I firmly believe that history was made today:

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/66710809/double-fine-adventure

Double Fine reached out to their fans directly to help them fund a new videogame via Kickstarter and had their goal of $400,000 smashed within 8 hours. By the end of the first day of putting the call out, they earned over a million.

This is the day of $30 million game budgets, so $1 million isn’t necessarily a lot on its own, let alone $400k, but Tim Schafer and his studio aren’t bound by a traditional publisher.

They aren’t answering to some other company’s business needs and they don’t have to develop a game that’s everything to everyone. They’re in a unique position of working directly with and for their audience and I’ll bet they’re going to change the entire entertainment industry as a result.

Imagine music, movies, books and TV. How would they … Read More »

I’ve been knocking around a blog post idea for the past week or so about how much media and information I consume. I wanted to talk about how my consumption compares to people just 20 years ago — books, music, articles, movies, television, advertisements, games, etc.

Well, this isn’t that post. It’s a heady topic and I don’t feel I could do it justice.

So this is the post to say that I had the idea, and it was a good one, but it’s not going to happen right now.

For years, everyone even tangentially involved in marketing has been telling companies that they need to reach out and meet their customers with social media. MySpace, Facebook, Twitter, whatever.  Engage, engage, engage. Let them know you’re listening and get them talking, but control the message.

Well, congratulations to all us consultants, project managers and designers because, for better or for worse, the marketing guys are here.

 They’re Here… (and they’re very clever)

My wife and I recently resubscribed to cable TV after a couple years hiatus. (She’s 8 months pregnant and insists it’s now a necessity.) One of first commercials that really caught my attention was for the AmEx Rewards program. I’ve always thought their marketing was classy, and this commercial was no exception, but the tone was completely different than what it used to be. It seems more casual, approachable, and conversational. … Read More »

My wife and I are anxiously expecting our first child in October. We’ve been doing the standard OB/GYN appointments, and we’ve been satisfied with the care we’ve been receiving… until now. Not an hour ago we got back home from an orientation session with the Breath of Life Women’s Health Center — now we’re both completely sold on them and feel like our time with the OB/GYN has been a total waste of time and money.

I think it bears repeating: we were sold.

I don’t think anything unbecoming was done or said, but it was totally unexpected in that setting. I’d imagine it’s like most natural birthing centers — it’s steeped in gentle understanding, unbound patience and motherly acceptance — just about the exact opposite of the hard sell. I think their soft sell is extremely effective because it converts people, … Read More »

Today marks my 1-year anniversary with Loop and I feel like I’ve learned a lot, some of which I’ll eventually write about. There have been a number of changes in my life, with more on the way, and I finally feel ready to (cautiously) jump back into my social media dabblings.

Last February I unintentionally put off some coworkers with this post. (In hindsight, I could have sung my praises for Dan in a better way.) I feel that the awkward conversations that followed help clear things up in the office, but they also led to my immediate abandonment of Twitter (of my own volition) and a decreased interest in blogging.

Much to my detriment.

There’s a lot to gain from putting yourself out there and I plan on taking advantage of it once again, but I’m feeling pretty mindful of the experience … Read More »