Caren Explains It All

Caren Explains... How Ticketmaster Plans to Seat You Next to Friends

2011-08-24T09:59:00.008-05:00

Yesterday Ticketmaster announced a thoughtful new feature that allows you to see where your friends are sitting at an event... even if you didn't make plans to go to said event with said friends. Ticketmaster relies on Facebook Connect to do this and will reveal that layer of information on top of the venue map before you complete a ticket purchase.

Concerts are an inherently social experience, so this is a no-brainer. I've been to nearly 300 concerts and can't tell you how many times I have run around trying to find friends who I wanted to meet up with at the show. This new feature could end dizzying rounds of text messages suggesting "Meet me at the merch table!"

While the aim is discovery (see which of your friends are at the event) it could also lessen the stress of social coordination. Here is an example of how I normally take charge of group ticket buying when I'm the one in-the-know:

1. Email a group of friends who may be interested in the event.

2. Wait on responses; maybe chase it with one last email before tickets go on sale.

3. Gauge sensitivity to ticket prices (should we sit on the lawn or in actual seats?)

4. Buy tickets for everyone so that we can all sit together.

5. Collect payment from friends, either by PayPal or at the show.

6. Distribute tickets, either by:

- Emailing the ticket PDF (should that option be available)

- Waiting at the gate for friends to come pick up tickets

- Going to the event all together (more coordination required)

In the future, Ticketmaster could lessen that burden. I would love to see some functionality that allows you to hold a block of seats and send your selected Facebook friends a message so they can grab them up if they act immediately. As it is, Ticketmaster will hold a block of seats for you for X-minutes before releasing them. If I could grab six seats, hold them, assign each seat to a friend, message my friends with a link so they could input their credit card information, I'd be a hero amongst friends.

Just as with any check-in or location-based service, there will be some strange social consequences of this "sick" new feature. One positive consequence is that it might help you discover new things about your friends and your shared interests ("Oh, wow, I didn't know Jane likes Wrestlemania, too!").

Yet it may also reveal things your friends didn't intend for you to know ("Jane likes Wrestlemania?"). It could also be disheartening if you realize your friends didn't invite you to an event you were interested in ("Jane KNOWS I like Wrestlemania!").

This is a tradeoff we make as we allow our personal data to be used in more places, and perhaps a reminder that we should be more careful to maintain privacy and anonymity. As our Facebook friendships become looser and the social graph grows, there are inevitable tradeoffs between privacy and problem solving.

I consider how angry my father would be if he bought the family tickets to a Redskins game and found out a brown-noser from the office bought the seats next to ours, proudly proclaiming "I saw you were sitting here on Ticketmaster." Then again, that is why my father isn't on Facebook.

-CK

Caren Explains... Four Mistakes that Sabotage a Cold Call

2011-03-24T10:15:00.001-05:00

Whether you're looking for a deal, a job or a date, it can be very daunting to make your pitch, especially if you have to make a cold call to do so.

I receive 5-10 cold calls each day at Songkick and I find that the problem with most of them is not in what the person is asking for, but rather that the pitches are carelessly constructed. Sure, you may have an amazing resume, product or proposal, but if you don't pay attention to the little things you may be sabotaging yourself before you ask for anything.

Here are four things to avoid when making a cold call inquiry.

1) Don't be lazy. If you really want to do business with a company, take the time to figure out which person you should be speaking to. It immediately undermines your pitch if you write "To Whom It May Concern, I'd like to speak to your head of marketing about a great opportunity..."

There are plenty of places to find this kind of personnel information, including:

Company website (check for links on the company, often titled "About" or "Team")
LinkedIn (do a company search and see what employees are listed)
CrunchBase (which lists founders, executives and investors of tech companies)
News articles on the company (which often quote executives)
Press releases (which also quote executives or else provide other contact information)

2) Look for a warm introduction. Your pitch will go much further if you are able to get an introduction to the team or person you want to speak to. The person on the receiving end of the inquiry will feel an obligation to reply -- not because of you, but because someone they know has put themselves behind the introduction.

If you know someone who used to work at the company or else someone who has done business with them, that's a great place to start. Otherwise, take a peak on LinkedIn and see what common connections you have to the company.

3) Get the company name right. I can't tell you the number of times I've received an email from someone who wants to work with Songkick where the company name is misspelled (Song Kick) or improperly capitalized (SongKick). This immediately shows sloppiness or indicates that you have not engaged with the product. Worse yet is when both mistakes are made within the same email.

I know I've personally made this mistake when I'm in a rush or typing from my phone, and let me tell you: it is incredibly embarrassing if you care about the person you are contacting. Before you send a pitch, take an extra minute to make sure you've dotted the 'i's and crossed all the 't's.

4) Personalize the inquiry. Too often I receive emails that say "We think we can do big things for your company." What kinds of things? How do I know you didn't just copy-and-paste that?

Show that you have real intent by referencing a recent accomplishment of the company or else citing ways you can really help them.

Did the company just win an award? Congratulate them.

Did the CEO tell stockholders what he or she wants to accomplish this year? Mention what you can do to help.

Don't let this part get buried in your email or run on too long. Instead, keep it short and position it in the opening sentences of your pitch to immediately standout from the crowd.

Get Smart at SXSW: Five tips for surviving the week

2011-03-10T16:56:00.006-05:00

Last year I gave you three pieces of advice on SXSX Music before embarking on my first Platinum SXSW experience (Music, Film and Interactive conferences all). With that behind me and nine days of SXSW ahead of me, I give you five more pieces of advice on how to survive SXSW 2011.

1) Bring a phone charger or spare battery with you wherever you go. All of those tweets, check-ins, emails and texts are going to drain your phone so fast you will be running around looking for an electrical outlet before lunchtime. The Convention Center usually has cellphone charging lockers you can use on the upper levels, but also consider bringing a spare battery pack (sorry, iPhone users, that doesn't apply to you) or else carry an extra AC adapter in your bag.

2) Be diligent about your health. Not to sound too much like a mom, but take care of yourself, okay? Go for a run on the awesome Town Lake trails and take some vitamins. With all the beer-swiggin' and hand-shakin' that happens during the week, you are gonna pick up as many unwanted germs as unwanted tchotchkes. So instead of reaching for that mimosa, put some Emergen-C in your water and toast to your health.

3) Get to peddling. Austin is really not a very big town, so this year my friend Monica and I (who are staying a mile outside of downtown) are getting bikes. Cheap, quick and no need to fight for cabs. Plus there are added health benefits (see above) Uber, the private car service I love in SF, is also going to be down in Austin with pedicabs, so put them to work for charity.

4) Create your own parties on the fly. About 20% of your time at SXSW is spent waiting in line for something -- to catch a band, to get some food, to use the bathroom... but when the only reason you're queued up is to get in to a party hosted by a tech company, why not just grab some folks and spill in to the bar next door? Let's be honest, guys: will you really get to meet the founder if you don't know them already? Probably not. It seemed ridiculous last year that people were waiting to get in to a bar for a party when the bar next door was completely empty. Try using Hurricane Party's app to make your own on-the-fly party, or else to tell friends where you're relocating to. And if the Foursquare or Gowalla check-in matters that much to you, guess what? You'll be in close enough proximity to fool the app in to thinking you're there.

5) Create a mobile group to keep in touch. Before you get to Austin, decide which few people you really want to keep up with -- perhaps coworkers so you don't miss networking opportunities, or friends so you can use all the +1s you asked for in your RSVPs. Try Kik (great app which just rolled out group messaging) or GroupMe (uses SMS messages) and hit lots of people at once when issuing only one message.

Wanna meet up in Austin? Find me on Twitter at twitter.com/caren

2010 Indie Music Trends: Cats, Beaches, a Venn Diagram and a Playlist

2011-01-04T12:00:00.000-05:00

Every year there seems to be one or two prevailing trends in the world of indie music naming and branding. It was my (assumed) job at Paste to document this all for an audience of hipsters who cared to argue about such things at the end of the year. Back then I discovered that...

2007 was the Year of the Deer/Dear bands (Deerhunter, Deer Tick, Loney Dear)
2008 brought the Year of the Bear bands (Care Bears on Fire, Grizzly Bear, Panda Bear)

As we look back on 2010, I'm ready to declare that it was "The Year of the Cat and the Beach (a Little Bit of Each)." Too bad Dr Seuss isn't around to write about this one for me.

Take a look at all the album art that featured furry felines, including releases by Best Coast, The Klaxons, MGMT and Two Door Cinema Club.

But there were just as many surf-and-sand-loving bands to be had, so let's venn diagram this and figure out who the real winner was in 2010.

Four magic bands in the center of the venn diagram?! Amazing!

That's because MGMT gave us...

Cat-shaped-wave on the album art

The Klaxons offered...

Cat album art
An album called "Surfing the Void"

Best Coast provided...

Cat (sitting on an ocean) album art
A nearly beachy name

But the real winner is Wavves, with its...

Cat (wearing a gold chain!) album art
Surf-and-sand band name (with superfluous 'v'!)
A song called "King of the Beach"

Well done, Wavves. The trinity of 2010 indie music branding.

Here's a playlist of all the bands. They are talented folks. Buy their music, please (... but maybe not the whole MGMT album... that was disappointing).

Caren Explains the Droid 2

2011-01-02T19:44:00.003-05:00

I count myself among the 5% of women ages 25-39 who would choose an Android device over other smart phones. In fact, as of today I am on my second Android device. (You don't scare me, evil Android eye!)

I've only had it for a few hours, but I can see already that Droid 2 addresses some of the concerns I had with the first Motorola DROID after I bought last December.

Most notably it offers worldwide CDMA/GSM support which means I can now use it in London. Gone are the days of toggling between a GSM-supported Verizon phone (so I could receive calls to my US number), my DROID (so I could retrieve contacts) and a British-issued mobile phone (so I could make calls in London). Rejoice, rejoice!

Also, this Droid 2 has an immediate route to file management. I found it impossible to locate files once I had downloaded them to the DROID. Now you can easily see both local files and shared files from the application menu.

One cool innovation on Droid 2 is the ability to switch between multiple profiles. The default suggestions for profiles are "Home," "Work" and "Weekend." As someone who has a bad habit of reading work-related emails and messages while off-the-clock, I can really make good use of this feature. Being able to hide work-related accounts, applications and widgets in one swish of the finger is a welcomed feature.

It is also interesting to see which apps were pre-installed on the Droid 2. Blockbuster and "Need for Speed" apps are new to the menu, though they earlier appeared as "junkware" on the Motorola X, while non-standard/non-Google applications like Skype and Amazon mp3 return on this iteration.

There are also a lot more pre-populated desktop screens on Droid 2. While some -- like a desktop screen for quick-dial contacts -- are helpful, others (namely the news widgets) remind me of Windows Vista features I disliked.

So far so good, but there is one significant UX improvement I hope this Droid 2 will offer: a less-sensitive interface and/or smarter screen- locks during phone calls so I don't hang-up on as many people accidentally....because that's just rude.

Texts, Teens and a Tale of Two Twitters: a Second-Go at Group Messaging

2010-10-26T17:36:00.011-05:00

In March 2008 the Paste team made its annual pilgrimage to SXSW. I was producing three days of concerts that year and was dreading the amount of coordination required. So when Paste's tech-savvy co-founder Tim Regan-Porter suggested we all sign-up for a service that would let us text each other in a group, I was intrigued.

The service was called Twitter.

I signed-up for Twitter that day and activated it so that I could send and receive "tweets" as texts. Everyone else on the Paste staff did the same. This would allow one of us to send out a tweet via text (ex: "I need help backstage! Anyone around the venue?") and quickly reach all 10 people on staff.

This is what I expected Twitter to become: a group texting service. Why else would anyone constrain a message to 140 characters, right?

We all know the rest of the story (and had understood how important brevity would be in the Twittersphere, I would not have picked a 15-character username).

But what about that group SMS function that got me to sign-up for Twitter in the first place? Why didn't that stick?

Well, a host of new start-ups are trying to resurrect that service... only they seem a few years late to a party that no one showed up to in the first place.

In 2006 Yahoo! tried its hand at group texting with Mixd, while Twitter, Dodgeball and Zemble were also identified as promising multi-purpose SMS services by Techcrunch. Those services were either shutdown or evolved past the group SMS piece of the business model.

So what makes this the time for companies like GroupMe and Rabbly to emerge?

There's the exclusivity piece of it. All friends and followers are not created equal, so as our social networks expand, something like selective group messaging could be a valuable way to post status-like updates to only a handful of people.

Then there are the teens. I'm no longer a teenage girl, but I could see how this would be helpful in keeping up with a clique. Nielsen reports that the average American teen sends nearly 3,400 text messages a month. This group of consumers also rely less on email than their 18 and over counterparts. Not a bad customer group to go after.

There's also international markets, where SMS usage is generally higher than it is in the US.

Still, with smartphone adoption growing, and phone plans becoming all encompassing (text, voice and data for one flat fee) it could be that the new Facebook Groups or good ol' email will serve the need for the group messaging just fine (at least amongst smartphone users).

Will group SMS be the next It Thing, or is it, like, so 2006?

Discuss below, my Blogosphere friends...

The London startup scene: Party like a rock star?

2010-09-23T14:25:00.002-05:00

Too much funding and boozing? Not enough collaboration and execution?

Sounds like criticism reserved for troubled rock stars on the brink of a break-up, but Ben Colclough sees the same problems in the startup scene (specifically in London).

TechCrunch: The London startup scene: Too much funding, boozing and not enough collaboration and execution

Reminds me of a nice analogy drawn out by Shane Snow and referenced by Fred Wilson, which compares a Rock Band to a Tech Start-Up. I agree that the analogy is pretty spot on, except that it does not address what happens "if all goes wrong"... and chances are, it will.

