Change.gov & modern online marketing

As the calendar flipped over to November 5, a new website emerged, www.change.gov. I was one of many marketers drooling at the seamless transition of my.barackobama.com to the new presidential site. ClickZ questions whether this is a government site or whether it is a marketing site? Both. And isn't that wonderful!

Marketers' niche is rooted in the belief that strong communication can build relationships and meet goals (campaign goals, or in this case, a country's goal to rebuild itself). Effective, proactive, integrated marketing efforts of the Obama campaign have resulted in the connection with and motivation of a base supporters that respond to this multi-platform approach of communication (tv ads, email marketing, snail mail, guerilla, branded attire, social media, micro site fundraising, etc.) As the campaign closes and the transition team plans for Obama being in the White House as of early January, one wonders, what will come of this user generated content and database Obama's team has collected?

Effective database marketing once Obama is in office could be an effective way to continue to motivate the masses on a perceived one-to-one basis. Example: during the campaign, as we neared closer to 11/4, the personalized emails "dear jennifer" I received from Obama and his staffers somehow helped increase my connection with the candidate. It is the same vein as receiving an autograph personalized to you from a celebrity or as a child getting a note from Santa, "Wow, someone that important will write to ME?". It is a basic tactic, but could be a powerful tool once Obama is president.

Consider his database that has been collected through my.barackobama.com marketing efforts. He has full names, mailing addresses, email addresses, phone numberes, and perhaps has gathered information on the types of issues that resonate with you as a supporter. Perhaps on my file, at some point while registering on site it tracked that I was very interested in eco-related issues. How powerful if within his first month in office I receive customized email blasts that say, 'Hi Jennifer. I know you're passionated about the environment. Alternative energy is one of my top priorities as well. Click here to learn more about ideas we have to help solve our energy crisis.'

Further more, Obama's database can be utilized to motivate the masses that went door-to-door encouraing people to early vote, or the thousands of folks who assisted with polling or telemarketing campaigns. This base of volunteers currently are experiencing a void with the campaign being wrapped up, and Obama has an opportunity to pull the country together as a whole and focus energy on all of us working together through volunteerism to make it a better place.

Universal healthcare can't happen in a siloh. Efforts to help the homeless can't be achieved by a few volunteers. Database marketing combined with a motivated base can help Obama lead this country to accomplish great things and once again bring about a culture of togetherness and volunteerism. Being a communty organizer and an effective communicator is what this country needs to heal.

What a 'goosepimply' time to be alive in a country that is on the brink of being turned around... into something once again as Americans we can be proud of again.

Marketing headlines in a 'Debbie Downer' economy

Although Albuquerque as a whole has been buffered by the economic crisis to a great degree, local murmurs of cut-backs and lay-offs are increasing. Within my own network, over the past few weeks I learned of a minimum 5% cut-back on IT spending by the State. Lionsgate films has nearly backed out of moving production facilities to Rio Rancho. Multiple local papers are subtly pushing out long-term staffers. Even the Rail Runner train that will connect Albuquerque and Santa Fe is struggling due to its funding being contingent upon retail sales being slow (they receive a % of the retail tax revenue). Times are tough.

Over the past few weeks I was engrossed in the election and fell behind on my RSS feeds. While combing through media articles in mass quantities I realized nearly every post was negative. List below summarizes headlines from recent media / marketing news stories:
* Walt Disney's profit fell 13% in the fiscal fourth quarter as it braced for what it expects to be a tough year ahead for all its businesses.
* Luxury sales dropped 20% in October from a year earlier, according to data from MasterCard.
* Rodale, the publisher of Men's Health, Prevention and Runner's World, is cutting 111 jobs as ad sales continue to decline.
* Most of the largest newspapers saw a decline in print circulation in the six months through September.
* New York Times said it will consider cutting its dividend. The company also reported a 51% decline in third-quarter net income.
* Paramount Pictures' decision to delay two big holiday films could be an early sign of Hollywood's retrenchment amid the economic crisis.
* Sumner Redstone's National Amusements is in talks with lenders, suggesting the holding company is still grappling with financial issues.
* Tesla Motors is cutting staff and delaying the introduction of its second battery-powered vehicle, the Model S, until 2011.
* Investor AB net loss widened to $1.2 billion for its third quarter as weaker equity markets pressured the value of its holdings.
* Booksellers are rushing to push financial advice titles, as worries mount over the crisis in global markets.
* The New York Times finalized plans to shut down the Web site of the International Herald Tribune. Meanwhile, the Houston Chronicle and Cleveland Plain Dealer announced staff cuts.

