Impactful Advertisements

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Ready to throw my computer against the wall...

I am blogging right now, praying I don't loose internet. I am not a computer genius, so that could be why I remain confused as to why my new Mac can decide when it feels like opening a webpage. It tells me I am connected to a certain network, but recently it's been a matter of prayer (i suppose?) as to whether it is really connected or not. This is beyond frustrating!

On to other things, my Ad research midterm and my solo speech are taking over my life right now...and I think they did something with my creativity, too. Hopefully it will return soon!

By the way, is anyone going to the Keith Urban/Carrie Underwood concert friday??

Interesting Billboard

Click Here to watch the most interesting billboard I've ever seen. Also, can somebody tell me how to post vids on here from so you don't have to click a link????

For real guys, you gotta watch this.

-Ry

^. .^
(. .)

ifoundyourcamera.net

I thought this was great:


Innovative, creative, and helpful. Some of my favorite things.

A New Mr. West is in Town

As Black History Month draws to a close, I noticed that MTV did something that was complete different than any other network when it comes to honoing Black History. MTV virtually created a a viral marketing campagin with Dr. Cornel West front and center. In his various 15 -30 Second spots he disscusses a number of topics form America's wealth to hip hop music. Take a look at what is Ivy Legue professor has to say about various issues at mtv.com.

ATTENTION GUESTS:

Good times coming soon...

I must say that I am extremely excited for the next two weeks. There are a lot of exciting events coming up very soon. This coming weekend I will going to Atlanta with Liz, Joseph and many other people from Ad Club. We are going to visit four awesome agencies including BBDO. I can't wait to see other agencies besides Zimmerman. It will be great to see how different the environment and community is at other agencies. Of course, we will also have a great time hanging out in the city and going to Six Flags on Sunday. I haven't looked into it, but I'm hoping that Six Flags has A LOT of roller coasters.
That is not even the end of the fun... The week after our trip to Atlanta Liz and I both turn 21. I do believe it is quite self-explanatory why that week will be amazing. Thankfully, I will be getting a Macbook for my 21st birthday, and I don't know how much longer I can wait!
Well, I'm going to continue on with my other homework. Hopefully I can concentrate knowing that all of these exciting times are coming up! I hope everyone is having a great weekend! See you all Monday

Traumatic

There are many things I don't understand about this world. For one, why wouldn't you want to be in it. Many horrible traumatic things can happen to you but they are just hurdles for you to overcome.
One of the great things about college is that you live in a community. However, why are communities not close anymore? Communities are not intimate. We no longer know people's pain. Unfortunately, I am one of those people who don't know their neighbors. So what do you do when your neighbor is gone and you lost the chance to get to your neighbor? All I'm left with is a ghost next door and a brooding head of questions.

No Country For Old Men

Has anybody had the chance to see it? I got the chance to watch it this past Valentine's Day, and it's just ridiculous. I think the SLC will be playing it in a few weeks and I highly recommend that you go see it then. Let me just say that I RARELY go to the movies, and in this case I only went to see this film since it was an assignment for film class. But damn am I glad that I did. In this day and age of homogenous, mass-appeal garbage that Hollywood consistently puts out (think Meet The Spartans) it is refreshing to see a film that exemplifies the core components of great film making in a variety of ways.

The synopsis is that a man named Llewyan in rural Texas who comes across a briefcase worth $2 million from a drug deal gone horribly wrong. A sadistic hitman named Chigurgh (played by Bardem) is after the stolen briefcase and vows to kill anybody who stands in his way. The story is narrated by an aging lawman (played by Tommy Lee Jones) who is approaching the twilight of his career and is facing the greatest evil he has ever encountered as a police officer. The movie is as much a cat-and-mouse chase throughout Southern Texas as it a psychological expose of Jones' character, who is realizing that he simply can not keep pace with the intensifying chaos of the world around him.

Look out for some phenomenal performances by Josh Brolin and Javier Bardem (who is nominated for a Supporting Actor Oscar), excellent cinematography and gripping dialogue that brings you on a tour-de-force of intense, powerful story-telling. It is one of the harshest, most realistic thrillers I've ever seen and is arguably the Coen Brothers' greatest work yet. I will be literally stunned if this film does not win any Academy Awards. As mentioned before, Bardem is up for a Supporting Actor (which he almost HAS to win) but NCFOM has been nominated for Best Picture as well, alongside Juno, Atonement, and others. To my recollection, it might even be up for Best Adapted Screenplay as well since it is based on a novel of the same name.

So if you get the chance, take a trip out to a local theater and give this film a viewing. I guarantee you that $6.50 later, you will have absolutely no regrets that you were able to watch one of the highest-quality films put out in over a decade.

Perks of the Industry!

So the past few days I have truly experienced a few great things all because I am part of the advertising industry.

The first wonderful event was while I was at my internship with the FSView. Rachel and I had to bring a few samples of Ads that were going to run in last weeks issue to a couple of clients. Our first stop was Narcissus the high fashion boutique here in Tally. We walked in and spoke with the client and showed her their current Ads we created but before leaving she made sure we shopped around a bit. We got to shop for bathing suits and beautiful clothing all while on the clock.

Our next stop was Oasis Fitness Salon for Women. Here we were trying to seal a deal with the owner to run ads in our special health edition of the FSView. The woman had a lot of questions; however, her main concern was that we get a hydro massage before we left. We were basically forced to stop and get a 15 minute hydro massage fully equipped with relaxing rain forest music and complete darkness. The woman told us if we didn't try her product she wouldn't advertise with us. There was not much we could do but go lay down and relax while enduring a wonderful massage. That was a great Perk!

The next two perks of the industry came while I was interviewing at a company called Appleton Creative in Orlando. The owner who was interviewing me was extremely nice and by the end of the interview she was offering to take me with her to the Orlando Addy Gallery Night. The Addy's in Orlando just so happened to be this weekend while I was in town. This agency made the book for the Addy's and received all these free tickets to the event and NONE of them were going. I was offered to go with them to the Gallery Night before the actual Addy's and then she gave me two FREE tickets to the Orlando ADDY Awards Gala!!! Talk about a perk!!! I am very excited!

So I learned a lot this week and experienced a heck of a lot all because I got into Advertising! I Love this industry!!!

FREE FOOD!!!

You are all invited to Dominican Student Association's annual Independence Day Dinner. It is this Saturday, February 23, 2008 from 7:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m. in the Student Services Building (SSB) room 203. You can come with as many people as you'd like. Attire is casual to semi-formal. There will be lots and lots of FREE authentic Dominican food, plenty of entertainment, and lots of music. I'd love to see you all there; come out and support!!! You don't have to be a member to come and again there's no fee.

PS: The purpose of the Dominican Student Association is to implement Dominican influence and culture into the broader FSU community both on and off campus by working with and conducting events in the cultural, social, and educational spectrums. I am the current President. If you are interested in learning more about the organization, respond to dsa.fsu@gmail.com.

my blog credit for the week

So apparently Brandon, Florida is home to the WWE training site. Our project just got that much more difficult. As if Brandon wasn't already troubled by that redneck-country stereotype.

So when I got home last week I kinda felt bad for how hard I was on the idea of a “FSU Advertising Agency/ Grad School” because it made me think back to my own high school.

38 years ago a guy named Ray Anderson had a crazy idea, (to the left is ray in his office) to start a high school that was student run with no rules. Today, that same idea everybody has looked at as “crazy” has been in Newsweek for the past 12 years (ever since the “top high schools in America list has been posted”) as a top 10 high school, as well as part of the best 7 years in my life. (you can also Google us in the Washington Post under “hippy high”) (ps we were 4^th my year! Woop woop!)

