Confessions of an Executive Producer

free ideas

When you go to the Epoch website we present a "Free Idea". This concept was thought up by Todd Lamb. Director. Writer. All around creative force. And, a friend of Epoch. I love it. It embraces the spirit of today's culture in a subtle amusing fashion. Participate and share at virtually no cost. 

In the short time since the launch we've received an unexpected amount of contributions. Unexpected since as an industry I don't see a lot of public participation. I was happy to be proven wrong. Although I found out that despite the large number of entries the vast majority of them used pseudonyms instead of their real names. 

I've written about lack of transparency before. For every comment on my blog I receive five times as many personal messages. They are usually questions, additional thoughts or requests. 99% of the them are positive. On occasion, I get negative feedback. In the best cases, I've heard disagreement with my opinions. In the worst, I've actually been accursed of offending someone. The common thread with the negative comments is they are, with the rare exception, through a third party and never made public.

Let me make a public confession. Many of things I write I don't completely agree with. I'm trying to think out loud, unfiltered and honest. It's to raise issues of the day. Spark a debate. Create community and dialogue. I never intend to offend. If I have, I apologize. Snark is not my aim. 

Lately I'm a little down on this whole blog thing. Maybe I'm too sensitive when I hear negative feedback without the ability to respond. It makes me think I may be doing more harm than good, to my company and possibly the production community. Is it too much effort for not enough satisfaction? Or impact?

George Patton once said "If everyone is thinking alike than everyone isn't thinking". This is one of several reasons I started this thing 11 months ago. I welcome divergent thought. I desire constructive debate without the negativity. I'd like it to be public and I want more of it.

I'll end on a question since that might make it easier to evoke response. Why isn't our industry more transparent in their opinions? Obviously I have my own thoughts on it but would love to hear yours. 

to blog or not to blog

I had a rough night last night. I was out at a meeting from 3:30 until 6:15. When I got home, I needed to help Ruby finish her math board game project we'd been working on all week. It was due the next day. Eliza was sick the day before and demanded some attention. I had to eat dinner. And I wanted to catch up with my wife. 

After returning my emails, I sat down to write a quick post. It was now 10 pm. I took the dog out one last time and was ready to write. Then, my cell phone rang. It was from a line producer that was encountering a crisis. I talked to her then talked to the director. It was now past 11. Problem semi-averted. Or at least we had a plan. Still no blog posting.

I laid in bed computer on my lap staring at the blank computer screen. It made me think can I continue to write this blog, do my job, spend quality time with my wife and kids and still do the daily crossword puzzle. 

To blog or not to blog. That is the question. 

the family that blogs together...

Epoch director Matt Lenski IM'd this to me few weeks back. It got me thinking about my family

My sister Susan started blogging in November 2007. She blogs about pop culture from her own unique view - tv, movies, politics, music, book, and whatever else interests her. She has great taste and has been on good roll recently. You should read it. 

My sister Joanne aka "The Gotham Gal" has been writing a blog since October of 2003. She has established an amazing niche and a large following as a nouveau guru on urban domesticity. She also provides a roadmap for those wanting to remain culturally in touch after 40.

My brother in law, Fred, a blogger since September 2003, sets the standard in the venture capital world and beyond with over 100,000 unique visitors a month. 

It doesn't end there. My oldest niece Jessica, 18 years old, posts her own photographs relating to her life experiences. My other niece Emily, 16 years old, is yet another family blogger. She posts about fashion and being a teen in NYC. And then there is me. 

A couple weeks ago driving back from Emma Bochner's bat mitzvah with my sisters and brother in law, I was talking about the top basketball players of all time. I explained how Bill Simmons dissected the list in his recent book. I turned to Susan and said, "You should do a posting of the all time top TV heroes. It's right in your blog wheelhouse. Tony Soprano is the Michael Jordan. The undisputed best. Archie Bunker is like Bill Russell. Big time winner. Set the standard but would he hold up in today's game. Don Draper is the Lebron. He has the potential to unseat Tony Soprano but has a long way to go." She humored me for a bit debating the placement of Mary Tyler Moore. There was time to kill in the car.

