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Are we so different from the Japanese? After moving to San Francisco from Chicago 17 years ago, I became fascinated with Asian culture. I took Japanese Language and Culture college classes. I became an anime fanatic (see otaku later in this article). I find the Japanese culture to be very different from ours. I think Continue Reading →

I have to admit I was somewhat suspicious about attending an event for Majesco Entertainment’s “NBA Baller Beats.” While Majesco has been a game publisher since 1986, they didn’t know how to market Tim Schafer’s brilliant adventure game, “Psychonauts.” And they didn’t sink enough money into “Advent Rising” or “BloodRayne” for the developers to finish Continue Reading →

I hated poetry growing up. I was too busy playing football, killing off brain cells with each collision. While we had a pretty intellectual team, poetry was not high on the list of topics to discuss. But as the years marched on, an appreciation for how poets see the world and capture the essence of Continue Reading →

Whether you’re watching Freddy Krueger or an Alfred Hitchcock movie, there’s a typical 4-step approach that filmmakers take to scaring you half to death: Life is good (the sun is shining) Tension builds (can’t you hear the music?) Tension reduces (your stomach muscles just about fully relax) Disaster quickly strikes (you scream) There’s nothing wrong Continue Reading →

Scientists at Stanford University and the J. Craig Venter Institute have developed the first software simulation of an entire organism, a humble single-cell bacterium that lives in the human genital and respiratory tracts. – NY Times article 7/20/2012 When you are done reading below, take a minute or two to read the NY Times article on Continue Reading →

For the past few weeks, we’ve been reading about the amount of video streaming of the Olympics that was going to take place. We were reading about the huge number of hours that are planned, who is partnering with whom and what others are doing to try to attach themselves to Olympics coverage. All this Continue Reading →

We are ruled, entertained, and informed by courtiers — and the media has evolved into a class of courtiers…Our pundits and experts, at least those with prominent public platforms, are courtiers…It is smoke and mirrors, tricks and con games, and the purpose behind it is deception. – Chris Hedges, Empire of Illusion: The End of Continue Reading →

On July 10, the Gallup organization announced the results of its latest poll on America’s confidence in various institutions with the headline “Americans’ Confidence in Television News Drops to New Low:” Americans’ confidence in television news is at a new low by one percentage point, with 21% of adults expressing a great deal or quite Continue Reading →

(This blog was originally posted on MENGonline and repeats advice Richard has been giving a friend who got fired last week and has started her job search.) 1.  Spend Three Hours Asking Yourself Why the Last Job(s) Didn’t Work Start with “them.” For the first hour, feel free to put all of the blame on Continue Reading →

(Content originally posted at Keller Fay.) One of the key themes of this blog and my recent book is that the opportunities for business to engage in social marketing extend far beyond online social media such as Facebook or Twitter. Media and marketing of all types drive word of mouth conversation – for example, what people see on television Continue Reading →