iDisney

In the previous post, I mentioned some of my addictions. Well here is something that combines almost all of them!

Out on the web, you can see what some clever people have done, based on the popular iPod/iTunes ads. You can find just about any character and person showing their loyalty to the iPod brand.

Here are some of my favorite iDisney ones, some of which you can also find on my flair bulletin board in Facebook. These are pretty self-explanatory. If you have others, please pass them on to me!

iMLinkedBookIn!

Everyone knows I'm the poster child for Disney. I'm every marketers dream of buying into something. (As the director of marketing, you 'd think I could apply some of the same brain-washing techniques to make our stock soar, but that hasn't happened yet.)

It's just like me having three iPods. Why does one person need three iPods? And yet I do. I can't give away the Mini; the 80G holds most of my music; the iTouch has a nice screen for my videos and podcasts.

Then there's LinkedIn, the professional networking site with over 24 million users(*1) representing over 150 industries, which I love and see at many of the trade shows I attend. Some joke that LinkedIn is the boring social network that won't land you a date, but could find you a job. It's a great place to stay in contact with business partners and associates and to ask for professional advice. So it wasn't a far stretch for my compulsive personality to be turned to the Dark Side and cave to my friends' requests to join Facebook.

Facebook, for those of you living in a cave, is the social networking site that has over 60 million members(*2). One of the big controversies, is that many people treat that site as their "personal" haven, despite the fact that 60 million people can become your "friend", and the site is a place where the boundaries between work and personal lives has become blurred.

For example, many of the recruiters and business partners with whom I work will look for temporary and career-minded individuals to fulfill a requisition. Some people don't like that, while others think it's a gold mine of opportunity. I myself struggle with having my business partners and even some colleagues seeing my wacky antics on my off time. Thank goodness for those filters!

But if you do find yourself on LinkedIn or Facebook, be sure to add me to your network. I don't want to miss out anything!

www.LinkedIn.com

www.Facebook.com


(*1) - The New York Times, September 17, 2008
(*2) - CrunchBase, September 13, 2008

Going to the Dogs and Cats: Whisker Whirl

Wow, I have a lot of pictures on my camera that I've either forgotten to post or with some to do. But since next weekend I'm going to be attending the Animal Humane Society's Whisker Whirl, I figured I'd better post some pictures of last year's event before posting the ones I'll be snapping this year.

This is a great fund raiser where pet owners and lovers can get together for the evening and have a good time. They have pet food as well as human food. Sometimes, it's hard to tell which is which, but I was assured that this was the human dessert plate.

Last year's theme was Autumn in New York, and Tamar Geller was one of the guest presenters. The table displays reflected things we'd expect to see from the Big Apple, like Broadway. Hey! Do I spot The Lion King?

If you're in NYC, you have to go to Little Italy. Wait! Is that Lady and the Tramp?

Yes, some of the tables did have a Disney touch, but that's because friends Dani and Chris, who volunteer for the Humane Society, also provided some of the table decorations. They clean up nicely, don't you think?

This year's theme is Whisker Whirl Goes Hollywood, so that should be fun. But as we left last year, someone left their "auction paddle" on their table and I couldn't resist this picture. They had a Hollywood theme last year and didn't know it! Woof!

If you'd like to know more about this year's Whisker Whirl or would like to make a donation, check them out at:

http://www.animalhumanesociety.org/event_wwhirl.asp

Laughter in the Rain...Kind Of

You know that it's Fall when it's time for the annual Fall into the Arts Festival. Typically, it looks like this:
But not this year. It was so damp and rainy, I (wisely) didn't bring my camera. Checking the Weather Channel before venturing out, I figured I would walk over and around the festival before the rain would come through. But that was only after I had done my laundry chores.

A few nice things, and many of the same exhibitors were there. There was one "must have", but since he only took cash or check, I asked him to hold it and I figured I could run home, avoid the rain and becoming sopping wet, and then come back to pick it up. Even with an umbrella in hand that didn't happen.

As I was heading home, which is only a few blocks away from the festival, the heavens open up and the Minnesota rain came down. It's not the fun Summer rain that feels good. It was the cold, damp rain that came down. By the time I got home, every inch of me was wet.

I changed and let the storm pass before heading out again. I picked up my treasure, and guess what happened...again? Yep. Another storm cell came through, and I was drenched again. After getting caught up on laundry, my trip out today cost me two days worth of laundry. Oh well.

Here's what I have to show for it. It's a silver creamer with silver spoons as the chimes.

My Lunch Nightmare (the good kind)

I had to run a couple of errands at the Mall of America yesterday. Even though I can't let go of Summer, Fall's cool (no pun intended) because of all the Halloween stuff.

At Hallmark, the have a "Three Faces of Jack Skellington" tealight votive holder set (the clerk corrected me after I said candle holder) that was fun. And then through my traditional spin through The Disney Store, they have a few new pieces out (I was expecting more, especially for the 15th anniversary).

I was admiring the Jack and Sally candle stick holders (these actually were candle stick holders and the Cast Member was too busy pushing Sleeping Beauty and the Tinker Bell movie to correct me if I had made a mistake), when I saw this and thought, "What's This?" (NBC fans will be rolling their eyes at me about now. If you don't get it, watch the movie.)

This figurine lights up, and Jack comes with three interchangeable heads (Why are there so many things for Jack with interchangeable heads? Could it be because of his many expressions? I think so!) and was pretty tall. But for $100, I'd rather go for broke and get the WDCC Pumpkin King piece (which costs the equivalent to a roundtrip airfare to London, so you decide which one I'd take!)

I didn't pick up any of these pieces...yet!

Did I Just See That?

While running errands today, I passed a gas station near the condo. Did I just see that? I wish I had my camera! But my cell phone can snap pics, but very good ones.

This was on the side of the bus.And here's a closer look at it:
An important message to be taking to everyone, especially the universities, but I wasn't expecting to see that in Minnesota!

http://www.facebook.com/trojancondoms

Noise Pollution

All day long, I had back-to-back meetings. I had just enough time to throw some food down my gullet at some point in the day. Needless to say, I was looking forward to my nap time on the bus ride home.

First, a loud person got on the bus to ride a block. Then some guy is was oh so important, had to make sure we all knew it as he carried on a conversation that was probably heard over at the Republican National Convention over in St. Paul.

But the kicker was a woman with five little kids got on the bus. They could see that I was trying to get some shut eye, but insisted on sitting all around me and were constantly yelling and screaming.

After a few looks that could kill that didn't work, I turned to the kids and asked them to keep quiet. The woman shot me a look as if to say she was insulted. I was about to give her a little piece of advice [Warning parents! Non-Disney comment coming up] that if you can't control your kids, you should keep a better job of keeping your legs together, when she rang the bell to get off the bus. I don't even think it was her stop.

I'm home now. It's amazing how a glass of red wine can calm the nerves.