my 2 cents

Thanks

Not only on Thanksgiving, but every day I give thanks for all that I have.

I don't have Donald Trump's riches and I don't drive a sparkling new luxury car.  But I know that what I have is of much greater value.

I'm fortunate to have love -- the love of my family and my wife and best friend of 38 years Roz.  I have two fantastic  children, Jennifer and Michael, and two grandchildren, Jack (named in my father's memory) and Gabriel.  I still have my mother to keep me on the straight and narrow.  I have the memories of those who came before me.

I have many friends and a smaller number of really close friends -- the kind that, even if you haven't seen them for months or more, you can pick up the conversation comfortably, as if you'd just spoken the afternoon before.

I'm fortunate that I love my work.  I love where I live, right next to the greatest city in the world. 

I am thankful for the gift of music, especially jazz.  It never gets boring.  It inspires, soothes and moves me.

All of these things -- and so much more -- make me cherish each day that I am fortunate enough to wake up.  For it all, I always give thanks, every day.

Odds 'n ends

A couple of things of odds 'n ends today, as I just returned from the Distracted Driving Summit in Washington. 

U.S. Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood invited nearly 300 people involved in traffic safety to a 2-day meeting to focus on distracted driving -- a growing epidemic that's killing  thousands of Americans every year.We've all spoken on our cell phones while driving, and many of us have texted while driving. (Not me -- I don't like to text.)  This dangerous practice is especially prevalent among young people, who have the need to be constantly connected. 

This morning I met with a couple of young people, as we were prepping for a session on outreach to youth about distracted driving.  One young man, Greg, was texting while he drove and ran into another car -- killing two men.  He now has to live with that burden and he broke down as he told us the story, even though it was four years ago.  I met another young woman who now spends her life paralyzed in a wheelchair, after crashing while on her cellphone as she drove.

New studies show hands-free cell phone use while driving is almost as dangerous as hands-on units.  A key message that has to get out -- and that's a challenge we involved in public safety marketing have to address -- is that driving a car requires our full attention.  Most of us do it practically on auto-pilot because it's easy to drive.  But taking our eyes -- or our concentration -- off the road even for 3 or 4 seconds can be a fatal error if something happens (a car stops or swerves into your lane, or an animal runs into the road, or any of thousands of unexpected scenarios) while your eyes or your mind are elsewhere.   

I've developed, for my non-profit client The National Road Safety Foundation, a program to reach teen drivers and involve them in the communications challenge.  Along with National Organizations for Youth Safety, a youth-based coalition of advocacy groups, we announced today at the Distracted Driving Summit a competition for young people to create concepts for PSAs that address distracted driving and other risky driving behavior like speeding, driving under the influence, drowsy driving and failing to buckle up.  The winner gets $1,000 and a  trip to New York to see his or her idea turned into a professionally-produced PSA that will eventually be broadcast nationally and will go everywhere virally on the web. 

Pretty cool that the Secretary of Transportation likes the idea and featured it at the Summit.  And it's going to be written about on the White House blog.  The Secretary's office put us in touch with Seventeen Magazine, who will be partnering, and we welcome other media partners to step up as well.

I'll have more about this as the project progresses.  Meanwhile, corny as it might sound, don't text or talk on your cell while driving... and tell family and others you care about not to do it either.

UPDATE 10/16/09:   My client The National Road Safety Foundation, is running a competition for teens to come up with ideas for a PSA on safe driving.  It got the attention of the Secretary of Transportation, who is now working with us the project.  This story is appearing this weekend on some 200 TV stations nationally on "Teen Kids News."

....

I just saw this on the O'Dwyer's PR blog and had to share it... 

Before I began blogging almost three years ago, the letters WTF meant nothing to me.   Had you asked, I might have guessed it's the call letters of a radio station somewhere.   Then one day, when someone used it in a blog comment, I asked a friend who's a texter and she told me.  Oh... ok.  Since then, I've used the expression myself.

Pity the poor unsuspecting folks at the Wisconsin Tourism Federation.  When the group was formed 30 years, who would have thought those letters would eventually come to mean something that has nothing to do with Wisconsin or cheese or lakes or whatever else that fine state has.

