, let’s wait and see what the price is telling us of course, uh.

Something else i wanted to talk about is um here about the v-pad price. If i am going in here, let me quickly go into the uh four hourly candles actually for four v. But no, you know what let me go over into one into the one hourly candles, because if bitcoin is stumbling around and not really giving us opportunity, maybe vpat is right and, as you can see, it is in a crazy run. I mean we already reached two dollars: that’s crazy and right now it is consolidating in between support and resistance. Actually, here in this ascending triangle, so in case we are getting another support here from the upward sloping support.

Well, i am expecting another test of the horizontal resistance and i am expecting eventually a break towards the upside to the price target. Let me quickly check what the price target would be to a potential price target of v-pad. Let me quickly pull this around and put it here to a potential price target of 2.28 2.30 for the next move for vpat, and that is certainly something exciting i mean i just told you earlier.

We were number one trending on dextools i mean it’s absolutely insane. If you think about how many cryptocurrencies are out there, 20, 000 or so, and we were number one, this is, of course, because of you, the community, it’s not just me and mo here leading pushing content, pushing new projects coming decimated coin. We have three idea: locations premium, idr locations. No, it is you guys making noise. You guys supporting us.

270 000 people in our v launch community. This is crazy. Thank you very much for that. It’S getting very windy. I have to wrap it up already.

We are going to see each other very soon at the next one of m encrypt and as always guys as always bye, bye,

via Bitcoin Bad News

[rootscollaborative]

This is Terry Shapiro, Recovery Sensei of the month! Not only is he our good friend but he is the new VP and Executive Director for Origin’s @hanleycenter Check out our latest interview with him down below! The active illness always has us wishing we were someone else.  Who is your alter ego? “Batman” What do you consider your greatest achievement? “Being a father recovered from addiction and present for my family.” What is your present state of mind in recovery? “Grateful! Living one day at a time.” What historical figure who had the illness do you most identify with? “No doubt Bill Wilson” What was the biggest paradigm shift in the recovery field over the past 25 years? “Big Pharma getting there ugly claws on people who don’t need medication. No chemical cure for a spiritual malady!” What do you find yourself saying over and over again to families searching for recovery? “The active substance user is only the tip of the iceberg to underlying family issues which need intense work.” What’s your favorite 12 Step meeting to attend? “Alcoholics Anonymous primary purpose meetings.” Where is the most interesting place you’ve ever done an intervention? “Colombia South America” What is your favorite self-care practice? “Daily meditations throughout the day.” Is happiness overrated? “Absolutely not. It’s underrated.” What family pattern do you believe is the most pervasive? “Not knowing how to show love” What would you like on your headstone? “He was here to help others and many were helped.” #rootscollaborative www.rootscollaborative.com

[maral12944-blog]

10 Years of Women Who Rock Marketing

New Post has been published on https://gohomeworkers.com/10-years-of-women-who-rock-marketing/

10 Years of Women Who Rock Marketing

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In current years headlines like ‘Men twice as likely to be CMOs than women’ have been fairly widespread.

If you’ve labored in advertising and marketing for any size of time, you already know that the position of CMO is already related to excessive calls for and turnover.

Some would possibly argue that girls in CMO roles face a good higher problem given their underrepresentation in advertising and marketing management regardless of the advertising and marketing business being overwhelmingly feminine.

While ladies are underrepresented as CMOs, there’s analysis that exhibits ladies in CMO roles are paid higher (on common) than their male friends. Even extra promising is that “Nearly half the advertising and marketing management hires within the first six months of 2019 have been ladies“.

You may be questioning why am I writing about ladies advertising and marketing? For the previous 10 years I’ve been monitoring rising stars within the advertising and marketing world and recognizing social influencers within the advertising and marketing area with an annual listing: Women Who Rock in Marketing.

That listing began in 2010 once I was acknowledged on a listing of social media rockstars with few if any ladies on it. That appeared unusual.

So, I made a listing of 25 ladies I knew in advertising and marketing that have been rocking social media. Every yr since, a listing has been revealed recognizing ladies in advertising and marketing, inspiring many reactions, conversations and hopefully, even change.

