So now that you know what Behavioral Targeting is and how it is being regulated, has your opinion changed at all? Do you think that Behavioral advertising is a good thing – serving relevant ads to people who are likely “in market” for a particular product or service? Or a bad thing – an invasion of privacy of the highest degree?

As an “insider” or someone who actively uses and pitches Behavioral Advertising to our roster of Pepperjam clients, I think Behavioral Targeting is a great method of advertising across the internet. As a marketer our goal is to best serve our clients and provide for them the best possible ROI, and our use of behavioral targeting has given us a greater potential for achieving our clients’ goals. Having the ability to target our prospective consumer based on their past web surfing history, we can more accurately gauge what products or services this consumer would be “in market” for.

As a real world example, we have a client, Brigade QM, who specializes in products tailored to the military, government, police, and Special Forces. They also carry outdoor supplies and tactical goods that people in security can use. For the last three months we have been running a Behaviorally Targeted campaign for them on a large Behavioral Ad Network. We conveyed to our Behavioral Network that our goal was to back into a specified CPA goal. We targeted several verticals including Military, government, Men’s vertical, News and Reference, Sports, and Gaming – focusing in on users whose cookie history conveyed interests in military or security equipment. Since the beginning of the campaign in April, our client has received over 600 sales (having successfully backed into their CPA goal), and has generated nearly $7 dollars in revenue for every dollar ($1) they spent. WOW!

As you can see, Behavioral Targeting is effective in our industry. As it stands right now, Behavioral Targeting is not, in my opinion, a privacy concern. These Behavioral Ad Networks are not data mining users personal information, rather they are using a consumers nonpersonally identifiable cookies to determine what interests they might have and serve them ads accordingly. In many ways it is no different than receiving coupons for relevant items from the grocery store or CVS.

However, given the technology that does exist for these Behavioral Networks to collect, use and sell our personal identifiable information, it does give even us marketers pause for concern. Allowing Behavioral Networks access, without consent to this information is dangerous and yes, an invasion of privacy.

But I do not agree with the manner in which Assemblyman Richard Brodsky is approaching this concern. As it stands right now, the NAI, the IAB and the FTC are all in the process of either self regulating or formally regulating these practices. To implement Mr. Brodsky’s regulation on a state by state basis would be exasperating. The bill is far stricter than the IAB and FTC guidelines and would create an extensive regime of consumer notice and choice for Behavioral Ad Network tracking of different types of consumer online activity. The bill also calls for:

• Absent obtaining a consumer’s prior affirmative consent, Behavioral Ad Networks would be prohibited from collecting personally identifiable information online in some situations (when merged with certain other previously collected data).
• Consumers would have the right to opt-out of any online tracking involving non-personally identifiable information.
• The bill would require clear notice by advertising companies on their own sites of their profiling activities, the types of data they collect, how they use the data, the opt-out process, and the length of time the data is retained.
• The bill would require advertising companies to contractually require the sites to whom they provide services to include notice and opt-out options.

I believe that this sort of regulation puts far too much responsibility on the consumer and will make the user’s internet experience a negative one. Imagine for a second being a consumer and on every webpage that you visit having to consent or deny that site to collect your nonpersonal information and/or your personal information. Or prior to being directed to a desired website’s page having to first read what information of yours is being tracked and giving that person a chance to opt out. Your time spend on the internet could double just from this process alone!

Moreover, the biggest concern I have is the availability of free content on the internet. Many sites are able to afford being free content sites, like the New York Times, because they sell advertising. Take that option away from publisher sites and say goodbye to free content. “Consumers enjoy cost-free online content; competitive pricing and product comparisons; education and information gathering tools; communications, such as free email and telephone services; social networking environments and online safety tools all because of online advertising,” said Randall Rothenberg, president and CEO of the IAB. “Research shows consumers value free Internet services highly and prefer advertising that is relevant to their interests, but want guarantees that their personally identifiable information won’t be misused.”

I think the best outcome would be for the industry to keep self regulating itself, rather than having these strict regulations in place. People like their free content and ads that are relevant to their interests. I believe the bill pending in the New York State Assembly unnecessarily burdens the consumer with opt-ins or opt-ins, especially considering the headway the industry is making to alleviate privacy fears through proactive self regulation.

behavioral advertising behavioral targeting brigade brigade quartermasters IAB Internet Advertising Bureau internet marketing invasion of privacy media media buying media division media news online advertsing online marketing online media online media buying pepperjam pepperjam blog pepperjamblog Uncategorizedbehavioral advertising behavioral targeting brigade brigade quartermasters IAB Internet Advertising Bureau internet marketing invasion of privacy media media buying media division media news online advertsing online marketing online media online media buying pepperjam pepperjam blog pepperjamblog Uncategorized

So now that I have given you a little background on Behavioral Targeting/Advertising (with the help of some comments from friends – thanks guys!), I think it is important to inform you on what regulations are currently in place and what further regulations are being proposed.

There has been much discussion in the industry and in government regulatory commissions about consumer’s privacy in regards to behavioral targeting. Many feel as though this sort of behavioral tracking is an invasion of a web user’s privacy because they have not expressly consented to having their online activity tracked. Other’s claim that because the cookies track only nonpersonally identifiable information that there is no breach of a consumer’s privacy.

