Listen2Youth

My debut on KSCO radio! It was thrilling!

2011-12-29T17:04:00.000-08:00

MZ at the helm, making talk radio happen!

When KGO decided to crush it's listeners by firing their talent and moving from talk to all news, I was devastated. Until the change, I didn't realize how much the rhythms and sounds of the station were my queues for daily living. News on the hour helped me stay focused. Gil Gross' dulcet tones helped me write in the afternoon. Len Tillem meant Katie would soon be home from school.

And then it was gone: in an instant.

In the noise that ensued, a local station, KSCO here in Santa Cruz, made a move to grab listeners because it offers something we care about: talk. Listeners can call in and actually discuss issues with the radio hosts. Wonderful.

I noticed KSCO didn't appear to have a social media strategy and since that's what I do, I sent an email to Michael Zwerling (MZ to his fans), the station owner. I honestly didn't expect to get a response - the man was so busy with all chaos created by KGO. He was courting new talk show hosts, boosting his online streaming to extend his reach; he was busy. When he called me, I was surprised! We started a conversation that has been going on for a couple weeks now.

So yesterday, Michael invited me down to the station for a tour. I arrived at 11:58 and had no idea he was going on the air in two minutes. He ushered me and a nice guy named Glen into the studio. Glen had planned to be there and had no idea what I was doing there. I assured him I was only there for a tour. MZ had me sit down in a chair - in front of a microphone - and had me put on the headphones. And away we went!

I wasn't sure if I was supposed to talk. But I was invited into the conversation which was interesting, rangy and provocative. Since the subject was media and content, I actually had something to say and spoke to those topics. Glen was working hard to get the audience engaged and we ended up talking about sex, Howard Stern and Rush Limbaugh - did I mention it was a rangy discussion?

I have to admit, I had a blast. I can cross that off my bucket list. It was fun! I loved hearing the callers from the "host" side of things and listening was a very different experience. KSCO's audience is very passionate and I can tell they love their station as much as we KGO fans loved ours.

I still need to nail MZ down on that social media strategy, but in the meantime, I am grateful for the very unique experience. What a great time I had talking, listening and participating in such an interesting form of communication. Wow!

New Client: Animoto Helps Us Promote Our Business

2011-12-16T07:57:00.000-08:00

We are thrilled to welcome a new client: Animoto! If you haven't played with Animoto yet, we invite you to give it a try! We did this little capabilites video for Listen2Youth with the Animoto Plus product (which is rather affordable and my daughter Katie already has her eye on it to make her next video!).

I also used Animoto to create this video of our middle school band's winter concert!

While it took us a little while to determine the content, making our capabilities video was easy and fun. We recommend it to any business who'd like to "show" instead of "tell" what you do!

2011 Roared By, 2012 Looking Good

2011-12-13T15:45:00.000-08:00

You know it was a busy year when you drop back into your company blog and find out you haven't posted in 12 months!

Lynn and I have been very busy this year working with Cisco and Logitech on some terrific projects. We have links to the social media activities over on the left. Along the way we also volunteered for our kids' schools and brought our "marketing expertise" to those teams working to help the schools excel.

We are tuning up for 2012 with some renewed energy as some new clients will be coming on board and new products will start rolling out. It's a very exciting time and we hope the movement we are seeing in Silicon Valley bodes well for the economy.

Happy holidays!

KissMetrics Offers Great Tips for Creating Your Social Media Profile

2010-12-09T13:08:00.000-08:00

The folks at KissMetrics write an excellent blog post on the 10 Elements of a Successful Social Media Profile. They make great points about consistency across profiles and authenticity in posting (like use a photo of yourself for your personal profiles, not an avatar or object).

Creating a successful social media profile for your company is as important as doing it for yourself. Using these points as a guideline for your company can help you create a clear, unified voice that customers will recognize no matter where they find your business - on Facebook, your website, on Twitter or LinkedIn.

We can help you create this identity. With our background in brand marketing and social media, we can help you define your company's personality and then establish a social media strategy for on-going engagement and listening. Let's us know how we can help.

Three (Social Media) Things You Can Do Right Now to Help Your Brand

2010-10-15T09:56:00.000-07:00

If social media scares you - and based on a new study this isn't a bad assumption - you don't have to jump in with both feet. In fact, there are three easy ways you can get your feet wet without making a huge commitment.

And you can help your brand.

This isn't size specific and these small things will help you stay on top of what's being said about your brand (or business - or you!) and that is the first step in getting involved with social media. These are easy, easy things. So there's no excuse for not getting started.

1. Set up Google Alerts.
Google Alerts are email updates of the latest relevant Google results (web, news, etc.) based on your choice of query or topic. In this case, set one up for your brand - and don't forget to do one for your name! When you do, add quotes around the search to make sure you get a focused report (for example, for me I use "Jennifer Carole" as the search term).

2. Set up a Twitter Search.
You can do a simple search to find conversations surrounding your brand. You can make it even better by adding and advanced search to find comments that are local, timely or include sentiment.

