wilbur, my internet connection is down again!

myspace gets the vote out

“Declare Yourself,” says social network portal MySpace in a new campaign urging its users to get out there and vote. Declare Yourself is a nonpartisan non-profit dedicated to encouraging Americans between the ages of 18 and 29. Declare’s and MySpace are offering MySpace users tools like the “I Registered to Vote on MySpace” badge that they can proudly display on their profiles and the branded Declare Yourself profile, which offers voter registration instructions in both English and Spanish. [read more]

annie: suri cover shot inspired by mccartney

so says fotog Annie in Newsweek:

Though Leibovitz had less control over her tiny subject than she’s used to, she did manage to direct the now ubiquitous cover shot of Suri, inspired by Linda McCartney’s famous picture of Paul with their firstborn wrapped in his jacket—which she calls “one of my favorite pictures of a father holding a baby.”

second life, cont.

I’ve been exploring SL a bit more. Find I keep alternating between Berkman Island and the Henry James Museum. Also enjoy strolling the Lost Gardens of Apollo. Have seen a couple of movie theaters but no Off-Broadway types. Went looking for some cool galleries but found only an Arts & Crafts furniture showroom. Have had some pleasant conversations. Left a note at the Picayune newspaper office. See you all in-world on Thurs!

cyberbalkanization

In “Democracy and Filtering” (2004), Cass Sunstein argues that while the Web is a powerful tool for personal expression, the ability of users to shut out differing or contrary or views runs counter to the demands of a free society. What Sunstein fails to acknowledge, however, is that thanks to the Web, the remedy is just a click away.

Sunstein decries the group polarization that occurs when individuals seek out only those whose opinions they agree with, and claims that this “filtering out of noise and creation of our own personal echo chambers” tends to push like-minded groups to extremes.

He cites examples of this phenomenon, ranging from the current French view of the U.S., to racist and anti-racist movements, to the tendencies of sitting judges. In each case, within-group discussion is seen as reinforcing the prevailing view, resulting in a fragmentation/balkanization (cyberbalkanization is the term Sunstein coins in his 2001 book Republic.com) that is somehow inimical to democracy.

[In their “Networked Interactivity” study (1997), Sheizaf Rafaeli and Fay Sudweeks earlier documented the tendency of computer-mediated communication to reinforce agreement and consensus within groups.]

Sunstein asserts that for democracy to flourish, “People should be exposed to materials they would not have chosen in advance.” This was the function of “general-interest intermediaries, including newspapers, magazines, and broadcasters,” which “forced upon us chance encounters with diverse others.” With the increasing personalization afforded by the Internet/Web (Sunstein uses the terms interchangeably), he claims the media is losing the ability to perform that critical role.

But even if the filter were perfect, that is, if you could shut out the “unwanted noise” and confine yourself only to news and opinion that supported and amplified your particular views, the new-media convention of hypertext linking would tend to expose you to differing and opposing views, embedded in the very content you were choosing.

For example, if you were intentionally limiting your news consumption to the purportedly right-leaning Drudge Report, you would find today’s main headline, “Ahmadinejad Blasts U.S.,” linking to Breitbart.com (slogan: “Just the News”), which in turn carries an AP report by Scheherezade Faramarzi headlined “Iran Tells U.N. Nuclear Program Peaceful.”

Venturing to the other end of the political spectrum, today’s Moveon.org homepage carries a feature titled “The Republicans Are Exploiting 9/11 to Win Re-Election.” Follow the series of links, though, and just a few clicks later you end up at a transcript of a State of the Union Address from www.whitehouse.gov. The end result of each partisan exercise leads, ironically and perhaps inevitably, to precisely the opposite view.

In the end, not even the Balkans can remain completely balkanized: the borders in that region are constantly changing. And no matter how distinct they may appear at any given time, it is impossible for the people living there to ignore their neighbors or exist outside the larger context of Europe and the world.

Similarly, no matter how polarized we may become here in the U.S., the fact that we must exist in a larger context of interconnected (and now hyperlinked) groups requires that we ultimately face those who disagree with us-whether that is on the Web, in a town hall debate, or at the polling place on election day.

integrating jobs feed in blog

I’ve been experimenting here

last of the media titans

L.A. Times story about Murdoch and Redstone

Second Life, b. 9.15.06

The first thing I saw was the notice of the security breach. So I didn’t want to give out any real information.

Next, I wondered why the choice of last name was limited. The names were all strange except for Feingold. I searched for Russ Feingold but it was already taken. I considered taking President Feingold (I’m supporting a Feingold-Obama ticket in 2008). But ultimately decided against that. [I may look for “Russ” later.]

