Am I Really a Sweaty Guy That Drinks?

One of the many reasons I love working at Federated Media is the connection FM has with the authors we represent. My colleague Pamela Parker blogged about a session from South by Southwest today where Kent Nichols called me (indirectly as an employee of FM) a drinker (true,) a guy sweating out the details for authors (I would say that’s true,) and an instigator of “voodoo bullshit” (hmmmm.)

The secret, Kent said, is “sweaty people who drink” — aka hard work building real-life relationships with agencies and advertisers, sometimes with the lubricating influence of alcohol. It’s the non-engineerable aspect of advertising, he said, and it requires the sweat of people who do “voodoo bullshit” and “close deals.”

Thanks Kent!

The Frothed-upped Blogosphere?

Lots of chatter regarding the Mark Zuckerberg/Sarah Lacy South by Southwest interview/keynote. Today, Michael Arrington - typically the person being accused of frothing - suggests this was all blown out of proportion and the interview was boring but not the train wreck some have claimed. Wow, TechCrunch is the calming voice or reason….

Some will say this is another example of the blogosphere trumping up a story.

To that I say, sure it is very possible and this is nothing new. The supposedly more credible “mainstream media” has been known to pump up a story or two as well.