3. Use your "brand" name whenever you post.
If you post to LinkedIn, YouTube, Twitter, Facebook, or comment on a blog, be sure to work in your brand name as part of the post. These properties are indexed by Google and the better you are about promoting your brand, the better chance you have of improving your search results.

Do you have other "low hanging fruit" ideas to share? Let us know - add your comment to this blog! And don't ever forget the importance of promoting your personal brand (your name) along the way!

The Value of Youth as an Emerging Market: Key Requirements for Online Services

2010-10-05T15:30:00.000-07:00

We just wrapped a study with a proprietary panel looking at an online tool that would normally be considered a "business product" focusing on the user experience and new features. But we did something a little bit different. We threw our teen panel into the mix.

This younger audience really shifted the results.

As it turns out, the youngest person on the proprietary panel was 28 years old. The our teen panel members who participated were roughly 17 to 22. Almost a decade in age difference and if we looked at mean age, roughly a generation.

We called the teens the "emerging market."

What we found is this emerging market shared a few characteristics that may not surprise you - but could influence how you are developing products. Here's a quick list:

Make it social. No kidding. You might know that but you may not have embraced it. They want to share, share, share and anything you develop needs hooks into their social world from Facebook to YouTube.
Let them integrate SMS (texting) and IM. These are the tools they use to "spread the word" and take things viral. Include them in your specs.
They will put up with clunkyness. You don't have to get it perfectly perfect. Younger people have a much higher tolerance for clicking around to find what they need. That doesn't mean your service shouldn't work well, it should, but if you don't get the user experience right at first, they will help you figure out the right way to do it based on their user patterns.

Want to know more about what we can do for you? Let us know. We can set up a proprietary panel for you using your customers and/or you can tap our youth panel .

The Apple iPad: Quinn Provides a Teen's Point of View

2010-02-02T10:33:00.000-08:00

Guest Blog: Quinn is an avid Apple fan and an active member of our teen panel. When the news of Apple's iPad hit last week, she was all over it. Quinn lives in the Midwest and is 13 years old. As a teenager, she offers us a unique perspective on how young people received the product announcement.

***************************************

"iPad isn't just the best device of its kind. It's a whole new kind of device."
- Apple Computer

The new Apple iPad has now filled my dreams.

When I found out the rumors were true, after refreshing Twitter repeatedly while driving to get my hair cut, I almost died. I literally leaped through the car and bounced off the windows, I mean LITERALLY. It's as thin and light as a Vogue magazine!

Some people DOUBTED the power of the tablet. For example, the day BEFORE they released whether or not the tablet was real, US News and World Report published an article on: Five Reasons Why the Apple Tablet will Flop. Here is what they wrote, and how the Apple tablet beat them.

US News: "Too big. A tablet PC is meant by design to be portable."

Me: Ha ha, well you were wrong. The screen is 9.7 inches, measured diagonally. So overall, it's slightly smaller than a magazine. And at just 1.5 lbs and 0.5 inches thin.

US News: "E-mail is more efficient with a cheaper net book."

Me: You see, on this tablet, you have easy access to your email, just with a click of a button. Also, the internet is much faster, and it is just as easy to type with.

US News: Too hungry. Apple can work miracles with software, services, and marketing. But even CEO Steve Jobs can't change chemistry, which has kept battery life from meeting ever growing demands.

Me: It has up to 10 hours battery life. To maximize battery life, Apple engineers took the same lithium polymer battery technology they developed for our notebook computers and applied it to the iPad. As a result, you can use iPad for up to 10 hours while surfing the web on Wi-Fi, watching videos, or listening to music.

US News: Too pricey. Reports have put the price between $500 and $1,000.

Me: It starts at $499 and yes, it DOES come with wireless; and for a higher price it comes with 3G! So yes, I must say normally Apple can get a little pricey but these prices are pretty amazing. Also, a not too high monthly fee. Not to bad I must say.

US News: Too clumsy. From all reports, the Apple tablet will not have a hardware keyboard and will depend on its touch-sensitive screen.

Me: Okay, so even the biggest fans were a little worried about that, I must admit. I was too. But no worries, because somehow Apple always makes it through!

There are lots of great accessories that have been specifically designed for iPad. The Keyboard Dock, for instance, is a dock with a full-size keyboard. There's also a standalone Dock. And because iPad has built-in Bluetooth 2.1, it'll work with an Apple Wireless Keyboard, too. Also it's on screen keyboard is almost as large as a regular keyboard. The keys are very wide too.

From my point of view, the new Apple iPad rocks!

Comments for Quinn? Leave them here!

Don't Let This Happen to You! Online Meeting Embarassing Moments

2010-01-13T12:20:00.000-08:00

Listen2Youth works with Cisco WebEx on social media and we just published a fun two-part blog on the unintended consequences of not paying attention during an online meeting.

We thought you might enjoy reading the articles! Part One is here and you can catch Part Two here. Let's us know what you think!

If you use WebEx, join them on Facebook - become a fan!

It's still all about the user experience: think shoes!

