I saw an ad for Windows while I was watching the NCAA Championship and it made me laugh.
“Windows… Without Walls”
Oh that is catchy. I wonder how many people applauded that in the meeting? If I were sitting in the meeting this would’ve came out of my mouth.
That is stupid! What happens to a window without walls? It crashes!
I guess that is why I freelance.
I grab my mail and what kind of marketing material do I find? Gold, how the hell did they know that I wanted a college sweatshirt with my name on it. Wonder what my clients would say if I was walking around the set with my sweatshirt on?
My brother sent me a link from Lawrence Lessig’s blog about the Texas Legislature. What happens when the legislature passes a law that requires citizens to show a picture ID when they vote so they can’t vote twice? Well what is good for the citizens isn’t for the legislature. News 42 in Austin, Texas exposes the voting habits of the Texas legislature. Please watch this video.
I’ve been critical in the past about how the News is broadcast is this country but I can’t help to applaud what this news station in Texas did. This is the kind of news that every citizen needs to know about. Do you know how your legislature votes? I don’t, but I will find out soon enough. You should too!
Small Businesses grab your cajones and make some offers to a few smart marketing/advertising people and create your own team. The world is changing and companies now have the opportunity to compete with the big boys. So embrace the internet and use the tools that it offers to get your message out.
A creative marketing team needs to know the product or service like it’s the back of their hand. Especially if you need to back slap some of the sales team with it. It is necessary to be in meetings about the product/service, talk about it with everyone in the company. Therefore I suggest an Internal Blog.
Get everyone talking about the product or service. Comment on some of the operational flaws that it presents. When you have deadlines or need more information to get a project done post a comment and let everyone in the organization understand where the project stands and what needs to get done in order to complete it. It is a great tool for companies to use to break the miscommunication that thrives in the corporate world and to hold people accountable.
I’m not attacking advertising firms, but be prepared to see many corporations use an in-house marketing team. I’ve seen it happen in the post production world when Apple launched Final Cut Pro. Within 5 years many mid sized post production houses laid off talented people and most went under. Some adapted and changed formats others became part of their clients in house team.
As Marshall McLuhan said, “The Medium Is The Message,” with the popularity of YouTube the medium is changing from a national TV audience to the web and a global audience. For the first time organizations even small businesses have access to millions of people that gather every day to watch video clips. Be creative, have fun let people talk about your product or service. Put it out there. There is no reason that corporations should use an outside source. Other than the fact that they would get some fresh ideas and professionalism…I mean that is what ad firms do.
I digress, the tools are very accessible and inexpensive compared to the days when you had to purchase $50,000 cameras. Set up a YouTube account and enjoy the free market of the internet. Although you may have to watch out for some rude comments from racists, perverts, and immature peeps. Just a thought.
This is the kind of motivation that moves me. Something raw and from the heart. Boneheaded! Sure, but passion and spirit. I have no ill will towards anyone and this is not the clip for that. This just helps me get off my tail and find me some work.
If you have ever worked with me on any project please feel free to motivate me in the comments section and show the world why I’m so marketable. It’s OK to comment even if you never worked with me but think you understand how I roll up in this piece. Sorry honey I couldn’t think of anything else.
Presented by: Dora Drimalas and Brian Flynn
Principal Owners of Hybrid Design
Dora and her husband Brian lead this session and discussed their professional relationship with Nike. It was sweet to see their concept go from the shoe to the clothing and apparel. One stripe could make the design concept jump from the shoe to a brochure, interesting ideas. The main point of their presentation was to show their independent work and how it jumped from a passion of theirs into a paying gig. They turned their love of 80’s sci-fi into t-shirts and wallpaper as well as the love for original Japanese Monster toys into their own creations. They found their niche. It was a fascinating presentation that ended about 30 minutes early. So that gave the audience the opportunity to ask questions. This is where the session became interesting. There was a disconnect between the presenters and the audience. The audience was asking questions about how to get started, how much capital to have, how many t-shirts to print, etc…
They directed them to their nearest phone book and look for printing presses….Wrong!!! There are many ways for designers to market their t-shirt ideas and other art. CafePress.com is one way. Where you customize t-shirts and coffee mugs and other fun accessories and sell it on your blog or in their store. Another thing they spoke about was a magazine they published and realized to turn it into a book and do 4 a year. Instead of going through traditional publishers you can use Lulu.com and publish your own book. There are many ways for designers to self publish their art-flickr, films-youtube, and voice-odeo.
