Panel and Slacking Off

I've got my second quarter panel coming up on Monday at 11:00 AM. I've been preparing for the big day instead of posting to the blog. I'll pick it up again after I'm done with panel.

In the meantime, I've been struck with how cool Google is. I'm using the Google notebook to build future posts. It's just one of the many interesting and useful things the brand is doing.

Well, that's it until Monday.

Bob Garfield and Zune

Bob Garfield comments on Zune's chances of cutting into Apple's market share. Whether you agree with him or not, one thing is for sure: he is a better writer than I am.

Mr. Garfield seems to like 72andSunny's work for Zune. Certainly, within the context he creates the work could be considered successful. Mr. Garfield has vast experience commenting on the advertising industry, but he - and forgive me for sounding like a whipper-snapper - is too old. I hate to discount his comments on the creative based on age alone, but in this case I think being young counts. The ads are "infectious" to him because he is too old to see through them. I don't care what anyone says, documentary style footage of the idealized target market in contrieved cool settings doesn't constitute a creative execution.

Best Job Description Ever

In my part time job, I’m a “Data Entry Specialist.” After almost six months on the job, I don’t even know what that means. I think it means, "I type important things into computers really well." Titles, I’ve found, don’t really mean anything aside from delineating salary level, providing meaningless organizational structure and increasing ego. I’ve seen friends get promoted and have failed to notice any identifiable changes in their physical make up or skill level. Job descriptions are equally lacking in terms of nailing down what someone does on any given day. Most that I’ve read seem to be more like the result of game of “How many dated buzz words can you get into a paragraph.”

In the ad agency I worked for, management tried to make the titles more interesting with names like “Director of Practical Magic” (Production Director) or “Group Navigator” (Account Director). But the titles as well as the job descriptions really didn’t nail down the actual execution of the job and were ultimately a load of horse manure. Although personally, I thought it hilarious that the PR managers were called “Story Tellers.” It’s always helpful when you work in PR and your title is also a nice little synonym for liar. Apparently, the irony is lost on everyone but me.

But, last Monday on NPR’s Morning Edition, I heard the best job description ever. George Clinton, of Parliament, described his job like this:

“Psychoalphadiscobetabioaquadulu. It’s the art of dancing under water and not getting wet.”

Somehow, without having to think, I know exactly what George Clinton does. When I consider his description in the context of his body of work, it makes even more sense. How much better does his description sound than, “Primary responsibilities include managing the creation, production and distribution of the funk across multiple media outlets, finding ways to color hair in a provocative manner, and generating cross-pollination of musical styles, formats, and forms.”

If what a person does when they show up to work can’t be neatly quantified and described (which I’m guessing is all jobs since it takes most of my friends five minutes to describe what they do), then why make up some corporate sounding mumbo-jumbo. I like the idea of coming up with something intentionally cryptic that at least captures the feeling or gives a snapshot of the job one performs. So let’s see, what is it that I do?

The complete piece on George Clinton can be found here.

Happy Perspective Day

Thanksgiving is great. An abundance of food, family, and a day off from work gives us pause to be thankful for all of the good things in life. But how long do those warm feelings last? For me, it's about twelve hours. One by one, the stressors come back whether it’s crowds at the mall or work that can’t wait until Monday. In no time at all, I lose the perspective I had less than twenty-four hours ago.

So today, I’m trying to focus on the reasons I have to be thankful to see how long I can go before I get stressed out about the fake ads I have to make or how my car looks or something else equally frivolous. I’m going to try to be thankful for more than one day a year. For the rest of the year, I'm going to be thankful:

Because there is always enough food to eat.



For Mema and her ice cream serving knife.


For football (even if it is NFL football).


For good eyesight and little sisters.


For leftovers.


For bald spots.


And for Tryptophan.

Keeping perspective on how good you've got it helps make daily life easier. Not to mention it helps you to treat the people around you with more kindnesss, patience, compassion, and the list goes on. This year, I'm going to use Thanksgiving as a springboard to keep perspective on life year-round. I certainly have a lot to be thankful for.

Technorati

I'm claiming my blog with Technorati to find out what it does exactly. Also, I think the more tenticles I put on this thing the more likely I am to stick with it. Here goes!


Technorati Profile

Nice Touch.

I love the chocolate covered coffee bean that Caribou Coffee puts on the lid of each mocha. It's functional in the way it identifies which drink is which and it's delicious. It sets the tone for the drink and intices the palate, making the whole experience more satisfying.

Flux-Capacitor in the Morning

It's upside down, but close enough.

Local Color in Starbucks

Starbucks has become one of the strongest brands in the world by creating a uniform experience at Starbucks locations everywhere. They devote a large portion of their marketing budget to training thier people in the ways of Starbucks and develop almost identical stores that support their "third place" strategy. While locations are given regional flair (book clubs, regional menus, etc.), by-and-large the experience is the same across the globe.

That being said, I was delighted to see this sign on the wall in the men's bathroom. In the midst of Starbucks brand experience, a little reminder that I was in rural South Georgia came up through the cracks.

"Please Pull Handle On Sink Down + Right to cut the water off after use. Thanks Managment"

Sick Chick-fil-a, Real Sick.

Behold: The Chick-fil-a Chicken, Egg and Cheese Bagel.

Apparently, the folks at Chick-fil-a thought it would be a good idea to develop a breakfast sandwich with both egg and chicken in one place. "Yes, hmmmm...lets see, can I have a chicken embryo served on its mother's dead, fried carcass. Thanks."