2010-01-06T10:01:00.000-08:00

When you think about it, nearly everything comes down to the user experience. Which phone you choose, which software packages you end up keeping, which car you drive - hmmm, maybe even which person you chose for your partner!?

How well something works for you really matters. If you still don't believe me, go look in your closet or your garage and I bet you will find a pile of things that you ditched because the user experience sucked (for women, it's often a pile of shoes!).

At Listen2Youth, we pay attention to the user experience. Our end user panels help us do that and help our clients make important changes to their services based on the feedback we get from those panels.

In these economic times, getting close to your customers makes more sense than ever. Panels are not very expensive and the value you get from hearing first hand what is and isn't working is nearly priceless. In addition to helping you influence your internal teams, it also provides valuable information for sales and marketing as they go out to attract and retain customers.

Give us a call or drop us a note if you are interested in learning more about using our teen panel or starting a proprietary panel for your company. We look forward to talking to you!

Day One at Ypulse Youth Marketing Mashup a Success!

2009-06-02T07:03:00.000-07:00

It was hard to fall asleep last night. My head was reeling with ideas from the first day at Ypulse.

With a great turnout, hosting a variety of people from all over, we listened, talked and tweeted our way through a series of great presentations. I figured I would jump on the blog this morning and make a few notes about some of what I saw and heard:

1. Congrats to Mike Roberts - who won the Totally Wired Teacher Award.
He delivered a video acceptance speech showing just how he has adapted to the technologies kids are using and now incorporates that into his teaching methods. Bravo. We did a study on Tech and Education that was fascinating. If you are looking for more ways tech can be used to teach or help kids learn, check out this webcast and ping me if you want to know more.

2. Bill Carter from Fuse Marketing once again hit a home run.
His new study on teens and advertising highlighted some of the facts and fiction running amok in marketing departments worldwide. Most interesting - kids like print advertising! (If you lived at my house, you'd know that was true!) We recently did a study on tech devices and advertising for the Market Advantage Youth Lab - here's a quick synopsis if you want to see what we learned.

3. The Ypluse Advisory Board was a hoot!
Using a great format - commenting on the juxtaposition of competitors' ads (Pepsi vs Coke; Mac vs PC; and two public service ads). We get asked a lot if our teen panelists really tell us the "truth" when we ask them questions and we always say, "oh yeah - they don't hold back." That was true yesterday - the panelists did not hold back! Candid, funny and unedited, they easily commented on what did and didn't work in the ads. Our guest bloggers - teens from our panel - do the same. Want to see an honest point of view? Check out their blogs here.

Guess it's time to get dressed and get downstairs for another great day. You can follow the Tweets at #ypulse09 - check it out - we wish you were here!

Five Reasons Attending the Ypulse Mashup Will Help Your Business

2009-05-26T22:19:00.000-07:00

On Monday, June 1^st, another fantastic 2009 Ypulse Youth Marketing Mashup will kick off in San Francisco. If you aren’t already reading the daily Ypulse newsletter, you should be. But more importantly, if you haven’t figured out the value of attending the Mashup, let me give you a few good business reasons why you should.

What today’s youth are doing now, will affect your business’ future.
From social networks to adapting technology, young people today aren’t afraid to try new things and then talk about it. At our company, it’s our motto – listen to youth to discover the future of your business.

Here’s one example: nearly every business is considering how to use social media to help promote their business. Twitter? Facebook? How about text messaging? By following what kids are doing, you can identify best practices to help guide your efforts.
Today’s youth are your future employees.
If you haven’t hired millennials, and I bet you have, you may not understand their different approach to the workplace. From flex time to creative problem-solving, our youthful new team members are having a tremendous impact on the work force.

While many seasoned professionals want to dismiss them for their “poor work habits”, there’s more to the story. Sure they need training – but didn’t we all? The tradeoff is exuberance, fresh ideas and a consumer approach that could breathe new life into whatever you are doing.
Get actionable advice from the presenters.
I have attended every Mashup – each one better than the year before – and I expect no less this year. Hearing a case study from Disney about how they leverage all their properties to launch a new music act or listening to Fuse talk about CEO predictions for mobile technology – the information runs the gamut.

But even if you aren’t marketing Miley Cyrus, the underlying principles the speakers share are bound to inspire and fuel your own business planning. I always leave fired up and ready to try way-too-many new things when I get home.
You will create some amazing business relationships.
Okay. I just went and counted. I have eight contacts on Facebook from last year’s Mashup and five from the year before. These aren’t the “professional acquaintance” type friends but rather people I have talked with for the last year about their businesses, their new ideas, supported their launches, and helped them with trials.

Ypulse attracts people from all industries with many interests and passions. Typically they are accessible, invested and willing to forge new relationships. It never fails that I end up brainstorming with someone about how we could work together or a way to extend our ideas.
It’s one hell of a club.
Yep. Ypulse is a bit of a club. Not exclusive, rather very inclusive. The Ypulse team wants you to succeed and my experience – throughout the year – is that they are there to make introductions, open doors, share information, salute your good ideas and much more.

