From time to time, we try to give you a glimpse into our offices around the globe. This week, we are excited to bring you an interview with Brian Muir, an Online Marketing Assistant on our Direct Marketing team in New York. Brian has been working at the Oxford University Press since March 2014.
What is the most important lesson you learned during your first year on the job?
Sometimes you learn more from your failures than from your successes (not that I’ve made any horrible mistakes).
What is your typical day like at OUP?
I spend about half of my time working on various email campaigns, which include e-newsletters, conference emails, and white sale promotions. The other half of my work is on the website. I help with general upkeep, build landing pages for sales, and work on special projects like the WWI Centennial page.
What’s the most enjoyable part of your day?
I like meetings in which we “talk shop” about our overall marketing strategy. We’re always looking for ways to improve our email campaigns, as well as the OUP site itself, so it’s nice when the whole team sets some time aside to just brainstorm and share ideas.
What’s the least enjoyable?
Dealing with the inevitable anxiety that comes moments before pushing something live on the Internet.
What is the strangest thing currently on or in your desk?
A postcard depicting a bunch of anthropomorphic lobsters hanging out in a seafood restaurant. My mom gave it to me.
What are you reading right now?
Playing for Thrills by Wang Shuo. It’s a Chinese noir from the 1980s. I bought it for two dollars at a used book fair and so far it’s pretty good.
What’s your favorite book?
Gould’s Book of Fish by Richard Flanagan. So weird and so fun.
If you didn’t work in publishing, what would you be doing?
I live around the corner from a cute little cheese shop. If I didn’t work in publishing, I’d probably try to get a job there, maybe working the cash register or something. There’s something romantic about having your life confined to a one-block radius.
Tell us about one of your proudest moments at work.
During one of my first days, my supervisor approached me with a printed email I had heavily marked up. She said, “Did you do this? If I could give you a gold star for effort, I would.” I don’t think I’ll ever outgrow the excitement that comes from earning a gold star.
If you were stranded on a desert island, what three items would you take with you?
Plenty of canned goods (for sustenance), a good book (for entertainment), and a cellphone containing emergency contacts (so I could leave whenever).
What drew you to work for OUP in the first place? What do you think about that now?
I was an English major and was interested in publishing. Oxford seemed like an especially great place to work, since you learn something new every day. Sometimes I think working at OUP is like going to grad school for free.
What is in your desk drawer?
Spiderman fruit snacks and a broken desk fan.
Most obscure talent or hobby?
I’m pretty good at impressions. Somebody recently told me that I do a pretty mean Truman Capote. Does that count?
Headline image credit: Window at the Oxford University Press New York office. Photo by Sara Levine for OUP.
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