The conversation moved on and Joanne brought up how she had some connection to Dee Snider from "Twisted Sister". He wanted to have dinner with her and Fred to discuss how to enhance his brand on the web via social media. She seemed hesitant about committing to the meal. I jumped all over her. She had to go just for the post alone. Imagine the title "My Dinner with Dee" and a picture of him in full make-up. It practically writes itself and BANG you just knocked out a day of posting. 

Fred then turned to me and said "You're obsessed."  

I responded, "When you write 5 times a week, you need as much fodder as you can get." 

"Try doing it 7...and guest bloggers don't count"

I thought for a minute, "Does picture of the day?"

Why is my family so into blogging? Do we believe what we say has that much value? Must we make our views public? Are we obsessed with technology? Do we just love to write? Or share? Are we just ultra competitive? It's probably a combination of all of the above and a few other things I probably omitted. 

Whatever the reason I love reading them all. At some point in life if I curated all our postings and pictures, a family history would emerge. Something we can reflect on and share with future family generations. It's all digitally stored and available at the touch of your fingertips. For that reason alone I think it's pretty cool. And, then of course there is the street cred. 

my year in blogging top ten

As I've been looking back to move forward, I started thinking about the impact social media has had on me this year. In the the glory days of December "08, I laid out a strategy to launch my blog. I have recounted my experiences in several spaces including 'Boards online, at their October Summit and right here. 

My reasons for starting a blog are different than the reasons I continue posting. It's been an interesting evolution. Lots of learning. Many surprises. And, a few affirmations. 

Here are my top ten realizations from my year in blogging.

1.     IT WORKS. You can build a niche audience through consistent posting and addressing relevant issues.

2.     TRANSPARENCY. The more honest and open, the more receptive the audience. Also, there is very little of it in the industry.  I'm still amazed by the number of people that contact me directly but won't comment publicly. 

3.     BACKLASH. Never has anything I posted come back to hurt me or Epoch, at least to the best of my knowledge. I actually believe it has enhanced our brands. 

4.     COMMITMENT. It's increasingly more and more difficult to write consistently.

5.     TOPICS. It's increasingly more and more difficult to find things to write about.

6.     METRICS. I still don't understand how they work and probably don't care enough to figure it out.

7.     PEERS. I assumed by now another industry leader would start a blog. See numbers 2, 4 and 5 for the reason why it probably hasn't happened. 

8.     COMMUNICATION. My opinions occasionally resonate. I remain unsure if it's more monologue than a dialogue. Wish it was more the latter.

9.  ADDICTION. I feel an almost obsessive compulsion to keep posting even when I'm too busy and too  tired to do so. 

10.     DIFFERENCE. I believe it makes one. If because of a posting, one person stopped to think about their role in the industry OR their personal responsibility to it OR approached their business differently OR even watched an episode of Mad Men, it was worth the effort.  

becoming art

I love newspapers. Always have. In many ways I mourn their demise although I realized news isn't dead just the platform it's delivered on. I still receive all the information I love. The weekly food section. The movie reviews. The exposes. The crossword, especially the crossword. But most of all I love the op-ed section. 

As a kid growing up in Maryland right outside of Washington, DC. I read the Washington Post. In the aftermath of Watergate, The Post became one of the leading papers in the country trailing only the NY Times in influence. For decades, their top columnist was Art Buchwald. 

Buchwald was a renowned humorist. He wrote books, plays and won the Pulitzer price. He even sued Paramount for stealing his idea to make "Coming to America" starring Eddie Murphy. And, he won. 