Consider that in 2008, 106,000 new albums were released, but only 64 albums went Gold in 2009; meanwhile, 11,716 venture deals were struck between 2007 and 2009, but there were only 104 IPOs over that same time period (according to Thompson Reuters). Signing with a record label or a VC does not guarantee success, but sales sure will. I agree with Colclough that more time and attention needs to be paid to this piece of entrepreneurship.

Not that it should be all work and no play, though. Take Music Hackday London, which encourages collaboration and networking, but is centered around executing something quickly.

Work hard and have fun, but save the real celebration for later.

Read the full post at TechCrunch

9 Years After 9/11

2010-09-11T19:05:00.017-05:00

On September 11, 2001, I was sitting through a calculus class that was too easy for me... and I knew it.

The class was taught in the early morning in a building at the very edge of Emory University's campus; yet I knew I would get an 'A' by the end of the semester and that seemed to matter more than the inconvenience. I was bleary-eyed and bored, measuring my life in its achievements, not in its moments.

That was my first full week of college in Atlanta, when I still felt very far from my home and from my dearest friends. Still, I was beginning to feel settled at Emory. Making new friends had not been as difficult as I thought it would be, and I could quickly overcome the homesickness by calling my family in Maryland.

I don't remember what was taught in class on that September day, yet I remember so many other strange things from the hours that followed: the cartoon drawn on the whiteboard in the entryway to my dorm; the busy signal I heard when I called my father's office near the Pentagon; the cheap candle wax that dripped on to my hand during the evening vigil on the quad; the call I made to my high school crush.

In the years that followed, I have been interested to learn what we -- as Americans -- choose to remember from 9/11. What once provided unity seems to have instead deepened our divisions. I've observed some people manipulate the facts for advantageous reasons, while others have simply dismissed those facts entirely... and I never know how to reconcile the two.

As one of my favorite Emory professors observed, this generation created a "divided America," one engaged in a ferocious struggle for power. Yet for a moment -- nine years ago -- we all shared in a common experience, one marked by confusion, sadness and disbelief. The cheap candles we clung to gave us reason to come together and allowed us to feel less alone on a day of immense tragedy. On that day we did not characterize ourselves by our economic, political or religious beliefs, but shared in our human condition. 9/11 reminded us how fragile our world is.

As I reflect on this September day, there are so many things I want to tell my younger self: take the harder calculus class; call your family every day; tell your crush how you feel; pray for the people you love.

Yet even now I forget those things and still feel like a freshman in the first week of classes. I hardly understand why there is so much hatred in the world and why we make love seem like such a difficult task.

But on this day I also remember that life is a blessing; every day, a blessing. That this is the lesson I take away from so much tragedy seems entirely unfair.

Caren Explains Facebook Places and the New Power Play

2010-08-19T16:05:00.006-05:00

If you don't compulsively check your tweets or tech news, you might have missed today's announcement about Facebook Places, which will allow you to "check in" to venues (like restaurants, airports and stores) and find friends who "happen to be at the same place at the same time."

Though similar services (like Foursquare and Gowalla) already exist for mobile phones, Facebook's reach and installed base of mobile users makes this a game changer. So does its large and established advertising platform, which should allow businesses to quickly send coupons, deals and messaging to customers.

It also means that over-sharing is only going to get worse (and more socially acceptable).

There are a handful of glaring concerns about Facebook Places: locational privacy, for one. Protection is another -- of data, identity and property (Please Rob Me anyone?). And the poor Hollywood screenwriters! Plots reliant on romantic, serendipitous run-ins will soon seem even less realistic!

Yet my biggest concern? Being constantly connected.

Yes, it's at geolocating times like this that I am reminded of a brilliant piece that Tom Chiarella wrote for Esquire in 2007. He's on to something, kids, now more than ever...

"The New Power Play."
By Tom Chiarella
Inaccessibility
There's this guy. Let's call him Bill. He's a star. He's bankable. And you can't get to him. Bill has no agent. He has no publicist. No office. You call a number, leave a message, and, if he's interested, he'll call you back. Otherwise, the answer is no.
This is the way of the future....
Read More

TLATW Take a Bad Song and Make it Better

2010-06-30T07:54:00.002-05:00

Unless you were living under a rock in 2005, you've probably heard the song "Brighter than Sunshine" by Aqualung. It broke the Top 40, got lots of radio play and and was used in a number of movies, tv shows and commercials.

I like Aqualung, aka Matt Hales, and had a lovely time at his concert... but I don't like his hit single for one simple reason: it does not sound brighter than sunshine... it is slow, heavy and mournful instead of celebratory. If you are in love, you should want to shout, shout, shout it out!

Alternative Apparel is providing the chance for the song to be reincarnated, though, with its new Unsigned Artist competition. Musicians upload their versions of the song and compete for your attention.

One of those entries is from The Lighthouse and the Whaler and it actually sounds bright and sunny (xylophone FTW). This five-piece is pretty dang creative... just listen for yourself... and if you like it, click "Vote" on the bottom of the player [no registration necessary], or share it on your own social network.

Unsigned Artist Competition

Sponsored by Alternative Apparel

Caren Explains Janelle Monae

2010-05-18T08:19:00.004-05:00

Psst! Hey you! ... Yes, you! Come closer. I want to tell you a secret, but you don't have to keep it. In fact, tell everyone you know. See there's this gal you should know about: Janelle Monae--have you heard of her? ... well, she's about to blow up, so pay attention now and you can tell your kids you knew her back when...

This ArchAndroid is equal parts Andre 3000, Prince and Anita Baker. She is funky, focused and enchanting in an Audrey Hepburn sort of way. When I met Janelle in 2008 I remember how sincere she was when she said, "It's very nice to meet you." If she had instead said "How are you?" I'm sure she would have been genuinely interested in the reply, rather than treating it as a passing line as so many of us do.

Her debut full-length album -- with the second and third suites of her Metropolis project -- was released today by Bad Boy and it will be a hit of 2010. She already has some solid fans, like Big Boi, Of Montreal and Saul Williams, who are featured collaborators on the album.

In an era when mainstream artists rely on auto-tune and pump out singles, here's an album that should be consumed in its entirety. It moves from orchestral to brass-and-beat laden tracks, with a standout three-track sequence of "Locked Inside," "Sir Greenwood" and "Cold War" midway through the album.

So now you know. Go tell your friends... and it might be time for you to learn how to do the "Tightrope"...

Caren Explains Tree Cenergy, Copyrights and Being a Blacklisted Blogger

2010-04-26T20:52:00.008-05:00

Today I received notification that someone is out to get me. I cannot tell you who, exactly, but they are already on the attack.

It started when I got a very longwinded, vague email from Blogger that said I have apparently infringed on the copyrights of someone involved in a blog post I wrote nearly six months ago. The post proclaimed the awesomeness of a hip band from Philadelphia whose name rhymes with "Tree Cenergy." [This band is growing very popular, by the way].

The blog post in question refers readers to two mp3 downloads that were made "legally" available on other sites. I wasn't hosting the files myself, and I made sure -- before posting the links -- to read up on the referring sites' download agreements. In doing so, I was assured that the referring sites (SPIN and Stereogum) had permission to post the mp3s. I even listed a disclaimer that said something to the effect of, "These sites have proof that these downloads are allowed."

Blogger advises that I remove the offending content and repost. But to be honest, I have no idea what I did wrong. Knowing this detail would be helpful to "prevent future violations." Instead, I'm going to be blacklisted on the DMCA clearinghouse. Super.

So let me stand on my soapbox for a second and make two different but tangental arguments.

First, I applaud you copyright holders for fighting for your rights. No one values content anymore and that needs to be remedied. The proliferation of mp3 blogs and aggregators has only perpetuated the notion that content should be free. Consumers feel entitled to get it. And if you take a stand and say it isn't allowed to be free, there are still plenty of places to stream it (Grooveshark, for one). If you treat the symptom, you don't ever cure the disease. So maybe I deserved a slap on the wrist.

But, if a musician values his copyrights he should make sure his business team is on the same page. When I was at Paste, I used to get tons of emails from publicists and labels encouraging us to post mp3s for our readers to download. These businessmen were treating mp3s as loss leaders for other revenue streams, like touring dollars and commercial licensing fees. Not that artists are always okay with that strategy.... In 2007 Band of Horses pulled out of a Wal-Mart commercial after going back and forth about the implications for its image.

That there is no industry agreement on mp3 sharing on music blogs has only further muddled the perceived value of content. If the majors say "No!" but the indies say "Yes!" what happens to when an indie band is upstreamed to a major label? My guess is the major suddenly go looking through archives to yank down files that the artist published as an indie; heck, the indie might even look through the archives once a band gets somewhat popular... it is certainly suspicious that this notice was issued six months after the blog publication...

Perhaps I trusted too much in SPIN and Stereogum's policies; or perhaps it isn't the mp3s that are the problem, but a picture I posted instead? I guess only The Man knows for sure.

You can bite the hand that feeds you, Music Industry, but at least give an explanation after you sink your teeth in.

Caren Explains Zeppelin, Springsteen and Strategic Marketing

2010-04-18T08:48:00.021-05:00

Four years ago, I mistook John Paul Jones of Led Zeppelin for a mandolin-totin' nobody... at best, I thought him a member of Widespread Panic.

It all happened when I was sitting in a tent backstage at Bonnaroo, sneezing incessantly and waiting for my allergy medicine to kick-in. It was hot and I was miserable. That's when Jones walked in. He politely and unassumingly introduced himself as "John" while I tried not to sneeze in his face. Then he walked into the other part of the tent to play the mandolin for a camera crew from CNN.

A handful of people rushed in to see this legend play his instrument, while others (like me) went about business as usual.

#hugelifefail

I recognized neither Jones' star power or musical prowess, despite the presence of CNN. I guess I just wasn't looking (or listening) hard enough.

I thought of this encounter during our last HBS session of Strategic Marketing in Creative Industries, when Professor Elberse challenged me and my classmates to predict whether people can identify true talent without marketing cues or signals. As an example, she referenced an experiment that took place in 2007:

What happens when world-renowned violinist, Joshua Bells, plays six difficult pieces on his $3m violin... at a DC Metro station during rush hour?

Some classmates guessed that there would be a mob (as did The Washington Post initially expected), whereas others said he would go unnoticed.

Here's what happened...

Talk about a humbling experience. Bell made $32.17 that day, whereas he normally earns $1,000 per minute for a performance.

The Jones and Bell examples hint at a question underlying the entertainment industry: Can people recognize quality without cues?

The contextual factors are certainly important, like time, day, location and competition. My classmate, Luis (a chart-topping musician in South America) also brought up accessibility. Pop songs are, not surprisingly, more recognizable than those crafted for the violin (or mandolin). When you have only a few seconds to catch someone's attention, this is especially critical.

To support Luis' point about accessibility, here is a video of Bruce Springsteen performing on a street in Copenhagen some twenty-odd years ago. While The Boss didn't cause near riots, he certainly drew more of a crowd than Bell did...

I think we would all prefer pure talent over manufactured fads -- the show without the business. But if Springsteen can't make it on the streets, who of us can?

The Comcast Redemption: a case study about social networks and customer service

2010-04-13T18:12:00.011-05:00

As you may have read last week, I was pretty frustrated with my Comcast customer service experience (or lack there of). After all, Comcast's mission statement promises: We will deliver a superior experience to our customers every day. Our products will be the best and we will offer the most customer-friendly and reliable service in the market.

Yeah, you keep working on that....

But! as I suspected, Comcast's social media team was quick to sweep in and respond to my concerns. @ComcastBonnie found me on Twitter, Mark visited my blog and Boston's corporate center called me to solve the problem... all within 30 minutes.

No wonder Forbes gave Comcast a high-five for its "artful customer service" via Twitter.

My exchange with Comcast illustrates the importance of social networks for businesses of all shapes and sizes. Social media marketing requires that companies be social. If you are going to invade your customers' social networks, you have to be ready to engage with them. That means listening to them, responding to them, acknowledging them and rewarding them. Use the many search engines and aggregation tools out there to find your customers and save the day! Give your brand a personality and show that there are real people behind it!

At Paste one of the most successful marketing tactics I employed was having our hard-working marketing interns respond to each and every friend request on MySpace. They started leaving each friend/fan a personal comment, like "Great song choice for your page -- Thom Yorke is a genius." This took longer than clicking "Accept All Friend Requests" (and I'm sure my interns hated how tedious it was) but it gave Paste a truly viral presence: the comments were seen by other MySpace users, who then realized that Paste had a MySpace page and, in turn, sent their own friend requests. It also inspired public conversations with fans -- a trend that has continued now on Twitter, Facebook and Paste's own website.

A company that posts a Facebook page and measures its success based on the number of fans the page attract are missing the point. Use social networks as a way to bring your brand to life.

Thanks, Comcast, for coming through today. Now if we could only work on your 1-800 phone system...

Caren and Brad Explain Bieber's Five Forces

2010-04-12T23:07:00.003-05:00

Over the past few days we haven't had a lot of case studies at HBS, so Brad and I decided to take a break from paper-writing to turn our attention to a business mystery: How did Justin Bieber happen?

Here's what we know about Justin "J-Biebz" Bieber:

- He is from Canada

- He is sixteen

- He was "discovered" on YouTube

- He likes to tweet (and 1.8million people like his tweets)

- He makes three-year-old girls cry

But is his fame sustainable? To explore this question, Brad and I offer you a Bieber's Five Forces analysis.

Let's crowd source this one -- go ahead and add your analysis + any suggestions to the Google Doc and we'll see if we can crack the case.

