Halloween

Halloween is one of my favorite holidays. I think it's a lot of fun pretending to be something/someone you are not - if only for one night.


(pic of me and Tinkerbell)

The best part however, was definitely Dog-O-Ween. Dog-o-Ween is an annual event in Tallahassee where dog owners bring their pups out for a big costume contest. I've never been a big fan of community events, but my sister bought Tyler a costume, so we had to go. Apparently there were about 175 dogs entered in the actual contest. We just went to be a part of the festivities - Tyler isn't that competitive ;) Check out these pics - some owners really go all out!

iCarve

Check out our pumpkin:

Dog Tired

Been a little hectic lately. I'll have a real post soon :)

I just read a stat that said nearly 60% of dog owners allow their pooch to sleep with them on the bed. I don't think the bed is any place for a dog:



Tyler doesn't believe in sleeping on the bed. He would prefer to be in the bed.

Email Queen

According to a report from the IT director at my agency, I have seen over 7,200 emails since January! Isn't that amazing? It makes me wonder how many phone calls I've taken and how many people I've actually met with face to face. While email is definitely my preferred method of contact at work, I barely use my personal email account. I would much prefer to pick up the phone and call my friends or family (good advice for media buyers/planners: get everything written in an email and file in an organized fashion. It's saved my butt on more than one occasion).

My tendency to use email for certain types of communication reminded me of a paper I wrote for class this past summer. In the paper I predicted that social networking sites like MySpace and Facebook will decline in popularity. I believe this is because the novelty of these sites quickly wears out and its members - the young, fickle teens and 20-somethings - are always on the hunt for something more cutting edge and "off the radar." From my personal experience, MySpace was a lot of fun initially. I enjoyed seeking out my friends and viewing their profiles. It was even fun when random people requested my "friendship." At least, it was fun at first.

Forbes.com has an article about this exact topic. The article discusses how MySpace's inital user base is declining and an older demographic is taking over. It seems that current users are becoming jaded with online communication and seek something more meaningful. Gabe Henderson is quoted saying,

"The superficial emptiness clouded the excitement I had once felt. It seems we have lost, to some degree, that special depth that true friendship entails."

The timing of this article really hit home because I cancelled my MySpace account this past weekend. My profile became stagnant. I had nothing to add to it and got tired of random, sleazy guys sending me messages. No one ever contacted me for networking or to discuss shared interests. Even my *real* friends didn't use the site to contact me or send me anything truly worthwhile.

I think that while it's good to be wired and to be able to interact in more than one way, it's better to excel in the face to face and to supplement that with online communication. Until these social networking sites offer something of true value and not just a time killer, I think that each one will flourish and then fail. Any thoughts?

Starbucks Can Do No Wrong

Even though I resent paying ridiculously high prices for one of the cheapest commodities on the planet, I've solidified my belief that Starbucks is one of the coolest companies ever. How genius is their business model?
They have made it cool, mainstream, and upscale to drink coffee at any time of day and pay a premium for it. They also manage to sell a drink with approximately 20,000 calories (actually, the grande mocha frap has about 300 - but that's still a lot!) to diet-driven consumers. They offer for purchase delicious food, coffee mugs, travel cups, coffee makers, expresso machines, and the actual coffee itself in all their stores, as well as specially created music CDs of both well-known and unknown artists. Their coffeehouses are smartly outfitted with near-funky decor and appeal to pre-teens as well as their parents. Now they are getting involved with social networking site, gather.com to promote their book club.

I couldn't think of anything better for Starbucks than a book club! There have been plenty of times I've stopped in for a coffee - alone - but armed with a good book to keep me company. There are some things that are socially acceptable to do alone: grocery shop, drive, pick up some take-out. But then there are things like dining out and seeing a movie that ya just gotta have a tag-along.

Here's where the genius behind the book club comes into play. With a book in tow, there is nothing wrong with going into a Starbucks all by your lonesome to feed your caffeine addiction. Forget reading material? Hate reading the newspapers currently available in Starbucks? Well, if the books are offered for sale, then you've got something to hide behind and keep you entertained. Plus, book readers are typically higher educated (you have to be literate to read and enjoy it) and are viewed as more intelligent and/or wordly. It seems to be a good marriage of product and lifestyle. I don't know if this thought went into any of their planning, but I like to think the conversation was had. Props to Starbucks!

Great Article

Check out this week's letter from the editor at Media magazine. Joe Mandese talks about new media and the fundamental shift from analog to digital technologies. The part I love is that he points out the disappearance of chalkboards from American schools and their "whiteboard" replacements (digital boards, marker boards). He makes the point that the "death of a medium" doesn't happen that often. Usually, when new technology emerges it does not mean that the old technologies are doomed.

It reminds me of a class I took in my undergrad days. It was a total yawn, and I don't even remember the name of the course, but I do remember this one class where we discussed the emergence of online magazines, newspapers and digital books. The class erupted into a huge debate: would print as a medium be replaced? Though it may sound a little cliche, my classmates talked about how they loved the smell of an old book and the fact they could read a magazine in the bath tub without being electrocuted. I didn't really expect that level of passion. I guess even party-hard Florida State students like tangible media...

Anyway, interesting article and a good mag issue overall. Read more here.

Tutorial Site

Check out this site I recently found while searching for Dreamweaver tutorials: www.learnthat.com. It contains a really great 60+ page Dreamweaver tutorial.

Which leads me to the fact that I've been busy putting together a website for myself (I'm pretty full of myself. First a blog, now a website. I like to think people are more interested in me that they actually are.) Learned how to use Dreamweaver about 3 years ago as an undergrad, but kinda forgot...so I wanted to re-learn and the tutorials are good teachers. There are even little "movies" that show you how to use the software.