What was my mission?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FFRxDmet-Lo

Here's a little video walk down memory lane. I was temping for a healthcare company and looking for a full-time gig, when my fingers did the walking through monster.com and landed on a listing for a copywriter at Pleasant Holidays. In seconds I was typing, "Dear dream job..." and before I knew it, there I was in the travel buz learning about Hawaii, Mexico, Tahiti, Asia, Australia, Fiji and New Zealand.

The company had just embraced a new mission statement and there was a contest for how to exemplify the new mission. The words "we're on a mission" popped into my head. I heard the sound of a jet in my mind, which reminded me of the Beatles' "Back in the USSR." Then I started playing with words that rhymed with "mission." Wow -- so many -- vision, expedition, competition...and the lyrics just fell out. Bob got the groove going and produced one heck of a song -- I'm never sure where my part ends and his part begins, which is a larger analogy for another time. He played all those instruments. Love the guitar solo -- go Bob! And yes that's me singing. I wanted the song to be a department project, not a solo entry, so my coworkers jumped in, took photos and created a slide show. The big "earth ball" was ours -- a gift to Bob from Donnelle -- and it was a fun photo prop since the company was known mainly for Hawaii travel, and was expanding to "take on the world."

Our little department won the contest and two air tickets to Hawaii. A lot of the folks in the video are not with the company anymore. It wasn't long after the video that the travel industry suffered the economic effects of 2008 and 2009. A new CEO came, layoffs ensued, and the magic was gone. This little memory of the "calm before the storm" will always be special to me, as I hope it is to all who were a part of it.