Clyde Lear is blogging the history of our company, which he founded 35 years ago. This is a great use of the blog format and the idea was his alone. I’m helping get some of the audio added to his posts but this is his baby. And –as Clyde observed– if he doesn’t do it, it won’t get done.
His latest post includes a 10 minute air check –from one of our first radio station affiliates– of one of our first programs on Day One. Good stuff. Let’s give him lots of encouragement.
“Miniature radio ads, spanning just a few seconds in length, are a hit in Hollywood, says market leader Clear Channel Communications Inc., which launched the spots known as blinks and adlets last year.
Homer Simpson’s unmistakable “D’oh!” or “Woohoo!” followed by the familiar tagline “Tonight on Fox!” for example, has been a popular two-second ad — known as a blink — for Fox Broadcasting.
Unlike longer ads, which run during minutes-long commercial breaks, the blinks and adlets are slipped in between songs.
Clear Channel declined to disclose pricing, but one ad executive said five-second adlets typically fetch as much as 20% of 60-second ads, which cost about $800 in major markets, and two-second blinks cost 10%.”
— From latimes.com
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I’m sorry, but this is too cool for school. I’m thinking I’ll use this a lot.
For those who missed it, I wore my new leopard skin fez all day on Monday. It created a bit of interest (fez buzz). The most common question? “Where can I get a fez?”
My answer? “That’s what separates the fezz-less from… those with fezzorocity. If you’re not resourceful enough to acquire your own fez, you don’t deserve to wear one.”
Dear readers, I give you Bob Hague, Supreme Potentate of the Badger LaFolette Chapter of the Order of the Fez (Fez #2).
Bob and I will be drafting by-laws and deciding on The Secret Grip in coming days, and if you’d like to join us (throw your fez in the ring, as it were), just email a photo of yourself wearing a fez. (Word of caution: No fez sharing. You must own your own fez to a member in good standing)
Don’t delay. The highly prized LFN’s (Low Fez Numbers) will go quickly.
If there’s an amusing story behind your fez (“I mugged a Shriner and have the video”), please feel free to share it.
On behalf of Supreme Potentate Bob, I challenge you to get your fez on!
On her way back from Destin last weekend, Barb stopped off in Memphis to hook up with some Kennett pals and catch The Usual Suspects at B. B. King’s on historic Beale Street. [Photos] The Usual Suspects is a pick-up band made up of some good old Kennett boys: Wendell Crow (Sheryl’s daddy), Jim Baker, Gary Wilcoxson, Darryl Wilcoxson, Doug Carter and Ken Williams. Barb shot a little video on her Casio (she didn’t have a real good angle).
Jakob Nielsen shares results of new eyetracking studies which confirm –"for the umpteenth time"– that banner blindness is real:
"Users almost never look at anything that looks like an advertisement, whether or not it’s actually an ad. On hundreds of pages, users didn’t fixate on ads. Scanning is more common than reading, but users will sometimes dig into an article if they really care about it."
Kay Henderson was back in the digital Green Room following ABC News’ debate this morning in Des Moines. The “other guys” in the headline were: Actor Ron Livingston; the LA Times’ Mark Barabak; ABC News Political Director David Chalian and ABC News senior political reporter and author of “The Note” Rick Klein.”
Livingston is an Iowa native who gained international stardom with his leading role in the movie “Office Space.” He was also one of Carrie’s boyfriends in “Sex & the City” plus he did a fine job in “Band of Brothers.”
At no time during the 9 minute video was Kay and Ron in the same frame.
I’m not a state fair kind of guy. I’m just not. But that just shows you how little imagination and creativity I possess. And why I missed the Hoosier Hunt at this year’s Missouri State Fair.
The Hoosier Hunt is what happens when black humor meets the digital age. You fire up your camera phone and bring back the following images:
If you don’t find this amusing, you’re probably in one of the photos above. And, god willing, I will be able to share the winning images with you. I’m told there were three teams competing in this Hoosier Hunt and they’re compiling the winning photos and will share them here.
If you’re in the news business, you should read this blog post by Radio Iowa (a Learfield network) News Director O. Kay Henderson. It’s a good example of a reporter allowing her readers/listeners to see how the sausage is made.
The post (and the story to which it refers) is about the network’s coverage of remarks made by Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden at the Iowa State Fair on Wednesday. Kay appropriately headlines her post "Splitting hairs with the Biden camp." (Read the post)
In the old (pre-blog) days, if the subject of a news story thought it inaccurate or unfair, the reporter could respond, "I stand by my story" and that would be the end of it.
In this instance, Kay has used her blog to add context to the story and I think everyone is better off for it. Here’s what we reported. Here’s what people thought about our report. And here’s some background we didn’t include in the story.
This is why I think every news organization should be blogging. We rely on journalists to cover important news. It’s important that we trust them to do it fairly and accurately. Letting us see how they do the job makes it easier.
A co-worker dropped off a copy of a statement he received for some batteries he recently purchased (from Tenergy Corporation/All-Battery.com). At the bottom of the statement:
We pay $30 for your professional reviews and opinions.
Please review the products listed on all-battery.com
I’ve been reading about this kind of paid review but this is the first pitch I’ve seen. This raises so many interesting (to me) question:
This just doesn’t smell right to me. If I discovered that a blogger was getting paid for reviews, I’d have trouble trusting anything else he/she wrote. If the company’s motives are pure, why not clearly state that the offer applies to any well-intentioned, objective review. And if someone has something critical to say, wouldn’t that be worth a $30 certificate?
There’s a way to do this, of course. If someone in the Casio (digital camera) marketing department noticed that I use/like/blog about their cameras, they could send me a new model and ask me to try it out and blog my impressions. Good or bad. They won’t have to give me the camera, because if it’s good, I’ll probably buy it. AND write nice things about the product.