What do you hope to get out of Doterati? June 19, 2008
Posted by Ryan in : Tech, Markteting, Orlando, floridacreatives, Doterati , 6 commentsA particularly salient comment by Mr. Alex on this Doterati thread:
We have three of the top 10 largest universities in the country within striking distance and a low cost of living. We have a ton of available angel money and an eager local government. We have affordable bandwidth and office space. We have a strong creative community in part from our proximity to Universal and Disney.
I’d say the Space Coast and lots of the engineering stuff in the area adds to the caché as well, and lots of folks have been quoting EA Games as a big deal… which it is. I think Bonnier (my employer) could be more active in the community as far as corporate presence and making Orlando look cool - what are we really doing on that end? I didn’t even know they were here until I found out about the job opening, and most people working next to me would say the same thing.
What do I want to get out of Doterati? Let’s have the ability for folks in other parts of the world search for something simple on Google like “Orlando tech” and find all of the great stuff happening here - which I think this group will accomplish.
Funny, I know that some folks (myself included) have tried to keep the “agendas” and “special interests” out of this - but the agenda is to make us look cool, plain and simple. The means to that end have been supplied in the posts all over the site.
Petentials Reviewed by Amber and Leo June 8, 2008
Posted by Ryan in : Tech, Site News, Markteting, Podcasts, Links, Reviews, Web Sites, Entrepreneurship, itunes, Petentials, Social Networking , 4 comments
Hooray for Google Alerts, and my media habits. A few days ago, I got an email from the google (now with a new and un-improved favicon…blech). This email linked to a blog post that linked to a podcast, and that was exciting.
The blogger was Kym Huynh, one of the hosts of a brand-new podcast called Best of the Net. In their first episode, The Google Bar, the topic was Pets, and the first story was Petentials, which is just amazing.
Then as I’m listening to some of my weekly podcasts, I noticed something even more amazing.
Every week, Amber MacArthur and Leo Laporte sit down to talk about the latest happenings on the Internet. A few weeks ago, they were complaining about not having any guests, so they solicited the audience to email in if they had a web startup. Being the faithful listener that I am, I had to tell them about Petentials. I really thought they’d have thousands of suggestions like this every week, so I didn’t exactly expect to hear anything too soon, but…
I was listening to this week’s Net @ Night, “Tiffany Roll”, and when Amber got to the letters, I heard her say “This week’s letter is from Ryan Price in Orlando…”
Excuse me?
…and then they talked about Petentials for the next several minutes. I stopped right where I was standing and smiled the biggest smile. Right after that I called Darren and told him the good news.
Let’s keep the good vibes going - I know lots of you folks out there have podcasts and blogs - how would you like to feature a new social network that has been covered by Leo Laporte and Amber MacArthur? Yeah, I thought so…!
Listen to net@night 55: Tiffany Roll (RSS, iTunes)
Listen to Best of the Net 1: The Google Bar (RSS, iTunes)
Looking at the dates that these were released, I almost wonder if the Best of the Net show heard about us via the live stream that Amber and Leo do over at TwitLive.TV while they are taping the show. If so, that makes for a great follow-up to my previous post.
Petentials on Fox News April 11, 2008
Posted by Ryan in : News, Site News, Career, Markteting, TV, Petentials, Social Networking , 2 commentsPetentials on Fox 35 | Petentials Park
Also, here’s an email Darren sent out to friends and advisors.
As some of you know, the Fox reporter, David Martin, informed me today that the feature on Petentials was picked up by Fox national news. I think what this means is that it’ll be aired on local news shows throughout the country over the next several days…or weeks.
We’ve had about 50 new accounts created in the last 24 hrs. In fact, 4 have been added in the last 2 minutes. There are 20 people on the site right now.
It looks like we’re now getting some Tennessee traffic, so my guess is that we were on the early news in Tampa tonight and the late news in/around Cleveland, Tennessee. Exciting stuff!
Now it’s hit Minneapolis/St. Paul (and maybe others). 123 people currently on the site…and rising with every refresh! At least 20 new registered users in the last 20 minutes. Plus, we have someone who wants to be our community ambassador for Minneapolis/St. Paul.
Update: Detroit Free Press Article
Giving the client what they need, not what they ask for April 10, 2008
Posted by Ryan in : Markteting, Cervo, Reviews, Trends, Books, Design, Restaurants, Web Sites, Teaching, Storytelling, Programming, Freelance , 2 commentsJust now I was buying a new domain name because of a misprint in my AXIS interview - it’s probably a common mistake, so it was worth the $7.