Being a memorable figure from my childhood, when he died a few years back I read his obituaries and came across a few personal remembrances. One stood out. The eulogizer talked how Buchwald was an extreme extrovert. He loved going to functions talking, listening, asking question. It soon became apparent that he used this forum for material. His friends started to catch on as many of their discussions and personal anecdotes began to appear in his columns. He use his world as a breeding ground for his writings. His friends often found it annoying but accepted that was just Art. 

I was in NY this week talking to people at the 'Boards Summit, going to meetings in the office, grabbing drinks after work. Unlike Buchwald, I'm hardly an extrovert but in my older years I've become slightly more sociable. After a wonderful dinner hosted by Diane McArter, I went back to my hotel room and wrote down a few notes from the evening. There were a couple conversations that may make a good blog topic. I paused, oh my God, I'm becoming as annoying as Art Buchwald.  

I'm putting everyone on public notice that when talking to me, you are potential blog fodder. I know it's annoying. But, please don't worry. Like Buchwald, I'll honor privacy, be fair in my assessments, attempt to do so humorously, and never be unjustly negative. Unless of course its completely deserving.  

panel post-mortem

For those of you that were unable to attend last Wednesday's "Blog Out Loud", I'm happy report I didn't completely embarrassed myself, or at least I don't think i did. Believing I semi-dodged that bullet, I ended up having a good time. I ran into some old friends, made a couple new ones and learned a few things. 

The most telling moment of the night was when Rebecca Orlov asked how many people blog. About one third of the audience raised their hands. As I said on the panel, blogging is a real pain in the ass. It takes a huge commitment and a tremendous ego. Who knew there was such a large number of disciplined narcissists with a masochistic streak. That's some of what I learned. This is what else.

There is an infinite number of reasons people want to blog other than the deep human need to express ourselves. To promote a business. To create an additional revenue source. To maintain relevance. To share your views. To amass an audience. To communicate internally. To stir debate. To build a brand, individual or corporate. All of these reasons and more were represented. I never really thought about it all that much until Wednesday night. 

I don't know if I communicated it very well on Wednesday, and for those of you not in attendance, these are my three rules of blogging.

• Know your audience. 
• Provide something of value. 
• And then, give it to them often.

Being a wily veteran of nearly 8 blogging months, I have found if you can be consistent in your niche with a strong point of view, you'll capture an audience and most importantly achieve the goals you set. 

The other element I feel is critical is transparency. People go the blogs to avoid the corporate dominated messaging that overpowers our society. Blogs are not based in fact. They are based in opinion. But, at least you can tell the difference. I can't say that with any confidence about the mainstream media. So at the risk of sounding cliche, keep it real. Your agenda must be pure and overt otherwise the readership will instinctively see right through it.

The last thing I'll say about blogging, it isn't for everyone. As noted, it's time consuming and generally a pain in the ass. If you have a day job, it's in essence moonlighting. The rewards can be incredibly fulfilling. However, if you decide it's not for you that does not mean you can't participate. 

Become a regular commentor on the blogs you frequent. if you find the topic interesting, post the links on your Facebook updates, re-tweet on Twitter, send it to a friend via email or pass it along on whatever is your preferred social media outlet. If you want to be more proactive without actually committing to the daily regime, ask your favorite blogger if you can guest post. 

For those that want to participate I widely encourage comments. Also I respond to most to help spur on the conversation. And to reiterate something I've written in the past, there is an open invitation to guest blog. I love to get a different point of view on here. Plus, even my ego needs a break now and again. 

for all you crispin haters

Before I started blogging I read many ad sites. They varied in focus but as a general rule they had two things in common. They were snarky. And, they loved to bash Crispin Porter Bogusky. If I read a positive posting I figured it was a slow day in Boulder. 

 

Why the vitriolic fervor towards one agency? I kinda understand it. They have raised hype to an art form. The work feels not as good as as the PR would lead you to believe. And, they often ask a lot for not enough money. Ironically they get too many accolades for the average work and not enough for the breakthrough ones. 