I hope some of the audience participants check this list out or anyone else that wants to know some of the cool tools on-line that will help you self-publish and get your designs out to the world.
I used to be a huge NBA fan when I was younger. That phase of my life is gone. I enjoy watching basketball played at the highest level. That is why I watch college basketball and the NBA Playoffs. Something has happened to the NBA nation… it is unwatchable throughout most of the year. I understand it is a long season and it wears on your body. But can playing, lets say at 70% (if that) during the regular season translate into more energy for the playoffs? I don’t think so. Remember these players… Jordan, Bird, Magic, Malone, Stockton, Robinson, and Olajuwon? They never took plays off and produced some of the most exciting basketball ever.
Does this mentality translate into why we are no longer feared as a basketball nation in international competition? Who knows, I’m waiting for the day when they change the NBA (National Basketball Association) into the IBA (International Basketball Association). It seems that the league is gaining more and more quality players from overseas, will the NBA outsource?
Why am I picking on the league the night of the NBA’s finals? Two reasons.
It is just too much. He is a super talented basketball freak and I appreciate his demeanor. But I have an issue that I don’t think many people have picked up on.
Maybe it is my expectations or hopes that haunt me with Lebron. I have no issues with how hard he plays or how he plays…the issue I have is this.
Cavalier Seeks Players? Support for Darfur
By HOWARD BECK
Ira Newble was not politically active until he read about Eric Reeves. Reeves was not a fan of professional basketball until he received a flurry of e-mail messages from Newble.
But Reeves, a 57-year-old English professor at Smith College in Massachusetts, is now rooting hard for the Cleveland Cavaliers, and Newble, a Cavs reserve, is now pushing hard to advance Reeves?s humanitarian cause.
Their common ground is Darfur, the region of Sudan where an armed conflict has caused the death of an estimated 500,000 civilians and the displacement of 2.5 million others. It has been called genocide by a number of governments, including the United States, and by Reeves, a leading scholar on the conflict.
A passionate advocate for international intervention, Reeves was profiled by USA Today in March. Newble read the story while the Cavs were on the road, and was so moved that he reached out to Reeves.
?There?s innocent people dying, and it?s just a tragedy to stand back and let them do what they?re doing,? Newble said.
So Newble chose to act. He absorbed as much information as he could find on the Internet. He downloaded fact sheets and articles, made printouts and put copies in every teammate?s locker.
The result is a letter, signed by Newble and most of his teammates and released last week, that takes aim at China, which supplies the Sudanese government with money and weapons. China, in turn, is a major importer of Sudan?s oil.
[…]
The letter has not been signed by the star LeBron James but has been endorsed by most of the Cavaliers? roster, including the starters Drew Gooden, Larry Hughes, Sasha Pavlovic and Zydrunas Ilgauskas. Reeves said this simple gesture could be the start of something much greater.
Where are the Alis and Jim Browns of our generation? Not to put down what Ira Newble is doing but if Lebron took a stand behind this cause and made his voice heard how do you think this would effect change? I don’t believe that it would stop the violence but it would sweep across the country and make this horrible event stand out.
It sickens me when you contrast how we jumped to war with Iraq over WMDs, oh I mean to get rid of a dictator, damn I meant to help promote democracy. But the slaughter that continues in Darfur is a whisper between congress, the senate, and the UN.
It is a disgrace that the carnage continues but what is even worse is how the mass media hides it behind the mistakes of Paris Hilton or Britney Spears shaving her hair. Are we that stupid? The media would claim that ratings are what drives them to show what story. TV is a very passive medium and can help change the perspective of the viewers minds. Don’t believe me check out Bill Moyer’s documentary. “Buying The War.”
