I'll be on vacation till the end of the year. On Friday though I'll be in Atlanta to meet-up with some folks like Amani Channel and most likely Dave Coustan and perhaps J. Brotherlove :-)

The haunts will be Midtown, Chow Baby, and then Buckhead.

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Back in October I announced that I was joining Voce Communications. The first few months (three to be exact) were a trial period, as in do I really want to work for somebody :-)

Turns out I do.

Starting in 2008 I'll be full-time with Voce. We've done some cool stuff and have plenty of exciting things planned for 2008. Stay tuned.

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Shown below is an online ad that Comcast is running on the Atlanta Journal Constituion web site. The ad is an animated gif. The panel on the left is the initial frame, the panel on the right is the final frame. Notice anything about that final frame? Of course it's impossible-to-read legal terms. If you need that many 'terms' to clarify your ad, then why even run it in the first place?

I also find it funny that the telephone number for a major corporation that provides internet access starts with 404.

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Since I 'went long' on the last lens I thought I'd mix it up on the next lens. In fact, it's almost the exact opposite, a very wide angle lens. I'm looking at the Nikkor AF DX 10.5mm f/2.8. If I end up playing with it I'll let you know my thoughts.

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This past Tuesday we visited ICE an interesting and very cold display at the Gaylord Palms resort in Orlando. It's hard in photos to do justice to the display. Many of the sculptures are so big you can't get a sense of scale. The shot below is a tunnel that's made completely of ice and lights. Very cool. The entire photoset is here.

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There has been quite a bit of discussion about the Blog Council, some positive, some moderate. David's initial thoughts were that it might not be a good idea and Geoff took issue with the 'closed door' approach. Here are some follow-up thoughts:

1. Like I said in the previous post, some groups like to meet among their peers and talk shop without outside influence/distractions. That can sometimes be good, or perhaps bad. One similar organization I have worked with is the Insurers Public Relations Council. It's a gathering of the top PR pros at the top insurance firms in the US. The meetings they have are part business, part fun. But ultimately they can get down to business fast since they all work in the same industry, all face the same issues, and all speak the same language. They still seek outside council though....but they're very clear, if you're speaking you're there to educate, not pitch.

2. Following-up on that last thought.....if you remember my rant from a few weeks ago about the standard presentation-as-pitch issue. If I could join a comms/professional group that promised to deliver good quality content that was pitch-free...sign me up.

3. Give them time. Hell the group was just announced. Ultimately the members will be able to see if there is any value in the organization. If it's good it will survive, it not it will die a slow death :-)

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What is ANTB? That stands for Andy's Next Big Thing. Who is Andy? Andy Sernovitz, he used to run the Word of Mouth Marketing Association and now he's launched the Blog Council.

Back in early October, Andy shared his plans for me, and it's great to see this finally launch (and stay true to the original vision he set out):

The Blog Council exists as a forum for executives to meet one another in a private, vendor-free environment and share tactics, offer advice based on past experience, and develop standards-based best practices as a model for other corporate blogs.

Representing thought leaders from corporate departments as diverse as corporate communications, global communities, marketing and customer service, the Blog Council's advocacy role functions as a collective voice in support of responsible, ethics-based corporate blogs. Other issues the Council will address include:

- How do global brands manage blogs in more than one language?
- What do you do when 2000 employees have personal blogs?
- What is the role of the corporate brand in a media landscape increasingly geared toward consumer-generated media?
- What is the correct way to engage and respond to bloggers who write about your company?

It's true that major brands have issues unique to them. They also like to interact/share with their peers, in confidence.

I was fortunate enough to present to the group earlier this week along with John Bell on the topic of blogger relations.

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It's been a few months since I received my Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8 lens, aka the 'stalker' lens to my friends. The low-light zoom was a good addition to the 17-55mm f/2.8 I picked up earlier this year.

If you read many of the reviews of the 70-200mm f/2.8 you'll see a consistent thread...it's an awesome lens. For much of what I shoot, the lens is the perfect solution.