“Sometimes I feel like you kids go to summer camp with books, not high school; and I’m the coordinator of “Camp Woodlawn!” –Elly K. 10^th grade history teacher.

-Rule one was there were no permanent rules (besides the ones the county forced us to have b/c we were still “public” AKA no guns etc.)

-Students got together every Wednesday to decide and go over the rules. The meeting was optional (therefore you only went if you cared about voting on a topic). Now a lot of the rules were fun, the seniors would get the entire class to show up and pass a law saying “only seniors could park in the lower lot,” but if they voted yes, then it was a rule! (until the next week when all the juniors would go to the meeting a reverse it of course). This “Town Meeting” covered everything from vending machines, to school dances, to test taking policy. We once went an entire semester without tests b/c as a school we voted that your grades should be based on effort, not test taking abilities. The principle’s vote counted just as much as a 6^th graders; and everybody did what was best for the school.

-going to class was OPTIONAL. The point of our school, was it was fostered upon the bases of respect and descion making. If you wanted to go out to coffee with your friends instead of going to class, that was your choice… but you’re the one missing out. A lot of the times when I “skipped” class I would see the teacher later in the hall, and feel so guilty, because at HB the teachers were your friends, always willing to help (in all sylabus’s they put they’re home phone #’s, screen names and would always sit around the couches with us and watch TV. Oh ya the couches.

-At my school there were no lockers. Well they’re were, but nobody used them. Everybody just threw their backpacks on the floor, because nothing ever got stolen, we all trusted, respected the school’s philosophy way to much.

-couches lined our halls. We had lounges with TV’s and would often nap and just “hang out on the couch” durning free blocks and inbetween classes

-“free blocks” were high school heaven. The way you made your schduel (yes YOU make it) you got one hour a day to do whatever you wanted. (most of us would put it before or after lunch so we could go out to eat) but the students also ran EVERYTHING from fund raising, dances, year book, tee shirts… we did it all, so we used that time to have meetings and go talk to teachers (well sometimes J )

-the teachers. At such a crazy school, you have to understand that it takes a special kind of teacher student relationship. For that reason, we were taught to look at our teachers as our friends and because their vote at “town meeting” counted no more then our vote, the feeling was they were no better then us… for that reason we called them by their first names. My teacher senior year were “Randy (“Randers), Ellen, Mark, Kris, Elly, Ginny, Dave… you get the point.

Ok so I just wrote a lot but like most “HB Woodlawn Alum” I’m so proud of this crazy experiment, that was just creative and crazy enough to work. Next time I rip up on an idea I’ll try to stop and think of my principle, Ray, proposing the Arlington County Board a school that is completely run by students with no rules…

PS thanks for everybody who voted for me! I’ve got a fun night out in hot-lanta planned! haha

Shave Everywhere

Here is a little Thursday treat that will keep your mind going. We heard about this last year, and to is amazing that such a big company like Phillips is doing something so daring. There is at least the second version, but I don't know for sure since I don't go here very often.

Keep this kind of strange stuff in mind when planning projects and think of new ways to approach the same old problem, or maybe the problem that no one else wants to address.

www.shaveeverywhere.com

Dancin' Robots

Did anyone notice the robots today on campus? They're part of a "campaign" that V89 (FSU's radio station) has started to raise awareness of their pledge drive that will be taking place in two weeks. The robots danced together in the union, danced with passersby, walked around Landis...

Also, here's the pig that Creative I voted on:
^ ^
‘ ‘
(. .)

I tried to add a body but it's difficult. If someone can figure it out, go for it!

Tyra say what?

I ran across something interesting today when I was looking for an internship. Top Model is having auditions in Tallahassee at Chubby's. The auditions are on Saturday, March 1st from 5:00-7:30pm. Anyone who isn't going to Atlanta should go try out, and don't forget csONE when you make it to the top!!!! BTW is our new logo up yet?

United Way

Last weeks presentations were great! It is so cool to se how many different ideas can come from such a small class. I especially enjoyed the profiling that Rachel, Stacy-lynn, Tanner and Ryan chose, as well as the Superhero idea. Can't wait to se what we all have to offer for the final project.

"Please help, I'm dumb."

Honestly, there is nothing I find more annoying than my e-mail box filling up with dumb requests from classmates the day before an assignment is due. Don't get me wrong, I am all for cooperation between peers, however, those who know me can confirm that I am not for carrying the weight of another simply because they are lazy.
ALSOOOO... I really hope everyone knows that when they send out class e-mails via Blackboard, the professor is copied on them.
For example, we have a small assignment due in my Sociological Theory class this morning. These are the e-mails I received since last night:

"was wondering what assignment 3 is, i havent been there. I have the flu right now so i was going to email him the paper tomorrow..
thanks for any help i get"
(9:44p)

"can someone please help me with the assignemnt, i just dont understand it at all"
(9:45p)

"Does anyone know what is going on in West Virginia that we are supposed to be writing about?"
(10:45p)

and my personal favorite...

"Ok, Im so lost in this class right now. How are we on the third assignment?! I know about the first one but what was the second one? And the third one is the movie right? Which I didnt see so if anyone is really good and summarizing and could fill me in that would be awesome! Thanks guys!"
(10:55p)

...maybe this is the punishment I get for getting a Sociology minor... Comm students would never do this! Or would they?

Have a productive day! :)
-April

Lickable Ads

Magazines Try Out
A Tasty Strategy;
Overcoming the 'Ick'

By SUZANNE VRANICA
February 13, 2008; Page B3

Madison Avenue thinks a tasty approach will give new life to Welch's grape juice.

Welch's is taking out full-page print ads in People magazine this month that give readers a chance to sample its grape juice by licking the ad. The front of the advertisement shows a huge bottle of the juice, while the back has a strip that peels up and off, with text that reads: "For a TASTY fact, remove & LICK."

Welch's hopes flavored strips make its ads stand out.

Marketers are excited about the prospects for lickable ads, but also have to deal with the "ick" factor. Since magazines are often passed from reader to reader (think doctors' offices) there is a good chance that saliva could be left on the ad. Readers are supposed to peel off the entire sticker on the Welch's ad before licking, says First Flavor, the company that developed the technology used in the ad. If someone doesn't rip off the whole sticker, First Flavor says, the flap can't reseal, giving people an easy way to know whether the ad has already been licked.

While scent technology -- such as scratch-and-sniff ads or fragrant ink -- is commonplace in magazines, lickable ads are still in the experimental stages. CBS was one of the first companies to offer them in a marketing campaign. The network's flavor strips, which ran in copies of Rolling Stone magazine in New York and Los Angeles last fall, gave readers a taste of lime-flavored mojitos. The ad, the brainchild of Interpublic Group's Initiative, promoted the fictional rum brand that is central to the plot of the CBS series "Cane," which stars Jimmy Smits as the head of a family that owns a Florida rum business.

"We struggled with the concept," says Greg Castronuovo, senior vice president and group account director at Initiative, the media-buying firm that worked on CBS's mojito ad. "There is a lot of pass-along in magazines -- I had a little bit of aversion to it; it's a little unsanitary, perhaps."

First Flavor, the small, privately held company in Bala Cynwyd, Pa., that worked with Welch's, also did in-store marketing patches for a new flavor, dubbed Brilliant Sparkle, of Church & Dwight's Arm & Hammer Advance White toothpaste. First Flavor has been experimenting with how far it can push its technology, and has created test ads that taste like everything from cheese pizza to soy milk and children's cold medicines.