When I got to the “Big Six” it reminded me of the Ten Commandments. I wanted to cut and paste them to study them later but wasn’t able to. I couldn’t print them out either. I guess I prefer stone tablets for critical information. “The rules” are very intimidating. I’m not sure whether I am up to this or will be able to comply. Anxiety.

Is this a second chance for me or humanity?

Standing in line with naked people (I took a Gap-like outfit) reminded me of the Garden of Eden.

There was a message that flashed but I didn’t get a chance to read it. Now I am missing cues.

The instructions mention left and right clicks but I use a Mac. Now I am at a disadvantage.

I took my “baby steps” down to orientation… There is a lot of waiting… I walked over to a prospect to take in the view. I am stuck on an island but though I see others flying off, I am not ready to fly.

Now I am looking for paths, looking for other people for more cues. I notice many people are changing appearance, why? A couple of people start chatting with me. They all mention clothes in the context of being “new.” “Can you tell I’m new from my clothes?” I have no intention of ever changing clothes or appearance [but later I wonder if it will reflect poorly on my hygiene; bizarre!]

First “sign” of private property: Eye chart “owned” by Gov Linden.

WHOA! A strange creature with wings charged at me with a blue-glowing hand. Very aggressive! I backed away. What was that about?????

I chatted some more, then learned how to fly.

The hyperawareness (paranoia) is exhausting.

I exited. Had trouble falling asleep.

jobs feed

Associate Director of CRM/eCRM, Major Sports Media Giant (Fulltime, New York, NY)

Title: Associate Director of CRM/eCRM
Client: Major Sports Media Giant
Location: New York, NY
Type: Fulltime position

Hey sports fans, The Hired Guns are looking for an Associate Director of CRM/eCRM for our client, a major sports media giant that produces content across a variety of vehicles ranging from TV, Magazines, Mobile, Broadband and the Web.

We are looking for a super strong direct marketer who really gets and understand sports fans. In this role, you will develop strategies and programs to extend and improve customer relationships across this media giant’s various businesses. And you need to understand both traditional and interactive direct marketing tools and methodologies.

We also need you to be a CRM advocate — evangelizing and educating about the need for CRM and goals of the program.

In this role, you’ll get your hands dirty, you’ll develop business plans, pro-formas and implementation plans in support of new cross-company CRM programs. We also need you to be the customer advocate — which means you’ll be conducting customer satisfaction and loyalty research and recommending improvements across businesses.

This CRM role requires someone who can work independently and proactively as well as collaboratively in an entrepreneurial environment, with excellent project management and communications skills.

Key Responsibilities Include:

* Identifying high priority customer segments and developing strategies to cultivate direct relationships, capture information and extend relationships across lines of business
* Conduct primary and secondary market research to size potential consumer demand for programs and uncover consumer needs to shape program design and offerings
* Develop strategic rationale and business cases in support of new CRM programs or initiatives
* Partner with IT / Operations / Business Analytics to identify data, customer service, and operational infrastructure needed to support new programs. Partner with Finance / Business Development to create detailed financial projections including payback analysis. Where appropriate, identify potential third party partners.
* Prepare communication of strategy and plans, including to senior management

Qualifications:

* Knowledge of and passion for sports, with a desire to work in the sports industry crmgig@thehiredguns.com. (Please do not reply to this email.) The cover letter should detail your experience relevant to this opportunity and include the reasons for yourinterest in the position.

No phone calls or faxes, please.

Senior Marketing Manager for Digital Ad Tools Provider (Fulltime, New York, NY)

Title: Senior Marketing Manager
Client: Digital Ad Tools Service Provider
Location: New York, NY
Type: Fulltime

Our client, a company that enables agencies, marketers and publishers to work together successfully and profit from their digital marketing investments, is currently building the management team of a brand new product. So, we’re looking for a digital marketing innovator who wants the excitement of a start up but the deep pockets of a major player in the interactive space — and we know you’re out there! “
* 3-5 years of CRM/eCRM experience, with experience designing and executing customer segmentation strategies and CRM programs delivering highly customized, targeted consumer value
* Strong analytical skills, with demonstrated ability to use information to deliver program improvement
* Experience developing business plans for new initiatives including business case / rationale development, financial pro formas and launch marketing plans
* Experience interfacing effectively with multiple levels of management, ranging from senior corporate executives to line managers
* Strong presentation and communication skills
* MBA preferred, but not required

HOW TO APPLY

Email a cover letter (required) with your most recent resume attached to crmgig@thehiredguns.com. (Please do not reply to this email.) The cover letter should detail your experience relevant to this opportunity and include the reasons for your interest in the position.