Anyway, there was an ad for some wannabe-posh restaurant on I-Drive - “Bola”. link
OK, seriously, who has a flash website that plays music? With late-90’s slideshows?
I also love that when I link to the “blog” - check out the design they chose for that. All of the posts on said blog have this huge text right below the title and right next to the very stale and infrequent date of the posts - “No Responses”.
Way to go on the authenticity, D*****bags! It’s not the designer’s fault, there was a breakdown in communications. Somebody has also dropped the ball on doing a follow-up with the client once the dist settled.
If you really want to create a compelling experience on a website these days, I think the only option is to use video. If your restaurant is so “high-end”, hire a damn video crew to come out once in a while and throw THAT on your site - or maybe even your non-blog.
Check out some of the stuff MindComet is doing, for example. They don’t mess around. I can’t say I always love every site they put out, but they know their strengths. I definitely appreciate the need for experienced marketing folks working along side talented designers and developers. I don’t slight the person who created this project, they just had too many things to think about all at once.
I’ve recently been re-reading a book by one of my role models - Hillman Curtis. It’s called MTIV: Process, Inspiration and Practice for the New Media Designer
I actually had “New Media Developer” printed on my business cards for a while, and people would ask “What does that mean?” I’m sad to say I didn’t have a story for them at the time, but now I think I’d have a thing or two to say about it.
In MTIV (Making the Invisible Visible), Hillman, who is a world-renowned designer with clients like Adobe and bestselling bands on his client list, tells you how he gets his work done. In fact, all of his books are like that - he goes through his creative process. He’s got some steps, he identifies the goals at each step, and he gives lots of anecdotal support. He’s clearly been working at a very high level for a long time.
People who have read this book and really understand it would have never designed that site for BOLA - at least not in the last 18 months or so.
However, even at a job I had for a couple of weeks managing an online store for a print shop, I not only had to put my propeller hat on, but my marketing/customer/business hat on, and normally the propeller hat gets priority. That means I’m donating 40% at best to thinking “is this even a good idea, does this communicate the message, will visitors understand the story?”
Then a few weeks later, I’ve started writing code, laying out the homepage, or what have you, and it hits me - THIS SUCKS! Did I design this? Then I remind myself I’m “not a designer” (which is bollocks because I’m always calling myself a “front end guy”), and I come to terms with the reality of the situation. We’re not communicating effectively here, we’re masturbating and pretending the result was a web page.
How do we fix it? Drive back to Sanford, tell the client “I’m sorry Mike, I had my head up my ass when I designed this… will you pay me to fix my own mistakes?” Nobody is going to go for that! Sure, you can give them a spiel about ROI and conversions, and maybe wrapped in the warm fuzzy blanket of “SEO”, which might as well be voodoo and divination to most clients, you might even be able to convince them to spend 30% of the original budget doing what you really should have done in the first place, in 15% of the time, without your trusty subcontractors, in your spare time, just so you feel good about work that you’d already written off as “finished”.
No, you can’t fix it. Clients don’t go for maintenance contracts any longer. Most of them don’t even want to pay you for hosting, let alone support.
The ONLY solution is to do it right the first time. That means making checklists, getting your freelancer buddy support system to consult and make sure you’re not leaving any huge gaps (oh, you do have some sort of a peer support system, right?), and above all, making sure you understand what the client needs.
I’m only feeling the slightest bit hippocritical right now, and if you’ve worked with me in the past, and you’re quietly thinking I’m full of shit as you read this, consider this my formal apology for underdelivering. In most situations during my “freelance” (”slacker”) career, I didn’t put 110% to anything work-related, and it wasn’t until my “Tabula Rasa” day (Jan 17th, 2006), that I had even decided to push myself to improve, and it looks like it’s taken about 2 years and 3 months.
So, FullSail grads, budding New Media Designers and Developers, and folks that have been doing this “since the early days”, and are planning on making a concerted effort to create stunning work, every single time, even if it’s for half of your rent money, here are a couple of tips:
- It might take 27+ months to feel as though you’ve arrived
- You MUST make sacrifices in your personal life for professional improvement
- Freelance is not a hobby, it’s making a living. Mom and Dad can’t pay the bills forever
- Go buy a copy of MTIV
- Keep your head out of your text editor (or photoshop) while you’re asking the client how you can work together to effectively communicate the story of his/her business
- Don’t use flash slide shows with music on every page
Conversation about Orlando Tech Association April 7, 2008
Posted by Ryan in : Tech, Markteting, Orlando, Links, Events, Trends, floridacreatives, BarCamp, Politics , add a comment…is happening right now over on Robert Dempsey’s blog - he gave some highlights from the weekend at BarCamp and some of the many events and discussions around the idea of forming a technology association in Central/all of Florida.
