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By Vegasbab, August 24, 2009 12:57 pm

I want this one. Thanks to Gaping Void for the new wall art.

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By Vegasbab, August 23, 2009 11:54 am

A few weeks ago, there was an article in Ad Age, Want More Out of Your Agencies? Write Better Briefs. True to Ad Age biases, it layed all the blame on Clients who didn’t provide clear enough direction to their BDA.

The article, based on a research “study”, went on to say that 30% of agency time is wasted because of crappy briefs, 40% of briefs give poor direction and only 1% give clear performance expectations.

Those are pretty lame numbers. Sure, Clients might be lazy about doing the math on performance expectations, but, I don’t think the Client is completely to blame. If BDA’s want a better brief, provide better direction.

Not ONCE have I ever received a template from an agency on how my brief should look or what information I should provide. So, I make it up on my own. Since I don’t live in the agency world, I have no idea what information BDA’s may or may not need or what information they truly care about it.

Problems always have two sides. If BDA’s and Clients worked together as partners and didn’t leave the other in the dark, maybe the Brief wouldn’t be such a pain point or time waster.

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By Vegasbab, August 22, 2009 6:35 pm

Dear Person with Ego Problems,

Thank you for belittling me.

Thank you for thinking you understand my business model better than I do. Of course, your knowledge is based off researching online comments. Great. But, in the real world, up close and personal, things are a little different. It’s like the person who says, “I really hate your new casino. I’m so disappointed with all the changes.” When you inquire as to why, the person responds, “Well, the old casino was so much quieter. There were never any people here.” Ummmmmmmmm… I’ll take having too many people over no people any day of the week.

Thank you for finding sites that literally just launched, have no Vegas content and then questioning why I don’t know about them. Again, ummmm… ’cause I’m focusing on the bigger picture? When you have 1.3 MILLION room nights to fill, well, that’s a little different than the majority of hotels who have less than 100,000 rooms to fill. Seriously, filling a million rooms is a different animal. Oh yea, and did I mention 98% occupancy is a BAD day for us? In comparison, most hotels run at less than 50% and are very satisfied with that.

Next time you talk to me, please check your ego at the door.

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By Vegasbab, August 22, 2009 6:31 pm

I once read something along the lines of:

Commit yourself to quality from day one. Concentrate on each task, whether trivial or crucial, as if it’s the only thing that matters (it usually is).

Excellence and quality are something I strongly believe in. But, I also believe in taking risks, trying new things and doing something every day that scares you.

Well, maintaining and pushing for a never wavering high standard of quality has finally paid off Looks like I’m about to have quite the year ahead of me.

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By Vegasbab, August 19, 2009 9:47 pm

Yea, even the picture is a bad choice. Where’s the rewind or fast forward button on life? I’d like this part to be over. Thanks.

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By Vegasbab, August 19, 2009 9:23 pm

It’s so silly it’s funny. Don’t be scared, apparently everyone does it

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By Vegasbab, August 18, 2009 8:45 pm

I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE the Beloit College Mindset List ever since I stumbled upon it a year ago. For those that need a refresher, from my original Remember When post, the List is made up of cultural way points to help professors understand where the incoming Freshmen are coming from. Below are a few of my favorites from the latest and greatest Class of 2013 list (aka those born in 1991): 

1. For these students, Martha Graham, Pan American Airways, Michael Landon, Dr. Seuss, Miles Davis, The Dallas Times Herald, Gene Roddenberry, and Freddie Mercury have always been dead. <– Sooo sad
2. Salsa has always outsold ketchup. <– Wow
3. Earvin “Magic” Johnson has always been HIV-positive. <– Remember when this was announced? What an uproar.
4. Chocolate chip cookie dough ice cream has always been a flavor choice.
5. They have never had to “shake down” an oral thermometer. <– Haha
6. Condoms have always been advertised on television.
7. Women have always outnumbered men in college. <– Damn right
8. There have always been flat screen televisions.
9. They have never been Saved by the Bell. <– Oh, the horror, the tragedy
10. There has always been a Planet Hollywood.
11. Nobody has ever responded to “Help, I’ve fallen and I can’t get up.”

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By Vegasbab, August 18, 2009 6:47 am

Last week, the article Where are the Women in Tech and Social Media created quite the buzz. The author argued that while women made up 50% of social media / internet users, on average, only 25% were speakers at these conferences. The author argued for more diverse speakers, aka she wanted more women speakers. Since she was petitioning due to a specific conference, I have a feeling the post was  a little biased Really though, who still goes to a conference with “Web 2.0″ in the name?

Of course, in the other camp you had the people vehemently arguing for no quotas; that any choice should be based on the quality of work submitted. Get real.

Here’s the thing. I don’t wholeheartedly agree with either of them. Here’s a few whys:

• - If people / conference leaders truly wanted to judge solely on the body of work, then the presentations should be submitted stripped of any identifying information. If not, then you have biases galore. Think about it. If Chris Brogan submitted the ugliest, worst presentation but it had his name all over it, would you still vote for him to speak? I’m guessing yes. Now, take that same hideous presentation and strip his name away. Would the presentation get a “yes” vote? I’m thinking not.
• - In a similar vein as the above point, what’s the difference between gender biases and biases towards friends or people you want a favor from? How many friends and/or idols of conference organizers are speaking at that next conference for this reason?

How I see it? Who cares HOW you got in? Race, color, gender, friend, celebrity, it doesn’t matter. What does matter is if you can cut it once you’re there. If you can’t, both you and everyone in the audience will know it. A great example… thanks to Title IX, a lot of female athletes got scholarships, myself included. At the time, were all of them fully qualified? Would they have gotten the scholarship if they had to be evenly split between males and females? No. But, the ones who worked their asses off? The ones that made it to Olympic Trials or placed at Nationals? Yes, in the end, they deserved it. They proved their worth. Would they have gotten a chance to prove themselves if not for a bias? I doubt it.

The lesson? Stop trying to control the biases. Stop worrying about HOW people got in the door because of who they knew or their gender. Start worrying about what they do AFTER they’re in. The strong ones? They’ll rise to the top. The weak ones? They’ll weed themselves out all by themselves.

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By Vegasbab, August 17, 2009 9:18 pm

I love this commerical credited to W+K

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By Vegasbab, August 16, 2009 8:31 am

Every once in awhile, life gets kinda rough. In those times, you search for a beacon of light to cling onto. Sometimes, beacons of light are hard to find. But, this blog has always helped. It’s always been raw, unfiltered and pure emotions. And lately, it’s been incredibly dark. So, until that beacon of light is found, I’ve made all my posts private… it’s not fair to others.