Management Lessons from Jeffery Tambor, i.e. George Bluth

2010-04-08T17:00:00.000-05:00

Of all the management lessons I learned during my HBS career, I certainly didn't expect any to come from actor Jeffrey Tambor, probably because I associate him with one of his famous characters: George Bluth, CEO of the Bluth Company, who is always on the run from the SEC. Does this look like the kind of character you want to take business lessons from?

But let's divorce Tambor from Bluth, since one is real and the other is not....

Tambor led an acting workshop at SXSW that I was lucky to attend. During the workshop he had an actor and actress on stage to help him illustrate some lessons. The most interesting parts of the workshop -- for me at least -- were not acting lessons, though, but managerial ones.

The first thing I noticed about Tambor was that he was a coach who wasn't afraid to give out some tough love. In one instance he reminded the actor, 'It's a love scene, Romeo -- [don't play] some Camus existential motherf*cker.' But he also made a point to compliment the actors' strengths and push him to go further with his talents. It was almost like Tambor was a therapist up there and you could see the two actors really reacting to what he was saying (in a few moments they were moved to tears).

Tambor also made a point to tell the directors in the crowd not to critique their actors on-set. Instead he advised walking your actor over to the craft service table and having an honest conversation there, away from the set and the key grips, cameramen, best boys, etc, who were uninvolved. As a general manager, this makes sense, too. Why embarrass someone that needs coaching by criticizing them in front of peers or coworkers? Have important conversations in settings that allow you to be honest and helpful, not hurtful.

Here are some other things I took away from the session:

"We know that in the fifth act Oedipus is going to pluck out his eyes, but let's get there first." I thought about this in relation to our case studies... when we know the ending, it is easy to try and rush to it and work backwards... but there is a lot to learn in the stepping stones and chapters in between.

'Do not teach acting on the set. Take care of business.' This made me think about start-ups and why they are hesitant to hire people who can't work autonomously. You don't want to be teaching people how to do their job when it's time to perform. On this point, I also thought of what one case protagonist said at HBS: "If someone I hire fails at their job because they weren't ready for it, it's my fault -- not theirs." Teach during the read-thrus, not when the tape is rolling.

"You have to shatter the work to get it right. 'Is this good?' is wrong. You can always repair it. F*ck it up first."

"Be a pencil with an eraser at the end."

And my favorite...

"Losing the love is what is hard about being a human being. But we get to use it as art. It isn't about a scene; it is about our lives."

Are You There, Comcast? It's Me, Caren.

2010-04-06T22:45:00.008-05:00

Dear Comcast,

I've encountered a lot of bad customer service operations in the past... but yours is by far the worst. As the former manager of a customer service team, I take this stuff pretty seriously -- so much so that I volunteered to leave you customer feedback before I realized how terrible at it you were. I'm not surprised that you forgot to patch me through to the survey at the end of my call...

Your customerCentral website is fatally flawed and your phone system isn't much better.

Why am I posting a blog about this? Because it's the only way I can get through to you. If your social media team is any better than your customer service team, you'll find this letter with no problem (and actually try to help me).

Let's run through what happened to me earlier this week, shall we?

1) I turn on TV and see that my cable is not working. I log-in to your site to see what's going on and learn that you have my account on hold. Hmm... three months ago I set-up ongoing payments with you, and in fact my account reflects this... it even says my "account is already set-up for recurring payments"... yet you aren't deducting those payments? The credit card is valid, the checking account is established... yet you've made me look like a delinquent, probably ruined my credit and cut me off from LOST this week. #fail.

2) I go to pay my bill online (since you forgot to do it for me these past months), but your site won't process my payment.

3) I try to pay with another card. Your site reported a "System Error" and asks that I not try to resubmit, in case I'm overcharged (unlikely, given your track record).

4) I pick up the phone and do the old fashion thing: I call your 1-800 number. And, yes, I have an Atlanta area code on my phone... but shouldn't your CRM solution be smart enough to recognize that my cable box is in Boston? That I'm calling from Boston? That you're feeding me content in Boston? That maybe I don't want to be patched through to Atlanta's customer service teams, only to be told I can't be helped?

5) Atlanta Rep #1 forwards my call to Boston... to a doctor's office answering machine. (The only good to come of this is that it reminded me that I'm overdue for a doctor's check-up).

6) I call your 1-800 number again and my call is once more forwarded to Atlanta. I am given a new Boston number to call... when I do so, you hang up on me, citing a "technical error" with the call.

7) Call #3 to Atlanta means I have to go through this all again. At the end of the menu options and customer service chat, I'm told the Boston office is open at 7am and I have to find a landline to call from, or else my calls will continue to go to Atlanta -- even if I dial the Boston office directly.

8) I resort to your online chat option through CustomerCentral. I wait in an imaginary queue to chat with a representative. I am #9 in the queue and my session times-out before your "representative" can get to me. #superfail

I spent over 45 minutes trying to pay you -- that's right, 45 minutes trying to give you money --with no success. But you know the worst part? Being told "Thank you for choosing Comcast" every time I interact with you... I didn't choose Comcast; you were the only provider in this zip code!

Next time I'm choosing Hulu, ABC.com and iTunes instead.

Sincerely,

A Disgruntled Customer

Caren Explains 1997 and 1998 Mix Tapes

2010-04-06T01:08:00.012-05:00

When I lived in Atlanta, my car was broken into twice. I didn't care so much about that; what REALLY bothered me is that the thieves took everything except my amazing collection of cassette tapes!

Really? You didn't want any of those? Not even Tiffany or NKOTB? REALLY?!?

When I was cleaning out this eleven-year-old car the other day I rediscovered a few of these cassettes, including some mix tapes I made in 1997 and 1998. Listening to them was like opening a time capsule, and I got a bit nostalgic for my tweenage years at Robert Frost Middle School and Wootton High School. Back then I spent at least an hour a night listening to 99.1 WHFS, trying to tape its nightly countdown onto cassette tapes. I would then edit them into mixes using my two-tape boom box. Yup... I was a dorky music geek even then.

Here are the songs on two of those mix tapes. Hope they take you on a trip down memory lane.

Caren Explains the Harbus Case Study

2010-03-30T11:13:00.009-05:00

On Monday The Harbus released an HBS-like case study I penned called "Where Have All the Leaders Gone?" which explores perceptions and opinions about student leadership at HBS. [I would link to it but The Harbus did not post it online]. The Harbus editor-in-chief has put out a call for reactions/case analysis, so I thought now would be a good time to provide some context to the case, too.

As explained in the footnote, the case is not intended to serve as an "endorsement, source of primary data or illustration of effective or ineffective leadership," but rather inspire conversation within the community around the case. Why? Well, because many similar conversations were already happening behind closed doors -- between both students and administrators. The impact of J-Term, the recession and social traditions were being called into question. I was also hearing complaints from both RCs and ECs about the state of student clubs, but there was no formal place to come together and talk about these concerns.

To form the case study, I solicited feedback from both RC and EC students across 20 interviews, including an EC-RC focus group. The students I interviewed included current and incoming club officers and SA presidents, student committee members and apathetic MBAs alike. I also compiled as much historic data as I could get my hands on about the demographics of the HBS community, which was harder than I thought it would be (thanks, WayBack Machine).

I very purposefully wrote this as a case study, not an editorial, for two reasons. First, because coming out with an editorial and saying "Ah-ha! I know what's going on!" would be both counterproductive and nearly impossible, especially because I'm not even sure this is a real problem. Second, as you see within the case, there are too many variables to prove definitive causation or correlation, especially across the more qualitative data. We can't even agree on what "leadership" means. Still, I think it an important issue to think about.

As one of my classmates said, MBAs are very good at "planting a stake in the ground and defending it." Think about how many different opinions are shared over the course of a case discussion in Aldrich Hall... if we all had the same viewpoints or opinions, we wouldn't learn anything. Just as with any case we study in the classroom, The Harbus staff and I hoped this "case" would cause you to think about and defend your own opinions.

It would not be an appropriate case discussion without true case analysis, though, so I would encourage ECs, RCs and faculty to share opinions by filling out this (secure and anonymous) poll to The Harbus Editor or simply having conversations with classmates.

What does "leadership" mean at HBS? I'm not sure... but this is how I choose to be a leader, and I hope the case study helps people think about what it means to them.

Evan Williams, CEO of Twitter, on Innovation, Internet and Entrepreneurship

2010-03-29T15:21:00.011-05:00

There are no Managing Innovation (#HBSinnov8) or Founder's Dilemma (#fdhbs) classes the rest of the week, so I thought it a good time to type up my notes from SXSW Interactive. One of the more notable events of the week was the keynote address from Evan Williams, co-founder and CEO of Twitter (and recent HBS case protagonist in #fdhbs). As you may have heard, it was a bit lackluster and I would now say this tweet was indeed serendipitous...

(click the link above to see the picture)

When Williams announced Twitter's new @anywhere platform from the stage (to applause, but not cheers) it was clear that he is no Steve Jobs... but I stayed until the end of the Q&A and found his insight and reflections interesting nonetheless... here are the [paraphrased] pieces that stood out.

"Whatever you assume when you start out, you are wrong. Experimentation leads the creative process... Google started out thinking they were going to sell search products."

"We are still focused on how do we create the best experience for users and business... users are opting in to commercial messages all the time. We want to make that process better and faster."

"'What is Twitter?' has always been an iconically difficult question to answer. We think of it as an information network that helps [users] find out what is going on in the world around them, and share... First piece, you don't have to contribute... Value we are working on today is increasing signal to noise ratio and giving people more choices."

How does Twitter handle iteration? "We have awesome people that are doing what they think is best. Autonomous teams... go for it... give them the resources they need."

On his role as CEO: "I personally like to get involved in the product and strategy. Then the nitty gritty... half my time on that, then half of culture internally. How do we scale the company and adopt characteristics we want? ... Parallels between service and culture we want to create... openness and transparency... easy to say, harder to do..."

Re: Openness and transparency... "A window is transparent, a door is open... a window lets you see what is happening, a door lets you come in... openness is survival technique... being open to your probably being wrong... assume there are more smart people outside the company than inside..."

"There are 50 million tweets a day; most users see 100. Are those the best 100 for you to see? Probably not." Hinted at Microsoft and Google being able to help that within the network.

"We don't know the best use for this stuff... like the Internet... why limit it?... We are just realizing the value of the Internet. It is about democratization... we take that for granted. It is changing institutions today, it will changes institutions in the future."

Next wave? "Real businesses will be built on Twitter.... 'Twitter.com' is the consumer interface for the mainstream audience... we would love to see more focus on creating deep experiences that create value for audiences."

"We are sending cease and desist notices everyday to Twitter-follower-shot-gun-spammers... [we] need shepherding."

"SMS is still important in places where internet adoption is low. Twitter can help... strong growth in India, where it is SMS ubiquitous."

"Hard to define 'user' because you don't have to have an account to use Twitter... there's something on Twitter for everyone, but everyone does not know that."

"People have limited attention. We hope Twitter can better direct your attention."

#1 operating principle? "'Be a course for good'... open exchange of information has positive impact on the world. Another is 'pay attention.'... Our advantage will only work if everyone wins." Key to partnerships and why Evan says they haven't introduced revenue generating parts to Twitter yet...

"Dichotomy in traditional media and usage... it is an ecosystem and they get richer and pieces work together. It doesn't work for those who ignore the new species. For Twitter, it is even more clear to me that Twitter complements existing media."

Why be an entrepreneur? "For me, it's [about] creating things that didn't exist in the world before... your product should be the end of a sentence that starts, 'Wouldn't it be awesome if...?'"

Caren Explains 3 Ways to Improve Your SXSW Music Experience

2010-03-12T21:38:00.007-05:00

On Sunday I head to Austin, Texas, for my fourth pilgrimage to SXSW. It will be the first time I'm not producing SXSW-related events (like the one pictured above); instead I'll be checking out the interactive panels and film screenings, before I help introduce The Lighthouse and the Whaler to the rest of the music industry [catch the band's showcase on Wednesday March 17th at 7:30pm at The Tap Room at Six].

Ian Schafer penned a great post for AdAge reminding all of us who are Austin-bound “10 Ways to Not Be a Jerk at SXSW.” Ian’s offers some advice specific to SXSWi, so I thought I’d add three pieces of advice for those people going to the SXSW Music festivities.

1) Don't plan every minute of your day. SXSW used to be about the discovery, but now it is a miracle if you can survive the whole thing. Go ahead and make a schedule using my.sxsw, but do leave some room for exploration. There are probably 50-some-odd bands that the industry is buzzing about, and you may be tempted to go see them all; but do you really want to be the umpteenth blogger to proclaim [over-hyped band] the darling of SXSW? Wouldn’t it be cooler to stumble into something unusually interesting? There is certainly talent among the other 1,000+ artists showcasing at SXSW, so ditch the schedule from time to time and let your ear lead you to something surprising.

2) Don't show off all of your day party laminates. It's nice to feel wanted and well-liked, but you don't have to brag about it, especially if you didn't share your party invitations with your friends and instead horded passes for yourself. Imagine checking-in to Four Square and seeing that a few of your friends are at a pretty happening place; but, wait, why didn’t they invite you to go with them?! Don’t wear your party laminates like merit badges unless you’re willing to answer, “How come I wasn’t invited to that?"

3) Make a point to go to Flatstock. For the past 24 years the best poster artists and designers have shown up at SXSW to display their work. I've outfitted my entire apartment with posters I bought at SXSW 2008 and my house guests love them almost as much as I do. If you are on a budget, I recommend doing some research ahead of time, since some of these posters are pricey. Check out two of my favorites: The Small Stakes (responsible for The National poster below) and Methane Studios (which made the Band of Horses print).

