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Live-Blogging Top Chef 4.8 April 30, 2008

Posted by Amy Yen in Top Chef, TV.
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9:59 – Previously on Top Chef, Amy had to pass grad school so the live-blog took a back seat to the Project From Hell. Also, Jennifer went home. And hopefully, the absurdly uninteresting doing-it-for-Zoi subplot is mercifully put to bed.

10:00 – You know what’s awesome about watching the title sequence again after not really paying attention to it for a few weeks & learning about the chefs? You really start to see that they did somehow inject their personality into the three seconds they’re on the screen. For instance, Spike looks like an a-hole.

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Give a little bit… April 25, 2008

Posted by Amy Yen in General.
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Friend of American Shelf Life & my colleague at SA, Charlotte Cavaretta, is walking the AIDS Walk Boston. Give a little to a good cause here:

http://charlotte.chipin.com/aids-walk-boston-2008

Duck Season is Over April 21, 2008

Posted by Amy Yen in sports.
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I know it’s only the first round, but it’s NOT only the first round, you know? Not for this organization, not in this market, not for this group of guys & not for this coach. This was a must-win series if there ever was one, & you know what? They did it.

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Live-Blogging Top Chef 4.6 April 16, 2008

Posted by Amy Yen in sports, Top Chef, TV.
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9:59 – Previously, on Top Chef, Lisa & Dale hate each other. Also, the boring lesbian subplot of lameness is finally extinguished as the judges can’t justify keeping Zoi around for the fifth week in a row despite being a terrible chef.

10:00 – We open in the apartment again, as Spike tells us he “heard through the grapevine” that a lot of the chefs thought he should have gone home. Um. Actually, I think that they said that to your face, Spike. Also, get ready for tonight’s catch phrase: Jennifer is doing it for Zoi. Just in case you thought the boring lesbian subplot was over, don’t worry, it isn’t.

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Live-Blogging Top Chef 4.5 April 9, 2008

Posted by Amy Yen in Top Chef, TV.
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9:59 – Previously on Top Chef, Richard continues to rock it. Also, Manuel & his utter lack of personality goes home.

10:00 – We open in the apartment. I don’t think we’ve ever learned anything interesting in the apartment shots. It would have been more interesting if they were actually living with Rocco DiSpirito. Is there some way we can still arrange this?

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A Peek into Our American Shelf Life April 6, 2008

Posted by Amy Yen in Social Media.
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Today, a few of my colleagues & classmates (Amanda Mooney, Maria Garcia, Melissa Eddy, Will Wheeler, Sarah Hutton) & I started an exciting new project on the Web. It’s called Our American Shelf Life. Amanda Mooney wrote a great post explaining why we began the project.

Our generation grew up online. Facebook, MySpace, Flickr, these sites that are now items on marketing plan checklists, they mean more to us than a channel whose target features an unusually high number of a highly desirable demographic with disposable incomes. They’re where we met some of our very best friends, where we kept memories of events we never wanted to forget & where we posted our most honest feelings about the most important times of our lives.

Because we are all going into an industry that is now looking to leverage these platforms, we have the unique perspective of seeing both sides. We were & are the target these marketers are looking for, but we work for those marketers. We understand better than anyone else what it’s like to live in this space…& we want to share our stories, experiences & insights.

Hopefully you find them interesting.

Ad Post: NBA Playoffs Kobe/Shaq – Fear April 6, 2008

Posted by Amy Yen in advertising, sports.
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NBA :30 Spot
Agency: Goodby Silverstein & Partners

A great spot in so many ways. The choice to use the famous adversaries Kobe & Shaq, the strings-backed soundtrack, even the subject. Fear. A bad word amongst athletes. Admitting fear is a sign of weakness, a death wish in the playoffs. So talking about fear in a spot like this, I think, is brave.

Besides the content, I thought the theme of this campaign was wonderful. The split screen, the perfectly simultaneous monotones & the tagline, “there can only be one.” It is an excellent capture of the calm before the storm.

As AdWeek reports, the spot is part of a series, also including ads featuring Steve Nash & Jason Kidd and KG & Lebron. Looking forward to seeing the whole series.

Steve Hall & Even More Social Media Awesomeness April 3, 2008

Posted by Amy in Social Media.
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Last night, we had the opportunity to attend a Social Media Forum at Emerson College (where I’m attending grad school) with Todd Defren of Shift Communications (@TDefren), Steve Hall of AdRants (@stevehall), Zach Braiker of Refine+Focus (@quiverandquill) & Paul Gillin of Paul Gillin Communications (@pgillin).  It was a fabulous discussion in a truly social media-appropriate open debate format, which was a refreshing change from the PowerPoint lectures that are surprisingly popular with the social media speaking crowd.

Steve Hall put up a great wrap-up of the discussion at AdRants.

Thanks again to Emerson for organizing such a great forum.  It’s great to see my school taking steps toward getting students into this space.

Live-Blogging Top Chef 4.4 April 2, 2008

Posted by Amy in Top Chef, TV.
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9:59 – Previously on Top Chef, I tried really hard to start caring about this season’s contestants, with little to no success. Also, Erik was sent home for soggy corn dogs.

10:00 – Was just thinking…what an awkward shoot it must have been for the chefs to film that opening sequence. Were the producers just like, “Do something that expresses your personality as a person & a chef in approximately 3 seconds…go!”? I liked CJ’s shot from Season 3, all he had to do was be tall.

10:01 – We open in the apartments, where the chefs continue to be surprised that one of them was eliminated despite the fact that I keep pointing out that they are, in fact, on a reality show. Also, the producers continue to shove the fact that there is a lesbian couple this season down our throats & America continues to not care.

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