El Gaffney

New York Story

My friend Mike always keeps me well informed when it comes to the rap scene, and recently has been no exception. He tipped me off to Drake’s “Forever” video with Lebron James and a Freestyle Cypher with Mos Def, Black Thought and Eminem.

But the one that really “hits home” is Jay-Z’s “Empire State of Mind” (embedded below). Great storytelling, which, as this post from Desedo shows, has the potential to be even richer and more interactive. (Especially if we can select Alicia Keys as the GPS navigator’s voice.)

Jay-Z – “Empire State Of Mind” ft. Alicia Keys

Jay-Z | MySpace Video

Tags: interactive, maps, storytelling

Work to Live…Kinda Lavish

Please excuse the silence over here. I’m working my a$$ off (for those dolla bills, sort of) on some exciting, new projects (pretty much).

Seriously though, I have no idea how my buddy found probably one of the most ballin’ versions of me out there. I wish I could claim this as an alter-ego (Stefan style), but I can’t. Introducing: Seff tha Gaffla.

Tags: thisissoridiculous

The Proof is in the People

I just read an interesting post over at Thought Gadgets, which talks about the importance of putting individuals at the front of companies’ social media efforts. I agree with just about all of it, except not sure about the thought that “the most authentic brands online are the ones that give us real people’s names.” Certainly Ford’s Scotty Monty on Twitter (where he uses his own name) @scottmonty) is a great example (cited in the post). And of course, Zappos’ Tony Hsieh and his staff counts (even if he uses @zappos and other names range from @zappos_fly to @Zappos_Service). But would Skittles Fan page on Facebook be more authentic (or successful) if its CMO or Director of Product Innovation shared his/her name and let everyone know he/she had the reigns? Probably not. That is, unless some Willy Wonka-type character (or Leprechaun) worked there as “Keeper of the Rainbow.” I’m not sure Nike+ (the example in question) gains any authenticity points for being a real person vs. having a real purpose for it – customer service, new features or linking up users and Twitters who are geographically and pace compatible. (Of course it doesn’t have to be one or the other.) No one seems to be dinging at @TOMSshoes for lack of transparency about who’s tweeting from its end. Because humanity is baked into the business (buy one pair, one pair sent to someone in need).

But that’s not to nitpick or twist words. It’s just to build and ultimately get me to a point about how in social media or traditional media: If the goal is to move away from being a faceless corporation—or in more positive terms to be human—, then you should empower your employees to bring to life the personality of the brand. Whether they become faces of the company or not and whether you do it on Twitter or TV, it still about people. And when you encourage/enable them to add their own unique personalities to the mix, that’s when you get something really special – like @JetBlue which updates who is on Twitter duty or one of my all-time favorites, Southwest’s David Holmes:

You go airlines!

Tags: airlines, brands, jetblue, nike, southwest

Word of the Week: Crower

I hope you haven’t been holding your breath since the last WOW (in August 2007). But I’ve got a solid one from Lauren a friend and co-worker (which I can probably combine into a new word like co-friend). Up there with Bevistated and doesn’t require a PhD in the Bachelor. Without further afreddyadu (I’ll stop):

Crower
(noun, verb)
To cry in your shower because you live in a crowded metropolis and don’t want your roommates/neighbors to hear you. Often after tough meeting, or Oprah.

Ex: Deena had watched “The Notebook” with her roommates before, but it had been a brutal day at work and she needed to crower before dinner.

In case you still don’t understand or need some crower assistance…

Tags: Friends, vocabulary

White Men Can’t Jump

At least this one can’t. As Gloria Clemente once said:

Sometimes when you win, you really lose and sometimes when you lose, you really win and sometimes when you win or lose, you actually tie and sometimes when you tie, you actually win or lose. Winning or losing is all one organic globule, from which one extracts what one needs.

Here’s a case where I lost and really lost. (Though I did extract a blog post from it.) The rules: standing jump (high and long) over the couch. (How the new Mad Men and Women get down. Literally.) My one and only attempt was somewhere in the middle of the event. You can see the rest, including a few successes, here.

CouchJump V from Keiji Ando on Vimeo.

Tags: office, weaksauce, wk