While Lebron’s bank account keeps rising like his highlight reel, his silence will solidify him as the richest athlete in the world. In a world where people are afraid to take action due to their jobs and their paycheck to paycheck lifestyle, what would it mean to a super athlete to speak up about this. How much money is enough? How I wish I could be him, but I think I would use my celebrity to speak out against crimes against humanity. Come to think of it many middle class, students, political activists, bloggers as well as some Hollywood celebrities are trying to get the worlds attention to stop the violence in Darfur. I don’t want to leave out the importance Ira Newble is playing with his professional contacts in the NBA. Hopefully he can pass on his passion and knowledge to someone with a louder voice and marketing power. When Lebron was asked why he didn’t sign the petition his response was stunning, ?It?s basically not having enough information.?
Hey Lebron I know you’ve heard of Google, try it. I know he is a good person and has his hands involved with charities across the country. He is only 22 I just hope when he is 25 there aren’t more than 1,000,000 black Africans dead due to a lack of international involvement.
UPDATE:
It seems that Lebron is doing better than I thought. Check out this USA Today article…
It’s great to share a birthday with Clint Eastwood. He is by far the baddest man in Hollywood. That being said, I’d like to take this opportunity to say that I don’t believe in birthday celebrations. Actually that is wrong. What I meant to say is we celebrate birthdays wrong. I don’t think I deserve to celebrate today, this day belongs to my mother. She had to carry me around in her womb for 8 months. Yup, at the 8th month she decided that I should be taken from her womb. She had a cesarean section to get her 9 lbs baby boy out of her womb a month early. Just imagine if I had one extra month? Every decision she made while I was developing was made on my behalf.
So that is why I feel that I shouldn’t celebrate today. The only thing that I felt like I did for this to happen was to be that sparkle in my father’s eye and my mother not yet exhausted from working three jobs down the road to help buy clothes and Intellivision games so I could be brain dead by age 33. So feel free to pass the message on to my parents. They read this every now and then. Thanks Mom, I turned out alright. Sorry Dad if I ruined any chance at attempting another kid.
Everyone has one of those days when you just get down and you have a hard time lifting your head up. Well. today is one of those days. Not sure if the Virgina Tech Massacre has a direct effect on my current mood. I think it is one of many issues that is brewing in my mind. What a sad day for the families of the murdered and the students and alum of Virginia Tech.
Here are a few more things that are on my mind at the moment.
Hmmm, I just need a second to breathe.
I’m increasingly bored, not challenged, not listened to and tired of the same ole same ole. I wonder how many others are too?
I need to break off of the routine and start something new. There is nothing holding me back besides the chemicals in my brain that feed my negative thoughts. Enough.
I haven’t written a script in over 8 years. The last one I wrote was about a man with a talking penis. I think, or hope my intellect has grown up a bit. I want to create characters that the viewer can relate to and understand why they do the things they do. I understand most people watch television or movies to break away from reality. I’m one of those who watches films, documentaries and television to learn more about reality.
It’s my turn to give back.
I was reading Tara Hunt’s Blog and came across a great post that shot an idea from the back of my mind to my finger tips. I wonder if there is room in the marketplace for a freelancer called The Procrastinator. This isn’t an Arnold spoof. Before you attack hear me out.
The Procrastinators’ Service
The Procrastinators are not for hire to come in and pre-produce and write copy for projects. The team has an extremely high IQ, therefore has a short attention span for minimal work. They work best when they are under pressure. Where most people fail under stress The Procrastinators thrive. Not responsible for Stumbling in between tasks that are complete. It is up to the management to make sure each step of the project is ready to go forward. Must have well written instructions in order to move the project along. The hiring company must sacrifice a manager to work with The Procrastinators unless the team insists that the manager is the problem. We do not work under contracts, only day rates… even if it is for an hour.
Now hiring!!! This post took 10 hours to write.
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