It's sort of like the public relations company that handles lists and release distribution -- PR Aids.  It's now called Cision, once Aids took on another unfortunate meaning. 

So the people in Wisconsin have finally made some changes.  It's now the Tourism Federation of Wisconsin -- TFW. 

Let's hope texters don't come up with some other shortcut that uses those letters.  New logos and stationery gets expensive.

.

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My 2nd blogiversary

It's hard to believe today marks the second anniversary of my blog.  In some ways, it seems like only a few weeks ago when my pal CK pushed me -- screaming and kicking -- into the blogosphere.  On the other hand, it seems like I've been doing this forever.

I've learned a lot in these two years.  I realize that I do have something to say and that some people actually listen and respect my two cents.  I've learned to take the pressure off myself -- I don't have to post something every day or every other day.  I'd rather let the space sit idle for a few days, instead of putting up any nonsense just to fill the space.  It makes life easier for me, and I think my readers appreciate it as well.

I've learned some new ideas and viewpoints, thanks to the ongoing conversation.

I've made some great friends through blogging.  I remember the first meet-up, after I'd been online only about a month.  But when Toby from Atlanta and Mark from Montreal and Valeria from Italy (via Philadelphia) and Christine from New Jersey came into that bar and we -- strangers all -- hugged and kissed and were genuinely excited to meet each other, I knew I was onto something special.  Blogger Social last April just magnified that feeling.  It's nice to know I have friends I can call on and count on throughout the U.S. and Canada and around the world.

So I'll keep on blogging as long as I have something to say and something to learn. 

Thanks for listening.

A Media Visionary

A few months after I opened my own business in 1990, I got a call from a guy named Abe Jones.  He was a consultant to ad agencies, and he wanted to check me out before recommending me to one of his clients who was looking for a public relations agency.                             

                                                                                                Gene DeWitt 1999  

I must have passed muster and got a call to meet with the head of a small media agency called DeWitt Media. After a chat with Gene DeWitt, he hired me.  DeWitt Media was my young agency's first client.

Back in those days, the ad trades mostly covered ad campaigns and the wins and losses and comings and goings in the ad business.  They rarely wrote about the media end of the business.

My challenge was to get reporters to talk with Gene about the media end of advertising.  Reporters were just starting to pay attention to media -- how much spots cost, new media opportunities that were opening up for advertisers (not digital back then -- think cable), innovations in out-of-home media.  Gene was great with reporters, and he made my job so much easier.  I knew if I could get a reporter to talk once with Gene for quotable comment, he'd come back time and again for more.

Gene made me look good.  He became one of the top 5 most-quoted ad execs in the annual Advertising Age listing.

Gene always challenged people.  He wasn't content to do things they way they'd always been done, and he expected people he worked with to be proactive and innovative.  Gene pushed me to excel.

As hard as Gene worked, he understood the importance of family.  When I first began working with him, he wanted to have a planning meeting with me.  He asked me to come see him at 4 p.m. the next Tuesday.  I hesitated and then, with trepidation, asked if we could make it another time.  My son had a Little League game that afternoon, I explained.  Gene said, "Of course we can reschedule our meeting.  We can have a meeting anytime.  Your son only has so many Little League games and it's good that you want to be there."   Years later Gene reminded me of that conversation and said he respected me for having my priorities right.

Gene was very smart when it came to advertising and media.  He saw trends before they were trends -- unbundling of media from full-service agencies, the promise of cable, the decline of network TV, the integration of strategic planning in the media buying process.

I watched from up close as Gene's DeWitt Media grew from $200 million in billings to more than $750 million.  I was with him when he sold his agency to Publicis and worked with him as he built Publicis' new Optimedia into a major media shop.

I worked with him when he left the buying side and became president of the Syndicated Network Television Association.  I saw him turn the traditional syndicated TV selling process on its head as he injected new energy into syndication with the first Syndication Day. 

