Social Media: Enough, already!

Their social norms and social rules
We're social scum and they're social fools
They tell us all their social lies
Ignoring all our social cries

Lyrics to "Social" by the band Squirt Gun

## I'm tired of hearing about Social Media and I'm tired of thinking about it as a topic for discussion. So, this will be the absolute last word on it from me ever.##


Everyone is into Social Media to some extent.
Most are on Facebook and twitter.
I use both but prefer twitter for it's limitless potential and customizable interaction.
Facebook is what it is and twitter can be whatever you want it to be.

Keep this fact in mind.


It's nearing a year since I started using twitter and in the course of a year, I've seen a lot of marketing types reinvent themselves as social media experts. I even followed a few and as a result, a few hundred more followed me.

I wish no ill will on these people and I'm glad to see Darwinism evolve at this newest stage, but I detest the concept of monetizing expertise in this arena and the sense of entitlement that often accompanies it.

Saying you're an expert in Social Media is like saying you're really good at using soap.

There are no experts in Social Media.

Budding start-ups and established corporate giants alike shouldn't feel threatened by it and they definitely shouldn't feel obligated to hire a guide.

This isn't the Amazon jungle. It's just another meeting place.

Social Media as twitter and/or Facebook has been blown up to ridiculous proportions by those who look to serve their own interests by blanketing the truth.
What truth? That social media is easy.

No instruction booklet, secret handshake, or decoder ring required - just talk.

Talk on a human level and on a business level. Just talk. Directly and indirectly.
In a box or with a fox - just talk.


Be they friends, colleagues, customers or entities, the same principles apply to social media that apply to basic conversation and human interaction.

Say hi. Ask questions. Be interesting. Answer questions. Be friendly. Inform, entertain, educate, and engage.

The only restrictions are the 140 character limit on twitter and the realization that you will finally give in and take that damned stupid 80's movies quiz on Facebook.

Everyone is practicing personal branding and everyone is marketing themselves.
Social Media in all its forms is just another way of starting up a conversation.

Just talk.

9 Interview Techniques For Guaranteed Varying Degrees of Success

Soon the recession will be over and you'll return to the workforce. Which means you will have to retire your sweatpants go on interviews once again.

Who doesn't like interviews?
If you're like me, you get really excited about interviews but may not be particularly good at them.
Like everything else in life, the interview is subjective.
You just never know what works. Which means, you have to try out different methods until you find the one that does.

Here are a few I've tried and would or would not recommend to friends, enemies and colleagues for guaranteed varying results.


1: Just be yourself.


Unless, of course you are a horrible, horrible person, then you might want to try being someone else.*
I recommend poet-laureate, Billy Collins or B.J. Armstrong, Chicago Bulls' magnetic point guard from 1989 to 1995.


2: Use the methodical approach.

Find out everything you can about the company you are interviewing with, such as: Philosophy, Culture, indictment history and personal medical records of core leadership.
Consider hiring a private investigator.

3: Try playing it cool.

James Dean cool. Kim Deal cool. Rick Moranis cool.
No one and I mean no one can resist the razor's edge intensity and bespectacled, doe-eyed charms of the Rickster.

4: Be professional.


Professionalism is integral to landing a professional position. It's about clearly showing your interviewer that at least 40% of what you typed up on your resume isn't complete B.S.
It's also about clearly showing your interviewer that you are a) no threat to them but b) are okay with being exploited for their financial gain.

5: Drink tons of coffee right before the interview.

Energy is energy - even nervous energy. Getting cranked up on high-grade Colombian will ensure you are alert, look interested (if not mildly crazed) and will not run out of insightful questions to ask.
The bladder thing is a minor inconvenience - Use it! Your increasingly transparent sense of urgency will tell your interviewer/s you really, really, really want this job.

6: Drink right before the interview.

If you're 21 or older, there is no reason you should have any trepidation about enjoying a cocktail, a beer, a shot or all three at once to loosen up and pour on the charm.
AA, you say? Remember, part of being a good team player is giving into peer pressure. You are a good team player, aren't you?

7: The Costanza.

George Costanza. The Opposite. Duh.

8: Act like a complete jerk.


What works for personal life, works for professional life.
Defying all rational explanation, for centuries, men, women and most all living organisms have found success in acting disinterested, cold and even douchey to their prospective mates.
Put this natural instinctive power play to work for you in the interview and all other candidates need not apply.

9: Flat-out wing it.

This usually entails using a hybrid of all above listed approaches.
(NOTE: For bi-polar types, this method may redundant.)

10: ????

(Who am I, David Letterman?)


* - This rule of interviewing does not apply to Advertising Account Executives.

## For guest lecturer booking inquiries, please contact the offices of Casey Bowers and ask for Rita. ##

Untitled #8

The State - MTV Shows

Doug's Dad: "Are these your cigarettes, Doug?"

Doug: "Yeah, so what if they are? What you gonna do about it?
Send me off to grandma's so she can teach me pinocle and make me bland?"