In some lickable ads, including the Welch's ad, some of the essence of the actual product is added to the strip, while in others, the strip is made up of unrelated flavors, both natural and artificial. Creating savory flavors such as pepperoni pizza is particularly tricky. "It's difficult for the consumer to get the feeling that they are tasting the product," says Jay B. Minkoff, chief executive of First Flavor.

Welch's says it suspects some folks will pass on the free taste test. "A lot of people won't lick a magazine no matter how good it tastes," says Chris Heye, Welch's marketing chief.

The company, which is owned by a cooperative of grape growers, says it went to great lengths to make sure the ad tasted good and that the ingredients used in the lickable strip met safety guidelines laid out by the Food and Drug Administration. It says it spent weeks conducting consumer taste tests and enlisted more than 50 company employees to try the lickable ad. The ad was created by WPP Group's JWT.

Print ads present a unique challenge for marketers because they don't typically have "sound or motion," the two things that tend to make ads stand out, says Paul Caine, president of Time Inc.'s Entertainment Group, which includes People magazine. Adding taste is one way to create a new way to grab reader attention, he says. People has experimented with adding sound chips to some print ads.

Welch's says the ad costs a couple hundred thousand dollars more to create than a normal national print ad because it had to pay to make the sticker plus an additional fee to People for the added production costs. The ad will appear in the Feb. 18 issue of the magazine, which has a circulation of about 3.6 million.

Getting people to use multiple senses to process ads is a good way to build a stronger connection with consumers, ad experts say. "It's hard to forget whose brand you are licking," says Lisa Haverty, a cognitive scientist who works in the marketing field.

Assuming, of course, that the consumers like what they taste. "If the taste is unpleasant or not good, the ad could flop worse than a regular ad," adds Ms. Haverty.

Market Segmentation, Yummy!

During my Basic Marketing Concepts class I learned about this amazing website that gives you an indepth view of market segmentation broken down by zipcodes. It is simple, specific, and very reliable information. Find out who's in your neighborhood; who's your customer. Check it out!!!

This link leads directly to the zipcode search and will give you a detail description of consumers in that market share.
http://www.claritas.com/MyBestSegments/Default.jsp?ID=20

Ps: A number from 1 to 66 will show up next your result. One is for the wealthiest-income household and 66 is for the lowest-income households. Click on the name and get the description.

Louis Vuitton's TV Debut

So, this is the first tv ad for Louis Vuitton ever. After a long history of celebrity reliance, 

they came up with an inspirational tv ad. I kinda get what they're trying to do, but I dont

think it was really that effective on me.

This might have become a trend after Starbucks, which is another company that had never actually advertised on TV, 

launched their first tv ad last november.

soldier girl

I had some relatives in town this weekend and last night we all got together and had a wonderful family dinner at my parents house.  My little cousin Emma is ten years old and a huge fan of rap music.  After dessert Emma decides to put on a show for the family and perform a dance routine that she has been working on for a school talent show that is in two weeks.  The music starts.... its Soldier Boy!  Emma knew the entire dance all the way through including moves that she threw in.  The family cheered and laughed, replayed the song over and over, and by the end of the night my moms side of the family had become Soldier Boys.

My cousin also loves spongebob squarepants, so here is a clip that has the best of both worlds.

Soldier Sponge

I finally got in…MIAMI

I am from Boca Raton, Florida which is about 45 minutes away from Miami and I have traveled down there multiple times to shop and go to the beach with friends. We would desperately try getting into the clubs...every time we would go we tried at least 4 or 5 places and we were never let in! I had come to terms that it was a hopeless cause until I was the golden age of 21.

I am still only 20 but this weekend I was shown the light!

Thank God for connections…it was a friend’s 21^st and she knew people so we got what I would call the star treatment!

I am just going with the happy flow…

and then we arrive (by limo) at Sky Bar the place that I have always wanted to go to!

We get to the door and I was a little nervous but two minutes later we all walked right in! It was such a completely different atmosphere and I almost felt sinful. Everyone was extremely trendy and looked flawless.

Lance Armstrong and Christina from Grey’s Anatomy were there!

Miami doesn’t close at 2am like it does here…so at around 2:30 we continued our journey and walked right into another club!

We danced the night away and had such a fun time!

This experience was worth being rejected so many times!

http://www.shoreclub.com/ (sky bar and red bar...the first place I went to)

Shipwrecked

It's hard to believe how quickly the semester is flying by! It's already the middle of February! Well, I wanted to blog asking all of you for suggestions for a costume. I'm going to a date function themed "shipwrecked" this coming Saturday. Last year I went as a pirate but I figured I would tap into the most creative people on campus for ideas. Help! =)

This blog makes my computer freeze

First of all, I'd like to extend a hardy and heart-felt 'thank-you' to ole Mother Nature. She shied away from her usual methods and only gave us a month of cold weather. What a rebel!... What a friend!

Secondly, The NBA's Allstar break went down this weekend. To my enjoyment, it proved to be better than ANY other Allstar break ever- including when Michael Jordan was still playing.

And to finish my post off... Probably the funniest thing I've ever seen in my life. Let me explain:
I was the Designated Driver for my fraternity for Tuesday night of last week. At about 1:00 AM, I wasn't getting any calls so i decided to get some late night grub at Whataburger. Inside was packed full of underaged drunks (yes, they're THAT easy to point out) but one kid was just out of his mind. He was lying on top of the counter where you order food, then tried to go into the kitchen to cook some french fries. He was belligerent- but soon changed his tune once an officer of the law arrived on the scene. (Note that nobody called the cops on this kid, this is just where they are stationed so no ruckuses break out)

So the kid played it cool. He acted like a normal patron, just waiting for his greasy dinner. Then he decides to walk right up to the cop and start up a conversation. Hindsight would show that this was a terrible idea because... well, i just usually I try to avoid cops when i'm drunk.

Anyways... he got that look in his eye and before anyone could do anything, he puked in the middle of the restaurant... all over this nice police officer's pants and shoes.
The place errupted. The kid was wishing he had just stayed home that night... instead he got taken for a ride downtown in the paddywagon.


SO HOLD YOUR LIQUOR, KIDS. PUKING ON COPS IS A TERRIBLE IDEA

Sick...booo

So round two of being sick. I feel as if I have literally snorted pollen because the sneezing sensation has completely taken over. My nose is peeling from the numerous amount of times I've had to blow it and my throat hurts from coughing so much. It seems my only ally is Nyquil, which I must say really makes you sleep like you are five again, and boy do I miss those nights of complete, uninterrupted slumber. I am getting better, I'm just hoping that this isn't the beginnings of the infamous flu that has been attatcking hard this year. It was nice to call into work yesterday and lay in my bed all day doing homework and watching movies.... that is something I rarely get to do. I don't know if any of you out there got to watch The Princess Diaries last night but I did! I was laying in my bed having a great time watching this movie by myself. At one point I thought "Am I really 21 years old watching this movie?" I sure am, and thoroughly enjoyed myself. I often wish I had more free time, but if I had it I would hate having it and fill it up with random activities. I guess some of us aren't built to sit at home all the time, and I must admit I'm glad I'm not!

Quit blaming everyone else for your bad parenting skills!

