The social media party and brand booty calls

It’s a party for all of your friends. Even for some people who aren’t your friends, but still claim to be. They come from all different stages of your life; they each have different backgrounds and personalities. Some of them aren’t even real people, they only pretend to be.

This is the Social Media party, and everyone’s invited. (Except Google+, they still have VIP passes. And they met their quota for the moment. But stay tuned for more invites shortly.)

Just like any real party, you have all different types of guests. There are the ones that show up awkwardly early to the party, and every party for that matter. But they don’t bring a whole lot to the party—neither friends nor personality. But there aren’t enough other people there yet to ignore them. So you stand there, uncomfortably shifting from eye contact down to the drink in your hand and back, occasionally nodding your head in acknowledgement while throwing in a courtesy laugh to make them believe you are actually listening.

There are also the people talk way too much. They may occasionally ask your opinion, but ultimately do so just to spin the conversation back to themselves. It’s overwhelming. And because of it, rather than actually listening to them, you are looking for any sign of taking a breath between sentences so you can excuse yourself and move to another side of the room.

There are the ones that show up once the party is already full-steam. They can’t be there on time, because that would be so faux pas. But rather than helping to make the party into a success, they piggy back on the conversations of others, often trying to steal the spotlight. And then head for the exit at the first sign of the party slowing down.

There are the complete randoms that no one seems to know. Everyone simply assumes that person must have been invited by someone else. Also known as “randos.”

Similar to the randos are the hoverers. You may know them or you may not. They don’t fully join the conversation, but they hover just behind everyone in the circle, laughing on cue with the rest of you. Never leading or contributing, but they are always there. And it makes you uncomfortable.

Every once in a while you may experience the ‘elderly’ at your party. Elder in the literal sense of being older than you. Not the cool kind of the older, though. The bad kind. This might be a parent dropping by unannounced, or something similar to that time you saw your 3^rd grade teacher outside of class at the grocery store. It just didn’t feel right.

Then there are always the ones who stay way longer than welcomed. They can’t seem to let it die and continually beat it like a dead horse. That’s animal cruelty people, c’mon.

Of course, if the party is good enough, then brands will start to show up. This can be a good or a bad thing. Some get it, but most don’t. It depends on the party and it depends on the people attending. For example, when the Redbull girls show up to an outdoor event/concert/dance party, they are usually well received. It fits the context. But I don’t care to hear what a pet food might do for me while at that party. More often than not, it seems that brands show up to a party because one was happening. Nothing more. I may even be a pet lover, but that doesn’t make it okay. Certain brands are getting it right. They might even be the ones throwing the party in the first place.

As an advertiser, and a party-goer, I’m okay with brands joining the party. But I don’t want the ones who have nothing else going on this weekend, so they find the first party they see. Don’t call me at 11 PM on Friday and expect anything. I’m not your brand booty call. If you want to see success with social media, it takes careful planning ahead of time. It requires strategy and a game plan. I’ve often felt that the success of my weekend can be directly related to the amount of preparation during the week.

There is no real way of knowing where the next big party is going to happen. But I am at this party because my friends are there. So if you’re a brand, listen to what’s going on around you before you start talking and throwing your own parties.

 

Did I miss any party personalities? Let me know if you think of any others.

 

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Copy-righter

Most in advertising probably sees this title and thinks, "Amusing. But overplayed."

Most in other professions probably assume this has legal ramifications. Think C with a circle around it.

Most of my friends outside of work/school probably think that it's actually what I do.

Most other people have no idea what just happened.

Which is why I try to avoid the full title of 'copywriter' in most conversations. I tell people I'm a writer. That's what I do. And that's really all they need to know in most cases. I obviously do the whole writing thing specifically in advertising, but details tend to confuse people for some reason.

The only reason I bring this up is because I've finally experienced a slight shift in my goals as a writer. For the longest time, I always tried to steer clear of being a 'writer.' I enjoyed writing and always had a fun time expressing myself through the written word. But I always thought of writers as people that tried to separate themselves from society and considered their intellect to be far superior to the vast majority of the human race. (maybe a slight exaggeration). And I am not like that. I like to come up with and write things that apply to as many people as possible and help bring them together. I consider myself to be more of an ideator (an idea guy) than an actual writer anyway.

Writers seem to always be in the quest for their next screenplay or complex novel idea. Even in advertising, it seems like a lot of copywriters dabble with this kind of writing. I think it would be fun if I had all kinds of money, but for some reason, the huge appeal was never there. Until recently.

I finally had the desire to write my own book someday. I have one idea already, but I'm keeping it under wraps. But I'm accepting others if anyone has any. I don't know why the sudden change. It may be because I've been reading a lot more since I've been out of school. This is probably a good of time as any for a shameless plug for my mom's book. If you haven't heard of ParentFix before, check it out. It will change your view on life through parenting.

Well, I guess I've got a new item for the bucket list. After all, I am a writer.

And I may need a copyright for this one.

 

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One down, NBA to go

The NFL is back. And I really am excited about it. But I’d be more excited if we were going to have an NBA season too. It got me thinking about where sports rank for me.

The NBA is at the top of my list as far as sports go. (Go Jazz).

Then I’d put college football.

Then the NFL.

Then college basketball.

The Washington Nationals have recently helped me rekindle my love of baseball, but it is still a bit down the list.

Then all the rest, like Hockey, UFC, and Nascar tie for an abysmal last place. We could get rid of these sports all together and I wouldn’t be too upset.