So who does well in today's economy?
* Inexpensive alchol: U.S. consumers are buying more wine in the $9 to $12 price bracket — with sales in this range up more than 12% from last year, according to Nielsen.
* Fatty foods (source)
* Utility companies & oil industry
* Video games (at-home entertainment for families): Key growth engines will include online and wireless games, new-generation consoles and the burgeoning in-game advertising business (source).
* Netflix has maintained relative stability in lieu of market volatility
* Shoping comparrison search engines
* Universities - surplus of jobless professionals using time period to go back to school
* Online Courses
* Prescription drugs: less jobs = less healthcare = full price meds... Come on O'Bama, fix everything for us :-)

FlickR: The modern emoticon

Not to get all 'Zarathustra' on you, but word on the street is 'blogs are dead'. At least according to Paul Boutin's recent article in Wired Magazine. Boutin contends that Twitter, FlickR and Facebook are in, and blogs are 'so 2004'. Sounds like something a spawn of Meal Girls and WoW would suggest?

So where does this leave the average business or entity with an online presence? Confused, I'm sure.

FlickR just celebrated the inclusion of the 3 billionth image uploaded to its 4-year-old site. Their platform is engaging, and it is no wonder they have experienced such exponential growth (perhaps one of the only growth areas in Yahoo's portfolio of investments).

Over the past year, I've started to appreciate the value of FlickR as a social and cultural tool. With a museum client of ours, we became aware of the utilization of FlickR as a tool to develop more engaging exhibits. A specific example at a national level is the Library of Congress' FlickR site. They've uploaded their photography archive online and encourage people to 'tag' images with their own comments and memories of that moment in time. Although many of the anecdotes are intriguing, other comments are reminiscent of a transcript of Beavis and Butthead (moderators are needed - badly).

We're also seeing integration of FlickR with map tools like Google Maps to bring historical moments to life w/ a geographical reference point. Later in '09 I look forward to sharing more information on a specific website project that will accomplish this in a very engaging manner.

I suppose the bottom line is, FlickR - you might be the 'it' kid in school at the moment, but what does this mean in context with how people are evolving and adapting to the Internet culture?

Are web enthusiasts getting more expressive or getting dumber? Has the blogging form of narcissistic rants evolved into truncated blogging on Twitter in conjunction with including an image to express oneself in as few words as possible? Is FlickR the sophisticate's emoticon?

As likely suggested by my often incorrect grammar and misspellings, the art and desire for eloquent writing as a form of expression might be behind us and the current replacement is fragmented through several different sites/platforms focused on imagery, video, short-handed mobile blogging, and social networking. Will an ultimate tool or site be developed in the near future that takes all these ways to express oneself and funnels them down?

Confession of a 'Religulous' Enthusiast

Forgive blogger, for it has been awhile since my last confession.

My blogging hiatus associated with this movie was intentional. It has taken longer than anticipated to process my thoughts on the film. How refreshing that a movie could provoke so much thoughtfulness.

Let me start off by being honest on the film from as objective a perspective as I can
- Were the interviews one-sided? yes. Choppy editing & cutting of mid-sentence? yes. Reminiscent of Super Size Me, Fahrenheit 911 and Sicko? of course. Essentially just a rally film for those of us on the in doubt, agnostic or atheist team? Yes!

All these things set aside, what struck me after viewing this film, now twice, is that we live in a day and age that a black man is going to be our next president and there are films in mainstream theaters supporting atheism. Apparently there is hope for America.

I left the film saying 'What now Maher? Where do I start and what do I do? You have my attention.' The solution that has made the most sense is expanding my reading list to have books to refer to friends for more info.

