Concrete jungle where dreams are made of...

New York: the best sushi, ping pong and mac & cheese in the world. Don’t you wish you were as cool as us, rest of the world?

(Thanks Rosie Siman for the inspiration)

I’ve had no real deep, thought provoking thoughts today running through my head… except these three…

1. PING PONG. I love sitting in Bryant Park when the weather starts to break and watch local ping pong fans doing their thing.  It’s intriguing to watch.  What other part of the country will you see that?!  Nowhere.  I need to practice and get into a few games.  What a better way to relax and enjoy the weather and people of New York…especially this time of year.

2. THE L.A. BEARD. I lived in Los Angeles in 2008.  While I was there, I got lazy.  Lazy about shaving everyday.  What formed has been nicknamed by my close friends as the “L.A. Beard.”  They didn’t nickname it because they liked it.  They nicknamed it because they hated it.  No one back in the Midwest or east coast really got into it.  But I liked it.  Slowly but surely lately, it’s been coming back.  Will I keep it?  The jury is still out.

3. PIE. I love pie.  Do you like pie?  Not to sound like one of the best lines from the Men in Black movies, but I LOVE PIE.  Pie fixes everything.  My friends recently debated with me that ice cream was the fix all to our problems, but I disagree.  When was the last time you had pie?  Probably the holidays.  You usually only have pie during big family gatherings.  Ice cream is a more normal, and obvious, item to have when you’re not feeling well about life.  So why not treat yourself to PIE???  It’s different… and it’s damn good.

That is all today.

Carry on.

,,,of this important fact as you sit next to one sipping on your overpriced, poorly made cafe mocha…

Captain Obvious: Saving dumbasses from personal injury since Adam ate the apple that Eve said no to ions ago.

With less than two weeks away until “the big game,” we’re already talking about those fancy, well done, creative Super Bowl TV commercials.  And not one has aired yet.

So far two spots that haven’t even hit American TV airwaves have been causing a ruckus among people…

1) A gay dating site called ManCrush submitted a spot having two men watching the game end up in a full, passionate embrace (story)

2) A spot featuring former Florida QB Tim Tebow on abortion from an organization called Focus on the Family. (story)

Ahh, the days when TV was so innocent...

Neither of these commercials have even made it to air or been made available to the public, yet the story is the talk of numerous news stories across all mediums, and especially online in blogs.

You know, I think I’d rather create a TV spot and NOT have CBS air it.

Look at the amount of free publicity these companies are getting and look how much their message is getting spread around!

Sure, we’ll see the regulars such as Budweiser, Go Daddy and other big names with their well written TV spots that they hope we’ll be talking about Monday morning around the proverbial water cooler.

But the two commercials under debate were able to get even more ground thanks to everything being all up in arms about it, days before they even air…if they even do.

Is this an example of the future of media?  What is worth more… the $2.5 million you’ll shell out to have your 30 second message air that night on CBS, or having CBS debate your spot and having that message spread around the media and the internet, without even paying a penny to CBS?

The big media outlets hold onto their belief that they are the gatekeepers for getting a message out to the masses and spreading the good news of an organization to all of us.

I think CBS, without even thinking about it, is making a case that their strongest sales pitch doesn’t hold true anymore.

Well done guys.

To keep the NFL happy… the term “Super Bowl” is trademarked by the National Football League and is used in this post for journalistic purposes, only.  Now keep your attorneys away, please.

No I didn’t disappear! I’m still here!

I’m putting some cool things together for 2010… and I’ll tell you about them soon!

Also… HazeTV returns on December 1st with its month long celebration of the holidays in New York City.  That’s right… I’m going to make fun of the bums on Broadway with lights around themselves thinking they’re a tree and asking for a donation for their “creativity.”

In the meantime, enjoy some brand new WarriorTalk podcasts with Dave Jenks and Laurie Hathorn. Dave and I discuss the 4 Actions of Fearless Living at http://tinyurl.com/fewshows.

Onward!

Dear Dumbass McDonalds Employee directing traffic in the drive thru lane making $6.50/hr:

If you want me to stop my car, why don’t you do the common sense thing and put your hand out and say STOP instead of STICKING YOUR FOOT OUT IN FRONT OF MY CAR AND… NOT SAYING A G&#D$@# WORD?!

You must have had a BLAST playing in traffic growing up!

Check your ego at the fryer, will ya??

Love,

Common Sense

Are you frustrated by Facebook? Perplexed by Plaxo?
Does LinkedIn leave you feeling lost? And, what is Twitter?

