Archive for September, 2008
Here is the raw, uncut footage of the TECHZULU interview with AMANDA COOLONG from the last day of the Blogworld and New Media Expo. It’s a pretty good interview, but it did get a bit weird once we started talking about the WHAM-O WATER WIENNIE, a bizarre (and phallic) toy from the sixties and seventies that I produced a jingle and radio commercial for. Pretty funny stuff, actually…….
By Joe Klein
It was Sunday morning, the last day of Blogworld Expo in Las Vegas. I was feeling a bit of the pain that Sin City can inflict. After just a few hours of sleep, I grabbed a few cups of coffee and dragged myself back to the Las Vegas Convention Center, where I had a couple of morning meetings and interviews sche
duled.
The meetings went well. Afterwards, I moved on to the first scheduled interview with BLOGTALK RADIO. It was a pretty cool interview. SHAUN DAILY and I talked for over twenty minutes about new media audio and video production and the services now being offered by New Media Creative. You can listen to it on the Blogtalk Radio page for the interview here. The Blogtalk Radio player below will also stream the full interview.
JOE AND SHAUN DAILY
Interview number two was cool, too, but a little crazy. It was a live Stickam stream from TECHZULU. After spea
king for a bit about the company, the interview’s host AMANDA COOLONG and I were talking about my production background and the subject of jingles came up (I produced many jingles in the seventies with a musicain partner named John Lasalle.) I recalled a dumb little jingle for a Wham-O toy called the WATER WIENNIE we produced. The toy was stupid, too. You filled it with water and squirted your friends. Amanda was infatuated with the toy, and the interview took a strange turn. Techzulu CEO EFREN TOSCANO (who was tending to the live stream on his laptop) soon chimed in, remarking on how much he loved the toy as a kid! I was amazed that anyone even remembered this 35 year old novelty, but, at the same time, kind of amused to be gaining new renown as “The Guy who Produced the Water Wiennie Jingle!"
JOE AND AMANDA COOLONG
I grabbed some lunch and gave my friend Lenny Fuchs a ride to McCarren Airport for his flight home. I then returned to the Convention Center one last time for one more round of schmoozing at the Expo’s afternoon networking session. As the afternoon drew to a close, I was "talked out" and definitely ready to head for home. I was invited to a few "post expo" get-togethers Sunday night, but, I was beat, my "announcer pipes" were shot and I had plenty of work waiting for me upon my return. So, not wanting to risk falling asleep at the wheel on the desolate drive through the desert back to Laughlin at night, I opted to depart while there was still a couple hours of daylight remaining.
It was another very cool stint in Sin City for New Media Creative (the second in just two months). As productive as it was, it was still great to return to familiar surroundings and get back to work! But, alas, I have another trip, back to L.A. once again, in just a few more days.
By Joe Klein
On Saturday, the first official day of the Blogworld Expo, Brett and I arrived at the Las Vegas Convention Center bright and early. First order of business was attending the morning State Of The Blogosphere and Opening Keynote addresses delivered by RICHARD JALICHANDRA, CHRIS ALDIN and ANIL DASH. Then it was time for the New Media Creative guys to spend a few hours of working the exhibit floor and connecting with the throngs of new media shakers and mavens who were attending and exhibiting at the conference. Here are a few photos…..
JOE, RICK CALVERT AND BRETT ROGER SIMON AND JOE
ROBERT SCOBLE AND JOE JOE AND ROXANNE DARLING
JOE, NICOLE SIMON & EWAN SPENCE EFREN TOSCANO AND JOE
JOE AND JALALI HARTMAN JOE AND THE CART-AWAY GUYS
While on the exhibit floor, we spent some "quality time" at the BLOGGER AND PODCASTER MAGAZINE booth with publisher/Larstan CEO LARRY GENKIN and the company’s EVO of advertising and development, LENNY FUCHS, who have become good friends and business associates with over the past year. With Brett nowhere to be found at the time, the "three stooges" (Larry, Joe and Lenny) took advantage of a temporary break in all the action at the booth to pose for a "new media family portrait."
LARRY GENKIN, JOE AND LENNY FUCHS
We had previously arranged for Brett to set up a demonstration of the newly released DRAGON NATURALLY SPEAKING 10 software at the company’s booth for a blog marketing campaign Brett is conducting for the product. The traffic at the booth was brisk, so the demonstration went well. Brett held three drawings throughout the day for a free full license of the product.
BRETT AND ROB MACNEALY BRETT AND EWAN SPENCE
My "mainstream media" news anchorman friend Dave Courvoisier had told me that he wanted to check out the blogging and new media scene. He got full press credentials and dropped by the Expo early in the afternoon Saturday. We conducted our own sweep of the exhibits on the floor and then attended the conference session about Twitter’’s role in journalism, conducted by Robert Scoble, Doc Searls and Laura Fitton. Dave found the panel discussion and interaction from the audience to be very interesting, as did I. After the session, we made our way back to the exhibit floor for another hour of networking and checking out the exhibit booths. Both of us were Inspired enough by it all that we decided to conduct an impromptu discussion about new media in the Blogger and Podcaster magazine booth. Wouldn’t you know it, the Larstan camera crew just happened to be on hand to record our chat.
At the end of the day, Brett and I met with Larry and Lenny for drinks and some business chatting, followed by dinner at the Hilton. A quick stop at the official Blogworld Party at the hotel followed (but, for once, I didn’t bring the camera to this bash). Not surprisingly, I ran into several more old friends. But, after a very long day, the networking blues started setting in. It was definitely time to disengage from business, relax and play some cards! Lenny and I journeyed into the Hilton Hotel’s casino. After a few hours of battling the blackjack dealers with and, finally, winning a bit of cash, it was time to call it a night (or early morning as was now the case). Brett, meanwhile, was on his way to the airport to catch the redeye home to Charlotte. Exhausted, I headed back to his hotel for a few hours of shuteye.
The final day of the Expo was yet to come. Check out our next post, Same website, same blog…..
By Joe Klein
The last weekend of summer was another wild one for NEW MEDIA CREATIVE team members JOE KLEIN and BRETT BUMETER at the second annual BLOGWORLD AND NEW MEDIA EXPO in Las Vegas. We spent the weekend working, networking, schmoozing, partying and, of course, a bit of very late night gambling! I drove the 90 miles north from Lauighlin, Nevada and Brett flew the 2500 miles west from Charlotte, North Carolina. We both arrived in Vegas about the same time Friday afternoon. After checking in to our hotels, settling in, checking email and Twitter, we grabbed some dinner. Then it was off to the first hot party of the Expo, the TECHSET bash at Mirage’s Bare Pool. Hosted by TechSet founders STEPHANIE AGRESTA and BRIAN SOLIS, this was definitely the scene to make Friday night, and the very long walk from the Mirage parking garage to the bare pool was well worth it. We hung out and partied with dozens of old and new friends.
After a couple hours of schmoozing and a little boozing with scores of fellow new media movers and groovers, I left Brett to party on and was off and running to meet up with my friend, DAVE COURVOISER, who is the nighttime news anchor on the Las Vegas CBS station, KLAS-TV. Dave had invited me to stop by the station’s new high-def studio and watch the late night newscast. Of course I couldn’t resist the opportunity for a couple of posterity photos on the news set!
After the newscast, Dave and I chatted for a while, and then I was off again for a bit of late night Vegas clubbing and a small bit of sleep. Not much work got done today, but definitely a fun and memorable first evening, for me at least. Hey, maybe a future in mainstream television news awaits this old dogg!
All about the exploits of New Media Creative at the next two days of the Expo to follow. Stay tuned……
