I grew up a Baltimore Orioles fan. I still wish the O's well, and root for them almost all of the time. Almost. When they are playing the Washington Nationals, I have a conflict of interest that always finally sides with DC. My love for all sports in DC is too great to go against them when Baltimore comes to town.
Growing up an O's fan (and having a mother from upstate New York who cheered on the Mets as a child), there is one team that I have always hated in baseball. That would be the New York Yankees. Not only are they a rival of the O's in the same AL East division, but there was one moment in the rivalry where things somehow went the Yankees way, and I fumed for months.
Jeffrey Maier is a name I'll never forget. He was the 12-year-old kid who gave the Yankees a home run and the momentum against the O's the last time the O's made the playoffs in 1996. He took what would have been a caught ball for the 3rd out of the 6th inning and pulled it with his glove over the fence into the front row of right field. None of the umps saw it (conspiracy), and a 2-run homer was given to the Yankees. The Yanks went on to win the game and the series, and Jeffrey Maier got to be on David Letterman, Jay Leno, and Good Morning America. Ridiculous.
However, I now won't have as bad a taste in my mouth when someone mentions the Yankees. This is because their owner, George Steinbrenner, has put some of the loads of money he has to good use. Steinbrenner announced today that the Yankees will donate $1 million to the Virginia Tech Hokie Spirit Memorial Fund! They will also play a charity exhibition game at Virginia Tech sometime in 2008!
This reminds us of what is really important in life. As an avid sports fan, I sometimes get too excited and think that a loss is the end of the world. Anyone who has ever been in the stands with me at Lane Stadium after a Hokie loss can attest to that. But possibly the only positive thing that a tragedy like 4/16/07 can bring about is a sense of perspective.
A loss in sports is not the end of the world. It's a loss in sports. That's it. Because of a rivalry, I have cursed the Yankees my whole life. Not to say that I'm a Yankee-supporter now, but I am a Yankee-respecter. Along with all of the other rivals that supported Virginia Tech after the tragedy (West Virginia University, Miami University, the University of Virginia, etc.), the Yankees put aside sports for a second and looked at the big picture.
To the New York Yankees, I say thank you from all of Hokie Nation.
Monday, May 28, 2007
Friday, May 25, 2007
Fear of Restraint
Our commencement speaker last week was Keith Reinhard, the head of DDB Worldwide. He was incredibly entertaining and gave an amazingly honest and inspirational speech that hit home with a bunch of 20 somethings who had just finished the Adcenter.
The part that hit home the most for me was when he talked about "the fear of restraint." He told us that we, as advertisers, have the power to influence the world and shape its culture. There will always be the chance to make a campaign that says something trivial or raunchy. There will always be the chance to make something funny just because it's funny, even when you are risking damage on the moral character of society.
He told us that this is the easy way out. Most advertisers have a fear of restraint. They let their laziness take a hold of them, and they stop trying to make something great, and instead make something raunchy or offensive.
Just like any other fear, the only way to continue is to face it and run through it. He told us to always face our fear of restraint head on, and to never be lazy. This is what we, as the next generation of advertisers, must do. As our society's morals dwindle year by year, and music videos become less like works of art and more like soft-core pornography, we as advertisers have the chance to help out the world by saying something meaningful and inspirational.
We hold a powerful tool in our hands. Use it wisely.
The part that hit home the most for me was when he talked about "the fear of restraint." He told us that we, as advertisers, have the power to influence the world and shape its culture. There will always be the chance to make a campaign that says something trivial or raunchy. There will always be the chance to make something funny just because it's funny, even when you are risking damage on the moral character of society.
He told us that this is the easy way out. Most advertisers have a fear of restraint. They let their laziness take a hold of them, and they stop trying to make something great, and instead make something raunchy or offensive.
Just like any other fear, the only way to continue is to face it and run through it. He told us to always face our fear of restraint head on, and to never be lazy. This is what we, as the next generation of advertisers, must do. As our society's morals dwindle year by year, and music videos become less like works of art and more like soft-core pornography, we as advertisers have the chance to help out the world by saying something meaningful and inspirational.
We hold a powerful tool in our hands. Use it wisely.
Tuesday, May 15, 2007
MoonPie Madness is on the air!!
About an hour after my final Portfolio Review at the Adcenter I was at Sine's Irish Pub celebrating finishing my two years of advertising graduate school. After sipping on a few pints of Guiness, I planned on stopping by school on my way home because I forgot something. When I got there, I heard the most amazing news I could have possibly heard on this already glorious day...
The NPR radio piece on the VCU Adcenter aired that morning. And MoonPie Madness got a full minute of conversation and quotes! We made national radio! 1.5 million people from all around the country heard about our MoonPie eating contest!
I was ecstatic. Not only as a part of the team that pulled this all off for less than $500 and only help from MoonPie in the form of free product. I was ecstatic as the teams Brand Manager whose job it has been all semester to track the brand impressions that we have generated. YouTube got us over 12,000. The Richmond Times-Dispatch article got us around 28,000. The local CBS6 11:00 News piece got us 35,000. But this was huge.
On the morning of May 15th, we had generated 106,000 MoonPie brand impressions. Now we've generated 1.6 million MoonPie brand impressions. All with less than $100 out of each of our pockets.
Talk about a resume booster.
The NPR radio piece on the VCU Adcenter aired that morning. And MoonPie Madness got a full minute of conversation and quotes! We made national radio! 1.5 million people from all around the country heard about our MoonPie eating contest!
I was ecstatic. Not only as a part of the team that pulled this all off for less than $500 and only help from MoonPie in the form of free product. I was ecstatic as the teams Brand Manager whose job it has been all semester to track the brand impressions that we have generated. YouTube got us over 12,000. The Richmond Times-Dispatch article got us around 28,000. The local CBS6 11:00 News piece got us 35,000. But this was huge.
On the morning of May 15th, we had generated 106,000 MoonPie brand impressions. Now we've generated 1.6 million MoonPie brand impressions. All with less than $100 out of each of our pockets.
Talk about a resume booster.
A newfound respect for Green Day
I heard Green Day's newest single today for the first time. It's a cover of "Working Class Hero" by John Lennon, and it is done very well.
Anytime someone covers an artist of the stature of John Lennon, they are walking the fine line of putting their own mark on the song while not infuriating the purist fans of the original artist. Green Day did a great job on both ends. The song is distinctly Green Day, with Billy Joe's recognizable voice and the band's rebellious but straight-forward sound. At the same time, they kept the tempo at the same slow pace that Lennon had it, which is out of the norm for Green Day's fast-paced style. What came out was an amazing and modern rock ballad for the working man.
While many artists today successfully cover songs from the past and walk that fine line well, most fall short in one major area: they don't give credit to the original artist. You always have to search through the CD booklet (which are being read less and less these days with our lack of CD buying and obsession with downloading) to find the credits area for each song. There you find "Words & Music by [insert old rock legend here]" written in 6 point font. It's like finding a needle in a haystack.