10 songs for a rainy day + 1 to cheer you up

2010-02-27T17:00:00.005-05:00

Today is one gloomy day in Boston. It's raining, it's pouring, it's sometimes sleeting-snowing? And since the weather can't make up it's mind, you might be restless and depressed. Never fear, there's a playlist that knows just how you feel.

Rainy Day Playlist No. 12 & 35

But if you're a 'glass-half-full' type like me, you probably want to get out of your rut. If so, this catchy pop gem from the Swedes in I'm From Barcelona will surely turn that frown upside down.

(YouTube disabled video embedding for this one, but you can click the image below to get to the video)

Caren Explains the 25 Biggest Hits in iTunes History

2010-02-22T18:53:00.010-05:00

Lest anyone doubt Apple's stronghold in the music industry, iTunes is about to deliver its 10 billionth song download. How big is 10 billion? Well, 304m Americans would have had to purchase 33 songs each to achieve this milestone, or else each of Europe's 830m citizens would have had to purchase 12 songs (an entire album) off of iTunes.

In preparation for the celebration, iTunes released a playlist of its most downloaded songs of all time. The top five?

1) "I've Got a Feeling," Black Eyed Peas
2) "Poker Face," Lady Gaga
3) "Boom Boom Pow," Black Eyed Peas
4) "I'm Yours," Jason Mraz
5) "Viva La Vida," Coldplay

Looking through the full list (and doing a fair bit of Nielsen SoundScan research), I observed a few things:

- There is no one recipe for success. Only six (6) of the songs debuted at #1, while nine (9) of the Top 25 songs never made it to #1, including "I'm Yours" and "Viva La Vida," which nevertheless rank in the Top 25 of all time. Slow and steady won the race for Lady Gaga's "Poker Face" (which entered the charts at #85 and took 27 weeks to reach #1), whereas "Boom Boom Pow" debuted at #1 and spent 10 weeks in the top spot. See all my findings here.

- More than half of the Top 25 songs debuted in 2008. This is not that surprising, considering the trend in consumption and the cumulative number of downloads served across time:

We should also consider that iTunes installed base has grown over time, which means if 5% of users download a #1 song, the resulting sales look much different in 2003 than 2009. For example, when "Hey There Delilah" was at #1 in 2005 it sold 130,000 units a week; when "I Gotta Feeling" debuted at #1 in 2009 it sold 250,000 units a week -- nearly double what "Hey There Delilah" generated.

- No songs added to the catalog in 2004, 2006 or 2010 made the cut (though I expect a few hits from 2010 will by the end of the year). Were 2004 and 2006 just bad years in music? According to Billboard, the most popular songs in 2004 and 2006 were, respectively, "Yeah!" by Usher and "Bad Day" by Daniel Powter. Perhaps people went out and bought those CDs rather than digital editions? Or the songs were timely but not timeless? (I certainly don't need to hear "Bad Day" ever again).

- For all their popularity and exposure, no American Idol winners made the list... not even Carrie Underwood.

------------

One thing I'd be interested to learn is the Top 25 digital albums of iTunes history. As you can see below, the best selling physical albums from 2003-2009 did not produce Top 25 digital singles, save Taylor Swift with "Love Story" in 2009.

- 2003: "Get Rich or Die Tryin'" - 50 Cent

- 2004: "Confessions" - Usher
- 2005: "The Emancipation of Mimi" - Mariah Carey
- 2006: "High School Musical" soundtrack
- 2007: "Noel" - Josh Groban
- 2008: "Tha Carter III" - Lil Wayne
- 2009: "Fearless" - Taylor Swift

Any songs you expected to see on the list that didn't make the cut?

Caren Explains Why Bishops are Unplugging their iPods for Lent

2010-02-18T13:02:00.000-05:00

Last year during Lent I gave up Facebook, with the stipulation that I could only log-in if I needed to respond to an urgent message (in which case I received a notification to my Gmail account).

It seems like a silly sacrifice, but quitting it for a month was not easy, given how much communication happens across Facebook's platforms. In going through this period of Easter preparation, though, I realized how much Facebook had been detracting from my offline life.

First (and most obviously) during Lent, I found myself spending less idle time online, and instead put that time towards other activities. Second (and more importantly), giving up Facebook forced me to be deliberate about my communication with friends and family. Instead of passively maintaining relationships (i.e. knowing what someone was doing based on their status updates or photos) I had to seek people out and inquire about their well-being... as any friend or relative should.

This year bishops from the Church of England have asked something similar, but more drastic, of the Christian community: give up technology, even for just a day. They also encouraged a "Go Green for Lent" plan which you can read about here.

Most often I hear of people giving up chocolate or swearing or fried food for Lent. But as the Bishop of Oxford explained, "Giving up chocolate is a symbol of that but giving up technology is a more serious way of looking at the issues that face us as a global community.... We have galloped forward so fast, maybe we have out-run our global responsibility in [our own consumption of technology]."

Within this statement I see room for a counter-argument, though: without technology it would be difficult to connect with that global community.

What do you think, Blogosphere: is our current level of technology consumption necessary or detrimental?

3 Eccentric Essentials for Winter Weather

2010-02-08T16:51:00.013-05:00

Baby, it's cold outside and we Bostonians got a few inches of snow today. Time to stock up on supplies! Here are three of my favorite things for winter weather.

1) The best women's winter accessories set I've ever seen

A wool hat with a ponytail hole? Knit gloves with finger hoods? A scarf with an smartphone pocket?! So pretty! So functional! So sad that the company is winding down... take advantage of its fire sale at Girl32.com.

2) Harney & Sons loose-leaf tea

Delicious flavors like White Grapefruit and Hot Cinnamon Spice arrive in chic tins and boxes. You can get 20 sachets of loose leave tea for $8. Sure beats the $1.80 per cup you pay at the cafeteria or local coffee shop for sub-par tea.

3) NetFlix Instant account

I hardly take advantage of my NetFlix DVD discs anymore, choosing instead to stream content from NetFlix Instant portal to my TV using XBox Live. What the Instant list lacks in New Releases it makes up for in catalog depth, especially documentaries (like Please Vote For Me, Born Into Brothels and Helvetica). Perfect if you're snowed in and the mailman can't reach you.

What would you add?

Need a Song for Your Sweetie? 15 Songs for Valentine's Day

2010-02-07T22:36:00.009-05:00

There's a new card commercial that says, "Your Valentine is who you want to sit by; who you get in trouble with; who you tell your secrets to; who you play with at recess" [Ed: well, after you realize there is no such thing as cooties].

But if you don't want to pay for Hallmark's rhetoric, maybe you want to proclaim your [budding/established/unrequited] love through song.

Here are 15 lovely songs that you won't find on the Billboard 100.

12 Memorable Super Bowl Commercials of Old

2010-02-07T15:25:00.004-05:00

Are you ready for some football? (I sure am).

But since I don't have a vested interest in the Colts or the Saints, I'll be rooting for the commercials. Go advertisers!

While we wait to see which brands will surprise and delight us this year, here are twelve great commercials from Super Bowls of old.

A LOST Music Monday: Drive Shaft (Manchester, UK)

2010-02-02T15:28:00.003-05:00

To borrow a phrase I heard from Joe Kirk, I've been lost without LOST (so lost, in fact, that I can't even keep my days straight, which explains why I'm posting a 'Music Monday' entry on a Tuesday).

But tonight my world will be alright again!... I just can't say the same for the survivors of Oceanic Flight 815....

LOST returns for its final season and I imagine that the Questions-to-Answers ratio will remain high throughout the season. Among the questions I want answered:

- Is the "anti-Jacob" in fact younger brother Esau (and does that somehow tie back to the theme of a "bad twin")?

- Why did people in Phuket freak out about Jack's tattoos?

- What the heck happened to Claire?

- Have we seen the last of Walt?

- Who do the Adam & Eve skeletons belong to?

- What is the significance of the numbers?

Before we dive back in tonight, LOST geeks might want to revisit (and/or challenge) this interesting Time Loop Theory... it's very well done.

Until then, let's hear a song from Charlie Pace (R.I.P.) and his band, Drive Shaft:

Caren Explains Evangelism, Idolatry and the Unveiling of the iPad

2010-01-27T15:04:00.006-05:00

This week's edition of The Economist features a cover story on "The Book of Jobs" and how the iPad stands to revolutionize three industries at once.

Perhaps it's because I read a lot of tech blogs, or because I hang out with the "Tech Tribe" at HBS, but the excitement leading up to the iPad's unveiling seemed a bit irrational, not to mention sacrilegious.

'At last,' TechCrunch wrote in a headline, with an implicit sigh of relief, while NPR observed this is the 'Most excitement about a tablet since Moses came back down with the 10 Commandments." The Economist noticed this fervor, too, describing it as "verging at times on religious hysteria."

The fact that so much attention has been given to one product is strange in and of itself, yet not surprising, given the cult-like collection of brand evangelists that Jobs and Co. have attracted over the years. It's a tough marketing and operational challenge to go mainstream without isolating hard-core users, but Apple has done well at it -- something surely considered when Apple was named "Brand of the Decade" by AdWeek.

That's what makes the negative reception of the iPad so interesting. To many of its biggest fans, Apple's iPad is a let down. TechCrunch's new iPad vs. A Rock post illustrates the disappointment quite effectively, while The New York Times notes, "To its instant critics, [the iPad] was little more than an oversize iPod Touch." And then there are the Twitter feeds flooded with maxi-iPad jokes....

The Economist does not touch on this criticism, and mentions only Apple's successes, furthering the idea that Jobs can do no wrong. But what the disappointment around the iPad indicates to me is that some of the cult members have snapped out of their daze and are starting to think for themselves. That's a good thing.

Jobs as Jesus?

At Cyberposium 15 a mobile panelist made a comment that stuck with me. "I'd rather design for [devices that aren't the iPhone]: there's 30% less cost and one-tenth the aggravation of developing an iPhone app, because you don't need the holy water of Steve Jobs sprinkled on it."

Fortune has rounded up a number of images of Jobs portrayed as a Christ-like figure. It's not hard to understand why these exist. As The Economist notes, "Mr Jobs’s record suggests that when he blesses a market, it takes off." But as the music industry knows all too well, what Apple does today can have longterm implications for the many industries it touches -- implications we might not like or immediately understand.

Steve Jobs is not God, and likening him to such is dangerous. Mortals make mistakes (like the Lisa?) and we can learn a lot from those mistakes. Without critique or questions of Jobs' and Apple's limitations, though, we risk being blindly led in whatever direction Apple chooses.

Caren Explains The Buried Life

2010-01-26T09:42:00.002-05:00

Aside from its sobering, morbid name (I guess 'The Bucket List' was taken?) I'm intrigued by MTV's newest reality show, The Buried Life.

In fact, this is the first MTV reality show since The Real World (circa 1992-1996) that hasn't made me feel shallow, judgmental, cynical and/or ashamed of America (and myself for watching).

The premise of this new show is pretty simple: "1 question. 4 guys. 100 things to do before you die." For every task the guys cross off the list, they help somebody accomplish a task off their own -- a "pay it forward" kind of gesture.

The question: What do you want to do before you die?

I compiled a list like this a few years ago and recently revisited it. Here's what's I came up with. What's on yours?

Visit Jerusalem
Meet a president
Produce a movie
Build a church
Buy a house
Start a business
Interview Sir Paul McCartney
Watch the Super Bowl from the Super Bowl
Be a mentor to another businesswoman
Make a completely irrational decision
Attend a taping of Saturday Night Live
Create a comprehensive family history book
Go to Norway and meet my relatives
Finish a triathlon
Become a mom
Figure out the significance of 4-8-15-16-23-42
Go skydiving
Learn another language (and use it)
Join the board of a non-profit

~~Record a song~~

~~See Bob Dylan, Bruce Springsteen, U2,~~ Van Morrison and Tom Petty in concert

Publish a book
Have a painting displayed in a gallery
Work for a music magazine
Travel to my ancestors' village in Ireland
Save a life
Go to the Olympics

Caren Explains Coachella 2010

2010-01-19T18:03:00.003-05:00

There are only two major US music festivals I've not been to: Sasquatch and Coachella.

I've gotta say, this year's Coachella lineup is enough to draw me out to the desert...

Great mix of artists, anchored by Jay-Z, Gorillaz and Muse.

But what's with the "Thom Yorke ????" on Sunday? Is that "Thom Yorke" and another band called "????" Wouldn't be a stretch; after all, !!! is a pretty popular band on the festival circuit...

Tickets on sale 1/22

10 Types of Twitter Users

2010-01-11T00:43:00.004-05:00

As of late, a number of people (parents, friends, recruiters) have been asking me about Twitter and whether or not they should join. In this girl's opinion Twitter can either be an up-to-the-minute news source, a new method of marketing, a tool of self-aggrandizement or the RSS feed reborn, depending on who is using it.

Here are ten types of Twitter users I have encountered so far.

1. The Thought Leader

This is my favorite Twitter user: the one who has pearls of wisdom to share or inspiring ideas. I find these people to be entrepreneurs, editors and engaging individuals. They usually have a finger on the pulse of something good.

2. The Oversharer

HBS research shows that 90% of all tweets come from 10% of users. I theorize that 90% of that 90% fall into the category of "the Oversharer" -- a person who tells you all too often "What's Happening." Examples:

- "I just ate two whole bags of M&Ms, but not the green ones." [TMI]

- "My guy is the best kisser in the world." [Gross TMI]

- "Can't stop singing that @taylorswift13 song!!!" [Try]

- "Running five minutes late for mtg. Ugh." [... then why are you tweeting?]

