I am Eagles fan. This is backstage video with Troy Aikman nonetheless...
Thursday, April 21, 2011
Thursday, April 14, 2011
Always Be Closing
How did Steve's Hofstetter fly under my radar for so long? His show last night was hysterical! He has a top selling comedy album on iTunes and he is kind of a big deal.
I met him before the show. I told him what I've been up to. He laughed and said I should be a "celebrity wrangler" or in PR. He seemed impressed that I delivered on my word and saw him perform. I am impressed I made it above 23rd street.
He emailed me this morning and said he would help me. He posted my contest to his extensive list of Facebook and Twitter followers. Looks like I am reverting to social networking to reach my goal. It will be interesting to see what happens.
If this didn't work out, I offered to help him with my newly developed PR skills. I didn't know who he was after all. I was missing out.
I met him before the show. I told him what I've been up to. He laughed and said I should be a "celebrity wrangler" or in PR. He seemed impressed that I delivered on my word and saw him perform. I am impressed I made it above 23rd street.
He emailed me this morning and said he would help me. He posted my contest to his extensive list of Facebook and Twitter followers. Looks like I am reverting to social networking to reach my goal. It will be interesting to see what happens.
If this didn't work out, I offered to help him with my newly developed PR skills. I didn't know who he was after all. I was missing out.
Saturday, April 9, 2011
Friday, April 8, 2011
Star Search
I was fortunate enough to be friends with Ilan Arboleda before he was famous. He has evolved into a big deal movie producer/director in LA who could be the next Steven Spielberg. I didn't hesitate to call him up when I embarked on this endeavor.
Being in films, his obvious response was to make a video. Since I am not provocative enough myself, I decided I would ask celebs to do a clip for me. They are not hard to come by in this city. I would carry around my Flip and ask them to say 5 words: "Vote for Alicia and Brian."
My proper friends who covet their social status urged me not to do this. They claimed I would get kicked out and forever banned from the places we adore. They obviously don't read my blog because I learned from Naomi Campbell. This is what I hoped for.
Perhaps I am wrestled to ground by security guards for pushing a camera in front of Puff. I would be the first person to write Page Six, Radar Online and TMZ about this lunatic harassing A-listers. Not to mention it would be a You Tube sensation. Tonight is my first night star stalking...
Being in films, his obvious response was to make a video. Since I am not provocative enough myself, I decided I would ask celebs to do a clip for me. They are not hard to come by in this city. I would carry around my Flip and ask them to say 5 words: "Vote for Alicia and Brian."
My proper friends who covet their social status urged me not to do this. They claimed I would get kicked out and forever banned from the places we adore. They obviously don't read my blog because I learned from Naomi Campbell. This is what I hoped for.
Perhaps I am wrestled to ground by security guards for pushing a camera in front of Puff. I would be the first person to write Page Six, Radar Online and TMZ about this lunatic harassing A-listers. Not to mention it would be a You Tube sensation. Tonight is my first night star stalking...
Tuesday, April 5, 2011
Dancing With The Stars
While I'm waiting for Oprah to call, I'm watching Dancing with the Stars. I follow some of the cast on Facebook and Twitter. Everyone but Ralph floods the internet with cries for votes. What a perfect segue to ask them to vote for me too!
I pledge my allegiance to 4: Ralph Macchio, Kendra Wilkinson, Kirstie Alley and Wendy Williams. Wendy may not be the best dancer but she IS the queen of all media! She may even make it further than Ralph because she asks for it.
First, I comment under Wendy and Kendra's Facebook page. I fawn over each of them and highlight why I liked each dance (in case they read it.) Then I post my link. Since I really do vote, I have reasoned it's not tacky to ask for their support too, Right?
I'm interrupted by a call from a friend. I brag about what I have done. She reminds me that if I posted to their page then everyone who is connected to them can read it too. Genius! I convinced my friend that was all part of the plan. It never crossed my mind.
My friend checks their page for proof. She tells me it's no longer there. She questioned my audacity and I questioned if she knew me.
I guess celebs don't do free advertising after all. Good to know. My "friend"s stripped me of my comments but never my confidence.
I still have Twitter...
I pledge my allegiance to 4: Ralph Macchio, Kendra Wilkinson, Kirstie Alley and Wendy Williams. Wendy may not be the best dancer but she IS the queen of all media! She may even make it further than Ralph because she asks for it.
First, I comment under Wendy and Kendra's Facebook page. I fawn over each of them and highlight why I liked each dance (in case they read it.) Then I post my link. Since I really do vote, I have reasoned it's not tacky to ask for their support too, Right?