No phone calls or faxes, please.
Send to a friend top

Senior Marketing Manager for Digital Ad Tools Provider (Fulltime, New York, NY)

Title: Senior Marketing Manager
Client: Digital Ad Tools Service Provider
Location: New York, NY
Type: Fulltime

Our client, a company that enables agencies, marketers and publishers to work together successfully and profit from their digital marketing investments, is currently building the management team of a brand new product. So, we’re looking for a digital marketing innovator who wants the excitement of a start up but the deep pockets of a major player in the interactive space — and we know you’re out there!

As the Senior Marketing Manager, you’ll be responsible for developing the launch marketing plan for the new product — establishing the positioning, messaging, and tactics that will resonate most effectively with existing clients and new buyers and directly supporting sales goals. To be great at this job you have to be passionate about digital advertising and charged up about where it’s going. This is not a job for someone who wants to be in “maintenance-mode”.

Areas of focus include product launches, sales tools, conferences and trade shows, advertising and website strategy and execution.

The ideal candidate is experienced, high-energy, customer-focused, and creative, with an ability to thrive in an entrepreneurial environment. As well, the ideal candidate has a deep enthusiasm for online advertising and associated technology and applications.

The position reports to a Vice President & General Manager and you will be the most senior marketing person on the team. So the buck stops with you!

Specific responsibilities include:

* Developing product marketing plan, including identifying appropriate target segments and messages, competitive analyses, audience analysis, service definitions, and positioning
* Launching new versions of product and bringing new features to market
* Developing and implementing acquisition and retention/volume increase campaigns
* Managing participation in external events and trade shows
* Working with Product Management to determine product and marketing direction
* Participating in development of business unit annual strategic plan
* Directing resources in the areas of writing, editing, graphics, and production, and providing quality review and oversight, and in some cases, hands-on writing and editorial support
* Collaborating with leadership and subject matter experts within the business to coordinate messaging and timing of programs

Requirements include:

* Minimum 7 years experience in Marketingsrmktgmgr@thehiredguns.com. (Please do not reply to this email.) The cover letter should detail your experience relevant to this opportunity and include the reasons for yourinterest in the position.

No phone calls or faxes, please.

Marketing Communications Associate/Writer, Global Investment Bank (Freelance, New York, NY)”
* Bachelors degree required, MBA a plus
* Industry Knowledge: In-depth understanding, gained through experience, of dynamics of online advertising and overall advertising industries.
* Ongoing refresh of that knowledge through attending events, etc. Should be considered a subject matter expert
* Client Knowledge: In-depth understanding of business models of web publishers, advertising agencies and advertisers
* Marketing Knowledge: Expert understanding of the role of marketing in organizations, the differences between B2C and B2B marketing, and the principles of direct marketing and advertising, gained through experience.
* Ability to effectively interface with senior-level executives
* Experience in dealing with industry analysts a plus
* Ability to direct and set priorities for less senior colleagues

This is a truly unique opportunity to be a key, high-visibility player in an entrepreneurial environment.

HOW TO APPLY

Email a cover letter (required) with your most recent resume attached to srmktgmgr@thehiredguns.com. (Please do not reply to this email.) The cover letter should detail your experience relevant to this opportunity and include the reasons for your interest in the position.

No phone calls or faxes, please.
Send to a friend top

Marketing Communications Associate/Writer, Global Investment Bank (Freelance, New York, NY)

Title: Marketing Communications Associate/Writer
Client: Global Investment Bank
Location: New York, NY (Midtown)
Type: Long-term Freelance (100% on-site)

The Hired Guns are looking for a Marketing Communications Associate with a strong writing background for a long term consulting assignment for our client, a major investment bank. The ideal candidate will have a communications, English or journalism degree and 4-6 years of total work experience. Familiarity with AP writing style a major plus. Financial services writing experience gets you extra bonus points.

In this role, you will work closely with the the chief communications officer for a key division at the firm. Your role will be largely internal communications. You’ll be charged with writing articles and news and posting them to the firm-wide intranet and email. Types of pieces you will write may include senior management announcements, organizational changes, business policies and procedures, human-interest stories, team and senior management profiles, etc.

This job will also get you exposure to event planning. You will be charged with managing different aspects of the portfolio of events and programs including coordinating event/program logistics, identifying technical specifications and working with multimedia to prepare and edit presentation materials and produce meeting feedback notes and results.

REQUIREMENTS:

* Bachelors Degree required, degree in Communications, English or Journalism preferred.
* Experience with AP style writing preferred
* Excellent PC skills including Microsoft Suite: Powerpoint, Excel and Word
* Strong analytical skills
* Ability to work under pressure and meet tight deadlines (multi-task)
* Multimedia or video production experience a plus
* Knowledge of internet/intranet technologies

HOW TO APPLY

Email a cover letter (required) with your most recent resume attached to “

Title: Marketing Communications Associate/Writer
Client: Global Investment Bank
Location: New York, NY (Midtown)
Type: Long-term Freelance (100% on-site)

The Hired Guns are looking for a Marketing Communications Associate with a strong writing background for a long term consulting assignment for our client, a major investment bank. The ideal candidate will have a communications, English or journalism degree and 4-6 years of total work experience. Familiarity with AP writing style a major plus. Financial services writing experience gets you extra bonus points.

