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A Video That is So Amazing

I don't care if it is old news!

British Virgin Islands Vacation 2008

History Has Been Made!

This is a week for the books that I will never forget. Yes We Can!

Gap's "Vote for" Campaign - Missing the Link

This weekend I was wandering around the mall window shopping for Christmas. Trust me window shopping is harder than it looks, the effort you put into restraining yourself from going into that store and getting that thing you must have is brutal.

Anyways that is not the point of this post. So as I was window shopping I walked by Gap and saw the words "Vote for" everywhere. Intrigued I walked in the store and see what this was all about. After reading some signage near a basket of buttons I learned that there are artists who designed all these different types of buttons that you can buy to wear with a plain white T-shirt that says "Vote for". A portion of the proceeds of these buttons will go to Declare Yourself, a non-profit organization that reaches out to young Americans to get them to vote.

Wow! What a great idea! So I went to the counter to ask more questions, they didn't have any pamphlets to hand out but the clerk let me read a piece of paper they were given for this. You can learn more here.

One thing that piqued my curiosity was well its great that it helps get people to vote and gets young shoppers interested in voting. But how could one go about registering to vote? So I asked the clerk, "if I wanted to register to vote do you have any applications?" She looked at me very dumbfounded like "ummm wow I never thought of that".

Awesome idea Gap, I truly think it is great but closing the link would be a great idea. Either have a kiosk set up so people can register to vote right there or have a Voter Registration application to fill out that is pre-stamped with a mailbox. Just a thought.

The Past 3 Days at Consumer Forum 2008

If you are interested in what I have been up to the for the past 3 days check it out!

DFW Tweet Up:
http://www.web-strategist.com/blog/2008/10/28/video-shoutouts-from-the-dallas-tweetup/

Photos:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/forresterresearchinc/sets/72157606370804557/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/catalyststudios/tags/forresterconsumerforum08/

http://www.flickr.com/search/?w=all&q=fcf08&m=tags

Streaming Videos:
http://www.ustream.tv/channel/consumer-forum-2008

Tweet Stream:
http://search.twitter.com/search?q=FCF08

Thank you to everyone who Tweeted to keep up the #FCF08 conversation:

@BryanPerson, @Armano, @adamcohen, @MichelleBB, @jstorerj, @devashishsaxena, @kenburbary, @criticalmass, @daveknox, @scubachris, @worleygirl, @kvwong, @jowyang, @mozhet, @forrester, @deirdrewalsh, @georgedearing, @jaredlukes, @kathleenwiersch, @jbernoff, @bwdumars, @christinajacksn, @nickbadway, @scubachris, @jmcquivey, @BabyBits, @ryanzuk, @fanchatter, @CommunispaceCEO, comcastcares, elmiguelito, @liamorgan, @LiveWorld (I appologize if I forgot anyone, there were a ton of tweets)

Blog Posts About Forrester's Consumer Forum & The Groundswell Awards:

Gearing up for Forrester Consumer Forum 2008

Forrester Consumer Forum 2008: Maslow is Dead - First in a Series

Out with the Old; In with the New.

Highlights From Forrester’s Consumer Forum

Forrester predicts: consumer 2018

Jim Keys, CEO of Blockbuster at Forrester Consumer Conference

Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs Is Wrong - LIVE Report @ Forrester Consumer Forum 2008

Deep in the heart of #FCF08

Can brands afford to experiment during an economic downturn?

Forrester's Next Big Idea

This is how @Forrester does a great job incorporating social media into their events #FCF08

Wow! Young & Free Alberta wins first place in the Forrester Groundswell Awards.

@eventtrack

What is this Social Media Thing Anyway?
Twine - Wicked Smart Online Content Collection Service

@ Forrester's Consumer Forum 2008

Hi Everyone,

I apologize for the inconvenience of my random babblings but I am unable to post at all this week. For my real job I will be attending Forrester's Consumer Forum to assist with Social Media efforts.

