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I’M SITTING ON JETBLUE FLIGHT 212, the Thursday afternoon flight from Long Beach, Calif. to New York just a few seats away from Diane Hamilton, an attractive 40-something woman with striking features and a 1000-yard stare. I met Diane on the security line, when she dropped her carry-on baggage on my foot — an excellent Continue Reading →

ATTEND THE TALE OF TWO MARKETERS: Quantitatus, a logical, left-brained, linear thinker who requires proof of everything he sees, and Qualitatus, a romantic, right-brained, passionate thinker who requires only a feeling to believe. Each of you can write the rest of this story. We live in a world where more and more businesses are run Continue Reading →

PEOPLE ALL OVER AMERICA WERE emotionally and intellectually overwhelmed by the plight of the victims of Hurricane Katrina. Everyone wanted to do what they could to help – but how?  That was the question, and to answer it, America turned to trusted brands: The American Red Cross, The Salvation Army, MSNBC, MTV, CNN to name Continue Reading →

IF YOU HAVE NOT ALREADY done so, and even if you have, I urge you to visit http://www.redcross.org or call 1-800-HELP-NOW (1-800-435-7669) and donate whatever you can to the hurricane relief efforts. Also, The American Red Cross, with support of the worldwide Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement, is launching a Web site and hotline Continue Reading →

ACCURATE HOROSCOPES, AIRLINE FOOD, PRETTY ugly, jumbo shrimp, vegetarian meatball, false fact, online customer service… are you detecting a pattern here? Is there such a thing as online customer service? I assume there is, but it is becoming harder and harder to find. There is a new generation of Web-based businesses that feature incredibly low-priced Continue Reading →

LET’S PLAY PRETEND FOR A minute. On the count of three, you will know everything there is to know about the viewing habits of your most coveted television audience: what they watch, when they watch, who’s in the room, how long … everything. In fact, since we are pretending, in this fantasy we’re even going Continue Reading →

ABOUT 20 YEARS AGO, I attended a benefit for the Bat-Dor Dance Company. The founder, Baroness Batsheva de Rothschild, was in a particularly jovial mood that evening. She was dressed impeccably and, as one could imagine, was wearing some exquisite jewelry. Of note, was her necklace, which was made up of pearls that started at Continue Reading →

There has been so much written about what should and should not be free on the Internet: Free speech, free music, free files, free games – you’ll notice that the operating word here is free.   The New York Times quoted Ross Anderson this week talking about his first foray into peer-to-peer (P2P), which according Continue Reading →

I WAS ATTENDING THE CABLE and Telecommunications Association for Marketing (CTAM) “Thrilla in Phila” conference on Monday at the Philadelphia Convention Center. CTAM holds several cable-centric confabs throughout the year and always puts on a great show. One session, in particular, caught my eye. It was entitled, “Integrated One-Two Punch of Traditional and New Media.” Continue Reading →

Growing up in the 70s on Long Island, I had a pretty set after-school routine. Throw my coat over the living room railing, throw my books on the kitchen counter, grab a soda and a big bag of chips or cookies and throw myself on the couch in front of the television set. Most afternoons Continue Reading →