I believe the brand is the extension of its founder, Anastasia Goodstein, who is a total content diva (amazing actually). She’s having a good time and she’s committed to making sure you have a good time too. Once you attend a Mashup, you will want to come back – to see friends, to learn more, to share what you have done, to refuel and get inspired.

So I hope to see you there next week. If you come, send me (@jcarole) a Tweet! or a text (831.239.6496) - you do know how to text don’t you?! I can’t wait to meet you and add you to my collection of Mashup Facebook friends!

Pass the Ball - Social Media Project is On!

2009-05-19T14:14:00.000-07:00

Listen2Youth has been working closely with the team at WebEx to create the new website - Passtheball.com.

The idea is simple - create a place where good things happen - donations for a wonderful cause (Teachers Without Borders) while individuals can share ideas and watch them grow. Along the way, increase brand awareness for the WebEx product and run the campaign across a variety of social media tools like Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube to take it viral.

You can read more about the campaign here or simply visit the site and share your idea! And let us know if Listen2Youth can help you with your social media marketing plans.

Meet Listen2Youth at Tech Titans SD Forum Event

2009-05-08T16:16:00.000-07:00

Join us on Wednesday, May 13 in Palo Alto to learn how today's teens are also today's entrepreneurs. SD Forum is hosting an event that looks really interesting if you are following the teen market.

"Teenagers are in constant contact through multiple means of technologies, including Facebook, Twitter, email, IM, MySpace and cell phones. We will be joined by corporate executives, not-for-profits, venture capitalists and teenage entrepreneurs in discussing how teens are using technology and encouraging them to undertake new projects and enterprises." - SD Forum

Jennifer Carole, from Listen2Youth, will be joining the 10:45 panel titled, "Understanding the Teen Market". If you are there, make sure to introduce yourself, she'd love to meet you. If you miss the event, Listen2Youth is always available to talk about teens and technology. We just wrapped a study on advertising and we are in the process of conducting some research on social media.

Video: It Does it All! The G1 Android Phone!

2009-04-20T21:57:00.001-07:00

One of our teen panel members has some fun imagining all the things his new Android phone can do. See if you agree with his vision of the future!

Millenials: The Apple Generation?

2009-04-03T14:14:00.001-07:00

Check out this great video - a winner in our youth panel video awards! Michele not only managed to lure her dad into making the video but found some great props as well. And the story -- you know how it turns out!

Leadership and the User Experience: Is there a relationship?

2009-02-17T10:41:00.000-08:00

With the changes at Apple – Steve Jobs stepping down for awhile, it has me thinking about the relationship between leadership and the user experience.

I have had the privilege of working for a number of great high tech companies in the last twenty years. I have been part of teams at Adobe, Cisco, Sun, Second Life, Borland, Alcatel-Lucent and more. At most of these companies, there was a specific focus on the user experience.

My Favorite “Apple” Story
I didn’t get to work at Apple in the heyday (just a little too young) but I have worked for a number of incredible people who were there in the early days and they tell some good stories. One always stands out in my mind: apparently early on Jobs was working on the Macintosh and wanted to see what end users thought of the design. He put 10 people in a room and they all said the on/off switch was in the wrong place. His lesson to his team: “people behave similarly. It doesn’t take a huge study to find that out.”

I have no idea if the story is true but is passes down as a folk tale with a good lesson. Jobs’ single-minded focus on the user experience set the pace for the company and his allowed them to deliver incredible products over the years including the rebirth of Apple with the iPod and iPhone.

Last One to Leave Lotus, Turn Out the Lights
When I joined Borland in the late 80s, we were a bunch of whippersnappers focused on knocking Lotus off the block. What was our competitive advantage? Our singular focus was user experience (and a killer direct marketing strategy). We all knew the only way to beat Lotus was to make our spreadsheet easier to use – intuitive – and it worked (and you could find bumper stickers sporting the headline above all over our building!).

We got so good at it that we then went after Ashton-Tate in the relational database space. Our leader, Philippe Kahn set out his clear vision and we all marched determined to free our end users from the constraints of the software giants and a miserable user experience.

Are PowerPoint Users Graphics Professionals?
At Adobe, the leadership there had a similar impact on the user experience but with different results. I arrived when Warnock and team were still highly focused on the graphics professional. It was his passion and the product reflected it. The user experience was based on creating digital replicas of the tools graphics experts used to use non-digitally. And Photoshop and Illustrator sold well as a result.

But things got tough when “management” decided we needed to reach new markets. We needed to “simply” our products to entice Microsoft users. Not a bad strategy to build market share but the in the transition, no one bothered to adapt the user experience to these new users.

Instead, the team decided to simplify existing products – think Photoshop Elements – but use the same graphic professional lingo and toolset. I have no idea how many units of Photoshop Elements the company sells, but I can tell you if they had adapted the product with features and language that match what business users are used to, they would sell more. In fact I wonder if it didn’t backfire and erode some of their Photoshop high-end market as graphics professionals figured out they could get 50% of the features at one-tenth the price.