Many 12 year old kids in the world have never been educated about the music of the 60s and 70s, and therefore don't even realize that the song they are listening to is not written by their new favorite band of 25 year old guys. While I'll venture to guess that while most 12 year olds have at least heard of John Lennon, the vast majority have never heard Lennon's original track of "Working Class Hero."
Which brings me to how Green Day got my respect in a way very few bands have ever managed to do before. As the last 15 seconds of the distorted guitar and drums fade away, the John Lennon's voice and folk guitar are slowly faded into the song. The song then ends with John Lennon's original ending, which might shock the 12 year old into a state of realization. All of a sudden, their eyes will be opened to the fact that Green Day's newest song was written by some old guy, which will get them to ask around about who wrote the original.
Most likely, it will be their parents that tell them the answer. The kid will feel enlightened, the parents will feel cool again, and John Lennon's memory will be crystallized in another generation's memory.
Great job Green Day.
Anytime someone covers an artist of the stature of John Lennon, they are walking the fine line of putting their own mark on the song while not infuriating the purist fans of the original artist. Green Day did a great job on both ends. The song is distinctly Green Day, with Billy Joe's recognizable voice and the band's rebellious but straight-forward sound. At the same time, they kept the tempo at the same slow pace that Lennon had it, which is out of the norm for Green Day's fast-paced style. What came out was an amazing and modern rock ballad for the working man.
While many artists today successfully cover songs from the past and walk that fine line well, most fall short in one major area: they don't give credit to the original artist. You always have to search through the CD booklet (which are being read less and less these days with our lack of CD buying and obsession with downloading) to find the credits area for each song. There you find "Words & Music by [insert old rock legend here]" written in 6 point font. It's like finding a needle in a haystack.
Many 12 year old kids in the world have never been educated about the music of the 60s and 70s, and therefore don't even realize that the song they are listening to is not written by their new favorite band of 25 year old guys. While I'll venture to guess that while most 12 year olds have at least heard of John Lennon, the vast majority have never heard Lennon's original track of "Working Class Hero."
Which brings me to how Green Day got my respect in a way very few bands have ever managed to do before. As the last 15 seconds of the distorted guitar and drums fade away, the John Lennon's voice and folk guitar are slowly faded into the song. The song then ends with John Lennon's original ending, which might shock the 12 year old into a state of realization. All of a sudden, their eyes will be opened to the fact that Green Day's newest song was written by some old guy, which will get them to ask around about who wrote the original.
Most likely, it will be their parents that tell them the answer. The kid will feel enlightened, the parents will feel cool again, and John Lennon's memory will be crystallized in another generation's memory.
Great job Green Day.
Sunday, May 6, 2007
"Your Majesty, those are NASCAR fans..."
Last Thursday was a very interesting day for the city of Richmond. We were double-booked. Besides the effect this had on traffic (Richmonders aren't used to a lot of traffic, so there was a lot of complaining), it also was an intriguing look at culture.
On Cary Street, they blocked off the roads because NASCAR was in town. The drivers all park their cars on the street and you can meet some of them and check out their cars. This is always a huge event here, since Richmond International Speedway is a major stop on the NASCAR circuit. It also is one of the few "night tracks" on the circuit, since most of the Richmond races are under the lights. I grew up only 2 hours north in Fairfax, yet I had never experienced NASCAR until I got here. The hype around Richmond is incredibly exciting, even if you don't normally follow the sport.
About 8 blocks away at the Virginia Capitol building, Queen Elizabeth and Prince Phillip were visiting Richmond as a brief stop before heading to Williamsburg and Jamestown for the 400th Anniversary of the Jamestown Settlement. There was music from all sorts of different genres represented, and thousands of people picnicked on the Capitol Lawn waiting for a chance to see British Royalty. The Queen and the Prince made their walk for about a half hour, waving and having their pictures taken, and then went into the Capitol to give a speech to the state representatives.
I can't even imagine what the conversation had to be to explain to the Queen why there was another major event that was causing traffic in the city that day. Has the Queen ever heard of NASCAR? Who knows.
But the one thing I noticed about this city is that Richmonders take pride in their culture, but also give a lot of respect for other cultures. When city officials realized that they had double-booked the downtown area, they didn't make NASCAR back down because of the Queen, even though it had been 50 years since the Queen had been to Richmond and NASCAR comes twice a year. They still had the same fun celebration of the sport that they would have had if they had been the only event in town like they are used to. Richmonders were probably proud of the fact that they could have their beloved NASCAR represented at the same time as the Royal Family of our former days when we were a colony represented right down the street. It showed the diversity of Richmond and the importance that they put on their own culture of car racing, but also the importance of respecting another culture. They wanted to the Queen to see NASCAR for the first time. I think it was an important gesture to the residents of Richmond, and I'm proud that I can call myself a Richmonder, even if it's only for a couple years.
On Cary Street, they blocked off the roads because NASCAR was in town. The drivers all park their cars on the street and you can meet some of them and check out their cars. This is always a huge event here, since Richmond International Speedway is a major stop on the NASCAR circuit. It also is one of the few "night tracks" on the circuit, since most of the Richmond races are under the lights. I grew up only 2 hours north in Fairfax, yet I had never experienced NASCAR until I got here. The hype around Richmond is incredibly exciting, even if you don't normally follow the sport.
About 8 blocks away at the Virginia Capitol building, Queen Elizabeth and Prince Phillip were visiting Richmond as a brief stop before heading to Williamsburg and Jamestown for the 400th Anniversary of the Jamestown Settlement. There was music from all sorts of different genres represented, and thousands of people picnicked on the Capitol Lawn waiting for a chance to see British Royalty. The Queen and the Prince made their walk for about a half hour, waving and having their pictures taken, and then went into the Capitol to give a speech to the state representatives.
I can't even imagine what the conversation had to be to explain to the Queen why there was another major event that was causing traffic in the city that day. Has the Queen ever heard of NASCAR? Who knows.
But the one thing I noticed about this city is that Richmonders take pride in their culture, but also give a lot of respect for other cultures. When city officials realized that they had double-booked the downtown area, they didn't make NASCAR back down because of the Queen, even though it had been 50 years since the Queen had been to Richmond and NASCAR comes twice a year. They still had the same fun celebration of the sport that they would have had if they had been the only event in town like they are used to. Richmonders were probably proud of the fact that they could have their beloved NASCAR represented at the same time as the Royal Family of our former days when we were a colony represented right down the street. It showed the diversity of Richmond and the importance that they put on their own culture of car racing, but also the importance of respecting another culture. They wanted to the Queen to see NASCAR for the first time. I think it was an important gesture to the residents of Richmond, and I'm proud that I can call myself a Richmonder, even if it's only for a couple years.
