smays.com

Newsroom renovation

They've been remodeling our (Jefferson City) offices and studios for well over a year and the latest (and last) area to get a make-over is the newsroom. This wee video runs about 3:45 and the file is a 5.5 meg .wmv file. After stumbling around on the MacBook for a night or two, I broke down and pooped this out with Windows Movie Maker. Shot it on my little Casio. Pointless reminder: This will look best if you keep the Media Player small (about 3 inches wide). If you insist on going full-screen, it'll look like shit.

The world is flat, small and close

Chuck Zimmerman conducted a blogging and podcasting workshop yesterday for an ad agency in Adelaide, Austrailia. With a little help from NetMeeing, he was in the same room in every sense that he needed to be. Old-schoolers will rant and rave about the importance of "face time" but I'm convinced that's because they're not comfortable with the tools that make "meat space" irrelevant. I'm just saying...

I'm eager to do my first "bidness" meeting via iChat.

Twenty-two years and counting

It's almost that time again. On June 4th I will have been chained to a Learfield galley oar for 22 years. I am proud to say that Learfield founder and CEO Clyde Lear recruited and hired me and changed my life forever. I'll resist the usual cult-rant and point you to Clyde's blog. Everybody whose CEO is blogging with this kind of candor an openess...raise your hand.

Some can remember six years ago when things around here weren't so rosy. We lost money. All of you took a pay cut for several months; I went six months with no salary at all. Remember what I told you then?

This either makes you real uncomfortable or it gives you goose bumps. I love it, of course. Clyde is a natural blogger. He got it immediately. Many (most) do not.

We met with a prospective client today and in a two-hour meeting, radio came up twice...in passing. When I asked the client to rank their website (with all forms of communication) on a scale of 1 to 10...she gave it a nine and couldn't think of anything that was more important in getting their message out. She also confided that her website wasn't very good. When I suggested she consider adding a blog...it was as though I had suggested adding child porn.

It's really quite amazing. Reactions to blogging are highly polarized. A (very) few know about blogging and are eager to put it to use for their company or organization. Many (most) have no idea what blogging is and --simultaneously-- are petrified by the very idea.

We have established this formalized communication made up of press releases, brochures, slick media kits and, yes, Main Stream Media... that is as stiff and structured as a Greek drama. But we all have our parts and know our lines. We have a script. And out of nowhere, come these bloggers and podcasters writing and saying any damn thing and it's scary as hell. Line, please!

What was I talking about? I remember... 22 years at Camp Learfield. Halfway there.

Final Cut Express HD

Installed Final Cut Express HD. This is the next step up from iMovie for video editing. As I understand it, "Express" is the Lite version of Final Cut Pro. At first glance, it reminds me of Adobe Premiere in that it's packed with features and will have a bit of a learning curve. But it comes with an excellent tutorial DVD so, we'll see. I can see myself running back to Studio 9 (Windows) in a pinch.

Gnomedex 6.0

I am tingly with anticipation of Gnomedex 6.0, a three-day geek-fest in Seattle at the end of June. I'm just a geek wannabe but my money's good so they let me in. I won't even try to describe Gnomedex except to say everyone will be talking about all of the things I find interesting/important. The format of this year's event is a little different but the line-up of "discussion leaders" is A-List all the way. And this year's trip will be even a little more fun with Learfield COO Roger Gardner along for the ride. I believe they stream the entire conference live and I'll try to find/post a link as we get closer.

Sunday Drive

Barb took me and the pups for a delightful drive yesterday afternoon. Headed up to Ashland and then over to the Missouri River, south of Cooper's Landing. It was a beautiful afternoon and I got this masthead image. (It's even nicer un-cropped) Dogs in the back, cold beer in hand, and Barb's mix CD for soundtrack. I am a lucky boy.

Not going to Hollywood

We listened to Jimi Hendrix do Like A Rolling Stone last night (I love the part where he says 'Yeah, I know I missed a verse...don't worry about it.'). As Jimi sang/talked his way through the song, I was thinking he would never have been invited to Hollywood on American Idol. Neither would: Janis Joplin, Mick Jagger, Neil Young, Bob Dylan, and the list goes on and on.

Yes, this is so obvious to hardly be worth these few lines... but I wanted to remind myself that while AI is good TV (in that dying, late-20th century sense of television), the "winners" are not really rock stars. I'm just trying to keep it real, don't you know.

Event blogging

Uber-blogger Chuck is in Indianapolis this week, blogging the Indy 500. In a couple of weeks, he'll be blogging the Country Music Association Fan Fair in Nashville.

Hard to know how many others (if any) are getting paid to blog these high-profile events, but Chuck is and that's noteworthy. And every time Chuck does one of these, it's one more in his portfolio to show prospective clients.

