Flight 3407

It's been almost ten days since the horrific crash of Continental Flight 3407. I couldn't blog about it right away because just listening to details made me really sad, let alone thinking and processing it enough to write. News stories about the people behind the tragedy still bring tears to my eyes.

As Americans, we've lived through plenty of wide-scale tragedy. I've watched news coverage of absolutely horrific, unexpected events - September 11, Hurricane Katrina, dozens of plane crashes, car accidents, etc. I've seen the faces of victims' loved ones, fear stricken and hysterical over their sudden losses. I've felt empathy and sadness for them, I've cried for them and prayed for them.

But this time, it was different. It happened in Buffalo, MY city, and that made it personal. Those first few days after the crash were nerve-wracking, I held my breath waiting for the full list of victims. Out of fifty people in Buffalo, you're bound to know someone. I knew my close friends and family were safe, but horrible thoughts about acquaintances, old co-workers and schoolmates took over my brain. Thankfully, I didn't know any of the people that died.

Knowing that certainly makes dealing with emotions easier, but I still feel horrible for the victims' families. So many stories about their loved ones have surfaced, I almost feel like I knew them. I want to reach through the T.V. and give them a big hug.

There was a chilling calm over the city the day after the crash that lasted for a few days. Everywhere you went - to work, the store, the gas station - you didn't know if the people you were interacting with had been affected. People were nicer to each other, at least the people I came across. It's funny how tragedy brings people together.

If those who lost a loved one can take comfort in anything, it's knowing that they are not alone. There is a whole community of people, most of them complete strangers, who truly care and want to help. Dozens of Facebook groups have popped up, offering kind words and support. Petitions to get Extreme Makeover: Home Edition to build the Wielinksi family a new house after their home was the only one destroyed in the crash have been circulating around Buffalo homes, schools and offices. The folks at Tony Walker & Co. have designed a One City, One Heart t-shirt, with all proceeds going to the family. Prayer services, fundraising efforts, thoughts, prayers and general good will abound.

As a community, it will take some time to heal, but if one thing is true of Buffalonians it's that you can't keep us down. We'll do everything we can to help those whose lives were changed forever, helping ourselves and each other in the process.

Cluster Fudge Isn't Something I'd Want to Eat

Apparently, ninedaves and I are the only ones that haven't seen this e-mail chain. Ben & Jerry's is famous for its creative ice cream flavor names (and it's deliciousness). The Vermont-based company came up with the clever Yes Pecan, kinda like Yes We Can, for President Obama. This email asked people to come up with flavors for George W. I'm rather partial to “You’re Shitting In My Mouth And Calling It A” Sundae, although Cluster Fudge made me laugh out loud too.

The Social Media Mystery

This morning, I attended a Buffalo/Niagara Public Relations Society of America seminar titled, "Facebook, Twitter, YouTube & More: A Guide to Social Media & How It Applies to PR Practitioners." According to PRSA's website, the purpose of the event was to inform attendees of, "the basic applications of social media for their own organization, but also how to monitor them and respond effectively."

The turn out was phenomenal, every seat in the room was full. Social media is certainly a buzzword these days, but few people understand what it is or how it can be applied to business. PBS published a story today about getting journalism students to buy in to Twitter. According to a New York Times article, advertisers are still struggling with how to reach their target markets. According to Time, members of Congress are jumping on the Twitter bandwagon and causing quite a stir.

My point is that social media is huge, but the vast majority of the population is still in the dark. Events like the one today are helping to shed some light on the subject and encouraging those who are still puzzled by the whole thing to ask questions. I think this was one of the most relevant topics PRSA has ever covered and the number of attendees proved that people want to learn more.

That's why I was shocked to read WNYMedia's take on today's seminar. The author of that post was perplexed by one woman's inquiry as to whether or not Facebook was just a tool for teenagers to socialize. He equated one person's misinterpretation of social media to all PR professionals, which was unfair, irresponsible and wrong. Obviously, this woman doesn't have a clue about social media, but her question was an honest attempt to get one! If people can't come together in a friendly learning environment to ask questions without being criticized, how will they ever learn?

In my opinion, all three panelists at the event were engaging, informative and knowledgeable. They provided information to educate social media users of all levels and were patient enough to entertain questions from some obvious beginners. Kara Kane from Medaille College spoke about the benefits of Facebook, including creating a group or fan page for your company and targeted paid advertising. AJ Diciembre, founder of BuffaloMe, discussed various aspects of his Buffalo-oriented social networking site and other sites, including Twitter and MySpace.