Sunday, April 29, 2007
The future of video games
I got to play some Nintendo Wii this weekend for only the second time ever. My friend brought it over to another friend's house, and we played for hours. I can't get enough of it.
We played Wii Sports, which includes tennis, boxing, golf, bowling, and baseball. All from one controller a little bigger than the size of my hand, I can play all of these different games, going through the real motions necessary to play the games "in person", or "the old way."
The Wii is going to change what video gamers will expect from video games in the future. We can now actually play a sport on a video game and use the same muscles that we would if we were playing in real life. In a few years, gamers will not be satisfied with playing a game where you only press buttons and watch a representation of yourself act out your command. Soon they will demand that they be able to act out every motion themselves.
This leads me to ask how the Wii will be used in the future. Will trainers and youth coaches start telling the parents of the 8-year-old kids on the team to "go home and practice your swing on your Wii for an hour before you go to bed tonight?"
The other major observation I had from playing the Wii and watching my friends compete against each other: We created ourselves in the game. We weren't picking current stars of professional sports and "controlling" them in our game. We all made "Mii's", which are characters that you get to customize that look as much like yourself as you want. Then we competed by controlling an onscreen likeness of ourselves.
This leads me to ask: Will the idolization of sports stars start to be less important, and instead an emphasis on our own sports accomplishments be more sought after? If I can control a likeness of myself and play a game of baseball, will I start to care less about Ken Griffey Jr. or Frank Thomas? Will I only see them as inspiration to practice my swing until I'm as good as them, instead of just wanting to "control" them in my game?
Obviously, only time will tell. But after playing the Wii, I'm optimistic for my future children when it comes to their video game consumption.
We played Wii Sports, which includes tennis, boxing, golf, bowling, and baseball. All from one controller a little bigger than the size of my hand, I can play all of these different games, going through the real motions necessary to play the games "in person", or "the old way."
The Wii is going to change what video gamers will expect from video games in the future. We can now actually play a sport on a video game and use the same muscles that we would if we were playing in real life. In a few years, gamers will not be satisfied with playing a game where you only press buttons and watch a representation of yourself act out your command. Soon they will demand that they be able to act out every motion themselves.
This leads me to ask how the Wii will be used in the future. Will trainers and youth coaches start telling the parents of the 8-year-old kids on the team to "go home and practice your swing on your Wii for an hour before you go to bed tonight?"
The other major observation I had from playing the Wii and watching my friends compete against each other: We created ourselves in the game. We weren't picking current stars of professional sports and "controlling" them in our game. We all made "Mii's", which are characters that you get to customize that look as much like yourself as you want. Then we competed by controlling an onscreen likeness of ourselves.
This leads me to ask: Will the idolization of sports stars start to be less important, and instead an emphasis on our own sports accomplishments be more sought after? If I can control a likeness of myself and play a game of baseball, will I start to care less about Ken Griffey Jr. or Frank Thomas? Will I only see them as inspiration to practice my swing until I'm as good as them, instead of just wanting to "control" them in my game?
Obviously, only time will tell. But after playing the Wii, I'm optimistic for my future children when it comes to their video game consumption.
Sunday, April 22, 2007
Reema Samaha
Yesterday I attended the memorial service for Reema Samaha, one of the 32 innocent Virginia Tech students who were killed on Monday. I never knew Reema, but I knew her older brother Omar. Omar went to school with me in elementary school at St. Timothy's, in high school at Paul VI, and then followed me to Virginia Tech.
The service was back home at my childhood church, St. Timothy's. There were so many people there that I did not get a seat, but I didn't mind. It was great to see so many people supporting the Samaha family and the Hokie Nation.
Reema's father made a great comment in his closing remarks. He said that the name Samaha in Lebanese means "forgiveness." The media cameras from all over the globe were watching as he explained the Samaha name, and then went on to pray for the soul of Seung-Hui Cho, the 23-year old student who killed the 32 others. He also prayed for the Cho family as they grieve for the loss of their loved one.
It struck me as one of the most moving things I've heard this week out of all the speeches that I've listened to. No one before Mr. Samaha had expressed any concern over the killer's soul at all. After he said it, I thought "Of course, Seung is a human being as well." In that time of great family grief, he gave the world a valuable lesson in forgiveness.
I have never been more impressed with someone's character in my life.
The service was back home at my childhood church, St. Timothy's. There were so many people there that I did not get a seat, but I didn't mind. It was great to see so many people supporting the Samaha family and the Hokie Nation.
Reema's father made a great comment in his closing remarks. He said that the name Samaha in Lebanese means "forgiveness." The media cameras from all over the globe were watching as he explained the Samaha name, and then went on to pray for the soul of Seung-Hui Cho, the 23-year old student who killed the 32 others. He also prayed for the Cho family as they grieve for the loss of their loved one.
It struck me as one of the most moving things I've heard this week out of all the speeches that I've listened to. No one before Mr. Samaha had expressed any concern over the killer's soul at all. After he said it, I thought "Of course, Seung is a human being as well." In that time of great family grief, he gave the world a valuable lesson in forgiveness.
I have never been more impressed with someone's character in my life.
Wednesday, April 18, 2007
Hokies, stand united.
It is impossible to put into words the impact of the events of Monday, April 16th, 2007. The entire Virginia Tech community has been hurt by the actions of one. All students, faculty members, employees, alumni, family members, and friends of Virginia Tech watched the news in shock as we learned of the deaths of 32 of our fellow Hokies. We are all still going through the grieving process, feeling the emotions of shock, denial, confusion, sadness and anger while we search in vain for answers to this senseless tragedy.
No one feels these emotions more than the family members of the 32 innocent students and professors who lost their lives that day. While no Hokie will ever forget about 4/16/07, the families of the victims now carry with them a permanent scar that can never fully be healed. These families need to know that all of Hokie Nation and the entire country has their support.
Virginia Tech has set up the Hokie Spirit Memorial Fund, which will be used to cover the expenses associated with assistance to the victims and their families, grief counseling, memorials, communication expenses, and comfort expenses. I started a fundraiser at the VCU Adcenter. You can start one too. It's not hard and doesn't take that much of your time. Please give to this charity.
http://www.vt.edu/tragedy/memorial_fund.php
I cannot express in words what the Hokie Nation is all about. So I will instead leave you with the closing speech of the Memorial Convocation at Cassell Coliseum on the Virginia Tech campus, given the day after the tragedy by Nikki Giovanni, renowned poet and English Professor at Virginia Tech. Her remarks and the reaction of the Hokie community in attendance show what it truly means to be a Hokie.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=%20KEv1aEX0WNE%20
No one feels these emotions more than the family members of the 32 innocent students and professors who lost their lives that day. While no Hokie will ever forget about 4/16/07, the families of the victims now carry with them a permanent scar that can never fully be healed. These families need to know that all of Hokie Nation and the entire country has their support.
