I’ve been really struggling to keep up with my blogging and professional writing lately. Hopefully I’ll get some more time in December when I take some time off. In the meantime I’ll share a very simple funny email my friend Jill Schoen shared at the office.  I’m assuming these are real, either way they’re absolutely classic.

As the title says… “Some People Should Not Have Facebook”…

ENJOY!

 Read More »

Bob Garfield wrote a passionate article today about why he thinks Cannes is dead. Although I agree with Bob that many of the ads that have been celebrated at Cannes don’t represent the future of advertising, I don’t believe for one second that Cannes is dead.

The last year has been a rough year in advertising and this coming year is likely to be just as bad or worse, but I don’t feel this has left a gaping void in advertising. It only left a gaping void if you’re staring in the same direction you were last year and the years before that. We’ve all recognized that digital has been a catalyst for a massive change in the way we market, but our industry’s biggest challenge, after dealing with technological and cultural implications of our new wired world, has been learning how to deal with a world in a true global recession. It’s not just our budgets that have been reduced or shifted, but the consumer has fundamentally changed.

Like those that had lived through the great depression, the people that are experiencing this global recession are learning the value of frugality and economic maturity that comes with these experiences. It’s forcing us, as marketers, to evolve our message in conjunction with the way we’re delivering our message.

 Read More »

The seemingly endless media and industry fawning over Twitter has lead to the widespread debate over the merits of real-time search and the future of the search industry. Yes, Twitter is an amazing service that allows people to share their thoughts, however poignant, painful or pointless, on events as they happen. However, the hype is reaching a fever pitch only exacerbated by Google acquisition rumors. With that in mind, it’s time to try and figure out exactly where this wonderful new medium belongs in the world of search.

It has been suggested that Google is looking to acquire Twitter because it views it as a threat. That line of thinking is completely insane because Google isn’t going anywhere. The company is still the top dog in terms of financial stability, commitment to innovation and business strategy. Depending on what research firm you ask, Google owns roughly 80 percent of the search engine market and is still gobbling up market share. In terms of users, Twitter doesn’t even match Facebook’s potential as a rival. Twitter is simply not a threat to Google; in fact, the search giant could simply consume the Twitter API. The good news is that it probably won’t because Twitter is a piece of the greater problem Google is looking to solve.
 Read More »

This week I had a friend make a digital copy of my log book that I’ve been keeping since I was a kid. It has every flight I’ve ever taken in it since I was just over 3 months old. I’ve accumulated over 700 flights and 150 trans Atlantic crossings and I still take it on every flight. When I board the plane I give the book to the captain (typically through a flight attendant) and have the book recorded and signed in their own hand writing.

It is truly my most prized possession in the world as it’s the only material possession I own that’s not replaceable.

I thought it was about time I did this for safety’s sake if nothing else.

Check it out here: http://takemetoyourleader.com/logbook/

I recommend jumping to the 20th page where all the flights start, but the comments the captains leave are really classic ranging from funny to sentimental and they get better and better as time goes on and the book becomes a rich piece of history. I’ve had captains tell me their father’s had signed it or that they signed it once before 10 years ago.

I’m going to add a permanent menu link to the site to access the book and will keep it updated. I’m doing about 80 flights a year right now so it changes pretty rapidly.

Sapient launched the first part of it’s digital campaign for Coca-Cola’s Happiness Factory 3 last week. The project, one of my lifetime favorites, was truly built on the blood, sweat, tears, ingenuity, and smiles of a lot of people. The site took a very large team of creatives, designers, developers, IA, project managers, animators, and 3d specialists to create. Check it out here.

I’m thrilled to announce that it won an FWA today! Hopefully this is a good sign and indication of a successful campaign that resonates with all who see it.

I also recommend checking out the HF3 MSN Messenger games we created with Microsoft. Microsoft said they pushed the boundaries of the platform and the multi-player experience is pretty amazing.

We’ve got some more stuff in the cooker, but you’ll just have to wait till it launches.