In this role, you will work closely with the the chief communications officer for a key division at the firm. Your role will be largely internal communications. You’ll be charged with writing articles and news and posting them to the firm-wide intranet and email. Types of pieces you will write may include senior management announcements, organizational changes, business policies and procedures, human-interest stories, team and senior management profiles, etc.

This job will also get you exposure to event planning. You will be charged with managing different aspects of the portfolio of events and programs including coordinating event/program logistics, identifying technical specifications and working with multimedia to prepare and edit presentation materials and produce meeting feedback notes and results.

REQUIREMENTS:

* Bachelors Degree required, degree in Communications, English or Journalism preferred.
* Experience with AP style writing preferred
* Excellent PC skills including Microsoft Suite: Powerpoint, Excel and Word
* Strong analytical skills
* Ability to work under pressure and meet tight deadlines (multi-task)
* Multimedia or video production experience a plus
* Knowledge of internet/intranet technologies

HOW TO APPLY

Email a cover letter (required) with your most recent resume attached to marcommswritergig@thehiredguns.com. (Please do not reply to this email.) The cover letter should detail your experience relevant to this opportunity and include the reasons for your interest in the position.

No phone calls or faxes, please.

The Hired Guns (www.thehiredguns.com) is a workforce agency that connects skilled marketing, advertising, interactive and creative talent with great interim gigs and full-time jobs. We’re always looking toexpand our network of independent professionals and job seekers.

If you have friends with experience in marketing, branding, advertising,PR, promotions, events, copywriting or design — send them to our site so they can register to become Hired Guns!

© 2006 The Hired Guns Marketing Consulting Group, LLC. All rights reserved. THE HIRED GUNS® is a registered trade mark owned by The Hired Guns Marketing Consulting Group, LLC.

No phone calls or faxes, please.

hachiko still waits

I used to tell a joke about Manhattan real estate: the rental agent shows you a studio, and when you say, “I thought you said it was a three-room apartment,” she answers: “It is. It’s just that the living room, the dining room and the bedroom all happen to occupy the same square footage simultaneously.”

That is what the youthful Thumb Tribes of Japan described in Rheingold’s “Shibuya Epiphany” seem to have accomplished with the new mobile technology: these “techno-adept, fashion-saturated, identity-constructing [members of the] mobile-texting culture” have succeeded in creating an “extra room” that exists in the same square footage as, or rather in parallel to — their crowded metropoli; a cyber space in which to exercise the physical and personal freedom they lack in their real lives.

It is an impressive feat conceptually as well as technologically. But once again I find myself searching for the tangible societal benefit. What have they accomplished with this smart mobbing, flocking, and swarming?

The history of i-mode is certainly impressive as a business case — a magazine marketer catapults a phone company into the 21st century; I love it! — but what in the end is achieved by the development of this parallel space beyond the organizing of parties and the delivery of pulp fictions involving teenage girls and salary men?

One longs for heroic tales of political resistance made possible – of actual rather than virtual mobs empowered by the mobile technology to face down tyrannical regimes. The example of the “People Power” revolution in the Philippines is offered as “an early indicator of the way mobile communications could affect other countries.” But this tantalizing history lesson is left to a later chapter. We focus here instead on the ways Filipinos use SMS to send jokes, riddles or merely say good morning… To relay Valentines messages or socialize in ways parents would disapprove of (a recurring theme).

Granted, from the many examples offered from around the globe, mobile technology clearly offers a way for GenTxt to subvert parental and governmental control. And that it provides the East African trader access to commercial information and economic opportunity is, in its way, revolutionary. But the heroic acts are not there yet – or at least, not yet told; the accomplishments seem more often on the personal and not the grand scale – the micro and not the macro.

Did SMS help save lives in Indonesia during the tsunami or in New Orleans during Katrina? If so, that would be truly impressive in a way that the stories of virtual motorcycle gangs and botfighters of Stockholm are not. If mobile telephones are “evolving into control devices for the physical world,” are they being consciously employed as the constructive tools of a new and better social order. Or just another way for individuals to mindlessly “change the channel”?

Is this admittedly amazing communications technology bringing us closer to a better communal way of life for all, or enabling us instead to withdraw into our own private worlds for selfish amusement? Is all this “attunement with hyper-coordinated throngs” “invisibly coordinated by flows of electronically mediated messages” serving a greater purpose in the progress of the species. Or are we aimlessly flocking and schooling this way and that, mesmerized by the silvery flashes, while the fishing nets draw closer around us?