I obviously had something to say, and I think this conversation is headed in a healthy direction. If you want to get involved, please check out Robert’s blog and the subsequent comments.
Here are my words:
Florida Creatives is not the tech association, but it could be one option if people get on board. I would love to be involved, and if we end up using Florida Creatives as the name for the organization so be it.
Robert and I have discussed getting a regular conference call together that is recorded so people can listen in and post responses, as well as meetings in person, but I think something like a video or audio recording of these events will help ease everyone’s minds. I think the more open this entire process is, the fewer witch hunts we will see.
Over at FloridaCreatives.com we’re going to be setting up a free tool to help folks get organized, make connections, get a centralized list of events, and have a conversation.
The tools will be similar to those you see on Meetup.com but offered for free to anyone who wants them.
The work we’ve already done starting the wiki will continue with a more user-friendly look and feel, and hopefully the information will become even easier to find, search and import/export. The point is to make the tools free and openly available with a very low barrier to entry.
I’m stoked to hear so many passionate voices. It’s a sign that we’ve arrived as a community and it’s time to take action.
I never wanted to set up Florida Creatives like that and put in all the work until we were ready and it would be easy to get some folks to help us keep the thing running smoothly. This is the sort of thing we can write grant proposals about and gather donations for. Meetup.com’s $20/month fee is exorbitant, but they do have to pay the bills.
We’ve got a volunteer who wants to help with the design, but I’m sure we could use more. I know we have a couple of Drupal nerds in town, I’m willing to train more. Drupal’s Organic Groups is really one of the most robust and easiest tools to get this job done, and it will let everyone have a level playing field here.
This is a political movement - the word politics is scary, but creating a group like this means a consolidation of power - from individuals, groups and businesses alike, they all wield some influence, some resources, and often times the larger groups are not submitting higher quality volunteers, or more passionate, or even a larger number than the smaller groups. There’s a lot of talk going around about the size of companies, but one passionate and focused person can achieve what a large group of lazy and disagreeable types can.
If we can come to a consensus, philosophically, ethically; set a good example for others to follow, we can be a large group of passionate and focused individuals all going in the same direction.
What every small town local bookstore should do April 1, 2008
Posted by Ryan in : Markteting, HowTo, Video, Film, Shopping, Trends, Books, Travel, Contributors, OrlandoScene, Teaching, open source, Branding, Storytelling, Love , 2 commentsI jsut finished reading Rent Girl
However Michelle Tea and this book are not the subject of this blog. At least, not directly.
I picked up this indy book at an indy book shop - I was on vacation, visiting Tempe, Arizona, walking to Trader Joe’s and Whole Foods, hiking the Grand Canyon, getting yummy sandwiches from the co-op and drinking local beer. And next to the Trader Joe’s in the adobe-colored shopping center (really, they all were) was this little book store, Changing Hands.
Changing Hands Bookstore, Tempe Arizona, corner of McClintock and Guadalupe. There was a café, I think, and there was a section up front with fun games - the kinds of stuff you’d see on the bookshelves of Barnes and Noble next year once they hit critical mass. Like all indy book shops, there was a table near the customer service desk with eye-catching books, new arrivals, and the ever-present signed-or-to-be-signed books. And here was Rent Girl
I only read a few pages on the plane, it was too naughty. I actually couldn’t wrap my head around this book until recently, somehow I feel that by absorbing some women’s media I can try to understand the industry a bit better - things aimed at guys are too easy to understand, low hanging fruit - women’s music, film and books are another beast.
But I digress. I want to plant a seed at Changing Hands in Tempe and Urban Think in Orlando and the Bookmine in Jacksonville, and all the other places where you feel proud buying a naughty graphic novel. This advice isn’t exactly ground-shaking, but I think it makes sense:
Every small town book shop should:
- Print their own books.
- Teach classes about how to print your own books.
- Sell said hand-made and self-published books.
- Sell books by local authors on the internet.
- Show and sell art on the walls.
- Have free and open wi-fi.
- Record video/audio podcasts with visiting authors.
