By Courtney Pinkston, Marketing Administrator at Goodwin PC
Yes, you read that right. Taylor and Travis got married a few weeks ago, and as I followed the weekend's events, I kept drawing lines between the big American royal wedding and the world of information technology. Leave it to the pop-culture obsessed marketing girl to find similarities. So, are you ready for it? Here are three things I learned from the wedding.
1. Expect the Unexpected
There were Swift/Kelce wedding bingo cards floating around all over the internet, and I'm certain that Adam Sandler as the officiant was nowhere to be found on a single one of them. It felt like it came out of the blue. Except for the fact that Kelce appeared in "Happy Gilmore 2." Looking back, you probably should have seen it coming.
In the world of IT and business continuity, you have to expect the unexpected. The power could go out any moment. A severe storm could damage your office building. Adam Sandler could walk in with a golf club and hammer your equipment. Ok, maybe not. But still, you have to be prepared, because the businesses that get hurt worst are the ones who never asked "what if."
So what does "prepared" actually look like? A few concrete examples:
- Backups that are actually tested. It's not enough to know backups exist. Someone should be regularly confirming they'd actually restore your files if you needed them tomorrow.
- Secure remote access. If your office was suddenly off limits, could your team log in from home and keep working without missing a beat?
- Security measures that catch problems early. Think monitoring that flags unusual activity before it turns into a shutdown.
None of this happens by accident. It happens because someone made a plan before there was a problem.
2. You Can't Believe Everything You See
We know Jonathan Anderson of Christian Dior designed Taylor's dress. We know there were florals and furniture delivered to the venue. We know guests received embroidered handkerchiefs. But what we don't know is what everything actually looked like, and honestly, we don't need to know. The Swifties out there probably didn't want to hear that, because they really want the photos. In the weeks since, there have been so many AI-generated images floating around social media. These images are believable. It's scary. And it should be a lesson in AI deepfakes.
Quick sidebar for anyone who hasn't run into the term: a deepfake is an AI-generated image, video or voice recording made to look and sound real, even though it isn't. And they're getting good, good enough that scammers now use them to impersonate a boss on a voicemail or a vendor on a video call, asking someone on your team to wire money or share login credentials.
AI is a useful tool, but it's dangerous. A few questions worth asking yourself:
- Do you have safeguards in place, like a verification step before wiring money or sharing sensitive info, even if the request looks and sounds legitimate?
- Do you know how to spot an AI scam, like a voice that's slightly off or an urgent request that skips your normal process?
- Are you checking your content before sharing it, especially anything with images or claims you can't personally verify?
We have to protect ourselves and our work environments. We have to know what's real and what's not. You can control how you consume and use AI. Don't fall for the deepfakes.
3. Find Your Squad
Don't we all want a squad that consists of Paul McCartney and Steven Spielberg? Taylor and Travis invited their closest friends and family to the big event. They trusted them, and their friends showed up. Let's be honest, you want that for your squad too.
And here's where it all connects. Being prepared for the unexpected and staying sharp about what's real and what's not, that's not something you handle alone. It's something your IT provider should be doing with you. Which means choosing the right one is really the whole endgame. So here's my advice:
Make the friendship bracelets with your IT provider. If you can't trust them and they don't show up when you need them, then it's definitely time to write that breakup song. Here's what showing up actually looks like, in practical terms:
- A live, friendly voice when you call. Not a phone tree that loops you back to hold music.
- Fast resolution, not a ticket into a void. You know something's being worked on, and you know when it'll be fixed.
- A team that knows your business. Not just your ticket number, your setup, your history, your quirks.
- People who actually care whether you win. Showing up for the good days, not just the hard ones.
I see our team show up every day ready to help. They answer the phone live with a friendly voice. They resolve issues fast. They're professional every single time, no exceptions. They have fun and celebrate big wins with our customers. I know it seems like I'm saying this because I handle our marketing, but I'm the new kid in town and the things I just listed are why I work here. It's also why I spent an entire weekend analyzing everything about this wedding. Because when something resonates with you, you notice. Taylor and Travis resonate with people. So does this team.
And that, my friends, is the brain of an IT professional who may also be a bit of a Swiftie.
Congratulations, Taylor and Travis!
About the Author
I lead marketing at Goodwin PC Services, where my focus is on helping connect Mid-South businesses with reliable IT support through clear, honest storytelling. I've spent over a decade in marketing and public relations, with a background in communication and journalism. I'm also a relatively new Swiftie. I have my two girls to thank for that. Turns out car karaoke with Love Story and Enchanted is a very effective conversion tool.
