Well one look at this video, will tell you to be very careful! It's pretty funny viral clip but also a good marketing promotion too.
UPDATE: I'm not sure why this video never made it but oh well, I'll try again.
Looking for some cool fashionable shopping tips and codes for deals? Look no further than Clutch 22! First of all, I LOVE the name as both a purse-aholic AND someone who loved the book Catch 22. Second of all, the stylish writer herself sits right across from me in our cube farm.
I expect great things from this one and the stylish cool stylings of Clutch 22 I'm sure will not dissapoint.
What are you waiting for, click here!!
pssst - there's a coupon code up there right now for Urban Outfitters and Bloomingdales!
I've been following the updates regarding Marc Orchant after he suffered a massive coronary and I'm really sad to say that he passed away yesterday. Obviously it's never a good thing when someone goes, especially when it's sudden and unexpected, but he was surrounded by loved ones when he peacefully left this earth. I didn't work with him a great deal but I did have the pleasure of meeting him at Gnomedex and his passion precedes himself.
My thoughts and prayers are with his family and close friends.
Yeah, as I mentioned last week I got nothing done so now I'll likely pay for it in the coming weeks. However, I got back to work today and it was a fun Monday as it began with a riveting 1.5 hour commute into the office. Typically I usually arrive in roughly 30 minutes but given the snow this past weekend and (shocking) the heavy rain it was like Armageddon. I suppose I could rant about crappy traffic but I would rather highlight some PR-related things.
First off, a while ago I was originally planning on making this an "anti-PR" blog where I would talk about what I hate about PR blogs. Sorry folks, but I have continual issues with how PR people "communicate" with each other. I realize that I work in the PR industry but I also do my best to always be as transparent as possible. With clients that's not always possible, but with colleagues that shouldn't really be a problem. Of course, I'll always be the first person to admit that I'm far from perfect. Ultimately public relations is such an odd profession if you really think about it. The skills you would list down for yourself are "strategic thinker" - someone please tell me how I can really prove that I'm a strategic thinker? Sure I can take something I did, turn it around, and finally come to the conclusion that as a result of my excellant "strategic thinking" on this problem, our client was successful but c'mon. Another favorite of mine is the ability to "build relationships." Obviously something that we take seriously at the agency, but how do you accurately measure whether your skills are better than someone else. It's so completely individual that in some aspectcs you either have it in this type of job or you don't. If you don't, I suppose you can always strategically think about how to get it.
And yes, the main reason why I got on this train of thought, was because of a recent Valleywag post about not so great moments in PR (a lovely two part series that have likely ruined someone's early career). The gist is that some poor PR gal sent Valleywag a "pitch" email that was clearly a mistake because it included many blatent editing marks and strikethrough. It seriously just appeared that they took an old pitch email, and replaced the company's name with another and made some general "messaging" changes. It was a mess (made me cringe just thinking about it just now). That was only part one, because the sad soul who had her information contained in the email that they posted for all to see, had sent a response which was then dubbed part two. This part contained her request to have her contact information taken off there (no future jobs for her in the PR industry) with the unfortunate legal threat to back up how "serious" she was. Yeah, nothing like making matters worse for sure.
It's a pretty easy post to find but I'm not posting a link here for a variety of reasons. Was she wrong? Well not so much as wrong as just not having enough guidance and definitely having no relationship with Valleywag. However, the blatant lack of detail was a very bad move and will likely not be the first time that happened to someone. In her follow up email she mentioned a 'computer glitch' that had caused that - but between you and me I think that's just a blatant lie because I know of no glitch that would do that, I just think she accidently sent it. Sorry but that's really the way I see it so her second email just adding insult to injury. If she would have replied back as soon as she realized the error, she should have apologized and said simply what happened. Chances are she would not have gotten the attention that she did.
On a humorous note though, my buddy Dave Eady (he's not even closely associated with PR but he is an amazing individual and a really awesome motorcycle rider) sent me this "joke."
Judy Wallman, a professional genealogical researcher, discovered that Hillary Clinton's great-great uncle, Remus Rodham, was hanged for horse stealing and train robbery in Montana in 1889. The only known photograph of Remus shows him standing on the gallows. On the back of the picture is this inscription: 'Remus Rodham; horse thief, sent to Montana Territorial Prison 1885, escaped 1887, robbed the Montana Flyer six times. Caught by Pinkerton detectives, convicted and hanged in 1889.' Judy e-mailed Hillary Clinton for comments. Hillary's staff of professional image adjusters sent back the following biographical sketch:
'Remus Rodham was a famous cowboy in the Montana Territory. His business empire grew to include acquisition of valuable equestrian assets and intimate dealings with the Montana railroad. Beginning in 1883, he devoted several years of his life to service at a government facility, finally taking leave to resume his dealings with the railroad.
