Arianna Huffington At Ad Tech SF Digital Media Meeting

Ad Tech SF Digital Media 2011, a photo by zennie62 on Flickr.

This quick blog post is written from Ad Tech 2011 San Francisco, where the focus is Digital Media...and people, and cocktails.

On Wednesday morning, Huffington Post Founder Arianna Huffington will grace the event and talk for the thousandth time about the AOL purchase of her giant blog and what it means for the digital marketing industry.

But today, people are drinking and talking.

About 400 people are massing on the third level of Moscone Center West for a large party sponsored by, well, just about every company involved with sponsoring AdTech.

What's of interest to this blogger are the various new platforms and apps for everything from sponsorship engagement to online marketing and advertising.

And the parties. The SF Chapter of the American Marketing Association's having on Tuesday evening, and there are more meetups I'm sure to hear about as the time progresses.

Stay tuned.

Jenn Sterger Brett Favre Scandal Back - Jenn Talks To GMA

Now former New York Jets sideline reporter Jenn Sterger's back in the news, having finished a taping of an interview with ABC News and Good Morning America's (GMA)George Stephanopoulos (who this blogger still thinks of as an aide to President Clinton), that's set to air Tuesday and Wednesday of this week.

If you don't know the story of Jenn Sterger, one that was presented in ever-so-sleezy fashion by the blog Deadspin, private-part images and all, this safe-to-watch Zennie62 video is a good recap:

Not sure what the purpose of Jenn Sterger's appearance on GMA is, and this blogger wonders if she made money from the interview. Jenn says she's made nothing from the matter: "I haven't made a dime off anything in this whole situation. Not from the pictures. Not from Favre. I never wanted to sue anyone. That was never an intention of mine."

In fact, Jenn was an unwitting pawn in the entire sex scandal story. Someone, not her (and just who did is still not known) sent the photos and voicemail to Deadspin, or so Deadspin claims.

Brett Favre did admit that he called Jenn Sterger, but says he never sent images or text. Frankly, there are few who really turn their life upside down, wanting to know if those photos were of him or not. But what is clear, is that Favre's wife has to be wondering what the hell's wrong with Brett.

Did he get a case of John Edwards Fever?

Edwards fooled around on the now-late Elizabeth Edwards while she was battling cancer. While Brett didn't actively do anything with Jenn Sterger, it's clear he tried to, and paid $50,000 in a fine imposed by the NFL for his lack of cooperation in the Sterger investigation.

But that was in 2007; let's hope Brett's just chilling at home.

Meanwhile, Jenn's news isn't creating a lot of buzz. It's only registering as "Spicy" on Google Trends, and its the number one search as of this writing.

Eric Roberts, Mark Cuban, Daymond John At Reality Rocks LA

Eric Roberts Should Play 'The Professor' In a Gilligan's Island Remake, a photo by zennie62 on Flickr.

Eric Roberts should play "The Professor " on a remake of Gilligan's Island. But before we turn to Roberts, let's recap.

Eager to make a first-time day trip to an event, this blogger went to the Reality Rocks Expo in Los Angeles on Saturday. Some of the online coverage was presented in a previous blog post, but it doesn't represent all of the Twitter Tweets and Flickr photos, and more videos.

In short, the trip was a success, as about three-quarters of the content is already up and out via Twitter, Facebook, Flickr, Friend Feed, and this blog, with more blog posts to come this week.

Reality Rocks is a first-of-its-kind convention centered entirely around reality TV. There's a whole universe of people, companies, and consultants that have grown around this entertainment concept, and they even have a "top list" of people, as collected by The Hollywood Reporter.

And who's at the top? Ryan Seacreast. And while he was not at the Reality Rocks Expo (held at the LA Convention Center), his sprit was felt in the number of entertainment entrepreneurs trying to pitch their show ideas, or themselves for casting opportunities.

There were panels on everything from how to pitch your show to how to deal with fame. Indeed, that last part's a problem that American Idol's Page Miles, a "Season 9" sensation, is dealing with today.



She said that the fact she was famous hit her after her first appearance, when she was at the airport and "all of these people were" looking at her. But it's also gone beyond just looking in some cases, enough for her to take a lot of time talking about it.

Comfortable with their fame are Dallas Maverick's Owner Mark Cuban and FUBU Founder and CEO, Daymond John, both stars of ABC's reality TV show Shark Tank.