Virginia Tech has set up the Hokie Spirit Memorial Fund, which will be used to cover the expenses associated with assistance to the victims and their families, grief counseling, memorials, communication expenses, and comfort expenses. I started a fundraiser at the VCU Adcenter. You can start one too. It's not hard and doesn't take that much of your time. Please give to this charity.
http://www.vt.edu/tragedy/memorial_fund.php
I cannot express in words what the Hokie Nation is all about. So I will instead leave you with the closing speech of the Memorial Convocation at Cassell Coliseum on the Virginia Tech campus, given the day after the tragedy by Nikki Giovanni, renowned poet and English Professor at Virginia Tech. Her remarks and the reaction of the Hokie community in attendance show what it truly means to be a Hokie.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=%20KEv1aEX0WNE%20
Tuesday, April 17, 2007
Nimrod Nation
I recently saw a documentary made by Kevin Proudfoot of Weiden & Kennedy and Director Brett Morgan called Nimrod Nation, which was based off Weiden & Kennedy's ESPN advertising based on the idea of "Without Sports....". Some of the ads featured the Fighting Nimrods of Watersmeet High School in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. The ads showed people cheering on the Nimrod basketball team and an 85-year old alum of the school cheering the Nimrod fight song. The tag read, "Without Sports, Who Would Cheer For The Nimrods?"
The popularity of the spots created a buzz which got the Nimrods featured on Jay Leno and other national shows. Kevin and Brett saw how popular it was and decided to actually make a show called Nimrod Nation, which they pitched to ESPN. ESPN ended up denying for financial reasons, but Nimrod Nation won awards at the Sundance Film Festival.
The thing that struck me was that Brett, when discussing how they made the film, talked about the fine line between respectfully laughing with a character and making fun of a character in film. If they had wanted to, they could have made fun of the tiny town of Watersmeet and the people in it. They are very down-to-earth, nature-loving, and somewhat backwards people. And they love their Nimrods. By following the coaches, players, alumni, and fans around with a camera for 4 full weeks, they had a lot of footage that they could have used that would have been hysterical for an audience of "city people." Instead, they only showed scenes where a character made a joke that the people of Watersmeet would understand and respect.
It is inevitable that some people will laugh at this film and will be making fun of the people of Watersmeet in their heads. But Brett and Kevin did a great job of keeping the town in the loop of every joke, and the town loved it.
I strongly urge you to watch this film. Search "Nimrod Nation" and you'll find it.
The popularity of the spots created a buzz which got the Nimrods featured on Jay Leno and other national shows. Kevin and Brett saw how popular it was and decided to actually make a show called Nimrod Nation, which they pitched to ESPN. ESPN ended up denying for financial reasons, but Nimrod Nation won awards at the Sundance Film Festival.
The thing that struck me was that Brett, when discussing how they made the film, talked about the fine line between respectfully laughing with a character and making fun of a character in film. If they had wanted to, they could have made fun of the tiny town of Watersmeet and the people in it. They are very down-to-earth, nature-loving, and somewhat backwards people. And they love their Nimrods. By following the coaches, players, alumni, and fans around with a camera for 4 full weeks, they had a lot of footage that they could have used that would have been hysterical for an audience of "city people." Instead, they only showed scenes where a character made a joke that the people of Watersmeet would understand and respect.
It is inevitable that some people will laugh at this film and will be making fun of the people of Watersmeet in their heads. But Brett and Kevin did a great job of keeping the town in the loop of every joke, and the town loved it.
I strongly urge you to watch this film. Search "Nimrod Nation" and you'll find it.
Sunday, April 15, 2007
Being in a suit for over 24 hours
I don't recommend ever wearing a suit for more than 12 hours at a time. I don't normally mind wearing suits, and I know that I'm about to embark on a career journey that will have me in suits on a pretty regular basis. But last Friday I was in a suit for literally 24 hours straight. Let's just say it got a little uncomfortable.
I woke up in Hoboken, New Jersey at my friend's place at around 6am. I showered and put on my suit, and he dropped me off near Rockefeller Center, where I had my interview later on that day. The interview went well, and I took the subway back to New Jersey, where I immediately hopped in my car to drive all the way back to Richmond, Virginia.
The reason I had to get back that day, and the reason I didn't change out of the suit: Adcenter Prom was that night.
Adcenter Prom is a great idea. Take all the drama and logistics involved from high school prom out, and leave the part about getting dressed up, crowning a King and Queen, and consuming alcohol. That's Adcenter Prom. It's so much fun that I was willing to leave NYC at 3pm on a Friday and forego a pretty fun weekend in the city to be back by around 10:30 to catch the last 2 hours of prom.
So I drove the whole way, and surprisingly didn't hit too much traffic, except for the DC Beltway. I got back by around 10:15 and literally didn't even go home. I went straight to prom in my suit. Prom was a really good time, but surprisingly, there was an extra keg of beer at 1am when it was over. Translation: after party. So instead of going to bed, I went to the after party, still in my suit. We had so much fun, that all of a sudden I looked at my watch, and it was 5:45 in the morning! What?? I've been up for 24 hours!! I haven't done this since my undergrad days!
And guess what: I'm still in my suit. I finally went to bed around 6:30am, and slept like a baby. It was a great day followed by a great night. But seriously: I don't recommend being in a suit for 24 hours straight.
Also, how weird is it that a guy can wear the same clothes to a job interview and a graduate school prom and be dressed perfectly for both occasions?? Hmm...
I woke up in Hoboken, New Jersey at my friend's place at around 6am. I showered and put on my suit, and he dropped me off near Rockefeller Center, where I had my interview later on that day. The interview went well, and I took the subway back to New Jersey, where I immediately hopped in my car to drive all the way back to Richmond, Virginia.
The reason I had to get back that day, and the reason I didn't change out of the suit: Adcenter Prom was that night.
Adcenter Prom is a great idea. Take all the drama and logistics involved from high school prom out, and leave the part about getting dressed up, crowning a King and Queen, and consuming alcohol. That's Adcenter Prom. It's so much fun that I was willing to leave NYC at 3pm on a Friday and forego a pretty fun weekend in the city to be back by around 10:30 to catch the last 2 hours of prom.
So I drove the whole way, and surprisingly didn't hit too much traffic, except for the DC Beltway. I got back by around 10:15 and literally didn't even go home. I went straight to prom in my suit. Prom was a really good time, but surprisingly, there was an extra keg of beer at 1am when it was over. Translation: after party. So instead of going to bed, I went to the after party, still in my suit. We had so much fun, that all of a sudden I looked at my watch, and it was 5:45 in the morning! What?? I've been up for 24 hours!! I haven't done this since my undergrad days!
And guess what: I'm still in my suit. I finally went to bed around 6:30am, and slept like a baby. It was a great day followed by a great night. But seriously: I don't recommend being in a suit for 24 hours straight.