I saw a few of you guys from class at Rock For Life this weekend and I want to say that I appreciate everyone who came out. I think next year I am going to play an even bigger part in the setup of the event. First of all, the president picked a title that is already copyrighted so she had to get permission to use it but next year we will have to change the name. Who doesn't research that kind of thing? Also, it was scheduled the same weekend as Dance Marathon and I think that should have been accounted for because it hurt our turnout. I also wish she had rehearsed what she was going to say and maybe done some run-throughs with some of the special guests because she fumbled her words and sounded unprofessional, and the guest speakers didn't really know what they were doing or where to go. But the transplant survival stories were very inspirational and touching and the whole concept and setting of the event was very enjoyable.

Now I would like to share an article with you:

YONKERS, New York (AP) -- Buckle up, Hannah Montana!

Miley Cyrus and her "Hannah Montana" character have been a hit on TV, in concert and, now, on the big screen.

In a blog item posted Monday, Consumer Reports magazine says 15-year-old superstar Miley Cyrus, who plays Hannah Montana on television, is seen in her new movie riding without a seat belt in the back seat of a Range Rover.

So is her father, Billy Ray Cyrus, the Yonkers-based magazine says.

The movie is the 3-D Disney concert film "Hannah Montana & Miley Cyrus: Best of Both Worlds Concert," which is based on Miley Cyrus' TV show and has made more than $50 million in less than two weeks.

Telephone calls and e-mails to Disney and to several of Miley Cyrus' representatives, seeking comment, were not immediately returned Monday.

The magazine says 65 percent of the 13- to 15-year-olds killed in auto accidents in 2006 were not wearing seat belts.

"It seems to us that Miley, her father and Disney had a perfect opportunity to help influence teens and counteract -- rather than encourage -- this trend," the blog item says.

I think parents have worse things to worry about than Hannah Montana encouraging kids not to wear a seatbelt. No one would've noticed this if a blogger hadn't pointed it out - I mean honestly who looks at that kind of thing in the movies? And it's not like she shouted in the movie "DON'T WEAR SEATBELTS KIDS, THEY'RE LAME!" I don't think the age range of kids watching the movie would pick up on that kind of detail and I don't think they would interpret it as a message from Hannah Montana to not wear their seat belts - parents should be the ones to make sure their kids wear seat belts, not celebrities. Parents are to blame for their kids not wearing seat belts! People just don't want to take responsibility for anything, they would rather blame it on someone else. This argument is ridiculous - everyone knows they should wear a seat belt and it is their responsibility to buckle up and parents need to make it a habit for their kids to wear a seat belt. I automatically reach for mine every time I get in a car, it has become habit for me. Leave Hannah Montana/the Cyrus family alone! Perhaps law enforcement is to blame, their job title says it all - they are supposed to enforce the law! What is wrong with America that we just want to pick apart celebrities until they are near suicide and crazy like Britney Spears!

Dance Dance

So I'm sure most of you know that Dance Marathon was this past weekend. While I did not dance (I learned my lesson from dancing the year before) I was on the morale committee (my job is to keep everyone pumped up). So after being there for only a few hours I already wanted to kill myself....and I felt even worse for my friends who were just making it to hour 30. They looked delerious, their legs were swollen, they lost their voices. Then it came. They have a family talk every hour about how their child has benefited from the money raised at DM. They're always sad, and they always make you appreciate what you have and what you're doing. But this lady said that she actually danced 10 years ago at FSU and the technology that saved her child didn't even exist 10 years ago. I thought it was cool that so far in the past she was helping contribute to saving her child's life in the future. I started thinking about what else we're doing today that might help us. I mean obviously our college education is eventually going to pay off...i hope. But maybe some charity work you do now will come around to benefit you. The point is-the results of something aren't always instantaneous. Maybe 10 years from now you'll thank god you were writing on this blog :)

$70,000 for Computerized Valet

So lexus has a "park assist" feature in some of its luxury models. Basically, the driver just has to maneuver next to the space to parallel park and press a button and the car takes it from there. I guess its a good idea so there are no more dings on your car or someone else's and it alleviates the stress of having to do it alone but it costs a fortune to actually have it installed in your vehicle. Here is what CNN has to say.

Competitive "Parody"

I work at Circuit City selling T.V's and everything that goes along with it. We care more about everything that goes along with it more than the sale of the T.V. Customers are always trying to understand the difference between Blu-ray and HD DVD. The article below talks about a new change in the market for HD disc players that will help eliminate the confusion and make my job slightly easier.

Wal-Mart Stores Inc. has picked Blu-ray over HD DVD in the market battle for the format of high-definition video.

The nation's largest retailer said Friday it has decided to sell only Blu-ray DVDs and hardware in its 4,000 U.S. stores and no longer carry rival HD DVD offerings.
The announcement comes five days after Netflix Inc. said it will stop carrying rentals in Toshiba Corp.'s HD DVD format and instead go exclusively with the rival Sony Corp. technology favored by five major movie studios.
Toshiba and Sony have been vying to set the standard for high-definition DVDs and players. The stakes are high because the winner will also get a boost in sales of DVD players needed to read the new format.
Several large retailers have come down on Blu-ray's side, including Target Corp. and Blockbuster Inc.
"We've listened to our customers, who are showing a clear preference toward Blu-ray products and movies with their purchases," Gary Severson, head of home entertainment for Wal-Mart's U.S. stores, said in a statement.
Wal-Mart said it will phase out all HD DVD offerings by June. Wal-Mart stores and Sam's Clubs membership warehouses will continue to sell standard definition movies and DVD players as well as converter technology.
Sony has taken a considerable lead in the format rivalry in recent months, gaining the endorsement of The Walt Disney Co., Sony Corp.'s Sony Pictures, News Corp.'s Twentieth Century Fox, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and Time Warner Inc.'s Warner Bros. Entertainment.
Viacom's Paramount Pictures, which also owns DreamWorks SKG, and Universal Pictures, a unit of General Electric, have opted to release films only in HD DVD.
Still, many consumers have held off on buying a high-definition DVD player until the dominant format is decided.

please take your vitamin C ='(

Dear Class,

I have the flu. Out of courtesy I have decided to take the doctors advice and stay home. I really love this class so thats definitely hard for me. With that said, I want everyone to please be smart and take plenty of vitamin c, get lots of rest, and dress warm when it's cold.....the doctor said the flu has been going around like crazy so watch out. I've been sick for more than a week now so I should be better soon. If anyone has to contact me for anything please do it via text message since I need a lot of bed rest and won't be near a computer much...

Have a great day,
Amanda G.

whatcha got Gwen!?

Wow it’s really early! I finally decided to just get up because laying in bed thinking was frankly driving me insane soooo I thought I’d blog about it!

So tomorrow I have to give my Ad club speech, I’m running for PR/branding and social chair, and I’m really torn between speech ideas.

On the one hand I want to be funny, memorable, and creative (and that’s a tall order for a 2 minute speech), on the other hand, I want people to take me seriously since I’m running for an executive position… actually I really want a mixture of both, but that seems to be more difficult then I thought!

This led me to thinking about that Gwen Stafani commercial for HP, when she’s walking around Japan talking about “people just think you can turn creativity on and off… but it’s not like that… it just kinda comes out… you never know when it’s gonna happen, but when it does its like magic! It’s just that simple and it’s just that hard”… On the one hand, the girls got a point; on the other hand she just blatantly got paid a shat ton of money for stating the obvious! But as I laid in bed I realized that there’s a lot of truth in what she’s said. (PS: whoever wrote that script… that’s good stuff!)