Join the Union Square Partnership for our
Fall Business Assistance Forum & Networking Event

Spotlight on Social Media

This free business assistance event is geared for users familiar with LinkedIn, Facebook, Plaxo, Twitter and other networks who wish to learn how to better leverage them to generate and increase business. Join our panel of experts on Monday, October 19th as they discuss specific features that are particularly useful for small businesses. How is social media integrated into your business growth plan?  How much professional time should you devote online to social networking?   Learn how to take your skills to the next level and keep your readers interested and engaged.

Panelists include Colin Nagy, partner at Attention, a New York-based communications and social media marketing firm; Matt Haze, host of daily video blog, HazeTV, and numerous business podcasts and live events; Sheldon Gilbert, founder and CEO, Proclivity Systems, a consumer behavior research firm; Chaim Indig, co-founder and CEO, Phreesia, one of the nation’s premier medical patient screening companies. The panel will be moderated by Renee Fishman, Associate Broker at Halstead Property.

Fall Business Assistance Forum & Networking Event
Spotlight on Social Media
Monday, October 19, 2009
6:00 PM to 8:00 PM
W New York-Union Square
201 Park Avenue South at 17th Street

Space is limited and attendees must RSVP at 212-460-1200
or info@unionsquarenyc.org by Friday, October 16th.

I’d like EVERY WILLING AND ABLE BODY to make your vote!

I can’t decide!!! I’m going to purchase a new pair of glasses and if you know anything about me, me and fashion go as well as me and Michael Moore.

SO… I need YOUR HELP!

Which pair should I go with????

Me have no fashion sense. Me need your help.

Or do you not like either choice and I should stick with the contacts?

Ladies and gentlemen of the jury… your choices for voting are…

Option #1 - thin frame only on top, lenses open, yet still boxy

Option #2 - da think boxy frame

Cartoon characters don't wear glasses... keep dem der contacts son!

So please help me choose!!! Leave your choice and comments below…

It’s the least you can do if I’ve made you laugh at least ONCE this year.

Love,
The Management

Jay Leno is gracing the cover of this week’s TIME magazine.

He’s been everywhere… that’s how NBC does it!  Any opportunity to put out their star that will save the network as we know it (whose new show starts Monday, September 14th).

The TIME article really embraces the feel of NBC and the truth about media: mass media is dead.  Niche is here to stay.

As cable and the internet opens up new delivery means for entertainment, we have more options than ever.  That’s less eyeballs for the network.  That’s less ad dollars.  And that’s the reality they face in the changing media world.

The article is a GREAT read!

http://www.time.com/time/arts/article/0,8599,1920038-1,00.html

This afternoon, I had a great, constructive conversation with former WNCI/Columbus night personality Maxwell.

Like many of our fellow radio friends, he was let go due to budget cuts earlier this year.

During his time so far on the beach, he hasn’t been just sitting around.  People in Central Ohio know him and listened to him all the time and loved what he did.  Shortly after being let go, he was being offered opportunities.  Not full-time radio, but other opportunities to use his personality and talent in other mediums.  He’s ventured into television reporting and hosting live events.  He’s been learning about online media.  Maxwell has some great new projects in the works to utilize his talents and content that he creates to entertain and inform Central Ohio on different platforms.  He’s been staying busy.

Maxwell learned something very quickly that I think many haven’t learned yet.

You aren’t just a radio DJ.

You’re a content creator.

Radio is just one medium you distribute your content through.

The days of the “radio DJ” are numbered.  Voice tracking is here to stay.  Syndication is growing by leaps and bounds.  Board operators are becoming a thing of the past with every single NexGen software update.  Stations that were live and local 24/7 just a year ago are now ‘tracking shifts and using more syndicated products.

If you’re still sitting around just waiting and hoping for your next full time radio gig, I wish you the best of luck as your breed is slowly starting to die.  Maybe you should have a conversation with those who performed with the live orchestras or the engineers who worked those boards on the radio back in the 1920s through 1940s.  Or the voice actors that would perform live radio shows with props back when.  (You know those shows… you can hear them now on an automated XM/Sirius channel.)  I’m sure they would share the same feelings as you right now.

NOW… Before you start throwing eggs at me and trying to find where my Hyunadi Elantra is parked to slash my tires, hear me out, ok?

You’re a PERSONALITY.  You create CONTENT.  If you’re just planning on being someone who talks on the radio, you’re numbered.  You just can’t sign up for a prep service and read the lines that come off of it.  You aren’t needed anymore.