With Sam Rubin of Entertainment Tonight, they held a business pitch panel, along the lines their hit show. The audience consisted mostly of people who actually came to present their business ideas and products. One group, Karen and her daughter Tomi, has an already-made infant-carrying product that, while it did not score a deal, was praised by Mark Cuban (and that was captured on video to come Wednesday).

But the funniest segment was with a man, Carl Tunina, who claimed he has a perfume that was the actual scent of Kathryn Hepburn. He also said he had the rights to the DNA of Abraham Lincoln, Michael Jackson, and hundreds of celebrties.

It was hilarious. Here's the video:



Later, on Twitter, John and others who were at the Reality Rocks segment, retweeted my tweet about the video, explaining that it was really a comedy skit:

TheSharkDaymond Daymond John
THIS PITCH WAS COMEDY!! RT @Qubits_Toy: RT @zennie62: @mcuban At Reality Rocks LA youtube.com/watch?v=97FRhp… via @youtube #realityrocks @samontv

As to Eric Roberts, he wasn't going to do the interview, because he didn't think the Flip Video Camera could make a good clip. Seriously. I had to coax him into it; then when he saw the high def video, he was sold.

More from my Reality Rocks LA trip later today. On to Ad Tech SF.

The Gorn From Star Trek Is Bobby Clark - WonderCon SF

The Gorn From Star Trek Is Bobby Clark.

Star Trek The Original Series (TOS) fans, and even occasional observers, will remember an episode featuring a man-lizard humanoid that fought Captain Kirk (William Shatner). That alien, called "The Gorn," starred in one of Star Trek TOS's most popular segments, called "Arena." It was memorable because The Gorn has a face that looked like Godzilla on Botox, and it nearly killed Kirk.

Who's The Gorn? It's is Bobby Clark. But who? How?

Bobby Clark is a veteran actor who's work goes back before Star Trek, and to such legendary shows as TV's longest running western Gunsmoke. "I became The Gorn because I knew the director, who I had worked for, for several years prior (to Star Trek), Joseph Pevney," Clark said. "I did four of the (Star Trek) episodes that Joseph Pevney did. One was called "The Apple" (With Celeste Yarnell - video below), "Return Of The Archons," "Mirror Mirror," and naturally, "Arena." That was my claim to fame," Clark reflects.

In the video break, Yarnell talks about "The Apple" and William Shatner



Acting With William Shatner

Clark says that Bill Shatner is someone he loved playing with. "He's strictly business. (But) He jokes around. I've known him for a while before we ever worked on Star Trek. He did a western. I'm a cowboys. I worked Gunsmoke for eight years. He did a Gunsmoke, so we got along alright."

Never Worked With Nimoy

Interestingsly, even though he did four Star Trek episodes, Bobby Clark never worked with Leonard Nimoy, who's is Mr. Spock. That's interesting, how an actor can be associated with another performer in the same series, but because of circumstances, never work with them. Clark will forever be linked to someone he never actually worked with: Nimoy.

Getting Into The Gorn Suit, Fighting Kirk

Clark explains that the suit he wore took just 20 minutes to put on, and was basically made based on a wet suit. He just slipped into it.

But the fighting between The Gorn and Shatner was real, well, semi-real: "That was a real rock (Kirk threw at him in the episode), it almost killed me....NO. He laughs. "But after that, I picked up a rock and threw it at him, and that rock weighed about 450 pounds and I had no problem picking it up."

Star Trek Was Our Future

Clark thinks the enduring popularity of Star Trek has to do with its message of change, and that now alot of what we use, like cell phones (which are like the Star Trek Communicators), were conceived for the show decades ago.

Clark's a Ludite

Bobby Clark doens't use a computer for much other than email. So if you see this and know him, send him one,saying you saw it.

Bobby Clark: an American Cultural Icon.

Mark Cuban, Daymond John of Shark Tank LOL At Reality Rocks LA

Mark Cuban, Daymond John of "Shark Tank" LOL At Reality Rocks LA, a photo by zennie62 on Flickr.

Dallas Mavericks Owner Mark Cuban, and FUBU Founder and CEO Daymond John, two stars of ABC's Shark Tank are laughing at Carl Tunina's product: a perfume line based on the "scent" of a movie star, or stars. This is all part of "Reality Rocks LA."