Even still, they are pushing the industry like no other singular big agency with the possible exception of Goodby. Don't believe me. Check out their website. It's a virtual bear hug to social media. They are embracing the future and trying to create new platforms. Maybe that's reason enough to mobilize the ad haters en masse. For me, I just found my own reason to love them.

Last week I posted about TIME being our most valued commodity. I placed this in context through the use of an anecdote about a job we were bidding on. The tale was critical of the way the agency handled the bidding process i.e. our time. Adhering to my own standards of keeping parties anonymous unless speaking positively, I didn't specify the agency in question. 

Lo and behold on a Sunday afternoon, a comment appears on that post. It was from David Rolfe, the VP of Integrated Production for Crispin Porter Bogusky, the agency I anonymously referenced. I don't need to recant what he wrote here. Go to the comments section of "Scarcity of Time". Whether he was defensive, which he was not, is irrelevant. What is relevant his transparency and willingness to join the dialog. He had the balls to out his agency, in particular his department. He took the criticism to heart. And most importantly, he is the first major agency figure to publicly comment on my blog. For that I'm extremely grateful. Another barrier broken. Hopefully it will encourage others industry leaders to become more active in social media discussions. Contrary to popular belief, honest constructive dialog helps the community and won't hurt you individually. 

Now for all your Crispin haters who think this is shameless brown nosing to get work, let me assure you...I'm not above ass kissing. Unfortunately, it won't work here. Crispin will use our company when we're right. It's their culture. And, I hope they will but not just for the obvious reasons. Epoch is similar to Crispin in that we are trying to continually reinvent our model. We are committed to being participants in social media not merely observers. David Rolfe personifies that commitment not only by his public comments but by his actions.

David started his own blog, David Rolfe's Posterous. In yesterday's post he gave a rare insight to what an agency is looking for in their relationships with directors. It was honest and constructive. Go read it. I think the kid has a bright future as a blogger.

David Rolfe - Reason #156 why social media is going to save us from ourselves. 

13 days and counting

In less than two weeks from today, I'll be appearing at the 'boards summit. Take a look a the crew who is on the panel with me. If you don't recognize me, I'm the one with the least impressive title and the most unprofessional headshot. 

 

You may recall a few weeks back I posted an S.O.S. It was a plea for someone who could help me avoid public humiliation. Many of you forwarded suggestions, ideas and software. One person, Dominic Lahiff, actually took the time to write a detailed list of ideas. It is very much appreciated. Through this process one person became my savior and muse, Hudson Lines. 

Hudson sent me an email telling me about his experience as a speech writer for a CEO of a major corporation. He had worked on these type of presentations before, not only for the CEO but also for himself. He was willing to offer his services to me for free but in return he wanted career advice and introductions. I love the barter system so I took him up on is proposition. 

When I was in NY a couple of weeks ago we sat down. Wanting to make my down payment in advance, he gave me his story first. His background and talent is impressive but he is still in the career exploration phase. After listening to him all I could think of is how do I create a position for him at my company. There should always be room at Epoch for young, ambitious, creative and smart people. Now, I just need to figure out where, if not in my world then at least in my expanded universe. First, I need him to bale me out.

I started the meeting by pitching my ideas to Hudson on the history of the relationship between agencies, production companies and their audiences. I then segue into how it's dramatically evolved in the last year. He nodded approvingly and told me it was a good idea but completely wrong...for me. He said the speech needs to be personal. I need to talk about my exploration and experiences in social media. How it changed me personally, changed my company and ultimately how it is changing the direction of the entire industry. He then started to reference things I had written. As I listened to him speak, I turned to my computer and dragged my previous notes I spent two hours in the plane writing quietly into the trash.

Hudson and I are in the midst of working on the presentation. I hope to get done in time to post before the 'boards summit. I'd love receive some feedback. As I said in my first posting, this blog got me into the mess I'm hoping it can get me out. So, why not take full advantage.

