Attention New Yorkers: Please Chill.
Tuesday, October 30th, 2007
Dear New York,
A brisk chill in the wind is not an excuse to crank your radiators to 350˚F. Please, put on a sweater and calm down.
Thank you.
Archive for October, 2007
Hulu. Who Knew?
Monday, October 29th, 2007The beginning of the end for YouTube? Long-awaited Hulu from the (mostly) good folks at NBC and Fox is finally in private Beta. And damn if it’s not being well-received by those who receive these things. Farhad Manjoo of Machinist says “in many ways Hulu is completely different from and better than YouTube ever was.” And it’s great, he says, because of the high production quality and minimal commercial interruptions. “It’s a pleasant surprise, really, and feels something like a candy store, only one in which the candy is free,” gushes Digital Wire. GigOm calls it “brilliant.”
We’re all big big fans of YouTube. Who isn’t? My life wouldn’t be nearly as rich had I never encountered that Filipino prisoner re-creation of Thriller. But with the production and distribution resources of Big Media delivering their archives to us in a mostly non-commercial format, I ask: shouldn’t we all have more episodes of”Arrested Development” at work?
Technorati Tags: conversation, marketing, youtube, puppy, social media
Adage’s Hottest Digital Agencies Around
Saturday, October 27th, 2007
Campfire has been sizzling hot these days. As our friends from Advertising Age point out, Campfire does it all- branded entertainment, digital media, social networking, etc. But really, that pales in comparison to the fierce pose Mike is striking for the camera. Bravo to you Mike, bravo.
Ad Age on the “Hottest Digital Agencies Around”
Monday, October 22nd, 2007
Advertising Age included Campfire in a round up of “Hottest Digital Agencies Around” published today. The guy without a jacket on the right, number 17, is me. The shoot was fun and they did a great job of putting a group of people more accustomed to being behind the camera at ease.
I enjoyed meeting everyone at the photo shoot and thanks to Advertising Age for making me see just how many pounds I really ought to lose.
UPDATE: Original image removed at rights-holder’s request.
It was 10 years ago…
Sunday, October 21st, 2007
Ten years ago in October, Heather, Mike, and Josh, with the Haxan crew ventured out into the words of Maryland and filmed The Blair Witch Project. While the actual film itself didn’t premiere until the January, 1999 Sundance Film Festival, the old gang is getting back together again tonight for an online chat to celebrate.
Here’s the list of people tentatively scheduled:
Mike Williams (Actor)
Josh Leonard (Actor)
Ed Sanchez (Director)
Dan Myrick (Director)
Mike Monello (Producer)
Gregg Hale (Producer)
Rob Cowie (Producer)
Ben Rock (Production Designer)
Matt Compton (Location)
Tony Cora (Sound)
Stefanie Sanchez (Production)
and of course the man who organized the whole thing and generally keeps the light on at the digital Haxan homestead, Dan Karcher (AKA fashpimp).
A whole bunch of the crew are in Hong Kong shooting another movie right now, so there’s certainly lot’s to talk about. I’d love to hear from the original BWP community as well as any and all new members who have joined along the way!
Join us tonight at Midnight Eastern Time, 9:00 PM Pacific. The link will go live at the Haxan site then.
You Had Me At “Sned”
Thursday, October 18th, 2007
Highly Targeted Strikes Back
Tuesday, October 16th, 2007
Our friend HT has written up his harrowing experience in our Campfire Marketing Gameshow and it makes for an interesting read. I was surprised to learn that other marketeers that contacted him weren’t interested in playing on the up and up!
Here at Campfire rest assured that when you sell us your personal data for nefarious purposes, we’ll do everything in our power to keep things flowing nice and smooth.
Of course we make no claims of safety if a homeless crazed manic somehow learns your real name and decides to hop a freight train and come searching for you. That’s all part of playing in the heady world where advertising and gameshows meet!
PSFK Panel video online
Monday, October 15th, 2007
A video from the PSFK LA panel I participated in is now available online for free viewing here. I had a great time at the conference and found the whole experience very energizing. Big thanks to Piers and PSFK.com for inviting me to participate. Here are the details on the panel:
TECHNOLOGY, NEW FORMS OF ENTERTAINMENT & CONSUMER ENGAGEMENT
Lenny Stern (SS+K/CAA ) chairs a panel that looks at how emerging media and technology creates opportunities for brands to develop entertaining experiences to engage with consumers. Panel includes Mike Monello (Campfire) , David Merkoski of (Frog Design), and Mark Vega (Omelet).
Garfield’s Boomer Roots Are Showing
Friday, October 12th, 2007
Bob Garfield of Ad Age and On the Media fame has started a site called Comcast Must Die which allows angry Comcast customers to post their rants re service issues with the cable giant.
We must be in a new era of journalism when a respected writer for a number of business publications launches an attack site against a corporation. It’s a bit reminiscent of the late Sixties when Norman Mailer, Tom Wolf and other activist writers invented the New Journalism. Mailer created one of the seminal New Journalism works when he published The Armies of the Night, about the march on the Pentagon (for which he won a National Book Award and the Pulitzer Prize).
The New Journalism was all about activist reporters and writers and putting yourself in the middle of the battle — which Mailer did at the Pentagon, and now Garfield has now done, over cable service. Slightly different causes.
Perhaps Garfield’s new blog site is the post-milenial version of Armies of the Night. Mailer wrote about the march on the Pentagon from an engaged activist point of view. Here’s what Mailer said recently in an interview about the event:
Mailer:
“I think it was the beginning of the end of the war in Vietnam, and for a very simple reason: Lyndon Johnson saw 50,000 mostly middle-class people come to Washington to stage a set of demonstrations that were going to be opposed by troops and police. LBJ knew people well. From his point of view, most middle-class people were hardly full of physical bravery. If they were going to pay their own money and come by car or bus or train to march into the possibility of being hit over the head with a cop’s club, then there had to be millions of people behind them.”
Technorati Tags: Advertising Agencies, Comcast, New Journalism, Social Media
Meet up at Virtual Worlds 2007 tomorrow
Tuesday, October 9th, 2007
I’m speaking on two panels at the Virtual Worlds Conference and Expo tomorrow in San Jose, so if you are attending I’d love to shake hands and chat virtual worlds with ya.
Here are the panels I’m participating in:
Wednesday, 1:00pm - 2:00pm
ROI - How the Rules Are Changing
Were there any rules to begin with? How to identify your goals and strategies within virtual worlds. Look at prior considerations from established players and hear planning that worked and planning that didn’t. What opportunities do virtual worlds hold over other, more established, media formats. How do you insure that your campaigns quantified and verified. What does ROI mean to you?
- Mike Monello, Partner / Creative Director, Campfire
- Nic Mitham, Managing Director, K Zero
- Michael Solomon, Professor, Saint Joseph’s University
- Rita J. King, CEO and Creative Director, Dancing Ink Productions LLC
- Erik Hauser, Founder/Executive Creative Director, Swivel Media
Wednesday, 2:30pm - 3:30pm
The Importance of Narrative: Keeping Your Community Involved
This panel will discuss the importance of narrative in Virtual Worlds. Panelists will explore current and historic narrative components of Virtual Worlds projects and the role narrative has played in the development of other forms of communication and technology.
- Mike Monello, Partner / Creative Director, Campfire
- Eric Rice, Executive Producer, Slackstreet Entertainment
- Chris Carella, Creative Director, The Electric Sheep Company
Their website has the complete schedule. Hope to see you there!
