On Blogging

At one point in time, I was a much more dedicated blogger. I started blogging in an early form back in 2000. Only back then, I was constantly updating an AngelFire HTML template that was my second attempt at a Web page.

I got into the whole programming and designing end of digital thanks to my JRN 101 professor. My first Web site was done in Microsoft Front Page. It took me forever as I recall now. I also remember fumbling a few times learning to use FTP software. About a year later, I stumbled onto Blogger and loved the freedom I had to only have to worry about tagging my text breaks and things that I wanted to bold or italicize. I also became addicted to the daily writing process. I am convinced it made me a better reporter in the long run. I'd write, write and write. It also got me into scouring the web constantly, trying to find the next cool thing to write about (thanks for the free investigative reporting class blogger!).

During my weird and wild journey through blogging, I got hooked on a few writers, one of them being Regina Lynn, a blogger, author and all around lovely woman who has been writing for Wired.com for more than five years.

Now Regina is bowing out. I'm bummed. I've read, laughed, nodded in approval and learned new things with her every Friday for the last several years. Here's to you Regina. Thanks for being a bit of an inspiration.

On Digital Strategy, Powerpoint

I work at an agency that loves its "decks," which is a really dumb way of saying Power Point. I find deck writing very frustrating - mostly because the people you'll inevitably present the deck to have no desire to sit through 20 to 50 slides of what you're already telling them anyway.



Sure, strategy is really important, and I'm of the opinion you shouldn't even bother creating concept creative without it, but there is a point where you just need to tell a client what the hell you're going to do for them.

I learned this first hand during a recent presentation to a group of people that I would classify as "light-tech" clients. I believe you can classify people in the modern business environment into three tech categories:

*Non-Tech Adopters
*Telecom Adopters
*All Tech Adopters


I, unfortunately, was presenting a very long, strategically sound deck for an "all tech" audience that was very clearly a group of Telecom adopters. How do I know? They were all furiously typing away on their Blackberries, as I presented on some very cool Web 2.0 applications we planned to use to build their brand. Not to mention, when I asked how many of them knew what a "blog" was, only two of the 10 in the room raised their hand.

So, we ditched the deck after five slides and proceeded to wing it on the strategy. In the long run, it went very well. Maybe I need to ditch the deck more often.

Sorry for the Hiatus

I'm back... and I can honestly say that I'll probably be back to regular blogging again. I had no idea how much work planning a wedding, doing a wedding, going on honeymoon and pitching new business at work would be. Needless to say, it was quite a ride. But now that weddings, Vita's medical boards, and a lot of other drama is behind me, I can get back to my cynical take on life, marketing and the web.



A reader recently asked me why I don't have a blog roll. I guess I've just never been a huge fan of them. I don't go seeking too much traffic with this site, and really maintain my URL to maintain a good snapshot of who I am on the web. I posted about that very topic a while back. But, thanks to the encouragement of some friends who also maintain blogs, I've been considering getting back into the regular foray and may endorse a few blogs that I frequent.

So, look for more topics, more stuff and more fun.

Also, if you want to read some thoughts from someone I've been reading lately, check out Ken Burbary's blog on web business. The handful of posts I've read so far are intelligent and well written.

Thanks for putting up with my constant absence from this space. Stay tuned folks, there's lots of changes on the horizon. Oh, and if you do care, the wedding was lovely. Here's a photo.

On Automotive Spy Photos

Recently, I had my year anniversary at Campbell-Ewald. And for the last year, the majority of my work has been on the Chevrolet account.

Now, many people either see the Chevy account as the kiss of death, or see it as the way to make your career. I'm probably somewhere in the middle. On the plus side you get to work on an automotive account, which for a car geek like me is absolute heaven. And, on the negative side, you get to work on an automotive account, which is stressful, difficult and puts you under constant scrutiny. I enjoy the stress of working on Chevy. I believe it forced me to be a decent marketer as fast as humanly possible. And it strengthened my journalistic, research and web skills ten fold.

I now scour RSS feeds more often than I did when I was an investigative reporter, and am constantly tapping industry sources for other info. I now go directly to the consumer to figure out my audience and think we're producing stronger stories and advertising as a result.

But what I haven't figured out yet is to cater to the spy crowd. How do I leverage the Jalopniks and the AutoBlogs of the world? I know I get excited about spy photos... how do I capture that sort of enthusiasm for Chevy vehicles. That would be the theoretical golden ticket.

The audience is a powerful one... and they can be harnessed, but the big question is, how do I get around the legal ramifications of showing pre-production vehicles masked off without upsetting the balance.

Another blog

Just as an FYI. I'm now working on another blog with a co-worker.

It's called Clownshoes. Feel free to visit, comment, and disucss.