Chatroulette: Ben Folds Ode to Merton (Great Social Media)

Facebook, Twitter, Foursquare… oh my!

So many social media choices and now there’s Chatroulette. For those that don’t know Chatroulette, it’s basically what the name implies. Created by a 17 year old Russian kid, Chatroulette puts the random spin into social media interaction by literally randomly (the Roulette part) hooking you to another member to … well chat (the Chat part.) Hence Chat- Roulette. You can read more about it here.

It’s gotten huge in Europe and developed a wee bit of a skeevy rep because it enables video/audio/text interaction, drawing a large voyeur, often sextasticly-inclined (I know it’s not a word folks but it works for this sentence) crowd. It also draws the usual: the teenage, the college, the bored and the curious. An interesting mix. There’ve been rumors of several celebs, couples even, hopping on to … um… get their SM on.

It’s not hard to see why Chatroulette is getting busy… (and why the quality of my post is going down hill.)

I’ve yet to try it, mostly because I need the Hawaii 5-O backup from the hubby- lord knows what I’m going to find on it and I’d feel better if I’m not alone.

Silly perhaps, but that’s how I roll.

So Chatroullette. It draws an interesting crowd.

Ben Folds is Merton the Chatroulette Guy?

Enter Ben Folds. The singer. Pianist.

Seems Mr. Folds had taken a shine to Chatroulette, and taken it mainstream with his “Ode to Merton.” Merton is the YouTube Chatroulette star. In a good way.

Hoodied up, Merton “piano man’s” his stream of conscious Chatroulette chats to his surprised, random chat partners. Sometimes it’s to a happy reaction, sometimes not but the end result is always charmingly hysterical. You can see some of Merton’s exploits on his YouTube channel here.

So Ben Folds seems to love Merton. Some even think Ben F. IS the elusive Merton- check out the Mashable interview. Ben’s even incorporated the act into his tour. And it’s great. Simply great.

Check random people having their screen open up to 6,000+ screaming fans and and Ben, hoodied up like the original Merton. With his piano. For a little musical multi-media conversation Merton-style.

Sometimes clothing optional. Ben was nice enough to edit out the naughty, jiggly bits.

Pulling Off Super-Secret Disney

So based upon my last post, things were a bit topsy-turvy.

A little like Alice and Through the Looking Glass.

Having enough “Off with her Head!” this Alice went on vacation.

Actually is was a planned vacation. My husband’s company was hosting a customer conference in Disney World, and the family was invited to come.

In fact, my hubby and I decided to pull off the parental coup of the century by totally surprising our children with the trip. We “dropped Daddy off” at the airport and handed the kid’s their suitcases. They had no idea where the final destination was until the park bus driver welcomed them to Disney World.

They loved it. And we totally rocked as parents.

From this, here’s the benefits to keeping a trip a secret:

1. No one knows, no one asks. When you’re kids don’t know their going on a trip, they can’t ask you every 5 mins WHEN you’re going to Disney, skiing, the beach, Aunt Ida’s house….  Your sanity intact. Priceless.
2. You (and your partner) look like the world’s greatest parents. I’m not a perfect parent, far from it. But this one time, this one moment, husband and I totally rocked. From the friends, to ticketing agents everyone loves the story.
3. No pre-trip mayhem. “I want to bring Fluffy” the 40 lb stuffed iguana? Nope. You pack their bags, you get to decide what they bring. My daughter can’t argue over which bathing suit because it’s my choice.
4. You feel like a super-secret agent-spy. Pulling off a doozy of a surprise is fun. It’s a lot of work, but it’s a whole lotta fun doing it, and fun work really isn’t work. This is why you became a parent, not the changing the umpteenth number of diapers. That was sweat-equity so you can do these things. And it’s totally worth it.
5. The kids will remember it. They always remember surprises. It’s like Christmas morning.
6. The look on the kids faces as they figure it out. Two words: Kodak moment. They love it. They love games and surprises. This is the best game ever.