- "Just saw Avatar." [... and?]

3. The Marketing Machine

Though Twitter has yet to turn a profit, it has helped other companies (and politicians) to win big. By June 2009, for example, Dell had earned over $3m from Twitter-related promotions. Other companies have used Twitter to answer customers' questions, announce sales and bring their brands to life. Some do it well, others #fail.

4. The Celebritweeter

This encompasses all those B-list actors, reality stars, pop-tart musicians and scenesters who use Twitter to "connect" with fans, bolster their personal brands and/or score sponsorship deals. Props to you if you're in this category, but I get a sick stomach thinking about a world where this is common practice.

5. The 'Trending Topic' Tipper

"Hey guys! I wanna beat the #TigerWoods trending topic. Tag your tweets with #OmgWhatevs -- I wanna prove we can do it! LOL! LMFAO! LUV U!"

6. The Aspiring Porn Star

No, HotBabe4U I do not want to follow you. Block.

7. The Mystery Tweeter

This is the person who is following 824 people but has 0 tweets to his or her or its name. Even stranger is when the Mystery Tweeter has 43 followers, despite no tweets?

8. The Search Engine Stalker

If you post a tweet about your recent cruise vacation and suddenly have four new followers with the word "cruise" in their usernames, you've been hit by Search Engine Stalkers. Web-crawling tools are making it even easier for these people to find and follow you. Creepy or cool?

9. The Curious but Uncommitted

Usually the first post from a person like this reads, "Just joined Twitter. Not sure what it's all about." It will usually be their only post for at least a month. In fact, RJMetrics research reveals that only 65% of Twitter users will ever post a second tweet.

10. The Tortoise

This user is slow to react, re-tweeting a timely story two days after it has already made its rounds across every other Twitter feed. But at least the Tortoise is otherwise using Twitter appropriately?

Which other types would you add?

Movie Reviews in 40 Words or Less

2010-01-07T13:15:00.011-05:00

Avatar

A short 'making-of' trailer should have played before the movie. The technology and effects made this a blockbuster and deserve a shout-out. Otherwise I would have concluded, "Eh, it's Dances with Wolves with a tree-hugging Jar Jar Binks."

Up in the Air

Feels more like a documentary of 2009 than a fictional film. Timely topics (out-sourcing, unemployment, disconnect) brought to life by authentic and emotionally vulnerable characters. Bit of a downer, despite Clooney's handsomeness and charm.

Did You Hear About the Morgans?

Haven't even seen it but I'm confident in my review: Grant and Parker lack chemistry? Red State jokes are overplayed? Plot is entirely predictable (they stick together and, when given the choice, decide to stick with prairie life, too?)?

Ideas for Improving the Airport Security Experience

2010-01-06T17:16:00.009-05:00

Ah, yes... a familiar sight... and the bane of my jet-setter existence...

Airport security has been a hot topic this week, and rightfully so. Ever since I used the JetBlue All-You-Could-Jet pass in September I’ve been determined to find fixes for this nightmarish operation.

Here is what I’ve come up with:

1) Line discrimination based on travel history.

What if we could designate different security lines based on frequency of travel? Number of flights would be used as the criteria, rather than miles (since a traveler could rack up 2,500 miles with one flight from LGA -> LAX or ten flights from LGA -> BOS).

Example: A business professional who takes eight flights per month would qualify for a “High Frequency” or “Frequent Flyer” line, while a family that travels three times a year would be sent to another line.

(This would, of course, be more of a service to frequent travelers, and might unfairly discriminate against inexperienced but efficient travelers... if they exist)

2) Automate the X-Ray conveyor belt sooner.

The conveyor belt starts about 1.5’ before your bag enters the X-Ray machine. Yesterday that meant I had to stand and wait with my carry-on baggage and push it into the X-Ray machine. Not a big deal, unless the person ahead of you neglects to do so, creating a pile-up of bins and bags.

What if there was a gently sloping ramp down to the X-Ray machine, so the bins rolled onto the conveyor belt without a push?

(I have also noticed that there is often one TSA agent assigned to push the bin through if a traveler forgets to... the ramp innovation could free up that agent to do more important things).

3) Discourage people from redressing alongside the conveyor belt.

See if this scenario is familiar:

A traveler passes through the security check-point. She stands on the other end of the X-Ray machine waiting for her belongings to pass through. When the bins are spit out she starts pulling items out of them: her belt (which she puts on immediately), her shoes (which she puts on next), her coat (which she puts on last). There is a pile-up of bins behind hers and the conveyor belt has to stop. Everybody behind her has to wait.

Though there is an area behind security where people can collect themselves, it is not an inviting space, nor is it easy to carry the cumbersome bins (plus carry-on bags) back to the designated area.

What if the slope idea continued here, and rather than having your belonging come out on a straight, roller-based belt, they came out more like they do in baggage claim: at knee-level height, in some sort of round-about? Then people would have to bend down and pick up the belongings. The round-about (probably a half-circle) would bend the line around to clear the way sooner and discourage a pile-up.

And how about bins with handles, or a conveyor belt that ends in some sort of automatic bin collection?

What other improvements can you imagine?

Music Monday: Ten Albums from 2009

2009-12-28T12:00:00.002-05:00

Here we are: the last Music Monday of 2009. It's been a nice year, at least sonically. 2009 also brought a slue of digital music start-ups, and I'm excited to see which survive and which can survive profitably.

As we look forward to 2010, here are ten albums I will keep listening to. If Santa brought you an iTunes or Amazon gift card for Christmas, might I recommend buying one or two or all of them?

If you don't share my taste in music, check out the Metacritic: Best Albums of 2009 list, which aggregates all published reviews into one mega meta list.

Phoenix, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Favorite tracks: "Listzomania," "Rome"

Fanfarlo, Reservoir
Favorite tracks: "Finish Line," "Harold T. Wilkins"
(Also check out the very creative Fanfarlo advent calendar while it's still posted)

Edward Sharpe & the Magnetic Zeros, Up from Below
Favorite tracks: "Home," "Janglin"

The xx, xx
Favorite tracks: "Islands," "VCR"

The Dirty Projectors, Bitte Ocra
Favorite tracks: "Stillness is the Move," "Two Doves"

Camera Obscura, My Maudlin Career
Favorite tracks: "The Sweetest Thing," "French Navy"

The Pains of Being Pure at Heart, self-titled
Favorite tracks: "Young Adult Friction," "A Teenager in Love"

Dark Was the Night, Various Artists
Favorite tracks: "Knotty Pine" (Dirty Projectors feat David Byrne), "Brackett, WI" (Bon Iver)
(Benefits charity! Buy it, don't stream it!)

Animal Collective, Merriweather Post Pavilion
Favorite tracks: "My Girls," "Daily Routine"

Lady Gaga, The Fame
Favorite tracks: "Just Dance," "Paparazzi"

Caren Explains the Boy Next Door

2009-12-19T13:11:00.004-05:00

Mom: "I just got an email from our neighbor. Her son wants to meet you."
Me: "Oh yeah?"
Mom: "He's six."
Me: "Six?! Why does he want to meet me?"
Mom: "He wants to go to Harvard. He's obsessed with it."
Me: "How does a six year old even know about Harvard?"
Sister: "Um, this is MoCo. You forget what you're dealing with."

Caren Explains the Advent Conspiracy

2009-12-15T10:20:00.006-05:00

Need to buy some Christmas presents, but don't have any ideas? There's a good reason: Most of us have all we need.

But not everyone.

Instead of buying a gift that he or she will probably forget about after December 25th, why not give your time or money to a cause?

Join the conspiracy:

Still need some ideas? Here are a two causes I am donating to this Christmas season:

The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society
St. Jude Children's Research Hospital

Caren Explains Murdoch, Magazines and a Smart Move in Digital Publishing

2009-12-09T00:09:00.004-05:00

"Coopetition" will be the name of the game in 2010, at least for five powerhouse publishers who yesterday announced the creation of a joint venture that could give the publishers more control over their future.

USAToday.com and other news sources report that Conde Nast, Hearst, Meredith, News Corp, and Time Inc. are the founders of this yet unnamed venture, which will be led by interim director John Squires of Time Inc. Squires has also served in leadership capacities for both Audit Board of Circulation (ABC) and Magazine Publishers of America (two influential and standards-setting organizations within the print industry).

It seems that the joint venture will serve to establish standards for digital magazines and newspapers, in the way of pricing, marketing and technical standards. For an industry that competes on editorial differentiation, an alliance like this is a deviation from the norm.

That's a good thing. Such action is long overdue.

What went wrong.

The industry was slow to realize the importance of digital content and how best to monetize it. Consider this 2004 report from MPA which details digital edition subscriptions for ABC-certified magazines. Only 20 publications were listed, with PC World, Seventeen and (the now discontinued) Cosmo Girl leading the way. Notably absent in 2004 were any Conde Nast, Meredith and Time Inc. titles. By the end of 2007, 110 titles were available digitally, generating 1 million total subscriptions. Improvement, yes, but compare that against a 2005 report that there were 2,000 U.S. magazine titles with significant circulation.

The industry also failed to establish common pricing and content distribution practices early on. Instead publishers treated these things not as standards, but strategies. They tried to compete with one another by either restricting access to a fewer number of readers and making money on content, or opening content to all readers and making money on advertising.

Sometimes newspaper publishers changed strategies in the middle of the game, further tripping them up. NYTimes.com provides a good example of this. It began publishing content to the web in the mid-1990s, requiring registration to access certain articles. Then it pursued an "open-but-closed" type of policy, introducing a subscription service for certain editorial columns, before reopening the entire site in 2007. In the meantime, bloggers and online readers found ways around walls, accessing RSS feeds for content, or seeking out third-party sites for cut-and-paste content.

As a consequence, we are left with confusion about the value of content.... at least I am.

How the alliance can help.

In May 2009 The Wall Street Journal's new owner, Rupert Murdoch, announced his intention to move all News Corp. digital properties to subscription models, and went so far as to declare "The current days of the internet will soon be over." It sounded audacious, but he has stuck to his guns, restating this opinion today in an editorial for WSJ. "Some newspapers and news organizations will not adapt to the digital realities of our day," he wrote, "and they will fail. We should not blame technology for these failures. The future of journalism belongs to the bold."

So is the newfound alliance bold? It is if you consider that these publishers are willing to swallow their pride and work together; not so much if the other option is failure.

That's a real possibility. Consider that in 2008, 525 magazines ceased publication. The remaining titles scrambled to get lean and to put their online platforms in order. These online platforms included websites and/or digital subscriptions, like this fancy one from my former employer, Paste.

Coming together and establishing best practices, as well as a common storefront for digital content, will ultimately benefit both publishers and consumers. We could have an iTunes or Hulu for magazines and newspapers, with common formats, quality standards and pricing schemes. Perhaps we will even have one place to manage all of our newspaper and magazines subscriptions so that, when you change addresses, you don't have to send notice to each publication.

Still to be resolved is what role advertisers will play in digital subscriptions. Over the summer the media director of a major advertising agency told me that digital subscriptions are worth nothing, and shouldn't be counted towards circulation. Though his is only one opinion, it is an opinion that publishers will surely hear again and again. All the more reason paid digital subscriptions -- where revenue comes from consumers, not advertisers -- will be important in the future.

But will all this muscle power attract cries of collusion? Perhaps not, if the joint venture is truly independent. After all, ABC has long set standards for the industry (and is funded by dues paid by advertisers, agencies and publishers). Besides, if not the publishers themselves, players like Amazon (with its Kindle) and Apple (with the iPhone and rumored tablet) will be left to set the rules.

We're not talking about survival of the fittest anymore. Unless the industry answers the question of "How valuable is content?" it will remain fragmented and weakened.

We've come to a time when publishers can either live together or die alone. They are choosing wisely.

Caren Explains Where the 10 Red Balloons Were

2009-12-07T22:09:00.002-05:00

As you may have read last week, I teamed up with some students and professors from HBS on Saturday to try to win the DARPA Network Challenge for the (RED) campaign. We reached over 2 million people in three days, but were beat by our rivals across the river (congratulations, MIT).

"So where were the balloons?" you ask.

Here is a map of the locations.

(Side note to my Atlanta friends: Not ONE of you noticed the red balloon in Centennial Park???)

Following the challenge, my classmate, Rafael Corrales, asked me to write some reflections. His own post is pretty extensive, especially about our strategy and analytical findings, so I'll use this opportunity to share some lessons I took away on social networking and online behaviors.

1) It's easy to hide behind broadband barriers.

As I followed the Twitter trend for #redballoons on Saturday I saw numerous reports and pictures being posted. However, it was difficult to discern which were real and which were fake (and a number were, in fact, fake).

One example is this picture which did not have a location description attached to it. I recognized it to be from Union Square in San Francisco (because I've shopped at that Macy's before) but could not confirm it. Instead I called on our professor Misiek Piskorski, who was in SF, to see if it was real (which it was -- good catch, @nancyborden). In another instance, I learned that a balloon report in Chicago was a fake, after a friend checked out the scene for me.

When all you can see about a user is their screenname and any personal information he/she/it has volunteered, you have to be skeptical of what you read online. On the Internet, anonymity circumvents accountability.

2) Beware of search sabotage, which might even be self-inflicted.

I noticed within the first few hours of our Google AdWords campaign that we'd run through our entire campaign budget. Drilling down into the data, I saw that the keywords "DARPA" and "DARPA balloons" generated the most clicks. Since you'd have to know that the red balloons were associated with DARPA to search those keywords, my guess is that the clicks came from competitors who either 1) clicked our ads to find out what our team was doing, or 2) wanted to run up our advertising bill. We'll never know.