The most entertaining panelist by far, Kevin Lim, self-titled cyberculturalist/social cyborg stressed the importance of listening to what's happening in the social media world and how to break through the noise. His quirky presentation included a hilarious review of the different responses by Kellogg and Subway over the Michael Phelps incident and how much social media traffic it generated. (Side note: In my opinion, even though Kellogg pissed off some people by letting Phelps go, I don't think it's going to bother their core customer base. Most families aren't going to stop eating Corn Flakes because of this.)

Overall, the event seemed to be a huge success, despite one person's criticism. I consider myself somewhat knowledgeable on social media, with active accounts on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, MySpace and BuffaloMe, but there's still so much to learn. I hope to attend more events like this to better learn how to explain social media to by clients and get them to buy in to it's benefits.

Stella McCartney Designs Beatles T-shirt for Charity

Stella McCartney, daughter of Sir Paul McCartney, has designed a t-shirt featuring her father and his three famous band mates with red clown noses superimposed on their faces. It's just too cute. The original photo was taken by the late Linda McCartney.

The £9.99 shirt is available at TK Maxx in the UK (British version of TJ Maxx), with at least £5 of every purchase going to the British charity Comic Relief. The t-shirts are part of Red Nose Day, a fundraiser pairing comedy with raising money for charities.

Unfortunately, the shirts can only be shipped to addressed in the U.S. (blast!) However, I'm going to try to buy one on ebay and donate to Comic Relief anyway, in order to be a responsible, fashionable, Beatles-loving citizen.

Etsy is My New Besty

Maybe I'm behind the times because everyone else seems to know about this already, but I just discovered an awesome new website called Etsy. It's an online marketplace for handmade goods. They have everything from jewelery to pottery to photography to greeting cards, made by independent artists all over the world. Most items are very reasonably priced and shipping is crazy cheap.

I also just discovered artist Ashley Pahl, who sells all sorts of cool note cards, stationary and other things. Ashely has a contest going on her blog to win a $10 gift card, good for the purchase of something on her Etsy page. Check it out. I want this card and this one, they're so pretty.

Not-So-Super Ads

Football is the greatest sport in the history of the universe and the Super Bowl is the greatest day in the history of the greatest sport. I love the Big Game for many reasons- the game itself, the parties, the stories behind the players and coaches, the history and most of all, the commercials.

You see, although I'm a huge football fan, I'm a huger marketing nerd. Clever, targeted advertising fascinates me. My favorite part of graduate school was reviewing examples of great ad campaigns, looking at print ads, watching commercials and discussing their strengths and weaknesses.

That being said, I was sorely disappointed with the Super Bowl ads this year. In 2008, we had jewels like Bridgestone's "The Scream," E*Trade's "Baby Trading 1" and "Baby Trading 2" (my personal favorite,) and Pepsi's "Magnetic Attraction" featuring Justin Timberlake, which made me squirt a beverage out of my nose. Those commercials grabbed my attention, kept me engaged, made me laugh and most importantly, I remembered the product.

Maybe we can blame it on the economy and companies not having the budgets to let their agencies get the creative juices flowing, but I just wasn't impressed this year. Maybe I was just upset that Peyton Manning didn't make an appearance and the E*Trade baby golf ad wasn't that funny. Whatever the reason, I only enjoyed a select few and think they deserve some attention.

I thought Bridgesone had another winner in 2009 with "Taters." I was intrigued my Mr. & Mrs. Potato Head driving down the road, so I wanted to keep watching. The product was prominently featured and Mrs. Potato Head's angry eyes were darn funny.

CareerBuilder's "Tips" reminded me of Bridgestone's "The Scream" from last year. Any commercial featuring a woman screaming her lungs out is sure to grab attention, but the key is to make it funny and not obnoxious. They succeeded, making me laugh hysterically because I could relate to daydreaming about porpoises and wanting to cry everyday because I was so disrespected and hated my job so much. (Not my current job!)

Teleflora's "Flowers in a Box" also got a giggle fit out of me. From the annoying, overweight woman who complains that she never gets flowers to the line, "No one wants to see you naked," I laughed from start to finish. The ad made a lot of sense too - you never know what flowers in a box will look like when they get delivered, it's so much better to send fresh ones!

My favorite ad campaign of Super Bowl 2009 had to be the Miller High Life one-second commercials because the premise was so clever! According to an article in the Boston Herald, Miller was blocked from buying Super Bowl ad time by Budweiser's exclusive contract. So, they bought air time in one-second increments on local NBC affiliates carrying the game. The ads were a continuation of a spot that ran last year featuring a delivery man ranting about Super Bowl ads.

I suppose those who didn't know the history behind the campaign were confused by an angry man yelling, "High Life!" on their television screens and perhaps thought they were seeing things. Miller got so much free publicity surrounding the campaign though, I think it was worth it. They got around the competition, spent a whole lot less on advertising and got their message across to those who knew what was going on. Oh yea, and it was hilarious!