NWA Strikes Again

A follow up to my previous NWA post...

I'm heading out to Newark on Friday night for a college friend's wedding. NWA called and left a message on my cell phone yesterday to let me know my flight tomorrow is canceled.

Is it really that hard to schedule your flights? C'mon!

When I called in, the first person I spoke with wanted to charge me $50+$5+12,500 frequent flier miles to change the first part of my reservation that wasn't affected. On one hand, this makes sense. On the other, they just canceled the return leg of my flight... the least they could do is be flexible when they're expecting me to be!

Since we did we all become cartoons...?

In the past week, there's been a huge influx of Myspacers and Facebook-kids using Simpon like cartoons on their profiles.

What happened...?

Despite my lack of insight into this trend, I'm going to post my very own cartoon self for your viewing pleasure...

Thanks Andy for making this little thing for me almost 10 years ago or something. If only I had a bigger version of it!

NWA - Give me a break!!

I was checking ticket prices on NWA this morning when I saw this screen, "nwa.com Reservations is temporarily unavailable. We are upgrading our site."

All I can say to this is, give me a break! Who upgrades their site at 10 AM on a business day? This is their #1 source of revenue and now, customers can't purchase their product. It's especially bad considering that this is peak travel season.

I understanding these upgrades in the middle of the night on Saturday or Sunday, but most definitely not in the morning on a Friday...

Call for Entries for Green-themed Webisode Writing Contest

You may have already received this e-mail-- One of my Pepperdine MBA professors, Molly Lavik, is the Founder of Mentorography. I had her for quite a few courses, including Marketing, different entrepreneurial classes, and Not for Profit Consulting. She is putting on the contest below and is partnering with Net Impact to do it. It looks like Guy Kawasaki will also be one of the judges!

If you're interested, be sure to check it out!

:~) Angie

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Join this Contest!
Potentially earn $1000 through writing a 30-second Webisode!
Get into writing for the web! Be part of the green movement!
Invent a better world today! All at the same time!

Click here to view the contest details and rules.

"The Commuter Pod" Cartoon Write the Next Webisode Contest is a skills-based writing competition in which participants submit an original storyline script to be eligible to potentially be selected as the winner. "The Commuter Pod" has an entrepreneurial storyline about the development of an eco-friendly car of the future that is 100% recyclable and runs on alternative energy. Storyline Submissions are due by August 9, 2007. The winning entry for the contest will have the opportunity to enter a contract which provides for payment of $1,000 in consideration for writing the next webisode for "The Commuter Pod" and the winning participant will be featured on www.StartupTime.com as well as receive additional publicity. One of the judges of the contest is Guy Kawasaki, the author of The Art of the Start and managing director of Garage Technology Ventures. He is also the co-founder of Truemors, a website that enables people to post news, rumors, and stories in order to "tell the world." The contest is produced by Mentorography, Inc. and sponsored by O.N.E. World Enterprises the makers of O.N.E. 100% Coconut Water and O.N.E. Amazon Acai. StartupTime's strategic partners include Plenty, BrainReactions and Writers Boot Camp.

Frustration

I'm officially annoyed!

Wow, two weeks!

Wow, it's been roughly two weeks since I last posted! To those of you who periodically check my blog, I apologize for the lack of new content!

I've been SUUUUPER busy the past few weeks-- just running around at some kind of warp speed.

Anyway, I'm still here... just a little preoccupied.

Be back soon!

Friday Morning Update

Alright, I haven't taken the time to write an update about myself in a while, so here it goes...

Yesterday was one of the longer social days I've had in a while. In fact, I may stay home tonight just to recharge.

The day started off normally with work in the morning. By lunch however, everything changed. My work had a suite reserved for us at the Redbirds game. It was nice to walk down and watch a baseball game in the middle of the day. The best part was the food-- they had tasty snacks for us.

I left the game at the beginning of the 8th inning. My attention span is just only so long and I knew that I had a long day ahead of me, so I went back to the office. When I got back, I had an exciting idea that I started to pursue... and got so involved that I almost ended up missing my next activity.