All right, Mr. DeMille, I'm ready for my close-up

I've yet to think of a single, practical application for this, but it's sure a lot of fun. I've been playing with the MacBook's built-in iSight camera. Wanna send a little video message to a pal? Just fire up iMovie and start recording. Obviously, this is no good for documenting Christmas morning but it's such a snap. No camcorder or cables. No transferring files.

Kissinger: U.S. okay with communist S. Vietnam

"Former U.S. secretary of state Henry Kissinger quietly acknowledged to China in 1972 that Washington could accept a communist takeover of South Vietnam if that evolved after a withdrawal of U.S. troops - even as the war to drive back the Communists dragged on with mounting deaths."

This little nugget (reported by the Associated Press) was discovered in a collection of papers gathered from documents available at the U.S. government's National Archives.

I only mention it here because it brought back fond memories of those days. I was working hard to keep my draft deferment and stay out of Vietnam. As I recall, it was important that we get on over to Vietnam so we could stop the commies. The deaths of 60 thousand Americans was considered (by our leaders) a small price to pay to "STOP COMMUNISM!"

And then one day someone in Washington decided, "You know what? I think I'm okay with letting the commies have South Vietnam. But see if you can get 'em to wait until we're outta there."

And it's one, two three...what are we fightin' for?

Ad agencies dropping "radio" for "audio"

Something called the Streaming Media East conference was held earlier this week in New York. One of the discussion panels was "The Changing Face of Internet Radio" and --according to a couple of the panelists-- some of the major national ad agencies are dropping the term "radio" in favor of a more accurate lable: "audio." One panelist went so far as to point out that "audio" is a cooler word than "radio." (Gulp)

Two of our networks (Radio Iowa and Wisconsin Radio Network) have the word "radio" in their names. Hmm. "Audio Iowa?" That's a lot of vowels. "Wisconsin Audio Network." I don't know.

You can watch the panel discussion here. [via RAIN]

A different kind of reporting

Last week I (briefly) mentioned that a couple of my co-workers had started blogging. I subscribe to the theory that the first few days of a new blog are critical. You'll either hammer in a bunch of posts or let the thing slide into digital oblivion. I'm pleased to report that Radio Iowa News Director O. Kay Henderson is off to a great start.

Kay has been covering Iowa politics for 20+ years and if she is not the "Dean" of the capitol press corps...she's the "Mother Superior." You can sample her daily fare here, here and here. But you'll find a different kind of reporting (or writing) on her blog. As I have long insisted, she is a natural.

Intentional, but not deliberate

The Missouri Supreme Court heard oral arguments yesterday (5/25/06) in the case of State of Missouri vs. Johnny A. Johnson (SC86689). Johnson is appealing a first-degre murder conviction and death sentence. From the court's docket summary:

After Johnny Johnson stayed with friends one night in July 2002 at their home in Valley Park, the friends' six-year-old daughter disappeared. A witness saw Johnson walking that morning, carrying a little girl on his back. Although Johnson initially told the girl's mother that he did not know where the child was, he later surrendered himself to police and agreed to go to the police station. Later in the day, Johnson told police he had killed the girl by accident, that her body was in an old glass factory, and where she could be found. After police recovered the girl's body, they told Johnson it did not look like an accident. He then told them that he had exposed himself to her, and when she refused his advances, he hit her in the head with a brick and threw a boulder onto her, killing her. He told police he then covered her body with rocks and debris. The state charged Johnson with one count each of first-degree murder, armed criminal action, kidnapping and attempted forcible rape. While he was in jail awaiting trial, doctors treated Johnson for anxiety, depression and symptoms of psychosis. Following trial, the jury found Johnson guilty of each count and recommended the death penalty. The court sentenced him to consecutive sentences of death for the murder conviction and life in prison for the remaining convictions. Johnson appeals.

We (Missourinet.com) stream the arguments live (to subscribers) so I wind up listening to a lot of these arguments. Arguments before the state supreme court are nothing like the arguments we see in the movies and on TV. Pretty dry stuff. But this question (AUDIO) (of Johnson's attorney) by one of the judges caught my attention (Warning: His description of the murder is graphic).

In the interest of fairness, you can download and listen to the full argument (runs almost an hour) but it sounds like Johnson's attorney is trying to explain how the murder could be "intentional" but not "deliberate."

Ten Tips for New Bloggers

There is no shortage of tips, guidelines and suggestions for how to blog and I am under no illusion that I can add anything fresh or original... but I am advising clients and co-workers on this subject so I thought I should take a stab at coming up with a few tips for new bloggers. Certainly not comprehensive, just the ones that popped into my head 15 minutes ago.

1. Headlines: Descriptive vs. clever - When I try to write a clever headline it just comes across as cryptic. A reader is much more likely to read your post if they have some idea what it's about. Don't delude yourself that they'll be so intrigued by our clever headline that they'll read what you've written. An example from smays.com: "More news after this." vs. "30 years of broadcasting."