While there have been a couple of variations on choice, sorting and writer, (Ashley Zeckman revealed the listing for two years), for essentially the most half yearly I’ve requested the earlier yr’s honorees to appoint a peer. Nominees have been reviewed, sorted and the listing revealed.

My purpose for these lists is to shine a light-weight on expertise and create consciousness amongst entrepreneurs.

It has been extremely satisfying to study in regards to the spectacular capabilities and accomplishments of these advertising and marketing leaders. Last yr we had a CMO who was additionally an opera singer, a social media government who as soon as labored with Mother Theresa and an Olympic athlete who created a program to encourage hundreds of younger individuals.

It has been nice to see that many of the ladies have been acknowledged by their corporations and business with a number of having superior over time to tackle senior advertising and marketing roles like Chief Marketing Officer.

To honor ladies in senior advertising and marketing roles for this 10th anniversary of Women Who Rock in Marketing, the next listing options 50 ladies in CMO roles making a distinction and creating impression. They are leaders who characterize the longer term of advertising and marketing and I extremely suggest you comply with them. (Note: This just isn’t a complete listing and the listing is alphabetical)

Before we get to the listing, some particular recognition: One lady that has been instrumental previously few years at creating one of essentially the most strong CMO communities and collections of content material for senior advertising and marketing executives is Nadine Dietz @NadineDietz. Her firm CMO Moves and podcast have been acquired by Adweek and represents a cornucopia of data for CMOs and provoking CMOs alike. Thank you Nadine in your large contribution and neighborhood constructing!

50 Top Women CMOs to Follow

Alicia Tillman @aliciatillman Global CMO at SAP /in/altillman/

Alison Wagonfeld @awagonfeld CMO, VP, Marketing at Google Cloud /in/alisonwagonfeld/

Allison Dew @alliedewsays CMO, EVP at Dell /in/allison-dew-45875035/

Alyson Griffin @alyson_griffin Vice President Global Marketing at Intel /in/alyson-griffin-2820514/

Amanda Jobbins @amandajobbins CMO for EMEA, APAC and Japan at Oracle /in/amandastljobbins/

Andrea Zahumensky @Andreazahumensk CMO at KFC US /in/andrea-zahumensky-aa70b65/

Ann Lewnes @alewnes CMO, EVP at Adobe /in/annlewnes/

Bozoma Saint John @badassboz CMO at ENDEAVOR /in/bozoma-saint-john-0305441/

Carolyn Everson @ceverson VP, Global Marketing Solutions at Facebook /in/carolyn-everson-8633479/

Danna Vetter @dannavetter Chief Marketer at Milliken & Company /in/danna-vetter-4065254/

Dara J Treseder @daratreseder CMO at Carbon /in/daratreseder/

Dawn T Keller @dawntv94 VP, Head of Digital at Krispy Kreme /in/dawntevekeliankeller/

Dawna Olsen @DawnaOlsen CMO at SYSPRO USA /in/dawnaolsen/

Deborah Wahl @DeborahWahl CMO, Global at Cadillac /in/deborahlwahl/

Dee Mc Laughlin @deemclaughlin SVP, Global Brand & Creative at Capital Group / American Funds /in/deemclaughlin/

Deirdre Bigley @DeirdreBigley CMO at Bloomberg LP /in/deirdrebigley/

Denise Karkos @dckarkos CMO at SiriusXM /in/denise-karkos-b2ab973/

Diana O’Brien @DianaMOBrien CMO, Global at Deloitte /in/dianaobrien/

Ellie Mirman @ellieeille CMO at Crayon /in/elliemirman/

Jacqui Murphy @jacquimurphy CMO at Auvik Networks Inc. /in/jacquimurphy/

Jeanine Liburd @JeanineLiburd CMO, Chief Commuications Officer at BET Networks (a subsidiary of Viacom Inc.) /in/jeanine-liburd-7b654a156/

Jeanne Hopkins @jeannehopkins CMO at Lola /in/jeannehopkins/

Jeanniey Mullen @jeanniey_ Chief Innovation and Marketing Officer at DailyPay /in/jeanniey/

