Tuesday, July 14, 2009

A Hair-Raising Encounter With Lonnie Quinn

(me, pre-hair encounter..."OMG!!! That is Lonnie Quinn!")
Well, here I am in New York City with my fellow Blue Bunny(R) buddies. We are working a Public Relations event in which we are giving out 50,000 Blue Bunny Champ! Cones at the corner of 50th Street and 7th Avenue, right underneath our "Devour Them" ad. It has been so fun. Our crew is a total blast and every step is a new adventure.

This morning was our big debut on a couple of the morning shows. A colleague (I will call her J-Gal) and I were up at the crack of dawn to dress in our "uniforms" (Blue Bunny t-shirts and kahkis) and head off, each of us wearing an ice cream cone hat, to the "Good Morning America" Show. After 45 minutes of networking with the crew and NYPD, we deduced that we were definitely going to be a hit on the show. It was our job to get in-studio to tell them about how we were celebrating National Ice Cream Month (July!) by giving out our product in Times Square today through Thursday. Our hats and winning personalities won over the staff, crew, and security and that gave us the confidence that not only were we going to BE on the "Good Morning America" show, but we would probably get our own segment. OK, that is a slight embellishment but we thought we could at least make an impression. We filed, along with about 150 other tourists, in line to the entry point of the studio. We were finally singled out and pulled out of line by the audience coordinator person (I am sure there is a much more official title than that one but I cannot remember it) and asked to come with her.

This is it! They ARE going to give us our own segment!

Not exactly. We were called out of the line because we were obviously promoting something and we were not allowed to pull any kind of "PR Nonsense" (not her words) in-studio. With a few kind words about how she loves ice cream, we got the New York "Get the heck outta here" Line and a friendly bit of advice about how we should try The Today Show because (and I quote)...."Over there it is just a free-for-all."

Dejected but not discouraged, we trotted over to The Early Show, instead, to meet up with the rest of our troupe who had also gotten up early and dressed in THEIR uniforms and had gone on ahead to loiter around the gates of Harry Smith (very dashing, in person) and Lonnie Quinn, handsome-est weather guy ever, and....the hair!! Need I say more??

Well, needless to say, The Early Show folk were much more receptive to our Blue Bunny PR Antics and our uniformed group of 30+ were not only appreciated but were encouraged by the crew. We made it on several times during the hour and a half that we stood there and, despite having to share the stage with fake-bearded Santa Clauses wearing dark socks and red swim trunks and the Snickers(R) "Bar Hunger" PR pack, had a rousing good time and scored a wonderful "win" on the show.

The best part??? Yours truly made her national debut this morning! Yep! It is true.
To set it all up for you.... I have often joked about how I admire the hair of CBS weatherman stand-in, Lonnie Quinn. He covers the weather for The Early Show on weekends and fills in for the usual weather guy who works the Early Show during the week when regular, Dave Price, cannot be there.

So... Lonnie is handsome in a super-hero kind of way and has this gorgeous hair. Duirng a station break, our eyes met at one point and he was intrigued by my ice cream cone hat that I was wearing (it is always a conversation-starter). He came over and commented on the hat. We shared some "blah-dee-blah talky-talk" and then I shamelessly confessed that I watch him on the weekends and could I just touch his hair??

Stunned (but not offended), he obliged and was so friendly about it. He let me run my fingers through his lovely locks to which I relished every moment. Our group laughed, snapped a few photos, and he went on about his business. By the way - a little hairspray-ish but, otherwise, very soft. :)

So how did I make my national television debut? Goodness loves Lonnie Quinn....would you believe that he came back over to me during his live broadcast and asked me to reinact our hair encounter?? Twice in one day???? I felt faint. He was a great sport about it and, at the end, he planted the nicest kiss on my cheek. Two words: hubba hubba.

On our way back to the hotel, I decided to set a new goal. If I could run my fingers through Lonnie Quinn's hair, what would Matt Lauer allow me to do?? Maybe I will ask him the same question and make a morning show personality comparison of scalps.

By the way...by early afternoon, our Blue Bunny crew DID gave out 15,000 Blue Bunny Champ! Cones in less than 2 hours - the first of three sampling days in Times Square - and it was a total blast. It is so great to make New Yorkers and their guests smile on a hot July afternoon.

Can't wait until tomorrow's adventures. Until next time, I remain....1SweetMama

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