Also, how weird is it that a guy can wear the same clothes to a job interview and a graduate school prom and be dressed perfectly for both occasions?? Hmm...
Monday, April 9, 2007
Finding out about "your Fast"
Last night I was hanging out with some of my non-Adcenter (read: normal) friends, and we went to a small party. When we got back from the party, my friend Adam reaches for a DVD to put in, just like most kids our age do when they get home at 2am on a Saturday night. Yet, this was different. This was an amazing piece of entertaining marketing that had my friends rolling on the ground laughing and at the same time lusting over the product.
I'm talking about the DVD that Crispin Porter & Bogusky made for the Volkswagon GTI. In it, an American actor with a pretty bad German accent goes through many scenes explaining the different features of the GTI and also going through some "focus group research" with a few consumers. The whole point is to find "your inner Fast."
It's hysterical. My friends told me that they had only watched it once before, yet they were quoting specific lines right before they came up! It was THAT memorable! Keep in mind that the choices in Adam's DVD collection included Wedding Crashers, Old School, Anchorman, Office Space, etc. This list of funny movies he has can go on forever. Yet he picked the VW GTI DVD, and his roommates were psyched about his decision!
Adam got it by taking a test drive of a GTI. Of course, he's a college kid and doesn't have the money to buy a GTI. But this DVD has entertained him enough that he associates the GTI with fun times, and I guarantee that in a few years when he is ready to be a car, he's going to be thinking about a GTI.
Good work Crispin.
I'm talking about the DVD that Crispin Porter & Bogusky made for the Volkswagon GTI. In it, an American actor with a pretty bad German accent goes through many scenes explaining the different features of the GTI and also going through some "focus group research" with a few consumers. The whole point is to find "your inner Fast."
It's hysterical. My friends told me that they had only watched it once before, yet they were quoting specific lines right before they came up! It was THAT memorable! Keep in mind that the choices in Adam's DVD collection included Wedding Crashers, Old School, Anchorman, Office Space, etc. This list of funny movies he has can go on forever. Yet he picked the VW GTI DVD, and his roommates were psyched about his decision!
Adam got it by taking a test drive of a GTI. Of course, he's a college kid and doesn't have the money to buy a GTI. But this DVD has entertained him enough that he associates the GTI with fun times, and I guarantee that in a few years when he is ready to be a car, he's going to be thinking about a GTI.
Good work Crispin.
Thursday, March 29, 2007
An experiment in viral marketing...
Right before Christmas last semester, 4 of my Adcenter friends and I went out for beers at a local bar, and got to talking about brands that haven't put money into advertising in many years, and therefore are dying. We thought about how amazing it would be if we, as students, were able to get young kids excited about a dying brand. We also thought about how we could use very little money to do it.
We came up with MoonPie Madness. MoonPie hasn't advertised in many years, and they are seen as an old, nostalgic brand. Something that you have once every five years while thinking, "Wow, I haven't had one of these since I was a little kid." MoonPie also hasn't tried to get the new generation of young people excited about their product at all. Hence the term "dying brand."
We decided to create the largest MoonPie eating tournament in history. We obviously didn't have any money, so we got local sponsors to donate in exchange for their logo being on the tshirt. March Madness was coming up in a few months, so we decided to leverage the fact that VCU was having a great season and probably would make March Madness. Little did we know that they would beat Duke and be the highlight of the first round of the tournament.
MoonPie Madness is this Sunday, April 1st. We've been spending almost all of our free time on this for the past 2 months, but it's all worth it. We were at first worried that we wouldn't have enough competitors. Now we have so many that we've decided to have an exhibition round for the people who don't get to be in the brackets.
Check it out. Let me know what you think. I'll let you know how it goes after Sunday.
www.moonpiemadness.com.
I recommend you look at all of the multimedia links. But definitely check out "TV Spot #1." It's my commercial acting debut.
We came up with MoonPie Madness. MoonPie hasn't advertised in many years, and they are seen as an old, nostalgic brand. Something that you have once every five years while thinking, "Wow, I haven't had one of these since I was a little kid." MoonPie also hasn't tried to get the new generation of young people excited about their product at all. Hence the term "dying brand."
We decided to create the largest MoonPie eating tournament in history. We obviously didn't have any money, so we got local sponsors to donate in exchange for their logo being on the tshirt. March Madness was coming up in a few months, so we decided to leverage the fact that VCU was having a great season and probably would make March Madness. Little did we know that they would beat Duke and be the highlight of the first round of the tournament.
MoonPie Madness is this Sunday, April 1st. We've been spending almost all of our free time on this for the past 2 months, but it's all worth it. We were at first worried that we wouldn't have enough competitors. Now we have so many that we've decided to have an exhibition round for the people who don't get to be in the brackets.
Check it out. Let me know what you think. I'll let you know how it goes after Sunday.
www.moonpiemadness.com.
I recommend you look at all of the multimedia links. But definitely check out "TV Spot #1." It's my commercial acting debut.
Sunday, March 25, 2007
A serious game of Rock Paper Scissors
I went up to New York City a week ago to search for a job in advertising, and I stayed with my old college buddy Brent in Hoboken, New Jersey on Thursday night. We went to this restaurant/bar to get some food and be tempted to have some beers. We resisted, though, since I had an interview on Friday.
Around the end of our meal, we started hearing a female voice yelling repeatedly, "Rock, paper, scissors, shoot!" "Rock, paper, scissors, shoot!" As soon as we were done eating, we went to investigate, and we found a young woman in a referee outfit with a decently sized crowd around her, and two people staring each other down in a game of Rock Paper Scissors. We looked at the bracket and realized that this was a full 64-person tournament being put on by the USARPS League. That's right, everybody, there's an official national Rock Paper Scissors League, and it's sponsored by (no surprise here) Bud Light! Check it out at http://www.usarps.com/!
There were still a few spots open in the bracket, so without hesitation, we joined the tourney. Let me tell you, it was an intense hour after that. I found myself watching my future opponents to get some strategy on them: "Ahh OK, he always throws rock after throwing paper. Gotta remember that for next round."
Brent and I ended up getting paired up against each other in the Sweet 16 round. For those 5 minutes, we were no longer friends. We were rivals. Alas, Brent beat me, and went on to the Elite 8, where he lost to a girl! The championship was two girls going up against each other, and everyone in the bar was very much on one side or the other in their cheering.
I had no idea that there was an official Rock Paper Scissors League. But it goes to show how obsessed we are with competition in our country. Even though it was all in good fun, people were getting pretty intense. I now know that you can find just about any type of game, and if you put it in the right setting and make it sound official, you can get people excited.
Oh, and the interview went pretty well too.
