Month: July 2007

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Daily Life The Marketeer

Whole Brain

No, that’s not where organic food zombies shop, but it is another half baked theory I have. While trying to find good Marketeers I’ve found an interview question that I like: Marketeers tend to fall into two camps: artistic or analytic. Which one are you?

The truth is you need both to be a great Marketeer, but the pendulum has swung hard to the analytical side in the past 10 years. Tomorrow on Marketing Over Coffee I’ll see if I can get some other traits of great Marketeers out of Mr. Penn.

In less serious news you can check out the Flickr photos of my vacation.

Categories
Daily Life Podcasting

Once upon returning home

Just hanging out at DTW getting ready to catch a flight home. We’ve been delayed 1 hour but given the stories I heard about delays over the weekend it sounds like we are not that bad off. The latest M Show is up with some live reports from the trip to Torch Lake. I think it’s better than last year but I still haven’t been able to catch the lightining in a bottle that I found during CigarCast 1.

We had a great time and I’ll be posting some photographs up on Flickr so you can see the lake. More when I get back to business  tomorrow.

Categories
Daily Life

Happy 40th Madman

Today is Mike’s 40th Birthday (more about Chicago Mike) and his wife sent me a letter saying that she was throwing a virtual party and everyone was encouraged to call, email, etc. For some unholy reason Mike actually follows a lot of this crap I churn out. I’m sure it’s because of the wisdom and charm of my co-hosts, and perhaps fond memories of cranky people in Boston.

I met Mike when I came back to Boston around 1997 and joined the Boston Junior Chamber of Commerce. The Jaycees are a civic organization that develops leadership in 21-40 year old young professionals. Serving with Chairman Mike on the board of directors was an invaluable experience that I could not get anywhere else.

All the best to you old man and see you next time you are in Boston!

Categories
Geek Stuff

Friday Night Fights, Round 2!

So I got lucky in round one, when checking out everyone’s posts it looked like free for all fighting, but after hearing from Bahlactus, the lead promoter himself, he’s going for more of a true boxing Friday night thing, making my HUGE metallic molar-rattling cross hit right on target.

I really had fun digging in and checking out all the writers out there, it’s great to find some people going beyond Wizard talking about what is big this week and can dig back deep into the archives to find stuff that’s STILL 25 CENTS! or even further back.

I’ve got a $5 starbucks card for the first comment that can tell me what happened to Daxam during the Great Darkness Saga.

Enough running my jaws, let’s rumble. Last week I got a kick of seeing Cap vs. Cap, shield to shield (which I can’t find now, link anyone?) and that reminded me of Peter David’s fantastic “Future Imperfect” (done with Perez I think?). Hulk is taking the shield slinging to the next level:

Categories
Daily Life The Marketeer

Using the Sneak Preview to generate buzz

I’m off to the lake and coverage is a bit spotty so just a quick post from the road. Christopher Penn and I discussed some interesting techniques to give you some search engine and Technorati juice in the latest Marketing Over Coffee, the best marketing podcast coming out of dunkin donuts in Framingham.

I’ve got to check in with Hollywood Steve but it seems like the sneak preview is a great way to get a movie rolling. The key is to find the Mavens that will generate interest in the movie prior to the opening weekend, which seems to be all that matters these days. (Queue flashback music) I remember back in the days when theatres only showed one movie and it stayed around for months if it was good. Although I could get misty eyed over the “Lost Golden Age” I think it’s more like how people revere the early baseball players but all of them know, deep down inside, that a lot of those old drunks would get their asses kicked if they had to play in today’s supercharged steroid swilling, dog maiming leagues. (climbing down of cranky old man soapbox).

Carin and I were invited to a sneak preview of No Reservations, starring Catherine Zeta-Jones and the girl from Little Miss Sunshine (the movie that made Carin laugh so hard she couldn’t breathe). No Reservations is a great date movie, and it even has a few moments that are above and beyond. I worked for a number of years in foodservice so I have a great appreciation for that environment. (Anthony Bourdain’s Kitchen Confidential is a great read for more on that).