Jenn Steele @jennsteele CMO at Madison Logic /in/jennsteele/

Jennifer Johnson @jj_cmo CMO at Tenable /in/jjcmo/

Jennifer Sey @JenniferSey CMO, Global Brands at Levi Strauss & Co. /in/jennifer-sey-6516731/

Jill Gregory @jillgregory6 CMO, EVP at NASCAR /in/jill-gregory-b32581a/

Karen Walker @KarMWalker CMO at Cisco /in/karenmwalker/

Kathy Button Bell @Emerson_KathyBB Senior Vice President, Chief Marketing Officer at Emerson /in/kathybuttonbell/

Kellyn Smith Kenny @KellynKenny CMO at Hilton /in/kellyn/

Kim Salem-Jackson @ksalem09 Global VP, Marketing at Akamai Technologies /in/kimsalem/

Kristin Lemkau @klemkau CMO at JPMorgan Chase /in/kristin-lemkau-ab8b4b88/

Lauren Mead @LaurLeMe CMO at TimeTrade /in/laurenmead/

Lauren Wagner Boyman @lboymanms CMO at Morgan Stanley Wealth Management /in/laurenboyman/

Leslie Berland @leslieberland CMO, Head of People at Twitter /in/leslie-berland-1741781/

Linda Boff @lindaboff CMO at GE /in/lindaboff/

Lorraine Twohill @LorraineTwohill CMO at Google /in/lorraine-twohill-ba3a56185/

Lynne Biggar @LynneBiggar CMO, Chief Communications Officer at Visa /in/lynnebiggar/

Lynne Jarman-Johnson @MoJoCMO CMO at Consumers Credit Union /in/lynnejjohnson/

Maria Winans @MariaWinans CMO, North America Marketing at IBM /in/maria-bartolome-winans-41008014/

Marisa Thalberg @executivemoms Global Chief Brand Officer at Taco Bell /in/marisathalberg/

Mary Beech @MaryBeech1 EVP and CMO at Kate Spade New York /in/maryrennerbeech/

Meg Goldthwaite @MegZGold CMO at National Public Radio /in/meg-galloway-goldthwaite-she-her-87a80b3/

Monique Bonner @mobonner CMO at Akamai Technologies /in/mobonner/

Morgan Flatley @morgsf CMO, US at McDonald’s /in/morgan-flatley-a36b273a/

Paige ONeill @paige_oneill CMO at Sitecore /in/paigeoneill/

Penny Baldwin @pennyrbaldwin CMO, SVP at Qualcomm /in/pennybaldwin/

Sarah Kennedy Ellis @saykay CMO at Marketo, An Adobe Company /in/saykay/

Shannon Sullivan Duffy @sullytoduffy SVP, Product Marketing at Salesforce /in/shannonduffy/

Tifenn Dano Kwan @danokwan CMO at SAP Ariba /in/tifenndano/

Thank you to Lane Ellis  for offering some analysis assist with this listing.

We can do higher. Despite positive aspects in hiring and compensation of ladies in senior advertising and marketing roles, the ANA CMO scorecard studies that “companies remain woefully behind when it comes to promoting people of color to top marketing jobs. Only 13 percent of the top jobs are held by people of color, including 5 percent Asian, 5 percent Hispanic/Latin and 3 percent black.”

There is a few progress however rather more to be made. Whatever corporations can do to take away limitations to advertising and marketing expertise rising into management positions is an funding within the success of the enterprise.

I’m grateful for the unbelievable contributions this group of advertising and marketing leaders has made to maneuver our business ahead and am optimistic about continued momentum into the brand new yr.

Who would you add to this listing for 2020?

To see the previous 9 years of Women Who Rock in Marketing lists, go to the posts beneath:

Thank you to all who’ve impressed us to be higher as entrepreneurs and a greater advertising and marketing business!

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[shashib]

Shashi Bellamkonda — Accomplished Digital Marketing Exec You (or someone you know) Can Hire.

Quick question for friends: Can you help me with introductions to CEOs/CMOs who want to grow their business in authentic ways? I am an innovative data-driven marketer who can create a marketing strategy taking into consideration customer needs, translating product capabilities into easy to understand messaging influencing rapid company growth.