If you are interested in what we are doing at this forum with Social Media you can check out the links below:

Join the Forrester Community on:
http://www.facebook.com/forrester
http://www.facebook.com/groundswell
http://www.twitter.com/Forrester
http://www.flickr.com/photos/forresterresearchinc

Join the Conversation on Forrester Blogs for:
The Groundswell - http://blogs.forrester.com/groundswell/
Interactive Marketing Professionals - http://blogs.forrester.com/marketing/
Marketing Leadership Professionals - http://blogs.forrester.com/agencies/
George F. Colony's Blog: Counterintuitive - http://blogs.forrester.com/colony

Event tags for Twitter & Flickr:
#FCF08 #ConsForum08 #Forrester #ForresterResearch #FORR

Event Website:
http://www.forrester.com/events/eventdetail?eventID=2235

Meet One-On-One With Forrester Analysts At Our Consumer Forum 2008:
http://www.forrester.com/consumer-forum-08

I promise you an invigorating blog post upon my return to work either later this week or early next week.

Thanks,
Alexis N. Karlin
http://www.alexisnkarlin.com

2 Upcoming Tweet Ups

Do you know what a tweet up is?
If you use Twitter, a tweet up allows you and other users of twitter to meet up in the real world at a real location. So if you would like the chance to meet up with people you know only virtually then you can attend a tweet up and get to know them face to face. It is a great way to network! Yay networking!

Where are the upcoming tweet ups?
The two upcoming tweet ups are in Boston and Dallas. If you are in the area click the links below to find out when, where, and how.

Boston, MA

• The Good Life - Thursday, October 23, 2008 from 06:00 PM - 09:00 PM

Dallas, Texas

• Love & War Grapevine - Monday, October 27, 2008 from 6:00 PM
  

Great Way to Try New Wines!

Have you ever wanted to try some new wines, while not being committed to purchasing a whole bottle?

Well, I have the perfect way for you to do this. But I need to provide you with a little back story first.

Back Story

2 months ago my roommate went to a wine tasting at a restaurant called Ivy hosted by The Second Glass and Social Boston Sports. It was a really great wine tasting with a 5 course appetizer menu included so the food was perfectly paired with the wines for only $25. Anyways that isn't the point of this post. So we sat next to this woman Connie and of course we asked the question that everyone asks, what do you do for a living? Connie said that she hosts at home wine tastings. She comes to your house with 5 bottles of wine you have pre-selected, you sample them with friends, and then you have the option to buy the wines you sampled. So we got her card and said we would call her in a couple of months.

The Whole Story

So a couple of months later we asked Connie if we could set up a tasting. She said of course, sent us a wine list to choose from, and a packet of the goodies her company also offers. We selected 4 reds and 1 white that we think would go well with our taste buds and our check books, all wines were under $15.00 per bottle. We gathered about 10 of our closest friends, asked them to bring appetizers to our apartment for a 3 hour wine tasting, and they did. We had a variety of foods that went well with the wines we choose to try out; crackers, cheeses, spreads, dips, vegetables, apple pie, and chocolate.

So at 7:30 on the dot Connie arrived with a really great wine cooler, 15 glasses for tasting, catalogs, and wine glasses that she painted herself that go with the Passport option. Not only was she organized but she knew what she was talking about. The first bottle she taught us how to check the wine for color, body, smell, and taste. Then we were allowed to taste all the wines as they were opened. She taught us that swirling was our friend because it aired the wine to give it more smell and flavor. Not only she was extremely knowledgeable about the wines we tried but she answered any other questions we had about wine.

After we tried all the wines she explained that if we wanted to place an order with her we could. If we did not want to place an order we didn't have to which was great because it didn't feel like you were being pressured. And guess what? Everyone ordered!

So if you are looking for something fun to do one night I recommend you host a wine tasting at your apartment. And if you host one at your apartment and your friends order wine, you get a percentage off of the wine you purchase, free shipping, and a free bottle of wine. It lasts about 3 hours and its tons and tons of fine. So book a wine tasting!

McAnnoying Ads

Is it just me or do the new McCafe ads annoy anyone?

If they annoy you feel free to read further. If they don't well then I suggest you read further.

First of they make Latte/Cappuccino drinkers a stereotype. Why? Well their commercials show 2 people sitting at posh place drinking lattes with cute caps, tight sweaters, and glasses. One of the 2 people bring up that McDonald's has Cappuccinos. Then it shows them taking off all of those items so they can drink a McCafe late. It suggest that the typical drinkers are a certain type of person. Rightt not so much.

Last time I was at Starbucks, Dunkin Donuts, or my local coffee shop there were a vast array of people sipping on Cappuccinos and Lattes. Some people had on glasses and some didn't. Some people wore turtle necks and some didn't.

