When Marketing and Product Management are Married
September 24th, 2007 RachelNo, this isn’t familiar at all…
Thanks for thinking of us, Steph! I wonder what it would take to get Adam to style his hair that way…
How to make your friend faint (or need a smoke)
December 7th, 2006 RachelHere’s a selected transcript from a recent IM with one of my best pals (and bridesmaids!)…to set the scene from my point of view, I had just arrived in Vegas on Monday — Al was at work, so understandably in a different mind space.
Rachel: I found a dress!
AH: where did you find it? What does it look like? Details woman details!
Rachel: BCBG – black with ivory trim with black lace overlaid on top of the trim…kimono style, sleeved, v-neck, loose, elegant, shiny, COMFORTABLE, but stylish
AH: it’s black?
This is where I first started to hesitate. Black is bad? Since when? Have I committed a Billboard faux pas and didn’t know it? Hence my justifying below…
Rachel: there were some trendier items that actually looked quite amazing but for that much money I wanted it to work at a business thing, at mod…whatever
AH: long or short
Rachel: just past the knees
AH: nice…can’t wait to see the pictures
Rachel: i’m so excited!!
Insert a bit of conversation that lasted long enough for me to not pick up on why Al would be talking about bridesmaid dresses all of a sudden. Seemed random, but she’s an attentive friend and a darn fine bridesmaid so it didn’t surprise me that much.
AH: so what’s the plan for the bridesmaid dresses… they should probably be knee length, or just below the knee…
Rachel: yeah, that’d be about right - remember no air conditioning, so floor length might be too hot
AH: Is your mom ok with the non-traditional dress?
Rachel: non-traditional?
AH: you know what I mean… white… long….
Rachel: i haven’t picked a dress… :^)
AH: i’m really confused
…This is where I stared at my computer for about three whole minutes trying to understand how we got here…
Rachel: OMG I was talking about the dress for tonight…HAHA…I just realized where the confusion lay
AH: OK… gave me a heart attack
Rachel: that’s why you were like “it’s black?”
AH: Dude seriously… gave me a heart attack…
Rachel: I’m dying…that was too funny
AH: “I can re-wear it at MOD” comment…holy crap…I was actually sweating…I love the dress, but not for your wedding
Rachel: you are SO nice - i can’t believe you weren’t strangling me through the computer
AH: I was trying to find a way to suggest changing into that dress after the ceremony…that way you can dance…I think I actually need a cigarette
Kids. Don’t try this at home.
Love you, Al. 
I can’t decide
December 2nd, 2006 RachelAm I relieved or disappointed at the jokes that could have been?
Paris Hilton has backed out of a scheduled appearance at Monday’s
Billboard Music Awards because she wasn’t happy with the jokes written
for her, according to her rep Elliot Mintz."It is my understanding that some satirical references
ridiculed some of her peers," Mintz, said in a statement on Saturday,
according to the Associated Press. "Paris did not want to say anything
that could appear hurtful or embarrassing about people she knows."
Probably relieved.
Whatever happened to sending yourself flowers?
November 30th, 2006 Rachel
Want to hang with the cool people? Now you can just look like you do. From Mashable:
FakeYourSpace,
which is edgy, and may not be completely worksafe, launches this week.
The service has an extremely amusing aim: it allows unpopular people on
MySpace, Facebook and Consumating to “buy� hot friends. For just $.99 per month, you can buy a
good-looking friend who will leave 2 comments on your profile every
week.You can choose from scores of semi-clad male or female friends,
and “buy them� twice to double the number of comments they leave.
Payments are made via Paypal, of course. Want to annoy your
ex-girlfriend or boyfriend? Just ask your hot new friend to flirt with
you in your MySpace comments. Alienated all your Facebook friends by
being nasty to them? No problem - just buy some new ones! And there’s
no risk of your real friends discovering the ruse, since all of
FakeYourSpace’s profiles are set to private.
Managing 40 fake friends who leave you two messages (you write, of course) per week would be a job unto itself…there’d be no time to, like actually make friends.
Yeeeeeeaah…they also mention Badder Adder, which I had no idea existed, but I’m pretty sure is to blame for the friend/message spam that has made me distance myself from Myspace. You know you’re an evil marketer when…
“Too much information!”
November 30th, 2006 RachelThe iTunes celeb playlists were a really big thing a while ago, and I suppose for some they still are. I’ve been using the software too long now — my eyes glaze over when I see them.
And sadly, this exact scenario probably exemplifies why.
Stereogum reports that Kevin Smith was asked to submit a favorite playlist, with some commentary on each song. But Kevin’s idea of commentary varied from Apple’s idea — as well as the idea of most all the notable names before him who posted a playlist for iTunes. From Silent Bob Speaks:
“This is a great playlist,� Darin from Apple wrote. “Too great,
actually. We don’t have the space for comments that run that long. Will
he be OK with us editing them (significantly) or would he prefer to do
that himself? Two sentences for each track is a good outline.�Pam’s
follow-up email, while flattering, was little help: “My contact (at
Apple) said he’s never had this problem before. He shared that usually
he receives play lists that don’t include any comments. He said yours
is the best they’ve ever received and he wishes they could make it
work.�But the idea of trimming down (significantly,
apparently) that Rorschach of the Soul known as the Celebrity Playlist
didn’t interest me. So with no hard feelings on either behalf, I
declined inclusion.
Number one, good for him. I really applaud that he amicably shrugged, declined and wasn’t too worried about the missed opportunity — yeah it would have been nice, and yeah that might have actually been a celebrity who’s music tastes I cared to know more about. But really…the creative mind of Mr. Kevin Smith is just not made for the hooky-ness that I can’t get past with those mixes. A cut up, editorialized version, when compared to the full length, in-all-it’s-glory run down on his blog would probably be like the difference between Jersey Girl and Clerks.
Number two, I don’t blame iTunes. I don’t know if enough of the audience on iTunes would have had the attention span to sit and scroll through his thoughts and reasoning there, which has a far different feel than scanning and contemplating the playlist on the web, on his personal blog. The traffic is undoubtedly smaller, but it’s more targeted and much more likely to consist of fans. Right move for both parties.
Number three, I think it’s pretty sad that most celebs just submit the music. What a waste! I know you’re busy, and I know it may seem trivial, but come on…we all have reasons why we love songs and for any playlist that has been carefully, thoughtfully, (painstakingly even) crafted…then again I’m sure a good percentage of participants go with what’s hot…or don’t even create it themselves at all (cynical, I know…but come on if not a good percentage there just HAS to be at least one or two of them…).
I encourage you to check out his playlist, in all it’s glory.