How to pull off a doozy of a surprise trip for the kids:

1. It’s a secret, so keep it that way. So don’t tell anyone the destination. I know it sounds simple, but simple plans work the best. Tell a few trusted friends, for us that meant Sumo my dear friend and god-mother to my Golden Retriever, Ginger. She was dog & house sitter.  If you do tell, tell them it’s a secret and not to mention it to their kids, etc. You’d be surprised how much little kids pick up. And repeat. Big kids too.
2. Plan, plan, plan. School? Write ahead to let teachers know they’re going. Get homework if they’re old enough, or like mine (1st grade,) just wait they can do make-up work when they get home. Since it was warmer than Boston (thank gawd!) I went through my kids summer things, purchased what they needed and (bonus!) I am a step ahead for spring/summer.
3. Make flight reservations for morning or just after school. Basically instead of going to school you veer off to the airport or you pick them up from school and go to your flight. No time for them to question what’s going on.
4. Pack the night before and load the car. Or pack as much as you can the night before. They shouldn’t know until the very last minute, when they least expect it.
5. Make their backpacks full of fun things. Why? Because it’s fun (duh.) I put puzzles, crayons, sunglasses, new books, stickers, etc. Keeps them busy at airport gates, in lines (we had a 2 + hour one but that’s another post,) during down time at the hotel room. Believe me, it’s worth it.
6. Fly Jet Blue. Pack Lunchables (without the juice box, security purposes.) These are two things my kids don’t get usually so it’s extra special and they were glued to Cartoon Network the whole ride.
7. The art of misdirection. By the gate they knew from the announcements we were headed to Florida, but we made it a game by talking about all the different places we could go- Miami, Key West, Red Sox spring training. In Orlando they saw the signage (it was Cinderella’s castle)- I told them it was the hotel. Prolonged the fun and they were having a ball trying to figure it out.

TheBetsy: No Job (dot) Com

Inquisix shut down this week.

That would be my job.

Gone.

I also have a confession:  I totally stole the title of this blog from my good friend Flames.

Amidst losing her lawyer gig during the brouhaha of Internet start-up failures of 2002, Flames sent out a very classy, “No Job Dot Com” email to all her friends and acquaintances informing of her (post-maternity leave) pink slip. She was on the fence about returning to work anyway, but her company’s demise forced the issue and now Flame is a very happy former- lawyer-cum-stay-at-home-mommy.

Hooray!

And then there’s TheBetsy. And Inquisix.

It was an idea before it’s time, Inquisix put  networkers together based on who they wanted to meet — rather than the “who do you know, that knows this person that plays squash with that person, who is the cousin of a person I’d really like to do business with…” We basically cut out the middlemen. We got traction early, but never the zenith needed to go past the start-up stage. The founders moved on, and this week Inquisix was officially closed.

As the Vice President of Marketing & Communications, I was also community manager, chief copywriter, blogger, brand, marketing, social media and PR consultant and strategist… oh, and I swept the floors as well. Hustling to help grow the user base, keep the fires burning and, hopefully, turn a profit. It was hard work and it was exciting. Start-ups always are.

For me, Inquisix was an especially good opportunity. Prior to joining the company, I had put my MBA-honed marketing strategist mind on hold to have children. Out of the workforce for any length of time is tough, but try finding a gig after being out for a couple of years, in a bad economy, and things get decidedly harder.  The arrangement was simple: they needed the help and I needed the stimulus and experience, and it was a great while it lasted. For this, I have truly grateful to Inquisix’s founders Michael Kreppein and Dave Dupre.

So now I write my No Job (dot) com letter. In retrospect, this experience has giving me some insight into myself.

This is what I know, thanks to Inquisix:

• Virtual Offices: I work great in this environment. Arm me with high-speed Internet/Skype/iChat/Twitter and I am a fully operational Death Star.
• Writing and communicating. Some say wordsmith, I say tell ‘em a story that they’d repeat, over and over. You’re reading this, so you probably have a fair idea how good I am.
• Though I pretty much knew this already, you can throw me in the deep end, I’ll be just fine. Social media was not in my marketing vocabulary when I started. Playing around with Twitter I saw the business implications and benefits immediately, now I speak it pretty fluently.
• Go with what works best — if it’s new let’s try it, if it works, let’s keep it. And keeping adding onto our knowledge base. There is no “done” in learning.
• I have the entrepreneurial mind-set : sure my title may be one thing, but if the job needs me to stretch and tap into another skill set let’s do it. It’s actually fun and really rewarding.
• “Good with people” doesn’t come close to describing my client management skills. I make happy customers jealous. If that makes sense.
• Multi-tasking is crap. Or that’s what you get when you multi-task. You pick.
• I’m ready to get back to work. At what yet, I don’t know. I’m interested in finding the right intersection of interesting challenge,  environment, locale and cash. Not necessarily in that order. Working remotely would trump a lot. Mostly because my children are still small, and I like to tuck them in to bed most nights and top their day off with a “story-story.”
• I’m open. Suggestions,  meetings. ideas. I love to talk ideas or opportunities and strategy. Better than a double espresso. And no jitters.  You want to talk to me. You know where to reach me.

