Sailing adventure blog

I'm involved in creating a blog for a pretty cool college course. A bunch of students are going to sail a square-rig tall ship for a couple of weeks starting January 5. My own college career involved somewhat more sedentary pursuits in the beverage sciences--something to be proud of, for sure, but not quite as distinctive as sailing on the HMS Bounty.

Gambling on Social Security

I'm amazed they've kept this under wraps. They must be waiting for the perfect moment to unveil the plan for maximum PR effect. But I'm going to blow it by revealing the secret Bush plan for Social Security.

You know all about private retirement accounts, right? Where you get to keep your hard earned money in an investment account instead of paying it into Social Security. Well the new plan brings to the table an unprecedented public-private partnership that will give a totally new meaning to the "New Deal."

It's called the "Real Deal." How it works is, when you pay you Social Security tax, you can have it returned to you in the form of casino chips. You can use them at any casino in the land to hopefully make yourself a million bucks. No luck this week? Try again next payday! Between now and the time you retire, you're bound to hit a winning streak sometime! The government and the casino each take a cut, which helps social security become solvent while creating jobs in your community. It's the perfect plan!

There would be guarantees, of course, that the federal government will not encroach on states' rights, i.e. the lottery. Powerball, Megabucks and Lotto will continue to provide revenue streams for the states. In fact you may start getting scratch tickets in place of your state tax refund beginning in 2005.

And my feet went squish, squish all the way home

Some students at the college where I work are about to set sail on a two-week adventure as crewmembers aboard a square-rig tall ship. They'll be out at sea, depending on each other for their lives, facing the elements, combining strength and skill to keep several tons of wood floating purposefully above the depths.

It's a good thing I'm going to stay at my desk.

When I was about 15, I took sailing lessons one summer on the Charles River in Boston. My first time out without an instructor, I capsized at the dock. I was soaked with Charles River toxic slime from the waste down. I took the subway home, and the little puddle forming under me would spread forward when the train braked, and backward on accelerating. The worst part was the shoes and socks. My poor Nikes were never the same again.

I'll take the compliment

The Internet Anagram Server very kindly told me that "Omni-Matic" is "Not a Mimic". I do strive to be original!

Anagrams never lie, you know. George W. Bush? "He grew bogus". Also "Bug hews Gore". Operation Iraqi Freedom? "Remediate poor Iraq info."

Parenting can bring back memories

Every once in a while, the kids come up with something that takes me back a long, long time.

For example, lately they've been singing

Jingle bells, Batman smells
Robin laid an egg
The Batmobile lost a wheel
And the Joker got away!

Doesn't that take you back?

High security in the kid's room

My 7 year-old son has always had a strong interest in "keep out" signs for his room to keep his younger sisters from interrupting his Lego work. First there was crayon on the door ("kep owt!), followed by scotch-taped signs including dire warnings to those who dare enter and a carefully drawn skull-and-crossbones.

Now he's taken it to another level with something my wife gave him: a keycard activated alarm! He swipes his card when he leaves the room. If anyone opens the door without swiping a card, they get a recorded voice saying "Keep out!" followed by a brief siren alarm. It's a hoot! And he absolutely loves it.

It comes with two keycards: one for him, and one marked "guest" for mom and dad--emergency use only.

Who Can You Trust?

This headline from Worthwhile hits the nail on the head. Trust is probably the single most important dimension of any brand identity--you trust Tide to get out tough dirt, and you trust Tylenol to get rid of your headache. Every brand makes a promise, and if we don't believe the brand will keep that promise, then it's as good as dead.

Enter mercenary marketing from providers like BzzAgent. This form of "viral" marketing tries to hijack the trust that exists among peer groups and their opinion leaders. Once the ruse is discovered the chain of trust is broken, and a reaction of distrust is bound to be associated with the offending brand.

Maybe I'm overreacting. I probably could have made the same argument against television advertising 50 years ago and it would have gotten me nowhere. And Dave Balter has pulled off a feat in taking BzzAgent from a simple idea in his head to a nationally known company, so the concept has some traction.

But still, trust is paramount. If brands are going to use mercenary marketing, they'd better live up to the promises being made for them.

Blogging insights from Halley Suitt

Normally I try to avoid blogging about blogging, but this is a little different. It's a manifesto about blogging that I'm blogging about.

Take a look at ChangeThis :: The Art of Alpha Female Blogging. In it, Halley Suitt presents a steamy and entertaining post and then proceeds to "rip apart the blog post and talk about how and why I wrote it each section. It's an exegesis of sorts, or a coming to Jesus, if you prefer."

The format is interesting too: notice it's a PDF posted at Change This. Interesting project, wonder if it will take off.