In hindsight, we might have omitted some keywords to make sure the SEM campaign reached the intended audience, not our competitors.

3) "The currency of real networking is not greed, but generosity."

On this point, I recall what an HBS alum told me about networking: it often seems fruitless, but then you'll get that one connection who introduces you to another and another, and suddenly things start happening.

That was true here. A number of "cold connections" came through for our team and helped our network extend far and fast. One example is the HBS alumni network, especially the DC and Northern California chapters, who sent our message to over 7,000 alums. Brad also helped us get an article with ABCNews.com.

You never know who is going to go the extra mile for you.

4) Objects in Mirror Are Closer Than They Appear.

I wasn't surprised when HBS classmates asked me (in person) about Project (RED) Balloon. What did surprise me was hearing from old college friends across the country, some of whom I have lost touch with over the years. These were people who saw my posts on Facebook and jumped at the chance to help. Such interactions were a reminder that, even though I only regularly interact with a few dozen people via social networks, some 700+ Facebook friends are casually observing my comings and goings.

Social networks can turn passive relationships into active ones again with the click of a mouse.

Thanks to Brad, Kyle, Rafael and Professors Lakhani and Piskorski for an interesting experiment.

Music Monday: The Lighthouse and the Whaler (Cleveland, OH)

2009-12-07T17:11:00.003-05:00

Oh boy, oh boy! I've been waiting awhile for this one to be released....

The Lighthouse and the Whaler is out today on iTunes. It's a gem from the young Cleveland, OH, trio of the same name.

This debut LP has five things I like in an album:

Xylophone
Hand-clapping
Lingering harmonies
Oil painting as album art
Nice people behind the music

Sometimes I get jaded and think, "Yeah, yeah... another promising young band... but will they be around next year?" But this band excites that cynicism right out of me.

The band wrote its first song in a field, which doesn't surprise me after hearing the album: its earthy and organic, with some imperfections here and there, which just makes the whole thing more natural and unencumbered.

TLATW recently took the stage after Sufjan Stevens in Ohio (after party!) and are about to embark on a new tour in the spring (hopefully with a SXSW performance on the itinerary?). In the meantime, catch them online.

For Fans Of: Fleet Foxes, Bon Iver, the Yim Yames piece of Monsters of Folk, stuff you find on Etsy.com

Caren Explains Red Balloons, the (RED) campaign and How You Can Win $1,000

2009-12-03T07:40:00.009-05:00

Seen a red balloon floating around your town? If you haven't, you might this weekend.

On Saturday December 5, 2009, ten giant red balloons will be placed in random locations across America, as part of the DARPA Network Challenge.

Why should you care?

Because there's $40,000 at stake for the winner!

Join me and my team in this challenge and we'll donate the cash prize to the (RED) campaign and its philanthropic partner The Global Fund. As if that wasn't reason enough for you to want to help, each person who first submits to us a correct location will have the option of keeping $1,000 for themselves. It's a win-win situation, however you look at it.

WHAT YOU CAN DO TO HELP:
1. Send this information to AS MANY people in your network as you can. Use email, facebook, twitter, txt, anything! The point is to see how far and fast our networks extend!
2. Refer anyone who asks to our website: http://www.projectredballoon.com
3. Look out for red balloons on Saturday! If you see one, submit its location to us via our website!

4. If you have a blog, Twitter account, LinkedIn account, Facebook account, etc, please link to our website. This will help in the search rankings, which is critical to our success.

Thanks, and let's win this thing for charity!

About Our Team:

This team is being coordinated by MBA candidates Bradley Lautenbach (OC), Caren Kelleher (OJ), Kyle Doherty (OI), and Rafael Corrales (OC), and Professors Karim Lakhani and Misiek Piskorski of Harvard Business School. The purpose of this project is to see how far and fast networks extend. Neither the students nor professors will collect any prize money if the project is successful.

More Information:

Our website for balloon location submission and more info is here: http://www.projectredballoon.com
DARPA's project page for this is here
The American Red Cross is here

Caren Explains the Dangers on the Dancefloor

2009-11-19T18:31:00.007-05:00

A public service campaign, brought to you by the recording artists of the Billboard Hot 100.

What to do if you see danger at a dance club.

Option 1: Evacuate the dancefloor. If you fail to do so you will either become infected by the sound, or watch the DJ burn the place right down to the ground.

Option 2: Somebody call 9-1-1. If a shorty fire-burning on the dancefloor, call for emergency assistance. Be prepared to explain what a "shorty" is when you speak to a dispatcher, as it is unlikely that he or she will have an Urban Dictionary handy.

Option 3: Just dance (it's gonna be okay). According to Lady GaGa, "we're all getting hosed tonight" as it is, so why not keep dancing until the fire department arrives?

Music Monday: Robbie Williams (UK)

2009-11-16T22:25:00.006-05:00

Robbie Williams comes out with a new CD tomorrow, but few Americans will care. Why should they? He's a cheeky, self-deprecating bad-boy-from-a-boy-band Brit -- not like a Jonas Brother or Justin Timberlake. But there's something intriguing about Williams, and that's probably why I like him so much. He doesn't sound like he's been run through auto-tune, nor does he look like he's been airbrushed eight-times over. He is handsome, but rough around the edges... not exactly what sells copies of Tiger Beat.

Despite this, he has the potential to be a class act in America. One of my favorite Robbie albums is Swing When You're Winning, which features renditions of old standards from the Rat Pack, Gershwin, Bobby Darin and the like. It also includes a lovely duet with Nicole Kidman.

Yet Williams' lack of success in America is not shocking. Take That, the British pop group from whence he came, only had one hit in the US -- "Back For Good" -- though the group sold 25 million records worldwide between 1991-1996. As a solo artist, Williams declared The Ego Has Landed and released the Billboard hit "Millennium" (1999), but he did not enjoy the stateside career many hoped for him. In fact, I remember reading in college that his label set aside an $8m advertising budget to help him succeed in the States. (I wonder where that money went?).

In 2003 Salon.com published an interesting piece called "Why doesn't America love Robbie Williams?" and it offers a much better analysis than I could ever provide. But my take on Why America doesn't love Robbie Williams? It's precisely because we love. And with lyrics like "All we've ever wanted is to look good naked / Hope that someone can take it," it is lust that Robbie Williams commands.

For Fans of Madonna, Mark Ronson, boy bands that turn into man bands.

Here's his new single, plus a Fred Falke remix (via Hype Machine)

Bodies - Robbie Williams

Music Monday: Julian Casablancas (of The Strokes)

2009-11-02T19:06:00.003-05:00

In 2001, The Strokes released their first full length album, which asked "Is This It?". I wondered the same thing. It was my first semester of college, away from everyone I knew and loved. We were also living in the aftermath of 9/11. Things were new and strange, and so were the sounds of The Strokes. [Mark Krotov wrote a poignant piece for Paste about the band at this point in time which I'll direct you to].

The band released two other albums over the next five years, followed by a solo effort by guitarist Albert Hammond Jr.

Tomorrow, we'll hear from The Strokes once again, when frontman Julian Casablancas releases his first solo album, Phrazes for the Young (a title inspired by Oscar Wilde). The album sounds different than I expected... as if Martians curiously stumbled into a honky-tonk bar in the Lower East Side and inspired some new mixes for the jukebox.

Buy it on iTunes or Amazon tomorrow.

If you can't wait until then you can hear clips on Casablancas' website. In the meantime, sample the single via imeem:

11th Dimension - Julian Casablancas

Caren Explains the Healthcare Bill

2009-11-02T15:24:00.007-05:00

Many Americans (including this one) have been wondering what $1 trillion in healthcare reform will get us... well, for starters, how about 1,990 pages of new legislation?

1,990 pages!? .

How many people have actually read this thing all the way through?

I picture Congressional aides gathering at lunch to form a reading group. One will take charge and assign an outline, like law students might with their required readings. Maybe they plan to put together a nice little book report at the end, hoping for a gold star?

In an ideal world, our representatives (as well as our fellow citizens) would sit down and read the bill themselves. This leads me to my second question: How long would it take to read the bill in its entirety, absent a reading group?

To figure that out, I wanted to compare its length against other notable works. To be fair, I'm listing the comparisons in book pages and/or PDF pages:

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hollows: 607 book pages (US hardcover); 397 PDF pages
War and Peace: 1,475 book pages (2006 paperback issue); 692 PDF pages
King James Bible: 1,824 book pages (Oxford University Press); 702 PDF pages
The Godfather screenplay: 124 PDF pages
H.R. 3162 (USA Patriot Act): 342 PDF pages

And finally, The Constitution of the United States: 19 PDF pages

Infer what you will, dear citizens.

Music Monday: Fanfarlo (London by way of Sweden)

2009-10-26T17:57:00.004-05:00

Last week the Hype Machine churned out this sweet little gem of a band for me. Fanfarlo formed in 2006 but I'd not heard of them until CMJ 2009 was approaching. I'm not sure how this one escaped my attention because, as is well documented, I love Swedish musicians, even if they later move to London, like Fanfarlo's Simon Balthazar.

The band plays around with lots of instruments - mandolins, drums, xylophones, horns. Balthazar's voice is an instrument in and of itself -- very unique and, at times, haunting. This summer they offered their album for $1 online (kind of like "pulling a Radiohead," if I can say that and get universal understanding) and I hope they sold a bunch of copies.

"Finish Line" (posted by BrooklynVegan) makes me to be a shoegazer.

Here are some other good tracks using a MySpace pop-out player

For fans of Matt Pond PA, Belle & Sebastian, Clap Your Hands Say Yeah, trumpets, lazy days

Caren Explains Halloween Options

2009-10-26T15:49:00.005-05:00

Halloween is probably my least favorite holiday of the year, next to Flag Day (which apparently nobody likes... it doesn't even have a Hallmark card).

But as a kid? Boy-oh-boy, did I like Halloween! Can you blame me? Look at the awesome Halloween costume my mom made me:

Among my favorite costumes of all time:
- Age 9: Carmen Sandiego
- Age 11: Phantom of the Opera
- Age 3: Care Bear

This year, I wish I could dress up and go trick-or-treating. There are so many good costume options that have been inspired by ridiculous, fame-seeking reality-stars. Wouldn't you like to see these as costumes, though?

- Falcon's balloon
- Octomom
- Kate Gosselin [Note: the wig actually exists]
- Corey the Sunglasses Guy

Other good ideas?

Caren Explains Britney, Peter, Paul and Mary 3

2009-10-24T18:40:00.003-05:00

I am embarrassed to admit that I've liked the past few Britney singles. The most recent -- "3"-- is pretty darn catchy... but I always scratch my headwhen I hear the lyrics:

1, 2, 3
Peter, Paul & Mary
Gettin' down with 3P

Peter, Paul & Mary? Really? Nothing about "Puff the Magic Dragon" makes me think about "gettin' down" with Britney.

This leads me to two questions:
1) Could the record label not afford to get some better songwriting?, or...
2) Is the American consumer so easily bought that quality no longer matters?

If it's the first, I would like to let the record label know that I'm available for hire. Okay, I admit, my songwriting credits are non-existent, but I know how to rhyme as well as your current roster of songwriters. Here are some other ideas for that "Peter, Paul and Mary" line:

- Larry, Moe and Curly
- The snake got Adam and Eve
- Nash, Stills and Crosby
- Faith, hope and charity
- The Brothers Bee Gee
- Huey, Dewey, Louie
- The good, the bad, the ugly

3 - Britney Spears

Caren Explains the Link between E-Ink and ZINK

2009-10-21T09:58:00.008-05:00

Since the school year started I've had the opportunity to learn from a number of CEOs and executives, all hailing from different industries and countries. Yesterday it was Jeff Hicks, CEO of one of my favorite agencies, Crispin Porter + Bogusky; today it was Wendy Caswell, CEO of ZINK Imaging, a company that is pursuing a vision of "digital printing, now magically simple."

Polariod PoGo Instant Digital Camera, utilizing ZINK paper + tech

This is the second digital ink case study I've read this month, the first being one about E-Ink Corporation, the electronic paper manufacturer that makes the Kindle come alive.

Though we don't get to hear from case protagonists or guest speakers every day, I do find their occassional insights to be a good dose of reality when thrown into the b-school setting. [That's what I think is missing in your argument against live speakers @rafaelcorrales]. It's a reminder that you don't know what you don't know -- for better or worse.

Former E-Ink CEO Jim Iuliano spoke during one of my classes in September, and some of his comments and insights were echoed today by Caswell (and are applicable to many innovative, tech-driven ventures). First, that learning happens in the market, not the labs. The second is an extension of that thought. As Iuliano explained, "Perfection is not worth waiting for."

This go-to-market strategy certainly carries significant risk and requires that business partners are willing to go along for the ride. For these reasons, it's not surprising that the MBA classroom can be very critical of such a strategy, arguing that a company should thoroughly plot its market strategy, or perfect the technology, before launching -- and maybe that's true. But to hear both of these experienced leaders advocate a 'get-in-there-and-learn-as-you-go' strategy (or "stick with it and chunk it up," as Caswell said) warrants more consideration, especially in markets that have yet to be developed.

Is it better to shoot for the moon, or footrace to the top?

Hipster Haiku #14

2009-09-22T00:43:00.005-05:00

A few years back I started writing some hipster haikus. I stopped at #13, though, because they were becoming increasingly popular and I didn't want to be a part of any trend that was, like, mainstream. [note blog sarcasm]

However I recently found out @katekiefer was putting together a photo shoot for "The Evolution of the Hipster" and felt inspired again by this picture.

Hipster Haiku #14
Refurbished Schwinn bike.
No helmet; brimmed hat instead.
Old fashion mustache.

