Who wins the "PR Battle" in the Ahmadinejad visit?

It's all about image.

Seems to me there have been a number of "wins" in the recent flap over the Iranian leader's visit to Columbia University.

NPR reports this morning that Ahmadinejad's comments have earned him bonus points in Iran. But those same comments earned him negative points among American listeners.

Among pure Free Speech advocates, Columbia wins for inviting Ahmadinejad, while the school loses among hard-line Truth advocates, who claim his speech was full of lies.

In any situation, you will win and lose image points. Each is merely one "play" in a game that goes on and on. The important thing to keep in mind is your over all brand promise - determine what you stand for and don't waver from that position.

Seems to me both Columbia and Ahmadinejad did just that.

I would be licking the glass

Now this must be SOME incredible Scotch -

Tasting For $30,000 Scotch Garners Free Advertising

Two bottles of The Balvenie Cask 191--a single malt Scotch priced at $30,000 per bottle--arrived under Brinks guard at a Toronto liquor store yesterday as part of a publicity stunt. One media specialist valued it as the equivalent of $300,000 in advertising because of the free articles that would presumably be written.

To the palpable delight of organizers, about 25 reporters and drinks critics dutifully showed up with uncommon punctuality to partake of a tutored tasting of the single malt Scotch, led by kilt-clad Balvenie brand ambassador David Mair.

Not only did 25 reporters show up, they arrived ON TIME for the event. Lesson learned: Do something remarkable and people will show up.

Are we running out of ideas?

I went to NextFest in Los Angeles yesterday and was bored.

This was a collection of the "next" ideas coming down the path and a majority of what was on display consisted of re-purposed existing ideas.

• Miniature versions of bigger things;
• Smoother running versions of existing machines;
• Quieter, louder, brighter, softer;

But very little I would consider new and quite a bit of what I'd consider pointless.

There was a cool bio-engineering display about growing human body parts in labs, and a nifty machine that "prints" 3D objects on a small enough machine that in-home use could be imagined. But even these are not new ideas.

So, are we running out of ideas?

I don't want to think so, but if not, where are the really new things?

Perhaps NextFest should have been called the Almost Ready for Prime Time Fest and I should have been looking for the You Are Not Even Gonna Believe This Fest.

If stuffy old lawyers can change, you can too.

When you need (or want) to bring about change you can do things differently or do different things

This very traditional Boston law firm is doing things differently.

What are you waiting for?

It's not easy being green

From the WSJ through MediaPost

Hotels Struggle With The Meaning Of Green
As more hotels try to become more environmentally friendly--in part to satisfy customers who are demanding it--they find themselves cluttered with "green" products and hype--but without many reliable guideposts for what's effective.

So - when you travel, what can hotels you stay at do to support your green-ness? Is it enough to not change bed sheets and towels every morning? How much are you willing to give up to be green in a hotel?

I find that housekeeping will often ignore the towel I have draped over the shower rod and will replace it anyway with a fresh towel.

What will they think of next? No, really - what?

Saw this piece about comic book episodes being delivered to cell phones and got to wondering, "OK, that's cool. What's next?"

It's like Disneyland - while you're still standing in line for one ride, you start asking, "When we finish this one, where are we going next?"

Thanks to MediaLife:

Now available via cell, the first mobile comic book
Reading a paper comic book is so last month. Just ask Sean Demory and Steven Sanders, authors of “Thunder Road,” the first comic book to be released exclusively on a cell phone in the U.S. It’s offered by uClick, which has about 55,000 readers a month for its GoComics service, launched last year on Verizon Wireless, AT&T and Sprint Nextel. Released last month, “Thunder Road” joins nearly a dozen traditional comic book titles including “Bone” and “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles” being offered via subscription from $3.99 to $4.49 a month. New chapters or issues are uploaded for each title on a weekly basis by the comic’s site. Japanese comics known as manga, some of which got their start on cell phones, can be read on mobile phones through a separate service.

Freeing up disc space

I am a disc space fanatic - always looking for ways to reduce the amount of stuff on my drives. Must go back to that very first x386 machine with a 20MB hard drive and 2K memory.

Cali Lewis, the gadget maven, has a few tips on great "clean up" tools for Mac and PC users.