To on to the next adventure, and if you have ideas on what that might be, I’d love to talk.

You know I like to talk.

Special Isn’t So Special Anymore.

Special really isn’t special anymore.

A few lifetimes ago, I worked at a start-up television network, UPN. It was a crazy time,  chock full of 12-16 hour days as be got close to launch, everyone desperate to deliver their promised piece and everything became a priority. But you know know what that means…

When everything is a priority, then nothing is a priority.

Same goes with special. When everything is tagged with a superlative, nothing is… well that super.

In this economy you have to deliver special, super and great, just to survive.

If you think you’ve got something special, guess again. So does everyone else. And their letting everyone know via TV, Radio, Print, POP, Inserts, Guerilla marketing and now Facebook, Twitter, and even Foursquare.

That’s a lot of noise. That’s a lot of “super.”

How do make your super stand-out?

Can you distill your super into the tangible?

Can you take the tangible and answer your customer question “How will this make my life better?”

Are you answering this question in all their languages? Mediums? If your marketing segment speaks Social Media, are you trying to reach them only through radio?

Are you prepared to answer that question at all customer touch points? From first touch, sale, delivery, customer service and to the next purchase?

That IS super, only your customers will be the one saying it. Again and again.

LocalBetsy: Boston’s Perfect Brows, Flawless Makeup, Perfectly You

The confidence that comes when you know you look your best is pretty hard to beat.

So partly as a reward to myself for working so hard these past months, and partly because I really needed it, I scurried off to get new makeup and a cleaned up brow-line.

All this logic found me, per a friend’s recommendation, at Sarra and in the confident hands of owner Lauren Genatossio. Named after Lauren’s makeup- artist grandmother,  Sara (pronounced Sa-Ray) is an extension of her philosophy of beauty- an inviting environment where women have access to top products and advice. An experienced makeup artist, Lauren’s a  ”precision brow” guru, listed as Improper Bostonian’s Best of Boston 2009 “best eyebrow shaper.” Her credits include W, Glamour, Elle, Maroon Five, and Bruce Willis.

Needless to say, I felt more than pretty ok with letting her have a go at my eyebrows.

When I arrive, I see TheLiquidBetsy reader Sarah T., having her brows done- she told me she was hooked after her first experience and is now pretty much a regular.

2 1/2 hours later, I had perfect precision brows, gorgeous makeup (on my face and in my bag) and new-found knowledge on what works for me. What I liked about Lauren, was her focus on educating her clients and her practical approach. I learned where most make-up is made, how she selects her own skin care and make-up products and, best of all, how the hell to make it all look good on me. Not the “Joan Collins- Runway-OMG-I can’t do this by myself “way, but the “I’m busy- I need to look put together with the least amount of steps + the few nights I go out with the hubby” nice. I also left feeling I could replicate 9o% what she had done.

And for the ROI crowd, dollar for dollar, this was, without a doubt the best money I’ve spent for make-up. Ever.  The brow is included in the lesson, but also the promise that Lauren (and her team) would be happy to do refresher. At Sarra they don’t push what you don’t need- when making the appointment I was told to bring my old makeup and brushes. Lauren went through everything I owned and edited, throwing out what I didn’t need and telling me what to keep, often in lieu of her own product line. Not hard to see why she has such a devoted clientele.

But don’t take my word for it, see Lauren in action. On me.

An appointment with Lauren for a make-up lesson will cost you $180,  this includes the precision brow shaping  ($40 value,) with $100 going toward any makeup or product purchased during the visit. Not bad, considering any make-up worth a trip to Saks would cost you that within the first couple of items and/or parking, brow not included. My friend who originally suggested Sarra, loves the reasonable prices. After dropping her entire makeup bag- and breaking every single piece- in Las Vegas. She visted Sarra and for around $200 replaced everything she needed. But you should note things can be more, depending if you include skin care products, or need extras like special brushes.