Leadership Can Improve the User Experience
So what’s my point? I believe leadership is essential for creating a great user experience. With a clear commitment from the top – if not the vision, at least the drive – the rest of us know what to do. We understand who we are creating products for and how to set priorities and make decisions. The best feature in the world doesn’t matter if the user can’t find it.

Do you have a story from your experience? We would love to hear about it.

Top 10 Most Embarrassing Moments for Teens, Families and Tech

2009-01-19T14:39:00.000-08:00

In the process of talking with our panel members about how they have helped their families with technology, we discovered some great stories. So we couldn’t resist. Here are the Top 10 tales from our kids from around the world as they coach their families through the technology landscape!

10
“My parents were in the middle of telling me off for not keeping my room tidy, and then my phone ran out of battery leaving them unable to continue to tell me off.”
– Samuel, 18, Australia

9
“We were trying to set up a DVD player and we couldn't figure out why it wasn't working. We spent an hour working on it and we could see it was plugged in. However, we found out later, the outlet strip it was plugged into wasn't.”
– Mike, 16, United States

8
“My mother wanted to talk to my father on the phone, but she was driving so I had to call him. Turns out I actually called my tennis coach by mistake and the first thing she said was ‘Hello darling…’.”
– Ahmed, 16, England

7
“When I was helping my dad set up his home theater he got so mad because he couldn't hear the audio on the TV. He was ready to throw the system out the window. I passed by and asked him, ‘Are you sure you're not on mute?’ He checked and that wasn’t it. Then I saw the brand-new Bose home theater component and said ‘You sure you’re in the right audio channel?’ I was right and he was so embarrassed he didn’t want to admit it. He denied it. I picked up the remote, clicked a button and there was sound! He was so mad that I was right!! I just laughed.”
– Martha, 18, Mexico

6
“My brother spent a huge amount of time looking for the button to unlock his new iPhone. All he had to do was touch the screen!”
– Alexandra, 18, United States

5
“Once, my mother tried to use the remote control to call my grandfather!”
– Tobias, 18, Sweden

4
“I once accidentally called my mom instead of my friend and asked when and where I should meet for a party. Busted.”
– Ted, 20, France

3
“One time my phone got wet and I put it in the microwave to dry.”
– Kelly, 14, United States

2
“I left my Gmail account open when I went on vacation. While I was gone, my mother chatted with all of my friends.”
– Cameron, 18, United States

1
“Once I complained about my parents on my blog. The next day, I found out my parents had left comments on it.”
– Angela, 16, China

Do you have a great “embarrassing moment” based on tech and your family? Let us know!

Hey Everyone! Stop Advertising, Start Communicating

2008-12-17T16:09:00.000-08:00

We hear it from our teens all the time – they want to hear from the brands they care about but they don’t just want any old advertisement. They want information that is relevant, useful and meaningful.

Today, on MarketingCharts.com, I came across a new bit of research that offers an interesting perspective. One of the best ways to reduce the perception of one-way advertising and create more of a “conversation” with consumers is to use Web 2.0 tools - like social networks - to establish a relationship.

The research found “consumers rely on social media websites as much as company websites for product information and 70% of consumers have visited a social media website such as message board, social network, instant messenger, blog, video sharing site or chat room in order to get information about a company, brand or product.”

What is essential in using these tools it to make sure the communication is two-way. To create interaction and to actually listen to what you customers are saying. One of the biggest benefits to listening to today’s youth is that you can identify new ways they are using Web 2.0 tools to communicate with each other and then mimic that behavior in a way that enhances your relationship with your customers.

“But I am afraid of what my customers might say!”

I hear this concern lot from my clients who are working to try new things but are very afraid that “opening the lines of communication” may backfire. This study has good news to report on that front:

“The survey also discovered that people who search for information exclusively via social media websites are more likely to spread the word. More than one-third of consumers have passed along information found online, and among those, six out of 10 used social media websites to pass along the information. Nearly three-quarters (74%) said that most of the information they passed along was positive.”

Sure, there are those who will say something bad about you. But wouldn’t you rather embrace that customer, get closer to him/her and deal with the concern head on? Or risk them posting in blogs all over the web and not having the chance to deal with their concern.

We’ll be back with more in 2009. We hope you have a chance to take a little time off, relax with your friends and family and make big plans for the New Year.

Dear TiVo: Help Me Find New Music

2008-11-28T16:51:00.000-08:00

An open letter to TiVo:

Dear TiVo:

You know I love you (and I am not alone). Without you, I would rarely – if ever – get to see my favorite shows. There’s nothing better than knowing Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert are waiting for me whenever I need them. And now I find out I can even program you from my phone! Ahhhhhh…..

But here’s the thing, there’s more you can do for me.

As you can imagine, I don’t get out much and while I enjoy listening to music, it’s mostly the old stuff I know and love. But when I watch Gossip Girl or 90210 or Privilege (did I mention I have a tween in the house), they play new music that I kind of like. But here’s the thing, I can’t find it very well after the show – even though the CW does a good job of featuring artists.