After an hour, I headed down to the Residence Inn by Marriott that's located in Downtown Memphis. They had a rooftop party set up for us-- and more snacks! I adore that hotel; it's where I stayed when I moved back to Memphis in September. I think it used to be apartments or something because each unit has such a unique feel. I like Residence Inns normally anyway, but this one is better. And, they have free food and drinks... :-)

It was incredibly HOT yesterday afternoon, especially on the roof of a building, next to a grill and in the sun. I headed home to shower and prepare for the next leg of my evening. I switched into a new dress I recently found and headed up to my rooftop to visit my neighbors before heading on.

I went down to the Memphis Arts Council reception at the new Westin hotel. I could see by the reaction of the staff that they're starting to recognize me. Ha! (I may be back tonight, but as I said... we'll see how I'm feeling.) Anyway, the Memphis Arts Council event was fabulous! I met a few new people, reconnected with old ones, and enjoyed more food and drinks. :-)

While I was at the Arts Council event, one woman stopped me to ask where I'd found my dress. I told her that I found it online. She wanted the name of the website. I actually don't even remember where it came from. I found it on one site and compared prices and bought it from the place where I could get the best deal. She thought I was lying and started to promise not to get the same dress if I'd just tell her. Wow... Anyway, here's a photo of the dress on a model from the site--

After this wrapped up, I headed over to the Peabody rooftop to check out Kevin and Bethany Paige. I met up with friends and had a great time!

Next, I headed over to Flying Fish to say hello to the friends mentioned earlier from my rooftop. They were eating french fries with hot sauce... surprise! :-)

Made a quick run through EP's Delta Kitchen and and ended up at Flying Saucer with two of my girl friends. It was a fun time. Someone high fived me for my dress, so I suppose the night worked out alright.

On the way back home, I stopped by Earnestine & Hazel's to pick up my neighbor and his date and drove us back.

And here were are at Friday... :-)

[Thanks Paul for your two recent posts highlighting a few things from my site.]

Projectionist Pans Movie, Loses Job

Wow, what an interesting past few days it's been. A friend here in Memphis, Jessie Morrison, has been fired this week from his job. Why? Because while working as a projectionist at Malco, he wrote a negative review of a movie online.

What difference does that make you may ask? Well, he wrote it about the upcoming Fantastic Four movie. What happened next is a little surprising...

Fox figured out that he wrote the entry and where he works. Fox then phoned his boss and threatened to pull their movie from Malco's entire chain of theatres.

Just after, he was fired.

It's all a little sad. The reviewer loves movies and had been writing online reviews for quite some time-- and his company new in advance that he was doing this. In addition, he didn't reveal any movie "spoilers" in his review. He simply stated his opinion.

Anyway, the whole thing is burning up the Internet today. All you have to do is search for "Memflix" on Google and you'll now find over 35,000 entries.

Here's the latest from CNN.com:

LOS ANGELES, California (Hollywood Reporter) -- A projectionist at a Memphis, Tennessee, theater chain has lost his job after writing an unauthorized early review of "Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer" for the Web site Ain't It Cool News.

Jesse Morrison, the projectionist, claims that the film's distributor, 20th Century Fox, was behind the decision by Malco Theatres Inc. to suspend him for an undetermined period. The studio denied the charge.

While studios and filmmakers have endured early reviews of their movies, both negative and positive, on Web sites since the early days of the Internet, the incident might mark the first time someone working in the entertainment industry has lost a job for voicing an early opinion online.

On Saturday, http://www.AintItCool.com posted a negative review by Morrison (writing under his online moniker Memflix) under the headline "Memflix crushes all hope for 'Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer.' "

A 29-year-old film, video and journalism major at the University of Memphis, Morrison worked for $7 an hour at the Ridgeway Four, next door to Malco's home office. He picked up further compensation by readying movie prints for exhibitor and press screenings, which allowed him during the past year to write reviews of such movies as "Disturbia," "Vacancy" and "Spider-Man 3" for Ain't It Cool. He also wrote reviews for Malco's movie blog and a circular distributed at the theater.

On Monday, two days after his "Silver Surfer" pan appeared, Morrison was called into a meeting with Malco senior VP Jimmy Tashie and, according to Morrison, was "suspended until further notice," with the suggestion that he would not be asked to return.

Morrison said Tashie pointed out that "20th Century Fox called them that morning and threatened to take away the press and trade screenings because of this whole thing. They were upset."