Like me, Gene loved the East End, where he had a home and a fishing boat.  He loved theater and music and good books.  He got into blogging a year ago, finding a new platform to express his views on advertising and media.  Some readers may have met him at the first Blogger Social last April.  As always, his views weren't necessarily in lockstep with what all the other "experts" were saying.  Gene's voice was unique.

Gene DeWitt lost a four-year battle with cancer Thursday.

He will be missed.

A stop on the way home

Our blogging friend Arun Rajagopal made a quick stop in New York today as he was returning home to Oman from a visit to San Antonio.

Living up to her well-deserved reputation as the social director of the marketing blogosphere, CK put out the word that a blogger was coming through New York and... instant party.  Coming to welcome  Arun to New York were John Rosen, Chris Kieff, C.B. Whittemore, Kristen Gorski, CK and me.  We gave Arun an earful of dialogue on the Presidential race, oil and economics and just a little bit about blogging.

The quick meet-up once again demonstrates the power of the internet and the friendships that have sprung up thanks to this crazy thing called blogging.

From left: David, John Rosen, Arun Rajagopal, Chris Kieff,
CK, C.B. Whittemore, Kristen Gorski

What I learned this weekend

I learned a lot this weekend at Blogger Social '08 right here in New York City.

I learned that Heather Gorringe visited New York from England on business a few years ago, and one of the highlights of her trip was a visit to the garbage dump at the Staten Island landfill.  Heather is in the compost business.

I learned that there are many ways to express oneself with a Lorna Doone cookie, thanks to Chris Kieff. 

I learned that Steve Woodruff has lost track of Curious George, possibly somewhere between New Jersey and Ohio.  (Steve, did you look in the Raritan River?  Maybe George is sleeping with the fishes and Big Pussy.)

I learned that Lewis Green really does lead with his heart and that it's a good heart.

I learned, very much to my surprise, that Montreal bagels are pretty damn good.  (Mark Goren: I didn't say better than New York bagels, but Mario Vellandi, Nathan Snell, Cam Beck, Ryan Karpeles and I did a taste test at my house Saturday morning and the consensus was very positive.)  (Nathan, Cam & Ryan at the Reich Regency, with host Loki.  Mario was inside looking for his toothbrush.)

I learned that Cathleen Rittereiser is a rising star in stand-up comedy.  Let me know when your next gig is and I'll come. I won't heckle.

I was shocked to learn how much Sean Howard looks like my son-in-law. (I don't think my son-in-law takes his shirt off at every public gathering, though.)

I learned that Joseph Jaffe wasn't there.

I learned that Ryan Barrett looks very nice in a very short and shiny, puffy blue dress.  Poor Ryan so wanted to dance.

I learned Tara Anderson has a great laugh.  Is she legit?  (or is it lijit?)

I learned that Arun Rajagopal likes steak and eggs at 4 in the morning.

I learned that Tim McHale drinks ketchup straight.

I learned that CeCe Salomon-Lee lives in my second-favorite city.

I learned that Gavin Heaton and Mack Collier are really nice in person.

I learned that I didn't spend enough time catching up with Matt Dickman.

I learned that Gene DeWitt is re-reading short stories like War & Peace.

I learned that Toby Bloomberg, if asked, will share her boa.

I learned that Linda Sherman is not the same Linda Sherman who was my wife's roommate in Greenwich Village after college.

I learned that Geoff Livingston is as nice in person as he sounds on the phone.

I learned that Neil Vineberg will soon become bi-coastal.  Good luck, Neil.

I learned that Katie Chatfield will be in New York for another two weeks.  You have my card. Call me and let's have coffee or lunch, since we didn't get to talk much this weekend.

I learned that even at a party at 2 a.m., my pal CK hands out action points to very tired bloggers.

I learned, again, why I like C.B. Whittemore and Valeria Maltoni.

I learned, again, what a class act is Luc Debaisieux.  Hey Luc, how do you think my hair would look with some pointy spikes like yours?  (photo: CK, Luc, C.B. and David, courtesy Jason Falls.) 

I learned that I missed Ann Handley Saturday.  Where'd you go?  I didn't get to say goodbye.