Wouldn’t it be cool if at any point during a program, I could hit a button on my TiVo remote and find out the name and artist of the music playing - at that moment!? Not only that, but with one more click, it could send that information to my email or iTunes account so I could make the purchase when I get to my computer?

I realize IPTV is just around the corner, but I probably won’t be an early adopter. And I already own two TiVo boxes. AND my daughter is starting to buy music. It seems like you should get some sort of referral fee from iTunes or from the labels if you pass along a lead. I am sure there’s a business model waiting to bust out of this idea.

So get to work on that would you? I am ready to order my new music today!

Love, Jen

When Kids Rock the Vote: Tech Educates, Unifies

2008-11-06T08:06:00.000-08:00

Now that the elections in the U.S. are over, I am inspired by the culmination of what was a tedious, arduous, sometimes aggravating process. I am inspired because in the end, my daughter, who is nine, became engaged, excited and encouraged about the process and the result.

In California, we had a number of important propositions on the ballot, and my daughter was actively consuming information - on TV, the web and with friends and relatives - to do her best to understand the issues and decide what she thought was right for our state and our nation.

Wonderfully, our local County Board of Elections sponsored a "Kids Vote" at the polling places. They provided kids with ballots and then announced the results of the Kids Vote on their web site. Katie spent all day yesterday waiting for the results.

When we went to the polling place, we brought one of her friends with her. As they poured over the ballot, I was amazed to hear my daughter explain each proposition to her friend. I had no idea how much my kid had picked up. She had spent time on the Internet learning and even the Weekly Reader had helped her think through the issues.

We have a rule in our house - you are entitled to your opinion and it can be different from others - but you have to do your own critical thinking to justify your position. My daughter took that advice to heart and used the tools we have - most of them technology-based - to make up her mind in the election.

And thanks to a shared medium - the television - we sat together on Tuesday night as history was made. As we watched people all over the world share in an event that we can only hope will lead us all positively into the future.

I write a lot about kids, technology and relationships and this election was proof that these things can come together to help us think, connect and share.

Santa Cruz Style: When does social networking become Social Networking?!

2008-09-03T18:36:00.000-07:00

I have a secret. I am one of the luckiest people on earth.

Not only do I have a great job as a partner at Listen2Youth, studying young people all over the world as they tell us about how they use technology, but I get to do it while living in Santa Cruz,California.

Until now, I have working in a home office. Sure it sounds glamorous, but that’s because you haven’t seen the laundry piling up in the corner, been toppled by the cats chasing underfoot in the office or heard the chickens squabbling over a snail. I have realized it might be time for a change.

That change is what brings me to my big social networking news – and wouldn’t you know it - it has a “youth” angle. I rented an office today in a newfangled workspace in downtown Santa Cruz that puts the real social back into networking.

The idea is great and it something that is taking off in a number of business hot spots around the country. In Santa Cruz, it’s called NextSpace and for the price of a membership, you have access to one of three different kinds of services that deliver an office experience without the commitment!

NextSpace promises to give me something that I have missed – the social networking aspect of working that I still don’t get on Facebook; or via my many conference calls. At NextSpace, I will work in a carrel with a view of downtown Santa Cruz while listening to the background noise of my co-workers – all of whom will be doing something entirely different from me. And yet I hope to find some interesting opportunities for collaboration, consultation or just plain shooting the …well, you know.

The corollary to this workspace is the promise of an online community that mirrors our workspace community offering ways to meet each other, find mutual interests and even allow for cool new concepts like presence (imagine if I allow the community to know I have “arrived” at the office because my mobile phone tells them I’m there – too cool). This is the workspace of the newest generation of workers – today’s recent grads – my highly coveted youth market and many of them will be there with me.

I can’t wait to join the workspace of a new generation. I have blogged about them before and the new ways they want to work. From what I hear, I will be surrounded by some amazing office mates working on the cutting edge of technology and business.

Now I won’t just Listen2Youth, I will get to be part of it!

Let’s Talk About Sex, Baby. And Disney. Have I Piqued Your Interest?

2008-08-05T11:37:00.000-07:00

Advice: The following blog contains mature content.

At the Ypulse Mashup in July, two amazing people joined my table for lunch. I was hosting a discussion on using tech to build a brand and these two folks described their struggle. They actually have the “tech” part figured out. The problem is the brand. Or more to the point: their product. I think it’s absolutely awesome, but it tends to scare people. Their product is sex. Well, more fairly put: sex education.

The Midwest Teen Sex Show is an amazing set of webisodes that tell the truth about sex (and all its fancy flavors). I used to listen to Loveline with Dr Drew and Adam Carolla and I was always amazed at what teens did (and didn’t) know about sex. If you think about it, so many teens know just enough to be dangerous; we tease them with bits of information but never the full story. I thought that show was so good because Dr Drew honestly answered kids’ questions while Adam provided the humor (because let’s face it, the subject can make one a little tense). [Note: turns out Loveline is still one – show’s how old I am – and you can learn more about it here!]

