Donna Talarico is integrated marketing manager at Elizabethtown College in Elizabethtown, Pa. Previously, she worked in marketing for a leading eCommerce developer and in the radio industry, as well as freelance writes for various print publications. Donna also runs an online magazine, Hippocampus Magazine, a literary journal dedicated to nonfiction. She loves cheese, craft beer and Scrabble.
- One – I have some fun magnets – I collect them – at my desk too. I never update the beauty queen thing. I should remember to do so more often. Also have a magnet with one of my favorite quotes, “Well-behaved women rarely make history.”
- Two – My favorite poster. I love having inspirational items around–things that keep me being creative.
- Three – We wanted to get an office coffee pot. Another colleague and I both kept saying we’d “pick one up this weekend.” He finally beat me to it. Only problem was, he went on the cheap and the coffee pot doesn’t have an auto shut-off. The very first day we had it and made coffee, I woke up at 6:45 a.m. freaking out that no one turned off the coffee pot and our beautiful, historic building was engulfed in flames. I came to work right then – in glasses (I don’t normally wear them), my pajamas, hair in a rat’s nest. Turns out – our creative director was already here. I was super-embarrassed but it was super funny, too. I now keep this little post-it on one of my monitors. You can also see here that I seriously need to dust.
- Four – Something fun I found at a stationery store once. Love it. I always forget I have it though.
- Five – Part of my U-shaped desk. You can see that I have Facebook up on one of my dual monitors. Dual monitors are a must. I had them at my last job at a technology company, so I cannot live without that set-up. You can see that I always keep chapstick and eye drops within reach – need to remain moist. I also have several coffee cups; thank goodness you can’t see the insides of these. You can also see that I have a word-of-the-day calendar. I tack up words that make me giggle or pertain to my job or both. The top shelf is filled with more cups that need to be washed, some thank you notes and gifts and other various fun things.
- Six – Another one of my favorite wall hangers. I love the word “imagine” and even have it tattooed on my left wrist. You can also see the flags outside the window. My office is in the administration building, Alpha Hall, and sits atop Alpha Drive. In the late 1800s, the entire college was in this building; the office I share with our digital design manager was an old dorm room.