Around the end of our meal, we started hearing a female voice yelling repeatedly, "Rock, paper, scissors, shoot!" "Rock, paper, scissors, shoot!" As soon as we were done eating, we went to investigate, and we found a young woman in a referee outfit with a decently sized crowd around her, and two people staring each other down in a game of Rock Paper Scissors. We looked at the bracket and realized that this was a full 64-person tournament being put on by the USARPS League. That's right, everybody, there's an official national Rock Paper Scissors League, and it's sponsored by (no surprise here) Bud Light! Check it out at http://www.usarps.com/!
There were still a few spots open in the bracket, so without hesitation, we joined the tourney. Let me tell you, it was an intense hour after that. I found myself watching my future opponents to get some strategy on them: "Ahh OK, he always throws rock after throwing paper. Gotta remember that for next round."
Brent and I ended up getting paired up against each other in the Sweet 16 round. For those 5 minutes, we were no longer friends. We were rivals. Alas, Brent beat me, and went on to the Elite 8, where he lost to a girl! The championship was two girls going up against each other, and everyone in the bar was very much on one side or the other in their cheering.
I had no idea that there was an official Rock Paper Scissors League. But it goes to show how obsessed we are with competition in our country. Even though it was all in good fun, people were getting pretty intense. I now know that you can find just about any type of game, and if you put it in the right setting and make it sound official, you can get people excited.
Oh, and the interview went pretty well too.
Sunday, March 18, 2007
"It's half in tab, half in music..."
I was walking back home from school one night when I passed 2 guys playing guitars outside on their porch. They stopped the song they were on, and one guy started teaching the other guy a new song. He said that "it was hard to learn, because it was in half tab and half music."
For those of you not familiar with the guitar-playing world, "tab" is short for "tablature", which is a form of writing down how to play guitar chords as a series of numbers and lines, where your fingers stand for each number 1-4 and they form the shapes on the guitar "grid." This came about as an easy way to teach people guitar on the internet, where actually creating a musical score can be very hard.
The issue here is that many kids today learn the guitar by only reading tab. They never learn how to read music at all, and only see the chords as numbers on a grid. Because of this, many guitarists lack the music theory training that is essential to be a great guitarist.
Which brings me to my question: With more and more kids deciding to only read tab and never take actual musical lessons, will the quality and complexity of guitar music go down in the future? Who's fault is this? Is it the kid's fault for being lazy? Or is it the parents' fault for not teaching the importance of reading musical notes? Also, will there be less and less kids playing other musical instruments besides the guitar because they only took the time to learn guitar tab instead of musical notes, which is not transferable to other instruments?
How can we stop this from happening? First off, parents, teach the importance of music theory at a very young age. Secondly, petition your local school to make sure that music classes are not further de-emphasized in this age of focus on only math, science, and arithmetic.
In fifteen years, if our kids only know math, science, and arithmetic, and they aren't cultured in music, it will be a very sad time to live in.
For those of you not familiar with the guitar-playing world, "tab" is short for "tablature", which is a form of writing down how to play guitar chords as a series of numbers and lines, where your fingers stand for each number 1-4 and they form the shapes on the guitar "grid." This came about as an easy way to teach people guitar on the internet, where actually creating a musical score can be very hard.
The issue here is that many kids today learn the guitar by only reading tab. They never learn how to read music at all, and only see the chords as numbers on a grid. Because of this, many guitarists lack the music theory training that is essential to be a great guitarist.
Which brings me to my question: With more and more kids deciding to only read tab and never take actual musical lessons, will the quality and complexity of guitar music go down in the future? Who's fault is this? Is it the kid's fault for being lazy? Or is it the parents' fault for not teaching the importance of reading musical notes? Also, will there be less and less kids playing other musical instruments besides the guitar because they only took the time to learn guitar tab instead of musical notes, which is not transferable to other instruments?
How can we stop this from happening? First off, parents, teach the importance of music theory at a very young age. Secondly, petition your local school to make sure that music classes are not further de-emphasized in this age of focus on only math, science, and arithmetic.
In fifteen years, if our kids only know math, science, and arithmetic, and they aren't cultured in music, it will be a very sad time to live in.
Monday, February 26, 2007
Cell phones on a date
I was in Starbucks yesterday doing some work, and I noticed a man and a woman, both in their 30's, at a table near me that were obviously on a date. They didn't know each other very well because they were asking very basic questions like, "So what do you do for a living?", so this was definitely a first date. Everything seemed to be going very well, because they were both laughing and smiling, and they were enjoying each others' company.
Then the woman's cell phone rang.
She said, "Excuse me," and picked up her phone. The call was from a friend, most likely another woman from the nature of her tone of voice. She stayed on the phone for at least 5 or 6 full minutes. The man just sat there staring out the window, obviously uncomfortable with just sitting there waiting in silence during her phone call. When she finished her call, she apologized, and they started back up their conversation, which continued to be pleasant.
Ten years ago, this situation was barely even possible. Five years ago, this would have been considered rude to pick up your phone on a date. For many people in older generations, it is still considered rude, but younger people don't find it as rude. Young people, especially my generation and younger college and high school kids, have grown accustomed to the awkwardness of waiting for someone to get off a cell phone so that they can pick up their conversation. We are not only accustomed to it, but we accept it.
Still, there are certain people in our lives that we wouldn't interrupt a conversation with to answer a cell phone call. I see a direct correlation between the level of importance a person holds in our lives and the likeliness we will interrupt them to answer a phone call.
Clearly I am just speculating. I have no idea what was in the minds of this couple Sunday night at Starbucks. But if I had to guess it, they aren't meant for each other. If they were meant for each other, when either of their cell phones rang, they would immediately put them on silent and let the calls go to voicemail. The most memorable conversations deserve this.
Then the woman's cell phone rang.
She said, "Excuse me," and picked up her phone. The call was from a friend, most likely another woman from the nature of her tone of voice. She stayed on the phone for at least 5 or 6 full minutes. The man just sat there staring out the window, obviously uncomfortable with just sitting there waiting in silence during her phone call. When she finished her call, she apologized, and they started back up their conversation, which continued to be pleasant.
Ten years ago, this situation was barely even possible. Five years ago, this would have been considered rude to pick up your phone on a date. For many people in older generations, it is still considered rude, but younger people don't find it as rude. Young people, especially my generation and younger college and high school kids, have grown accustomed to the awkwardness of waiting for someone to get off a cell phone so that they can pick up their conversation. We are not only accustomed to it, but we accept it.
Still, there are certain people in our lives that we wouldn't interrupt a conversation with to answer a cell phone call. I see a direct correlation between the level of importance a person holds in our lives and the likeliness we will interrupt them to answer a phone call.
Clearly I am just speculating. I have no idea what was in the minds of this couple Sunday night at Starbucks. But if I had to guess it, they aren't meant for each other. If they were meant for each other, when either of their cell phones rang, they would immediately put them on silent and let the calls go to voicemail. The most memorable conversations deserve this.