Caren Explains Ringo, Entrepreneurs and the Unluckiest Man in the World

2009-09-14T20:36:00.011-05:00

Unless you're a Beatlemaniac, like me, you probably don't know much about Pete Best, the original drummer for The Beatles, who is often referred to as the "unluckiest man in the world."

Pete joined The Beatles (then called The Quarrymen) in 1960, nearly four years before the band appeared on The Ed Sullivan show. But in 1962, Pete was replaced by drummer Richard Starkey, aka Ringo Starr.

From my entrepreneurship classes I've come to realize that there are a lot of Pete Bests in the world: namely, entrepreneurs who are ousted from their companies right before pay day, or those who find their equity so diluted that they walk away with very little* to show for their innovation and endeavors [of course, "very little" could mean a fraction of multimillion or billion-dollar deals].

To draw out this thought a little more, let's consider why Pete Best may have been asked to leave The Beatles: poor fit? poor performance? didn't look or act the part? politics of the record industry? [According to The Beatles Anthology, it was the later -- at the suggestion of Parlophone Records]

Now let's think about an unlucky founder/CEO and why, after funding is secured, he is asked to leave the company: poor fit? poor performance? didn't look or act the part? politics? ... could be any or all of the above.

The young Beatles franchise, like any entrepreneurship, was a business. The record producers wanted to get the most out of their investment, and therefore wanted the "right" team in place. I highlight the word "right" because it's possible that the band would have earned such acclaim even with Pete Best behind the drum kit... but I'd sure rather be Ringo than the guy who didn't see it coming.

With the release of Rock Band: The Beatles and The Beatles Stereo Box Set this week, Pete must either be curled up in the fetal position, or laughing it off. I suppose that depends on how he measures success. According to Wikipedia, Pete and his wife have been married for 40+ years, whereas three of four Beatles divorced their first spouses. Maybe that success is more important to him than money ("money can't buy me love").

Caren Explains Vampires, Kittens and Windows 7

2009-09-11T09:53:00.005-05:00

My ears always perk up when I hear that something new is coming out of Crispin Porter & Bogusky, the agency responsible for Subservient Chicken, the creepy King, the Truth campaign, and Mini Cooper's mega fun buzz.

In March 2008 Microsoft awarded a $300 million account to CP+B, in what at first seemed an unlikely pairing. One might expect CP+B to be better aligned with Apple (which relies on TBWA/Chiat/Day for its "I'm a Mac" campaigns). But that's what makes the match so interesting. [From a 2008 feature in Fast Company: "Can Alex Bogusky Help Microsoft Beat Apple?"-- Alex Bogusky built the country's slickest ad shop using Apple products. His next challenge: Persuade people like him to buy Microsoft's stuff....]

AdAge reported today on the new Microsoft Windows 7 commercial, which features kittens, "Kylie," and The Final Countdown theme song. It will debut on CW network. You can preview it here.

Will this help Microsoft overcome the running joke ("I'm a PC") that Apple has perpetuated in its ads? And is this commercial appropriately targeted to the right audience and media channel? Clearly the commercial placement -- during the premiere episode of "Vampire Diaries" -- has generated some press (good job, PR folks), or else I wouldn't know about it or write about it. But it doesn't seem like an obvious match, putting a cutesy commercial in front of tweens and vampire lovers... do they want to share the same software as Kylie? Maybe kittens and cute kids are universally loved?

Good luck, CP+B. What's next, TBWA?

Caren Explains H1N1 and Emory's Isolation Dorm

2009-09-03T16:37:00.003-05:00

When I was a college freshman, living in Alabama Hall at Emory University, there was a vacant room one floor above me on the boys' floor. They called it "Mr. Body's Room." At first it was used for overnight guests and shenanigans. But when a mononucleosis was going around the dorm, infected students were essentially quarantined there.

Seems that Emory needs more than Mr. Body's Room these days.

The CBS News report posted below details that Emory is allowing students with H1N1 to voluntarily check themselves into a quarantine dorm so as not to spread the disease. [You can see these students via a creepy webcam interview at the end of video].

The most interesting part? The isolation dorm -- old Turman Hall South -- has been condemned in recent years due to severe mold problems. Guess that's one way to toughen up a wimpy immune system....

Watch CBS Videos Online

(Thanks to my old water polo teammate, Meghan, for sharing this link originally)

Cars to power hotel electricity

2009-08-20T22:16:00.003-05:00

The Four Seasons Hotel doesn't cut corners when it comes to customer service, so it seems fitting that it should be on the forefront of innovative services, too. Today the operator of luxury hotels and resorts announced plans to capture electricity from cars (via wtop.com)

WASHINGTON - The Four Seasons Hotel plans to generate electricity from kinetic energy captured from cars driving on its driveway.

"The device we're testing is like a mini speed bump. It's maybe 2 inches off the ground," says Meetesh Patel, chief executive officer of Burtonsville-based New Energy Technologies.

"We're creating a completely new technology that is capturing electricity from cars that are already moving on the road," Patel says...

Shared via AddThis

Cloud computing: will it breed pack(et) rats?

2009-08-11T18:21:00.005-05:00

I have a confession to make: my Gmail inbox just hit 1,000 unread messages. Yup... 1-0-0-0.

Though many friends and colleagues -- namely @godlovesjacob and @jrdwlls -- have tried to encourage me toward Inbox Zero, 1,000 unread emails are too daunting to deal with; consequently, I keep letting the problem get worse.

My lack of email discipline was a problem when I worked at Paste and was restricted to a mailbox disk quota limit, especially because I had a lot of file attachments stored. But it did teach me some email discipline. With Gmail, though, I have a long ways to go before I hit that 7357mb limit...

Why not just delete these unread messages? you ask.

Good question -- maybe I'll need to reference them some day in the future, or intend to read them later?

When I think of my inbox I think of my old neighbors, who used to park their cars in the street because their garage was full of boxes. These people were pack rats who liked to hold on to "stuff" -- be it memorabilia, magazines or, I don't know, notebooks from 5th grade science class that may come in handy some day.

I was considering these things this morning when I saw this ad pop up on Tech Crunch:

It struck me that the very selling point of Google Apps and other cloud-based services might be a bad thing in that it encourages people to store all they need, or moreover, want to save.

Will this create a breed of "pack(et) rats" who never learn how to clean up their email, but rather put it in storage?

Now granted, there is consequence to such seemingly unlimited storage. The cost may be a utility-like payment stream, or a flat rental fee, or having to subject yourself to Google Ads. But I wonder how many companies or individuals will have enough discipline in the early stages of their SaaS usage to sort and purge information appropriately (clearly I don't).

"Your Inbox is Full" error: good thing or bad thing?

Obama, Ortiz and the Octopus' Garden: a night with Paul McCartney

2009-08-10T07:07:00.002-05:00

I was twelve years old when the Beatles Anthology was released. By that time John Lennon was dead and Ringo was the Conductor on Thomas the Tank Engine. The Anthology series played on school nights, so my parents taped it from television for me, an effort required a series of VHS tapes because it was such a long documentary, spanning multiple days of coverage.

To say The Beatles changed my life is trite, but true. My obsession with the Fab Four -- their lives, their music, their artwork -- can be seen throughout artifacts of my life at that time. I made paintings that were inspired by Beatles songs, wrote fake fan mail letters as if I lived in the 1960s, and collected as much memorabilia as I could. This at a time in life when most other girls were beginning to read Cosmo and hold hands with boys in the locker banks; instead I was reading old copies of Rolling Stone and dreaming I was Mrs. Paul McCartney (circa 1968). It was my obsession with The Beatles that allowed me to survive middle school with few social wounds. I was the girl who was weirdly into classic rock, which made me disenfranchised rather than a target for teasing. I even found three friends who shared my interest in the lads from Liverpool.

I was so into the Beatles that they inspired my first true business idea: a themed restaurant called The Octopus' Garden. I imagined it to be much like a Hard Rock Cafe, but completely dedicated to The Beatles. Everything from the building design (a yellow submarine) to menu (Glass Onion rings with Mean Mr. Mustard dipping sauce) was inspired by the band. I drew mock-ups for the layout and logo, thought about which cities to launch in first, and considered the issue of licensing: after all, the Beatles would probably want a cut of this, if their name was all over it. This proved the stickiest point. At age thirteen, The Beatles (or rather their lawyers) stood between me and my dream. This would be the first of two times in my young life that I would be warned about The Beatles' intention to sue me... how many other people can say the same?

In 2005 I got to see Sir Paul in concert. He was remarried to Heather by then (a second dream of mine now shattered) and the performance made him seem, well, silly. It was an arena show with crazy LCD screen projections and pyrotechnics. It dwarfed the music, and certainly the man, who at age 64 still had charisma and stage presence but was showing his age. I walked away from the 2005 show wondering what Lennon would have turned out to be, had he lived: would he have been like Mick Jagger, touring old songs he vowed never to play again but making a fortune, or would he have been a Bono, involved in more social causes than musical ones? [But let's save that for another blog post]

When Sir Paul announced his tour this summer, I was reluctant to buy tickets again; but this show was at Fenway Park, where baseball players like David Ortiz and Kevin Youkilis normally take center stage. Instead, Macca would be in center field, playing to a crowd of 85,000. I invited my parents, since they have always encouraged my interests, especially those having to do with music.

My father could not make the trip because a certain presidential figure decided to drop by his place of work for an event... a few hours late... with fanfare.... I'm not bitter.... But my mother and I had a fantastic time. She recalled her experience at The Beatles' first American concert at Shea Stadium, when The Beatles played a ~30 minute set without theatrics. Surrounding us on this night, though, were middle aged nostalgic fans and families, not screaming teenagers.

I must say that the performance renewed my faith in Macca. The staging, set list and energy were much improved, as was Sir Paul himself. He proved he's still got it, performing almost flawlessly with the kind of charisma that made it clear how he got to be so famous.

As the crowd sang along to "Hey Jude," it felt nice to be a part of something so big, all of us shouting out those "Na...na...na... NA-NA-NA-NAHHHH!"s together. I could see that I was not the only one who was so affected by Sir Paul or The Beatles, or music in general.

"This is Heaven," said my friend Adam, who stood next to me at the concert, grinning the whole time. And if that's true, we should all be so lucky as to see it.

Caren Explains The Low Anthem

2009-06-10T12:48:00.004-05:00

Folk Festival 50 performers, The Low Anthem, drop an album today called "Oh My God, Charlie Darwin"... which I always want to write as "Oh-my-GAWD, Charlie Darwin!!" for no apparent reason. Maybe because I spent too much time in the South.

The Phoenix up here in New England likes it.
So does Paste magazine down in Atlanta.

By the way, have you contributed to Save Paste yet? You get over 150 mp3s with your donation, no matter the amount. Plus, you help my friends keep their jobs and then the Paste kids can go to camp. Everybody wins.

Caren Explains Summer Concert Season

2009-06-05T13:05:00.000-05:00

(from Tiesto concert at Ultra Music Fest this past spring)

Summer-summer-sumMERtimmmmeeee! Which, of course, means that good bands are making their way across America in search of new fans. Here are the best shows coming to Boston in the near future:

June 10: Jenny Lewis w/Deer Tick at House of Blues

June 17: Phoenix at Paradise Rock Club
(MY MOST ANTICIPATED CONCERT OF THE LAST FIVE YEARS)

June 18: Passion Pit, w/Harlem Shakes, Cale Parks at Paradise Rock Club

June 25: Camera Obscura at Somerville Theatre

July 11: Wilco w/Connor Oberst at LeLacheur Park

July 26: Pete Yorn at House of Blues

August 1-2: Folk Festival 50 in Newport, RI, with Gillian Welch, Iron & Wine, The Decemberists, Josh Ritter, Langhorne Slim, Fleet Foxes, Pete Seeger, Joan Baez, etc, etc, etc... excellent.

Boston Summer Concerts

Caren Explains Phoenix (the Band)

2009-04-07T15:56:00.003-05:00

Three Cool Things about Phoenix:

1) The band is from France but sings in English (thanks, Phoenix!)
2) Lead singer Thomas Mars has a daughter with one of my favorite directors, Sophia Coppola
3) Guitarist Laurent Brancowitz used to be in a band with the duo now known as Daft Punk

Since 2006 It's Never Been Like That has had a permanent home in the third slot of my six-disc CD player. Three singles off that album -- "Consolation Prizes," "Rally" and "Lost and Found" -- are found on my iPod's Most Played Songs playlist.

You can imagine the agony I've gone through while patiently waiting for a new Phoenix album. My suffering ends on May 25th, when Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix will hit shelves (though some tracks have already leaked to the web).

Today the band announced one East Coast gig -- June 19th at Terminal 5 in NYC -- but no US tour. I've never seen them live, and will find a way to be in NYC for that show. I must.

Here are the band's SNL performances from last weekend. As Stereogum pointed out, Coldplay, U2, Paul McCartney and Phoenix are the few artists that have been asked to play three songs on SNL.

"Liztomania" from upcoming album

"1901" from upcoming album

"Too Young" from Lost in Translation soundtrack

Caren Explains the Hampster Dance

2009-04-02T21:14:00.004-05:00

Today I had a catchy little tune pop into my head, one I hadn't heard in years. It was accompanied by visions of dancing -- dancing that goes like this...

What other websites from the Web's earlier days will we later remember with nostalgia?

Tech Crunch Explains Apple iPhone 3.0

2009-03-17T17:24:00.004-05:00

Apple Opens Up More Ways To Get Paid On The iPhone, Adds Key New Features. Apps Hit 800 Million Downloads.

Posted using ShareThis

800 million!? Amazing. I am most fascinated by the new market the Application store has created for entrepreneurship. Take my friend, Brian Gorby, for example.