And just for TheLiquidBetsy readers, Sarra is taking half-off your initial precision brow apt.- say “Betsy sent me” at the time you schedule your apt. and save $20.

Can you say “Book’em Dan-O?“

A precision brows last typically between 4-6 weeks. And men are also a part of Lauren’s clientele, so drag your boyfriends and husbands in, tell them they’ll get a more natural effect vs. waxing. (And you won’t be lying.)

Visit Lauren and her team at the Boston and Hingham locations.

Sarra- Boston
840 Summer Street
South Boston, MA 02127-1533
(617) 269-8999

Sarra- Hingham
104 North Street
Hingham, MA 02043-1842
(781) 749-5599

Or check out them out on Google Maps.

Detox Day 28 Olympic Gold Baby!

Bridget Jones’s Update of Clean Detox Day 28 or Day 15: BMI: 24.6 (+0.1) Back up. Activity Level: Still dizzy, first it was the back going out, and then now the dizziness. This stinks. Meditation: Did the sit in the chair exercise that Dr. Junger suggests. It works. Feel great. Brief Observations: Skin is great. Back to the way it was before the rashes came back. Hallelujah.

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Still dizzy. Somehow it’s worse in bed. Rolling over. It hasn’t been so bad during the day, occasionally. Just. Wish. It. Would. Go. Away. It’s crimpin’ my style. Not working out, and I was just getting back into working out. I will just have to wait this out. And that’s OK.

What I do want to talk about is the Winter Olympics. Most have watched the skating, skiing, but TheBetsy has been keeping her watchful eye on the commercials.

By far, the gold has to go to this gem by P&G:

It hits on all notes. It is poignant. It plays to our hearts, especially if we have kids. And, face it, if you’re buying P& G, and watching the Olympics, you’re at least an adult. And if it’s a weeknight viewer, you’re most likely a parent. They did a fantastic job fitting the ads to this particular market segment.

This commercial brings the human side of the equation. Not the athlete, not the brief 1:30 bio done by a CBS Sports commentators but the essence of the struggle, the dedication, the necessary sacrifice and support necessary to make it to the olympics, let alone medal in an event. Ever athlete is the kid that parent took to practice, watch during competition finger crossed, panic at every fall, pepped talked during every crises of confidence and rehabilitate after every injury. That mom’s look is truly worth a thousand words. Hopes, dreams, fears, stress. It’s a brilliantly crafted piece.

Links to Items Featured on TheLiquidBetsy:

My.CleanProgram.com

Alexander McQueen.

Alexander McQueen committed suicide yesterday, just days after his beloved mother passed away.

He was 40.

Fashion is art, and this mad genius was up there with both cut, style and presentation.

This UK’s Daily Mail article goes into the details of his life, but let’s take a moment to celebrate the man and his wonderful, arresting mischief.

DD 16: JD 2: Let it Snow (or Don’t)

courtesy of National Geographic Little Kids website

Bridget Jones’s Update of Day 16: BMI: 24.9 (-0.4) One word: WOOOT!  About damn time.  Meditation: I’ve managed to set aside 5 mins a day to really close my eyes/breathe/focus on each body part meditation exercise. Brief Observations: Ok back on day 2 of Dr. Junger’s challenge, and the headache is back. Dull, back of the head. Definitely makes me want to walk away from any further sugary spoonfuls of delight, that’s for sure.

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And they’re starting to called it Snow-meggedon.

Huge Blizzard. Anywhere from 8-14″.

Biblical… given the bro-ha-ha currently happening in New England.

Think Moses “Part the Red Sea” Old Testament style bro-ha-ha. Then enter the press. Not being a local, I’m inclined to listen to natives, they panic, I panic. We aren’t at Def-con 1, but based  on the breathless, twitchy local-news weather chica, I should be very concerned.

Some started calling it Snow-meggedon. Pack up the kids, batten down the hatches. Stock up, snuggle down.

Dear readers, Good news…

This isn’t my first rodeo.

I’ve seen what happens to the people of New England when faced with a snow storm.

Default mode in NE is panic when it comes to snow- be it a flake or deluge. Totally fueled by the media, your average hardy New Englander is relegated into something from Survivor.