Current recommended reads for 'Religulous' groupies:
I recently finished 'Letter to a Christian Nation' by Sam Harris. If you read Newsweek, you might recognize Sam from the article 'In Defense of Elitism'. He's a good author to pass along his books and essays to a very conservative Christian that believes in literal interpretations of the Bible - or maybe not at all.

I am also eager to re-read 'The God Delusion' by Dawkins. My Twitter pal on the topic has also geared me in the direction of 'Letting Go of God'. Additional recommendations welcome!

A Non-Believer Voice
The film has also help inspire a different voice as a non-believer. Recognizing that there is a silent 'majority' in the States of those in doubt, I feel less chained to candy-coating my words to make believers more comfortable. Using statements like 'I'm an atheist' instead of 'I'm not that religious' or 'I'm spiritual' has been a recent shift. Also, not role playing in church anymore has been a recent departure. At a wedding the other weekend, for the first time in my life, I stopped playing along. No third base coach hand signals before a gospel reading. No kneeling to gold-gilded statues during communion. No zombie murmuring of cult phrases 'it is right to give him praise' or 'thanks be to god'. Ah, sweet thoughtful silence was what I embraced, and by not playing along with Catholicism's traditions I think I showed more respect than half of the people choking back wafers as a 'just in case' approach to salvation.

The bottom line is, kudos Bill Maher for sparking dialogue and shaking up dormant thoughts.

Religulous

Working out my thoughts. In in the interim, see this film so we can have a dialogue. 'Religulous' by Bill Maher.

Balloon Fiesta 2008 - Day 1

This morning marked the beginning of the 37t annual Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta. For my company, I was on site shooting amateur video of the dawn patrol and mass ascencion. It is an event everyone should see at least once in their life. Video below includes: Steve Stucker, dawn patrol, mass ascencion and Darth Vader.




The Darth balloon comes over from Germany and it costs a ton to get it here. This is its second year vising Balloon Fiesta, and the crowd loves it! At about 5:30 AM at Balloon Fiesta park this morning, someone behind me yelled 'get out of the way, storm troopers coming through'. Looked behind me, and there had to be about twenty-five storm troopers and Darth himself walking through the crowd. Proof you never know what you're going to find at 5:30 in the morning.

Also check out this short clip of the Creamland Cow floating at sunrise with the Sandia Mountains in the background:

Video: Oates the pug tries saying 'hello'

Pug Moments - Deep in Thought

Doug the pug worries about world peace.

Community and Local Politics: A Week Immersed in the Obama Campaign

As a newly proclaimed political junkie, this has been one heck of a year. I've gone from nail biting, disgruntle blogging, and have personally dented the local supply of two buck chuck. It has been more manic than my family reunions, and that's saying something!

The past week specifically has prompted a higher level of involvement for me. Mike and I became more interested in connecting with other politically minded people and venting / crying / laughing / cheering together. If we stayed in isolation with our NY Times with recorded episodes of Real Time w/ Bill Maher while following FakeSarahPalin on Twitter, I think our heads would have exploded.

The week was kicked off with an Obama campaign party held at Kelly's in Nob Hill. Although it was difficult to count all individuals who turned out (Obama-sticker-folks) versus those just dining, looked like several hundred were in attendance when we stopped by.

On Friday we followed up with same group at One Up downtown for a debate party. The place was absolutely packed with wide array of faces all eager to hear Obama 'one up' McCain. Even a smal group at the event played political bingo and cheered when key terms like 'recession' or 'Bin Laden' emerged in speeches.

Then on Saturday, we met in the morning at the NE Heights Obama campaign office. Although opposing political sides could argue who 'won' the debate, one thing was sure - Obama campaign won with a surge of volunteers pouring into local offices the next morning. Our team, organized by campaign representative, Peter, was provided with route sheets of registered democrats who requestsed vote-by-mail information. We went in teams of two to visit with this audience and confirm receipt of the information and collect the requests on site.

While walking the neighborhoods around Menaul / Phoenix in NE Heighs, we met a wide array of great people - a couple registered as independents voting Obama. A registered republican furious with her own party for the first time voting democrat. Even a resident in the United States (non-citizen) who through a neighbor that spoke Engligh & Spanish wanted to share how excited she is about Obama as the next President.

