Hey, I’ve been getting some very nice emails complaining that I haven’t been posting or Podcasting for a while. Well, yes it’s true. But, note that I haven’t been burnt out. Just doing some heavy thinking.

One thing that I have been up to is a new and early stage photo series of teens in their rooms. I’ve got three shots here and many more on the way.

As far as this Blog – Podcast goes there will be more when I have more to say. Some may find this idea refreshing vs. the I-am-going-to-blog-whether-you-like-it-or-not scenario that some Bloggers do.

And, I am going to China in early April. Beijing and Shanghai. Know anyone I should look up?

Well, it has been a long time since I last posted. No, I don’t have “Podcast fatigue” or “Blog fatigue”. I have just been spending a very long time rethinking our business model and this Blog & Podcast needs to mirror that. Right now, we are in THINK mode. Not publish mode.

We are a generalist agency (right now we are working on long-form DRTV, animated TV, mail and email direct marketing programs, radio ads, print ads, catalogs, to name a few….. many marketing tools for a range of clients). Is this what the market wants outside of the Pacific Coast where we have our geographic footprint and client base? Even though we are smarter and more creative than 90% of other agencies (hey, this is my Blog!), we wonder if this is the right model for 2007 and beyond. So, we are talking with a range of very smart people to get their views on the marketing landscape.

This entry is a shout-out to the many very smart people who have been helpful in the past few weeks in lending their knowledge, advice….. and, most importantly in acting like decent human beings!

Acting human is very important to me. If you listened to my Podcast rant #034, “Business ethics and good manners” you heard that I am blown away by how often people are rude in this business - as if it is OK to be rude anytime. As counter to rudeness, I find that the smartest aren’t rude and go out of their way to talk and help. I think that it is an insecurity issue for some. So, here is a quick list of thank you’s for your time and smarts.

Yes, very public. But, hey, why not!

Michael Donahue – American Association of Advertising Agencies

Al Moffatt - Worldwide Partners

Dina Howell – P&G

Randy Smith – P&G

David Jackson – Boston Guru

Michael Keeshan – MagikBox, Inc.

John Prunier – Petsky Prunier

Allen Berger – Cirrus Healthcare

George Carey – Just Kid, Inc.

Beau Fraser – The Gate Worldwide

Robert Hoffer - Newforth Partners

Joel Sackett - A pro photographer friend who is getting me off my ass to go shoot some serious photography in Beijing and Shanghai this spring!

I first heard Mary Meeker, Managing Director of Morgan Stanley, speak at the Industry Standard’s Internet Summit conference in 2000. It was a mega conference held in the heat of the Internet hot-air balloon. Mary got it then and gets it now. Here is a link to a presentation she recently made at the Web 2.0 conference.

Listen Now:

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Yes, this is a sort of rant. I admit it. Is there any reason that business people should not have strong ethics or manners? I emphatically don’t think so. In fact, I never get it when people act lame. Here are four mini-stories about poor behavior. Even mine.

Listen Now:

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I have seen an up tick in visits. I wanted to make sure that new visitors took a look at my Podcast list. So, look right and down a bit and click on Podcasting under the big red “Podcasting” on the right rail of the home page.

Inside you will find interviews on:

How clients engage and use consultants to select agencies.

The Four A’s take.

Auto advertising via Kia Motors.

Whirlpool and Podcasting.

Yahoo’s take on Blogging.

And more…