Asked if Fox had any role in the suspension, Tashie said: "Absolutely none." The executive said his company received a call from Fox that said "there's somebody there working for (Malco) who is writing reviews in advance. That's all they said. No one asked us to do anything. We have been in business 95 years, and this is the first time anything like this happened. And this boy knew what he was doing was the wrong thing. ... He was in a position of trust and he violated that trust."

Drew McWeeney, known as "Moriarty" on the Ain't It Cool site, picked up Morrison's cause. Amid two positive reviews for the new movie, he championed Morrison's right to free speech and wrote: "He's written many reviews for us before, but when he wrote one for 'Fantastic Four,' Fox went into hypersensitive overdrive. They tracked him down and had him fired, threatening to pull their business from the entire chain over that review."

Sources inside Fox denied the studio's involvement, saying that the disciplinary action was beyond their reach and was the theater chain's decision.

Some entertainment companies, including film productions, do ask workers to sign confidentiality agreements, agreeing not to disclose information. Morrison said he had never been asked to sign such an agreement, though he would have if asked.

"If they had sat me down and told me that this has caused such a stink and that we would like you to sign some waiver, I probably would have signed it," Morrison said. "In my opinion, they used strong-arm tactics. I don't regret going on my Web site or Ain't It Cool at all. I just wish it hadn't come to this, but I don't really believe I did anything wrong."

Tashie said: "In the future, anybody in that position will sign something."

A number of Ain't It Cool readers have rallied to Morrison's cause, some even offering him jobs like a cameraman gig in Mexico.

Morrison said he is weighing his options. "I'm hoping to get a job as a professional movie reviewer, but I don't know what's going to happen with that. I guess you could say I'm at some kind of crossroads right now."

Net Impact Rockstar Conference Registration Now Open!

November 1st to 3rd, 2007, Nashville, Tennessee

Join us in Nashville!

Rockstar Registration is now open for the 2007 Net Impact Conference, taking place November 1-3 in Nashville. Register before June 15th to receive $100 off the regular registration price!

What will you do next to make our world more sustainable? This November, more than 1,500 graduate business students and professionals will come up with an answer. The 2007 Net Impact Conference will challenge attendees to think deeply about current issues and trends in the business world, while engaging them to take an action-oriented plan for change back to their communities.

Comprised of keynote speakers, panel discussions, networking opportunities, case competitions, debates, and much more, the 2007 curriculum will feature cutting-edge business leaders from around the world speaking on the following themes:

• Corporate Impact
• Leadership & Career
• The Social Sector
• Business and the Environment
• The Business of Health
• International Development

Attendees will also have the opportunity to pursue their career aspirations by networking with over 60 of the top for and nonprofit companies at the 2007 Net Impact Career Expo

Fun New Site: You've Always Had the Power

I found an interesting 2008 campaign-related store today: You've Always Had The Power.

Here's a little sample of what they sell:

11th Annual Webby Award Winners Announced

Check out the 11th annual Webby Award winners: http://www.webbyawards.com/webbys/current.php.

Simply Google

Check out this Simply Google page. It compiles all of Google's funcationality into one easy page.

Thanks Towform for bringing this to my attention!

Very cool!

Angie's Favorite Phrase: "New Media"

My favorite phrase right now: "New Media."

Wikipedia definition: "New media is a broad term that usually refers to new technologies and communication methods in the context of their effects on the established mainstream media.
Originally this term was used by the pioneer Website developers to differentiate their techniques from the other methods of communication that shared the "media budget" within a company. This allowed the suggestion of new vs. old while at the same time establishing a claim on the budget available. Over time the term was used to refer to anything that was Internet-related."

Examples of New Media:
Video games and virtual worlds as they impact marketing and public relations.
Multimedia CD-ROMs
Software
Web sites including brochurware
Corporate blogs and wikis
Email and attachments
Electronic kiosks
Interactive television
Mobile devices
Podcasting
Hypertext fiction

Apple iTunes Sells DRM Free Songs, Music

Starting yesterday, Apple began selling songs in its iTunes store without copyright protection.

Purchasing songs without DRM (digital rights management) protection software will mean that you will be able to play these songs anywhere, on different types of players.

Apple is starting first with songs from music company EMI Group. The music available includes songs from Frank Sinatra, Norah Jones, Pink Floyd, Paul McCartney, Coldplay, and the Rolling Stones.

The DRM-free songs are higher quality than past songs Apple has offered for download. They also cost 30 cents more than the normal 99 cent iTunes songs.