Sunday, February 18, 2007
"More to life"
In a VCU short film I saw yesterday, a guy is annoyed by a friend because she "meets a new guy every week" and she always comes over to "blabber on about nothing important." He goes to reflect and camp out in the woods, while she comes to his house for comfort because she was pushed by her latest date to have sex. He comes home in the morning to find her sleeping on his porch, waiting for him. The film ends with the two hugging, and the title card comes up, which says "More to Life."
It was a great reflection on the power of friendship, and how much we need someone in our life that we can come to. Even though little things annoy us about the people we love, we always come back to each other for comfort during hard times, no matter what.
It was a great reflection on the power of friendship, and how much we need someone in our life that we can come to. Even though little things annoy us about the people we love, we always come back to each other for comfort during hard times, no matter what.
classic rock?
Recently, I was on the main campus of VCU in the library doing some work, when I overheard some very young looking undergrads (probably freshmen) having a conversation. One guy was going into great detail about the greatness of Pink Floyd with both the Dark Side of the Moon and The Wall. He also was recommending and knew a great deal about the Dark Side of Oz phenomenon that says that the Dark Side of the Moon album syncs up perfectly with the Wizard of Oz movie.
This got me thinking. It is now 2007, and 18 year old kids are still listening to Pink Floyd and watching the Dark Side of Oz. Not only is this a testament to how great a band Pink Floyd was, but it is also an interesting look into the impact of "classic rock" on young culture. I personally listen to many different kinds of music, but most of my favorite bands wrote their hit songs when I was a very young child, or in some cases not even born yet. And I'm not alone. There are millions of people out there in my generation that listen to bands from the 60s and 70s.
So what is going to happen in 15 or 20 years? What will be considered "classic rock" then? I'm sure that some of the timeless bands like The Beatles, Pink Floyd, The Grateful Dead, and Led Zeppelin will still be getting a lot of airtime, but when my kids are listening to classic rock stations, who from our generation will they be listening to? Are there bands great enough out there right now to stand the test of time? Will my kids be saying in conversation, "You know, Beck was one of the most innovative classic rock musicians ever"? Will Green Day and The White Stripes be mentioned in the same sentence as AC/DC and Guns N' Roses? Will the Stone Temple Pilots and Rage Against the Machine be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame? Will I hear Nirvana when I turn on an "oldies" station?
Who has successfully made enough of a mark on our culture so that they will be considered the "timeless" bands from our generation? I guess only time will tell, but I find it very interesting to speculate.
This got me thinking. It is now 2007, and 18 year old kids are still listening to Pink Floyd and watching the Dark Side of Oz. Not only is this a testament to how great a band Pink Floyd was, but it is also an interesting look into the impact of "classic rock" on young culture. I personally listen to many different kinds of music, but most of my favorite bands wrote their hit songs when I was a very young child, or in some cases not even born yet. And I'm not alone. There are millions of people out there in my generation that listen to bands from the 60s and 70s.
So what is going to happen in 15 or 20 years? What will be considered "classic rock" then? I'm sure that some of the timeless bands like The Beatles, Pink Floyd, The Grateful Dead, and Led Zeppelin will still be getting a lot of airtime, but when my kids are listening to classic rock stations, who from our generation will they be listening to? Are there bands great enough out there right now to stand the test of time? Will my kids be saying in conversation, "You know, Beck was one of the most innovative classic rock musicians ever"? Will Green Day and The White Stripes be mentioned in the same sentence as AC/DC and Guns N' Roses? Will the Stone Temple Pilots and Rage Against the Machine be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame? Will I hear Nirvana when I turn on an "oldies" station?
Who has successfully made enough of a mark on our culture so that they will be considered the "timeless" bands from our generation? I guess only time will tell, but I find it very interesting to speculate.
Sunday, February 11, 2007
Great use of YouTube
I saw this today for the first time, and I can't get enough. This is a smart, honest, universally relateable way of using YouTube that only a few brands out there know how to do.
Blendtec doesn't have money to spend on TV, print, or other traditional media. So they decided to entertain us online.
There are many episodes, and I suggest watching them all. Simply hysterical.
Check it out.
http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=will+it+blend
http://www.willitblend.com/
Blendtec doesn't have money to spend on TV, print, or other traditional media. So they decided to entertain us online.
There are many episodes, and I suggest watching them all. Simply hysterical.
Check it out.
http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=will+it+blend
http://www.willitblend.com/
The mandatory Super Bowl commentary
So everybody that has anything to do with advertising has put in their two cents on the commercials on this year's Super Bowl. Because of this, I feel that I need to put something out there. But I don't want to talk about any specific ad or discuss which brand did the best and worst. I want to talk about a couple things that I've noticed about the Super Bowl, its commercials, and the hype surrounding it.
1. I was part of a discussion on Monday morning with my class at the Adcenter that was about the Super Bowl commercials. The thing about Adcenter kids is, we can't talk about anything except advertising, and we never say that anything is good. Everything sucks. Every single ad in the Super Bowl.
While I'm not saying that I thought the Super Bowl had a good year as far as the commercials are concerned, I don't feel as cynical as some of my classmates. The Super Bowl is the only time that the commercials are just as important (if not more important to some people) as the game. Therefore, you are going to have a better chance on Super Bowl Sunday to make a really funny ad that actually isn't strategically saying anything, but still have people remember your brand. This is because of the competitive nature of our society. We all are figuring out in our minds "which brand won the Super Bowl?" On any other night, some of the brands we saw on the Super Bowl would have been laughed at, but forgotten. But on Super Bowl Sunday, we make a mental note that the really funny commercial with the slapstick humor was Bud Light, not Miller Lite. Even if the commercial doesn't say anything at all about the brand, it worked.
So what does this all mean? It means that advertisers can be lazy on Super Bowl Sunday and just make everyone laugh. Whether they make a groundbreaking, strategically funny ad, or just throw up some hysterical, ridiculous situation that says nothing, they will end up with a positive result.
I hope that when I'm working, I don't let my agency get lazy and make an ad for the Super Bowl that doesn't say anything about my brand. But on that one day of football and commercial glory, I won't knock the advertiser who does.
2. I'll never watch the Super Bowl with advertising people. As a sports fan, and especially a football fan, I would be doing a disservice to myself to get caught up in a conversation about an ad and miss a great play. You can watch the commercials on the internet as many times as you want after the game is over.
I watched the game with non-advertising people (normal people??), and I still got caught up in an advertising conversation. So I can't imagine how much of the game I would miss if I watched with my advertising peers. If you like sports as much as I do, do yourself a favor next year and focus on the game. The ad conversation can wait.
1. I was part of a discussion on Monday morning with my class at the Adcenter that was about the Super Bowl commercials. The thing about Adcenter kids is, we can't talk about anything except advertising, and we never say that anything is good. Everything sucks. Every single ad in the Super Bowl.