I learned that, as the party was ending Saturday night, I hadn't spoken at all to that pretty lady over there.  So I introduced myself to Kaitlyn Wilkins.

I learned I need one more set of goodbye kisses from Lori Magno -- on both cheeks.

I learned that red M&Ms say on the back --  BS 08 NYC.  How did the M&M people know we were coming?

I learned that CK, Drew McLellan and Lori Magno plan a hell of a party, with every little detail beautifully planned and spectacularly executed.

I learned it's fun to collect booty.  Thanks to all who put stuff into the goodie bags.

I learned how lucky I am to be in the company of so many smart and nice
people -- people I genuinely enjoyed hanging out with and want to see more of.

I learned that blogging is not a waste of time.

To those whose names I didn't mention here, it doesn't mean I didn't learn something from or about you. It simply means I was too tired, too drunk or too overwhelmed to remember.  We'll have to talk again at BS '09.

A Year... Already?

 

Feb. 20 is my first blogiversary.

In the past year, I've written 175 posts, received more than 800 comments and have made quite a few friends.

Most of my posts have been on public relations, marketing and media-related topics, although I've used this forum to vent on things ranging from overpriced designer water to the frustration of dealing with call centers.  Regular readers will know I've been a big cheerleader for newspapers, despite what seems like a continual flow of discouraging news for that medium.

I've shared a bit about my work, my family and some of my passions, like jazz.

I've had the chance to speak with or meet several fellow bloggers from throughout the country, as well as from Canada and overseas.  I'm looking forward to Blogger Social in April, where I'll meet many more from as far away as Australia and New Jersey.

This blogging thing that I began, quite reluctantly, a year ago has become an important part of my life -- professionally and personally.  It's helped me look at things more closely and critically, think more sharply, and learn a lot -- all while writing in my own voice, which is a treat for me.

I thank everyone who has commented over the past year.  And to all you silent readers out there, let my second year be the one during which you finally add your voice to the discussion.  No comment is silly or stupid, so join in.  In fact, you can start right now by just posting a comment below to say you're here and reading.

So... nothing clever, heavy or momentous to say today.  Only a simple but heartfelt "thank you" for  listening and for being so supportive.

See you later.

David

Be Social ... Come to New York

New York City, "the greatest city in the world" as the David Letterman accurately boasts every night, hosted an estimated 46 million visitors last year.

For 2008, thanks to a bunch of bloggers, that number will grow by at least 50 or 60... maybe more, if you do one simple thing.  Click on the link below that can get you registered to be part of Blogger Social '08.  Save the dates April 4th - 6th.

No BS -- Blogger Social will be unlike any blog event you've been to.  No seminars, no speeches.  Blogger Social is all about "social."  It'll be a fun and informal way to spend time hanging with people you regularly read, comment on and sometimes argue with via the marketing space in the blogosphere.  Over the course of a weekend in fantastic New York, you'll have a chance to get to know the people behind those blogs. 

CK and Drew McLellan, who came up with the idea, are putting together, with help from several others, a great itinerary that will be based around all of us having the time to connect. 

More than 50 people have already signed up.  The deadline is only a few weeks away, Feb. 15th.  But don't wait -- sign up today.

Go to www.blogger-social.com for more info.  And for inspiration, click here to see a great video courtesy of CK and Mark Goren.

New York City is calling.  Join us.

10 Steps to Happiness

Lewis tagged me several days ago, asking me to list my 10 steps to happiness.  The idea flows from his new book Lead with your Heart, which talks about doing good to make yourself and others happy in business and in life.

My happiness steps might be totally different from someone else's.  That doesn't make mine or theirs better. 

These are things that work for me.  A few might be (or, perhaps, should be) universal.  Others may be very much my own.

So, in no particular order:

In Business --

1)  Try, always, to be honest, fair and considerate. 
I have found it's so much easier to do business when you're fair and honest.  And being considerate often makes you do a better job by understanding what others want.  These things also make for a happier work environment.