[If you clicked out to watch the Midwest Teen Sex Show and are sitting there with your mouth hanging open, hang in there, you’ll be okay. They are honest and direct but seriously, you have seen worse on your TV, currently being rerun on TBS. You really have.]

The Midwest Teen Sex Show is direct like Loveline – providing honest, funny, straightforward advice to young people who often can’t get the answers anywhere else. So what does this have to do with Disney? Well, here’s the thing. The Midwest gang needs sponsors but they are having a hard time because, you know, it makes people blush.

Meanwhile, over on ABC Family, Disney has rolled out a new show called “The Secret Life of the American Teenager.” Vicki Collier, VP Digital Media for Disney-ABC TV talked about the show briefly at Ypulse explaining the surprise hit and how it has generated a lot of web traffic for the company. The show has raised some eyebrows.

I watch a lot of tween and teen television because of my daughter and it helps me do my job, but when I watched this show, I ended up turning it off. It seemed the entire show was focused on teenage sex – not love, not relationships, not even education – just sex. But get this – it has sponsors.

So this leads me to my big question: how is it advertisers have no problem throwing money at a Disney show that really features the worst of American youth and yet don’t have the courage to sponsor a website that is working to bring out the best in our youth? The Midwest Teen Sex Show may not offer content that makes everyone feel comfortable; but it’s truthful, funny and the underlying message is to protect yourself, your feelings and your health.

“Secret Life” is broadcast on cable television – available in most homes – and broadcasts during the day. Children at home have easy access and chances are there’s no one there to help them “process” what they are watching. The Midwest Teen Sex Show is available only online and you have to choose the content you want to see. There are discussion groups and referrals to experts who can offer more help.

I encourage brands that cater to youth to do more than make the easy media buy. If you really care about the health and well being of your customer base, you have an opportunity to support something beyond the obvious. Yes, it’s not for everyone and it should make business sense but at least consider sponsoring the Midwest Teen Sex Show. Help something good become something great.

Is Disney Trying to Keep Parents Out of the Loop?

2008-07-21T14:49:00.000-07:00

Last week I sat through three different sessions at the Ypulse National Mashup (a great event) where I heard from three different representatives from Disney: one from Disney Interactive, one from Disney Mobile and one from Disney Music. The Disney Music presentation was near the end of the conference and I left his talk feeling incredibly provoked.

What I found interesting about all three presenters is that they didn’t mention parents. Actually, Stephen Saiz, manager of consumer insight and strategy of the Walt Disney Internet Group's North American mobile division did mention parents but it was in a less than flattering way. This CNET article quotes Saiz as saying, “Teens are pushing their parents to go on mobile because they don't really want to communicate with them directly.” I am not sure about the conclusion he’s drawing from his research but I am sure it was the only time I heard the Disney folks talk about parents.

Disney Music: Tweens are Cogs in the Machine
Damon Whiteside, senior vice president of marketing of Walt Disney Records, shared slides with us describing their musical success (read more about his talk here). High School Musical, Miley Cyrus aka Hannah Montana and the Jonas Brothers have all added to the Disney coffers as tweens and teens have spent boatloads of money on music, merchandise and more. The bulk of the purchases are made by tweens and young teens and that’s when I noticed he wasn’t mentioning parents.

When he put up a slide that literally had gears representing the machine used to get these kids to buy their stuff, I felt my hackles rise.

It seems they have this all figured out – how they are going to build and ship the next batch of new artists that will snatch the dollars out of your wallet. From Demi Lovato, featured in Camp Rock and now being teased incessantly on the Disney Channel, to KSM, an all-girl rock band that was “casted” by Disney to have maximum appeal, it’s all coming your way. Wow, I remember the old days when bands were created organically by the artists who were compelled to make music.

I Say: Talk to the Tween
If tweens are your market, it seems to me you need a parent strategy of some sort. I have been very involved with my tween’s music choices and yes, we do have every album Miley Cyrus has made (including the new one coming out tomorrow – currently in transit to us via Amazon.com preorder). But we don’t buy them blindly and the purchase is balanced off against other things my kid “wants.”

When I got home, I talked to my daughter about what I heard and asked her about why she likes Miley so much. Turns out she really likes her character on television and likes what’s she’s heard in interviews. My daughter believes Miley is like her especially because she’s so close to her real dad; she said the relationship between Miley and her dad is like the relationship between the two of us. And, she explained, I really like her dad (Billy Ray Cyrus) so Miley must be a good person. Hmmm, look at that, parents matter.

So Disney, I know you are a giant and you see us all as part of the machine, but there’s more at play here than just bombarding us on every media channel you own. I believe you need parents on your side and it would be nice to see you acknowledge our role in our children’s lives.

Even at a marketing conference.

PS: I asked my kid about Demi Lovato and it turns out she thinks she sucks. Who knew? She said Camp Rock was a pretty lame movie and the screaming singer (Demi) was just plain bad. What a relief, my daughter has independent thought.

Baby Borrowers: TV You Can Watch with the Family

2008-07-13T20:14:00.000-07:00

Have you watched The Baby Borrowers yet?

