Imported from Detroit
As a Bears fan, I chose not to watch the Packers win the Super Bowl last night (if I didn’t see it, it’s easier to believe it didn’t actually happen). However, I did catch some Super Bowl ads on YouTube and Hulu. It seems like the consensus is that Chrysler’s “Imported from Detroit” commercial featuring Eminem was one of the best from the night and I have to agree.
I think one of the reasons it stood out is that it attempted, and succeeded, to move people rather than make them laugh. It’s much more difficult, in my opinion, to move people with an ad, but when you manage to do it, it can be make the ad more memorable than one that’s funny. I’ve read some articles about the ad and it sounds like some, especially those who have a connection to Detroit or the area, were even moved to tears (or at least goose bumps). It also sounds like many across the country saw the message of Detroit’s resilience and thought of their own situations and their own cities.
If you haven’t seen it yet, take a look below:
When I saw the ad for the first time last night, I also remembered the Nike Ad, “Magnet,” featuring Lance Armstrong. Like the Chrysler ad, you can spend a lot of time dissecting the cinematography and editing of this ad, and in fact, I did as a film studies teaching assistant a few years ago. The professor I worked for assigned a paper asking students to closely examine the “Magnet” ad and identify what makes it so effective. Last night, I was curious if there was a connection between the two ads. It turns out both ads were created by Wieden + Kennedy! They must have a real-life Don Draper or two!
Business Bytes
One of the new initiatives I’m working on lately is a series of workshops for local businesses focusing on how to use technology and social media. We’re calling it “Business Bytes” and the first few workshops will teach business owners how to claim their business on Google, set up a Facebook page for their business, and monitor what people are saying about their business on sites like Yelp. The workshops will be held once in the morning (before the library actually opens to the public) and once in the evening so we can accommodate everyone’s schedule.
They’ll be held in our remodeled Business Center, which is turning out to be a great place for people to get work done, catch up on investment news and analysis, and attend a business or job-related program. We recently added a large flat-screen monitor to have business and financial channels like CNBC running throughout the day.
If you’ve got suggestions on what topics we should be offering for future workshops in this series, please let me know. Here’s one presentation (voted one of the year’s best on Slideshare) that I will definitely be using for inspiration!
New APALA Website
Earlier this year I was asked to chair the web committee for APALA (Asian Pacific American Librarians Association). I was happy to accept with the understanding that we would want to launch a new website pretty quickly. Yesterday, the new site went live. It’s a work in progress, of course, but I think it works pretty well for what we need. Check it out!
If You Want to Work in Libraries
…here are 10 things you should know.
Ned Potter has created a great slide deck to give people a better idea of what librarians and other information professionals do these days. Check it out!
Everything you need to know about technology and working in libraries on Prezi
Nice job, Ned!
BAL Media Lab
I am so excited about Barrington Area Library’s new media lab and I don’t even work there! @ryuden, @detlev_p, and the other folks at BAL are doing some great things! If you still need some convincing to create your own library digital media lab, check out this inspiring promotional video (created using iLife ’11):