El Gaffney

The Fast and The Fleeting?

As Sean recently pointed out, I’ve been becoming more attracted to fast. Specifically, I’m interested in how people (and organizations made up of motivated and empowered people) are using speed to shape culture, build brands, and grow businesses. It started quite a while ago but thanks to a recent string of personal/professional experiences such as ESPN’s Olympics ad and Obama Baton, it’s right in the middle of my radar.

So you won’t be surprised that after last week’s historic election, I found two examples of crazy quick turnarounds particularly sweet.

First, after returning from hologram world (CNN’s set), will.i.am released this video the day after the election:

Second, the guys and gals over at South Park were completely topical with this episode, which aired less than a week after the election. From the article:

…their production team redefined the concept of timely scripted television entertainment. Talk about a turnaround! Even if Parker and Stone produced much of it in advance, the episode didn’t just acknowledge President-elect Barack Obama’s momentous win – it included specific references to Election Night, among them Obama’s destined to be historic acceptance speech.

Now the questions are around the effectiveness of producing and launching these fast-to-market (-media) content. For example, many are wondering: How fast will it be forgotten?

Tags: obama, southpark, will.i.am

Obama Baton Dot Com

Big news in the life of our idea: The Obama Baton site is live.

Clay + Kevin + the rest of the Hustlewood team have been working their butts off, Giorgio (can’t resist the Zoolander reference) and have managed to get a site up and running (can’t resist the pun) in less than ten days. We’re still revising it and will likely continue to do so over the next week (if not more) as we learn what’s working and discover opportunities to enhance the experience. What that means is making the idea and call to action more clear and compelling, the blog portion more interesting and useful, and the pieces (Twitter, Flickr, Facebook NYC & CHI, etc.) work more seamlessly and effectively together.

As I said in my last post, we’re trying to be as transparent and inclusive in building this idea (and we hope, movement) as possible. We’re using our blogs and now the blog on obamabaton.com to do so. (Please comment over there with any Obama Baton-specific thoughts you have.) And we’re learning quite a bit along the way. But we’ve still got a long way to go—a couple of marathons at least—before Barack wins on November 4th. So please visit the site, show your support, and Pass It On.

Tags: obama, obamabaton, running, web2.0

I’m Not Blogging to Make Friends

Actually that’s not true at all. But as an admitted reality TV addict, most of you know by now this type of compilation (can we call it a montage, Team America?) is right up my alley…

Quick shout-out to the Real World Hollywood crew for becoming friends even without being polite…and in the process putting on quite a show. (Yes, all 9 of you.) Half shout-out to Jesse (or as I like to call him, Travis from Clueless), who was able to make friends and win DeAnna’s hand in marriage on this season of The Bachelorette. Zero shout-out to Kristy for making friends but then deciding she didn’t like winning Tila’s heart.

That was therapeutic. Please be my friend.

Tags: blogging, realitytv

Do Day: Become Legendary

Here’s our W+K NY’s most recent spot for Jordan brand. I would not be posting if it did not include some tight Hoyas footage of JTIII. Also, I’m trying to get over the fact that I’m missing tomorrow’s game at MSG because I’ll be out of town. Thanks to George for reminding me by passing on images of these Georgetown kicks.

Tags: gtown, jordan, nike

NASCAR For Dummies

Yesterday I watched my first NASCAR race ever. I personally know quite a few people whom are baffled by the interest in this sport. If you live in the U.S. you probably have an opinion, and you’ve also probably heard (if not said) the following:

How do people enjoy watching cars go around and around in a circle?

Well, given it’s part of my job to understand not just the rules of NASCAR but also the fans, I spent a significant part of my yesterday (over 5 hours all in - including pre-race and a bit of post) watching the Super Bowl of the sport, The Daytona 500. (Yes, it is unlike any sport I can think of in that it starts out with its biggest event.) I watched with a couple of work friends—one in particular (Michael) who is an avid fan of racing and driver Jeff Gordon and thus was able to answer all my stupid questions.

If you have any interest in learning a bit about NASCAR and what my viewing experience was like, check out my twitter. Go back a couple of pages to see the start (picking up Bud heavy). Overall, I had a great time—as noted by Mike, “the beer helps”—though I don’t think I’d have the stamina (read as: time) to watch all 200 laps in the future. Hopefully I’ll get to attend one of the other Sprint Cup races in person this year. I hear that helps you more fully appreciate NASCAR. Until the next race, I’ll be looking for some Target car #41 gear!

Tags: daytona500, nascar, planning