I was 21 years old but did not have cable so I didn’t have access.
It wasn’t until ’83 or ’84 when I moved to a town that required you to either have a big old antenna to pull in TV signals from 60 miles away, or you signed up for cable.
Anyway, I was a radio jock and there was a song Video Killed the Radio Star that predicted that music radio was going to disappear due to music videos.
Video did not kill music radio, we have discovered 30 years later.
Quite the opposite occurred as MTV is now full of “reality shows”.
Jersey Shore, 16 and Pregnant, and Pranked to name a few.
As online activity has picked up with the huge rise in social media activity which is now mainstream, and the growth of mobile access via smart phones and tablets, some folks predicted that we would be doing nearly everything online and our offline activity would die off.
This begs an answer to What is Offline Activity?
Simple answer: Anything we do that is not directly connected to the internet.
Eating, Sleeping, Bathroom activity. All of this is offline activity.
But wait,what if I order a pizza online?
Yes, that is online, but the actual eating is offline unless it’s a virtual pizza that your Second Life character is eating.
Instead of OnLine vs. OffLine, we are seeing an integration of the two.
I’ll watch a TV program and Tweet at the same time, sometimes about the show I am watching.
My industry, broadcasting has added social media to their mix, inviting listeners and viewers to interact via Facebook and Twitter.
Just Saturday night, my wife had me read from a website the step by step recipe instructions for our dinner as she was assembling the ingredients.
More and more we are seeing the benefits of this integration.
But…
Beware of the dangers of obsession.
Spending too much time online can lead to a lopsided life.
This is true with anything we can overdo.
Too much chocolate cake can add 100 pounds to your body.
Too much Football viewing can cut into family time.
Too much time spent sleeping means less time to accomplish tasks that you need to be awake for.
Then we had a third car when my step-daughter turned 16.
That was 8 years ago.
In the Summer of 2011 we were back to two cars.
Last week I received a puzzling email from an Allstate agent that I have not spoken with for years.
Here is a requote of your auto insurance with our current rates and discounts. If any information has changed please let us know to get the best rate you deserve.
And it continues:
I am pleased to send you a personalized quote for Allstate® Your Choice Auto Insurance – a different kind of car insurance available only from Allstate.
Every Auto policy comes standard with a Claims Satisfaction Guarantee, at no additional cost. This provides a built in guarantee of Claim Experience Satisfaction.
Blah, blah, blah..
The email continues with a quote for two cars my wife and I used to own.
Once Upon A Time:
Year, Make & Model
1995 MERCEDES-BNZ C280
1999 OLDSMOBILE INTRIGUE
But we don’t own those cars anymore. The Olds has been gone for about 18 months and the Benz, bit the dust a few months ago.
Why did I get this email?
It’s not spam, but it’s the next worst thing.
It’s lazy prospecting that probably uses a program some bigwigs in the Allstate marketing program told their agents they should use to drum up business.
It’s not working. Not with me.
Look, I work in sales and marketing. I am not going to respond to lazy marketing techniques.
Unless you call writing this article an acceptable response.
Every Friday I’m posting the video’s from that day:
MILES NITZ
Contemplating the concept of change through exploration of secrets hidden deeply within the neuro-biology of the human brain. Learn cutting edge approaches being used to facilitate new thinking.
1st off, a very Happy Birthday to my daughter Rachael who is entering her final year of her 20’s today.
Funny thing is I remember thinking at the time that my wife and I had completed what my parents did.
See I was an only child, so I thought we were done.
However we were blessed with 2 more children and we were outnumbered.
There’s an old saying, “1st comes love, then marriage. Then comes __________ pushing a baby carriage.”
I recall it as a 4th grade taunt because some of my classmates found out a liked a girl named Sarah.
That nursery rhyme came to mind again the past couple of year ago.
3 weddings and 3 births with more on the way.
The weddings actually began 6 years ago when my youngest, Tiffany was 20, but let’s fast forward to 10/10/10.
That was the date my son Josh married Madeline.
5/28/11.
That was the date my oldest, Rachael married Brandon. Memorial Day weekend.
8/13/11
The last of the 3 weddings in less than a year in my family was Abby, my step-daughter and her husband Jeff.
For Kathy (my wife) and I, 4 of 5 of our kids have entered thru the LOVE and MARRIAGE steps.
Does that mean baby carriages are next?
Looks like it.
And these two events have begun to overlap.
Go back to 5/28/11. Along with my daughter Rachael’s wedding that evening, we had a big event around 8 in the morning.
5/28/11 is the birthday of my first grandson, Calvin born to Tiff and Jon after nearly 5 years of marriage.
2/13/12 is the birthday of my first granddaughter Nora born to Rachael and Brandon.
8/9/12 is the birthday of my second granddaughter Emma, to Tiff and Jon. If Emma would have waited 4 more days she would have been born on Abby’s wedding anniversary.
Speaking of which, Abby and Jeff are expecting their 1st child in February! I’m hoping for 2/13 the same date as Nora’s birthday.
Every Friday I’m posting the video’s from that day:
KIRBY FERGUSON
Remixing is a folk art but the techniques are the same ones used at any level of creation: copy, transform, and combine. Explore examples, discover innovation’s secrets and be inspired to go and do likewise.
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