Pause

Geeking Out: The New, New Agency

I never considered myself an ad girl. When it came to publishing I was all about the editorial, the center well baby! Early in my career I took a job at Time Inc's Custom Publishing division, and though I had an editor title, it felt a bit dirty building editorial that fit brands' needs. Today I am grateful for the experience because I learned how to play nice with brands AND create compelling content. I learned that content providers can be verry verry precious people, and that sometimes really good creative that also accentuates, or aligns, with brand messaging ain't a sin.

Today there's migration coming from the other direction--PR and advertising folks are building content in order to achieve that same alignment. They may or may not be going to publishers to achieve kismet, they often seek out the content themselves. Bloggers are a primary source, though agencies are still getting up to speed on how to treat content providers. Do they pay for engagement, or do they request "organic" endorsement (a.k.a. hope for a favor?) 

Redesign Update: Not yet folks

I spent a good hunk of the weekend working with H-band on my header concept. He's a Creative Suite impresario, but he ain't no creative director. "Just tell me what you want," he said, "and I'll make it." But the thing is, I'm no creative director, either. I don't have a visual in my mind. In my perfect world I'd share some key words and phrases, and what I want to accomplish with my blog, and someone would take my order and come back with a visual representation that I could yay or nay. When it comes to design I like it or I don't. I don't build. This limitation pisses me off.

But we did manage to start a visual. I'm worried it's looking too much like the cover of The Secret meets daylight. So I think up some flair.

"Can we throw in a wine stain, something like that?"

"Why?"

"I don't know. Just throw one in."

It's still a work in progress.

Geeking Out: An introduction to my social media posts

I reserve a good portion of my blog for personal expression and revelation. But given what I spend the bulk of my time doing--building a social media company--I can't help but have errant thoughts about where things are going in the new, new media space. I find that I am often so busy with the must-do's of running a business that this subject gets relegated to my reflection time. It's not work to me. I suppose it is personal.

But, hearkening back to a panel I was on with such bloggy people as Robert Scoble, who insisted that one must be as focused as possible on one's blog to cultivate strong readerships, I feel a conflict coming on. What am I writing about? Myself, or my industry? In deference to my multiple interests I'm going to break out my "workier" posts so that people who are interested in all things social media and marketing-related can find them. Behold my new section, "Geeking Out." I'll put my past posts that conform to this criteria in this space as well.

Wait, aren't we all media professionals?

So I find in my personal email account about 30 angry replies to a spammer, Beth Brody, who took it upon herself to spam the whole digital media world with "Jump Start Social Media Guide For Small Business". I wonder if she's read her product, it might make mention of the best ways to approach "influencers".

The angry replies, while justified, amused me because they were from savvy media people who, following Beth's lead, perpetuated the spamming with such requests as, "Take me of your f*%^ing list!" I believe that is because Beth had all of us blind copied, so we weren't aware others were on the list who could see spam fury at its greatest. Though after the tenth or eleventh angry request, I would think someone would notice they weren't just pinging the spammer.

Next came emails from some in the group, informing the uninformed that they were, in fact, spamming the whole list. And yet spamming the whole list while doing so. 

And so it continues.

For all of you who are wondering how to make the madness stop please contact Patient Zero: [email protected].

On hugging and professional PDA

I'm a hugger, and I never thought that much about it. When I'm at parties and meet people for the first time, I hug them before I leave. I see people I know on the street, I hug them. When I'm seeing people in business settings that I know well I hug them. It only just occurred to me recently that we don't all have the same criteria around when we should hug in the office, especially if it's a male-female interaction.

I was recently visiting with clients that I know well. I've worked with one of my contacts for three years now. He makes it out to San Francisco every few months, and it's always good to talk social media with him. I know him well enough to know he's planning his wedding, which takes place in a few weeks.

When I saw him and his co-worker I approached arms out. I had just come back from BlogHer in Chicago, where I had been used to hugging, even kissing people on the cheek. I forget that while me and my business pal are friendly, he's not so much a hugger. Upon reaching out for him, he swerved for the shoulder-to-shoulder hug, looking off to the side. I accidentally whacked him in the face with the hand I reserve to clutch and pat my huggee on the back.

To prove I'm becoming more like my mother every day I reverted to her method of pain reduction and reactively grabbed his face, because somehow grabbing someone's face makes whacking them hurt less. Just when he was probably thinking, "please don't touch me any more than you already have."

I've stopped kissing people on the cheek except when I'm in NYC, and even then I assess the target. Probably the dumbest thing I ever did was this May when, despite all the hubbub about swine flu, I went to a friend's wedding in Mexico, came back with a raging cold, and still insisted on making my way to New York for a conference and some meetings. I visited with another professional pal who asked me what I've been up to.

"Just got back from Mexico," I said, then started hacking uncontrollably.

"Oh really?" he said, trying to not look overly concerned. As I left, I grabbed the poor man, who was relocating to an office in another country, hugged him and provided a cheek-to-cheek airkiss.

"Besta luck!" I said.

I envisioned what he was saying to himself silently, "Typhoid freak, please leave."

Post-BlogHer '09: A Reminder of the Power of Listening to Influentials

My latest on Jack Myers.com. BlogHer '09 from the marketer's perspective

Pardon My Dust

Things look a little different here at Pause, no? I've been wanting to re-design for years now and just haven't been able to think of my angle. I'm playing with palettes for a while, and with content, while I get closer to embracing the mojo I felt back in '04-'05, when I had a real vision behind my blog. BlogHer '09 got me back to thinking about my blog purpose. Please accept this site as a work in progress. Purpose doesn't come quickly, but the palette change definitely gets my mind thinking again.