The Next Day

Twelve (12) inches of white with more on the way.

Now is the winter of our…well, winter.

Our weather-resistant dedication would not keep us from accepting a weekend at your tropical house, so don’t be shy!





On a side note... our senior art director wants to crawl inside a Tauntaun and wait out the storm.

Are Your Dollars Going Social?

This chart from the Council of PR Firms indicates business budget allocations' projected changes in social/digital media among Q3 Quick Survey responders.

Where would your budget projection be? We'd love to hear from you.

It’s time for a breakthrough...

It's the time of the year where we think about the holidays, yet we still have the last month of the year to focus on sales and finalize our marketing plans and budgets for next year.

Right now, give yourself a change of perspective. A change in strategy that produces results is fulfilling! Get everyone on your team to contribute ideas and thoughts for what’s next – remember nobody has the corner on ideas. Revolution/evolution can come from anywhere. That's what breakthroughs are all about—finding the right strategy at the right time, and to see a challenge in a completely different light.

Mobilizing ideas to make a grander plan can change the flow of any business, big or small. What do we need to do to create a shift for the better?

There are simple, effective solutions that solve challenges. We just need to dig deeper, talk to more people and find the solutions to make a difference.

So as you move forward, creating your marketing plan for 2010, I hope that you take a moment to stop and think about your goals and what steps you can take to make the most immediate impact for success. Create breakthroughs that will take you where you want to go with extraordinary results!

Good luck! Call me if you need a pep talk.

Social Media Update --- Tweet, tweet, tweet

Have you noticed on LinkedIn that you can integrate your Twitter messages? Whenever you tweet, it can automatically be loaded to your LinkedIn account. One warning, if you like to tweet often, your LinkedIn contacts may be overwhelmed… so watch it or code them so only some tweets go to LinkedIn.

Twitter, in November, also introduced its Lists function that lets you group your favorite Tweeters in one or more groups. Your Twitter friends can be put together by topic so you can label your List. Visitors on your profile can see your lists and follow whomever they want.

Happy Thanksgiving

Another Brand Anniversary

Earlier this year I ranted about strength and endurance of the Star Wars brand on the 10th anniversary of the release of "Star Wars: the Phantom Meanace." Today the most recent Star Trek movie is released on DVD and BlueRay Disc in a variety of 1, 2 and 3 disc package combinations and with various retailers each with their own special incentive packaging.

While I will be the first to admit that Star Trek is cool and that I grew up in the 70's watching it every single day (twice on Saturdays), and the new movie is pretty darn good (Simon Pegg rawked the movie) that isn't what I'm gonna rant about today.

Today is the anniversary of what could be considered THE most infamous event in Star Wars history... The Star Wars Holiday Special.

"What?"

"The Star Wars Holiday Special?"

"I've never heard of that... what is it? Where can I see it?"

There are very good answers to these and more questions: It was very, very bad.

Very, very bad... but like many things that are so horrible it became good, in the tacky, cult-esque, Rocky Horror sort of way.

But then it got bad again.

The Holiday Special was aired for the first and only time on CBS, November 17, 1978.

As stated, it was so bad that it was aired only once and never, ever released on Video or DVD.

However, it is reasonably easy to find bootleg copies (I have VHS and DVD copies). Keep in mind that the late 70's was not the era of every household has a VCR and cable. Your viewing quality will vary.

Or you can find it on YouTube. If George Lucas hasn't had it removed.

Speaking of The Maker... George Lucas once stated that he would like to hunt down every single copy of the Holiday Special and smash them with an ax. And this is from the guy that gave us Jar Jar Binks.

In a nutshell, Lucas was busy working on the next Star Wars movie, The Empire Strikes Back, some of you may have heard of it, and he handed off the work on the TV special to some underlings. The show ended up being a 70's variety show with some Star Wars elements scattered between the inane bits. Jefferson Starship performing as a hologram, Bea Arthur as the bartender in the cantina from the first movie and Harvey Korman in drag. Mmmmm.... good memories.

The one great bit from the show (this isn't sarcasm) is a 20 minute animated story around the middle of the telecast. Featuring the original cast of Star Wars the cartoon introduced the first new character from the Empire Strikes Back and perpetual fan favorite Boba Fett.

There are plenty of Web sites out there that can give you the rundown on the plot and the other assorted behind the scenes info. But keep in mind that this is one of those things that can never be un-seen or forgotten, no matter how much you want to.

The Star Wars Holiday Special

The Wiki Entry

IMDB

Horrible Tie In Idea

Horrible Tie In Idea 2

I'm gonna stop going on about this now and start thinking about how to break it to my wife that we HAVE to watch this tonight. It's like, Star Wars and an anniversary. It needs to be done.