Tapping into your creative side isn’t easy, especially when you have 2 minutes to make a speech! I want to be different but I don’t want to fail miserably for the sake of “being creative,” when there’s that whole “if it ain’t broke don’t fix it” mantra looming above my head. Not to mention, in Ad club a lot of people don’t know me and I don’t want to forever be that girl that lost because she “tried to be funny” … ya that’s kinda awkward! So now I’m stuck at the point of just making the boring old speech, “ummm I really like ad club….”
WONK WONK… I don’t know if I can bring myself to do that… I think I’m gonna go the make an ass outta myself route (ps thanks for the support on that one liz!) J haha

So everybody come to ad club tomorrow night and laugh at me… even if it’s not funny, just to make me feel better… or at least bob your head up and down and pretend like your feeling what I’m saying and then you can talk about me when I’m not around haha

See you tonight!

When you need a "pick me upper"...

I don't know how popular this video is, but I am going to post it anyway for those who have not seen it. Laura enlightened my life with it during an ad research group meeting. It's funny, because I now find myself watching it every so often (especially when I could use a good laugh.) Maybe it's because she posted it on my facebook wall, so I see it every time I get on...but either way.


http://youtube.com/watch?v=_OBlgSz8sSM

I tried to embed the actual you tube video but it wouldn't work for me. Can (or has someone already?) post on how to upload videos? I see the icon and click on it and try to upload but it always tells me it failed. It very well may be my computer...but it could also be me.

Great reads...

These are a list of some trend sites I have come across over time and I thought I might share with all of you!

Psfk.com
Coolhunting.com
Springwise.com
Trendwatching.com
Influxinsights.com
TED.com
Coolbusinessideas.com
Futurelab.org.uk
Randomculture.com
Thecoolhunter.net
Trendcentral.com
Ubercool.com
Boingboing.net


Digg.com
Del.icio.us
Technorati.com
Poptech.org
Wired.com
Marktd.com
We-make-money-not-art.com
Musicovery.com
Iconoculture.com
Changethis.com
Lifehacker.com
Beinghunted.com
Dailycandy.com
Superfuture.com
Mooch.com
I4u.com
Treehugger.com
Metacafe.com


...and then there's some Ad industry newsletters and blogs:

Adcult.com
Adhunt.blogspot.com
Adotas.com
Adrants.com
Adverblog.com
Agendainc.com
Brandchannel.com
Brandrepubilc.com
http://blog.coloribus.com
fresharrival.com/archives
guerrilla-innovation.com
hyperhappen.com
ibelieveinadv.com
imediaconnection.com
influxinsights.com
jaffejuice.com
marketallica.wordpress.com
marketingvox.com
marktd.com
mediapost.com
http://adverlab.blogspot.com
reveries.com
thirdwayblog.com
warc.com
http://whatsnextblog.com

Word of Mouth

I just think its so crazy how things spread by word of mouth. For the past year I've been learning all about advertising, which definity I think helps a company or product get its name out there, but its really hard to show how a great of a product it really is just through an advertisement. Its so amazing how people will try something just because their friends tell them how great it is. Lately I've gone to two different restrurants because I've heard they were good. (And they were absoulty amazing) The weird thing is I haven't seen an advertisements for them and both the places were packed. As college students and many of us not being from Tallahassee we don't know much about the restruedrrants in the area if there not big chains, but in actuality there are some great little restrurants in Tally. The two restrurants that I just went to were called "Another Broken Egg" and "Julies." I would recommend them to anyone. "Another Broken Egg" is a little far (pass the interstate on Thomasville Road) but its so worth it. It sits on a lake a serves the best breakfast in Tally. Its so beautiful. "Julies" is on North Monroe pass the Tallahassee Mall and serves a wide virtiety of foods. Besides the food being amazing the restrurant is relaxing and hard to describe, but it reminds me of a lodge. But out of all the restrurants in Tally "Bella, Bella" is by far the best!!!! Its off North Monroe on 5th Ave. and serves Italian food. The inside is so quaint with a homey feeling and dim lighting its the perfect place for a date or to go with friends. And did I mention the food melts in your mouth! Well in saying all this I just think its crazy how word of month is. I wonder how many of you would actually want to go or go to any of these restrurant just because I said they were great. Just a thought!

The Hispanic Side of Life

Hey guys! I hope everyone had a great Valentine's Day week!

I wanted to share with you guys an ad that I found while I was looking up ads for my Hispanic Marketing class. The ad is for MTV's "Latino" Channel, MTV Tr3s. The embedded code for this video was corrupted, so you'll have to follow the link..sorry! But definately watch it; it is really funny, and slightly disturbing.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jjixB62IDEc

While on the topic of Hispanic Marketing, I highly recommend that everyone take this class and/or consider it as a minor. It is a great introduction to the U.S. Hispanic market, which is rapidly growing. Advertisers are paying more and more attention to this demographic, so being able to say that you were part of the very first Hispanic Marketing Communications department (in a University) in the U.S. will help set you apart from our competition in the workplace.

Now that I'm done selling the class....I'll see you guys tomorrow!!!

NASCAR, "AD"SCAR

So I just spent the last 5 hours or more of my life watching the Daytona 500 and I realized that Nascar is one big commercial that includes every brand you can think of. My question is who wins as the top brand? Is it the winner's sponsor "alltell" or is it the superstar racer's brand like Dale Earnhardt Jr.? The winner of the Daytona 500 was an unsuspecting Ryan Newman, and the biggest factor to his success is the fact that he has a great team that supports him. There is a lesson in this that can be very useful to all of our group projects and that is SUPPORT your teammates and all of their wacky, unusual, and strange ideas.

To read more about the race check out yahoo.

Procrastination

I really wish I could stop being a huge procrastinator. In my defense, I always get my work done by the time it's due, I just wish I could force myself to start sooner sometimes. Even when I try to start things sooner, my mind wanders and I don't finish much. Maybe I just need to accept that I work better under pressure. I looked up some tips anyway...

How To Stop Procrastinating

• Recognize that procrastination stems from habit. New habits will be needed, and these take time and commitment to develop.
• Harold Taylor defines procrastination as the intentional and habitual postponement of an important task that should be done now.
• Understand the cause for procrastination, then develop strategies to fix it.
• Recognize the difference between an appropriate decision to delay, and an irrational postponement without justification.
• Fix procrastination by working on a) tasks and b) your environment.
• Unpleasant tasks rarely turn out to be as bad as you think.
• Complete these tasks first. Schedule them for early in the day. Give yourself a reward for doing them.

I certainly think that rewarding myself will work. This is of course if I can think of something to reward myself with. I don't believe that these tips will actually stop me from procrastinating, so for now I will be content with the fact that I finish everything by the time it's due.

Technology and Advertising: The Widget

Widget – n. a Portable chunk of the web
As generation Y’s, we are an incredibly valuable asset to the advertising industry. Being the tech savvy group that we are, I thought it would be a good idea to start a thread about technology pertaining specifically to advertising. To start the discussion off, I decided to post about what widgets are and their contributions to the field.

What are Widgets?

"Widgets are a class of client-side web application for displaying and/or updating local or remote data, packaged in a way to allow a single download and installation on a client machine or device. Examples include clocks, stock tickers, news casters, games and weather forecasters."

http://www.w3.org/TR/widgets/

There are many websites around dedicated to widget development. These sites allow people not only to create widgets, but facebook applications as well as "blidgets" (they turn your blog into a widget allowing you to spread it everywhere).

Widgets are great for advertising, especially for viral campaigns. My only concern as a GenY, is that widgets will be exploited and create even more clutter. This is why our generation entering the field will be good because for once I think we will be able to minimize clutter and be less annoying (atleast when targeting our generation).