Connecting with others and getting out there and sharing thoughts and energy was a great way to reconnect with what is so powerful about this election and the potential of what our country can be. It helped restore hope that the Obama surge is yet to happen and his base of supporteres are out there, eager to vote and smash to pieces the polls.


This post can also be found on Duke City Fix.

Meals on Wheels Pet Program Launch & Community

Today was the first day of the Albuquerque Meals on Wheels pet program. With twenty participating households, four volunteers, and a very gracious sponsorship by Enchantment Pet Spa and Wellness brand pet food, the program eased into its first day of hopefully a long-term program.

We definitely have our improvement points. Routes can be made more efficient and reorganized to minimize excessive miles incurred by volunteers. This is a reasonable pain point not only because people are spending their personal time delivering, but with the cost of gas these days it is a significant expense too. Adding more in depth notes on routes regarding what houses look like / community names / visual cues will help future volunteers navigate routes faster. And I now have a need to stir up additional volunteers - had one quit today and a no show that will hopefully follow through tomorrow.

On my route today, it sunk in how small this program is in comparison to the Meals on Wheels clients' other needs. Delivering a package of pet food to a woman who is homebound with little human interaction on an oxygen tank that takes several minutes to make it to the door is humbling at a core level. This program isn't much and doesn't address a lot of bigger problems that cause these people to worry and stress, but hopefully it is a little bit of hope in their week. Or at least it feeds their comfort and hope - literally, by providing food for their furry companions.

I feel embarrassed at how detached I have become from local hunger and poverty issues through getting wrapped up in my own comfortable life. Basic needs for a lot of locals, and people nationally / worldwide, are minimally met. I hope I/we can do our part to find creative ways to channel energy and skill sets to help contribute in a small way to hopefully making a few local lives a little happier / easier.

Be thankful for what you've got.

Tina Fey for VP - SNL Skit

Can't stop laughing at this video. Click here to watch the 9/13/08 SNL skit.

Energy Climate Era, Leadership, and Patriotism

I'm currently working on Thomas Friedman's book, 'Hot, Flat and Crowded'. Although I've only gotten through a mere first fraction of the book, thus far it does an amazing job lifting the smog from the energy / climate crisis topic. Beyond this book, Al Gore's speeches, and mircro / local efforts, it is difficult to pin point a national leader that is not just a figurehead, but has a plan.

Yesterday, T. Boone Pickens was in Albuquerque at the convention center stumping for his plan. A multi billionaire in the oil industry, it is difficult to trust the voice that is a reborn proponent of 'green'. Does our country lack that much fundamental energy leadership, that it takes an oil billionaire to grease the way for the next, cleaner wave of energy?

Although the current election demands candidates speak to the middle, I wish the Obamacampaign would speak with more fervor and direction in regards to energy. Both sides love showing slideshows in the background of ads with windmills, solar panels, etc., yet I haven't' heard much attention dedicated to discussing their plan in detail and what sources of alternative energy they'd like to focus on.

I suppose more and more attention will be paid to the energy crisis as Americans wake up to the issue. Hopefully they'll see - 'Green is not simply a new form of generating electric power. It is a new form of generating national power - period.' (quote from 'Hot, Flat & Crowded') - something any patriot on this solemn day should be cognizant of.

Politics & American Idol - Shame on you 'Reality' Culture

Are there certain roles in society that the individual in charge shouldn't be 'one of us'?

One could suggest the way Palin is being marketed or just put simply, who she is, appeals to an unfortunate majority of America that are anti-choice, pro guns, 'drill baby drill', bible beating, hockey moms. Her appeal (with some) runs deep and resonates. 'She is one of US'.

Should an individual in a public office a heartbeat away from the presidency (literally in this case) be so local yokel? Haven't we learned our lesson about voting in governors who are pro-drilling, pro-Jesus, pro-guns already, ahem, 'W'?

