Who: Mark Glesne Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, http://www.markglesne.com/
Where: The Pharmacy Burger
The publishing industry is famous for being cutting edge and innovative. At least it was when the Gutenberg press was invented. Since then, they have mostly been hanging out hoping that internet doesn’t do to them what it did to the music industry (which is why so many former music people now work in publishing). But over the past couple of years, HCCP has been hiring digital first marketers and rethinking marketing, moving the company into new and relevant territories. Obviously I’m biased but only because I’m always right. Mark Glesne is one of those digitally minded marketers that looks more like the future of HarperCollins than the past. And the future of HarperCollins likes burgers… kind of.
If you’ll recall from the previous James Lunch, I went to a vegan restaurant with John Andrade. This lunch proved that I’m probably the unhealthiest person at HCCP. If this blog ends mid sentence it is because I died of a double diabetes heart attack. While Mark did a great job of picking the lunch location, he did inform me that he is particular about eating specific macronutrients and only brings his lunch rather than eating out and he had already eaten. So while I ate a giant burger, Mark drank a glass of water.
Giant Burgers Are Good
If you’ve been wondering why Mark always looks well hydrated, now you know. But despite eating healthy most of the time, Mark does occasionally eat people food, too. And The Pharmacy Burger is one of the places that Mark regularly takes out of town visitors. This was the perfect choice because of the fact that I have two young children means that I pretty much only know the category of restaurants that have playlands. So despite the fact that he didn’t eat anything this particular time, Mark is still a fan of Pharmacy Burger and now I am too.
I personally had the Farm Burger. I’ve always been a fan of burgers with egg on them. The only downside is that biting into one is like biting into a water balloon except filled with egg yolk. There is no way to look cool while eating one. Fortunately the Pharmacy Burger has poor lighting and I was able to hide my shame in the shadows. Pro Tip: I also did a lot of my dating in poorly lit areas. The burger was definitely large, messy, and delicious. It is the perfect place to go with friends and a terrible place to go if you are trying to impress people. Unless you are only drinking a glass of water which is part of the reason that Mark seems so impressive!
Meet Mark
Mark is a former Marine, is into marketing, motorcycles, macronutrients and making the most of our opportunities at HarperCollins. Like many people in marketing, Mark keeps his skills sharp and attention focused by having side hustles. Mark owns the Efficacy Clothing Co. and has a ton of personal marketing experience in addition to the cool stuff he does with HarperCollins.
Like John, is a believer in networking around the office. His advice for the HCCP gen pop is to get to know each other and look for opportunities to work with each other. In my own particular case, I’m already looking forward to some interested multilingual collaborations coming up. Splitting the budget on websites, video ads, etc between the English and Spanish speaking teams. This means that working with Mark will cut costs, increase effectiveness, and open up opportunities for innovation that wouldn’t exist otherwise. Plus it means getting to work with some really cool people like Mark!
So next time you see Mark, make sure you ge