I'm interrupted by a call from a friend. I brag about what I have done. She reminds me that if I posted to their page then everyone who is connected to them can read it too. Genius! I convinced my friend that was all part of the plan. It never crossed my mind.
My friend checks their page for proof. She tells me it's no longer there. She questioned my audacity and I questioned if she knew me.
I guess celebs don't do free advertising after all. Good to know. My "friend"s stripped me of my comments but never my confidence.
I still have Twitter...
Monday, April 4, 2011
Go Big or Go Home
Today I broke from reality and thought national magazine publications and Oprah may be interested in my story. I was in the middle of my email to O Magazine when Kate Schweitzer wrote me back.
Kate is the one of the web editors of Marie Claire. Marie Claire would be a perfect, although unexpected, publication to pick up my story. I thought it was something more that Cosmo would run with but I was thrilled.
I sat up tall and thought I pitched her well to get a response so soon. I contemplated what she could have said. What if she loved the idea and wanted me to sign a non-compete barring me from other publications. What if I signed then Oprah wrote back! I knew I should have written Oprah first! Maybe I was sending too many emails at once but I only have until April 30th!
I tried to act unaffected as I shut my laptop and reached for my blackberry. It had been a minute since the message came in so my phone screen went dark. I rolled my finger over the track ball to reveal my first big win:
"Out of Office"
Kate is the one of the web editors of Marie Claire. Marie Claire would be a perfect, although unexpected, publication to pick up my story. I thought it was something more that Cosmo would run with but I was thrilled.
I sat up tall and thought I pitched her well to get a response so soon. I contemplated what she could have said. What if she loved the idea and wanted me to sign a non-compete barring me from other publications. What if I signed then Oprah wrote back! I knew I should have written Oprah first! Maybe I was sending too many emails at once but I only have until April 30th!
I tried to act unaffected as I shut my laptop and reached for my blackberry. It had been a minute since the message came in so my phone screen went dark. I rolled my finger over the track ball to reveal my first big win:
"Out of Office"
Sunday, April 3, 2011
Perez Hilton
Before I turn to the NY Times for interest in my story, I decided to ask Perez Hilton, who runs a wildly successful celebrity gossip site.
Perez,
I never entered an online contest or ran a blog but this month I felt frisky. I did both. I want to see if it is possible to go viral by the end of the contest, April 30th, and win the most votes. I am chronicling my quest for press here: http://winningvotes.blogspot.com/
I am reaching out to you because you are the most notable success story of a blogger. Do you think it is possible to go viral in 27 days? Would you help and re-post my contest site? Last night, my meeting with Naomi Campbell was less than productive.
P.S. If this doesn’t work out, and you need another tattle, I turned my cheek to Page Six when Richard Johnson left…
I am reaching out to you because you are the most notable success story of a blogger. Do you think it is possible to go viral in 27 days? Would you help and re-post my contest site? Last night, my meeting with Naomi Campbell was less than productive.
P.S. If this doesn’t work out, and you need another tattle, I turned my cheek to Page Six when Richard Johnson left…
Naomi Campbell
I swore the next celebrity I ran into I was going to lobby them to post me to twitter/facebook etc. Then I ran into Naomi Campbell. She dined with her billionaire boyfriend at Tamarind Tribeca. I’ve seen her before and she never fails to take my breath away. She is stunning.
I ran up to the mezzanine level, crotched down between 2 tables and snapped a photo of them. This is unacceptable behavior for anyone who actually lives in NYC by the way. As I walked out I stood before her; we locked eyes, the words formed in my mind and I walked away. I had a crisis of confidence. I faced a historically fierce woman and I had to know my (her) limits.
On the way home, I contemplated her potential reaction. That could have been better press than I hoped for. Maybe she would have yelled at me as Michael Strahan and Eva Pigford did years before. I wrote that incident to the NY Post’s Page Six and put them on blast. It was published. Damn.
http://www.nypost.com/p/pagesix/page_six_YkJdyx3ZYoCTYw0EubO02J
I ran up to the mezzanine level, crotched down between 2 tables and snapped a photo of them. This is unacceptable behavior for anyone who actually lives in NYC by the way. As I walked out I stood before her; we locked eyes, the words formed in my mind and I walked away. I had a crisis of confidence. I faced a historically fierce woman and I had to know my (her) limits.