It was a packed house but we were lucky enough to get to sit with Clarence, who’s got a unique voice that is just fun to listen to, much like Julien Smith. Also in the house were C.C. Chapman, Steve Garfield, Doug Haslam, Kroosh, and a few others I can’t remember right now. I was a little bummed though, I had to get home to take care of the dog so we weren’t there early enough for drinks beforehand and we had to get home right afterwards so I could pack for vacation and the 5am alarm for Marketing Over Coffee (did I mention that’s the best marketing podcast?).

Categories
Brain Buster Daily Life

A Soldier’s Funeral in Lexington

I rarely miss lunch. I’ve found that if I don’t get away from my desk for a break in the middle of the day I tend to get worthless around 3pm. Getting outside, walking around, breathing some different air and seeing a few different colors recharges both my mind and body. It’s also a great opportunity to talk to other people that I work with that are beyond the shouting range of my workspace.

On Friday I was driving over to Whole Foods to get some lunch (I know, I’m a lucky man to have that kind of food selection a short distance away, I can go high protein low/no carb and never even get bored) and there was a funeral going on as I drove by. Traffic was stop-and-go and I was by the ceremony as the salute was fired.

Had I stayed at my desk I would have been wrapped up in work as usual, instead I returned with a bit more perspective on what’s important and how fortunate I am to be free to do my work thanks to those who put their lives on the line for our way of life.

Categories
Daily Life Podcasting

Dark and Stormy

I was out in LA a few months back and Hollywood Steve hooked me up with a great summer drink – the Dark and Stormy. You get the spiciest Ginger Beer you can find and add a shot of Dark Rum and a wedge of lime.

The only problem is, like many drinks I have while out and about, I’ve had trouble recreating it. I first tried Reed’s Ginger Beer and that didn’t cut it. I also tried The Ginger People and that was much better. I have yet to try Barritt’s which, along with Gosling’s Black Seal Rum®, is supposed to be the official thing. I submitted a question via their website about where to buy their product in the states and got a message back from Bruce Barritt, that impressed me a lot.

So, drinking aside, I also finished the Harry Potter book and posted the latest M Show for the faithful listeners. Now back to work.

Categories
Geek Stuff

Friday Night Fights!

Time out for some Fanboy Fun: I’m adding Frank Miller’s Robocop vs. Terminator for Bahlactus’ Friday Night Fights:

Categories
Brain Buster The Marketeer

Why Awards are Important

Tomorrow I’m going to grab lunch with David Meerman Scott, he’s had a lot going on in the past month including the best marketing and PR book of 2007. I just swung by his blog and he has a post about an upcoming show about Madison Ave. advertising in the 60’s called Mad Men. I’m interested in this because a former President of Ogilvy is in the lovely Carin’s hometown and I’m going to try and get him on the mic.

Last time I talked with David he dealt me a brain buster about awards. I used to think that awards were a lottery ticket, I’ve sent in many applications for software products, marketing projects, etc. and the goal was to try and win for the PR lift. If you take this approach you have a slim chance of scoring.

The real benefit is the access to the judges. These are often well known and connected individuals within your industry. Many times they are Mavens, who spread knowledge across huge groups of people. Even if you are in the wrong category and determined ineligible, you’ve still had an opportunity to showcase your product/service to a group of people who have more influence than the general public.

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Productivity Booster The Marketeer

Steriods for your Career

I just posted the latest and best marketing podcast, and I mentioned Salary.com. This service has run me anywhere from 29-79 dollars a year and the least it has ever generated for me in a year is $3,000. If every investment of mine paid off like that I’d already be on my beach house in Nantucket.

It simply takes most of the voodoo out of the compensation question – instead of pulling an number out of the sky I can go see what the average marketing guy with 15 years in business, graduated from the one and only UMASS, working at a software company of under 100 employees in the Boston area gets. And go from there.

Market opinion is very squishy, market data has to be challenged with other data.