So just because McDonald's thinks that the McLate or McCappucinno will change peoples personas, I think not. You are who are you, you drink what you want, and you sure as hell don't change your image because of McDonald's.

No Posts This Week

Hi Everyone,

I apologize for the inconvenience of my random babblings but I am unable to post at all this week. For my real job I will be attending Forrester's Business & Technology Leadership Forum in Orlando, FL.

If you wanna see what is happening at this event feel free to check it out!

Join the Forrester Community on:

• http://www.facebook.com/forrester
• http://www.facebook.com/groundswell
• http://www.twitter.com/Forrester
• http://www.flickr.com/photos/forresterresearchinc

Join the Conversation on Forrester Blogs for:

• Application Development & Program Management Professionals: http://blogs.forrester.com/appdev/
• CIOs: http://blogs.forrester.com/cio/
• Business Process & Applications Professionals: http://blogs.forrester.com/business_process/
• Information & Knowledge Management Professionals: http://blogs.forrester.com/information_management/
• Technology Product Management & Marketing Professionals: http://blogs.forrester.com/product_management/

I promise you guys and girls, I will have a really really great post for when I get back.

Thanks,
Alexis N. Karlin
http://www.alexisnkarlin.com

A Tribute to Mad Men

Thanks to my coworkers I have become a Mad Men addict.

This show has a lot of awesome actors and actresses: Jon Hamm (We Were Soldiers), Elisabeth Moss (The West Wing), Vincent Kartheiser (Angel), John Slattery (Desperate Housewives), Christina Hendricks (Kevin Hill), and January Jones (We Are Marshall) along with guest star (and stage/screen legend) Robert Morse (How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying). Michael Gladis (Third Watch), Aaron Staton (The Nanny Diaries), Rich Sommer (The Devil Wears Prada), and Bryan Batt (La Cage Aux Folles") round out the cast.

The women play such an integral part of the show, giving you a clear view of what it is like to be a house wife, secretary, or copywriter in the 1960's. The men play many different roles which gives you a different feel for each character. The creators don't over explain ever situation so you are able to take your own view point on each scene or character.

So thank you Mad Men creators for taking time to create something I want to watch and something that gets me excited to click on that On Demand button each week.

The New Facebook = Less Users

So last night I was out to dinner with some of my close girlfriends. We got on the topic of Facebook because I use it to set up the invites. I asked the girls who knew about the event via Facebook? They said oh I just knew because of the email you sent out. And then they went on to say how they don't use the Facebook anymore because its hard to use and hard to find anything. One girl said that after the change over she can't even get into Facebook. Another friend said "I can honestly say i probably wont use facebook ever again."

Hmmmm... So what does this tell us? Facebook is losing users due to their switch over. Not only are they losing users, they are not listening. I know that a majority of people that I have talked to really don't like the new look and feel. When I asked them if they submitted feedback they said yes. Well then why isn't Facebook listening?

Either Facebook is not reading what users have to say or they just think that they new look and feel is so perfect they went ahead and rolled it out anyways. People are so upset with the new look that groups and applications have been created to ask for the old Facebook back. One group that stands out the most to me is the, 5,000,000 people who want the option "Back to the old Facebook" to remain! group. This group currently has over 700,000 members and close to 5,000 wall posts. So how can one say that Facebook is listening to their users? Some applications have been created to revert to the old look FB but now they don't work, which leads me to believe Facebook de-activated them. Awesome way to control your users! I thought FB was about what we like, not what you want us to like.

Instead of writing a whole post that complains and complains about how people hate the new Facebook here is what I think FB should have done to keep their users happy:

• Ask Facebookers what they want changed (maybe they did maybe they didn't I honestly don't know but who ever told them this was a good idea has no idea what a real Networking site looks like)
  
• Make some design changes that are easy to use
• Don't hide stuff, I hate that I have to go through tabs to find when my next trip is coming up.
  
• Do not redesign the entire site, no one can find what they are looking for.
• Listen to feedback from Facebookers, if they don't like it don't switch it over.
• Understand that a Facelift is a good thing some times not an entire makeover. (pretty much the same thing as point 3 but it sounds cooler)

In conclusion, I feel that as a user of Facebook it extremly dissapointing that our voices are not heard. Especially when you are like me and have submitted feedback on a regular basis. So my hats off to you Facebook for turning away your users, great job!

That's A LOT of Post It Notes!