In 1887, he was a key player in a vital investigation run by the renowned Pinkerton Detective Agency. In 1889, Remus passed away during an important civic function held in his honor when the platform upon which he was standing collapsed.'
I hope your Monday went well!
I've been off all week and while I had high hopes of actually accomplishing things around the house, I've done little to nothing all week. Unfortunately, I've also felt quite guilty about that and feel like that holiday funk has settled in. Does anyone else get that way around this time of year? I will say that I've started my Christmas shopping, which never happens this early and if all goes well I should be done very soon. It's nice to get that done early because I always have to ship it off to Kentucky and I usually barely make it in time! Other than that I've played with the dogs and hung out with the bird, so all in all it has been somewhat relaxing. Oh yeah, and I've officially started going back to practice full time. I suck right now on the rink, literally since my endurance is not where I would like it to be but I've got til March when the derby season kicks off. My goal is for next year to be a stellar year of kicking butt on the derby rink - I have a lot of built up aggression from last year.
Amazon has brought back their Customers Vote program this year by popular demand where customers can vote in 6 rounds for 18 ridiculous prices! I didn't participate last year but I heard it was a bit crazy, so things are a bit different. I'm not sure how the selection process goes but you vote for the product in each category/round that you want to win and when the time is up, if that product wins you could be eligible to buy it at a ridiculous price!
It's much easier than it sounds and the program will run for 2 weeks, starting last Thursday. However, it's not too late for the first round but voting ENDS today! Why am I excited? Because the first round is all about the gaming consoles and you can vote on which one should win between the 360, PS3 and Wii. And of course, the Wii is winning by 59%. The ridiculous deal on the Wii is $79, so it's definitely worth trying to get for that price. I missed getting in last time Amazon had Wii availability, mostly because I didn't have the money but also because I wasn't sure if I really needed a Wii. I would say for $79, I definitely do.
Anyway, there's more deals too and the last round the poor Roomba that I voted for is losing out to the LCD HDTV. I think robots are way cooler than HDTV.....of course the price is phenomenal on the TV and well worth it as are all the deals. I just really wanted a Roomba. Go check it out yourself, perhaps you can get a great deal for some early Christmas Shopping! You can vote for all the rounds right away, its just easier that way, and than check back on the buying day but remember VOTING for the Gaming Consoles ends today at 11:59 PM PT!
Speaking of Amazon.com, I'm sure everyone has seen the recent Kindle, Amazon's new e-reader product. Simply put, I want one. I don't work on this part of the Amazon business so I haven't paid a lot of attention to what this was all about, well that and I didn't have a lot of "inside" information. But after reading about it from the blogs and on the product page (link above) I realize I'm the ideal person for this product. I can't afford it right now, but I will save up my money and perhaps that will be my Christmas present to myself!
Is it selfish to say that every year I buy a Christmas gift to myself? I sometimes wait until after Christmas but I also feel like I'm always pretty justified for a variety of reasons. And without getting into too many details, I usually like things that all my immediate family members can never afford nor do they really know the specifics. I just don't ask for those types of things but I am pretty good at getting that right gift for everyone - throughout the entire year. I always spend way too much, especially on my husband, and it's awful to admit but I always feel like I never get what I want. To top it off, I really hate the holiday season so at the end of the day it ends up being shopping therapy for me. Last year my present was for my husband and me (an XBox 360) so I got a bit cheated out of that one.
I'm wondering if it's come to that point where email was about 10 years ago (or more for many people). Email was kind of like a novelty, everyone had to have it they joined the various free email accounts and started forwarding emails, jokes and other things in droves. Remember that? I have some family members that are still a little stuck in that day and age and I really don't have the heart tell tham that I pretty much delete every email they send me. Well, to be fair, once in a while I will click on one just to say I do look at their emails.
Anyway, now it looks like social networing sites are getting to be that way. Looking at this post from The Gadgeteer and on sad but funny side, this post from ValleyWag, could the writing really be on the wall (especially literally on Facebook)? I really laughed at the ValleyWag post that highlighted a bank intern who was fired because of his Facebook page. While that sounds really inflamatory, it was basically highlighting that the kid said he had a family emergency and had to fly to New York so wouldn't be in the office for the next few days. He obviously wasn't very bright because he posted pictures of himself at a Halloween party that very night. It's funny BUT also a bit sad as it highlights that you have a lot of young people entering the workplace with unreasonable expectations of a clear barrier between their social and work life. As weird as it sounds, I think the older generations who have embraced Web 2.0 and new media but also remember a time when there was no "internet" have an upper hand. They can recognize these things and so they approach with an optimistic yet cautious and informed approach.
