Something’s been nagging at me for a few days now, and it just keeps resurfacing. In the news, on the blogs, and even in my own personal life. It has to do with words. In my own life, I don’t use words that implicitly refer to an underrepresented and/or minority group of people – even if these words have been adopted by mainstream culture. I don’t use words that backhandedly belittle and degrade the lifestyle and mannerisms of a cultural group and its members, particularly when this gr...

Last night was huge. Huge. Not only did Obama trounce Clinton in North Carolina, but also he closed the gap to less than 2 points in Indiana (props to Gary!). Clinton won by less than 20,000 votes, and many are attributing this to stupid Rush Limbaugh and his stupid “Operation Chaos” (can we just call it “Operation Dumbo Drop” from now on?). Now in no way am I discrediting or marginalizing all the non-Black (ha, such a funny designation) men and women who turned out and voted for Obama�...

David Reich—PR guru, author of the blog my 2 cents, and friend—tagged me to answer a seemingly simple question started by C.B. Wittemore: What’s your media diet? Ok David, you asked for it… my response might be a little disturbing. First of all, I don’t read print newspapers. Like, ever. Unless I’m visiting my father, who has been saving important Philadelphia Inquirer papers since the early 90’s (for context, he’s a Professor of Mass. Comm.). But I do read books. Lots of them....

Pres. Bush was slated to stimulate my checking account today—I’ve been logging in to my bank account all day, over and over, looking for a direct deposit that still hasn’t arrived. But when it does, what will I spend my $600 on? A few options include: A pair of Manolos (which I will keep forever and tell my grandchildren Pres. Bush picked out special for me and only me) Couple months payment on a new Sony flatscreen Plane ticket to Paris – on AirFrance, of course Hmm, but none of the...

Last night I went to Round 1 Game 5 of the Celtics vs. Hawks playoffs with a girlfriend of mine.  Basketball games are always a blast, especially when the team you’re rooting for wins by a million points (the final score was 110-85). For the record, the home team always wins when I’m in attendance. So it’s a strange thing to be “two gals at the game.” It’s just that the dynamic between men and women is totally warped when it comes to sports. Like, when the beer people denied me...

So I’ve had these Kerastase samples sitting in my bathroom for over a year, and I only just realized that the entire package is worth over a hundred bucks. Which means that the products have got to be good for something, right? And just my luck, the particular product line gathering dust is exactly on point for my hair type—Kerastase Oleo-Relax, a product line designed to tame, soften, and actually loosen tight crazy curls like mine. I’m often wary of products that are mainly targeted to ...

The Clinton campaign says The voters who will determine this election come November areSalt of the earth,“Regular”Folks. People who aren’t energized caucus-goers,People who aren’t young,People who don’t live comfortably in our nation’s cities,People who aren’t “urban.” People who are working class,And White. But ain’t I a voter? I entered the booth with my mom at my sideAnd cast my ballot for the candidate I believeCan repair this country.For the candidate who speaks to me,Wi...

Going slightly off topic here, mainly because I’m pretty disappointed and disgruntled with the whole “electability” argument within Dem nomination race (I’ll save my thoughts for a separate post), but also partly because it’s Friday and sunny outside and I want to share something wonderful with you. Yesterday I took a day drip to NYC on the Acela Express. On the way home I treated myself to a couple episodes of My So-Called Life, which is basically the best show in the history of tele...

Remember that awful time I had at Market Leverage’s booth last week in San Fran at ad:tech? Water under the bridge, my friends! A day after I recounted the rude encounter here on my blog, the president of Market Leverage (Sal Guarino) commented on the post offering his apologies. I went into a little more detail on what happened, and he contacted me directly via e-mail asking me for my mailing address. Two days later, a package from Market Leverage arrived at my office.  The package cont...

At last, the day for me to cast my vote has come! Went to the polls with my mom today around 2pm. Quite quiet, but that's to be expected around this time on a Tuesday afternoon. The people working the polls said there were lines out the door in the morning - more people than they've ever seen at this polling place -  and they're expecting it to be packed after work as well. Outside our polling place in Ardmore, PA Trucks for Obama! :) outside our polling place For my mom and me, it was rea...