I blame the dire situation that the United States has been, and currently is in, on American Idol. The show has brainwashed mass America into a lazy man's American Dream. 'If I wish hard enough and am in the right place at the right time, I can end up being famous and a millionaire!' It is the lottery culture - blind hope with low probability of 'success' and no merits equates 'well why not? Why can't I have MY dream?'

The unobtainable has become too obtainable in the eyes of the masses. Certain roles should be aspired towards and exude the original American Dream message - 'if I work hard enough, I can achieve whatever I set my mind to.' Work ethic. Dedication. Focus. That's the America I wished existed - and the America I feel Obama embodies as a leader for this country.

Twitter: Fake Sarah Palin

The past few weeks have been such a political blur. I feel such a loss with both the DNC and RNC wrapped up. For now I can look forward to a Palin interview later this week, but it will be with Charlie Gibson so I'm not expecting many racy questions to say the least.

Speaking of media - I am waiting for the media to get real with adequately covering Palin as the Republican VP candidate. It utterly baffles me that McCain's camp has the audacity to threaten the media for being sexist when it is evident that McCain chose Palin for her gender. I can't get over accounts of Palin as a member of the PTA (AKA a 'community organizer') trying to ban books in her children's school library because they didn't align with her personal religious beliefs. That Republicans are 'nation first' yet they choose a candidate that is associated with Alaska separating from the union. She denies mankind's role in global warming, is anti-choice and pro-abstinence (something that apparently didn't work well within her own family), and her son's deployment to Iraq on 9-11 wreaks of public relations. Her stance on the environment as a whole is questionable (although great decorations in her office of carcases - picture at right) and the spin re: natural gas pipeline is off the charts. Oh, and the 6 colleges in 6 years to receive an undergrad degree? I guess this VP candidate choice will appease the masses - 'She is one of US'. Nascar, Jeff Foxworthy, Larry the Cable Guy, NRA, bible beating nation unite!

'Fake Sarah Palin' not only has presented personal entertainment within my fellow liberal friend group, but it has received coverage recently in Media Shift's blog. The Twitter profile popped up the day of Palin's nomination and is worth a peek if you aren't following it already.

A couple of recent gems from Fake Sarah Palin on Twitter:

• Liberals, I changed colleges 5 times in 6yrs BCZ CONSERVATIVES BELIEVE IN SCHOOL CHOICE. I'm so smart HA! http://bit.ly/1p5LdI
• Why do people keep calling me antagonistic? I BELIEVE IN GOD THERE IS NO QUESTION
• John and I will work tirelessly to stop the alabamans from attacking Georgia again. NEVER AGAIN!!
• And I've gutted a moose with my pinky, I'll tell you what
• You wanna step to SARAH PALIN, Code Pink?!! You can't handle a hockey mom, I'll tell you what

Illinois - Best Year Ever - 2008

Although in complete copyright violation, I wish I could make this image into a t-shirt, because I know I could sell several million in Illinois / across the states. Also, as someone who used to live a few blocks from Wrigley and an avid Obama-groupie, I would wear this shirt as much as possible - makes a more poignant statement than having 'Juicy' across one's caboose or 'fear' on a truckers hat. This year could mark the 'Best Year Ever' for two groups I hold near and dear - democrats and those who grew up watching WGN / from Illinois.

For both the Cubs and Obama, this season has been strong thus far. Cubs having an amazing record of wins coming out of the gate - Obama filling up stadiums with eager voters and reaching Kennedy-esque status.

The past few weeks have resulted in some low points, but not anything that will deter ultimate success. A few cubs losses have tarnished their record and the good old boy Republican National Convention resulted in 'distractions' to say the least.

Overall, for both sides, I can't wait for November. Just to think, within a few weeks of each other, we could have a monumental point in Illinois pride and national history for Cubs and Obama. I'm convinced Illinois Dems would smile for all of '09 and years to come...

Ojo 'not so' Caliente - Travel in NM

Just returned from a quick overnight stay at Ojo Caliente - a spa nestled in Northern New Mexico roughly about 45 minutes outside of Santa Fe.

The spot was recommended to us by several friends. In retrospect their anecdotes should have prompted red flags. "It was really relaxing. I read a lot of books." "Bring booze. Lots of booze."