I wish I'd been the first person to think up a Rock-Paper-Scissors iPhone application... I'd be rolling in it... speaking of which, I was disturbed to recently learn that some people call it "Paper-Rock-Scissors"... why? It doesn't flow off the tongue nearly as well as R-P-S... oh well, to each their own...

Zuckerberg Explains Who Owns User Data On Facebook

2009-02-17T19:11:00.004-05:00

Big Brother or big business?

If Facebook is going to take my info forever, at least it could let me declare myself "In a Relationship" with my iPod...

Zuckerberg On Who Owns User Data On Facebook: It's Complicated

Posted using ShareThis

Caren Explains EBIT

2009-02-17T19:00:00.000-05:00

Before leaving Atlanta, I tried to explain the concept of "EBIT" or "Earnings Before Interest & Taxes" to some of my non-business-school-friends (mainly Ashley and Rachael). It is defined as:

An indicator of a company's profitability, calculated as revenue minus expenses, excluding tax and interest. EBIT is also referred to as "operating earnings", "operating profit" and "operating income"

I use EBIT a lot in my new life as a student and I've tried to embrace EBIT as if it were, say, my favorite band. Look how much cooler EBIT is when it's not used just as financial jargon:

EBIT and Roeper -- famous movie reviewers?
The EBIT Brothers -- an excellent Appalachian band?
"EBIT Flow" -- a popular Pearl Jam song?
EBITza, Spain -- a party destination?

or

"EBIT, EBIT" says Kermit the Frog.

(It's not easy being green...)

Caren Explains Maddie

2009-02-09T16:02:00.007-05:00

I want to write about my friend, Maddie Bahar, who left us too soon. I take solace in knowing that the Lord has great plans for her -- plans that none of us can understand in this life.

When I think of my own faith story, it is impossible not to think of Maddie. We shared in the type of fellowship that makes Christ's love very real. She cared deeply for her friends and family. She loved her parents and siblings very much. After seeing the great relationship she formed with my own sister, Meghan, she inspired me to be a better sister myself.

Maddie and I went to Sunday School together throughout middle school and high school. We continued our friendship and fellowship through college and beyond. Maddie had a wonderful, quirky, pop-centric sense of humor. Inside jokes with Maddie could last weeks, months or years. For example, there is a scene in the movie "Blast from the Past" in which Brendan Frazier is dancing in slow motion. Maddie did a great imitation of it and would do so without being prompted, just to make me laugh (see minute 1:35 of this video)...

It was so easy to have fun with Maddie that we could occupy hours of time doing little at all. We were once successful in finding the real Michael Cera on Facebook, but he could not be "Friended" or "Poked." Maddie made a screenshot to document the effort.

But what I will miss most about Maddie is her kind heart. She never asked for anything, but was always quick to help others. We went on a few mission trips together, and I got to observe Maddie at her best -- befriending strangers, especially ones who needed someone to talk to or to laugh with or just to care about them. We spent time at Surf City camp in Michigan as volunteers, and I remember that she struck up a friendship with a high school camper from Pennsylvania. They remained pen pals for years after the trip. Maddie genuinely cared about people, no matter how long she had known them.

(a picture from Surf City with our friend, Sam)

I always looked forward to seeing Maddie when we had college breaks, or when the holidays came around. I would get so excited if she was at church when I was. It really made St. Francis feel like home to me when I could see a familiar and friendly face like hers.

When she and I were both studying abroad in Europe, we planned a great adventure to see Robbie Williams. No one in America (except Maddie, me and maybe some displaced Brits) appreciates Robbie Williams, so he doesn't tour there. When he announced a European tour, it sold out very quickly, but Maddie and I found a ticket package for the show in Milan. She came to visit me in London, then we trekked to Milan to see Robbie. We didn't know how to get to the concert venue, but followed the massive crowds in hopes that they were going there, too. It was an amazing show...

(the finale)

After the concert, we took the train to Rome, where Maddie was studying. It was fascinating to see all the ruins and museums, especially since Maddie knew the city so well. She took me to a small church in the heart of Rome, one that housed some famous paintings from her favorite era of art history. She talked so passionately about the art! It was inspiring.

Maddie was strong throughout her battle with plasma cell leukemia, and documented it on her blog. She did not complain about or question what was happening to her. The blog read very much like having a conversation with Maddie -- full of jokes, happiness and gratefulness for her family.

The world is a sadder place without Maddie here, but I am glad she is now at peace and not in any pain. God bless you, Maddie, until we meet again.

(from our mission trip to North Dakota)

I lift up my eyes to the hills- Where does my help come from?
My help comes from the LORD, the Maker of heaven and earth.
He will not let your foot slip -
He who watches over you will not slumber;
Indeed, he who watches over Israel will neither slumber nor sleep.
The LORD watches over you
The LORD is your shade at your right hand;
The sun will not harm you by day, nor the moon by night.
The LORD will keep you from all harm -
He will watch over your life;
The LORD will watch over your coming and going
Both now and forevermore.
Psalm 121

Caren Explains the First Snowy Day of the Year

2009-01-18T14:16:00.003-05:00

I'm watching snowflakes fall outside my windows. The river is covered and looks more like a snow-covered football field that no one has run onto yet. Some crazy people are running on the path along the river, drudging through the six-inches of new snow and the remnants of storms from two weeks ago.

I really wish I could go sledding, but I lack a sled or any suitable substitute (large cardboard box?).

Here's a video to match the day: "Winter Song" by Sara Bareilles and Ingrid Michaelson.

Winter Song with Ingrid Michaelson

Caren Explains an Epiphany of Video Game Proportions

2008-12-29T20:56:00.002-05:00

Only in Nintendo does the plumber get the princess.

Caren Explains El Bulli, Of Montreal and the Art of Selling Out

2008-12-29T19:28:00.003-05:00

World famous chef Ferran Adria visited my marketing class at the end of the semester. The class centered on a case written about his restaurant, El Bulli, which has been recognized as the best restaurant in the world and also the hardest to get a reservation at... only 6,500 people per year have the pleasure of dining there, despite 1-2 million reservation requests.

The crux of the case is that El Bulli does not make money. In fact, it hasn't been profitable since 2000. At 250 euros per meal (30 small dishes/drinks/desserts), Adria could certainly charge more money... but doesn't.

In this way, Adria said he is free to create without having to cater to customers wants. Instead, he has attempted to "buy his freedom" by selling El Bulli cookbooks. He also tried his hand at innovating fast food and potato chips for Lay's (but abandoned those ventures, as they didn't seem to fit).

Business loses to art in this case... dramatically and daringly. Within the case, Adria also refers to a quote by Jacques Maximin: "to create is not to copy."

I had the opportunity to ask Adria about this in class, more specifically, how we (as people trying to copy his recipes out of the El Bulli cookbooks) could learn to be creative. He said the secret is not to want to be #1. If you want to be creative but want to be the best, you will drive yourself mad. If I understood correctly, he said that this is the reason there are so many depressed artist types... the people who fret because they will never be Picasso... but of course they will never be Picasso -- there was only one Picasso, and he didn't certainly didn't aspire to be "PICASSO!"

This tug-of-war between business and art made me think specifically about Of Montreal's song "Wraith Pinned to Mist and Other Games"...

... for an Outback Steakhouse commercial:

OM frontman Kevin Barnes wrote an insightful rock'n'roller essay about the decision last year. Here's a little of what he had to say...

Why commercialize yourself? In the art industry, it's extremely difficult to be successful without turning yourself into a cartoon. Even Hunter S. Thompson knew this. God knows Duchamp and Warhol knew it. Some artists are turned into cartoons and others do it themselves. I prefer to do it myself.

Read the full interview on Stereogum's archive site.

Interesting to think of two very innovative, creative artists, each with a different view of their work and its marketing.

Caren Explains Fleet Foxes

2008-11-10T17:06:00.006-05:00

Sorry, "Deer" bands of the world... my favorite "animal" band of the year is the freewheeling Seattle outfit known as Fleet Foxes.

Fleet Foxes made the album that My Morning Jacket should have made; instead, My Morning Jacket made the album that Prince should have made... thus it follows:

Fleet Foxes : My Morning Jacket :: My Morning Jacket : Prince

Here is a new "Take-Away Show" of Fleet Foxes by Vincent Moon/La Blogotheque... it is quite lovely, and can be downloaded for Quicktime, DivX or iPod... I love the way the music echoes throughout the Grand Palais.

Caren Explains "Mad Men"

2008-10-27T21:05:00.004-05:00

I only watch four TV shows regularly:
- The Office
- LOST
- Gossip Girl (don't judge)
and...
- MAD MEN.

And it's been a long time since a TV show made me cry... last season during LOST, perhaps, when Desmond and Penny finally reconnect in the past-present-future?

But alas, the season finally of Mad Men was so powerful that I was tearing up. If you haven't seen it before, it's a dark, serious and phenomenal portrait of an advertising agency in the early 1960s, and the complicated lives of the employees. It rightfully won the Emmy for "Best Drama" this year.

The scene that moved me this week was when Penny makes a confession to her colleague (and one-time affair) Pete:

"One day you're there, and then all of a sudden, there's less of you. And you wonder where that part went -- if it's living somewhere outside of you? And you keep thinking maybe you'll get it back... and then you realize it's just gone."

Here's an insider video about Episode 1 of Season 2

And also, an SNL bit from when Mad Men's lead actor, Jon Hamm, hosted this week...

Caren Explains Songs to Study To

2008-10-21T19:44:00.007-05:00

As Midterm 2 of 5 approaches, I'm finding myself increasingly reliant on my iPod and noise-canceling headphones to keep me in the zone. Turns out the iPod is good company and has even helped me with my coursework...

Take my recent review of LEAD class, for example... if I were evaluating my one-on-one working relationship with the iPod, I would observe that it is a relationship in which I am "managing down" most all of the time, telling the iPod what to play, when to play it, and for how long. I recognize this is a "power imbalance," though, and occasionally I give up my power in the relationship and let the iPod pick the songs on Shuffle. Of course, since I've pre-screened all the music on the iPod, it's a pretty stereotypical selection and there are not many "origins of difference."

I guess the conclusion of this case, though, is that I'm pretty controlling.

Here's some songs that are giving me solace. Good luck to everyone else who is studying for something this week.

(This is being imported from a blog; if the playlist doesn't show up on Facebook, go to the original note to stream the full length songs)

Caren Explains Jamie and Janelle

2008-10-12T11:42:00.005-05:00

Tonight I get to see two of the fine performers featured on Paste Issue 46's cover: Janelle Monae and Jamie Lidell...

I talk about both artists a lot, and with good reason. Check out Janelle's new video here to see what all the buzz is about. One of the best shows I've ever seen, and I'm sure tonight's show will make me very homesick for Atlanta and everyone there.

And here is Jamie Lidell's video for "Another Day"

I wish I had less homework so I could see more shows... sad times.

Caren Explains "Tables and Chairs"

2008-09-28T18:15:00.003-05:00

Today I revisited Andrew Bird's magnificient album, The Mysterious Production of Eggs and was once again struck by the lyrics of "Tables and Chairs."

If we can call them friends
Then we can call them on their telephones.
And they won't pretend that they're too busy
Or that they're not alone.
And if we can call them friends then we can call
Holler at them down these hallowed halls
Just don't let the human factor
Fail to be a factor at all

Don't, don't you worry, about the atmosphere
Or any sudden pressure change.
'Cause I know that it's starting
To get warm in here
And things are starting to get strange.

And did you, did you see how
All of our friends were there
And they're drinking roses from the can?
And how, how I wish I,
I had talked to them,
And I wish they fit into the plan.

And we were tired of being mild.
We were so tired of being mild.
And we were tired...

I know we're going to meet some day
In the crumbled financial institutions of this land.
There will be tables and chairs
There'll be pony rides and dancing bears
There'll even be a band.
'Cause listen, after the fall
There will be no more countries
No currencies at all.
We're gonna live on our wits
We're gonna throw away survival kits,
Trade butterfly-knives for Adderall
And that's not all.
Ooh-ooh, there will be snacks, there will.
There will be snacks
There will be snacks.

And we were tired of being mild.
We were so tired of being mild.
And we were (we were so) tired...

So don't you,
Don't you worry
About the atmosphere.

Speaking of "the crumbled financial institutions of this land"... I am glad to be at business school right now. Thomas Friedman has an interesting take on the financial crisis and proposed government bailout in The New York Times today. Something to ponder, particularly the state of the American Dream.

My Yearbook Photos: 1952 - 2000

2008-09-09T21:22:00.011-05:00

Rachael had a lovely, Betty-esque looking photo posted in her Facebook picture slot... and I discovered it was made using Yearbook Yourself.

So I gave it a whirl... and now, ask you... since I just started at a new school and want to make a good impression with strangers, which photo should be my Facebook picture? I want to be taken seriously, after all...

1952:

1958:

1960:

1962:

1964:

1966 (I got contacts!):

1968:

1970 (staying clear of hippy-influence...)

1972:

1978:

1984:

1986:

1992:

1994:

1996:

2000:

Caren Explains Election Fatigue

2008-09-07T18:15:00.001-05:00

After being exposed to 18+ months of extensive election coverage, I am suffering from Election Fatigue (side effects make include anxiousness, exhaustion, upset stomach and judgmental behavior... voters suffering from Election Fatigue are advised against drinking Kool-Aid).

It's just too much. Everywhere I turn, BAM! ELECTION!

I get it, okay? It's historic, it's important, it's personal... but things are getting out of control, as you can see below...

So let's take a breather and have a laugh with JibJab, while the candidates cover Bob Dylan... how bout it, kids?