Skype meetings, coffee, and collaboration: a Q&A with Ariana Milligan

Ariana Milligan recently started working with Oxford University Press’s Global Digital Products Marketing team in New York. She tells us about how working on products such as Grove Art Online and Oxford Music Online creates an inspiring day-to-day life.

What is your typical day like at OUP?

My typical day is filled with skype meetings, coffee, and collaboration. I spend time researching ideas for creative campaigns, brainstorming for videos and podcasts, and learning about data’s role in marketing. My days are varied but in a good way.

What’s the most enjoyable part of your day?

I love walking to Bryant Park during my lunch hour.

What is the strangest thing currently on or in your desk?

I have ten or so postcards of paintings and pieces of art. Some of the pictures are from famous museums and some are not. I have a few poems pinned to my cubicle wall. I also have a lamp with a gold base and kelly green lampshade that I inherited from my team.

What’s your favourite book?

I love John Dewey’s Art as Experience. I picked up a copy at the Barnes Foundation in Philadelphia and couldn’t put it down. For inspiration and a sense of connection, I enjoy Jonathan Safran Foer’s Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close.

If you didn’t work in publishing, what would you be doing?

I think something along the lines of film restoration or story development. I love doing marketing for a publishing house because there is potential to create and elevate important stories. I love film for the same reason!

Who inspires you most in the publishing industry and why?

I’m inspired by a company called Deep Vellum Publishing, which is an independent not-for-profit publisher in Dallas, Texas. They’re dedicated to translation and cross-cultural exchange. Their passion for seeking truth and putting out inspiring content is really similar to that which I’ve encountered at Oxford.

What drew you to work for OUP in the first place? What do you think about that now?

I did a year abroad at St. Catherine’s College, which is a college at the University of Oxford. When I graduated from college, I knew I wanted to pursue something along the lines of film or publishing. Oxford University Press made the most sense due to my personal connection. Looking back, I’m lucky to have such an incredible institution play a pivotal role in my life as a student and young professional.

What is your favorite word?

Scintillate. It’s an elevated way to describe glittery things.

Favorite animal?

All of them, but koalas do top my list.

Image Credit: Opening title card for the 1902 Georges Méliès film Le voyage dans la lune, Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons