23 Year Pin

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My first official day at Learfield Communications was June 4, 1984. I’ve posted on enough anniversaries that I don’t have anything fresh to add, but didn’t want the day to slip by without note.

Learfield PinA surprising number of people who were there on my first day are still with the company: Clyde, Roger, Charlie, Bob Priddy, Derry (no longer technically part of Learfield but always in my head and my heart), Greg, Clarice, Joyce… who am I missing?

The company has grown so rapidly in recent years, it bears little resemblance to the company I started with. But that is as it should be. Like that old Saturday Night Live bit… “Learfield has been berry, berry good to me.”

Last laugh

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Patrick Knight is scheduled to be executed later this month for the fatal shooting of his neighbors, Walter and Mary Werner, almost 16 years ago outside Amarillo. To come up with his final statement, Knight is accepting jokes mailed to him on Texas’ death row or emailed to a friend who has a Web site for him. The friend then mails him the jokes. Knight said the joke he finds the funniest will be his final statement the evening of June 26.

Knight said he got the idea for a joke as his last statement after a friend, Vincent Gutierrez, was executed earlier this year and laughed from the death chamber gurney: “Where’s a stunt double when you need one?”

Six degrees of Robert Scoble

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I think I knew that Robert Scoble once worked with/for Dave Winer at Userland Software, but completely forgot writing this “thank you” to Chris Pirillo, waaaay back in 2002:

“We’re always quick to talk about poor service or support, so I’d like to be equally quick to report a wonderful experience. Based on your recommendation, I purchased a copy of Radio from Userland Software. Total impulse buy. I’d been playing with Blogger and when I saw that you liked Radio, I bought it.

Fact is, I really didn’t need the program and had a little problem getting going and wound up emailing the company for some help. Which I quickly got. In my first email to the company I mentioned that mine was a poorly thought out impulse buy and it would be great if I could “back up” on the purchase, never expecting the company to go along.

Today I got a very nice email from Robert Scoble, refunding my purchase. I immediately sent along my thanks and –in his reply– got an invite to Gnomedex 02! Just a nice way to end the day. You can’t go wrong dealing with the Lockergnome community.”

Small world.

Seth’s Organic Path to Google Happiness

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Seth Godin on the “organic success” path to a high Google rank:

“If you want to be on the front page of matches for “White Plains Lawyer”, then the best choice is to build a series of pages (on your site, on social sites, etc.) that give people really useful information. Once you’ve done everything you can… once you’ve built a web of information and once you’ve given the ability to do this to your best clients and your partners and colleagues, then by all means apply the best SEO (search engine optimization) thinking in the world to your efforts.”

Everything Is Miscellaneous

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David Weinberger’s latest book —Everything Is Miscellaneous— is a philosophical look at “the power of the new digital disorder.” A few nuggets:

“Individuals thinking out loud now have weight, and authority and expertise are losing some of their gravity. It’s not whom you report to and who reports to you or how  you filter someone else’s experience. It’s how messily you are connected and how thick with meaning are the links.

It’s not what you know, and it’s not even who you know. It’s how much knowledge you give away. Hoarding knowledge diminishes your power because it diminishes your presence. (p.230)

“A playlist is an important means of self-expression. The motivation is to say, ‘This is who I am, and you can find out who i am by knowing what I love.'” Attributed to Rebecca Tushnet, a professor at Georgetown University Law Center. (p.159)

“Physical limitations on how we have organized information have not only limited our vision, they have also given the people who control the organization of information more power than than those who create the information. Editors are more powerful than reporters, and communication syndicates are  more powerful than editors because they get to decide what to bring to the surface and what to ignore.(p.89)

“Facts are that about which we no longer argue.” (p.214)

“A span of expertise is about as long as a shelf in a library.” (p.205)

Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band

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“For many fans, hearing Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band for the first time was a life-changing experience. Prior to its release in June of 1967, most of music being produced was for Top 40, AM radio play and for dance parties. Kids bought 45s and never thought of a collection of songs as a “concept album” or work of art. Sgt. Pepper’s was unlike anything anyone had heard before.”

You had to be there to appreciate “Sgt. Pepper’s” but this piece on today’s All Things Considered takes a good stab at explaining why it was a big deal. I was just finishing my first year of college when the album was released. Perfect timing.

Google Audio: About Your Ad form

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In another lifetime I wrote radio “spots.” A lot of ’em. So please feel free to skip this “shop talk” post.

TechCrunch is getting reports from advertisers that Google Audio Ads have been added as an option to their Adwords accounts. Interesting to see the data collected  with the “About Your Ad” form (Goal of ad; target customer; key messages; call to action; etc.).

And this from the comments on the post: “I’ve been using Audio Ads for months now. I like how you can listen to the actual snippet of your ad being played on the station. I don’t like how you can’t choose a specific radio station, only the type of format and DMA.”

Wonder how they’re getting the mini-air check? I can see how advertisers would love that.

Bonus link: “Analysts Peek Into Google’s Pitch to Radio” (Radio World)

“We’re hearing that a lot.”

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The following telephone conversation took place earlier today:

Caller: “Hi, this is Kevin with Dell and I’m calling about your Dell Dimension 100. Your three year warranty expries this month and I’m calling to see if you’d like to renew… and tell you about some of our special offers.”

smays: “Uh, I’m afraid I’ve got some bad news for you, Kevin.”

Caller: “You’ve switched to Mac.”

smays: (surprised) “Yeah, I have. Uh, how’d you know?”

Caller: “People always say, ‘We’ve got bad news…’ just before they tell us they’ve switched.”

Back to Niketown

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Nike'sExcept they don’t call it Niketown anymore. It’s now “NIKE iD” but you can still design your own sneakers. I still get compliments on the kicks I designed a couple of years ago but, every now and again someone will ask “…but why’d you get the old person style?”

So I tried for a little more “street” this time around. I’m gonna strap these babies on with my Tactical 5.11’s, buy me a case of Krylon and go nuts.