Interacting with customers here at Per Annum is always an interesting, informative and sometimes even eye-opening experience. Over the years, I have encountered some passionate customers and heard some great stories from people who not only love our City Diaries and other products, but swear by them!
Now I'd like to present an interview with one of our long-time City Diary customers, David Patrick from Dallas, TX, who is such a fan that he recently swung by our NYC office for a visit. Here's some of what he had to say:
Per Annum: When did you first start using Per Annum's City Diaries?
David Patrick: My cousin gave me the 1994 Chicago Diary as a Christmas gift in 1993, shortly after I moved there. I have 6 Chicago Diaries, 7 Los Angeles Diaries, and am now using the Metropolitan Diary since I am in Dallas.
PA: How have the Diaries made an impact on your life?
DP: There are so many ways. The short term is obvious: I know exactly what's going on in my life and organize everything in my Diary, and I have since 1994. I tried a PDA once and didn't care for it. I like to write it down, put pen to paper, see it, and even cross stuff out to see what I would have, could have, or might have done.
When I was new in Chicago, I used the 45-page info listing all the time to check out restaurants, theater listings, to call airlines -- the list goes on. I learned the "L" and the geography of the city with my diaries. Even in LA, I used it a lot for navigation despite the internet and my Thomas Guide (their detailed book map of the city). I've always used the zip code guides and area code guides too.
The Diaries made doing my taxes really easy as well. You have to have a calendar with the year printed on it for the IRS, so I was able to very simply keep track of my mileage for auditions and gigs as well as non-receipt expenses. If I ever get audited, all I have to do is confidently deliver that year's paperwork and Diary to the IRS (with the stipulation that I get the Diary back, of course).
I think the most important impact, though, is my sense of nostalgia. My mind has always operated in a mode that places events in time and relates one to the other. Since I have kept all of my Diaries, I now know I met my close friend Kim on Jan 9, 1994 in our first improv class at Second City with Steve Carrell as our teacher. I can tell you when I went to my first Cubs game (I'd have to look it up), had my first SAG Screen Actors Guild audition (9/13/95 at 3:15), booked my first SAG commercial (9/28/05), and when I arrived in L.A. (1/14/2000). I can tell you when I waited on my first table at Shaw's Crab House in Chicago (10/3/95) and when I waited on my last table ever (3/25/06). I could go on. It's fun to remember as well as go back and discover. The point is, when I'm famous, my biographer will be very pleased with stacks of little black books!
PA: Any specific Diary-related stories or experiences you can recall?
DP: I think my favorite was when I was waiting tables in L.A. and noticed a really pretty girl with a little black book on her table. I asked her if it was a Los Angeles Diary, and it turns out it was a Manhattan Diary. I pulled out my L.A. Diary and we talked a bit about how much we love them, how we have used them forever, and even how they are submissable in the case of an IRS audit. After she left, my fellow servers asked if I knew her. I didn't, and they informed me it was Keri Russell of Felicity fame. I had no idea, and she probably thought that was funny!
PA: What are your favorite and least-favorite things about the Diaries?
DP: Favorite thing: I love how simple they are -- classic week-at-a glance calendars with plenty of easy-to-find and read information and maps.
Least Favorite: I guess I'd like a Dallas/Fort Worth Diary, but you can't cover every city.
PA: Anything you'd like to see in the future?
DP: A Dallas/Fort Worth Diary!
PA: Any final thoughts?
DP: I'm looking forward to pulling out stacks of Diaries one day to show my kids and their kids. Plus, I'm looking to giving them as gifts. I'm also looking forward to meeting the mother of these kids, but that is for a different blog....
Thanks a million, David! We are happy and honored that our Diaries have made such an impact on your life, and we look forward to keeping the streak going for years to come.
Now, I know for a fact that there are other folks out there who have been using our Diaries for years and years, and I'm sure they have their own stories to tell. If you are one of these long-time users, please e-mail me at ben@perannum.com, because I'd love to feature you in a future entry!
