Media Ramblings

Rambling About the Media and Using the Media to Ramble

Archive for July, 2008

Show Your Stuff

July 29, 2008 at 11:36 pm · Filed under online experience, opportunities and tagged: , , , ,

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In a recent email conversation with Brooke Murphy, who works at Edelman in New York, I was made aware of a very cool site that is giving EVERYONE the chance to contribute their ideas to real PR campaigns.

Edelman Studios is where you can sign up and submit your original ideas to be considered for actual production.  Companies like Burger King, Expedia, Butterball and Philadelphia Cream Cheese have projects listed on the site and you are encouraged to come up with an idea to fulfill the premise.  You can simply write up a pitch for your idea and submit it right there on the site and even support it with video, storyboards, word documents and more.  

Sometimes the line between advertising and public relations can get blurry.  I always try and remember the saying, “Advertising you pay for and PR you pray for.”  If nothing else remembering that makes it very clear I have never been in advertising.

I have already submitted one idea for Butterball’s project and have another idea in the works for BK. However with this next idea I am going to try and get some video together to support it.  I think it’s a winner and if it is I may be flown into New York to pitch it myself and even make a couple grand in the process.

I know the odds of actually winning something like this are pretty far fetched but it isn’t so much about winning as having the opportunity to work on a real project for a real company and have your idea be evaluated.  I think it’s great.

Edelman Studios also has a Facebook group so check that out as well for some more information.

I’ll let you know if I hear anything, wish me luck!

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Studio Tour Vlog

July 28, 2008 at 1:01 am · Filed under tour, video, vlog and tagged: , , , , , ,

I purchased a new Canon Digital Camera this weekend and put together this vlog (video blog) today. How cool is it that people like me can create videos like this and put them up for all to see?

It’s things like this that give me that moment of pause. That real excitement about the new media and all of the possibilities it provides to the world of communications.

Anybody can express any point of view in any way they please to the same huge audience.

You don’t need permission, just the desire to put it out there.

I love that.

Without further adieu, here is a little tour of the radio station I work at:

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Can You Curl Up With a Kindle?

July 19, 2008 at 12:58 pm · Filed under new media and tagged: , , ,

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Okay so I’m not going to go thru all of the pros and cons of the Kindle reader being offered by Amazon.com because you’ve probably already heard them all but I wanted to ask you a couple of simple questions.  

Would you rather read a real book or a Kindle?  Will you purchase a Kindle?

I get the idea of the Kindle.  Obviously someone decided to make the iPod for books in hopes that it would be just as successful, but will it?  

Honestly, I don’t know.  

Initially I have a negative reaction, partly because the constant transformation of everything physical to digital makes me feel like I am in a Sci-Fi novel where people are constantly becoming less human and more machine.  On some level the Kindle makes me want to take up arms against “the machines!!!”  

Also, being raised by a mother who is a teacher and staunch proponent of reading books, I feel like “real books” are a part of who I am and to lose them is somehow losing a part of myself.

I know, I need therapy.

On the other hand it really does seem sort of cool.  It definitely saves space and you can download entire books wirelessly for a pretty cheap price.  Just think of all the benefits the iPod has when it comes to purchasing and transporting your music library and that is what the Kindle does with your books.  No need to list all of the positives one by one I think you get the idea.

Please take a moment to answer these poll questions:

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Let me guess, you need coffee?

July 11, 2008 at 9:58 am · Filed under Uncategorized and tagged: , , , , , , ,

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I admit it, I have become a Twitter addict.  A “Twiddict”, I guess you could say. 

When I first started using Twitter, a now widely applied micro blogging application allowing people to update the world on their doings in short 140 character bursts, I thought it was insanely stupid.  

Who cares what I’m doing?  Did the world need to know that I was heading out to jog or that I recently rediscovered my love of flavor-ice pops?

Short answer?  Yes.  Yes it does.

Once I dug in and started adding more and more people (my Tweeps) I started interacting more and slowly but surely started looking forward to seeing what people were up to whenever I logged in.  

That was key by the way, adding people.  It gets boring real quick if your just updating yourself on what YOU are up to. 

To enable the addiction, interaction is made easier through tons of third party applications like Twhirl that allows you to stay logged into multiple accounts at a time and Twiddict that will save your Tweets (messages) if Twitter is down and deliver them as soon as it is up again.  

Twitter seems to have a few stability problems but people are so in love with Twitter no one has left for other more stable applications like Plurk or identi.ca just yet.  Why?

If that isn’t a relationship metaphor I don’t know what is.  Come on, this chick is EXCITING!!!!  Twitter has a huge community, it’s own language, birds and whales and hey, it was first.

Other than to out myself as a complete Twitter geek, the inspiration for this post on a Friday morning was that I noticed Twitter has developed a few cliches.  

I find myself reading more and more updates regarding the making of coffee and the undying need for the first cup of it in the morning.  I would be interested in a study that looked at what percentage of Twitter folks are addicted to caffeine.

Another overdone Tweet?  People letting you know that their life is good.  

Usually people will tweet something like that via text that when just starting to feel the effects of alcohol, driving into a sunset or involved in some other picturesque, movie-like experience.

Just something I noticed.  Take it for what you will, maybe a quick study in human behavior or something like that.

Any Twitter cliches jumping out to you?  Let me know.  

In the meantime I gotta grab this first cup of Joe, head out the door to jog, and kick off the weekend.

Life is good.

