PSP Chalk Drawings Just Outside The Office

The PSP chalk drawings Steve Hall mentioned on AdRants are right outside my office door. (Well, right across the street, actually.) Here's a pic. The drawings cover three sides of this facade. Speaking of PSP, I've been playing mine on the train quite a bit. I grab my usual Newsday, read it and then jam out the crossword puzzle and Sudoku, but once I'm done, it's time for games.

Lately, I'm addicted to Hot Shots Golf, Ridge Racer and NAMCO Battle Museum (which is one of those compilation discs with a bunch of old school games on them, like Ms. Pac Man and Dig Dug).

This morning I got a hole-in-one on Hot Shot Golf and the machine went bonkers. Even though I was wearing headphones, the guy next to me heard and gave me a weird look. Guy probably wishes he had one.

Hitting Our Stride

We've just heard from the fifth of the five potential clients we pitched at the end of the summer. (We nailed the previous four and this one makes it a perfect 5 for 5.) Underscore is really taking off. The office we moved into is starting to get a bit packed, and our office mates have already started looking elsewhere in the building for additional space for us to expand into.

One thing's for certain. This isn't the dot com boom all over again. Cooler heads prevail, and all of these are hard-won assignments. I think we're really hitting our stride.

It's About The Debate

Joseph Chernov of BzzAgent wrote this on the Spin Board:

You have repeatedly asked for others to enlighten you on ways that WOM makes sense. Several posters have replied with opinions and insight. Some of that information complements your argument; some counters it. Yet each time someone challenges your case, you dig your heels in to defend yourself.

So which is it? Do you want to discuss this very interesting subject or just prove yourself "right"?

My response:

Both. That's what this board is all about. Spin writers put an opinion out there and the topic is debated openly on the Spin Board. I'm doing my best to respond to the points as they're coming up, but there's only one of me and several of you. (And pretty soon, my lunch hour will be over and I'll be done posting until I get off the clock at my day job.)

As far as this thread goes, I haven't seen much that would change my opinion. I am keeping an open mind, though.

Of course I'd dig my heels in to defend myself. This isn't Marketing Happy Talk Hour. This is about making an assertion and having a conversation. But the conversation is debate style. Think I'm full of crap? Then challenge my assertions with some citeable facts and thoughts of your own, but don't ask me to stop defending my assertion in the first place. It wouldn't produce any meaningful dialogue if I just rolled over and played dead, right?

Sites Running Out Of Inventory

Jeff Jarvis had it right. There is no end of inventory. But that doesn't stop The Wall Street Journal from looking like it's a hop, step and a jump behind the conversation regarding the long tail.

It's one of my biggest frustrations about the online media business - Too many media planners believe that the "Big Three" are where the only action is because they're the biggest, traffic-wise. Either they believe that deals with smaller sites aren't worth the trouble or they fail to realize that aggregating huge chunks of their target audiences in one place is no longer a prerequisite of doing business. Or they like seeing their ad on the home page of Yahoo just like they like seeing their commercial in the Super Bowl.

Whatever.