What do think and are your social networking habits still in a manageable range? I remember when an 'anonymous' blog was the way to go but that quickly turned on itself as people said you have to be transparent. Perhaps people will go back to that anonymous view ala Gossip Girl and post away about their social life with little fear of being "caught at the party."
Yesterday was officially Veteran's Day, although businesses are honoring it today. Perhaps it's just a reason to be off of work, or perhaps there really is something behind it? Have you ever stopped to think about what it's like to be a soldier? Obviously this is really for the civilians out there because if you have ever served your country, you intimately know what duty, honor country really means. It tears at your heart every time you hear our National Anthem. We always play that at our roller derby bouts before we start the game - it's what they do at sporting events - and I always shed a tear.
Veteran's Day isn't just about those who are serving our country, or just about those who unfortunately gave their life for their country, it's about all Veteran's. I'm a Veteran and I'm extremely proud of that fact and about the hard job that our men and woman are doing today, especially over in Iraq. They sometimes just serve as a political pawn, which I think we'll shamefully see a lot of next year. They are sometimes spit upon as killers of men, woman and children. They suffer hardship that many of you will never experience in a lifetime, and definitely wouldn't have chosen to do that.
These brave men and woman, regardless of what reasons they went into the military, they all experience what it means to serve their country. They understand that that person who just ordered a latte at Starbucks will never realize war and the affects it has on a nation and no matter how little it feels, they can make a difference. Despite what media propoganda from all sides you see as a civilian, it will never truly cover or portray what they are doing. You aren't there and you wouldn't understand. Regardless of whether political leaders put them in harms way for their own agendas, they are still human and their compassion goes into everything they do. Regardless of what you saw on CNN about what the troops are doing, you'll never know and even civilians have murderers, rapists and criminals - but they don't look at civilians in the same light. Don't let that one bad seed spoil it for the rest of the humane, honorable, hard-working, reliable, and courageous men and woman fighting for your right to go to have that latte before work.
Please honor those soliders, past and present, and say a prayer or have a quiet moment for them today. They more than deserve that. And if you see one in the airport as we all do - say Thank You, because they need that.
Watch this video made by a 15 year old girl - apparently it's been getting over 3 MILLION hits on YouTube.
Nintendo has been warning folks that the holiday season may once again be a dissapointment if you are on the hunt for their gaming console, the Wii. Not necessarily good news of course since after the initial launch and perhaps one or two small waves of retail availability they have been out of stock. This weekend, I actually spotted two at the local Target and I had to stop myself from purchasing. I think they've been sneaking them into availability but I'm being told they are going quick!
And just so you know, tomorrow morning at 10AM PST, Amazon.com will start selling their allotment. I'm told they have a pretty significant amount available (if I get a number I'll post but i doubt I will). And NO, I'm not keeping the news all to myself. As a matter of fact, I made sure to let all the gaming and gadget blogs I knew about it, from Kotaku to MobileTechReview to GeekSugar, I've done the best I can so if you haven't heard about it by now I can't help you.
No idea if this will be the last stop before the holidays - hope not but you never know - so if you HAVE to get a Wii for your kids, nieces, nephews, yourself - than be be online at 10AM and click away. FYI - one tip that may help is setting up one-click, or even signing up for Amazon Prime now. I think these may go pretty quickly. I was lured into trying Amazon Prime a while ago, and I haven't turned back since. It really is awesome, especially if you use Amazon at all - or for the holidays, which I always do! It's saved me a ton of money on shipping and made ordering easy as one mouse click.
Happy Wii Hunting - or perhaps I should say Haunting?
UPDATE: Yeah, that was fast! Apparently the inventory went within the first hour. Of course there are other options for buying the console within the Amazon Marketplaces, but you have to pay more. For a console that has been out for a year now, it just doesn't seem right. And no, this time I didn't by the Wii. Perhaps in the future - i'm a little on the lean side of the wallet these days so need to save rather than spend.
Speaking of gaming, I read an incredibly interesting article about ways to save the consoles - and it didn't just pick on one, it highlighted all of them from PSP to the Wii. If you work in the gaming industry, from development to manufactcurer, it's a must read. Most of the items are focused on the consoles but if you are in a studio, there are some things to take away from it as well.