2. Do not delete posts - There will come a time when you post something to your blog and later wish you hadn't. It's tempting to just delete the post. Don't. The fact is you did write it and you did post it. Deleting it doesn't change that and it's almost surely cached somewhere. Pulling it is dishonest or unethical. A better approach is to do a follow-up post and say that you were wrong...or hasty...or misinformed. Or you just changed your mind about what you wrote. All okay. Deleting posts is considered very bad form and you'll catch a lot of grief for doing it.

3. Editing posts - Sometimes you get something so wrong that you don't want to leave it "out there," uncorrected. The generally accepted way to handle this is to use a strike-through.

Example: "The senator owed $500,000 $200,000 in back taxes."

You've corrected something that was inaccurate but you did so openly, letting readers see what you changed in your post.

4. Attribution - It's common practice among bloggers to grab text from another blog or website and include it a post on their blog. Better bloggers take the time to rewrite. And there's no reason not to put the original material in quotation marks or italics. At the very least, you should link back to the original story or blog post and attribute your source. And if you see an interesting post on someone's blog and write about it on your blog... it's considered good form to acknowledge this in your post...frequently at the end [via smays.com]

5. Use category tags - Tagging your posts with one or more categories makes it easy for a reader to see all of your posts on a particular subject. But don't get carried away.

6. Link freely - Unless you're a brilliant and original writer, much of the value in your blog posts will be links to other blogs and websites. Most blogging applications feature "permalinks," which make it easy to permanently link to a specific blog post (as opposed to linking to the "home page" of the blog).

7. Photos - Given that a blog is just another type of web page, the same guidelines for photos apply. Only use an image when it adds something to the post. Keep it relevant. And, whenever possisble, be consistent with the size and placement of your images.

8. Comments - Most serious bloggers will argue that a blog without comments is not really the "conversation" that bloggers are always writing and talking about. But you'll find many blogs where comments have been turned off. You can also set your comments so that you're emailed when a reader has posted a comment so you can approve (or delete). "Comment spam" has become a real headache for many bloggers but the software is getting better at dealing with this issue. The best blogs get lots of comments and they add much to the overall experience.

9. Stay focused - Decide what your blog is about (if it's about anything) and try to focus your posts in that direction. If you really don't care who reads your blog or what they think about what you've written, then post about anything. But a blog that's about everything is really about nothing. Try to find a subject that you know and/or care about and write about that. It can be anything (technology, your cat, recipes, politics) but find your niche.

10. Post frequently - The best, most dedicated bloggers post several times a day. Having something fresh every day goes a long way toward bringing people back to your blog. At the very least, try to post a few times a week. If you can't find the time or the will to do that...ask yourself if you really want to mess with blogging at all.

On the nano

Keith and the Girl; TWiT; Digg Nation; MacCast; Podcast 411 and NPR: Technology. That's about four hours of listening and will easily take me into the weekend.

Bridge Ratings today released its monthly update on podcast use in 10 national markets (a sample of 2,400 podcast users). 60% of those ages 12-24 had listened to a podcast during the last 30 days, up from 53% in a survey released in April, while 49% of 25-34-year-old podcast users listened to a podcast in the last month, up from 45% last month.

I'm not sure if the followintg stat surprises me or not: "On average, less than 20% listen to their podcast downloads on an MP3 player or other digital device."

Apple madness in NYC

Apple opened a (new?) store in NYC a few days ago and this six minute video that captures "the insanity and power the Apple brand holds over us." I think you're on one side of this line...or the other. It's either stupid or it makes perfect sense.

The Dozens

I love this game and haven't played in years. My nom de Guerre was "Sid Vicious." If you wanna mix it up, know that there are no rules and everything is fair game. Your kids, your wife, your momma, that weird looking mole on your chin and the extra 25 pounds you're packing. And my big ears. You might think you're ready to play but you're not. You watch Kung Fu movies but I'm a Shaolin priest. So I'm required to warn you and give you a chance to step back. (Sniff, sniff) I smell blood.

TiVo Guru Guide

The guys at TiVo have rounded up a bunch of critics, editors and experts to pick as many as 10 of the best programs in their interest areas for each week and update their lists at least once a month. They're calling it the TiVo Guru Guide. TiVo users who share their interests can elect to have the shows recorded and have a selection ready whenever they sit down. Program pickers will come from Vanity Fair, Sports Illustrated, Entertainment Weekly, Billboard, H2O (Hip-Hop on Demand),CNet.com and Automobile Magazine. The Guru Guide will be available on the roughly 1.5 million TiVo units owned by direct subscribers to TiVo service. It won't be available to the 2.9 million who get TiVo via DirecTV. So it's a cool idea I can't take advantage of.

