The Chicago Tribune has one of those stories that can make you feel old, even if you only graduated from college ten years ago. It’s about junior, Alex Covington, at Northwestern University who is also a brand rep.  What memories I have of college don’t involve compensated brand ambassadorhsip.  While my cynical friend thinks this this kind of activity marks the end of civilization, all I can do is imagine the conversation when Bernadine Dohrn compliments Ms. Covington on her sundress. I think that’s an SNL skit right there.

Or is it important that the company think in the same way you do and believe what you believe? That’s what I wondered when I saw this in Sunday’s paper showing two cases for mp3 players, one leather and one free of animal products, but both apparently from the same manufacturer.

[Read more →]

J.J. Abrams, delivered a thought-provoking TED talk (as most TED talks are) on the subject of mystery. Considering his role in the creation of the TV show Lost, he’s obviously qualified to speak on the subject. As I listened I was struck by how profound some points were, worthy of book-length (or at least New Yorker-length) elaboration, but he had a lot of ground to cover, so I resorted to note taking as if I were back in college. Scrawled on my index card after listening was: [Read more →]