- Have a space in-store and online for customers to have a conversation, either about books or what happened on last night’s LOST.
- Be a place where you want to come to read a book.
- Be a place where you would hang out with your friends.
- Be the first place you want to visit when you get off of work.
- Have space for local groups to hold meetings.
In London I saw a store that only sells Chess and Bridge supplies. They’ve got the largest selection of that stuff you’ve ever seen - no big box store could compete. And on the same block is a store that only sells Flutes. I’m told there’s a store on the other side of the river that only sells French Horns. Granted, in a big city there is a need for places that specialized, but I think even a small town book store can take some tips from these places.
I saw another place that was a grocery, bookstore, gift shop and restaurant all in one. They wouldn’t let me take pictures in there, it was so unique. They press their own olive oil.
In a certain way, Stardust Video & Coffee here in Orlando has achieved so much of what’s on my list, but the utility of the store, renting movies, was not lucrative enough for them, so they opened up to being more cafe-and-performance-space than video rental space. They’ve recently added a second stage with a strict “no dry-humping” policy, and they also sell hard liquor in addition to their amazing selection of beers, decent wine, tea, coffee, baked goods and original food.
I suppose if there was a local printer, they could achieve something similar without needing to do the actual printing themselves, but I guess that’s part of the point of the bookstore, yes?
As a “video and coffee” establishment, I don’t see where Stardust is the last word on video other than the selection, but I always felt like I wasn’t smart enough to rent there, that the right to rent a film was reserved for someone with a more cultured taste than I. However, the Thursday night Broken Speech Poetry Slam or the local rock shows they have are completely accessible, and I’ve played drums on stage at Stardust many times. Maybe that’s just partly attributed to my training as a musician, but why do I feel I’m below the film?
I guess I’m trying to encourage these book shops to become the Third Place that we are all craving here in Orlando right now. In the land of corporate coffee, the local coffee shop has evolved, mostly in order to survive. I think the local bookstore has a few more steps to take before they’re all grown up.
Which bookstores have you noticed fitting into their niche?
…continued…
This is an old meme I found via Tara Hunt and Pinko Marketing. I’ve been trying to describe local media (or at least the goals of the media I’ve been trying to produce) and what’s supposed to be for sale at Petentials and similar sites. The point isn’t to sell 24,000 of an item priced $1 but 1,000 of an item priced $24, let’s say.
Boutique (from my mac dictionary): French, literally ‘small shop,’ via Latin from Greek apothēkē ‘storehouse.’ Compare with bodega .
Some people are getting my reference to boutique mixed up with luxury brands. Personally, I wouldn’t be caught dead with Louis Vuitton bag and I’m sure most Boutiquers wouldn’t be either. The difference, as the diagram suggests (and there are many more differences than I quickly plotted in this image) is the motivations for buying. I said, “Bought for connection” because, as Sanford commented in the previous posts comment section:
“People go out of their way to purchase certain goods - like moleskine notebooks - or buy cheese from specific vendors because it broadcasts something about who they are. This statement can be personal/internal, shared with a small audience…”
The “small shop” concept is the feeling I got at Villandry in London - it was right in the heart of downtown, near the international embassy district, but instead of being generic, they were hyper-specialized. It was the kind of place you’d bring your aunts and uncles who were visiting town, to show off the awesome places that can grown up in your backyard, and they’d sit back and go “I would never buy anything in here, but I’m in awe of the place.” That’s how I feel at Stardust, that’s likely how some folks feel in the front room at Dandelion Communitea, or the co-op area at Infusion Tea in College Park. What does it all mean? How did these people come to create this art, or this custom stationery, or eco-friendly teacups, or press their own olive oil? Why are there hundreds of movies I’ve never heard of, and how in the hell can they organize them by country and director instead of genre? Who does that?
Boutiques do that. The perfect local bookstore would do that.
Take a look at people who use open source software, you’ll find the same aesthetic. Hand-made, personalized, specific, and powerful in the hands of a well-informed user, but you don’t need to be the guy who wrote it to use it or change it. You think there should be a French translation? That’s up to you. A sixth checkbox? Hack it in, contribute it to the repository. Make this the best tool for you, and therefore the best tool for folks who know where to look.
I could go on all night. Maybe I’ll go on this weekend at BarCamp. But I don’t title it “indy bookstore”. What is it?
The 80/20 Rule and Win-Win-Win March 21, 2008
Posted by Ryan in : Markteting, Podcasts, Links, Quotes, Video, Trends, Entrepreneurship, open source, Love , 2 commentsGary Vaynerchuk talks about a secret that he thinks is at the core of much of his success.