Reaching out to you because I’ve just completed a series of successful projects for a flourishing start-up. Now, I am seeking a VP/Head of marketing, product or product marketing position with a company that wants to create value through marketing and lead to revenue growth.

Currently based in Washington DC/Baltimore Metro; love to stay here, but open to relocating.

Recent marketing highlights include: 

- Grew revenue 5x through focused and relentless execution on a multi-channel dynamic marketing strategy

- Launched  SaaS platform for local businesses

- Oversaw full marketing plan for 2 acquisitions

- Guided the end to end strategy  for successfully entering 3 new business verticals for the company resulting in extensive additional growth 

- Developed lead and oversaw the execution of a full end to end successful rebranding that lead to high visibility at an amazingly low cost

- Effectively worked with these partners - Google, Yelp, HomeAdvisor, Nextdoor, ProRemodeler, GAF on a variety of highly successful business development and marketing efforts

ps: See 18 top marketing experts who’ve quoted my marketing tips in their books.

Can you help with an introduction to companies you work with or know?

Grateful in advance for your help!

Best way to reach me: Shashib@gmail.com or send me a message here

[carrera38rs]

The Monterey Incident

Saturday, August 18, 2019. A day that will live in infamy. Why beat around the bush, right? While all well-informed classic and collector fans have already heard about the debacle on the final evening of RM Sotheby’s Monterey, California auction, I’m finally weighing in. Why now, you may ask. Well, I have been busily cranking out marketing copy for my clients ever since my return from the Monterey Peninsula and as time permits, still trying to process all the camaraderie, events and fun of the jam-packed festival known as Monterey Car Week. Work doesn’t have to be all work and no play, does it? Thankfully, I’m blessed to combine both. Why discuss this situation in a public forum? Well, because this event still baffles me and many other observers on so many levels.

Time for full disclosure. I started my career in the collector-car world and copywriting in particular, with RM Auctions in early 2008. I remain grateful for my time at RM, where I learned my craft and gained incredible experience researching and writing auction-catalog descriptions of thousands of desirable and valuable collector cars. Eventually, all things must pass, in the wise words of George Harrison, and I was released from my service at RM during mid-July 2012, in a reshuffling a few months after my department head resigned from the company.

I knew that day would come sooner or later. In early 2009, I narrowly escaped being terminated along with 5-6 other poor souls, in a ruthless and teary auction-staff downsizing in the wake of the failed offering of a multi-million dollar ($10 million cost to be exact) 1963 Corvette Grand Sport at Scottsdale. The unsung workers were simply expendable pawns following this risky managerial gamble. The savings by the company in salaries paid amounted to nothing more than a small rounding error on the company balance sheet. Still, real people paid for a dubious boardroom decision they never made. Having said that, I truly have no axe to grind with RM today. Life goes on. However, the debacle that unfolded this year at Monterey does not surprise me and leaves me wondering about the future of my industry.  

I was not there in person at the RM Sotheby’s auction, other than taking in previews. However, dozens of videos postLapse ed online paint a clear picture of the silly and pointless proceedings. There, Alain Squindo, an RM Sotheby’s VP and my former department head, just stood at the podium and looked on blankly but with an almost imperceptible smirk during the confused bidding. He made no attempt to stop the train-wreck that unfolded when auctioneer Maarten Ten Holder started unwinding the Seventy-Million-Dollar bid posted for the car on the video screen in the saleroom – to confusion and boos from the spectators and bidders in the room. What really continues to baffle me and many auction watchers – including several in mainstream print, online media and high-profile podcasts – is how the prior 61 lots were handled professionally that night without any confusion, misunderstandings or language barriers and without any pronunciation and comprehension errors.

This point was most elegantly covered by journalist Hannah Elliott in her article penned for Bloomberg on August 18 – immediately after the RM Sotheby’s auction and with further insight and analysis on August 22. One key issue discussed by Ms. Elliott was how auctioneer Maarten Ten Holder – a polyglot fluent in several languages – could suddenly mispronounce “Thirteen,” “Fourteen,” and “Seventeen Million Dollars,” sounding as though he had bids of up to “Seventy Million Dollars.” Compounding this was the likely and highly questionable practice of announcing “Chandelier” or “Phantom” bids – both non-existent, misleading  and intended to flush out any real bidders with real money.