I might actually use this (if I could) because I like/trust TiVo. I'd like it even more if I could rate the pickers. For example, they could offer movie picks from 5 different "experts." Over time, based on their picks, I might narrow that down to just one or two whose opinions most closely match my own. [via Buzz Machine]

Changing networks

Jeff Jarvis says everybody's a network:

Networks are about sharing now; they used to be about control. Networks are two-way; they used to be one-way. Networks are about aggregation more than distribution; they are about finding and being found. Networks are now open while, by their very definition, they used to be closed. You join networks and leave them them at will; you can join any number of networks at once and content can be found via any number of networks, there is no practical limit. Networks used to be static. Now networks are fluid.

You need to read the full post to appreciate the point Jarvis is making. I've been thinking about how it applies to the various networks our company owns. And what does it mean to "own" a network? We have contracts with the radio stations that make up our networks. We own the satellite uplink and the downlink receivers that distribute our programming to those radio stations.

Our company has purchased other, smaller networks. And it was the affiliation contracts and the contracts with advertisers that we perceived to have the greatest value. Has that changed? Is it changing? Stay tuned.

"It isn't broadcasting anymore."

In the early 70's, Clyde Lear and Derry Brownfield founded the company I work for. It's really a pretty cool story. In a recent blog post, Clyde demonstrates that he understands the seismic changes going on in the media world, and how they apply to our company.

"Affiliate radio stations are an important part of the mix. But farmers and other ag interests have so many ways to receive the message: print, podcasts, computers, etc. What remains is the message. It is the reporting and story-telling of ... smart, discerning reporters who can effectively communicate. That is the message--not the media!"

I'm of the opinion that all established media companies must reinvent themselves to a greater or lesser degree. Some won't make it. I'd like to think we will. And it's a good sign that the top guy is clued.

Down the food chain a link or two, a couple of our reporters asked me to set up blogs for them this past week. They're both veteran radio reporters (and writers). Bill Scott has been covering Wisconsin sports for a loooonnng time. Kay Henderson is one of the most respected political reporters in Iowa and has been at since the late 80's.

Here's the exciting part: read a couple of Bill's stories here and Kay's stories here. Now, read the first couple of posts on Bill's blog...and Kay's blog. I'm not suggesting that one is better than the other, just different. And, for me, one is much more interesting to read. I'll let others argue about what is --and isn't-- journalism.

If Bill and Kay stick with the blogging thing, I predict that in a year, they will have far more readers of their blogs than of their "real" news and sports stories. And, for what it's worth, they'll be having more fun doing it.

Funky Senior Moment #001

As I pulled into the office parking lot this morning (shortly before 8:00 a.m.) Aretha shuffled up on the iPod ("R-E-S-P-E-C-T") so I cranked the volume. Which is why I didn't hear the 4Runner beeping a reminder that the engine was still running. When I returned from lunch (1:00 p.m.) the guys in IT were looking out the window at the parking lot, wondering what dumb-ass had left their car running. A quick search for my keys revealed that dumb-ass was moi. Six hours @ $2.80 a gallon = Oh shit!

Dance for us, Steve!

If I could dance like this I wouldn't have to learn how to smoke and I could sell the MacBook Pro. People would invite me to their parties in hopes that I would dance for them. The video shows a pair of gifted swing dancers (from the 50's?) getting jiggy with modern hip-hop. [via Boing Boing]

Tattoo: "Do Not Resuscitate"

A great grandmother wants to make it absolutely clear where she stands should she ever become incapacitated. So, at age 80, Mary Wohlford of Decorah, Iowa, has had the phrase "DO NOT RESUSCITATE" tattooed on her chest. In addition to the tattoo on her chest, Wohlford has a more binding document in a prominent place. She has signed a living will and has hung it on the side of her refrigerator.

Sorry, Mary, but it doesn't matter what you want. The Pope and Jerry Falwell and some dicks in Washington will decide this matter for you.

Can I bum one of those?

So I got a little carried away with this this weekend's video project. 12 minutes (or whatever it was) was too long and my favorite bit was at the end and my strung-out smoker pals couldn't sit still long enough to see the money shot.

Reading Douglas Coupland's JPod

The flyleaf describes Douglas Coupland's new novel as "a lethal joyride into today's new breed of technogeeks." I very much enjoyed two of his earlier works, Microserfs and Girlfriend in a Coma, and offer these nuggest from the introduction to his latest novel:

Life is a contest between you and everyone else.

Workshops and seminars are basically financial speed dating for clueless poor people.

TV and the Internet are good because they keep stupid people from spending too much time out in public.

You can't fake creativity, competence or sexual arousal.

Nobody has ever been happy in a job they obtained by first handing in a resume.