Now, Washington DC is panicked. HELL YES, they should be, as they probably have one working plow for the 2-3 FEET that just hit the district. But RI and MASS? First rumor of snow has Aunt Em hip-checking Grannies at the market during a run on eggs, milk and bread.

Why? The Nor’easter of 1978. I blame all this craziness on one damn storm.

And to be totally fair, it was an epic storm.

It’s severity was unexpected. Raging for 33 straight hours, it had winds from 88 mph to 111 mph. At end it had dropped over 2 feet ( and in some areas 40″) of snow. Killed 100 people and left over 4,500 injured. It shut down Boston and RI, roads choked. People died in cars on highways, snow covering idling cars’ exhaust pipes, inducing carbon monoxide poisoning.

Blizzard of '78 burying cars in Boston

So we pay for the next 32 years, the first snowflake, sends most of MA and RI running off to tape windows, store up a week of supplies and make sure there’s full tanks of gas in both snow blower and car.

So I’ve got one week of food, movies up the ying-yang to watch with or without the kids, and enough home projects to last two or three epic storms.

But as I said this isn’t my first Rodeo.

I just have this feeling that there are going to be a lot of weather reporters eating crow on this storm.

Snow-magedon?

Probably more like Snowgate.

Mom 2.0- Defining a Moment

The Hub sent this to me, it was posted on Guy Kawasaki’s Holy Kaw site.

It does a beautiful job on a beautful (and beautifully hard) job.

Motherhood.

Spare Me

People try to spare their loved ones from pain. That’s why their loved ones. I do it. You do it.

Sometimes we just spare them because they’re not ready. Like little children. So when my 6 year-old twins hear Mommy and Daddy discussing the recent events of Tiger Woods caddish ass-like behavior- I spared them.

And used it to my own advantage.

Me: “Remember it’s always worse to lie?”

Our kids get 1 1/2 x the punishment for lying about something they did wrong- my husband & I feel you need to take responsibility.

Got that Tiger? Taking personal responsibility.

Them: “Yes Mommy.” (in unison, very cute and endearing with twins… )

Here is the teaching moment.

Me: “Well Tiger Woods lied. It was wrong and he’s in trouble. He disappointed a lot of people, especially his wife and family.”

And now the obvious next question… which I wasn’t thinking about- I blame it not on having coffee and being really freakin’ tired this morning but it was totally my own doing.

Smarty pants son: “Why? What did Tiger do.”

Oh crap.

Me: “He kissed another girl. Not his wife. When you’re married, you simply don’t kiss anyone else…”

And that, folks, is how I spared my kids.

They don’t know what sex is,  nor what commitment and fidelity are, women who sleep with married men, the ego and hubris of pro-athletes, “lawyering up,” prenuptials or morality clauses.

Nor do I want them.

I was also recently spared by my parents. A call by my mom yesterday letting me know my father just had a pace-maker put in. First I’d heard of it. Now my father is being treated for skin cancer. Chemo, radiation, leukine treatments and surgery et al. and he’s doing great.

Now I’m in Boston and my folks are in Southern California. I know they didn’t want me to worry. I should have know something was up- Dad recently had an episode where he landed in the ICU because his heart rate was elevated. (I also found out about that because I happen to call him while he was there. So precedent was set.)

But the pace maker? Totally out of left field. Mostly because I assumed I was informed. I was in the know.

But that, was the not what I needed. I didn’t need the sparing. Because now I will worry. Of what they are not telling me.

I don’t like surprises. My mantra is “Plan for the worst, hope for the best.”  So, of course I now am planning for the worst. Past experiences have made me very, very wary of  being spared. Mostly because it either means someone doesn’t want me hurt or they are really sparing themselves dealing with the aftermath of whatever they’re sparing me from. All in all, I don’t like being spared. I’ll take direct, brutal honesty over sparing my feelings. Any day. So upon hearing my Dad had his pace-maker in, and was recovering nicely, I got off the phone.

And promptly broke. My restraint was gone. Logic gave way to the illogical and emotional.

What if Dad dies and I’m in Boston? Could I or would I ever forgive myself by not being there?  If I did go, could I even make it if I had to? What do I get from the act of saying good-bye? The questions come fast and furious. Cerebrally I know it’s ridiculous. Dad is ok.

But what if he’s not?

I ask God to please Spare Me that.