2)  Enjoy what you do.
I have friends who can tell me, almost to the minute, how much time they have until they can retire.  How sad that is.  I like what I do.  I'm not saying there's never a day when I'd rather be at the beach, but most of the time I actually look forward to going into work. 

3)  Give as much value as you can.
You'll feel so much better about yourself if you can honestly say you've done something to provide value in the product you produce or the service you offer.  It makes work more about accomplishing something than simply about making a buck.  I know people who make a sh*tload of money but are very unhappy every day.  That's sad.

In Life --

4)  Don't waste time staying angry.
Anger is a wasteful and harmful emotion.  I'm not saying never to get mad or upset -- it's natural.  But try not to hold onto anger.  I've seen it debilitate people.  Holding onto anger is just plain stupid.  Let it go... and you'll be happier.

5) Try not to be jealous.
We all get jealous at times, but try to keep it in perspective.  Look at what you have that others may not, and focus on that.  Unless you're way up on the Forbes Richest People list, there will always be someone who has more than you. So what.

6)  Don't obsess over money.
Remember that money is a means to an end, not the end itself.  Money can buy you things that may make you happy, but it really can't buy you happiness.  There's a difference.  I know people who spend their time chasing every last dollar, and they seem to be on a constant hamster-cage wheel, chasing instead of enjoying what they have.  You know what they say... you can't take it with you.

7)  It's not always about winning.
You can't always win.  Sometimes, it's not worth the aggravation to fight until you win.  I have a friend who was going through an ugly divorce.  The process could have ended years earlier than it did, but my friend had to win...had to get more spoils than the ex-spouse.  I said, so what if your ex gets a little more than you?  You don't need the extra money.  And the faster you finalize things, you're rid of that person forever and you can move on with your life.  My friend understood, but still continued to fight because it was about winning.  Through the process, the friend was miserable.  So much time wasted; so many needless tears. 

With Family and Friends --

8) Time is precious.  Don't waste it.
Don't waste time by letting anger, jealousy and pettiness get in the way of treasuring family and friends.    Got a problem?  Talk about it, calmly and openly.  And remember #7 above -- it's not about winning.  The years go by oh so quickly.

9)  Tell someone you love that you love them.
Don't assume they know it.  What a wonderful thing to hear from someone who is important to you!  Men are especially bad at this.  How many men don't tell their sons they love them, and how many fathers and sons don't kiss or hug or show outward affection because it's not the "manly" thing to do.  Baloney!  Express love while you can.  I've heard too many people say, after a loved one dies, "I never told him how much I loved him."  Why wait until it's too late?

10) Hug your dog.


I can think of a few more, but I'll save those for another time.

Instead of tagging some people, I invite anyone reading this to offer a comment below with your own Steps to Happiness.  It doesn't have to be ten.  Even one good one you care to share with us will suffice.

So... What makes you happy?
 

Night at the Iguana

A few weeks ago, Diva Toby Bloomberg told me and CK that she was coming to NY for a meeting and let's get together.  I said, great.  CK, of course, took it further and posted, inviting anyone to join us. 

So last night, I got a great thrill when I walked into the Iguana Cafe around the corner from the David Letterman studio, to see Toby, CK and a whole bunch of other bloggers.

My new friend Kofi came in from New Jersey, with the Age of Conmversation's Curious George in tow.  David Berkowitz, who I'd met before, was there, as was my favorite consumer on the floor, C.B. Whittemore.

It was great to meet for the first time some others who I've known online -- Greg Verdino, Sticky Steve Woodruff, Tangerine Toad, and the guru of Daily Fix, Ann Handley.  As I explained to Ann, I got there a bit late because I couldn't find a parking space for my pony. (Ask Ann, if you must.)

As a bonus, a few other bloggers who I didn't know online joined us.  So our circle keeps expanding, which is wonderful.

I forgot my camera, so I don't have any pix to share with you.  But I'm putting one shot up that CK sent me.  I like it because I learned last night that, as big a giant that Ann is online, she's actually little.  But with a big heart.

I love this bloggin' stuff.

CK, C.B. and Steve had cameras, so I'm sure they'll be posting pix for all to see.