After a week of intense googling, we've starated to burn out on knowing the answer to everything. God must feel that way all the time. I thinkpeople in the year 2020 are going be nostalgic for the sensation of feeling clueless. -- pg. 248

I think computers out to have a key called I'M DRUNK, and when you push it, it prevents you from sending email for twelve hours. -- pg. 386

Travel Day

Eight hours of windshield time today so little/no time to surf or post. Just wanted you to know I have not fallen and broken a hip. But if I miss TWO days...

The Notorious J.E.F.

Jeff McVey is the son of long-time friends Terry and Nancy McVey. Like many young men his age, Jeff has kicked around and tried a few things. His latest is studying martial arts in China. From his MySpace page:

Deborah and I got into China on May 12. ... We've found our new home at a martial arts academy in a remote mountain village. I'm pretty sure it used to be some sort of industrial complex, and to call our accomidations meager would be a huge understatement. However, we do have a place to live and good food to eat. We live here with about a dozen other students from all over the world.  There are people from America, England, Germany, Indonesia, Scotland, New Zealand, and other countries (I haven't quite met everyone).  Fortunately, all the students I have met speak English, which makes a nice little oasis in a land where I can't comunicate with anyone.  So, we've been treated quite well, and we start our training tomorrow.  Everything seems a little daunting right now, but at the same time more than a little exciting.

His mom says this is something he has always wanted to do...and he's doing it. Now, the person I want to meet is his wife, Deborah.

Jeff: "You know, I've always wanted to study martial arts in a remote mountain village in China. Whadya say?"

Deborah: "Cool. I'll go pack."

Trent Tomlinson performs for the hometown crowd

Charles Jolliff shares some pix from last night's concert by Kennett hometown boy Trent Tomlinson. I'm not a country music fan but like Trent's stuff and he doesn't seem to be your typical CW artist (if there is such a thing anymore). Charles reports Tomlinson performed Purple Rain. I dare say that is the first time the song has been performed at the Kennett Fairgrounds.

Update: This might be old news but sources in Kennett tell us Mr. Tomlinson recently did a deal with ESPN to allow them to use his song, "Hey batter, batter."

iMovie vs. Studio 9

I created a little video (.wmv) this afternoon, primarily to get some experience with Apple's iMovie (on the MacBook). I've been using Pinnacle's Studio 9 (Windows) for a few years and like it a lot. And I'm comfortable with it. And I can't say the same for iMovie (Mac) so this really wasn't a fair comparison.

Having said all of that, I find that I can do more with Studio 9. There are probably features in iMovie that I haven't discovered yet. But my sense is that iMovie is great for making a little DVD of the Easter Egg Hunt or some after-work fetch with your pups, but if you want to do much more than a title, some transitions and a music bed... you'll want something a little more feature-rich. Which I find Studio 9 to be. But like I said, I'm just groping around here. The video runs 14 minutes and the file is a hefty 21 meg. I optimized for very small screen (about the size of the image to the right). If you expand this to full screen it will look like shit. Keep it small for best results.

Mark Cuban: "Blogging is personal, traditional media is corporate."

"Traditional media has become almost exclusively corporate while blogging remains almost exclusively personal. (People in traditional media) get hired for a specific job and they have to do that job. They get hired by a corporation that is most likely public, which means their senior management , the people they ultimately report to, have to put getting the stock price up above all else. That is really what blogging vs traditional media in 2006 has come down to. Bloggers drive blogs, share price drives traditional media. Blogging is personal, traditional media is corporate.

Which is exactly why blog readership is going up, while traditional media is consolidating, if not contracting. Traditional media goes to work, bloggers live their work."

I encourage you to read Mr. Cuban's full post. Say what you will, Mark Cuban has always been about five minutes ahead on the old "Information Highway." And he understands blogging as only a blogger can. [via Scripting.com]

An extra optical inch

Thanks to Bass for pointing me to this very clever online pitch for the Philips Bodygroom. A razor (?) designed for a man's nether regions. Not sure how you could pitch this on TV, but this is brilliant. Droll, very droll.

Most of the commercials our networks produce are still for radio. But I'm wondering if we shouldn't be offering to produce ads like this (well, not like this) for use online. And, yes, I know this was more difficult to produce than it appears. But things like this Philips ad and the new series by Apple, remind me that it's not big fancy productions that sell, but creativity. And less is usually more.

Second opinion

The final minute of this week's Living Healthy Podcast.

Jon Stewart wails on former Learfielder

File this under "Cool But I'm Not Sure Why":

Broadcasting & Cable: "First, host Jon Stewart mocked WTWO-TV (Terre Haute) GM Duane Lammers for his reaction to Stewart's earlier mocking of a WTWO promo for its weather team. Stewart had made fun Monday of the ad, which bragged that WTWO's weather team had 45 years of combined weathercasting experience vs. 30 years for competitor WTHI. Stewart marveled at a weather "attack ad." Lammers, who came up with the spot, apparently responded in a local paper to the mocking, saying people in the industry love the ad, though he said that Thursday's airing will be its last because it has run its course.

