The Dark Plastic Hallway

RockGeek Fact of the Day #420b

Scott — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 14:39:15 +0000

Happy (would’ve been) 67th Birthday to Bob Marley. Didja know that in the early ’70s, Bob Marley and the Wailers were booked to open dates for Sly & The Family Stone? After 4 dates, Bob and company were dropped from the tour. Turns out they were more popular than the headliner… Can you imagine that [...]

Finally done!

Scott — Mon, 16 Jan 2012 20:41:32 +0000

After months of effort, research, head-scratching, and stress, I finished my book. The first copies of the The Analysis of Hype are now in the hands of those who purchased the eBook. Printed editions are printing and will be shipping later this week. But, holy crap, I wrote a book! As someone who’s been writing [...]

The Pleasure-Dome

Scott — Sun, 15 Jan 2012 15:59:04 +0000

Pretty much everyone knows the story of Kubla Khan. It starts out, “In Xanadu did Kublai Khan A stately Pleasure-Dome decree, Where Alph, the sacred river ran Through caverns measureless to man Down to a sunless sea.” Some know it from the intro to Citizen Kane, others were forces to read Coleridge in college. Regardless, [...]

Fixing the MBTA

Scott — Tue, 03 Jan 2012 19:00:42 +0000

Here in Boston we’ve got our knickers in a potential twist. Yet again, there’s talk of raising fares on the “T” to offset some staggering deficits. It amazes me that so many companies (and politicians…) think they can continually cut spending in order to raise revenues. The natural logic is that if you spend less, [...]

It’s Twoo!

Scott — Mon, 12 Dec 2011 17:14:14 +0000

I’m the first person to tell you not to believe everything you read on the Internet. For every useful piece of information, there’s a Nigerian price lurking right around the corner. But when you’ve found something so unbelievable, so fantastical, that it must be obviously a joke –and it’s not– this must be (further) shared [...]

RockGeek Fact of the Day #9063b

Scott — Wed, 23 Nov 2011 20:28:51 +0000

OK – maybe it’s a stretch, but …. Today would’ve been Harpo Marx’s 123rd birthday. Bizarre? Any excuse to add a little Marx Brothers to the festivities, right? Tweet

Sponsor me?

Scott — Thu, 17 Nov 2011 15:21:42 +0000

I’m gonna say it: I hate Kickstarter. I hate the fact that they make it easy for anyone to ask you for money. That’s not to say I’m a total Scrooge, but I keep getting hit up to back people’s projects. Somehow, it seems fundamentally wrong for me to “invest” in your project without getting [...]

Enough, ok?

Scott — Sat, 12 Nov 2011 15:28:45 +0000

Over the last few days, I’ve received 73 Facebook event invitations. It’s not because of my incredible popularity, subtle wit, or boyish charm that people want me at their event. Shocking, I know. Instead, they overutilize the tool so much that it becomes noise — and therefore irrelevant. As a marketer and promoter, you want [...]

Uphill Both Ways

Scott — Wed, 02 Nov 2011 16:38:23 +0000

Within the last month, I’ve had two interns quit. As the lowest rung on the professional ladder, it’s not common for interns to be less than enthralled with the work they’re doing. But as companies continue to squeeze free labor out of the unpaid masses, I had to stop and think if I was actually [...]

Marketing by the numbers

Scott — Wed, 05 Oct 2011 05:03:26 +0000

Working with musicians, you hear a lot of “oh no, my fans would HATE that …” Venues do it too. And managers often assume an understanding of what their artists like or dislike. On nearly every count, they’re wrong. This is never more apparent than the world of technology. Last night, I saw a grandmother [...]