I’m back! Did you miss me? Of course you did. I know its been a LONG time since the last time I posted, but I’ve been very busy with work. Also, I have been doing a lot of research in the area of Peak Oil and Transition Towns. In the upcoming weeks, I will be discussing more on this issue as it is a topic everyone should be aware of and action needs to be taken ASAP.

Two days ago Paul Sankey was reporting on his predictions of oil reaching $175 a barrel by 2016 as oil demand continues to rise with slumping oil production continues to fall.

I believe it will be much sooner; not because of government control in Russia and other countries, but Peak Oil (lower oil production & higher demand): Sankey forecasts $175 oil by 2016. If his prediction holds true, this is a good reason to start thinking about becoming less oil dependent and towns becoming more resilient before its too late. This will mean gas prices well over $6 a gallon. Can you afford to live like that? I know I can’t.

My co-worker, Erik Hesler, brought up a good point that I strongly agree with; “high oil is going to choke the air out of any recovery…just watch.”

This report just proves the seriousness of this situation. We need to start acting now before its too late.

admin News, Oil, Peak Oil, Transition Towns

ALLEN PARK, Mich. — “A veteran Hollywood film executive who is a native Detroiter will build a $146 million, 750,000-square-foot film, TV and media production studio factory and village on 104 acres of land at Southfield Road and Enterprise Drive in Allen Park, officials announced today.

Productions at Unity Studios will employ up to 3,000 skilled and non-skilled union workers. Unity will employ up to 83 management/operational positions for the studio and within the Village.” - http://unitystudios.wordpress.com/

This is very exciting. Growing up in the Midwest, I’ve had a dream of perusing a career in the film industry and it has been a lifetime goal. After graduating from Northern Illinois University with a BS in Communications w/ emphasis in Media studies, I’ve been searching for opportunities to get my foot in the door of a film or studio facility. The big move to LA can be very costly and competitive. With the economy, the job market has been pretty tight and the odds of even getting a PA job is slim to none. Now Unity studios provides the chance to fulfill that goal. This is a perfect opportunity to peruse a career in the film and TV industry without the dramatic change in lifestyle, location and living.

Follow Unity Studios on Twitter: @unitystudios

admin TV/Film

theparallaxview.com has shared 4 new case studies that showcase some big steps taken by Dell in the word of mouth and Twitter arena. From having one of the worst customer service in the biz, they utilized social media to 180 their image and now are a great model on how companies should use social media to reach out to customers. Also, we take a look at how one commercial by Doritos exploded into a online social media event. Last is a look at Twitter as a scalability case study.

Following is a taste of one of the commercials:

Doritos Positive Brand Hijacking - It takes 2 to Tango and Doritos prove this by encouraging slow sexy dancing, in the streets, plus 33 Facebook Groups, 20,000 members, 240 blogs, 200,000 views on YouTube plus $600K media!

Dell make the Word of Mouth Marketing book - ya, ya, ya, Dell hear bad things on a blog, eventually put things right. (I bought HP after buying Dell and ringing customer support.)

Dell and Twitter - update on continuing sales and Twitter featuring a compo to drive them even higher. (Are peeps mad?)

Twitter as a scalability case study. This is cool and different - it’s about Twitter’s architecture and well techie. I like it.

admin Social Media

If you’re struggling to find a job, It’s never to late  to learn search engine optimization. A 2007 report by Forrester Research predicts that in 2012, companies will spend almost $9 billion on search engine optimization.

NEW YORK TIMES

A Future in Directing Online Traffic

  

Kevin Moloney for The New York Times

Nick Yorchak was hired as the director of search engine optimization for LeeReedy Creative, a public relations and advertising agency in Denver.

admin News, SEO

Reports of the similarities between Mad Men and Trust Me, which premieres Monday at 10 p.m. on TNT, are greatly exaggerated.

True both shows take place in the advertising world but the resemblance stops there. While Mad Men uses the backdrop of advertising to deftly explore characters and an era of change, the modern day Trust Me treats advertising the way a cop show treats a crime or a medical drama treats a patient. The dramatic thrust in Trust Me comes from the campaigns. Sure Mad Men has the campaigns too but that show is much more about what getting or losing a campaign tells us about a character. (The Utz campaign, for example, is much more about Don’s extramarital affair than how to sell potato chips.)

Tom Cavanagh is Conner, an impish copywriter who always comes up with a witty campaign moments before the deadline. His partner is the much more level headed Mason McGuire (Eric McCormack). In tonight’s pilot, Mason is promoted to creative director, a move that cause his friendship with Conner to dramatically shift.

I liked Trust Me even if Tom Cavanagh is basically playing a variation of the character he always plays – fast talking, incorrigible charmer. Eric McCormack is great and does a nice job of making the viewer forget that he played Will Truman for eight seasons. The series is well acted, often funny, and even though the stakes aren’t life and death, it’s still interesting to learn about the world of advertising.

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admin TV/Film