Have you ever worried about the influence that big brands and the media have over your kids? It didn’t occur to me until about a year ago, when my son was really starting to communicate effectively. I was shocked, at first, and then not so much when I thought back to my own childhood. Nonetheless, I remain a tad freaked out by the strength of big brands and big media in shaping children.
Check out my post on the Alex Toys blog for my full thoughts.
I still haven’t forgotten the sting that came when Valleywag was folded into Gawker, at which point it began a slow, pitiful death. I was a big fan of the blog, which had an amazing contributor base. To a certain extent, I learned the basics of blogging (and more) from them. Well, Nick Denton tells Business Insider that Valleywag is coming back, and I couldn’t be more psyched.
The social media market used to be fun to watch. A palpable excitement pervaded it, as rapid growth turned the likes of Facebook, Twitter and many others into household names. Enormous venture capital deals were cut – not that the recipients need the money. It looks like many were taking periodic cash-outs instead of having to wait for the big day.
I attended with IR magazine, where I am now the group marketing director. Look closely at the photo and video: I’m the baldest guy on the left.
I guess it really does suck to be a writer …
It’s pretty clear that this isn’t a road to riches. Traditional publications don’t pay hefty salaries, and it’s difficult to break into them. Freelance writing provides some opportunities for a solid living, if you know how to manage your personal business effectively, but you have to work at it. Starting your own business seems to be the only way to hit it big, but this isn’t exactly news. It’s one of the few ways one can generate real wealth. For writers, however, even this angle may be inherently constrained.
Two recent news stories got my attention and made me think about this.
As the date of a press trip approaches, itineraries are flying around, details are being finalized and media kits are assembled and distributed. Amid all of this, I’ve noticed over two and a half years of travel writing, there is no social media “kit” provided at the beginning of a trip … and it wouldn’t be hard to do. Look at the top of any itinerary: you see property and agency contact information. How hard would it be to include a Twitter account, too?
Hey, travel PR folks: in addition to thinking about the coverage you hope to secure in a magazine or on a blog after the trip has run its course, think about the incremental gains you could realize during the trip itself – especially for a group trip.
When you’re planning your next press trip, consider the following social media essentials:
I Write Like by Mémoires, Mac journal software. Analyze your writing!
Okay, these games can be fun. To see who I write like, I took the first three paragraphs of “Pre-nuptial last rites get fun, expensive,” which I wrote for Gadling, and fed it into the “I Write Like” tool. The results? Well, I apparently write like David Foster Wallace, but only when it comes to strippers at bachelor parties.
Maybe it’s the fact that I went to public school … or I’m just plain stupid. I just can’t understand how Marc Bell, CEO of Penthouse Media Group Friend Finder Network, is going to make a bid on ailing quasi-competitor Playboy this afternoon. He just doesn’t have the money.
At the beginning of the year, Bell announced that he was desperately trying to take FFN public – his second attempt at recapitalizing the over-leveraged debacle. In 2008, he tried for the first time, having seen more than $400 million in long-term debt reclassified as short-term debt likely because of a busted loan covenant. The only reason FFN hasn’t collapsed, I suspect, is because the investors just have too much capital committed.
FFN’s problems began back in 2007, when it was still Penthouse, and Marc Bell led the acquisition of Various, Inc. for the princely sum of $401 million. Credit markets were still a bit loose, and PET, the fund that pumped cash into Penthouse when Bell took the company over from Bob Guccione, was able to load up to acquire Various, which was much larger than Penthouse. Various owned, well, various dating sites, including FriendFinder.com and AdultFriendFinder.com.
I’m sure most of the other travel bloggers out there would cite some sort of hunger for adventure or yearning for excitement as essential to the trade. You need to be down for anything on a moment’s notice. That’s bullshit. You can actually be a fantastic travel blogger without those qualities (I would say, in many cases, those characteristics are actually impediments to kickass travel blogging). Instead, the key is to be able to see meaning in everything you do and turn it into a story.
When I walk through my apartment, I don’t see stuff – I see experiences. The painting hanging over my couch? That’s from the $1 auction stunt with artist Nelson Diaz. The Casey’s coffee mug? It kicks off memories of a consulting assignment I had outside Toronto back in 2002 and how we used to play “credit card roulette” to see who would pick up the tab at dinner (Casey’s is a restaurant where we used to have lunch). And each of these stories triggers a hundred more … which is probably why nobody visits my apartment.
I don’t know what media moron let this one slip through, but suffice it to say, the story isn’t what the headline would have you believe: “Tired Gay succumbs to Dix in 200 meters.” Good job, Reuters. Really.
Okay, I mentioned in my last post that people in this line of work may dine on paste rather than real food, and this is just the latest example. Did anyone think nobody would notice the off-color hilarity possible? Do the m-f math!!!
This is the sort of thing for which journalism prizes should be awarded.
Enter the Mind of a Migrant Blogger 