Regardless, Mike booked the trip and the drive was very reasonable from Albuquerque - around 2.5 hours. This time of year New Mexico is gorgeous. Perfect weather, rainy season has just ended, and wild flowers are popping up everywhere. In particular, there is a blur of yellow on roadsides of wild sunflowers - my favorite.

Our room was comfortable and beyond our expectations. Seemed new, and they paid attention to small details. Also, our room couldn't have been any closer to the spa (room #7) - very important for colder months.

The spa itself was under construction. Somewhat took away from the R&R vibe when there is caution tape, porta potties, construction hats in piles of dirt, etc. There were several pool options - arsenic, iron, soda & regular pool. For a day visitor, you could definitely keep busy with these options, sauna, steam room and a mud 'bath'.

The mud bath didn't quite meet our expectations. We had visions of laying in a pool of mud, caked with dirt then baking in the sun. Reality featured a posse of retirees hovering around a small urn filled with mud lathering up each others bodies. Spring break gone wild!

Lastly the restaurant - not really worth describing at all. Awful food, awful service. Getting acknowledged by a waiter took 20 minutes after being seated at a table without water. To be safe, we chose to just order two appetisers. After seeing what came out, mostly inedible, we were pleased that we didn't order more and had a stash of gummy bears and peanuts in the room.

Highlight of the trip - by all means if you still choose to go, get a private tub in the last slot of the evening (9 pm). They open up to a tall red rock roll with a spotlight on it. Each private bath has its own fireplace, lounge chairs and private pool that opens up to the stars and cliff. Quite an amazing and relaxing experience. I think each private tub was $40 for an hour?

Overall, Ojo was so-so and next time we'd rather go to a sure bet like 10,000 Waves instead.

NM Pug Rescue - 9 Adoptable Pugs Available

Looking for a lap tog? Know someone who is?

Last week I spoke with New Mexico Pug Rescue and learned that nine adoptable pugs between the ages of 6 months and 3 years have been dropped off. I hear there is a female fawn pug that is 6 months, and the other eight are predominantly between the ages of 1-3 years old, some of which are pairs dropped off.

To help, please contact Kelly at (505) 459-5627 (phone is the best way to reach her). Kelly is in search of families interested in adopting these lovable pugs. She is also looking for individuals willing to foster a pug.

A pug under 2 years old is $250. Pugs 2-7 years are $200 for adoption. All pugs are spayed or neutered and vaccinated.

Animal cruelty - fast and easy way to do something about it to make a difference

Whether it is a neighbor's dog that has been tied up outside for several days while owners are vacationing or a story you read in a local paper about an animal being mistreated / exploited, there are steps you can take to do something about feeling sick to your stomach.

While catching up on my smorgasbord of RSS feeds, I came across an odd story of a monkey in the Netherlands that was 'paid' to promote a local tourism spot by having to wear a sandwich board sign every day. The story irritated me not only because this primate was being exploited, but also because I wouldn't even know where to report mistreatment of a monkey in Netherlands - who does?

For any case of animal mistreatment, consider www.peta.org your resource. I was amazed at how easy it was to navigate their site and find out who to contact / what steps to take.

Animal abuse cases (whether in a story you read / in your neighbor's yard / a website that features animal abuse) can be reported to: http://www.peta.org/about/c-report_cruelty.asp The form takes a few minutes at most to complete, and in my case I received a personalized email response from PETA within a few days notifying me of international animal rights laws and the course of action she was going to take to follow up on this report. It was amazing to receive feedback in such a timely manner, and provided a feeling of relief that there are easy steps you can take to report a wide range of animal abuse.

On this note, if any readers have recommendations on Albuquerque no-kill shelters that are good spots to drop off strays, I'd greatly appreciate your feedback. Over the past month, I have seen an increase of loose / stray dogs, and would like to know immediate locations I could drop off the next four-legged pal I drive by.

Obama's Nuts, URLs, and Blog Shout out

Check out David Berkowitz's most recent blog post on advertisement targeting on Facebook. There is a shoutout in the first paragraph to QuirkyABQ (Jennifer Marshall) for an example I provided from Facebook.