I'm often at conferences where there is a speaker on a stage in a low-light situation. I want to get a nice headshot. This lens does it every time. Some of my recent favorite shots have been taken with this lens. What you need to realize is that for the headshots below, I was standing a good distance away.

The 17-55mm is my standard walk-around lens but recently I've been shooting with the 70-200mm in many situations. Almost all the photos I took at our recent trip to Animal Kingdom were taken with the 70-200mm.

John Frost recently complimented the shots I got of the Finding Nemo Musical, I could not have taken those shots without this lens. The combination of the low aperture and VR makes for great shots in a stage/theater setting. However, I've found that the VR does get in the way of sport photography, i.e. rapid fire shooting.

There are some drawbacks, but not many. The weight of the lens is something to contend with, but I find that you quickly get used to it. It's also, well....big. The final factor is cost, currently B&H lists the lens at $1600 (if they're in stock).

Any good lens is a major investment, but they're supposed to live through a few bodies so if you amortize the cost of the lens over that lifetime....justification in process here.... :-) In the end the lens is worth the investment if you can swing the finances.

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Recently the Vancouver Olympics debuted the three mascots for the Winter Games in 2010. The mascots are nods to the heritage of the region (no they're not Bob and Doug McKenzie). Of the three mascots I really like Quatchi the sasquatch.

The mascot selections are always controversial. Doug Haslam doesn't like them (along with many of the other previous mascots). While I agree with Doug that many of the previous mascots have been, how shall we say, unique. However, I like Quatchi.

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After a week (or two) at home it's back on the road. Here is the travel schedule:

- Wednesday/Thursday: I'll be in Indianapolis, IN to speak at a few events before heading to DC
- Friday: I'm in Washington DC for a conference and a quick lunch with Geoff Livingston

Next week it's off to Voce home-base in Palo Alto from Monday-Thursday. The following week I make a quick-trip to Cleveland to visit with my grandfather.

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Ah yes, the fun of searching for a Wii. Charlene Li recently posted her tips, but I have some observations:

Grandparents Always Win:
In my searches I have often found the 'opposition' to be grandparents, they have some significant advantages over the regular Wii-searcher

1.They're retired so they have plenty of free time to wait and search and wait.

2. If you watch Wal-Mart commercials, most of them work there, so they have the inside scoop on the next shipment.

3. Waiting is what they normally do at the doctor's office, so waiting for a Wii is 'fun'.

4. They're kinda cute and remind you of your grandparents, so you can't get mean with them.

5. They may be old, but they're crafty, remember they won WWII.

Where are Logistics and RFID?
The retail world is supposed to be digitized/automated/controlled/tracked, etc. Major retail chains brag about how efficient their systems are and the inventory control they command. Yeah right.

Call any store and they have no idea when any Wii's are arriving. "We get them when we get them." Really? That's the inventory control that made you one of the largest and most profitable retailers in the world?

Ask them how many 195/85 15H tires they have and they'll have an exact count though.

Find One?
Seriously did you find one? Buy it for me :-) Nevermind, I got one!

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This past weekend we went to Disney's Animal Kingdom to play a bit. It was the first time we've been since the new Finding Nemo the Musical opened so we caught the early show. It was an amazing show, well worth the visit/wait. If you don't know anything about the show, the performers are puppets, with a twist. The puppeteers do not hide, they are part of the action as well.

Of course I took some photos :-) You can find the entire photoset here.

We were lucky to make the visit with John Frost of The Disney Blog. John knows his Disney stuff and provided a number of trivia tid-bits during the show. You can read some of his posts about Nemo:

- Finding Nemo - The Musical, Now in Previews
- Finding Nemo - The Musical, Meet the Creators

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Anil Dash has posted a review of his first CLEAR experience. If you don't know what CLEAR is, you'll get a good idea from his review. A few friends have recently signed up for the program and all love it so far.

I recently created a Facebook group for the 'fans of CLEAR', or people I know that use the service :-)

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