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A Brave New Campaign

July 9, 2008 at 9:01 pm · Filed under history, new media, online experience, politics, social media and tagged: , , , , ,

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How are you connecting to your favorite presidential candidate?  Odds are you are doing it in ways you never have before.  Maybe you’re connected in the 1st degree on Linked IN.  Does he occupy the position of “Top Friend” on your Myspace page?  Are you a fan on Facebook or is he is just one of your many Twitter Tweeps?

Okay if you are totally lost, a little annoyed, and don’t know what the heck I am talking about you may be in need of a crash course in Social Media.  I know it sounds a little strange but it’s the way many people are connecting and gathering information online these days and it’s playing a very important role in this current Presidential election.

Social Media as defined in Wikipedia is “an umbrella term that defines the various activities that integrate technology, social interaction and the construction of words, pictures, audio and video” or as Marta Kagan puts is in her excellent slideshow, “Social Media is people having conversations online.”

Sounds simple enough right?  But these seemingly basic concepts are being used in ways they never have before.  They are reaching more people than ever, in more ways than ever and in doing so helping to decide a Presidential Election.

In order to be taken seriously a candidate must be able to effectively communicate their message utilizing the technology and media of the day.  In the past this meant manipulating the few powers that be in order to hopefully get your message portrayed fully and accurately to the people you want to reach.  

Not an easy task for even the most savvy of politicians.  

We don’t need to go any further than our experience with the game of Telephone back in the first grade to remind us that whenever a message is being delivered by someone other than the originator, the odds of it being delivered in tact go down as the number of people delivering it go up.  

Anyone else remember a sentence like “I am in the pool in the backyard” making its way thru a dozen or so 1st graders and ending up,  ”George ate a huge cookie in a barn?”  Not exactly accurate.

Today the message can come straight to you from the candidate bypassing all middlemen and daydreaming 1st graders.

Democratic candidate Barack Obama has been celebrated for his embracing of the Internet. Obama has a website that allows users to read his stance on issues in full, view videos of entire speeches, form and join groups, create and add to discussions, mobilize meetings and of course donate money.

However, with all the good comes all of the bad.  Just as the Internet can help communicate accurate information it can also be used to spread lies, rumors and falsehoods at a rate previously unseen.   

Obama has also utilized the new media to help fight any smear campaigns thrown his way by developing a site that debunks false rumors and attacks.

Republican candidate John McCain also has a site complete with a MySpace clone, “McCainSpace”, where his supporters and others can discuss issues and ideas as well.

But just having a website and a forum isn’t enough these days, you have to go where the people are and not just expect them to come to your site like a dog to a dinner dish.  Twitter, Facebook, MySpace, Blogs and YouTube are some of the new hot spots of political campaigns, providing a middle ground where campaigns and voters can interact equally.

Social Media finally allows candidates the opportunity to communicate their message, their side of things, directly to the people in a non-intrusive, accurate and intimate way. Not only that, it’s allowing a dialogue between the campaign and the people that has the potential to be more direct and transparent than ever before.

There are pitfalls and hurdles to be sure.  Stances on issues are put online for all to see at anytime, gaffes and missteps will be played ad nauseum on YouTube and even a flip-phone can record a flip-flop.  There is no town too small, no speech too insignificant and seemingly no place to hide from the new and social media.

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Internet Causing Insomnia

July 1, 2008 at 2:26 am · Filed under new media, newspapers, tv and tagged: , , ,

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People are losing sleep over the Internet.  

I’m not talking about students researching papers that are due the next day or obsessive compulsive fan boys waiting for midnight to strike so they can see the new Slipknot masks.

I’m talking about TV and Newspaper executives.  

I came across an interesting article at Variety.com that speaks to the changing media landscape.  It details a study that finds the average age of those watching Live TV  is older than ever before.  I say Live TV because this study didn’t measure delayed viewing or DVR use.

What’s the age you ask?  50.  Yep, the people who watch TV the most are half way to 100 years old.

Okay that last sentence is total “Internet Sensationalism.”  50 isn’t close to 100.  As a matter of fact if 50 is old than to get to 100 you would have to live a whole other 50 years to get there!  So you would have to be a whole other 50 year old older.  That makes 50 seem young.

Just thought I’d call myself out on an obvious spin.

This is actually interesting for a few reasons.  First of all, it’s the first time that the average age of TV viewers has fallen out of the coveted 18-49 year old age demographic.  Secondly,  it marks another sign that more and more people are getting their entertainment and news from other media sources like the Internet.

Why stay up late to watch one of your favorite comedians on The Tonight Show when you’ll be able to watch it and discuss it tomorrow at your leisure on YouTube or the network’s web site?  Tonight Show viewers by the way have a median age of 54.  

Check out the article for more specific and interesting stats on different shows such as the average age for viewers of Supernanny is 41 and Nightline viewers are 52.  Hey did you know that the median age for U.S. households is 38?  

Okay I’ll stop.  

The Washington Post  points out that newspapers are also feeling the hit from the new media.  Circulation is down, jobs are being slashed and designs are changing all in an attempt to compete with the Internet.  

Will it work?  The article makes a good point when it states that Newspapers can’t beat the Internet at it’s own game.  

Physical newspapers are not going to be able to be updated at any time throughout the day, have readers comments and ideas added instantly or be able to transform into another paper instantly.

One of the big arguments against the Internet is that it is too shallow and catering to an A.D.D. mindset where sound bytes matter more than substance and research is second to sensationalism. There are cases to be made for that to be sure but the truth is that you can find EVERYTHING on the Internet.  

If you want shallow, sensational sound bytes you can get your fill but you can also splurge on in-depth, well researched articles.  That’s the real strength of the Internet.  You create your own experience. You can get whatever you want, when ever you want it with just a click of a mouse.  

How can anything compete against that?

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