Below is an article I found about Ad Widgets in 2008

BizReport : Advertising : January 20, 2008
2008: Year of the ad widget
Last year may have been the year of the widget, but 2008 is being heralded as the year of the ad widget.
by Helen Leggatt

Mpire launched the widget-based ad network, WidgetBucks, back October 2007. Since then it has signed up over 40,000 publishers and recently made the 1.5 billion monthly impression mark.
Now WidgetBucks is launching a set of “smart” ads. The ads will be able to present site visitors with optimal ads based on various data such as past ad performance and visitor’s country of residence, along with being able to dynamically switch between CPM and PPC pricing.
WidgetBucks is also considering running pre-roll ads to appear before the ad widget is shown.
"With ad serving decisions becoming increasingly complex, our single strand of JavaScript does all the heavy lifting to help publishers hold a higher standard than that being offered by traditional ad networks today," said Matt Hulett, CEO and president of Mpire, the company behind WidgetBucks, in a recent announcement. http://www.bizreport.com/2008/01/2008_year_of_the_ad_widget.html

Next week I'm going to talk about IP television.. my personal favorite topic (yeah I'm a bit of a tech geek ;-))

Cool Ad

I ran across this ad and thought it was really funny. It's for Microsoft Live Office and let's just say that the ad shows off the benefits of not having to travel for business meetings. To me it seems a little gutsy for Microsoft and I'm not sure if it ever aired on television. Nonetheless I think the ad is pretty creative and entertaining.

http://youtube.com/watch?v=55ZyV6kDC0Q

Sarah Hearts

Hey creative class!

I just wanted to let everybody know about my incredibly talented roommate's line of products called "sarahhearts". She is a graphic design student at FSU and she makes all sorts of purses, totes, shirts, scarves, and accessories. They're really cute originals and are very high quality. She screensilks herself most of her products and makes everything by hand. Her website is http://www.sarahhearts.com/. I'm telling ya'll, she's going to be the next Vera Bradley!

Lunar Eclipse this Wednesday

I want to remind you guys about the lunar eclipse that will take place this Wednesday night (around 8:4o, the first hints of red begin around 10-ish). It's perfectly safe to watch, and you do not need a telescope to view it. I've read that it'll be the last lunar eclipse until December 2010 so don't miss it! Also look out for a flash of turquoise against the red.

Get Out and Vote!

So elections are this Tuesday, are you planning on voting to support your favorite candidate? Of course I am not talking about the presidential candidates, they can wait. I am addressing the issue that affects us all...2008 Executive Board for FSU's Ad Club. Come out on Tuesday at 7:30 in HCB (where the pool use to be) room 215. This is your time to rock your vote and tell us who you think will make the very best Exec for 2008. If you are a member of Ad Club then you know how many trips and guest speakers we have previously had. By casting your vote you can hand pick you top candidates to ensure more interactive meetings, trips to places and agencies you want to visit, and much more! Please support your fellow classmates and support the 2008 Ad Club Executive Board. Hope to see you all there!!!

Now you've fudged the bucket...

I love group x. Every time I go through a drive through I consider ordering a Mr. Coke because of this video. Their Cereal Bawx and their Mario twins video are also awesome. Viewer discretion is advised.

Difference between Marketing, Advertising, PR and Branding...

Ads of the World is an online archive of the best and most interesting advertisements from across the world.

Today I came across someones blog who showed an advertisement from their site that uses four simple pictures to explain to you the difference between marketing, pr, advertising, and branding.

I personally think these diagrams do an excellent job of explaining the 4 different industries. Especially for people in our age group.

Check out this Link so you can actually see what the diagrams say. CLICK HERE!

I think you will all get a laugh and maybe learn something as well!

World Famous

I was reading this article and was immediately reminded of one of our FISH principles: Choose your attitude! It's hard to remember that on those really tough days, but it really helps to sit back and realize what you can control versus what you can't.

So neccessary

- I thought this was hilarious, I started my day out with my usual dosage of the Golden Girls (judge me if you will) and I was getting ready to go to class when Rose made reference to someone who is all too familiar for our class. Mr. Whipple. Talk about grabbing my attention. I've spent my time reading about how ridiculously popular this obnoxious character was and yet his ad was getting press on one of my shows. At first, I was a little upset ( I hoped Sullivan was exaggerating about Whipple, he wasn't), but then the girls started to rein in, they HATE Whipple too! That made me so happy. They also brought in some equally annoying character names Mr. Terrific. Only Rose had ever heard about him so I was fine with him. It just made me feel good to know that even now in 2008, a bad ad is just a bad ad.

-I am calling out Tony to stop complaining about the superficial things that I blog about and get on here and write something real. I want to know what's in your head!! (Hope we did well on that test :D)

Dirty Monitor

I am not sure if anyone has seen this on the internet yet, but it's pretty funny. I'm sure many people will think it's cute too. It's basically a pug licking the computer screen. You have to click on the link to enjoy it though...

A crazy world

Gunman Opens Fire on Illinois Campus


What is up with this world? I feel as if it's Columbine again in the sense that after the VT shooting murder suicides are occuring at various universities. This is valentine day, a day of love, ended as a day of mourning. Appararently:
" DEKALB, Ill. (Feb. 14) - A former student dressed in black opened fire with a shotgun and two handguns from the stage of a lecture hall at Northern Illinois University on Thursday, killing five students and injuring 16 others before committing suicide, authorities said."

A guy murders people for no rhyme of reason. The worst part is that it's the fourth shooting in a week time span. Events such as this make me question the safety of our schools.

Panama Obsessed

So, Im panamanian. And one of the reasons I got into advertising I think, was the fact that advertising in Panama is not very good. Every once in a while there are some good ads, but not that much. In Panama, ad agencies rely mostly on jingles that get stuck on your head forEVER. It's like they're all the same. But here's an ad I found really interesting, the tag line is "Enamorate" which means fall in love. This ad made me think that maybe they are getting better.


http://youtube.com/watch?v=4h-3UqG3E5w
Its for a Toyota Rav4

Thank You Kristie and Derrinita

When I got to my desk this morning I noticed a brown paper sack with "Happpy Valentines Day Kyle" slapped on the side. I haven't got a Valentines like this since Stephanie Dyson sent me a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles card in 3rd grade. I was 8 and had a rat tail hair style. She had beautiful blonde hair and wore jellies. I never felt more cool until right now. So, thank you!

Kyle

Presentations

It was great to see everyone's presentations Monday. Everyone's group had such a unique approach. It just goes to show you how many different solutions there are to any given problem....

FREE SHOW FOR A GOOD CAUSE!!!

Everyone come out this Saturday for a great benefit concert on FSU's Union Green! It's to raise awareness of the need for organ and tissue donors. There will be games, food, great bands, and some special appearances by some of FSU big-wigs. I'd love to see you all there!

BTW: My younger brother created this poster - he is a way better graphic designer than I could ever dream of being!

Get In and Get Noticed!

I'm letting go of my pride

First off, Hannah Montana amazingly reached superstardom a few years before reaching the age of 18. I watch her show every now and then … well actually more often than I would like to admit, but it is amazing how although the target market is definetly being reached the Disney show can still keep the attention of twenty-year-olders as well.

MSNBC had a great article about the empire she is building and how it compares but actually may surpass the Mary Kate and Ashley Olsen twins dynasty that took several years to build. Already, Miley Ray Cyrus has reached her superstar role in a matter of two short years.