This is from ""Doug," the above Michael Showalter sketch from MTV's The State. It's always been a favorite of mine and recently, with the announcement of The State finally (finally!) getting a DVD release date, I revisited it. Partly for nostalgic purposes and to tide me over till it's release but in any case, it was while watching this video that I started thinking about creativity in general and edginess vs. maturity, but mostly about my life in advertising.


When I first started off in the ad world, I was the crazy kid making spec ads depicting famous family-friendly brand mascots in various stages of pain and peril.
I was sending out promo pieces comparing the violent pen attacks in Grosse Pointe Blank + Casino with my skill as a copywriter. I was blowing chance after scarce chance because no one wanted the edgy offerings.


Fast forward a few years later and I've become accustomed to the constant heartache and soul crushing that naivety promotes and the compromise details.


Using such uninspired lines as "highest quality care" and "tradition of excellence," I watch as most true creative attempts die on the vine - the same vine, which I've tried in vain to strangle myself or others with many, many, many times.


That's advertising for you. That's the sickness.
For better or worse, I return each time for more abuse.
Why? Well, as a good friend and mentor reminded me, for every 300 dead headlines ("written but never used or changed beyond recognition by clients") there's one live line ("put into print without molestation or disfigurement") that makes it.

And it's that "one" which makes it all worth it sometimes.
At other times, it just delays further strangling attempts.


Of course, spec, pro-bono work and venting on your blog helps too.


Still, 300:1.
Good odds by most accounts, don't you think?

Twitter Recently: What's really important?

Like most news in the social media world, tweets travel remarkably fast, at tweet speed. I’m still getting up to speed but it looks like due to auto-follow services, follow-bots and free apps blowing up last week, we all have more followers
and some have gone from 100 to 1000 overnight.


This is great, right?
No, it’s not.

The old standard of quality over quantity still stands, even in the twitterverse.
Spam followers (not you, @spamfollower) are nothing new and you get a self-server here and there but the new influx saw quick follows and even quicker unfollows because the so-called targeted services really, really aren’t.

I think Team Twitter recognized this and applied the controversial follower caps as an act of preserving the integrity and quality of the original model, not kowtowing to A & B-list celebs (as one auto-follow cheerleader surmised).

(It should be noted however that said auto-follow fan’s anti-twitter tweets were wiped almost as soon as they were added.)

This is what I believe: Twitter changed the conversation.
It is far more than a networking tool. The exchange of ideas and information it allows is paramount to our continued growth and success as a community (local and global) and as individuals (personally and professionally).

I like #FollowFriday and getting recommends from friends and followers but not for the numbers. If that’s all someone is after, the auto-follow apps are perfect - but still, who cares about influence if your followers aren’t the people you want to influence and be influenced by?

Agree/Disagree?

Tweet me back @caseybowers

Rethinking networking events.

A discounted book sale and a cash bar doesn't make a networking event.
And door prizes do not replace structure and substance.

This lame gathering I went to was touted as a pro-grade level event and I expected a pro-grade level of organization.
What I and the other 200+ doomed souls received was much less than that.
It was closer to a middle school dance with business cards, all the awkward standing and staring - but none of the music.

This sounds bad and believe me - it was, but apparently, bad is the norm.
In talking to a friend who goes to these things much more than I do, there's commonly more thought placed in hors d'oeuvres than in organization.

This is unfortunate and certainly a winning argument for social networking sites everywhere.
Though face-to-face networking events allow for face-to-face interaction, this only narrowly makes it worth it.
We need to evolve the networking event beyond happy hour or mere cocktail party and we don't need the glam or glitz or even the Guinness to make this happen. We need clear focus and intelligent direction.

Here are some ideas of mine based on a system of groups:

• Groups of professionals within the same segment, category, specialty, industry, etc.

Ex: Marketing Professionals (pr specialists, advertising executives, copywriters, etc.)

• Groups within groups

Ex: Healthcare marketing professionals

• Preassigned degrees of separation
Ex: Pharma CMO is 1 degree away from Advertising CD with medical specialty.
Jr. Freelance designer is 1 degree away from CD and 2 degrees away from CMO.

• Predefined goals/needs
Ex: "I have a need for B2B Web Info Architect" or "I'm interested in learning more about consumer trending."

• Established communication and coordination prior to event.
Ex: Email introduction/I'm looking forward to meeting you


Mingling outside of groups will and should occur but in a more natural, unforced way.
It's one of the options, NOT the only option.
Through this system, all networkers' purposes are better served and the value of event is realized and elevated.

I'm sure there are many ways of approaching this problem and some networking events may have already answered it.
If so, fantastic! I'd love to hear more about them. If not, consider this.

Abandoned Blog Explanation

Success and failure are more easily measured when twitter becomes the standard ruler.

When I started this back in Aug 08, it was started without purpose.
Just an experiment and an exercise.

Like anything in this ADD stricken hyperculture, boredom set in and doubt soon followed.

Being a voyeur had its benefits though. Watching, reading, learning and absorbing.

Still, a sponge gathers mold if it's not wrung out in time, right?

Well, let the experiment continue but let it be shaped by purpose and clear vision.

Let it be.