Wednesday, Stewart reiterated his earlier comment that the ad was "fucking retarded," and then called Lammers the cable equivalent of a wussy for not airing NBC's Book of Daniel in January."

I only mention because Duane worked at Learfield (the company I work for) many years ago. Just down the hall. If you want to watch Jon Stewart get in his shit, click here and look for the "A Humble Apology" link.

Wasn't Roy Cohn from Missouri?

"Without politics there is no freedom." -- John Ashcroft, Famous Missourian.

Here's 8 min of audio from his induction into the Hall of Famous Missourians (Diffiuclt to say or write without smiling). Other famous Missourians: President Harry S Truman, cartoonist Walt Disney, businessman J.C. Penney, baseball great Stan Musial, sportscaster Jack Buck...and John Ashcroft. It is to weep.

Cool Mac feature: Use two fingers to scroll web page

I just stumbled across this (Mac) feature and it made me give out a little school girl gasp. You drag your finger around on the mouse pad to move the cursor. All mouse pads work this way. Use two fingers on the mouse pad, and it scrolls the web page up and down. Okay, that doesn't sound cool when you read it. But it feels very cool and a wonderful way to move navigate on the page.

Blogging from the top

Our corporate blog continues to evolve. Started as a place to announce new employees or other personnel changes. Nice, safe stuff. Our president and CEO immediately saw the potential for using the blog to communicate on a more personal level. Today he reminds employees about our "Employee Assistance Program." When we say that the best blogs have a human "voice," this is what we're talking about. This is not a memo from the HR department. It's a real, live person talking to people he cares about. You can't fake this and you can't delegate it. But you can blog it.

CBC special on the future of media

The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation's Newsworld has produced a series call The End, in which they explore the forecasted looming death of television, print, and radio. I think a more apt title might have been "The End of Radio As We Know It." I don't think anyone thinks radio or TV or newspapers (well, maybe newspapers) are really going away. They're just undergoing big changes. You can watch the special on the CBC website (about 25 min). Look for the little video icon on the right side of the page. [I Love Radio]

I can send you one of our brochures

If you've visited smays.com more than once, it was because of something you read here. Some idea that I expressed or someone else expressed and to which I linked. Frankly, there's nothing else to do on this blog but read what I have written or pointed to.

Our company just spent a few sheckels (I have no idea how many) on some new brochures for one of our new business units. They look terrific. And the copy is pretty well written. But --if we believe Seth Godin-- nobody is going to read them:

The thing you must remember about just about every corporate or organizational brochure is this: People won't read it. I didn't say it wasn't important. I just said it wasn't going to get read. People will consider its heft. They might glance at the photos. They will certainly notice the layout. And, if you're lucky, they'll read a few captions or testimonials.

He's right of course. And we all know this because we don't read the brochures that others hand or send to us. We put them in drawer or file until the next "clean up" day and then we haul them down to the dumpster. So why do we spend the time and money? Because we need something that tells people about our company/product/service and a nice brochure can be farmed out and done once and everyone stays "on message" by reading or handing out The Brochure.

The best brochure is stillborn. Dead at birth. A good business (or personal) blog, on the other hand, is a living thing. It grows and changes and reacts and responds to the world around you. I happen to believe this is equally true of "brochure websites." That's why good blogs get so much more traffic than static, change-once-a-month websites.

Anybody with a copy of PageMaker and a color printer can make a brochure. Some nice photos...a cool font...a clever logo...we're done. Blogs are never done.

But I'm betting your customers --current and prospective-- are more interested in the idea you have today than the ones you had six months ago that made it into The Brochure.

Update: It took just a few hours for Andrew to demonstrate that there are times when a nice brochure or flyer is the way to go. In this instance, he's developing a piece of property and he needs a way to show people where it's located and what the site will look like once it's complete. Today's Lesson: Not everything is a blog (and I must not be so quick to generalize).

Scott Adam's secret to success

From the Dilbert blog: My other superpower is that I don’t mind embarrassing myself in public. If I had to pick one quality that best predicts success (other than wanting to be successful) it would be the willingness to risk embarrassment.

I share Mr. Adams' superpower if not his success.

Computer Bed

In January I replaced my 30 year old couch with a home-made window seat/day bed. This is the one I'm tyring to cover with bumper stickers to hide my shitty paint job. Boing Boing points to a much cooler solution. A "computer bed" that starts out as a hinged desk with room for a PC, printer, and so forth. When you're ready to sleep, the whole desktop swings to the floor and a bed with matress swings down from the wall in its place, converting it to a bed. [via Boing Boing]

Couch Change: 05.06.06

:: I keep hearing the expression, "Jumping the shark." Now I know what it means.

