Don’t Write Another Letter

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Writing letters to big companies to complain about a product or service is a big waste of time. The majority of the time, your letters get thrown on a never ending pile, and eventually an intern, PR person (that’s me), or a mail room guy will answer you with some standard response. Yes, there are times you will receive a free meal, additional airline points, or a gift certificate to Pizza Hut or some other large chain which is easy for most people to access. But usually not.

If you want to get immediate satisfaction, learn to use Twitter. In the last few months, major companies have staffs of up to 50 people monitoring this particular social media platform to immediately cure any nasty comments someone has posted about them. The last thing a company needs is a disgruntled customer airing his or her complaints in front of millions of viewers.

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Even Vegas Can’t Keep This a Secret

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Rumor has it that the blackout during the Super Bowl game was not an accident. It was the brainchild of a digital mastermind. I can’t prove any of this, nor do I want to. I just want to let you know what I have been hearing and reading. It all started with an email from a friend yesterday in the morning and now it has escalated to tweets, texts, and Facebook posts. Many folks are using secret codes so that the FBI and CIA don’t start knocking at their doors.

Reportedly, some big Las Vegas gamblers, all over the age of 50, were the culprits. They bet hundreds of thousands of dollars on the 49ers, and when their team was losing big time, they decided to give them a little rest. While Beyoncé was shaking her booty, they shaking up their lackies to “kill the lights.” Those were not the exact words that were used, but the order was given on Facebook and/or Twitter.

I really tried to find out how it was done, but the best I could get was that a bunch of hackers created a power surge at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome. It is still under investigation. While the Baltimore Ravens won the game, I hear that the Vegas gamblers did okay too because they didn’t bet to win the game. They bet on a certain combination of points that had to be generated by both sides.

Officials at the Superdome and its energy company, Entergy, said they were doing a major investigation to get at the root of the problem. Half the stadium was in darkness for a 34-minute delay. There is also speculation that Beyoncé’s dazzling, hologram-assisted halftime show was to blame for the outage. So far no credibility has been given to that theory. Entergy, however, tweeted that the problem was on “the customer side.”

After emergency generators restored power, escalators and credit card machines were shut down. I am not sure what the broadcasters had to do. I’m still checking that out.

Sunday’s Super Bowl Generated 24.1 Million Tweets

tideHere is what I know about Sunday’s Super Bowl. I read these facts right on Twitter and spoke to members of the press. This  event was a huge milestone for social media. Twitter reported that 24.1 million tweets were generated about the game and the halftime show. Beyoncé was the star of Twitter with 268,000 tweets per minute (TPM). The end of the game generated 183,000 TPM; the 108-yard kickoff return touchdown by the Ravens’ Jacoby Jones, 185,000 TPM; and the power outage, 231,500 TPM.

Another first was that brands such as Tide, Oreo, and Calvin Klein reacted quickly and posted clever ads on Twitter related to the outage. The Oreo ad generated the most attention and admiration for its quick thinking media team: Continue reading

A Tribute to Ed Koch from Andrea Peyser

Andrea Peyser

Andrea Peyser

Andrea Peyser has worked for the New York Post for as long as I can remember. She has a way with words that few can equal. Even when I disagree with Andrea, I can’t get over how she uses words in such a way that best describes a situation. It is a rare talent to be able to write about a situation or an event from a totally different viewpoint. She comes up with angles that most have never thought about. Sometimes I find myself laughing out loud. Other times I cringe because she is so harsh. Continue reading

Binge Viewing

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If you are a true couch potato, then you know the joy of sitting home all weekend to watch TV. We have done this many times when we want to be anti-social or just plain lazy.

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I Was Pinned at 19

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I was actually pinned. I haven’t heard that expression in years. My boyfriend at the time gave me his college pin and that meant we were one step closer to being engaged. I was so proud of that pin. I wore it every day until I realized I liked the pin better than I liked the guy.

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Taco Bell Features Seniors at Super Bowl

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DigiDame is headed to Taco Bell. Thank you for relying on seniors for the best Super Bowl commercial.

“We Are Young” commercial features a character named Bernie Goldblatt and his old school amigos from The Glencobrooke Retirement Home when they sneak out for a wild night they’ll never forget.

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Removing Yourself from the Internet

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I have a friend who doesn’t exist on the Internet. He is bland as bland can be, yet he still refuses to put any of his identification online. He once warned me, “Once you are on, you can’t get off.” I thought about it for a while and realized it was too late for me. What was he afraid of? Probably nothing. He has led such an unblemished life that any attention would seem like a scandal to him.

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Showering Us With Kindness

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My daughter Whitney and her boyfriend Fredrick wanted to make sure Eliot and I knew exactly where we were this morning, so they left this note in the shower. My heart fluttered. The Florida Keys has this influence on you.

This is waterproof paper. You can write notes to yourself in the shower where you do your best thinking. Another wonderful invention thanks to the digital world.

Rooms with a View

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Eliot was recently commissioned to take photos of one of the most magnificent apartments in New York City. I thought I would share them with you. Continue reading