I am not a big one for reality TV, I don't even watch American Idol. But I had read about the impact this show had when it was done in the UK and I was anxious to see if American television would somehow mess it up.

Good news: I don't think it did!

I am watching this show with my eight year old daughter and it has already made quite an impression. Okay, she's clear I want to be a gramma but only if she has a great job, owns a home and is absolutely prepared to be a patient, involved parent. But after watching this show, I am not sure I will get any grandchildren.

It's a simple premise: five teenage couples who think they are not only ready to play house, but also ready to have kids get to spend three days with a baby. Incredibly brave, generous families have volunteered their children (the kids are uber-supervised) to be the "test" babies for these teenage couples.

The teens have to shop for, bathe, feed, change and entertain their kidlets. One of the teens has to go work during the day while the other stays home. All of them are rapidly brought to their knees as they learn babies really don't negotiate.

We have the show on TiVo and my poor child has yet to watch one episode without me pausing the show half a dozen times to "discuss" what's really going on or to validate that it really is that hard. As the show goes on, the teens will get to spend time with toddlers, preteens, teens and then senior citizens. Imagine how overwhelming all this care-taking is on a self-absorbed teenager!

I believe you can watch episodes online and I highly recommend it.

If you have kids, it's an interesting show to watch together. If you don't have kids, this may help you make sure you stop by the drug store before your next date. If you get what I mean (wink, wink).

If You Care About Your Child’s Future, You Must Read This Blog

2008-06-26T04:59:00.000-07:00

If you are a parent of younger children, this blog will depress you. If you are a parent of younger children, you need to read this blog.

I just finished reading a long, intense article in Fast Company about the relationship between China and Africa. At first blush, you might wonder what it has to do with you. Trust me, it has everything to do with you – and your children’s future. If you can bear with me, I will try to net out the big picture.

Let’s start here. Note the part that says, “the next 50 years” – that’s in our lifetime folks. All the quotes are excerpted from the article.

“Humanity, the doomster argument goes, is on a collision course with the natural world, and the signs are everywhere: shrinking forests, croplands, fisheries, and water tables; rising pollution and temperatures. During the next 50 years, if current trends continue, humans will use more energy than in all of previously recorded history. More environmental stress will mean less growth and will trigger more conflict -- bitter clashes among civilizations over a dwindling resource pie, mass migrations, "climate refugees," uncontained diseases caused by "superbugs" impervious to modern medicines, water wars, maybe even food wars. In other words, the world will become like an episode of Survivor, except you can actually die.”

Essentially, the article explains in gut wrenching detail how we have abandoned Africa while China is rapidly depleting the country of its resources. We Western countries, with our high-minded principals – have done little (and participated in our share of the corruption) and the end game – holy crap 50 years!? – looks grim.

“When Bill Clinton was first elected president, the U.S. trade deficit with China was $18 billion. It is now $256 billion. Ravenous Westerners have become partners in Africa's environmental destruction.”

I realize I am woefully uneducated in this area because my first thought is what can I do to make a difference? I have been working on “saving the planet” by doing my part to think green. But now I the situation is far more dire if the problem is that there won’t be any resources left because there are just too many of us consuming. Simply consuming. Much of it needlessly.

Even as we begin work on a series of home improvements, I have started to change the questions I am asking – are the products we are using made in China? What are they made from? Is that a renewable resource? Can we use products made closer to my home with materials that are easy to grow or produce?

It’s not much, but I am thinking if we all start asking these questions, cut down our consumption and therefore the demand of products manufactured in China, we might have at least an economic impact. The author makes the point that the Chinese aspire to be like us. Really? How many more Starbucks to we need? Is that really the epitome of a self-actualized life?

“Oxford's Paul Collier, author of The Bottom Billion and a former head of research at the World Bank, is a leading expert on African economies. "I think the sad reality is that although globalization has powered the majority of developing countries toward prosperity," he says, "it is now making things harder for these latecomers." In other words, he says, Africa "missed the boat." And on a divided, demoralized continent, one where the United States has lost both its economic leverage and moral authority, Beijing can cherry-pick almost at will. That spells trouble not only for Africa but also for our ability to outthink the global consumption death spiral we have all set in motion.”

It’s far easier for me to pull the covers over my head and focus on getting the kid to summer camp. But then I think about her future. We all make assumptions our kids will live lives similar to ours – but will they?

We are already experiencing economic changes in the U.S. that are rocking our world. We have made choices that won’t help us endure (driving cars that aren’t efficient, using food for fuel, but crap imported from China, allowing debt to be the norm rather than the exception).

I think it’s time to pull together. To make different, thoughtful choices. We need to ask our leaders to take a stand. And I think it requires introspection, prioritization and sacrifice. This is not going to be easy – at least not for me. But maybe we can do it. Don’t we have to for our kids?

I would love to hear your thoughts on the article and what you are doing in your life to adapt. Maybe you think I am nuts? Please let me know. Discussion is a great place to start.

PS: if you don’t want to read the whole article – it is really long – the last section is a good place to start. Read it here.