I urge you to support Apple's trend-setting move and help to make this the new standard!

(To check it out, click the banner below.)

My Thoughts on the Future

I've been thinking about this for a while, so here it goes...

Do you remember the first time that you posted a photo of yourself online?

I can't remember just how old I was, but I'd guess I was probably about 14. The Internet was still brand new and AOL was charging by the minute.

Actually, after a little digging online, I found it. I believe that this is very possibly the first photo ever put on the Internet of me. It was over 10 years ago and I posted it myself.

Do you remember the first time you allowed your height to be published somewhere?

What about your last name?

The city where you live?

And your job title?

Your resume?

All of your friends names?

Photos of your family?

I can remember all of these moments in my life. They were all very deliberate choices; many of them directly tied to my age and stage of my life. I was careful not to reveal too much too quickly or at too young of an age.

I am completely aware that a potential employer, friend, or colleague can learn all about me at anytime. Heck, I do it myself when I want to learn about someone new.

This is a reasonable thing to think about, because once something is posted online, it doesn't go away.

What about nowadays though? Do we think before we post?

I've started to notice a trend...

More and more people are tracking their pregnancies online. There are photos of new moms' big bellies each month, growing larger by the frame.

Dads are posting photos of their newborns, still all red and just delivered at the hospital.

Parents, aunts, uncles, and grandparents are posting photos of a child's first steps, first haircut, first, first, first...

Some parents even write restaurant reviews about their experiences eating out online.

With online papers, you can track a child's grades and accomplishments who live in another city. (This comes in handy for me with my brothers that live in Oklahoma.)

What happens in another 10 to 20 years when an adult persons entire life has been traced online, from conception to present?

How will this further impact us when we apply to school, for a job, or even when we ask someone on a date? What about children who are making friends, applying to high school, or looking for a first job?

Hmmm......................................

Presidential Candidates Set an Example Online

Over the past few months, I have been more and more impressed with all of the presidential candidates. They are doing some fabulous online campaigning!

They all seem to be using the newest Internet techniques including search engine marketing, blogging, and online social networking!

Here are just a few examples:

You can vote on Hillary Clinton's campaign song: http://www.hillaryclinton.com/action/spotlight/?sc=8

You can read Barack Obama's blog: http://my.barackobama.com/page/community/group/ObamaHQ/

You can befriend all the candidates on Myspace: http://impact.myspace.com/

And you can watch them on YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=2008+president

Way to go!

Memphis Most: Commercial Appeal Voting

Quick Note: Voting is on for the "Memphis Most." The Commercial Appeal has set up a site where you can vote on everything from the best martini in Memphis to the best barber.

Check it out here: http://most.commercialappeal.com/

While you're there, be sure to click here (https://commercialappeal.wufoo.com/forms/memphis-most-memphis-media/) to vote for the best Memphis blogger. I put in my vote this morning for Paul's Memphis blog (www.PaulRyburn.com/blog).

Okay, I give!

Who at Rose State has been reading my site lately? E-mail me at:

igive(@)angiedawn.net

Angie's Brothers Take State in Oklahoma Tennis

How fun-- my little brothers placed 1st and 2nd in Oklahoma for high school tennis this past week.

Congrats guys!

From NewsOK.com:

"Top individuals of the day: German exchange student Felix Brede of Durant beat Tulsa Kelley's Cale Hammond 6-4, 7-5 to win the No. 1 singles title. Kelley's Reider Hunt lost only one game in the tournament to handily win the No. 2 singles title. In No. 1 doubles, Ardmore's Timmy Argo and Luke Jordan beat Shawnee's Nick Copeland and Eric Haley. Chris Copeland and Jeff Seebeck won for Shawnee in No. 2 doubles to help the Wolves take second place in the team standings.

Quotable: "Our first match started off slow, but after that we did great. The finals was the best match we'd played all season. We jumped up 3-0 on them in the first set, and it just rolled on from there.” — Chris Copeland, Shawnee No. 2 doubles player, on teaming with Jeff Seebeck to beat Ada's Chase Sheffield and Colton Calaway.

Noteworthy: The only game Hunt lost came in the first set of his championship match against Deer Creek's Michael Calloway. ... In the semifinals, Copeland and Haley, beat Ada."

Happy Barbecue Fest!