Perspective, Whitney and a really cool jam session....

The past 72 hours or so have provided all of us with a glimpse of just how misplaced the priorities of the media and of society are there days.  Listen, I understand that the death of Whitney Houston was tragic in that it took the life of a woman who had arguably one of the best voices of all time at much too young of an age.  That being said, I am perplexed by the mass reaction to her death in both traditional and social media. 

The fact of the matter is that the woman has essentially done nothing of note for 15 years except appear on Oprah’s show to admit that she was an addict and that she was working on getting better.  The song for which she is best known was recorded 20 years ago and she had not toured in North America since 1999 and video footage of her 2010 tour of Europe and Asia showed an artist that had become a shell of her former self. 

I can appreciate that the sudden death of a former idol can be jarring but I find it a little much when people are writing Tweets and messages on Facebook of how they’ll “miss Whitney” when we have not really seen her in 15 years and when her songs only get played infrequently on the radio.  Really, apart from “I will always love you”, when was the last time you heard any of her songs on the radio.  In fact, more often than not, the only time I’ve heard any of her songs over the past 15 or 20 years is towards the end of a wedding reception when the DJ plays two or three consecutive slow dances.

I certainly hope that Ms Houston rests in peace and that her family can be comforted by the fact that she is now in a better place.  I also hope that some of her industry friends will create a fund that will raise money towards helping people with addictions.  I realize that there is no proof yet that drugs had anything to do with her death but, even if it was her heart that failed, the history of drug and alcohol abuse certainly did not help.

Random thoughts

·       Dear readers, if you are having a bad day at some point this week, your iPod is not working, your car will not start, your boss throws another project on your pile, your kids aren’t listening, etc...have a look at what is happening in Syria.  Believe me; your life is not that bad right now…perspective!

·       On a lighter note…I thoroughly enjoyed the Grammy Awards on Sunday night.  I don’t really care who won the awards but the bulk of the performances were great fun.  To see the Beach Boys reunited up on stage was really cool and they even sound better than Whitney did in 2010. Also nice to see the Boss and Sir Paul perform…the jam at the end of the show was one of the better jams I’ve ever seen on television. Oh, and by the way, that Adele girl certainly can sing…just sayin’!

·       The one problem I had with the Grammy performances was the fact that the organizers would allow Chris Brown to perform on the same show with the woman he beat up and sent to the hospital a couple of years ago.  I don’t care if Rihanna has forgiven him publicly or not (not sure) but what message does that send out to young men when you can beat up your girlfriend and two years later still end up on the Grammy Awards and perform a few minutes before her.  Even more troubling, as reported on a number of blogs, there were a number of young ladies who Tweeted messages that read “…I would let Chris Brown beat me up”.  I kid you not…there was a list of 25 similar Tweets from young ladies throughout the U.S, posted during the Grammy show. Sad…really sad!!

·       I’ll not do a rant on Valentine’s Day in this blog as I’ll end up sounding like a bitter single guy.  That being said, would the world not be a better place if we did not need a specified date to show the people around us that we love them!

Let's Talk

I don’t generally write more than one blog per week but for some reason I felt compelled to write this particular blog after reading an article written by Michael Landsberg.  For those of you that are not familiar with Michael Landsberg, he hosts one of the more popular interview programs in Canada   on TSN (The Sports Network).  He portrays himself as a loudmouth, know-it-all who often interrupts his guests during interviews…you either love him or hate him in a similar way that people either love or hate Don Cherry of Hockey Night in Canada.

For many years, as many of us do, Michael Landsberg carried a secret with him that his viewers would have never imagined from watching him…he battled depression.  I’ll not go into greater detail on his story as I’ve attached a link to the article I refer to above.

Let’s be clear, the reason for this blog is not for me to make a public announcement that I suffer from depression or mental illness.  I’m one of the lucky ones, at least so far, I do not suffer from depression but I’m next to certain that some people who read this blog do suffer from depression.  My message to those of you that read this blog and that are suffering from depression is to implore you not to suffer alone.  Please reach out and talk to someone and begin the process of hopefully getting healthier.  If you want to reach out to me froch@ntl.sympatico.ca, I promise to respond and if you need to talk in person I will make it happen.

To the people who read this that do not suffer from depression please never forget that depression is an illness and not a weakness.  If someone ever reaches out to you PLEASE do not tell them to “…get over it and that they’ll be over it in the morning”…they might no longer be around the next morning.  Depression plays for keeps and I know more than one family that has been left to deal with some of the most heartbreaking “what ifs” you can ever imagine after having lost a love one to suicide as a result of depression.