Reposted from: The 80/20 Business rule…..heck Life - my 2 minute take on life
Many folks who were at Future of Web Apps in Miami had nice things to say about Gary V’s talk. I’ve also seen some other really nice videos by this guy on the web, and probably bookmarked them on my Ma.gnolia - check the RSS or link over there to check my bookmarks.
I can’t say that Gary has all these ideas himself, and he does credit Kathy Sierra and Tara Hunt at the beginning of his video (google those people if you don’t know who we’re talking about).
Right, I don’t think all his ideas are too super-original, but he has a very large and very rabid audience, and he understands how he got them, and he also presents it in a very down-to-earth manner. There is no barrier to entry for Gary unless you’re afraid of spelling his name or people from New York.
I also like how he tells us not to channel Calacanis (or whoever), but just to be ourselves and do it really well and look out for other people.
If you look at your seemingly selfless (my brother would say altruistic) efforts in the ways you are benefiting yourself, the other person and those around you (or you, your partners in business and the community, or you, your fellow artists and the people who enjoy your art), you’re going to have not only success, but a great feeling about how you got there.
Win-Win is not enough, you have to look for Win3. For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction, true, but if you paid attention in physics, there is always a release of heat or some byproduct of the reaction. If you can find the way to set up a reaction with a happy byproduct, everyone wins.
Take Hydrogen Fuel Cells. They last longer, they’re sustainable to produce (I think), and the waste product is water. The customers are happy because of the small powerful battery, the business should be happy because they’re not working with a limited supply of something like oil, and the people of the world should be happy because there isn’t a battery rotting in the ground.
Open source is the same. When everyone is giving 80%, expecting 20%, the products are amazing, the community is healthy and the users of the products are happy. Win-Win-Win.
I can see this especially given my new situation with Petentials. We have all been giving so much for so long, but it’s getting so easy to do things now, our vision is getting really razor-sharp, we’re having a napalm-like burst of awesome ideas, and we can see the next plateau.
Things are just going really well right now. I have my complaints, but if there was nothing to reach for, I think I would lock myself in my apartment and curl up in a ball for lack of something to do. I am addicted to this stuff, and I’m starting to see the rewards.
Welcome Back, Old Media March 13, 2008
Posted by Ryan in : Tech, Site News, Career, Markteting, Blogging, Podcasts, Reviews, Trends, Web Sites, PopSci, Magazine , add a commentHere’s a quick follow-up to last night’s post.
Earlier today, Ryan Block asked:
Why should I be concerned? People aren’t coming to Engadget to read about gadgets from 2006, or 1996, or 1896 — they’re coming to read about what’s going on today. Still, I love that PopSci, so this is gravy!
Ryan is absolutely right. In fact, he’s pointed out to me that Engadget does not fill the same void as PopSci. People aren’t going to his site for the archive, but rather, the very latest and greatest, and so much so that most of the content on Engadget is exclusive and they are the first ones to post about it. They could probably delete all of their archives older than 3 years and nobody would be able to tell.
Mr. Block also loves that PopSci gravy, which means that it’s likely the audience can see those two sites as separate flavors and sample a little of column A, and a little… well, you get it.
I also like how Ryan responded to my post within 9 hours of my writing it. Maybe if I drop Megan Miller’s name in here a few times, she will notice it in her Google Alerts too and come check out the blog.
Actually, I really like what Megan Miller of PopSci has been doing with the 5-minute projects on the site. There is certainly some room for improvement, but she mentioned in this week’s podcast that PopSci is working with Instructables on these videos, though she didn’t say in what capacity.
Mmmm, meta-journalism, hot and fresh! I really feel like I’ve been writing a story about the story of PopSci these last few days. Both in my Twitter stream with Etan asking about the particulars of my new job, and Jeremy direct messaging me as I drove to the office this morning, and now these past few days on my blog. I’m not the story here, the magazine is, and Megan Miller is, and Jonathan Coulton, and Bonnier, a family company. As are Eric and Seth and Sway, and also the folks over at PingVision. I haven’t told the whole story, nor is it in the scope of these blogs to attempt to tell that whole story, just a story around the story.
Old Media, Welcome to New Media Land
Posted by Ryan in : Tech, Site News, Career, Markteting, Blogging, Podcasts, Reviews, Trends, Web Sites, PopSci, Magazine , 4 commentsOR “How the battle became a collaboration”.