Another thing that baffles me is a chance meeting that I and a close friend had during pre-auction previews a couple of hours before the Porsche crossed the block. While we were taking pictures of, and with the sleek proto-Porsche, a twentysomething man wearing a “Luftgekühlt” T-shirt quietly intimated to us, “It will get to $17 million but won’t sell.” I did a double take and he repeated his prediction clearly and confidently. Now, it was clear he was a hard-core and well-informed Porsche enthusiast, but that night’s auction-block debacle played out precisely as he predicted. Was he a clairvoyant, just plain lucky with his prediction, or did he know something?

I do realize the car was shopped around privately for at least the past 20 years and its offering by RM was highly, perhaps over-promoted in the weeks preceding the auction, but come on. How can somebody make such a bold prediction without having some inside information? I should have asked him for stock-market tips, sports odds, the ponies, or his take on Bitcoin and the precise location of Jimmy Hoffa while I was at it. Me and my friend shrugged and moved on to previewing some other cars and then had a late lunch, all the while scratching our heads about the conversation we just had with the young Porsche enthusiast.

In addition to reading the many articles and watching the videos covering the Type 64’s botched offering,  I’ve been listening closely to the latest two editions of “Spike’s Car Radio,” the entertaining and well-informed podcast covering classic cars, events, comedy and life, hosted by Spike Feresten. Worthy of further listening, these podcast episodes included Hannah Elliott, Jerry Seinfeld and lawyer Paul Zuckerman. In the latest episode, Spike made the startling revelation that RM Sotheby’s may have sensed the Porsche would not sell on the auction stage at Monterey and decided to turn its offering into a sort of comedy act. He even stated that the auction house approached him to join in the antics. Thankfully, Mr. Feresten refused to take part in RM Sotheby’s ill-advised and frankly, cynical scheme.  

Overall, a picture emerges of auction houses trying to land exciting, news-worthy cars to offer and sell and of the intense competition for clients and the drive to be the best seller at each major venue. The latest “Spike’s Car Radio” podcast episode also included the contention I stated earlier, that the whole fiasco makes the collector-car industry look shabby by association.

The collector-car auction world is extremely interesting and yes, it generates significant sales. There are thousands of good, honest and ethical people who make it all happen and a few rotten eggs do unfortunately spoil the bunch. It will be very interesting to see what, if any, fallout comes from this sad – and in my opinion, totally preventable event. It also bears noting that other high-end auction houses do not seem to suffer from the many lapses in judgment that led RM Sotheby’s down this path at Monterey.

Many questions remain. Some of my friends and colleagues may disagree and that is their absolute right, but the farcical offering of such a significant and valuable piece of motoring history has indeed put a massive black eye on the collector-car auction industry. The industry I work in. The industry that to me is a calling and not just another job. And I do not believe for one second that the saleroom antics at RM Sotheby’s in Monterey can be attributed purely to human error or sophomoric humor. And unlike the junior staffers that walked in tears past my cubicle after they got sacked back in 2009, I am doubtful neither Messrs. Squindo nor Ten Holder will face any real consequences for their decisions. What they attempted to do on the auction block in Monterey was crass and totally unnecessary. They would certainly not last long in my employ.  

To me, this incident is the adult equivalent of being a young boy who once met one of his hockey-card heroes at an event during the mid-1970s, only to discover the man was all too human – a drunken, staggering, unemployable wreck who did not fully understand why he played professionally for so many years, earned so much money and had so many loving fans. Having earned and enjoyed a stellar reputation for so long, it is truly sad to see some of RM Sotheby’s top personnel stoop to this level. My honest hope is that the players involved in this current situation will sober up, smell the coffee brewing and realize – soon – that this type of corporate buffoonery is far less tolerable in the court of public opinion today than ever before. Not to mention the arrogance of their actions and their obvious contempt for sellers, buyers, spectators, and the general public. I can only guess at the fury yet to be unleashed by the car’s owner. Remember, people vote with their wallets and there are many other solid players to choose from for the big game.