I love watching CNN’s John King with his crazy interactive map. He’s the map master. Watching CNN now – he’s zooming in on my old stomping grounds of Montgomery County, PA. Many are predicting that Obama will take Philadelphia proper, but a big win for Obama in the Philly suburbs would be huge. I’ve been in PA since Friday, and have been taking note of the sentiment in Philly and in my home county. Just from speaking with voters and checking out candidate signs in front of houses and l...

The tumbleweeds were rolling at the Moscone Center yesterday afternoon as ad:tech ’08 came to a close. I always find it depressing when something that was once so full of life ends – I get really teary at the end of movies when there’s a flashback scene to the way things once were. But anyway, here are some things about ad:tech that stuck with me, on both a professional and a personal level: Thursday afternoon’s Widgets and Gadgets panel was packed! Seems like everyone is interested in...

One of the best things about a conference is the ways in which a company will try to lure attendees into its booth. Of course, there’s the depressingly obvious and narrow-minded use of the “booth babe” (see Valleywag’s round up for more on that), but it’s inspiring when companies get a little creative. Yesterday afternoon, Paul McEnany from HeeHaw Marketing and I took to the ad:tech Exhibition Hall in search of free stuff and craptacular gimmicks. AdShuffle and Adify were both giving ...

Lots of juicy stuff here from this morning's ad:tech keynote interview concerning NBC’s digital strategy with respect to YouTube and iTunes (brought to you by my trusty little Flip Camera). I think that, all in all, CDO (Chief Digital Officer—yeah, that’s C-level position) George Kliavkoff has a healthy perspective on the situation. In his view, it’s much more beneficial for NBC to take an offensive approach by creating a place – Hulu.com – where users can gain access to high qualit...

So you say print advertising is dead? Well think again, my friend. Just came from the Tales from the Bleeding Edge ad:tech panel, which was pretty awesome (especially the part when the moderator projected that the audience would be “jumping and bleeding” by the end of it… :/ ) But Total Immersion Augmented Reality blew everyone away – like, to the point of a bleeding windburn. (ew). When they were first introduced, I couldn’t really get beyond the name - it’s a little hokey for my ta...

Here’s a funny story. So I arrived in San Francisco around 9pm last night (April 14th) and immediately began aimlessly wandering around trying to figure out the best way to get into the city. For anyone who doesn’t know me, sometimes I can look a little… young (over Christmas, I got carded at an R rated movie). Especially when I’m wearing some busted jeans and my “conductor” cap (which was my brother’s, when he was 4). Anyway, a man approaches me and asks if I’m looking for a ca...

I'll be coming to you live from sunny San Francisco (well, actually, from a windowless room full of bagels and coffee) with the news, the scoop and the down-low from ad:tech '08. Fun fun fun! ...

A friend of mine e-mailed this to me yesterday, and it’s had me glowing ever since. Her close family friend, Stephanie, lives in Montgomery County, PA, and met Obama on Wednesday in a local ShopRite. In her words: Me and [my daughter] met Barack Obama in Shop Rite in East Norriston today!  We shook his hand. I told him [my daughter] was half African like him.  He touched her hair and said 'look at all that hair!' On the way home I was calling my brother telling him about it and my d...

Last Saturday I found myself walking into a room full of 80 elegant bloggers—most of whom I knew by their written wisdom, several with whom I had exchanged multiple e-mails, but only a few of whom I had actually met in person. The only word that I can use to describe the experience? SURREAL. Like, imagine knowing someone’s thoughts and ideas inside and out, but only really recognizing them by their smiling business photo. There are SO many little things that cannot come through written wo...

 Over the course of next week, leading up to ad:tech San Francisco, I will be reviewing some of the ad:tech People’s Choice Award nominees. These reviews, along with other great pieces from my fellow Marketing peeps, will be posted on the Madison Avenue Journal.  My first review covers FX’s rich media unit, which promotes nip/tuck’s upcoming season and drives to a  micro site. Here’s a short excerpt:  To promote the upcoming nip/tuck season, which premiers October ...