Electrolicious

When I’m out dancing, I usually wear a hat and keep the brim low. I avoid eye contact for the most part.

Last night, I made the mistake of looking up.
Read the rest of this entry »

UPDATE 12/21: I returned my blackberry. Here’s why.

I got a new phone this week. After 2+ years of loving my Sidekick, when it started to fritz out on me, I did a little research and decided to trade up to a Blackberry.

Why not another SKIII?
No video, proprietary ringtones and applications, big ‘n’ clunky.

Why not an iPhone?
I don’t like touchscreen keypads. I need tactile keys. Also, too expensive, would have had to change service providers, and is still on v1. I’d gamble on a touchscreen keypad for $200. Not for $400.

Why a Blackberry?
Everything the Sidekick isn’t, established product line, lots of third-party applications, better dialing, wifi, well reviewed. Plus, offered by T-Mobile so I didn’t have to switch providers, and got an upgrade discount.
Read the rest of this entry »

Why, I believe it’s called contentment. What an unfamiliar, pleasant sensation!

Before we did the Salon of Shame reading at 826 Seattle today, Jeannie and I filmed this:

From a comment to my recent post: Don’t [marketing] events like this kill off some small part of your soul? Does every part of our lives need to be sliced up and laid on a platter as a feast for marketers?

I stick my finger into marketing — it smells of nothing.
(with apologies to Kierkegaard)

This is totally a hot topic for me, and I really appreciate the question. To understand my thoughts on marketing, you first need to understand how I got into the industry.

Ten years ago, I started writing for a free rave magazine. I was idealistic and enthusiastic and completely committed to the community I was serving. A year and a half later, I was promoted to Editor in Chief. It was my job to write/edit all sorts of awesome content all about the culture and lifestyle of raving, which I was beyond enthusiastic about. I made very, VERY little money (sound familiar, fellow magazine folks?) but was deeply committed to my work.

Since Lotus was free, it was supported entirely by its advertisers. Most of these advertisers were electronic music and event-related — lots of record labels, production companies, etc. As soon as I became editor, I started getting huge amounts of pressure from the publisher about editorial content. We needed more music coverage! More album reviews! More event listings!

Why did the publisher care? Because that’s what the advertisers wanted to see. Maybe they weren’t going to demand a review of the exact product they were advertising, but they at least wanted to know that readers turned to the magazine for information about that product, and therefore would be receptive to a related advertisement.
Read the rest of this entry »

Inspired by sitting next to Jeremiah Owyang today and Kate’s recent series about how/why she uses Twitter, I thought I’d add my own explanation about my use of the service.

If you don’t know/care about Twitter, this may be boring. However, if you’re a friend of mine in real life, you should read it anyway.
Read the rest of this entry »