I received a letter recently from my daughter who is away at summer camp. I ripped open the envelope, yearning to see the sweet, youthful scrawl of my firstborn...what did I find?

No Hello Mother,
No Hello Father,
No Greetings from Camp Hiawatha.

Instead, I received an urgent request to send her make-up. Shipped overnight. ASAP.

I scanned the note a second time, desperate for an "I love you Mommy" or an "I miss you terribly". No such luck, just a desperate plea for cosmetics.

I don't even understand why a young girl would even need makeup at camp. Won't it sweat off? Shouldn't she be paddling in a canoe or something? I never had the slightest interest in applying makeup at camp when I was that age. Although I must admit, I was rather impressed with her detailed illustrations and descriptions of her must-have LashBlast mascara, blush and Sephora lipglosses. She even made sure to include some branding.

Her dire request was faintly reminiscent of letters I imagine were sent overseas during times of war. I'm surprised she didn't send the message in morse code or wire me a telegram:

NEED MAKE-UP. STOP. SHIP OVERNIGHT. STOP. SEND OR I SHALL DIE. STOP.

I think we need to monitor her time on Let's Talk Style.

Posted by Leslie Linevsky at 10:35 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Sometimes I think going back to school is a more difficult process for moms than kids. I just finished making lists and packing up my kids for summer camp, now I have to buy back to school wardrobes, school supplies and more items than I can possibly keep track of.

Thankfully for me (and other frazzled moms out there), I found a list of Helpful Back To School Preparation Tips for both college bound kids and students in grades K-8 from our favorite masters of organization, Stacks and Stacks.

Taking the guesswork out of prepping for school this Fall, Stacks and Stacks offers easy to follow checklists for everything your college students need for their dorm room from cooking utensils to dental floss, fans and space bags to desk lamps. You'll also find a list of back to school supplies for your younger scholars with a list broken down by Basic Must-Haves like bookbags, binders and dividers to Optional, but Helpful items like protractors, dictionaries, poster boards, book covers and the like.

And don't forget to check out the Catalogs.com Back to School Gift Guide for the top 15 back to school items of the year!

Enjoy the rest of your summer days because before you know it, school will be back in session.

Posted by Leslie Linevsky at 11:38 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (1)

What’s the deal?!

Our new public relations firm is really lighting a fire under us. We already had all the Back-to-School press releases distributed back in June and I thought Pierson Grant (our new PR firm) was crazy, telling us we had to disseminate information so early. Heck, I’ve just finished my Thanksgiving Gift Guide and all press releases are ready to roast in the oven.

5 months early??? My kids JUST flew off to summer camp, the last thing I want to think about is Back-to-School, but guess what? The Washington Post picked up on our press release and satirically feels the same way I do.

We secured our Catalogs.com mention in the Washington Post on June 30. Metro Columnist John Kelly included us in a column titled Back-to-School Ads Already? His perspective is kind of silly, as any parent will attest, but we are very happy to be featured. Columnists are known for their tongue-in-cheek columns.

Apparently, Back-to-School press is making it's way all over the major media, just take a look at last week’s stories by the Associated Press and Wall Street Journal.

Pretty soon I'll find myself working on press releases for the 4th of July, a holiday we just celebrated a couple of weeks ago.

Posted by Leslie Linevsky at 08:49 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

With today’s lousy economy and thousands of people unemployed, you might ask yourself WHY a company would employ a headhunter.

At Catalogs.com, we are facing this exact dilemma regarding a highly skilled computer programmer with a very specific skill set required. All too often, companies end up hiring who they “thought” would be a perfect candidate for a specific job, but as it ends up, the person fails miserably at following through on the tasks assigned and after 1 full week on the job, you realize you hired an incompetent person.

At this point, you probably have received hundreds and hundreds of resumes, called or attempted contact with about 50 people, spoken to about 20 in a telephone interview, invited about 10 candidates to come in and meet face-to-face. Then, after doing background checks and checking and verifying references, you decide to offer Candidate Joe the job, only to find out you are too late and Candidate Joe already accepted another position. You now have wasted time, resources, and potentially let a different candidate slip through the cracks. Hiring an executive recruiter/ headhunter may be worthwhile … look for these 5 qualifications:

1. Flexibility – In the “old times” when it was hard to find really qualified people, headhunters could demand fees of 25-40% of the hiring base salary. With today’s economy, try to negotiate and get a comfort level for the principal’s willingness to negotiate. If they are completely non-flexible, move on … there will be plenty of firms that will attempt meeting half-way with your expectations in mind.

5. Confidentiality – Make sure that the executive recruiting firm respects and honors your confidentiality. Many presidents and CEO’s prefer to discreetly employ a headhunter, and often will keep an ongoing relationship with top headhunters for the purposes of keeping an eye on the industry, and keeping potential options open.

Posted by Leslie Linevsky at 11:07 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (1)

One of our favorite contacts from Debby Burk Optical recently sent us a few gorgeous pairs of designer specs for us to review for our Will it Sell video series and I have to admit, these remarkable spectacles from the Pizzazz Collection have created quite a stir in our office. All of the ladies loved them, but not nearly as much as the men.

Our employee Nigel fell in love with the Pizzazz Multi-Brown frames that are only $59.95 and feature a unique and sparkly camouflage crystal pattern layed over the entire frame. He was shocked to discover that he could see clearly out of them and even remarked -- direct quote here folks:

"I like the rhinestones".

If you love them too, check them out on a soon to be released Will it Sell review, and vote for a some other featured Catalogs.com products while you're at it.

Don't forget to say hello to Evil Sock Puppet Guy.

