Inside CNN

Magnet #416 - CNN New York

A little shout-out to my news-loving friend upstate - happy birthday! Funnily enough, I did a FB search for the CNN product page just now, and she was the first fan listed!

I got this at the Time Warner Center, here in New York, just after a tour a few years ago. But, oh noes! I don't think they still give this tour! Which is a shame. (Even more of a shame is if they closed down the supercute little shop with all the cool TW stuff!)

You might not believe it - it was a fun tour. Our tour guide was supernice, even though they really are just walking you through the twisty windy corridors...of their offices. Heh.

But, you do see the studios, and you do get a peek into the newsroom to see how they work. They did the whole greenscreen weather trick, just like in Atlanta (yep, a whole other magnet), and, at the BBC Tour, too.

Apparently, we tourtakers are easily amused.

I do like to think they weren't lying when they pointed at the far corner of the newsroom, telling me that it was Anderson Cooper's office.

Otherwise, I'm giving a silent wave (and an eeeep) to the wrong place, every time I pass the building.


eta:
I was looking to see if I could find if they were still using the CNN: Most trusted newsource tagline (I think they are), but I found this interesting branding blogpost about CNN's house of brands. Interesting, because I've never even considered how much I've been associating the anchors with the shows on CNN - well, at least Wolf and his Situation Room, and Anderson with his 360.

Able to leap tall buildings

Magnet #389 - New York's Time Warner Center

I have a love hate relationship with this building - it's the Time Warner Center at Columbus Circle.

One, it gives a weird twin tower effect, but in midtown. Two, it took the place of the old NY Coliseum, which, though old and sad, was still part of a NY that's rapidly getting overrun by new builds everywhere. (New builds, mind you, that no one has any money to lease, rent or buy into.)

But, I do have to say, I do kinda love TWC, too. And not just because I used to want to work there. It's just a pretty cool building. One tower's mostly residential and hotel, and the other is corporate TWC offices, WB and CNN.

Sadly, once, I went out for drinks with clients at the gorgeous Mandarin Hotel bar on the 30-something-eth floor, and my view was right into a Warner Bros floor. It was so close, and yet so far.

I don't really like the mall in the first floor. It's just like they packed up Mad Ave and moved it west. Though, I won't complain because there's also a Borders and a Whole Foods, and a great Samsung experience there.

I picked this magnet up from the Skyscraper Museum, downtown. Love that place, but I wish it were more than one floor. Right now there's an exhibit comparing buildings and density between the vertical cities of New York and Hong Kong. Superinteresting.

But, I really picked this magnet, because I miss New York. There's too much air and space, trees and sunshine here. Also? I am going insane driving around in golf carts. It's too slow! And then, when I leave campus, I find myself going like 15 on the highways, because I realize that I'm inching along. Crazy.

Who would have thought that I'd miss concrete and glass.

Oh, and my post title is actually more relevant to yesterday's activities with the production guys. Yes. More saving of our collective behinds, and in general being our get-it-done guys. Sigh.