:: Philip Seymour Hoffman double feature. Watched Copote last night and MI3 this afternoon. I enjoyed both very much. Yep. PSH was brilliant as Truman Capote, but you already knew that. And I had no difficulty in suspending my disbelief for MI3. The first two sucked hard but I was on the edge of my seat for most of this latest mission.

:: Simply create an ad that's so imaginative and entertaining (:30 wmv) that people email to all their friends and bloggers post it. Thanks, Bob Heater.

:: Rick shares my love for the movie True Romance and this scene between Christopher Walken and Dennis Hopper. There are just so many good scenes in this movie. Rent it. If you don't like it, just go away, we have nothing further to talk about.

:: Bush reaction to Colbert speech. ABC News cameras stayed fixed on Bush throughout the Colbert speech at the White House Correspondents' Dinner on Saturday 4/29...and he ain't happy.

I am not a team player

I think I cooperate and collaborate well, but I'm not good at being on The Team. Coaches and Team Leaders tell us, "Come on! We can accomplish so much more if we work together as a Team. We gotta pull together!" Once a Team is formed, one of the first orders of business is to choose a "team captain" who tells the rest of the Team what to do. They tend to have the greatest appreciation for the need for "teamwork." This is exactly the kind of thinking that makes me a poor team player.

But I love to play the game. Hated Little League...loved playing Indian Ball in the field in front of our house. Hated varsity basketball...loved pick-up games at the park. We had teams but they were temporary. We'd play a couple of games and then switch up sides. If the game was too one-sided, we'd adjust the teams to get a closer game. It was about having a good game, see? Not which team won.

Religion has teams (Baptists, Methodists, Catholics, Episcopalians, Lutherans, etc.) and leagues (Christians; Jews; Muslims; etc.). If you are "on" a team, it's okay to hate --and sometimes kill-- members of the other team. Usually God (yours, not theirs) says it's okay to do this. Sometimes you even have to die for your team.

There are only two teams in the game of politics: Republicans and Democrats. If you want to play, you have to be on one of those teams. Recently, politics has gotten all mixed up with religion. The star player for the Republican team is a dim-witted good old boy with a rich daddy, but very religious. If you believe the polls, almost nobody --including the folks on his own team-- thinks this guy is doing a good job. If the other team (in this case, the Democrats) wasn't waiting in the dugout to say "we told you so," most people on the Republican team would send W and his pals back to Texas where he couldn't do much harm.

The United States Congress is hopelessly fucked up and it's all because of the teams. Is there even anything in our constitution about Republicans and Democrats? I don't think so. So here's what I'd do. At the beginning of every session of congress, we divide up into two groups, by random drawing. Instead of parties or teams, we'll call one group the Chipmunks and the other the Ground Squirrels (so they won't take themselves so seriously). If you get reelected and come back next year, you might be in the other group so there's no point in fucking them over this year. Since we're reshuffling the deck every year and you don't have any permanent "team members," it becomes more about the game than the teams.

All of which explains why I was always chosen last.

"Life After Radio"

That's what Bill Page calls his new blog. He says he's packing it in after 20 years of radio. Got a job as a police dispatcher. I'll bet I know a dozen radio guys that became dispatchers after leaving radio. There must be a Association of Police Dispatchers Who Were Formerly Radio Guys.

Bill would email me from time to time with updates from Kennett and the local station, which was my first and last radio home. Doesn't sound like he was having much fun near the end.

"Anytime you have to vomit before you go to work guess that's a warning sign that you need a change."

Yes. Yes it is.

I think it will be difficult to sustain a blog with this theme. If Bill had asked me, I would have suggested he go with http://PoliceDispatcherBill.blogspot.com instead of http://FormerBroadcasterBill.blogspot.com. You know, in the spirit of looking ahead instead of back.

My guess is, Bill will post for a few days and then, as he gets on with his life, he'll let it slide. But who knows. There are a million stories in the Naked Blogosphere, this has been one of them. Good luck, Bill.

Blogging Ohio FFA Convention

A couple of months ago I posted on the idea that blogging might be the best way to cover some events. Andy Vance (Buckeye Ag Radio Network) makes the case nicely with his recent posts from the Ohio FFA Convention. Check out his posts on May 5 and 6. Sounds like he had some wifi and was blogging away in real time.

"The anticipation is finally over! The 2006-2007 State Officer Team is taking the stage at this very moment!"

I wish he had created a category tag for this series of posts, and maybe a few images and a sound bite or two. But those are nitpicks. All the meat is there. I still have trouble understanding why the event organizers, in this case the Ohio FFA, don't have an "official blogger" to do this as well. I could find nothing of the sort on their website. At the very least, check to see if someone like Andy is blogging and provide a link. Call it the "unofficial" blog.

I'm sure the thinking is: "No, no... we can't do that. We have no idea what this Andy person might say about our convention." Well, guess what? He said it anyway. And I found it and read it. And it was all positive. Well done, Andy.

Are your campers happy?

