Taking the TTC to Bay and Bloor is a lot cheaper than flying to Manhattan, so I’m glad Jennifer Weiner came to Toronto to dish about journalism, relationships and reality TV.
When I went to New York last spring, I carefully planned the trip around Lauren Graham and Jennifer Weiner’s book signings. Many tourists go to the New York Public Library branch where they filmed Sex and the City, but Jennifer’s panel with Sarah Pekkanen and Elizabeth LaBan was at the Yorkville branch, so I ventured north of FAO Schwarz and sat front row centre.
Once the panel ended, I approached Jennifer’s publicist to request a Toronto stop on her next book tour. Thankfully Indigo and Simon & Schuster made it happen!
On Monday night, I saw Jennifer in Toronto’s Yorkville area (oh, the irony!) where she addressed a crowd of about forty women, plus one male fan. From the minute she started telling a story about puberty, it was clear that we were in for an evening of solid storytelling, not sales pitches.
It was interesting to hear Jennifer discuss the lack of representation of diverse women in magazines and Hollywood. She praised Orange Is The New Black and pointed out that People’s articles about ‘beauty at every age’ always address women in their 20s, 30s, 40s and 50s, without acknowledging older women.
The author of In Her Shoes answered a fan’s question about the possibility of more movie adaptations by expressing concerns about casting. Aside from Melissa McCarthy, how many leading ladies could play Jennifer’s overweight protagonists?
I wish more marketers were in the audience, and that’s not just because Jennifer explained her rationale for pursuing a career in journalism rather than advertising. “I didn’t want to find synonyms for ‘absorbent’,” she said, as she joked about writing tampon ads.
Though many marketing experts babble about building relationships with customers through authenticity, it’s still difficult to find good examples of those executions. Jennifer Weiner, however, nailed it.
When Jennifer revealed details of her personal life, she sounded more like a schoolteacher providing context for diligent students than a bestselling author answering a typical interview question. After sharing anecdotes about JDate, Pillsbury and Target, Jennifer seamlessly transitioned to talking about how her father’s drug addiction inspired her new book, All Fall Down.
From there, Jennifer quickly changed the topic to the show she loves to hate, The Bachelorette. Ending the Q&A on a positive note with lighthearted gossip about Tori and Dean’s relationship ensured everyone left in good spirits (and not just because they met a famous writer).
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