A Very MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Here's hoping your Christmas is a very blessed and wonderful one, filled with all of the truly good and important things in life -- and perhaps a little "razzelberry dressing" and more than one "woofle jelly cake."

Here's a little something from me, courtesy of the first, and still the best, animated Christmas special EVER produced for television. (Music by Julie Styne, and lyrics by Bob Merrill, by the way!)

Merry Christmas, and best wishes for a happy, healthy and prosperous 2010!

How to Be a Good Client

Here's an early Christmas (or a late Hanukkah) present for those of you out there who hire agencies.

Ryan Greives writes a quick primer on what it takes to be a good client (click here) for a PR firm. Almost all of this is certainly applicable to ad agencies, design firms, and interactive shops as well.

If you hire any type of marketing communications firm, this Top 10 list is required reading. By following these simple suggestions, you will get your firm to work harder and to always do their absolute best for you.

If I might add an additional point: Know that all we want is to make you look good. We are not out to take your job (we are on the "agency side" because that's what we love to do). And we are not out to grab the glory. No, our "glory" comes from having a satisfied and appreciative client who pays our bills in a timely manner. Making you look like a superstar to your CEO, your Board, or whomever signs your paycheck is the best possible outcome for us.

Hope you have a very happy holiday season, and my best wishes for a very successful and rewarding 2010!

And the Gold Medal Goes to...

Well, maybe our client Vision Research won't be on the medal stand in Vancouver, but their technology will be helping American Olympians and the American viewing public to better understand just what goes into a winning performance.

NBC, which is covering the Olympics, has enlisted the Vision Research ultra-high-speed Phantom camera to "slow down" the action of Olympic athletes, giving them and their coaches information that can lead to a winning edge.

At the same time, the television viewing public gets to see amazing details and things that give a far greater appreciation to the physics of sport.

Check out this report (click here) from Lester Holt on the TODAY Show, breaking down how US Olympian Julie Chu generates so much velocity to her slap shot.

Vision Research cameras serve a wealth of important functions, slowing down even the fastest motion to allow the analysis of motion that is far too fast for the human eye, and even beyond the capabilities of traditional film and video cameras.

I don't know about you, but I think this stuff is REALLY cool! For a gallery of ultra-high-speed video shot with Vision Research cameras, click here.

When "10 Times as Slow" is BETTER!

Here's a very interesting article about what the NFL is doing to promote itself.

The cameras used to produce the striking images in this campaign are made in the USA by Vision Research -- one of my clients. The cameras have been used in the past two Super Bowls by the CBS (Giants win over New England) and the FOX (Steelers last year) production crews -- with amazing success. The ultra slo-mo of the Giants' David Tyree catch replay was called "the most replayed highlight of the year" by ESPN. And if you remember last year, two different scoring plays were ruled on by slo-mo from Vision Research Phantom HD cameras.

The military routinely uses a series of Vision Research cameras, sometimes shooting 1.4 MILLION FRAMES PER SECOND to record and analyze weapons systems.

To see some astounding non-sports footage, go to www.visionresearch.com, and click on GALLERY at the top.

The Seven Deadly Sins of Social Media

David Griner, a social media strategist for Luckie & Company in Birmingham, AL, just published what I see as the definitive outline of rules for beginning -- and more importantly -- continuing and profiting from a social media program.

With the very catchy title "The Seven Deadly Sins of Social Media," Griner's article is both fun to read and a real eye-opener. So click on it here and let me (and David!) know what you think!

Rupert Murdoch "Gets It"

Newspaper maven Rupert Murdoch just appointed Jonathan Miller, recently of AOL, as his head of digital operations. This includes a wide range of products, including MySpace, Photobucket, and Hulu. Miller's job is to make sure Murdoch's News Corp.'s online assets are "central to, not separate from, the enterprise."

Instead of newspapers bitching about how the Internet is killing them, perhaps they'd do better to look to the vision that Murdoch seems to possess. Yes, old Rupert "gets it" -- media convergence is here to stay.

Now you tell me: if a 78-year-old Australian can figure it out, why can't the New York Times?

Newspapers that think their old tried and true model (sell ads, build subscription base, take money to the bank) will work in the 21st Century are sorely mistaken. And, no, it's NOT enough to just put your content up online and sell a few Internet banners. It's time for a fully integrated strategy. Newspaper content has always been superior. How about starting THERE and leveraging that as an advantage?

If Facebook Were a Country...

...It would be the 5th most populous on the globe!

Yes, Facebook just passed the 200 million (!) mark in active users. For those of you who STILL think Facebook is the 21st Century equivalent of passing a note in study hall, it's time you shifted your thinking.

If you are NOT on Facebook, you might want to give it a try.