I seem to recall reading that JetBlue is one of those companies whose customers have good things to say about them. The MIT Advertising Lab blog posted a photo of a JetBlue booth at Rockefeller Center in NYC, where people can record their experiences and thoughts about the company. Perhaps for use in TV commercials or podcasts? One would think that JetBlue is expecting to get more positive stories than negative. This is what all companies and organizations should strive for, right? Loyal, happy customers. So I gotta ask myself, what would our clients (advertisers for the most part) say about their experiences with our company? Are we even willing to ask? The JetBlue booth offers a degree of anonymity. A less-than-satisfied advertiser probably wouln't say so to the sales rep that sold the schedule.

My point is, if we really believe our product or service is good (great?) and it really works? Why wouldn't we ask our clients? Now it's starting to sound like a customer satisfaction survey and those are almost always bullshit. But if I were walking down the street and saw booth where I could go in and record my experiences with (Toyota, HBO, XM Radio, and now Mac)... I'd do it. I'd take the time. I want people to know I like these companies. And really shitty companies (and you know who you are) don't even think about building little booths. Bottom line, it's probably pretty easy to find out if your customers love you or hate you. Anything between is tougher. And I'm betting most companies really don't want to know.

White god make fire from stick

Twenty years of DOS and Windows has conditioned me to expect new things to be difficult. As I fired up the Mac in preparation for this evening's attempt to have a video chat with Bass, I was mentally girding myself for a long, frustrating evening. Bass was already online and waiting for me so the first thing I saw was a little window asking me if I would accept a video chat? Uh, yeah, sure. And there was Bass, in all of his video glory (video). We played with the lighting a little and he offered a few tips for good video chatting. But there was none of the futzing and fiddling and tweaking and rebooting. We were...chatting. A few more experiences like this I'll be handing out Mac flyers on street corners. Now all I need are some folks to chat with. My .mac user name is smays.com. I look forward to hearing from you.

BTW, the video clip about (:30) was shot with my little Casio. George tells me about a handy little app that records iChat sessions. Stay tuned.

When the boss sells his shares

Sounds like a little "financial rain fade" at XM Radio. According to this story at TheStreet.com, XM-chief Hugh Panero recently unloaded some of his shares ("No, no...everything's fine. I'm just goig down to inspect the lifeboats. I'll be right back."). You know I love my XM, but if it folded tomorrow, I'm not sure I'd jump over to Sirius. The podcasts have really been meeting my listening needs of late. [via I Love Radio]

Update: XM Ben took me to the woodshed (a little) for suggesting that XM is in trouble, based on a single story. He's right. My post was Enron knee jerk. May XM live long and prosper.

Radio stations: Fix your websites

Most radio station websites are nasty. Sorry, but it's true. Regular readers already know my thoughts on this, but take time to read a more thoughtful commentary by Brian Maloney in Inside Radio. In a nutshell, Maloney urges radio stations to "fix their websites" before they do anything else. You'll know radio station managers are getting a clue about new media when their websites are as good as those of their local advertisers.

Station Manager Clue-Check #1: Make a list of your 10 largest (annual billing) advertisers. Go to their websites and print the home page. Now, do the same for your station website. Spread them out on your desk and compare them.

Apple promoting business podcasting

I haven't played with GarageBand much but plan to. Supposed to make podcasting a snap. And the folks at Apple think there might be some business applications for podcasting:

"Promoting your business just got easier. Create a podcast with GarageBand, post it to iTunes in minutes, and reach customers, clients, and partners in a whole new way. Chefs are sharing recipes. Maternity store owners are giving the lowdown on diaper bags. And other professionals are airing business discussions, marketing new products and services, and keeping people informed."

You think? [SEM Pro]

Communicate. Sell. Blog.

I was talking with one of our advertising clients today and we got off on to the subject of how a blog could help him tell his story. He works for a state agency so it is unlikely he'll get permission to blog because government department heads didn't get where they are by trying risky new stuff. But the client said that when he brought up the subject of blogging with some of the foot soldiers, their eyes lit up. They got a little pumped at the prospect (or as pumped as government workers are allowed to get).

About six months ago I posted on how I might use blogs and podcasts if I were still doing affiliate relations for our networks. Today's conversation started me thinking about this again.

If I were a sales rep of any kind, I'd have a blog. I'd post about things of interest and use to my prospects. My blog would be how my clients (current and prospective) know me. If I could make it relevant enough, useful enough... my clients would come to me (or my blog). I wouldn't have to constantly be begging for appointments. They'd call me up to do a lunch and talk about some idea I posted about.

Blogosphere bullshit, you say? Perhaps. My co-worker David has been posting on a new Learfield blog that illustrates this idea. His posts are informed. Passionate. They deliver value.

Selling has always been about communicating. Wanna communicate in the 21st century? Better learn to blog.