The day after Super Bowl XLII, she stole headlines away from one of the most memorable upsets in the history of the NFL because her film, "Hannah Montana & Miley Cyrus: Best of Both Worlds Concert", became the No. 1 movie at the box office, earning $31.1 million in three days. It was supposed to only run for one weekend, but after the success it has been extended indefinitely. She broke all sorts of records and is still breaking them (regarding her movie).

Well, being the Curious George that I am, I had to go check out the movie for myself. (O, by the way the movie was only available in at 683 specially-equipped Digital 3-D theaters and moviegoers, including me, paid on average $15 per ticket. To put that into perspective, the national average is around $7.) But the experience that you get is pretty amazing. First off it is a digital projector, so it is like watching HD movies on the biggest TV screen ever. this equated to amazingly good looking previews before the 3D even started. I almost thought that the previews were in 3D and tried to put on my glasses and see it. It took me a little while to realize I was wrong.

Secondly, 3D is pretty cool. I don't understand how it is created, but I want to figure out, because one day I want to be on a project dealing with this technology. But knowing that I was sitting here, in Tallahassee, but feeling like I was actually at the concert was a pretty neat thing, that I think you might want to pay $15 to see how the user experience is delivered, something I think we all can learn from.

I was saying to the party that accompanied me at the movie that the one thing that was not the greatest was the shortness of the movie. It only laster about one-and-a-half hours. I was commenting on this and though how exciting it would be if a band like the Dave Mathews Band did something on this scale. With concerts approaching three hours and feeling like you were there, I think it would be really exciting and a little more worth the $15, well actually $30 that I actually had to spend.

If you made it through this whole post thanks, and don't razz me too hard about it. Also if you know anything about how 3D movies work, let me know.

Steve Jobs' Stanford Commencement Speech

I first watched this about a year ago, and I think it's one of the most inspirational speeches I've ever watched in my life. Regardless of whether or not you use Apple or Microsoft, or whether you're a graduating senior from Stanford, we can all take in some phenomenal wisdom from Mr. Jobs and what he has to say in this video. I've posted both a YouTube link and complete text transcript of the speech if you don't feel like watching the fifteen-minute video. However, I would highly advise you to watch. I'm confident that you will be as moved and motivated by it as I am.



This is the text of the Commencement address by Steve Jobs, CEO of Apple Computer and of Pixar Animation Studios, delivered on June 12, 2005.

I am honored to be with you today at your commencement from one of the finest universities in the world. I never graduated from college. Truth be told, this is the closest I've ever gotten to a college graduation. Today I want to tell you three stories from my life. That's it. No big deal. Just three stories.

The first story is about connecting the dots.

I dropped out of Reed College after the first 6 months, but then stayed around as a drop-in for another 18 months or so before I really quit. So why did I drop out?

It started before I was born. My biological mother was a young, unwed college graduate student, and she decided to put me up for adoption. She felt very strongly that I should be adopted by college graduates, so everything was all set for me to be adopted at birth by a lawyer and his wife. Except that when I popped out they decided at the last minute that they really wanted a girl. So my parents, who were on a waiting list, got a call in the middle of the night asking: "We have an unexpected baby boy; do you want him?" They said: "Of course." My biological mother later found out that my mother had never graduated from college and that my father had never graduated from high school. She refused to sign the final adoption papers. She only relented a few months later when my parents promised that I would someday go to college.

And 17 years later I did go to college. But I naively chose a college that was almost as expensive as Stanford, and all of my working-class parents' savings were being spent on my college tuition. After six months, I couldn't see the value in it. I had no idea what I wanted to do with my life and no idea how college was going to help me figure it out. And here I was spending all of the money my parents had saved their entire life. So I decided to drop out and trust that it would all work out OK. It was pretty scary at the time, but looking back it was one of the best decisions I ever made. The minute I dropped out I could stop taking the required classes that didn't interest me, and begin dropping in on the ones that looked interesting.

It wasn't all romantic. I didn't have a dorm room, so I slept on the floor in friends' rooms, I returned coke bottles for the 5¢ deposits to buy food with, and I would walk the 7 miles across town every Sunday night to get one good meal a week at the Hare Krishna temple. I loved it. And much of what I stumbled into by following my curiosity and intuition turned out to be priceless later on. Let me give you one example:

Reed College at that time offered perhaps the best calligraphy instruction in the country. Throughout the campus every poster, every label on every drawer, was beautifully hand calligraphed. Because I had dropped out and didn't have to take the normal classes, I decided to take a calligraphy class to learn how to do this. I learned about serif and san serif typefaces, about varying the amount of space between different letter combinations, about what makes great typography great. It was beautiful, historical, artistically subtle in a way that science can't capture, and I found it fascinating.

None of this had even a hope of any practical application in my life. But ten years later, when we were designing the first Macintosh computer, it all came back to me. And we designed it all into the Mac. It was the first computer with beautiful typography. If I had never dropped in on that single course in college, the Mac would have never had multiple typefaces or proportionally spaced fonts. And since Windows just copied the Mac, its likely that no personal computer would have them. If I had never dropped out, I would have never dropped in on this calligraphy class, and personal computers might not have the wonderful typography that they do. Of course it was impossible to connect the dots looking forward when I was in college. But it was very, very clear looking backwards ten years later.

Again, you can't connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them looking backwards. So you have to trust that the dots will somehow connect in your future. You have to trust in something — your gut, destiny, life, karma, whatever. This approach has never let me down, and it has made all the difference in my life.

My second story is about love and loss.

I was lucky — I found what I loved to do early in life. Woz and I started Apple in my parents garage when I was 20. We worked hard, and in 10 years Apple had grown from just the two of us in a garage into a $2 billion company with over 4000 employees. We had just released our finest creation — the Macintosh — a year earlier, and I had just turned 30. And then I got fired. How can you get fired from a company you started? Well, as Apple grew we hired someone who I thought was very talented to run the company with me, and for the first year or so things went well. But then our visions of the future began to diverge and eventually we had a falling out. When we did, our Board of Directors sided with him. So at 30 I was out. And very publicly out. What had been the focus of my entire adult life was gone, and it was devastating.

I really didn't know what to do for a few months. I felt that I had let the previous generation of entrepreneurs down - that I had dropped the baton as it was being passed to me. I met with David Packard and Bob Noyce and tried to apologize for screwing up so badly. I was a very public failure, and I even thought about running away from the valley. But something slowly began to dawn on me — I still loved what I did. The turn of events at Apple had not changed that one bit. I had been rejected, but I was still in love. And so I decided to start over.

I didn't see it then, but it turned out that getting fired from Apple was the best thing that could have ever happened to me. The heaviness of being successful was replaced by the lightness of being a beginner again, less sure about everything. It freed me to enter one of the most creative periods of my life.

During the next five years, I started a company named NeXT, another company named Pixar, and fell in love with an amazing woman who would become my wife. Pixar went on to create the worlds first computer animated feature film, Toy Story, and is now the most successful animation studio in the world. In a remarkable turn of events, Apple bought NeXT, I returned to Apple, and the technology we developed at NeXT is at the heart of Apple's current renaissance. And Laurene and I have a wonderful family together.

I'm pretty sure none of this would have happened if I hadn't been fired from Apple. It was awful tasting medicine, but I guess the patient needed it. Sometimes life hits you in the head with a brick. Don't lose faith. I'm convinced that the only thing that kept me going was that I loved what I did. You've got to find what you love. And that is as true for your work as it is for your lovers. Your work is going to fill a large part of your life, and the only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work. And the only way to do great work is to love what you do. If you haven't found it yet, keep looking. Don't settle. As with all matters of the heart, you'll know when you find it. And, like any great relationship, it just gets better and better as the years roll on. So keep looking until you find it. Don't settle.

