Relative to the general Chicago population, my children want for nothing.
The disposable income to provide them with the finest education, access to any cultural or learning experience we deem worthy, and as many books as their little minds can consume.
And man, our four year old, Henry, consumes a lot. His thirst for knowledge is never-ending. It's awesome.
But while Barnes and Noble is a regular stop for us, we've also asked our babysitter to take him to the library to start checking out books rather than spending money on things he'll read once or twice and then shove in a pile somewhere.
Last week she came home with a form for us to fill out so he could get his own library card, rather than checking out books on hers. We dutifully filled it out, and sent them on their way this morning.
Unfortunately, the Chicago Public Library has some tough standards. His "application" was denied because he couldn't neatly spell his first and last name on the form. Mind you, he's four.
Not only was I livid, but I felt terrible for Henry. How humiliating to be told you're essentially unqualified to learn. It's fortunate I wasn't there - it would have been an ugly scene. I'm fiercly protective of my boys.
So let's recap ... We activley encourage our children to learn. We thought the library would be a good facilitator of that. But the library didn't think our child was what, smart enough, to play in their sandbox? Or what, he'd never return the books? Chicago should be so lucky that kids are stealing books - it's a good problem to have.
At the end of the day, it means nothing to us. Again, we are fortunate to have the means to teach him everything.
But imagine this happening to a child with no means. A child who has the deck stacked against him. It makes me cringe.
Then Secretary of Education, Bill Bennet, once called Chicago's public school system the worst in the country. I'm sure it's improved since the 1980s, but certainly not so much that children of any age should be denied access to knowledge.
Shame on you Chicago. Mayor Rahm - this needs to be fixed, now.
I've never seen an ad from a politician AFTER winning an election. We get bombarded with TV, print, OOH and robocalls leading up to a moment in time, and then poof - gone.
Some of it is likely to be spent influencing the make-up of the City Council. Fourteen aldermanic races will go to runoffs on April 5, and Emanuel has openly said that he would be willing to back reform-minded candidates who sought his help ...
Emanuel could use the funds to build alliances on the future Council,which he'll need to advance his ambitious agenda.
Rahm won in what some consider a landslide, but he's still very much a polarizing figure. I'd love to see Rahm take a few dollars and run a series of TV spots between now and when he takes office.
Thank those who voted for you.
Build bridges with those who voted against you.
And rally those who didn't vote at all.
Remember, Rahm, election day was just the beginning. Not the end. It's all in the follow through. Just ask Jr.
Disclaimer: Due to several conflicts (including children, work, wife, The Office, Jersey Shore and sleep) I had to schedule this post 12 hours in advance of it going live; meaning I might not have the latest information on the talks between the concerned parties. However, that has no material impact on my main points. Trust me, I’m a journalist.
With that out of the way …
By the time you read this the collective bargaining agreement (CBA) between NFL owners and the NFL Players Association (NFLPA) will most likely (see disclaimer; and even if there is a 24-hour extension of the CBA, as reported Thursday afternoon, this thing will eventually come to blows) have expired, leaving the two sides without a labor agreement and the 2011 football season - or at least part of it - in serious jeopardy.
As a sports fan, I’m totally turned off. As many people will tell you, this is billionaires fighting with millionaires over sums of money unfathomable to the vast majority of fans (Charlie Sheen excluded, of course #winning!).
As a marketer, and one who currently focuses on social media, I’m keen to keep a close eye on how the dispute plays out in public, particularly in social media. This is the first pro-sports labor dispute of the social media era (the last being the National Hockey League during the 2004-5 season, when MySpace was hardly a hotbed of sports discussion and Facebook was just blooming as a place for Zuckerberg to exact revenge on a girl who slighted him - at least that’s how the movie goes).
It’s 2011 (you’re welcome for that nugget) and I can’t help but imagine the stream of opinions flowing effortlessly from the Twitter feeds of NFL players, owners, media and fans as the dispute moves into the grind-it-out-let’s-pretend-we’re-all-working-towards-the-same-goal-when-really-we’re-just-interested-in-protecting-no-actually-growing-our-pile-of-money phase. In fact my crack research staff tells me that between February 15-28 there were 11,000 Tweets mentioning “NFL and lockout.” Just since March 1 there have been the same amount.
The NFL is a public relations juggernaut, second only (in my opinion) to the NBA. And it’s worth noting that basketball faces this very same situation next year; though as many sports writers have noted, the NBA actually needs a battle like this to realign a really broken compensation scheme; whereas football seems to be in pretty good shape. In any case, I’m sure commissioner Stern is paying very close attention to the public sentiment as owners prep for battle with the NBA players union. In fact I bet this post makes his morning clip pack (#DavidStern #Stern #DStern #NBA #TallAndRich #TheDecision #GoBulls).
But while NFL commissioner Roger Goodell has proven to be a disciplined voice for the league, he can’t control what has already been, and will continue to be, said on the social web.