When it comes to sports seasons, I’d rank them as follows:

1. Fall – Baseball playoffs, NFL/College Football Season, NBA begins, plus the weather is wonderful.

2. Spring – Basketball season finale/playoffs, March Madness, Baseball spring training/season.

3. Winter – Skiing, NBA action, NFL playoffs/Super Bowl, Bowl Games.

4. Summer – This can vary, if it’s at all like this summer, a definite last place. But last summer was the world cup, next summer is the 2012 Olympics, which can increase the value. Other than that, Mid-season baseball and the WNBA just make me a little upset.

My favorite sports months follow suit with the seasons:

1. October

2. March

3. December

So you can imagine how awful it would have been for me to have both the NFL and NBA locked out this year. It would have thrown off my entire ranking system. This summer might have been one of the worst in history as far as watching sportscenter is concerned. The only things that made it worthwhile were Hope Solo and Alex Morgan during the epic Women’s World Cup.

It does feel nice to have NFL highlights again in preparation for the season. But I wish they’d get the NBA going soon.

As long as I’m wishing for things though, I might as well pick and choose the super combination of sports. If it were up to me, I’d always have it be December. Great sports month. Fresh snow on the ground. NFL is wrapping up. Bowl games full swing. My birthday and Christmas fall in that month. The only thing that would make it better would be to somehow move March Madness into December. It need a new name obviously. But that would just be the most glorious month of sports ever. I’d never want it to end.

One more thing—Go Jazz!

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I Would Jump

I walk to work everyday across the Key Bridge into Georgetown. And for nearly two months, I’ve asked myself the same question: Would I jump off?

Not in a weird, suicidal way. But more in the I-think-I-could-survive-slash-thrill-seeking sort of way. I look over the green guard rails into the misty Potomac River and wonder. 

From the top, it doesn’t seem too far. At least a drop that high shouldn’t kill me or anything. But sometimes your vision can be misleading. From down on the river, the height to the top seems a lot more daunting. I went canoeing on the Potomac a few weeks ago and got a different perspective. From the water up, it definitely looks a lot higher. Which probably factored into why it has taken me so long to make a final decision.

 

Here are some of the stats I looked up for the bridge: It was built in 1923 and is now the oldest standing bridge into the district. Most importantly, it stands at just under 100 feet from the top. That sounds even worse now that I’m typing it myself. There is no research that has actually been done in this area, for obvious reasons. But I’m sure you could somehow calculate it with physics somehow. The highest recorded jump into water is something like 172 feet. The Golden Gate Bridge is 220 feet, and people almost always die from that fall.

 

Part of my decision may be skewed based on the weather patterns of DC. In the summer time, it is usually over 90-100 degrees every day, and I walk across this bridge two times. It can get pretty sweaty out there. So a flowing river beneath me seems very appealing on most days.

 

This was a difficult process despite the fact that I will never actually get the chance to do it. They would need to make a space between the rails to jump from, I would need to be in a swimming suit, and I need to make sure it is deep enough.

 

Regardles, after weighing my options and considering the pros and cons of this entirely hypothetical situation, I have decided that I would jump.

 

Wish me luck.

 

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The World We Live In

I know everyone always talks about how terrible the world is, but I also think we live in a miraculous time. Especially in our modern digital world.

My whole outlook was slightly altered by one simple girl yesterday. And then by the millions of people that followed. If any of you were on Twitter yesterday, you may have seen that a certain trending topic. You may have had several people in your timeline mention it. Hopefully you were even decent enough to mention it yourself.

#alicebucketlist

A 15 year old girl who is terminal with cancer made a bucket list. One of her wishes was to trend on Twitter.

That was all she wanted.

And all it took from the millions of Twitter users around the world was a simple tweet, or a retweet. And it could possibly make this one girl's life that much better. And within a matter of minutes, the Twitter army had done its work, and #alicebucketlist was trending worldwide. It's nice to know that we were able to make someone's life better, and make the world a more united place. Even just 5 years ago, I probably never would have even heard of Alice or her illness. But I like to think I helped her cross this one thing off her list. That's how the world has improved.

So as much as the evil in this world continues to grow, there is also a strong force of good out there.

Why don't we all look for some way we can change someone else's life for the better. Even if it's just a simple retweet.

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Who's that new kid?

Most people are thinking this very question in my office today. They will probably continue thinking it for the rest of the week. Well, other than the handful of people that I was introduced to and shook hands with in passing in my inaugural office tour. Those people are probably thinking to themselves, "What's that kids name again?"

And so goes my first real internship.

It's like being the new kid at school after your parents moved you to a new city. Which I never actually experienced. So I'm really just assuming that this is what that feels like.

I'm excited to get to work. I just wish I was 2 weeks in already. I'm sure we'll be sipping on champagne (figurative) and looking back on the "good 'ol days" amidst deep rolling laughter (literal) in no time. Until then, we'll just exchange awkard glances and "hello's" until either they or I must up the courage to re-introduce ourselves.

(sigh) Life is good.

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A girl and a mustache

Two of my favorite things. Preferably not together. I like a good girl, and I like a good mustache.

But let me clarify what I mean by this. I've decided that the girl I marry will let me grow a mustache. I feel like that previous sentence also needs to be clarified. I do not want to grow a mustache. I appreciate a good mustache as I stated before, but I do not personally need to grow one. So why even bring it up? Well, I would like the assurance that if I ever wanted to grow a mustache, I could. That says so much more.

This might seem crazy, and sometimes when I say it loud, I agree. But for the type of girl I am looking for, she will understand the weird obsession that men have with wearing a nice little blanket on your upper lip. I know that I personally do not look respectable while I have one, nor do most men. This is obvious. Sometimes, though, it's about more than outward appearance. A man with a mustache is much funnier than a man without one. It says something about a man's character to walk around in public with one. But it says a lot more about the girl on his arm.

Any girl that understands this is welcome to apply for the job. I let my mustache do the talking.