Reality Rocks LA is a two-day expo, today and Sunday, that is a kind of catch-all of everything surrounding reality TV: casting, pitching, concept, and participation.

The first of its kind event is being staged at the LA Convention Center, and features celebs like the two stars of Shark Tank, Micha Barton, Sinbad, who's pitching a new show on WE network April 12th, and stars from American Idol, and form shows like Cheaters, and Dancing With The Stars, and many more.

This was a one day trip, so I don't get caught in two days of making content and trying to post it in a timely fashion.

FFollow me at Twitter at Zennie62 and stay tuned for videos, including the hilarious one that goes with The Shark Tank panel at Reality Rocks LA.

Forget Nostradamus: Carlin Foretold Today’s State of our UNION

Forget Nostradamus: George Carlin foretold today’s state of our UNION (or America’s ruin as the case may be) before his death in 2008. The video below says it all. Though Carlin always made us laugh - the content of this monologue is scary in how dead on truthful it is.

US News - Politics this week went one step further when they named names of some of the “Owners of America” Carlin refers to in his TRUE to LIFE stand-up routine depicted in the video.

Brad Bannon’s commentary:
Conservative Attacks on Medicaid, Jobless Benefits Lead America to Ruin
makes the case Americans are victims of a vast right-wing conspiracy led and funded by the billionaire Koch brothers.

The article explains:

Republicans and their Tea Party allies are working on two important campaigns in Washington, D.C. and in state capitals around the country. The conservative goals are to rip the economic safety net wide open and pave the way for their friends in big business to dominate political campaigns.

On the economic front the right-wing two-pronged attack is on Medicaid in D.C. and jobless benefits in the states.

In Michigan which has one of the highest unemployment rates in the country, the GOP has succeeded in cutting jobless benefits by six weeks. The conservatives in Missouri (and several other states) are also trying to limit unemployment benefits. Meanwhile in Washington, the right wing wants to cut funding for Medicaid. About half of all Medicaid recipients are children. [See who donates the most to your member of Congress.]

Of course these attacks on children, the unemployed and the disabled don’t stop the Tea Party from giving billionaires and banks big tax breaks. The message from the GOP on both fronts is if you’re hurting, you’re out of luck. If you’re rich and powerful we will pay any price to help you out.

I think you know my position on America’s Clown Congress. There is only one or two there worth a grain of salt. However, the collective of elected idiots in Washington DC is simply the distraction for the people to allow the Wealthy owners of America to perform their “Slight of Hand” magicians tricks that eventually will turn this country into 2 classes only: The obedient Worker Bees and the tyrant, Megalomaniac Masters of wealth who happily oppress them ( them being the worker bees).

The unemployed - ESPECIALLY the UI exhaustees have been banished from the economy and the American dream. We have become relegated to the ranks of the invisible and forced to believe we must endure this abominable fate that has been forced upon us or beg for what little scraps of hope Washington tosses out to us then snaps back with unimaginable cruelty.

How is that working out for ya? Have you had enough? Then it is time we all become the exact opposite of invisible. We MUST become EXTREMELY VISIBLE and FAST. It is not very difficult to and it may require more courage than you have shown in a great while, but what have you got to lose? If you are like most of us - you already have nothing left - except your desire and instinct to survive.

• Get out in the streets, even if there is only 1 or 2 of you with signs (home made or contact U-Cubed for the “Hire US America” signs free for the asking). Find a busy street corner or overpass and stay there 90 minutes. Call the media. Make your plight known.

• If your group of scouts or PTA is looking for a project - suggest they have a fund raiser to HELP the 99ers. Create care packages and give them out or contact www.Helpthe99ers.com to find those in the greatest need.

• Go to where ever any local, state or federal politician may be speaking or cutting a ribbon and bring your signs. Chant “US Unemployed NEED JOBS & Benefits.” Interrupt their press conferences (Politely) by doing the same. You will not be arrested - perhaps escorted out or asked to leave but we all need to STOP being afraid. Fear is paralyzing and not the emotion which propels one to victory. Where is your American Spirit?

• Make your opinion count! Please take three minutes to complete this U-Cubed survey

One sure fire winning tactic and the fastest way for the 99ers to get Washington to enact benefits for our survival NOW is to create massive unrest in our own streets. I am not talking violent overthrow here - I am speaking POWERFUL massive protests in every town and city in the USA. The WORLD will be watching and the MEDIA will NOT be able to ignore it! When the Markets begin rapidly dropping Globally and the dollar tanks - we WILL get their attention and they will cave in I assure you!