Posted by Leslie Linevsky at 08:45 AM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

Two of my kids are off away at summer camp, and you'd think I'd finally be able to enjoy a mini-Mom break, but alas, I need to pack two separate care packages to send to camp. Just what I need, a schlep to the post office with my son in tow, waiting in line to ship two heavy boxes. These care packages had better be good.

I pride myself on being an original, so packages filled with candy, suntan lotion and swimming goggles just won't do. Fortunately for me, one visit to American Science & Surplus helped me fill an entire shopping basket with crazy, wild, wacky and totally original camp items that will no doubt become the hits of the cabins.

If your kids love crazy and fun stuff, take a look at a few of these goodies. The prices are incredible, and some of the product descriptions are absolutely PRICELESS.

1. Stretch Caterpillars - Kooshy elongated insects that stretch up to lengths of ten feet. Sure to keep their minds off of those killer camp mosquitoes.
2. PigaPults - Don't worry moms, this pigapult flings only tiny pink plastic pigs, not full-grown porkers (little piggies sold separately).
3. Whoopee Cushion - The American classic of novelty items, thinking of getting some of these for the office...
4. Intravenous Blood Slime - Marked as Gross O-negative. If you want your kids to grow up to be doctors, they've gotta start somewhere.

I also found a handful of musical instruments including Kazoos, Slide Whistles, Screecher Horns (great gifts when your kids are far away from home), Pocket Fans, Glow Stick Balls, Invincible Bubbles and Glow in the Dark Body Cream for when your kids really want to stand out.

For when you care enough to send the very best.

Posted by Leslie Linevsky at 09:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

One of my daughters recently asked me if she could join Facebook.

I didn't even have to bat an eyelash to let out an emphatic "ABSOLUTELY NOT!" You'd think she had asked me if she could get a tattoo of Zac Efron on her face.

I've heard the horror stories and seen enough 20/20 and Dateline segments on the dangers of social media sites for young girls to know that this was not a circle I was ready for my daughter to intersect, at least at this young age. You have to be at least 13 to join the online Facebook community, but reports show that more than 850,000 of today's tech-savvy children ages 8 to 12 are illegally using sites like Facebook & MySpace, exposing them to risky communications with strangers & unsolicited ads.

So, how can the tween age group engage in the ‘social media’ craze while avoiding online predators and making moms rest easy? Hold onto your hats moms, because your social networking nightmares are over. The secret is out.

Today, Senario, a leading gaming and entertainment company will be releasing My Secret Circle - the first-ever secure social networking world designed for girls 8 to 12 and their Internet-cautious parents. This sweet new plug-‘n-play device will give girlfriends the ability to create completely private online communities with their pals, while avoiding the advertising and strangers lurking on other social networking sites.

Finally, my daughter can hang out online, chat, share pictures and play games— without giving her dear old Mom a coronary. Sounds like a little slice of heaven to me.

I was sent a demo kit and gave it to my two young female copywriters in the office to try out. Even though Gina and Samara are both well over the age of the intended demographic, in a matter of minutes they were giggling and chatting away, creating Designer Diva avatars, passing notes to each other and living it up, middle school style. A new secret friendship seemed to have blossomed. I was actually a little jealous. Here's what they had to say:

Gina:

If I was 12 I would think this is the coolest thing I’ve ever seen. How it works is you have a secret code that you can print out and give to your friends in person. That is the only way they can find you. There is no way to search users and none of the information is stored anywhere on the internet. No one can find it or hack it and get kids information. Me and Samara both plugged one into our computer and since we exchanged codes, we are the only two people that can talk to each other. I can IM her, exchange photos, even write blog entries and do anything else I would do on a regular website, except we aren’t on a website. If I was 12 and had 5 friends who had one, I would love it.

Samara:

The size of a tube of lipstick and more fun than a dozen laps around the roller rink, My Secret Circle makes me wish I had been born a decade or so earlier so I could use it to chat with my old pre-teen peeps in style. The mini flash drive is simply adorable and unlocks a whole new world for tweens designed just for them. Easy to use, you just plug it in your USB, generate your code and exchange with friends. I think it's ingenious. Facebook and MySpace can be creepy places at times even for me, and I'm an adult. MSC offers most of the same enjoyable Facebook features - sharing pics, notes, interests, minus the creepiness factor. I actually wish there was a Secret Circle for twenty and thirty somethings… My Secret Circle for Single gals.

The Single key pack is $19.99 and the BFF (Best Friends Forever) Double key pack is only $29.99, and since the fun of My Secret Circle is joining with friends, it's a good idea for your daughter to go in on a BFF set with her bestest girlfriend, that way they're each joining the Secret Circle for only $15 each (also a great idea for siblings). Add on to the fun with a Voice Chat Headset for $14.99 that allows you to chat with your friends, voice-over-internet-style, just like Skype!

Revolutionizing the way young girls communicate, My Secret Circle is indeed the new Facebook Moms will love. Interested mothers can look forward to finding My Secret Circle accessories exclusively at Justice, and on the shelves at Target, Walmart and Toys R Us in the Fall of '09!

Now I can relax...at least until she starts dating.

Posted by Leslie Linevsky at 09:30 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Catalogs.com is looking to hire a full time, in house programmer in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida. This is a salaried position. Benefits include: Health, Dental, 401K, and paid vacation and sick days. Local South Florida Residents Only
Out of region resumes will be immediately discarded.

Qualifications for the lucky programmer must include:
Classic ASP expert, SQL

The following would be a plus:
PHP, AJAX, dhtml, etc. Web 2.0 interface experience and thought processes
Very savvy in social media
Website/GUI/Graphic development

Please email Leslie@Catalogs.com with resumes.

Posted by Melody at 08:06 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)