While I'm not saying that I thought the Super Bowl had a good year as far as the commercials are concerned, I don't feel as cynical as some of my classmates. The Super Bowl is the only time that the commercials are just as important (if not more important to some people) as the game. Therefore, you are going to have a better chance on Super Bowl Sunday to make a really funny ad that actually isn't strategically saying anything, but still have people remember your brand. This is because of the competitive nature of our society. We all are figuring out in our minds "which brand won the Super Bowl?" On any other night, some of the brands we saw on the Super Bowl would have been laughed at, but forgotten. But on Super Bowl Sunday, we make a mental note that the really funny commercial with the slapstick humor was Bud Light, not Miller Lite. Even if the commercial doesn't say anything at all about the brand, it worked.
So what does this all mean? It means that advertisers can be lazy on Super Bowl Sunday and just make everyone laugh. Whether they make a groundbreaking, strategically funny ad, or just throw up some hysterical, ridiculous situation that says nothing, they will end up with a positive result.
I hope that when I'm working, I don't let my agency get lazy and make an ad for the Super Bowl that doesn't say anything about my brand. But on that one day of football and commercial glory, I won't knock the advertiser who does.
2. I'll never watch the Super Bowl with advertising people. As a sports fan, and especially a football fan, I would be doing a disservice to myself to get caught up in a conversation about an ad and miss a great play. You can watch the commercials on the internet as many times as you want after the game is over.
I watched the game with non-advertising people (normal people??), and I still got caught up in an advertising conversation. So I can't imagine how much of the game I would miss if I watched with my advertising peers. If you like sports as much as I do, do yourself a favor next year and focus on the game. The ad conversation can wait.
Thursday, February 1, 2007
Laundromat soap opera fan
I was in the laundromat today, which is definitely where God would place me if I were to be cast into my own personal Hell. Somewhere in between watching my t-shirts spin round and round and nodding off, I observed an interesting meeting of two strangers who realized they had a common interest.
The 30 year old woman who was working the Thursday noon shift was engrossed in her soap opera, which I think was "All My Children." An older, possibly 45-50 year old woman was reading a book and waiting for her laundry to finish. They caught each other's eye and the younger woman (let's call her Joanne) started some small talk. "That Jeremy really makes me mad!" she says, pointing to the TV. The older woman (let's call her Angela) astonishingly says, "Yeah, I don't like Jeremy either! Are you a fan of the show?!" This ended up sparking a 15 minute conversation, where Angela asked many questions about Joanne's favorite characters and episodes, how long she had been a fan, and what she knew about the history of the show.
Throughout the conversation, a look of pride came over Angela every time she remembered the name of a character in the show from "back in the day." She explained to Joanne that most people don't remember the original family in the show from 25 years ago, which was the Steward family. "It all started with the Stewards...Johnny and Janice, and their son Jack. Jack was played by a young David Hassellhoff." (By the way, there's no way I got those names right. They are about as accurate as Joanne's and Angela's names.) Joanne spent the whole time answering Angela with "oh really," with her eyes going back and forth between Angela and the TV.
In the middle of Angela's trip down memory lane, she started to talk about a specific character that was killed off years ago. She got very frustrated with the fact that she couldn't remember the name of this character, and the conversation slowed as she sat and pondered. Angela then got up to move some clothes from the washer to the dryer, and sat down on the other end of the laundromat and started to read again. Two minutes later, she popped up, walked back over to the TV, and with a sparkle in her eye, said "It was Derek! That's the guy I couldn't remember! They killed him off. I really liked him." Joanne just said, "Oh OK, well I'm glad you remember his name." Obviously Joanne wasn't nearly as hardcore a fan as Angela. Angela went back to reading, finished up her laundry, and said goodbye to Joanne. Their half-hour relationship was over.
A couple things I noticed here:
1. When one person finds out that they have a common interest with someone, two things can happen. If the other person has the same level of interest as you, a very pleasant, exciting conversation between new friends happens. However, if the other person is far more interested in the topic than you are, you are put off by the fact that they are bragging about how much they know, and by how intense they are being. At the same time, if the other person is far less interested in the topic than you are, you are put off by the fact that they aren't as committed to the topic, and that they don't care enough to learn more.
2. One of the few moments of absolute joy that someone feels in life is when they remember an important event or person that used to be a part of their life. Our memories fail on us sometimes, and we feel incomplete and disappointed when we can't remember an old friend's name or the name of something we used to feel connected to. That moment of remembering is when we become complete again.
The 30 year old woman who was working the Thursday noon shift was engrossed in her soap opera, which I think was "All My Children." An older, possibly 45-50 year old woman was reading a book and waiting for her laundry to finish. They caught each other's eye and the younger woman (let's call her Joanne) started some small talk. "That Jeremy really makes me mad!" she says, pointing to the TV. The older woman (let's call her Angela) astonishingly says, "Yeah, I don't like Jeremy either! Are you a fan of the show?!" This ended up sparking a 15 minute conversation, where Angela asked many questions about Joanne's favorite characters and episodes, how long she had been a fan, and what she knew about the history of the show.
Throughout the conversation, a look of pride came over Angela every time she remembered the name of a character in the show from "back in the day." She explained to Joanne that most people don't remember the original family in the show from 25 years ago, which was the Steward family. "It all started with the Stewards...Johnny and Janice, and their son Jack. Jack was played by a young David Hassellhoff." (By the way, there's no way I got those names right. They are about as accurate as Joanne's and Angela's names.) Joanne spent the whole time answering Angela with "oh really," with her eyes going back and forth between Angela and the TV.
In the middle of Angela's trip down memory lane, she started to talk about a specific character that was killed off years ago. She got very frustrated with the fact that she couldn't remember the name of this character, and the conversation slowed as she sat and pondered. Angela then got up to move some clothes from the washer to the dryer, and sat down on the other end of the laundromat and started to read again. Two minutes later, she popped up, walked back over to the TV, and with a sparkle in her eye, said "It was Derek! That's the guy I couldn't remember! They killed him off. I really liked him." Joanne just said, "Oh OK, well I'm glad you remember his name." Obviously Joanne wasn't nearly as hardcore a fan as Angela. Angela went back to reading, finished up her laundry, and said goodbye to Joanne. Their half-hour relationship was over.
A couple things I noticed here:
1. When one person finds out that they have a common interest with someone, two things can happen. If the other person has the same level of interest as you, a very pleasant, exciting conversation between new friends happens. However, if the other person is far more interested in the topic than you are, you are put off by the fact that they are bragging about how much they know, and by how intense they are being. At the same time, if the other person is far less interested in the topic than you are, you are put off by the fact that they aren't as committed to the topic, and that they don't care enough to learn more.
2. One of the few moments of absolute joy that someone feels in life is when they remember an important event or person that used to be a part of their life. Our memories fail on us sometimes, and we feel incomplete and disappointed when we can't remember an old friend's name or the name of something we used to feel connected to. That moment of remembering is when we become complete again.
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