But he can influence it.
See what I did there? Can’t control. Can influence.
Below are a few tactics I would expect the league to employ, as I would any brand heading into a very public battle. As a marketer or fan (or fanketer - helloooo Urban Dictionary), what have I missed?
Paid Search Using Google’s AdWords Keyword Tool I took a look at the competition against the search term “NFL Lockout” and found it surprisingly low. What if the NFL launched a SEM campaign against terms related to the lockout, driving people to either an FAQ on the NFL.com domain or even a Facebook page? Seems simple enough, and moderately effective at delivering a message to people actively seeking out information.
Live Listening I’d be shocked if the NFL doesn’t already have in place an incredibly robust real-time monitoring solution. The challenges, I suspect, are twofold: (1) How are they filtering the signal from the noise and (2) What are they doing with the intelligence gleaned from the monitoring. Which leads me to my next point …
Response Protocol All the listening in the world won’t do you much good if you aren’t analyzing, looking for opportunities and disciplined about how you do/don’t engage with supporters and detractors alike. At Ogilvy we often develop bespoke response protocols based on the issue, the client, the nature of the discussion and other factors. The NFL must be really clear and consistent in their response protocol about what they say, when they say it, to whom they speak and what tone they take. Conversation Management Whether it’s to the 2.6 million fans on their Facebook page or their 1.9 million Twitter followers, the league must carefully map out what they are going to say publicly on the matter, where they’re going to say it and how, if at all, they are going to react when publicly challenged (or lauded). Effective conversation management, very much tied to the response protocol, is kind of the backbone of everything the league is going to do (on social media) during this time. They must get this right.
Content Creation You better believe the players are pumping out content to tell their side of the story. Check out the video below from the NFLPA’s YouTube channel, which has garnered 152K views.
What’s troubling, from the league’s standpoint, is that a pretty sophisticated YouTube user (me - don’t laugh) can’t seem to find the NFL’s official YouTube page after about 30 seconds of searching. And guess what - I give up. So the message here is that not only do they have to consider a content creation strategy, but just as important a distribution and optimization one as well. By the way, not just video but also photos, written content, etc. - anything that can be indexed by The Google and helps the league put forth their perspective.
This entire episode will be interesting to watch play out. As a fan I truly hope they resolve it sooner than later so we can get on with a great 2011 season. My wife, probably not so much.
If you've been around me long enough you'll know I maintain a healthy suspicion for things like the perfect tie knot, overly shined leather goods or consistently flawless grammar. That's not to say I don't appreciate the effort it takes to achieve all three but frankly I think they can be boring and affected.
I've struggled to articulate this but recently came across a word that helps. Baldassare Castiglione, in The Book of the Courtier, discusses Sprezzatura ...
I have found quite a universal rule which in this matter seems to me valid above all other, and in all human affairs whether in word or deed: and that is to avoid affectation in every way possible as though it were some rough and dangerous reef; and (to pronounce a new word perhaps) to practice in all thing a certain sprezzatura [nonchalance], so as to conceal all art and make whatever is done or said appear to be without effort and almost without any thought about it.
It's not that I don't appreciate effort. In fact my interpretation of sprezzatura is that it requires quite a bit of effort [more so than normal]. What I don't like is when someone reeks of effort.
A few things occupying a prominent place in my brain lately [in no particular order and not exhaustive]:
The Mid-Century Modernist: We are decorating our house, and while I don't love everything featured on the blog, some of the pieces are incredible [like this Cavour Writing Desk by Carl Mollino].
Twitter: Connecting with interesting people. Engaging in interesting debates. Finding interesting content.
The Presidential election: Not the candidates themselves, but how passionate everyday people are about this election. I hope it lasts for many elections to come.
H&M: Just when I think I'm over that place, I find a great slim, black suit for $70. Another $40 in alterations and I've got a winner. While it may be true, as my colleague says, "it'll melt the first time you wear it in the rain," it was only $70! I'm sucked back in. Not sure if the Satorialist would cringe or approve.
Henry: My 22 month-old's verbal skills amaze and amuse me to no end ["Dis mac-eh-cheese delishus, dadddy"]. As any parent will tell you, watching a kid grow is fascinating.
Lance Briggs: The Bears linebacker - who often plays 2nd fiddle
to Brian Urlacher - is not so quietly turning in an incredible season.
His hits are bone-crushing.
Bruce Springsteen's The Rising: No particular reason, other than over the last year or so I've been very in to Springsteen.
My lovely and talented sister, Dana, starting her own event-planning business. I would share a link, but site not yet live [will follow up with that later].
This is part one of a fantastic fictional NPR-like piece my friend Michael wrote,
produced and voiced. The story
takes place a few days before McCain ships out to Vietnam. The full 30-minute program should be coming soon. I've heard the entire thing - it's great. I will post the full steam when it's available.
