What's in a logo? O a lot...

Interesting article on what this little red lines at the bottom of Obama's O might just mean...

Death To The Embargo

Interesting post today from Michael Arrington and TechCrunch on their embargo policy. I wouldn't have trusted them to hold an embargo anyway, but good to know their new official policy.

I tend to agree with Arrington's commentary for the most part. We've seen broken embargo's on a lot of announcements in the past year, often by news sites looking to get an edge on their competition. A broken embargo can often favor the client though and help drive interest in the news/products being announced.

We've been talking about the challenges to the traditional media embargo in the new media environment for a while now and can't say this is a big surprise. In the future, I think we'll see less "embargos" and more exclusives in targeted sites/outlets where we have the strongest relationships and the news will have the greatest impact.

If you could change your name to a movie character what would it be?

So NFL player Greg White who plays for the Buccaneers just changed his name to Stylez G. White. For what reason - he liked the character Rupert "Stiles" Stilinski in Teen Wolf. http://sports.yahoo.com/nfl/blog/shutdown_corner/post/I-nominate-Stylez-G-White-for-best-NFL-name-cha?urn=nfl,129376

So that makes me wonder what movie character name would you like for yourself?

I think I would go with Joshua after the supercomputer in War Games. "Would you like to play a game of chess?"

Chime in. Let me know what movie character name you want.

Promote the Cause, Promote Yourself!

This foundation's site is radical...And they're a PN client!

www.stoppovertynow.org - It's an innovative twist for Grameen Foundation donations.

The site displays a gray-scale, multi-grid photo of monetary recipients. Donors are encouraged to select a grid(s) for $10 each and when their donation is made the gray-scale turns to color and begins revealing the entire photo. In addition, the donor can upload a personal photo and brief statement so other visitors can see who made the donation to fill each grid! As you scroll across the photo, donor pictures pop up with a brief message. Some folks have used it to post a link for related sites and/or offer a message of hope.

Check it out and throw down a 10-$pot!!!

More bleak media news

Despite having a near-record weekly audience, NPR today announded plans to cut 64 jobs and cancel two weekday programs, “Day to Day” and “News & Notes” after an unexpected revenue shortfall. Interesting article about it in NYT today: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/11/business/media/11npr.html?ref=television

Wanna be YouTube Famous?

Some people have been wanting to watch the Lip Dub that made its debut at the office holiday party.

A quick update on the status of our Lip Dub; As your may or may not remember, the purpose of this project was to make an arbitrary video that we would then promote using the most ruthless and cutthroat tactics we felt comfortable with as outlined in the infamous TechCrunch article.

Well now that the video portion is done, we are in the process of hammering out tactics for distribution and "views" accumulation. This will involve some minor edits to the video, splitting it up into a few chunks and then playing with tags, titles and thumbnails to make it perfect. Once its ready, we will have about 48-72 hours to try and make the videos take off. It will be an interesting challenge considering that Lib Dubs were already so last year by the time Julia Alyson uttered her first self-indulgent word. We hope to start tackling this project early next week.

In the interim, we will leave a copy of the video as is on the G drive for those times in the day when you need to see Brent sing Nirvana or Martin channel some smooth jazz.

Twitter a Journo

@ericasmith, who runs the graphicdesignr blog, has posted an amazing list of 793 reporters, editors and newspapers who are using Twitter. Following these folks will not only help you get a better perspective on what they are writing but also could lead to a valuable reporter relationship.

Is this the end of the newspaper?

The Tribune Co., owner of prominent dailies such as The Los Angeles Times and The Chicago Tribune filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy today reporting $13 billion in debt. Although much of the blame can be placed on the organization's decision to go private last year, how many of you think the internet might have something to do with it?

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5gNDAWajvnGvxJuuFKhrXzcCGU30QD94URM5G0

Remeber ElfYourself.com?

Of course you do! You were probably one of those who elfed themselves. :) You'll be happy to hear that it's back this year with improved dance moves and more including a facebook app - who woulda thunk it?!?

Check out this adage article that gives some insight into what is and isn't a real viral campaign.

http://adage.com/digitalnext/article?article_id=133058

Top 11 Lamest Blogs

If I created a blog called, The Dullest Blog in the World, and was featured on MSN in an article titled, "Top 11 Lamest Blogs" I think I'd be breaking out the bubbly right about now.

Another Reason to Love Seth Godin...

Don't go to business school. Probably the best advice ever.

Wonder if the action figure I have of him could curry extra favor?

Anderson Cooper Taking on The AP?

"CNN, in the afterglow of an election season of record ratings for cable news, is elbowing in on a new line of business: catering to financially strained newspapers looking for an alternative to The Associated Press."