If you’re someone who CREATES COMPELLNIG, RELATABLE CONTENT that people want… AND you use MORE than just radio as a medium to deliver it, you’re starting to get it.

Now is the time to embrace your BRAND.  Now is the time to be the CONTENT CREATOR that you are, and not just a talking head on the radio.

Radio is just a medium you get it out with.  We’re so stuck on our old fashioned title of “radio personality.”  The title is no longer as valid as it once was.  We don’t need just radio DJs to be there and push buttons, talk into a microphone and pay them a full time salary with benefits.

Not needed anymore.  Not coming back.

Don’t believe me?  Do you not get what I mean by a content creator?

Look at Ryan Seacrest.

Say what you want about Seacrest, love him or hate him, love his shows or not.  But Ryan gets it.  Along with being the American Idol host, he’s the host of a daily nationally syndicated radio program, American Top 40, morning host on 102.7 KIIS-FM/Los Angeles, host on E! Television, and owner of Ryan Seacrest Productions, which produces many of the shows you see every day.

Ryan isn’t just a “radio DJ” or a “TV host.”  He creates content.  Radio and TV are nothing more than a distribution tool.  He uses RyanSeacrest.com as another very successful tool to get his brand and content that people want out there.  His twitter account has over one million followers.  His website actually gives his viewers and listeners what they want (content) on demand, 24/7!

Look at Glenn Beck.

Whether you agree or disagree with his beliefs, he’s a content king.  He creates content that you either agree with or are very angered by.  He uses radio as just one distribution tool.  His Fox News Channel show is the top rated cable news show at 5pm eastern.  His website is full of content and available for people 24/7.

Glenn isn’t just a “radio personality.”  He creates compelling content.

I’ve heard many radio personalities say “I don’t get Facebook, Twitter or blogging.”

Well, if you’re a content creator, Facebook/Twitter/etc should come easy to you!  It’s nothing more than another outlet, another medium, for you to get that creative content out to your audience.  It’s another way to be YOU!  It’s not about broadcasting or advertising.  It’s not about plugging what’s coming up on your show.  It’s about doing what you do and just delivering it in another form.

Your job should actually be easier with social media!  Not sure what content you should give the audience?  ASK the people that get your content!  Find out what they want and GIVE IT TO THEM.  That’s so much easier than opening up a radio mic, staring at wall and thinking “oh shit what do I say now?!  What do they want??”

So what do you do with YOUR content?

Do you even know what your content IS?

Broadcast schools are still teaching people how to be “a star on the radio or TV” and stealing thousands of their hard earned dollars.  I truly feel bad for their current graduates.  Are you learning about just how to push buttons or are you learning how to use your talents to create compelling content and utilize every form of distribution to deliver it?

Are your learning to build YOUR brand?  Are you learning CONTENT?

Nothing drives me up the wall more than hearing some radio personalities gloating about how they’re “live and local”… and some will spend an entire break talking about this fact.  In this day in the age of the internet, where anyone can get whatever they want at anytime, does that really give the listener a reason to stick around?  Shouldn’t you be giving CONTENT and not telling a listener you’re there physically pushing buttons?

Listeners want compelling content.  They want to be entertained.  They don’t care how.  Give it to them.

Are you just someone who comes in and pushes buttons and talks into a microphone and consider yourself a radio DJ?  Or are you someone that has a brand and content that you can utilize on ANY platform at any time, INCLUDING online?

We are not going back to the old ways.  If you’re going to wait for that, enjoy being in the poor house and waiting around for positions that are disappearing more and more every week.

If you’re willing to open up and learn more, go to the library or bookstore and pick up a copy of “What Would Google Do?” by Jeff Jarvis.  Open it up and read pages 130-136 first.

After you do that, let’s chat.  Email, Facebook, or even an old fashioned phone call.  I’d love to chat.  I’d love to hear your thoughts.

Onward!

I have the pleasure of hosting a brand new weekly podcast called WarriorTalk featuring business minds Dave Jenks and Laurie Hathorn.  It’s a weekly information piece for FreeEnterpriseWarriors.com, a growing online community of entrepreneurs.  I’ll be posting new episodes on Monday afternoons.

To listen to the podcast in a new window, click HERE!

Congrats! You’ve found the not-so-public new matthaze.com! This new page will be completed on Monday, July 6th as we launch the new WarriorTalk podcast! Come back then!