Jen Kling loves New Kids on the Block. Jen takes me through her teenage crush on Joey and becoming a fan all over again when the band reunited in 2008. Concerts, meet & greets, and cruises - Jen loves all of it and hopes that one of these days she can sit down with Joey for coffee.

Follow Jen on Twitter

Peloton Links

• Wilpers Bike Fitting


• Peloton Christmas Ad


• Ryan Reynold's response Ad

NKOTB Links

• NKOTB website


• Jay Leno Sixth Sense Parody


• NKOTB on Today Show 2008


• NKOTB on Kimmel 2010


• NKOTB Cruise 2020

Follow @findingfavspod on Instagram and Twitter. Rate and review on Apple Podcasts

Jen  0:00  

Hi, I'm Jennifer Klang. And I love New Kids on the Block (NKOTB).

Announcer  0:05  

Welcome to the Finding Favorites podcast, where we explore your favorite things without using an algorithm. Here's your host, Leah Jones.

Leah Jones  0:16  

Hello, and welcome to Finding Favorites -- it is actually still Saturday, but you'll be hearing this on Sunday. I recorded this episode today, and we'll get it posted before I go to bed because Sunday is vaccine number two day for me. I'll be driving back down to Springfield, Illinois, for my second Pfizer shot. I'd originally thought when I went down to state for the shot, that I would be one and done with Johnson and Johnson. That wasn't the case, and so I am heading back down state for shot number two. I'm very excited, because then everyone in my generation in my family and above will be vaccinated. I feel like it'll be a little bit safer to spend some time together this summer. And I'm very excited for that. 

----more----

Leah Jones  1:10  

Today's episode is one that I *thought* was just going to be about '80s and '90s nostalgia, but learned quickly that New Kids on the Block have a really vibrant career. And so I talk with Jen Kling all about New Kids on the Block. She is someone that I got to know when I was freelancing. And I was working for SAP for their CX [customer experience] group -- worked on a couple events in Barcelona and Orlando, and met Jen at those, and when I put the call out for people ready to come and talk about their favorite things or things they love, and she was volunteered by our mutual friend Amy, who you'll remember from the Disney episode. 

Leah Jones  1:52  

So, this is just really fun. And after talking to Jen, I'm ready to go on a cruise. Can't believe we're at the point in the pandemic where I am thinking cruises sound like a good idea again. I think anything with a lot of people just having fun and loving the same thing, just sounds really good to me right now. So I'll keep this short -- I need to go to bed and rest up for my long drive tomorrow. So wear your mask, wash your hands, stay safe.

Leah Jones  2:37  

Hello, and welcome to Finding Favorites. I'm your host, Leah Jones. And this is the podcast where we get recommendations and find out about people's favorite things without using an algorithm. Today, I am joined by Jen Kling. Jen and I met each other for the first time in Barcelona, when I was working on events for SAP. It was called CX Live, and it was one of the nicest convention centers I've ever traveled to. So Jen, how are you doing today?

Jen  3:08  

I'm doing good. And Wow, it's so funny to talk about doing live, in-person events ... "In the old days ... "

Leah Jones  3:18  

"In the before time ..."

Jen  3:19  

"... in the before times when we would travel and see people in person." 

Leah Jones  3:24  

When we would wear like our business clothes with tennis shoes to walk miles and miles across that convention center. Remember the day when we all got up and the rain was coming *through* the convention center? It was like a day before?

Jen  3:41  

Yes. Oh my goodness, that was crazy -- that was also like we had to -- there was no way -- I think you and I were at the same hotel. There was no way to get to the convention center without walking for a long time outside. Like there wasn't--  even if you did get an Uber for a minute and a half drive, you still had to walk five minutes outside. And so when it was raining, it was not a wonderful experience. But then, you went inside and it was raining. Yeah. Yeah, that was crazy. It was quite a week.

Leah Jones  4:20  

That was one where I looked at that. And I was like, "Oh, I'm glad I'm just in charge of the speakers and the presentations. That is not a problem I have to solve. But that was so stressful.

Jen  4:33  

Yeah. It was good times though. I miss that.

Leah Jones  4:38  

I miss in-person events. One of the things I loved about being on the CX team for those two events because I did Barcelona and then the first CX Live and well, probably the last one because it was actually like October 2019, right?  And we were in Orlando, and that was just a few short months before COVID started.

Leah Jones  5:02  

But, I loved being on a big team working towards a singular goal, getting together in person, making it happen. It was so stressful. But the feeling of pulling that off and getting to do that twice with your team -- I loved. I loved it.

Jen  5:20  

Yeah, it's the best. I've been in marketing for a lot of years -- for many, many years. And,  I've always been attached to events in one way or another. I was an event planner for a long time, so it was on the logistic side. And now, I mostly just kind of participate from like a speaker and doing sessions and things like that. But, I just absolutely love it. There is something about that very last stretch, when you look around and everything is still a mess. And you've got workers everywhere, and things are still being constructed, and you're looking at the clock and you're going "There's no way this is going to come together."and then it does. And it's the most amazing, most satisfying feeling. I love it.

Leah Jones  6:12  

Yeah. And so you have obviously moved online this year.

Jen  6:18  

Yes. Yes.

Leah Jones  6:20  

How has that been?

Jen  6:24  

You know, it's a different experience. Right? It's, you know, in fact, the group I'm with now,  SAP Litmos, has their virtual events coming up now ,SAP Litmos. We're doing this virtual five track, 25 sessions, one day event? It's just a different type of experience. You do cameras on with Zoom, and the technology is great now, but it doesn't really replace that in-person interaction and the networking, right? We'll have like a virtual networking lounge and stuff like that, but it's not the same. It works, and thank goodness, we have the technology we have now. I mean, if we were doing this in the 80s, or the 90, you know, I don't know how we would have done it. I mean, we just wouldn't have, right? It's it's just a different experience. But it works, it works. Thank goodness for technology.

Leah Jones  7:21  

Having a product where you can quickly call people, you're not looking for their phone number, you're not having to get people --  you know, just having a link to click on. And the chat has made a huge difference. Because even if we just, I don't know, like a month before, we just each had our, our dial-in numbers, even a year and a half ago, how we could have accomplished what we've accomplished.

Jen  7:45  

You know, it's funny, because I mean, you know, how SAP is -- we're a global organization, we have people everywhere, and teams are made up from people that are spread across the world. And even that even small team, I'm on -- I have people in, I'm in California, half the team's in California, I have people in Birmingham, Arizona, and Australia. And so we were kind of used to always being on a Zoom call or a Teams call, with people and you know, doing camera on a lot, just because it's nice to be able to see those people. 

Jen  8:19  

But I will say that now that *all* of us have been working from home, and there isn't half of us that are together in the office, and the other half of the team, not, I feel like it's in a weird way, brought the whole team closer together. 

Leah Jones  8:32  

Absolutely. 

Jen  8:34  

And, you know, we're all in on something together. And, I have mixed feelings about the office now. I want to go back because I miss the people, and our office is nice, and we have free lunch and I miss the Impossible Burgers. But I don't miss the -- my commute wasn't bad, it was a 35 minute commute. And as Bay Area commute goes, it's pretty amazing. But it's kind of nice to *not* have to have that commute, and *not* have to put makeup on, and be able to work in my sweatsm or whatever. But, I do miss people. So it's gonna be interesting for us. They're saying, you know, they'll support whatever works for any individual through the end of the year. And they're starting to work on a controlled reopening of the offices, but it'll still be very limited. And for me, since I only have a few members of the team in the office, if we all can't be there on the s