On Lauren’s letter, and on other workplace letters.
San Francisco, California
October 19, 2000
Dear Readers,
Today’s letter is by Lauren Zalaznick, the Senior Vice President of Original Programming & Development at VH1, the home of the hits. Like Julie Shapiro, she is in the music-and-commerce business, though with perhaps less alphabetizing.
Lauren’s letter fits into the fledgling Open Letters tradition of the work letter, in that it describes and illuminates an unusual workplace, just as the letters in our work issue did, andJulie’s letter did, and Adam Heimlich’s, and others. Lauren’s open letter also has a certain meta feel to it, given that it is itself about writing and the Internet, which is at least part of what we’re about.
Tomorrow, Sheila Heti of Toronto reveals why she can’t stop revealing things. And the first-ever Open Letters T-shirt, now making its way up the Atlantic coast, takes the stage in Brooklyn.
Yours truly,
