New posts up at The Faster Times, The Nervous Breakdown and This I Believe

Vacation in Israel got me behind in essay writing but now I'm catching up.

First, to be timely, it's politics and election season. I know it's not a very nice (and admittedly, possibly naive) thing to say but here's the new The Faster Times ad column: Advertising Politics: The Best Ads are the Negative Ads. In it, there's also a personal anecdote from a college campaign which just came back to me. 

On a more personal side, a recent overdue visit to the dermatologist had me thinking about our expectations when we go to the doctor. So up is my second post at The Nervous Breakdown for which I'm now a contributor in the memoirs and essays sections. I love this online magazine, some really terrific writers, writing, book reviews and even a book club you can join. On the trip, I started TNB creator Brad Listi's novel Attention. Deficit. Order which I recommend. Quite good + funny. You can also keep track of my TNB posts here.

Separately, I just learned from This I Believe that my essay was accepted. Really honored; it's such a storied show and project capturing voices and deeply held beliefs. Mine is about an important lesson I learned from my very first boss, Dennis Ferrone, which has stayed with me. You can find the essay here.

Caples Awards : Entries are Open

The deadline for the John Caples Awards, the biggest international creative direct show, is Sept 30 with a late fee for Oct 4. I'm the head US Judge and exec committee member and I have to tell you from the inside that it's surprising how few of the hard-core digital agencies enter this show, especially when they could do so well. The categories are varied (by medium) and the judges are all creative directors from around the world. It's worth a lot of points too towards Won Report, which is like the Gunn Report. 

Each year I judge and look at the winners, I'm impressed by the work but a bit annoyed that so much of the top winners are from Australia, New Zealand, Spain, Germany and the UK. The US really needs to do better and enter more. I think it's unusually unknown in the US, probably drowned out by not just One Show but the Andys, the Addys, the New York Festivals and more. 

Please help spread the word and get your awards coordinator and creative director to consider the best work to enter. 

Advertising Print: This Will Be A Brief Piece

New column up at The Faster Times. A depressing experiment looking at magazine advertising. Please share the piece, tweet it and add any thoughts or comments at the bottom of the article itself.

Advertising Print: This Will Be A Brief Piece

Lycos is back! Alta Vista lives!

Do you think e-Rewards needs to update
their search engine questionnaire?

Just took an e-rewards survey for something and was wondering why the questions seemed odd (Broadband vs. Narrowband?) until I got to the last one about which search engine I used.

Not only was Google not listed, but Netscape, AltaVista, Hotbot and Lycos were.

Who knew the old web was still the new web. Very exciting.

Emergency Fabulous

New piece published on The Nervous Breakdown. Inspired after a party at which I shared our go-bag and realized how many items had expired or needed to be replaced.

Advertising Small Business: Feng Shui from Graceful Space (Part 2)

Now the series in The Faster Times advertising column on small biz gets specific with features on individual businesses, like my buddy from high school, Gwen's. Be sure to read it, retweet it, share and comment (there, not here):

Advertising Small Business: Feng Shui from Graceful Space (Part 2)

Advertising Small Business: Adventures in Overwhelm (Part 1)

New series focusing on very small businesses and how they approach marketing and advertising.

Please comment (at the article on The Faster Times, not here), retweet and share. Plus, there's a LinkedIn discussion group you can apply to join. You might help an entrepreneur and a dream. Advertising Small Business: Adventures in Overwhelm (Part 1)