Lunch Outings: One of the Best Parts of SMG!

By: Kristen Radomski, Media Planning Intern

Kristen Radomski

It did not take me long to learn that in the media industry, lunch takes various forms: quick bites at your desk, low-key outings with colleagues, gourmet team lunches, catering brought in for meetings, agency partner gourmet lunches, and super-gourmet client lunches (to name a few). 

I have been fortunate to experience all of the above this summer, and as a self-proclaimed foodie and admitted food network addict whose favorite meal is lunch, I have loved every one! 

I have learned the most about the media world via agency partner lunches, which have allowed me to make connections with new contacts in the industry and better understand the relationship between our agency and our partners.

Although I relish trying new restaurants and socializing with new people, the many lunches I have spent at local spots with the other Spark interns have been by far my favorite.

Me and the other Spark interns walking to lunch.

The hour long ritual is what has allowed me to develop such a strong bond with some of the other interns outside of work. At Spark, even though we all work in different areas—media planning, research, corporate communications—our cubes are located all in a row. Our seating arrangement made it extremely easy to get to know each other (and go to lunch together) from the start. 

It must have been fate on our first day when Amy, another intern, discovered a color coded map of lunch spots in her desk discarded from her cube’s previous owner. The map pictured an aerial view of the general Spark/Starcom area and pin pointed different spots coded by category—i.e. fast-food, arguably healthy, sit down, and true gems.  I remember the moment vividly: how the four of us crowded around our new “treasure map” excited to discover each location. 

Seven weeks along, we have since outgrown that color coded map and have found our own favorite spots. Is it a “foodstuffs” kind of day, or is it rainy and feels a little more “au-bon” for soup? It’s beautiful outside—should we venture out to somewhere new on Hubbard? Media Module today—lets head out somewhere around Wacker—Pastoral? 

These questions are fairly trivial, but are an honest glimpse at what I look forward to everyday. The hour we take to sit together has brought me three life-long friends and a list of gems of my own that I will be visiting the rest of my career in Chicago!