See full article here.
See example I found here.

If you find any odd examples of 'too close to home' or inappropriate advertisement targeting, contact me.

Who is going to market 'Obama's nuts'?

Mr. Jackson - what were you THINKING? As if Fox News wasn't bad enough, we have to have a liberal civil rights activist slamming Obama with less than eloquent rhetoric. Awesome. If you haven't seen the video yet, go here to check it out. Oy.

The real question is, what marketer can act fast enough to sell cans of nuts marked, 'Obama's Nuts - Made by J. Jackson'. Let me even help, I've made a prototype.

I wonder if Obama is somewhere, drinking a good cocktail, just laughing very hard... or maybe he is making a prototype of a nutcracker with Jackson's head on it.

Big Announcement, Important URLs Purchased Last Night

Two important URLs were purchased last night.

URL #1
I am now the proud owner of www.quirkyabq.com. This address reroutes to the blog (temporarily housed on my imajenart.com domain). Down the road I hope to move all blog files over to this site.

URL #2
For those not in the 'know', pictured at right is my recently adopted pug, Douglas. Douglas is a glitzy boy who doesn't mind rocking a blonde wig, bling, perhaps he wishes he was drinking a martini or two at times. He's a ham in front of the camera, and my creative wheels have been spinning about ways to let Douglas be in the spotlight that an ab fab pug only deserves.

Over the next year, in addition to the art site and Quirky ABQ blog, I will be launching www.dragqueenpug.com starring the one and only, Douglas. A little odd - of course. Perhaps on verge of beauty pageantry mom? Quite likely. For now though, the project is just a big idea for a lazy-eyed little pug with a perfect URL purchase.

Green Drinks - First Tuesday of the Month

For the second first Tuesday of the month in a row (tough phrase), I attended 'Green Drinks' last night.

The event is organized by the New Mexico chapter of Green Building Council. The past two events I've attended have pulled 20-25 out for happy hour. Great mix of folks and worth checking out. Location - One Up (downtown ABQ where Carom Club used to be). Usually the group meets in the back around the pool tables starting around 5:30 PM.

Corporate blog entries & free BCP session @ Abba Center for Excellence

By day I am a marketing wench, and I contribute to my company's blog. Please feel free to check out my most recent two posts:

Do good by doing nothing, exploring goodsearch.com I enjoyed writing this piece, because I hope to determine strategic ways for non-profits to better utilize online not only to meet marketing needs - but also fundraising. GoodSearch and GoodShop have a unique product, and I view it as truly feasible for day-to-day online buying trends to be routed through this site to raise money for non-profits. Secondary goal of the blog entry - to increase awareness of Albuquerque Meals on Wheels new pet division that is kicking off this September 2008. I have been working with the amazing team of individuals at ABQ MOW to develop a program plan. With the help of generous sponsors, dedicated volunteers and a little luck - hopefully the program will be a success. More info on this program to come in future posts. Do you Tweet? I am embarrassed that I'm jumping on the Twitter bandwagon so late, but this social networking site fascinates me. Call it microblogging, call it 'haiku blogging' (or maybe I just call it that) - truncated posts in 140 characters or less leave little room for error and lots of room for processing a ton of information in a short amount of time. If you're on Twitter too, feel free to message / nudge me.

In the green arena, I am starting to research and gather articles on green computing / green IT. If you have a specific resource recommendation, please contact me. I am eager for feedback and ideas. On the topic of IT, Abba Technologies (locally headquartered IT systems integration and professional services firm) is hosting a free and open to the public session on Business Continuity Planning. The event will take place at the Abba Center for Excellence located in downtown Albuquerque from 8:30 AM - 10:30 AM on Thursday, July 24, 2008. Space is limited - so make sure to RSVP by going through www.abbacenter.com. This is a great opportunity for local business professionals to assess the risks that threaten their organizations and develop a BCP plan that will ensure continuance of business operations. Also - the event is going to be led by Stuart Prager - a Certified Business Continuity Planning professional. He is one of two BCP specialists in NM with this high level of BCP certification.