The holidays are upon us, and what that means for those of us in marketing, media and advertising is email subject lines that are clever and stuff. Oh you know what I'm talking about - stuff like "The 12 Days of Email" or "all I want for Christmas is job security." I will try my best, dear friends, to not fall into this trap, but I'm human, I'm a sucker for packaging, and nothing makes me happier than being able to squeeze some sort of Grinch, mistletoe, stuffing, and overeating reference into Just An Online Minute. With that, as the …

Last night, I had no notion of what Notional was all about and what kind of goofy nerd extravaganza awaited me. Blasts from the Nickelodeon past, courtesy of PRNewser's Joe Ciarallo oddly enough, "The Cosby Show," MTV, Channel One, and good ole "Best Week Ever" were all around the IAC, and each person was nicer than the next. I spent 90% of my night laughing with the boisterous partiers celebrating the third season of "Chopped" under Ricky Van Veen's video production wing, Notional, and 10% getting my dorky fan girl on. Ok, let's be honest, I spent 10% of the …

Last night I attended one of my favorite events, the Ad Council's Public Service Award Dinner, this year honoring Muhtar Kent, Chairman and CEO, The Coca-Cola Company. It's a night of black ties and cummerbunds and floor-length gowns draped with furs (faux, I'm sure)(not really) of varying lengths, and a plate of perfectly cooked meat slab all topped off with an after-party hit by a class-5 hurricane of chocolate-covered and powder-dusted desserts. All this is in honor of the best kind of advertising: the kind created not to inspire consumers to super-size it, but to come to the aid of …

I do this thing when people ask me where they should go for a great pulled pork sandwich in NYC or a super-chill beer without any finance dudes around guffawing and hitting on moms: I blank. I've lived in this ridiculous city for almost six years (I think) and I've called the Upper East Side, the West Village, the lower Upper East Side, and the East Village neighborhoods my homes, yet when asked for recommendations, it's almost like my experience waves cancel out my memory waves. Well, my friends, if you're like me, we are the reason "Not For Tourists …

Today I was ready on time. So on time, I was (thank you Yoda self), I took a moment to check my email and make sure I was heading to the right place. What my search revealed was that while I had added the Advertising Hall of Achievement Awards Luncheon to my Google calendar, I had not taken that very important step to RSVP to the host of the event. Lucky for me, as I stepped through the revolving door, (greeted 3 times before I even hit the check-in table, mind you), under the gawdy goldenrod curtains of Cipriani 42nd …

This is my favorite time of year-- when New York's real smells are softened by the cool. This week also happens to be Web 2.0 Expo NY, which means if you're a press type, you're already stabbing yourself in the face due to the rash of "want to meet up at our booth?" emails -- and if you're an attendee you're no doubt feeling agita over the banquet of choices. So here's what I'm planning on hitting this week. Do let me know if I'll find you at any of the hootenannies listed; my goal this week is to talk …

Have you seen "Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas"? And by see, I mean that it's not even important that you hear. Johnny Depp's portrayal of Hunter s Thompson is nearly impossible for a half-deaf dork like myself to aurally comprehend, but visually, whooooo doggy. If you haven't seen it, you can easily duplicate the experience like this: hold your nose and clamp your mouth shut while someone rubs ice cubes on your face. Or, do what I did: go to an office-warming party featuring disco lights and mannequins, a possible Ken-come-to-life, and a fiddler, while unable to breathe or …

I blame iVillage for turning me into a clock-watching zombie at the end of the WebbyConnect event. Why? Because all I could think of was "culinary loft" and how it was probably already warm, with pots burbling, plates plating, and chafing dishes chafing -- heating up to launch iVillage Food, a womanly focused sustenance community, whose primary goal isn't only recipe sharing, but also arming those busy ladies with the "I know"s that used to be "I don't know"s when sons become vegans and moms become diabetics. It takes an iVillage...

I think my toes have formed into one giant toe, squashed together from wearing stupid boots yesterday while I hoofed it from the East Village to Grand Central to SoHo to SoHo-er -- and back to the East Village again. Yesterday was definitely a clichéd NYC workin' gal day, where between events I managed to squeeze in an eyebrow threading, and in transit I spotted bygone celebrities (or maybe not bygone, but definitely soap stars). The air was crisp, my nose was clogged, and I felt like going Mary Tyler Moore on this city. This post is sponsored by the …

Yesterday you and I hopped on the Great Space Coaster and landed on Sesame Street for either a throat-choking blast of nostalgia or a moment of "yup, this is my life." In fact, while I stood in the sun tweeting "surreal, standing in the sun listening to Elmo Song" a high school friend replied, "That's my every Monday." Ageless, that "Sesame Street." I like to think that the adult Sesame Street, at least for us childless freewheeling urban dwellers, resides in music venues, off-Broadway, parks, and ferries. And last Friday night I was the +1, attending a secret show to …