My New Favorite Podcast of all Time (for now)

As a rule, I don't choose favorites.
I avoid them.
I hide from them on purpose.
Every once in a while, they find me.

In the world of podcast listening pleasures, I have several weekly regulars.
Sound of Young America. - love
This American Life. - double love
Radio Lab. - quad love
All three of these are easily searchable and accessible by itunes.

My new favorite podcast found me over the weekend. I've been hiding under my three regulars.

People who care...I introduce to you...The Age of Persuasion. Terry O'Reilly is seasoned ad man and a professor of his profession. He cut his teeth on writing radio spots and he knows the ins and outs and history of his business. For three seasons now he has been taking his classroom to the public through the Canadian Broadcast Company's microphone (Canada's sister to America's NPR).

I went looking for it on itunes and it is not there. Tech Hermit got stretched for a digital scavenger hunt. Never fear, you can find an optional feed (that opens in itunes) right here. When the prompt comes up asking what you want to open the feed with, choose itunes (or whatever you use) and begin adopting this as your own new favorite.

In this day and age, we are all marketing experts. Some are more expert-er than others, Jason Mitchell, Kerri Urbanski and Bev Hutney, so settle down. We see enough images a day to be keenly aware of what is effective and what is not. I think this is one reason that hooked so many of us into Mad Men. (you know you love it) So listen to Terry's radio class and become a little more of an expert. It will give us some credibility as we are shooting our mouths off.

One final quote for Bob Roman and the rest of the Citgo Syndicate. Terry O'Reilly loves the godfather of ad men David Ogilvy. Check out what this bastion of modern advertising said in his 1963 autobiography.

I have a passion for landscape, and I have never seen one improved by a billboard. Where every prospect pleases, man is at his vilest when he erects a billboard. When I retire from Madison Avenue, I am going to start a secret society of masked vigilantes who will travel around the world on silent motor bikes, chopping down posters at the dark of the moon. How many juries will convict us when we are caught in these acts of beneficent citizenship?

iPhone(mullinex), meet Age of Persuasion.
Age of Persuasion meet the six people who read my blog.

I created my own TokBox Contest and won!!!

I have known about tokbox for a while now. You really should check them out. My friend, Bob, turned me on to tokbox back in the early days. Back when I had a cell phone, but was refusing to turn it on unless I had an outbound call to make.

Anyway, I lost track of the company and the service until I saw they integrated their service into facebook chat. Very cool. I can set up my account, but the friends I invite into a video chat (through email or facebook) don't need to have their own account in order for us to have a webcam chat. They just click on the url I send them and all of a sudden, Booyah!, they are in the browser based video chat. Just download the plugin and you are set for a one-click invitation to video chat with your facebook friends.

My mom was here for a visit and I was getting her set up with the facebook plugin. I remembered that the tokbox facebook fanpage had a little tutorial on getting the install, so I headed there.

Upon arrival, I noticed that tokbox had 999 fans. Now, I don't typically "do" facebook groups or causes or fanpages. It has to be a very unique set of circumstance that has me actually join any of these facebook distractions. In this case, I thought it would be a funny joke to claim to be the 1000 fan, and write on the wall in celbration of my awesomeness.
So I did...

A day or so later I receive a message in my inbox from Damon Billian. Check this out...


I created my own fake contest inside the facebook fanpage, and tokbox honored my stupidity! When it comes to making loyal fans, this little process has worked on me. I have been at dozens of conferences, behind a vendor table, giving away all kinds of things in drawings. I have even won a few contests like that too. However, I am much more of an energized fan when a company reaches out to me, as an individual, like this, than if I had entered and won some drawing they hosted. This is bomb diggity.

I really liked the service, but now I like the company.
I like Damon.
I like Micky O'Brien and Ron Hose.
I like that I can reach out to them instantly.

I started chatting this experience up in and around the office. Then Lance says to me, "Did you get that message from Damon?"

"You know Damon?"

"Yeah" says Lance. "Frazier and I were on a video chat that we made public the other day. Damon popped in to say hi and see what we were chatting about."

"You know MY Damon!?"

Anyway, so many lessons for social media marketing. So many things that make this aspect of technology very redeemable. I will probably not IM chat with a facebook friend except on very rare occasions, but I am in for a surprise video chat with you anytime.

Thanks Damon. Thanks tokbox. 1000th fan! Woohoo!!