To the Editors of Popular Science:
You win.
Actually, I’m not a quitter, so I’ll say this: I’ve decided that instead of being “versus” each other, some of you Old Media types (can I say Traditional Media? thanks) actually care about your audience. Therefore, we are actually on the same side, you and me. That’s why today, I changed the name of my blog to “Ryan Price and the Media”. The arc of my story is changing, Act II is beginning (but please wait until the pops are two seconds apart).
Aside, to blog readers: Yes, I now work for a big media company: Bonnier Corporation. Dozens of magazines, or more accurately now Brands or Communities, and that’s just in the US. Potential for the big nasty side of media to show itself. However, as our Director of eMedia Howard was pointed out, “Bonnier is a family company, very different from a publicly traded business”. He was quick to point out the differences, and I was quick to believe him.
Back to you PopSci. You have been around for hundreds of years, and if you continue on your current path, you’ll be around for hundreds more. You’ve got a great formula working for you, and I have faith you’ve got the chemistry know-how to achieve the always-coveted, yet rarely achieved Activated Complex state. (sorry, that’s the only thing I remember from Chem I).
Let’s take a look at your assets:
First, and most importantly, you’ve got you’re audience. Not only your current subscribers to the print edition, or the folks that pick up a glossy when they’re traveling or when a pretty picture catches their eyes, but your modern-day audience. RSS subscribers, Google searchers, Diggers, Podcast listeners, Makers, Engineers and people who just want to sound smart at cocktail parties. You understand them all, and your understanding is only getting better as you experiment with new media (the content types, not the buzzword) and use your hundreds of years of publishing experience to deliver an experience that the smaller publications used to dream about (and in many cases you’re still eating their lunch).
That’s right. You’re a contender on the Internet, but you’ve got a hidden advantage. You’ve announced that some time soon, you will be opening your entire back catalog of Popular Science archives to the public (it is to the public, right?). Either way, no Engadget or even the castle-dwellers in Massachussets can claim over a hundred years of back catalog. Hell, few entities on the planet have such a rich offering.
Ryan Block and Chris Anderson should be very very concerned.
If you can continue taking advantage of modern advances in Media distribution (and I have to say you’re maybe one of the most advanced magazines I’ve seen in this area), your Coliseum will never fall into ruin, your Pompeii never covered with ashes.
Smart moves you’ve made include hiring Jonathan Coulton to be your Troubador, creating a podcast that both captivates and informs me and countless others every week, hiring bloggers to keep fresh hot steamy Science articles on your home page, having great SEO, and hiring me to maintain it all, ha ha! (I work for Popular Science, but I promise you this blog post is completely unsolicited, I only started three days ago)
Really, your organization is one to be looked up to in this time of transition, when many print publications are stopping the presses and hoping for bluer skies. I’ve been following my former enemy The Media very closely for the last several years, and I must say that you and I are enemies no longer, in more than one way.
I wish you the best, and I hope that I can ride your coattails to a new and exciting Land called New Media. I am honored to bask in your wizened glow.
Peace,
Ryan Price
New Hire, Drupal Developer
Bonnier Corp. and PopSci.com
Tell those bitches! March 4, 2008
Posted by Ryan in : Markteting, Blogging, Music, MySpace, Public Relations, Friends , 8 commentsDon’t you love all those form letters you get about “We can get you to the top of search engines”, and “I’d like to buy text links from you”? I know I do, and I’m not alone…
My friend Marc, otherwise known as “marc with a c” to the music community of Orlando, has recently decided to let ‘em have it. He was contacted by a chain-lettering, canvassing, music rep from Hitt Music Group.
Here’s a sample of Marc’s reply from his MySpace blog:
You mean that THE Hitt Music Group is interested in me? Oh my God. Here I was thinking that MySpace was just A Place For Friends, but no… you really do make dreams come true.
Of course, you must be joking, right? This CANNOT be the same Hitt Music Group that brought us such unmitigated talents as Friday Night Gunfight and the Lords Of Conversation, can it?
OH MY GOD, I JUST CHECKED OUT YOUR WEBSITE. You guys TOTALLY are *that* Hitt Music Group.
One of the modern conveniences technology affords us - the ability to spam thousands of independent musicians on MySpace… yes!
This is good for a laugh, and probably an indicator that no matter how much transparency and genuineness gain value in the marketplace, there will always be a Hitt Music Group.
Cookie cutter PR is bad PR - but I’m no expert.