On the way home, I contemplated her potential reaction. That could have been better press than I hoped for. Maybe she would have yelled at me as Michael Strahan and Eva Pigford did years before. I wrote that incident to the NY Post’s Page Six and put them on blast. It was published. Damn.
http://www.nypost.com/p/pagesix/page_six_YkJdyx3ZYoCTYw0EubO02J
Saturday, April 2, 2011
Name Dropping
Living in NYC, I'm a bit deprived of that community feel. I could tell you the name of every dog on my street but would stall if you asked me their owners. I will smile hello as we ride the elevator together. I will gossip about the noise on the street but I don't know your name.
It's ironic considering the name dropping I do in this city. Too bad the doormen at 1Oak won't be voting. The funny thing is I don't even know the people I claim to get into parties. In fact, I have made them up altogether. Mike Diamond does not exist and he did not send me.
I still have to align with a community so I revisit my old Alma Mater- University of Delaware. I post my contest site to UD Facebook page. Too bad nobody reads it. To get more visibility, I email the university paper. Did they want to do a story on me?
I let that question simmer while I hit up 3 papers in Philly. It's been 15 years since I lived there. Philly is as foreign to me as the Upper East Side. To build rapport with the editors, my emails start like this: "I am a close friend of Mike Diamond and he suggested I email you."
It's ironic considering the name dropping I do in this city. Too bad the doormen at 1Oak won't be voting. The funny thing is I don't even know the people I claim to get into parties. In fact, I have made them up altogether. Mike Diamond does not exist and he did not send me.
I still have to align with a community so I revisit my old Alma Mater- University of Delaware. I post my contest site to UD Facebook page. Too bad nobody reads it. To get more visibility, I email the university paper. Did they want to do a story on me?
I let that question simmer while I hit up 3 papers in Philly. It's been 15 years since I lived there. Philly is as foreign to me as the Upper East Side. To build rapport with the editors, my emails start like this: "I am a close friend of Mike Diamond and he suggested I email you."
Probing
Perplexed by thousands of online votes people have, I had to find out how they did it. It took quite some time to find out last names so I could research them. Ultimately, I found them in their wedding registry at which point I took Brian’s name off ours. If I was going to get in trouble for stalking at least I would be alone.
What I found was that the people who are winning have entire communities behind them! They have articles in local newspapers and entire towns rallying! All I have is another idea…
What I found was that the people who are winning have entire communities behind them! They have articles in local newspapers and entire towns rallying! All I have is another idea…
Steve's Response: Be the First!
Steve was the first person to actually respond to my plea. He inspired me to think outside of the box. He has a comedy show in NYC in 2 weeks and I will be there. Despite his claims of immunity to women, I will show him I am relentless to win nonetheless. I will ask him again to post my cause. Here is his response:
"Thanks for the kind words, but as you can imagine, I get asked to help a LOT of people in contests. Good luck, but I can't help - I was successful it because I was the first to do it. Now that thousands more followed suit, there's no more novelty in it.
As a married man myself, women have lost all persuasive abilities they used to have. But if you come out to a show, I'll be happy to say hi."
"Thanks for the kind words, but as you can imagine, I get asked to help a LOT of people in contests. Good luck, but I can't help - I was successful it because I was the first to do it. Now that thousands more followed suit, there's no more novelty in it.
As a married man myself, women have lost all persuasive abilities they used to have. But if you come out to a show, I'll be happy to say hi."
Could I Borrow Steve Hofstetter's Friends?
This is not the first idea I had but I thought it sums up my plight pretty well. This is my email to Steve Hofstetter, the kid who was famous for shutting down the servers of Facebook with over 200,000 "friends."
Steve,
I can’t lie. I had no idea who you were until today. I was researching articles about social networking and facebook and there you were. I am impressed.
About 2 weeks ago I entered an online contest. To get votes, I sent my link to friends and family. Then I thought I was clever and posted on several voting exchange sites and littered the internet. I have roughly 130 votes.
I became obsessed when I saw some people had thousands of votes! I didn’t understand. They didn’t have better stories than I did! They are not better looking than I am and they cannot have more motivation than I do! What they do have is a loose social network. I keep it tight.
So I ask you, the antitheses of me, how do I add zeros to my number? Even if I don’t win, I want to know I exhausted every option and went down fighting. I have until April 30. Can you help me?
P.S. I would love to bring some friends to your show in NYC on April 13th. I hear women can be more persuasive in numbers;)
The Beginning
My recent obsession: WINNING. Securing the most votes and going viral by April 30th. Convincing thousands of people who don't know to do something for me. This blog will be dedicated to my efforts to get there and highlight my stumbles along the way.
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