EepyBird's Sticky Note experiment from Eepybird on Vimeo.

So Unsatisfied It's Not Even Funny!!!!

For my usual 3pm snack I decided to digest a "100 Calorie Snack Pack" which left me still starving!

I could eat about 3 more of those and be happy. I'm sorry I know Americans are getting fat and these snack packs are supposed to help cut down on snacking on large quantities of food. But when you are subjected to this tiny air filled bag that leaves you still hungry, you want more! You can’t resist the urge to pop open another bag or two therefore defeating the purpose of only ingesting only 100 calories.

Is there anyone out there who finds these filling? If you do could you please tell me how and why? And do you just eat one?

Couldn't resist!!!

I don't know why but every single time I watch this I crack up... Hope you crack up too!

Review for Burn After Reading

A fabulous boss of my gave me free tickets to the see Burn After Reading, the night before it came out in theaters. Any thing that requires you get there an hour ahead of time better be worth the wait. Needless to say, the line around the block and we hesitated not staying in line and doing something else. But hey we waited and waited and we got in yay! It kind sucked having to sit in the front row and stair upwards at the screen but hey who doesn't like to get up close and personal with George Clooney.

So about the movie, waiting in line for an hour with 1,000 other anxious people was entirely worth the wait!

Whenever a movie starts with John Malkovich ranting and raving, you are sucked in!
The movie did not stop being funny, there were moments when I thought that I had take deep breaths and wipe my eyes it was so funny. Every scene was a different famous actor or actress. Such as George Clooney, Frances McDormand, Tilda Swinton, J.K. Simmons, and many many more!

To top it all off Brad Pitt is this over the top gym fanatic who loves to dance while running on the treadmill. He is incredibly stupid and has fabulous one liners that I wish I could say all the time.

In conclusion, I don't want to spoil the movie for anyone because I think everyone should go see it! So I really won't say more. Well I will say one thing, when you go to a theater that is packed to the brim with 600+ people and they are all laughing that is a really really good sign!

PS. Boston.com was there, read their review.

Zoo Animals Date Online!!!???

So this morning I'm laying in bed waiting for my roommate to get out of the shower. While I lay there I like to check my email and read the news via my lovely Blackberry Pearl.
I come across this article whose title reads "Zoos help rare animals find mates online", I pondered clicking on it but I said what they heck she isn't going to be out for another 5 mins so I might as well entertain myself.

So I read the article and find out there is an online database for zoo animals who need mates. How freaking cool and odd at the same time is that? So say there is a lonely male koala at one zoo who needs a mate and there is another lonely female koala at another zoo, their keepers are able to connect with one another via this zoo dating network to see if they would be a perfect mating match. If only match.com was as simple as that, no emotions attached, just need a mate, find me here etc. I know a lot of PETA people say animals have feelings and all that jazz, therefore the two koalas when they meet might not like each other and blagh blagh.

So regardless of the fact that the two koalas might despise one another, I am totally fascinated by the idea that technology can help animals mate and produce more offspring. Think of how man endangered species we can save with this fabulous Zoo Animal Online Dating network!

Do you know what I love?

Do you know what I hate?

People who won't talk about politics..... It drives me nuts. You go to any other country in the world other than the US and people sit there and have lively discussions about politics.

Everyone says politics and friends should not mix. I think that is so freaking stupid. Why? Well because you are not friends with someone for liking the same exact things. You are friends because you share common interests. Which means you don't have to agree on every single topic that comes across you. Discussing politics allows you to get your point across and hear what the other person has to say.

Don't have a discussion where one says the other one is right or wrong. Talk about why you like this candidate for such and such reasons and then allow the person to talk. You might learn something from one another.

In conclusion I think that we are so afraid of hurting each others feelings therefor we are unable to talk about what problems exist in our political system. If we openly discussed our gripes, fears, etc with the political system maybe we would all feel a lot better about who would be the right candidate for President.

Welcome to the Random Babblings & Stuff!

Okay so according to Wikipedia "Babbling (also called twaddling) is a stage in child language acquisition, during which an infant appears to be experimenting with uttering sounds of language, but not yet producing any recognizable words."

Which means this blog will be comprised of uttering sounds, spelled like an infant would spell (my lame excuse for not being able to spell), and tons of random thoughts that come out of my head whenever I think of them.

So if you are interested in a blog about random stuff and babbling, feel free to come back and read more!!!