http://www.mediapost.com/publications/ A media industry social diary. en-us Copyright 2009 MediaPost Communications http://www.mediapost.com/rss Sat, 07 Nov 2009 14:11:36 EST I'm still debating what to do about tonight since I usually treat Friday as Myday, but the fact that it is a Verizon party could make it relevant to you mobile marketing types, so I'm conflicted. Anyway, you'll know what I decide on Monday. Last night, however, I rallied to attend the launch party thrown for eMediaVitals.com, the SRDS (which makes me think of Sustained Silent Reading, but it's not)Interactive Advertising Directory, and the "Vital Signs Report," at Social, a hop skip and a jump from Times Square, and a place rife with fratmosphere.http://www.mediapost.com/publications/?fa=Articles.showArticle&art_aid=116977Kelly Samardak <kelly@mediapost.com>Fri, 06 Nov 2009 15:15:41 ESTAfter getting scolded at the comScore party, Gail Hilton of Thought Equity Motion and I headed to Marquee, a MUCH shorter walk from The Park than The Park was from good old Javits. We took The Highline for part of the walk and for any naysayers out there (I'm talking to you, self), it's a completely different experience at night. The vibe is mysterious and creepy with the potential for assault by crackhead lurking around every corner. But man, walking on that elevated path surrounded by the stars and the glimmer of the city? It's like belonging and being removed at the same time. We descended the stairs at the end into hell -- or was it heaven? http://www.mediapost.com/publications/?fa=Articles.showArticle&art_aid=116931Kelly Samardak <kelly@mediapost.com>Fri, 06 Nov 2009 10:15:24 ESTWhen you see the name comScore and you're not an industry newbie, you probably recognize it as a marketing research company. ComScore hosted a party at The Park last night where guests were invited to enjoy delicious food and listen to comScore Chairman and Co-Founder Gian Fulgoni share a brief recap of key industry developments from 2009, also highlighting some of the next big movements of 2010. I know, you're thinking "A research party? How can that be fun?" Well, dear reader (or skimmer), when you add an open bar featuring sangria, a shushing guest, garlic-drowned shrimp, and an up-to-the-minute AccuWeather forecast, it's kind of hard NOT to have fun. http://www.mediapost.com/publications/?fa=Articles.showArticle&art_aid=116899Kelly Samardak <kelly@mediapost.com>Thu, 05 Nov 2009 16:00:30 ESTIt's official. I hate the Javits Center. I know, I know, hate is a strong word. If you hate something, you wish it dead. If there is a lighter word that means temporary coma, let me know. It's practically in the river, that Javits. Public transportation won't even go near it. It's just not ped-friendly, which was made clear to me when I was almost hit by not one but four cars when I clomped through the cross walk on 35th and 10th with the right of way. I was human frogger, and that's no exaggeration. This, my friends, was my introduction to Ad:Tech New York, the burbling quagmire that is the intersection of advertising and technology. http://www.mediapost.com/publications/?fa=Articles.showArticle&art_aid=116861Kelly Samardak <kelly@mediapost.com>Thu, 05 Nov 2009 13:45:43 ESTBefore social media channels like blogs and podcasts and microblogs and vodcasts and lifestreams and stop-motion sleep streams coined the phrase "oversharer," I was an oversharer. But people just called me inappropriate then. The Internet is just one giant Photoshop bloat tool, expanding oversharing to outrageous proportions. Last night's digital DUMBO had nothing to do with oversharing, but the end of today's column sure does. http://www.mediapost.com/publications/?fa=Articles.showArticle&art_aid=116525Kelly Samardak <kelly@mediapost.com>Fri, 30 Oct 2009 15:00:43 ESTIt's always fun to see who brands see as "influencers," or at least the kinds of people who will blather goofily about how they were at this swank party at Morimoto, aren't you jealous. It's also fun to look around and see so many different types of people. I'm talking model types, gossip-mag types, nerdy types, photog Nazi types, Brussels types, wind-up robot types, crazy weirdo types. They were all there last night. This mish-mosh of characters would inflate and deflate like an untethered weather balloon in the Colorado sun throughout the night with one constant: sassy music and high brow filet-o-fish. http://www.mediapost.com/publications/?fa=Articles.showArticle&art_aid=116409Kelly Samardak <kelly@mediapost.com>Thu, 29 Oct 2009 15:30:39 ESTWhat's this Ad:Tech thing I keep hearing about? Last year I had a "press pass" but didn't really use it for anything. I covered parties, of course, because that's what pays the bills, but nothing really indicated that it was a week different from any other. I must not be a tastemaker either, because no one ever tried to bribe me with free tickets in exchange for tweets+coverage. Heehaw. Either way, this week is thankfully gentle compared to the social mudslide next week. One bacchanal focuses on the afterlife and whether you'll burn or eat fluffy cottage cheese. http://www.mediapost.com/publications/?fa=Articles.showArticle&art_aid=116210Kelly Samardak <kelly@mediapost.com>Tue, 27 Oct 2009 15:30:16 ESTCovering advertising and media, I'm assaulted with ethical quandaries on the daily. Well, they're not quandaries to me because my self-enforced ethical guidelines read something like this: don't be an ass, and don't make MediaPost look like they breed asses. Sometimes I slip, because I'm human, and these slips are the gunshots in the air that get me back in line with the rest of the chain gang. Walk with me, talk with me, I want to dissect some potentially ethically vague situations that have two sides, as every situation does, that may slow your pointy finger of judgment or accelerate it, depending on where you stand. http://www.mediapost.com/publications/?fa=Articles.showArticle&art_aid=116034Kelly Samardak <kelly@mediapost.com>Fri, 23 Oct 2009 15:31:57 ESTI love when I have the opportunity to not only splash myself with a little culture juice, but to also share these moments with you. Drink heavily, my friends, from the cup of the Art Director's Club (ADC) and do not fear the stereotypical connotations of such a club. Yes, the room was big enough for everyone's egos, and if they were huge, you wouldn't know it, but maybe that's because last night's event honored those young whippersnappers: the up-and-comers whose claws are only now being sharpened. http://www.mediapost.com/publications/?fa=Articles.showArticle&art_aid=115962Kelly Samardak <kelly@mediapost.com>Thu, 22 Oct 2009 19:00:48 ESTIf it weren't for the last minute, think of all the things that wouldn't get done. Wait for it....There.... OK, you got it. A serial procrastinator, I have subscribed to that idiom since birth. Some call it lazy like the eye I was born with, some call it pressure addiction. There is nothing like feeling the burn of a deadline, killing that deadline and eating it for dinner. On the other side of the coin are decisions, and sometimes those last-minute decisions yield the greatest rewards. In this case, my last minute decision to attend the "White Collar" party at the Thomas Pink store on Madison Avenue yielded me two degrees of separation from Tracy Morgan. We're getting close! http://www.mediapost.com/publications/?fa=Articles.showArticle&art_aid=115929Kelly Samardak <kelly@mediapost.com>Thu, 22 Oct 2009 14:15:09 EST