Today is “Let’s Talk Day” in Canada in support of mental illness please go to the following link to see how you can support this worthy and importance fight!

http://letstalk.bell.ca/

Michael Landsberg’s article…

http://www.tsn.ca/story/?id=387217

Frank

Northern Ontario's social media funk, feeling bad for Gisele Bundchen and why I hate Ryan Seacrest!

When I started developing my virtual shows business several months ago, I naturally began taking a greater interest in web-related technology, applications and social media.  The result is that I’ve developed a fairly comprehensive network of sources, podcasts, websites and blogs from which I am able to access more information about social media than I ever thought possible.  I honestly feel like I learn something every day and that, to use a term popular with many tech companies, it has encouraged me to “iterate” my virtual platform in order to have a better product once I launch to a wider market at the end of the month.

Over the same period of time, I have come to learn that the mentality that is prevalent in Silicon Valley and in major urban centres does not seem to translate very well in Northern Ontario.  In discussing my business with government agencies and people that are otherwise business-savvy individuals for which I have tremendous respect, I’ve come to realize that the social media revolution has not fully made its way to Northern Ontario yet.  In fact, in some cases, I get the feeling that different individuals believe that if they ignore social media long enough, the fad will pass.  Well, I have news for you…Facebook will likely have over 1 billion users by the end of 2012, there are over 200 million people on Twitter and more than 40 million with profiles on LinkedIn…social media is not going anywhere!

Ironically, the seeming lack of enthusiasm for social media as a business tool in many circles is not due to a lack of information or training.  There are a number of experts that have been brought in to offer seminars and training sessions on social media in Northern communities.  Unfortunately, their message does not seem to be getting through as well as it could.  There are a number of companies and organizations that have a Facebook or Twitter presence that seems to have been created simply to avoid questions such as “Why are you not on Facebook or Twitter?”  Well, having a “presence” is not good enough.  Social media experts from throughout North America will tell you that having a static presence where you do little but push your products or events without trying to engage with people will prove ineffective.  Social media is about interaction and about engaging the people that bother to take time out of their schedules to visit your page. It is not the same as buying an ad in a newspaper or on the radio.

Starting in late February when we launch the Northern Ontario Pavilion, the region’s first permanent online conference centre, I will work with other social media advocates from throughout the region to ensure that Northern Ontario, its businesses and its organizations have a strong voice on each of the primary social media platforms.  Together we will am up Northern Ontario’s presence on social media.

Random thoughts

·       I read a report last week which said that the Government of Ontario’s average daily costs for food is $7.33 in seniors homes,  $8.00 for hospital patients and $11.00 for prison inmates.  Somehow that just does not feel right!

·       So I followed a link online which brought me to a video of Matt Lauer interviewing Barack Obama.  One of his questions: “…Mr. President, can you confirm that the U.S is currently developing a powerful bomb that would be able to reach Iran’s nuclear development labs deep underground.  Really Matt…did you really expect the President of the United States to answer that question on national television?  I always find it sort of sad when journalists ask such sophomoric questions.

·       I never thought that I would ever write something that included me feeling sorry for Gisele Bundchen.  You know…Tom Brady’s wife, supermodel, businesswoman that experts believe will be the first billionaire model before the end of the decade.  Anyhow, she was caught on camera telling drunken fans that if her husband’s receivers had caught the ball when it was thrown to them the Patriots might have one.  Of course, this was caught on an iphone and today she was made a villain for having thrown her husband’s teammates under the bus.  Problem is, she was right…if the Patriots receivers make a couple of key catches on well thrown balls in the late stages of the game, the Patriots would have won.

·       Speaking of the Super Bowl, I really wish that Canadian companies who advertise on the Canadian feed of the game made more of an effort to air new commercials during the Super Bowl.  it really sucked having to watch commercials we have been seeing for over a year when all the brand new, much-hyped ads were being aired on the American feed of the game.

·       Tim Thomas…you refuse to join your teammates from the Boston Bruins at the White House and announce it in the form of a long-winded statement that goes into great detail on how you feel that the American government has failed you.  Then you have the gonads to say that you will not answer any questions on the matter.  Really…you thought you’d get away with that without getting grief from just about every possible direction.  I’m thinking you might have taken one too many slap shots to the noggin if you thought all this would go away quickly and quietly.

·       Dear Ryan Seacrest, you have made millions through your production company by airing hour after pointless hour of Kim Kardashian’s daily activities.  Please, for the good of mankind, STOP IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!