VerveCast

This week I came across a fun article, 17 Haikus About Writing and Editing, by a woman who practices haikus as an exercise to keep her writing fresh and flexible. It seemed like an interesting experiment, so I decided to give it a go. Here’s what I came up with.

Call the media.

We have an awesome story.

Now tell it like this…

PR or social?

Related, but not equal.

Differentiate.

You must proof your work.

Not enough time in the day?

Prepare to look dumb.

Comma before which,

but no comma before that.

Please pay attention.

I could go all day.

But, no time for fun with words.

Clients call my name.

Seriously, my mind will not turn off. What a fun (and addictive) exercise. Go ahead, embrace your inner nerd and give it a try.

There’s a great post over The Society Pages that highlights a Molson Beer campaign that created two different ads, one aimed towards men, and another aimed towards women.

Above is an ad for Molson that ran in Cosmo magazine… obviously targeted towards women.

And below is an ad for Molson that ran in Playboy magazine, obviously targeted towards men.

There’s nothing wrong with running multiple ads geared towards different audiences, but the ad for men explains how the ad for women was “scientifically formulated to enhance their perception of men who drink Molson.”

At one level, it’s amusing, especially if you work in the advertising or marketing industry…

But on another level, it’s a little disturbing and insulting, to both men and women.

What I find interesting is that this campaign ran about 8 years ago. That’s not too long ago, but I wondered how many people would have seen an article on the web about such a campaign 8 years ago versus today.

And even more interesting is the divergence of comments on the piece.

Last week we celebrated another year with our “z2 inspired Holiday Party” which included a 5-course breakfast at The Pfister Hotel, followed by a train ride to Chicago for a bit of shopping before heading out to Moto in Chicago for a 15-course meal (yes, I said 15!) that included 9 savory dishes, 6 desserts, and edible paper and ink along the way.

And the chefs? You may have seen Richie Farina and Chris Jones on Top Chef: Texas. Yeah, those were our chefs…

It was definitely an experience to be remembered. A big thanks goes out to Cory and Deb from all the Z2 staff for this one.

Happy Holidays everyone! :)

Interesting post, suggesting that smiling isn’t conducive to creating a good portrait.

Of course, in the olden days of painting (and the early days of photography) you had to remain still for quite some time. Smiling is something best done quickly, not over long periods of time. Even trying to smile for more than a few minute isn’t enjoyable. (I don’t know how some people in the service industry do it!)

Personally, I’m not a huge fan of smiling for photos. I know that everyone wants a smile when there’s a snapshot being taken, and I have to assume it’s because people associate smiling with being happy… But I think you can make a great photo (and/or portrait) without a smile.

We tend to deal more with hotels than cruise ships, and we’ve had more than one discussion about iPads in every guest room, but here’s a ship that will have iPads in every stateroom.

Royal Caribbean’s 2,074-passenger Splendour of the Seas is currently in dry dock being refurbished, and one of the new additions to the ship will be an iPad for every stateroom. The idea is to give guests a new way to get information. The daily Cruise Compass newsletter will be accessible from the iPad, providing a list of events and activities, personal daily itineraries, and shore excursions. Guests can also watch movies or surf the Internet. Want to look at a restaurant menu or check your ever-growing bar tab? There’s an iPad for that.

I’m a fan of the iPad and if they do it right, I can see it being a great interface to all of the information you may need on a cruise.

(Disclaimer: I’ve never been on a cruise, though I do own a canoe. And no, I’ve never taken the iPad with me on any canoe trips.)