My third story is about death.

When I was 17, I read a quote that went something like: "If you live each day as if it was your last, someday you'll most certainly be right." It made an impression on me, and since then, for the past 33 years, I have looked in the mirror every morning and asked myself: "If today were the last day of my life, would I want to do what I am about to do today?" And whenever the answer has been "No" for too many days in a row, I know I need to change something.

Remembering that I'll be dead soon is the most important tool I've ever encountered to help me make the big choices in life. Because almost everything — all external expectations, all pride, all fear of embarrassment or failure - these things just fall away in the face of death, leaving only what is truly important. Remembering that you are going to die is the best way I know to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose. You are already naked. There is no reason not to follow your heart.

About a year ago I was diagnosed with cancer. I had a scan at 7:30 in the morning, and it clearly showed a tumor on my pancreas. I didn't even know what a pancreas was. The doctors told me this was almost certainly a type of cancer that is incurable, and that I should expect to live no longer than three to six months. My doctor advised me to go home and get my affairs in order, which is doctor's code for prepare to die. It means to try to tell your kids everything you thought you'd have the next 10 years to tell them in just a few months. It means to make sure everything is buttoned up so that it will be as easy as possible for your family. It means to say your goodbyes.

I lived with that diagnosis all day. Later that evening I had a biopsy, where they stuck an endoscope down my throat, through my stomach and into my intestines, put a needle into my pancreas and got a few cells from the tumor. I was sedated, but my wife, who was there, told me that when they viewed the cells under a microscope the doctors started crying because it turned out to be a very rare form of pancreatic cancer that is curable with surgery. I had the surgery and I'm fine now.

This was the closest I've been to facing death, and I hope its the closest I get for a few more decades. Having lived through it, I can now say this to you with a bit more certainty than when death was a useful but purely intellectual concept:

No one wants to die. Even people who want to go to heaven don't want to die to get there. And yet death is the destination we all share. No one has ever escaped it. And that is as it should be, because Death is very likely the single best invention of Life. It is Life's change agent. It clears out the old to make way for the new. Right now the new is you, but someday not too long from now, you will gradually become the old and be cleared away. Sorry to be so dramatic, but it is quite true.

Your time is limited, so don't waste it living someone else's life. Don't be trapped by dogma — which is living with the results of other people's thinking. Don't let the noise of others' opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary.

When I was young, there was an amazing publication called The Whole Earth Catalog, which was one of the bibles of my generation. It was created by a fellow named Stewart Brand not far from here in Menlo Park, and he brought it to life with his poetic touch. This was in the late 1960's, before personal computers and desktop publishing, so it was all made with typewriters, scissors, and polaroid cameras. It was sort of like Google in paperback form, 35 years before Google came along: it was idealistic, and overflowing with neat tools and great notions.

Stewart and his team put out several issues of The Whole Earth Catalog, and then when it had run its course, they put out a final issue. It was the mid-1970s, and I was your age. On the back cover of their final issue was a photograph of an early morning country road, the kind you might find yourself hitchhiking on if you were so adventurous. Beneath it were the words: "Stay Hungry. Stay Foolish." It was their farewell message as they signed off. Stay Hungry. Stay Foolish. And I have always wished that for myself. And now, as you graduate to begin anew, I wish that for you.

Stay Hungry. Stay Foolish.

Thank you all very much.

Derrinita's random absence explained :P

Ok Kristie and I were supposed to make everyone's day on Monday and decided the best way would be to sugar everyone up. Wed night we met to make those beautiful bags and Mon we were gonna meet a little early to organize them on the table alphabetically so everyone could find theirs easily. I'm sure Kristie did a great job while I was stuck in central Florida.

So I'm into Euro cars and left Friday after class to go to a car show in Miami with a friend in my car group. He just put a new suspension on his car to make it lower. We drove from Tally to Miami with no problems. While driving around in Miami we encountered some rough roads (because of the construction) and I think that caused the coils to slip, because on our way home sunday the fenders on the back started cutting into our tires. When we got out to check the noise, we thought it was because we'd put too much air in the tires just now--so we let it out. Half an hour later, the noise started again. This time it was in the front. A piece of the fender well was cracked and the wind was pushing it against the tire. Time to find a store. First we taped it. That worked for 30 min. Then we got zip ties and those held for a few hours. After another stop for gas, we noticed the groove in the back tires had gotten worse, so we bought a finger nail file to try to file down the tooth that was eating in to the rubber. Silly I know, but slightly effective. Eventually we got hungry and stopped in Orlando, got lost and had to stay at a friends house. The plan was to raise the car up that morning and get back on the road. Raising the car proved to be time consuming without a lift. But all things considered, we were making good enough time to get to your class, until we had to stop in Gainesville because one side of the car was lower than the other. Another adjustment and a few hours of waiting later, we're back on the road, with no zip ties now...where they went I don't know. So now we're driving 50 mph all the way back to Tally and didn't get in till late last night/early this morning.

Its an impossibly long story, that isn't very interesting, but just wanted you to know what happened to me while you guys were eating candy and being creative :)

Generation Y- Not?

Since today's class lesson on generations I've really been thinking a lot about my generation and how greatly we really do differ from those before us. Not only has it been the advancement of technology that has guided my generation to be the way we are, but like Melissa said in class today, it's also our parents and how we were raised that made us the way we are now.

With that said and because Generation "Y" just seems so boring and non-reflective of who we are, I think we should be renamed to Generation "Y-Not"? Like it was said in class today, we find ways to do things that no other generation has. Somehow we manage to read a book, write a paper, and chat on AIM all at once. Why? Because we can. So, why not? We may be seen as the lazy generation, yet we are also seen as tech savvy, innovative, and creative. So with that, why not be a little lazy at times? Maybe being lazy has helped us become so tech savvy and creative with the way we spend our free time.

Our parents (maybe not all, but some of them) have taught us to value their opinions with important decisions in our lives. If that helps us to get where we ultimately want to be in life, then why not call them once a day? Really, why not?

After googeling Generation Y, I have found an article saying that we are the generation to want to make change, such as refusing to wear formal clothes to work and ...

"They're like Generation X on steroids," Tulgan says. "They walk in with high expectations for themselves, their employer, their boss. If you thought you saw a clash when Generation X came into the workplace, that was the fake punch. The haymaker is coming now."

Generation Y likes to make change...Ironic that my post is about changing our title? I think not.

Bringing Mommy Into It

So a long time ago my friend told me to look up this guy called Chris Crocker on myspace, his videos were so funny. He's such an out there character who has no problems putting his views on life, and pictures of his life on the web on a daily basis. He has thousands of videos and thousands of "internet fans." He is now semi-well known for his Brittany Spears obsession video and his court case involving not wearing jewelry to a club. Well I've been watching him for a while and I find him hilarious and respected. I don't always agree with him, but I'm proud of him for saying it. Plus, especially in his old stuff he gets upset and vents about nothing. I like the one where he is on the phone "youtube search holdin it down http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FjZKgzyTo7E ) or when hes trying to cook and burns himself and freaks out on Betty Crocker. Well so I was looking at his new stuff, and it tied into what we talked about this week. He's about 20 years old so he is a Gen Y, who's parents handle EVERYTHING. His new war is on "haters" and he got his mommy to make a video with him and posted it. This would be a good time to post it, but I can't figure out how to save a video from youtube and post it on here?http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=42CNylT0M38