JUST One Week of MASSIVE protests in the streets of America would have such a terrible effect on Wall Street that the BIG BANKERS will call their employees (i.e. Congress) immediately to DEMAND they give us what we need NOW so they can stop bleeding money!

They have been making us hurt for years and have ignored our suffering. It is our turn to hurt them back the only way we can - FINANCIALLY! The wealthy scoundrels continue to be so brazen about their corruption and shenanigans because Americans have proved over and over again they will do nothing to stop these Wall Street miscreants and Washington will NEVER bite the hands feeding them (unless it is the tax payer’s hands that is).

Do not believe the lie these monsters that control the media have drummed into you about “there is nothing you can do to change how bad things are” because YOU CAN. That is what Carlin gets wrong in the video. He lost touch with his humble 60’s beginnings, when he too protested against the War of that era.

What we need is an all out revolution of conscience by those in America who still have one - and that is NOT the talking heads in Washington, the greedy Wealth Barons or Captains of Industry who are stealing our lives out from under us. It is YOU who must make this happen.

The sooner you take to the streets in mass (or even alone if you must), the sooner we will get what we need. STOP BEGGING and START DEMANDING Washington work for US and not every other country which can help the rich get richer by lucrative Defense Contracts. Enough is enough. But have you had enough?

If you like what I write please donate so I can keep on fighting for the 99ers! Thank You!

ASNE Study: American Newsrooms Almost 90 Percent White

At a day and age when America is almost 50 percent people of color according to the U.S. Census, American newsrooms, those places housing that dying breed of media-maker the print journalist, are almost 90 percent white according to the American Society of Newspaper Editors ASNE survey released on Thursday.

And the study reported that the 12 percent of the total population of newsroom staffers that was "of color" dropped .47 percent from the last survey of the year before. No, not 47 percent, but basically one-half of one percent. Which means just 13 percent of the population was of color.

What this means, if one stops and thinks about how a newsroom is staffed, is that for every white and more often than not male (36 percent of the newsroom staffers are female), person, that means someone of color was, at some point, turned away from employment.

It also means that many black journalists in particular were the first to be fired in the wake of the economic and technical changes that have caused newsrooms to shrink in size.

Another ASNE study from 2009 revealed that 400 black journalists lost their jobs in 2008 alone, and at what was described as an "alarming" rate. The National Association of Black Journalists reported that the habit of cutting blacks from newsrooms continued through 2010.

The "why" you may ask has one simple answer: racism.   Who to hire and fire is a judgment call made by management of, in this case, a newspaper.  Many people of color in newsrooms have been given assignments that are either sports-related or concern matters involving people of color - like expressing views via a column.  In other words, they're pigeon-holed, not promoted, then shown the door when its time to pair the ranks.

The bright side of this story is, with a near 50-percent minority population, the market is there for the enterprising journalist of color to start their own media brand and capture some of it.  It's not so hard to generate a good website or blog, and it's worth doing because even those who stay at newsrooms may not get the recognition they deserve.

As an example, this blogger also contributes to SFGate.com's City Bright's Section.  In 2009, Hearst Corporation ran a small report in Editor and Publisher, in November, if memory serves, of how the traffic for that October was due, in part, to "mommy-bloggers" and other blogs, while failing to mention the work of this blogger, who generated about 1 million unique visitors for that October of 2009 alone.

So, I set out an objective to prove a point: that if one knows how to "work" online technology they can't be ignored regardless of color, and in spite of the news organization's and the public's best efforts to do so.  Using a then-new blogging approach I created, this blogger generated over 10 million unique visitors over the next year, which was 2010.

If fact, of the 46 million unique visitors SFGate.com attracted in 2010, one-fifth of them were generated by me.  Or, look at it this way: a black guy, me, technically owned just over one-fifth and close to one-quarter of SFGate.com in 2010, which was valued in some quarters, at $60 million for that year.  In fact, I generated 285,000 unique visitors in one day and in just seven hours - that was March 18th 2010.

Anyone of color can master this stuff.  It just takes study and work, both driven by a healthy dose of anger at the active racism of the overall society, intelligently applied.