‘Tis the season to be merry.
Well that’s my name.
No shit.
Fortune Favors The Bold
Dec 24
fek:
I did an interview: http://www.mediaite.com/vkbet I talk about FourSquare, The Hills, BNO News, Tumblr, and Megantereons.
Rex interviewed by Rachel. Who asks him this:
Cheetahs or Tumblr Girls?
Rex, you don’t need an assistant. You don’t need an iPhone programmer. You need a press rep.
(Can you imagine? They wouldn’t have found Spencer Morgan’s body.)
Client: I need video streaming, contact forms, a small database for customer comments and a new logo made and hosting for 3 years with a bit of a download option for the videos too
Me: That all sounds reasonable, your original request terms this “Cheaply” what is your budget and I’ll advise as to what can be done realistically.
Client: £20
formspring.me
I will be moving to New York City from Ottawa next summer. You seem to carry some influence in media circles, social circles, online circles, etc…all the areas I care about as well. What are three tips you would give someone to build these relationships? (please spare the social media guru standard answers!) Thanks!
You are a very smart cookie! The “social media guru” lifestyle serves mainly to impress your local public relations agents while ensuring that you have no actual friends.
Which is the opposite of the only real advice I have for you: make friends. Don’t ever stop making friends. When you think you’ve found all the friends you could want, find something else about yourself that will allow you to make friends with even more people. NYC is all about sincere relationships. It is not about “contacts” and it isn’t about making the biggest noise in a crowd. It’s about being in-touch with people and establishing trust and camaraderie. The thing is, you have to be ACTUAL FRIENDS with people; you can’t fake it. Do not pretend that you are someone’s buddy when you are not. Do not walk up to your blog heroes at parties and start gushing about how you know them so well. (This is a sure path to making people initially wary and weary of you) Instead, leave them alone until you one day think of something that causes you to think, “You know, they would be really interested in this information”. Maybe it’s a tidbit of info about something they’re really into. Maybe it’s a project or job lead that isn’t beneath their pay grade. Maybe you just have a big tray of lemon squares and you’re smart enough to know that, when push comes to shove, we all love free tasty food. (Cook your ass off for people and they will LOVE you.) When you’re not feeding them in the literal sense, feed them with relevant analysis, unique observations, new connections, collaborative plans, and warm feelings. You’ll be the mayor within weeks if many people consider you to be an oasis of brilliance, comfort, and social strength.
All of this is not simple work, and you should not assume you learned how to do this in public school or private college! You’ll have to learn. You’ll make some mistakes. You’ll have to take a few chances here and there.
Also, if you move anywhere else it’ll be a lot easier. Just FYI.
formspring.me
Why does Choire have such a stick up his ass about Gawker and their compensation? They seem to pay their contributors a lot better than most places.
BITE YOUR TONGUE! That’s Papa we’re talking about! And in any case, I think you’re off-point for a couple of reasons. Gawker’s compensation issues are well behind them, from what I hear; the entire industry is meagerly paid, and is mostly centralized in expensive cities, setting up a “rock and a hard place” living situation for many while proprietors and investors line their pockets (or, at least, live stress-free off their existing fortunes); and, if you’re going to have a big problem with Gawker, it’d be the extremely flexible moral code of their editorial mission (somewhat unique to a few blogs in the stable; you never hear Fleshbot or Kotaku have these problems with being over-gossipy).
While we’re here: making any observations about Gawker at this point (unless it’s coming from a long-time insider) is like doing play-by-play commentary for an NBA game from the far end of the parking lot. “Hey, Brian, what’s Nick Denton thinking?” “Why is Gawker hiring its old editors back?” Outsiders can only speculate on behavior patterns; over any 24-month period in their history, their actions have been erratic. Plus, even insiders feel like outsiders sometimes, and vice versa.
But then again, it’s not at all important. How has Gawker impacted your life lately? It hasn’t. Pay more attention to the way the financial services industry operates, for God’s sake. Pay more attention to the food supply. Pay more attention to how our dependence on particular forms of energy empowers uncooperative sovereign states who aren’t completely invested in positive foreign relations or curbing religious extremists or stamping out global terrorism.
Best holiday movie…hands down.
Santa later went on to play Mr. Lebowski.
I could have sworn Mr. Lebowski was played by Charles Durning, but I am now finding I am incorrect:
Dec 23
THAT DOOR
Dec 22
formspring.me
WILL YOU PLEASE BUY MCGLYNN A FLASH?
His flash won’t make you sober. Get some sleep before posing for photos in a dark room.
Where do you stand on the Vimeo lawsuit? Is Capital justified?
Capital Records is doing something with technical legal merit… it is up for a judge to rule on it, and there are several possibilities for them to be denied their claim. It is a marketing/PR disaster for them, but using lawyers clumsily is all that record executives can figure out as a response to the erosion of their tightly-controlled traditional marketing channels. Hey, why do you follow bands who are signed to major labels if they harsh your lip-dubbing mellow? Find a song with more generous licensing terms and lip-dub THAT. No excuses.
Why do you think Fek has been reading more and more like Brian Van, (i.e., http://fek.tumblr.com/post/290912830/for-the-record) and have you noticed? Do you think he is consciously trying to dilute your brand and therefore your chances at the weekend gig?
I want to know who said this, what their reasoning is for this line of thinking, and what drugs they are smoking.
when will your next article at black book be published?
Cannot tell you anything specific. I still have a healthy relationship with my editor at BlackBook. I’m “in the Mohney”, as one person coined the phrase.
you are very cute. are you in a relationship? if not what kinda guy are you looking for. if so, whats your boyfriend like?
I am dating the person who coined the “in the Mohney” phrase.
What is the difference between Foster Kamer and BrianVan? Are you really the same person?
Foster, Krucoff, Chris O’Leary, Carolyn, and I are all the same person. To make matters worse, I’m actually from the Bronx. Also, Allen Salkin is a best selling author. (Oh, wait, that one’s actually true!)
fek:
OMG Nic look what the Observer did to Alison Pill’s head WTF?!?!?!!
Wow, that makes Charlie Brown look like Sarah Jessica Parker.