Hudson Lines - Reason #127 on why social media works and is here to stay.  

for the non believers

Tomorrow night, I'll be a panelist for an event called "Blog Out Loud". The purpose of this lively discussion is to talk about the relevance of social media, in particular the power of blogging. 

I know in our industry there are many skeptics of the social media revolution. For those that are, check out this video, it may sway you. For the true believers, not that you need it, the video is further affirmation. At the very least it's thought provoking. 

My good friend, Charles Day, turned me onto it last week. It was perfect timing for the eve of this event. 

Whether it's the savior of advertising is still debatable. But, even the most ardent naysayer will have to acknowledge social media is not a fad but rather a growing fixture in our culture. Will it ever be truly be an effective tool for brands and marketers? Can we monetize it as an industry? How can one personally engage to grow their career, their business, their contacts and their knowledge? These questions and more are the ones we seek answers to. 

If you happen to have to no plans tomorrow night come on by. You may get the answer to some of these questions or just some valuable insight into blogging and social media. If anything it will get you thinking about the future. And, it may make a believer out of you yet. 

The event starts at 7pm. It is hosted by the editorial company THERAPY. They are located in West LA at 2010 S. Westgate Avenue. You were suppose to RSVP by last Friday but if you call the folks at WIREDRIVE (310-823-8238). They are hosting the event. Hopefully, there are some seats left. 

this blog posting was sponsored by...

If you missed it this week, the Federal Trade Commission revised their rules on the relationships between advertisers and product reviewers. The past rules stated that anyone who reviews or endorses products must disclose any connection (such as payment, free goods or free services) they have with an advertiser. This rule has been applied to all forms of traditional media - tv, radio, print, etc. It is now being  applied to all forms of digital media including bloggers.

For the record, I have never been contacted to endorse any products, push any services or promote any brands. However, I'm willing to try. If any marketer is reading this, I'll be glad to write glowingly about your product for free stuff or a small cash payment. And, if i do so I promise to tell everyone I did. As a matter of fact, if i don't, consider it your obligation as a law abiding citizen to report me to the FTC.

The public statement the FTC made in regards to this ruling is interesting to me from a few perspectives:

1. The government acknowledgement of the power of the online community be it Facebook pages, Twitter feeds or the blogosphere to sway public opinion, to be influencers and tastemakers. 
2. It changes the perception of the digital world from no longer being consider "new media" to be consider just media. They are going to be held accountable and regulated like traditional outlets.
3. Rather than write regulations specifically for the digital space, the FTC instead opted to extend existing rules written for an entirely different platform.

The thing is who really cares. We are marketed to everywhere all the time. Cross promotion has been elevated to an art form just ask anyone in product placement. Who is the government trying to protect? The gullible. Are they saying without regulations online independent media producers will deceive people into buying inferior products that they never wanted to purchase in the first place? I wish I had that much sway. Or, are they saying bloggers are so influential they can be bought by brands like some modern day payola scandal? Cool. I'm for sale. Or maybe they are saying it's okay to influence an audience to purchase stupid shit as long as you tell them you were compensated to do so?

The most humorous thing is whoever decided to expand this law doesn't understand much about the internet except that it's become very popular. If you look at the most popular blogs or the influencers with big followings on Twitter, they are successful because they are transparent and genuine. People flock to them to get away from the filtered world of agenda driven media, to escape corporate owned messaging. If people start using their earned platforms to monetize it in a way that no longer represents an honest fair value proposition with their audience, their following will face rapid decline. They don't need a government regulator to enforce full disclosure and honest brokering with their readership, it's already engrained in the culture. 

At the end of the day, I believe the law has very little impact. It is probably a rule that won't be enforced in a medium that doesn't need enforcing. At least not on this particular topic. At least the government gave us all the nod that were powerful enough force to be monitored by Big Brother. 

***This blog posting was brought to by Epoch Films. They make the best commercials anywhere. Come on down. They're having a two for one special this month, buy one spot get a banner ad for free. And btw, I was paid to say that.