During the last decade, the online advertising industry has attempted to proactively ease consumer’s privacy encroachment fears. In addition to the Network Advertising Initiative’s (NAI) self regulatory principles, the Internet Advertising Bureau (IAB) submitted new interactive advertising privacy guidelines to the Federal Trade Commission that are designed to ensure users’ control over the use of personal information by interactive media and advertisers while at the same time guaranteeing continued improvement in the delivery of relevant marketing communications to consumers.

Most Advertising Networks adhere to the IAB’s guidelines in addition to being a member of the NAI. While these networks are in the business of making money serving relevant and targeted ads to consumers, they also know that if they were to aggressively collect consumer’s data and use it in ways the consumer finds invasive there would be a massive outrage against all forms of online advertising. Therefore, these Ad Networks have tried to straddle line between serving relevant ads and not being invasive in so doing.

But some don’t believe that these networks are doing enough to protect the consumer’s privacy. Namely, one Assemblyman from New York, Richard Brodsky. Mr. Brodsky proposed bill, Third Party Internet Advertising Consumers’ Bill of Rights (A. 9275), imposes a host of requirements on companies that monitor Web-surfing activity for marketing purposes. The most significant include the mandate that companies that use cookies to track people across the Web tell users about the practice and give them an opportunity to opt-out.
The bill is largely penned on a 7 year old voluntary standards initiative put in place by the Network Advertising Initiative (NAI). The guidelines, which many of the industry’s biggest players are a part of, prohibit Network Advertisers from merging personally identifiable information (name, age, address, etc) with nonpersonal identifiable information (IP address, sites you’ve visited, etc) without prior affirmative consent (opt-in). The collecting of nonpersonal information is widely used in the industry by many Online Ad Networks through the use of cookie based tracking, called behavioral targeting.
Proponents of the bill are calling for increased consumer notice standards to be put in place. Namely, advertisers would first have to obtain a consumer’s expressed affirmative consent (opt-in) prior to the ad network being able to collect personally identifiable information. Additionally, it asks that all ad networks require the sites they serve to include notice and opt out options.
Opponents of the bill argue that ad networks that belong to the NAI already promise to adhere to the law’s key portions and that a state-by-state approach to behavioral targeting would create huge implementation problems for online ad companies because it’s not always possible to know what state Web users are in when they log on. The better course of action would be to bring deceptive and unfair trade practices actions against companies who promise to do something and fail to do it.
It shouldn’t be too hard to figure out where I might stand on this issue… but if you care to find out for sure, I suggest you checking back tomorrow.

ad networks behavioral advertising behavioral merketing behavioral targeting buying Federal Trade Commission FTC IAB Internet Advertising Bureau NAI opt in pepperjam pepperjam blog Uncategorizedad networks behavioral advertising behavioral merketing behavioral targeting buying Federal Trade Commission FTC IAB Internet Advertising Bureau NAI opt in pepperjam pepperjam blog Uncategorized

 

Part I in a Three Part Series:

There has been a lot interest in Behavioral Targeting as of late. Many consumers and internet marketing professionals are voicing their opinions about whether or not it is an invasion of privacy or just a more targeted approach to online marketing.

But in order to have an opinion on one side of the fence or the other, I think it is important to understand what exactly behavioral targeting is, how it works, and why consumers seemingly think its use is an invasion of their Privacy. So in this, a three part series, I will take a give an overview of Behavioral Targeting, the regulatory bodies who have taken a closer look at Behavioral Targeting’s proposed invasion of privacy and recommendations they have made to put the consumer at ease, and an insider’s opinion… i.e. Mine.

So what is Behavioral Targeting? Online behavioral targeting is the practice of tracking web users’ behavior and serving ads tailored to that behavior. The primary method is cookie-based, allowing Ad networks to track the web pages a user visits. This information often contains demographic data such as geographic location or search queries, to help further personalize advertisements, however this tracking usually is conducted anonymously with data collected linked only to a computer’s Internet Protocol (IP) address, not name or other personally identifiable information.

For instance, say user 12345 is interested in booking airline tickets for an upcoming business trip. User 12345 visits sites like Travelocity.com, Expedia.com, and UsAir.com. Each time this user visits one of these sites a cookie is placed on that user’s “profile.” As this user visits other non-travel related sites like Morningstar.com (s)he may be served ads for Tripadvisor.com based upon user 12345’s cookies. Simple, right?

It should be no surprise that there is a vast difference of opinion amongst the consumers and marketers: In a recent Harris poll, 60% of Americans (ie. average internet users) believe that Behavioral Targeting is, to some extent, an invasion of privacy and were uncomfortable with the idea of companies tracking personal information such as their search queries and using that information to target specific ads to them. On the other hand, most online marketers believe Behavioral Targeting to be a more efficient, effective, and cost effective way for clients to advertise to those consumers who are believed to be “in market.” Many marketers tout increased Click Thru Rates (CTR) and conversion rates and have stressed that behaviorally targeted ads can generate as much as 10 times (10x) the revenue compared to Run of Network based ads.

So what are your thoughts? Is Behavioral Targeting an invasion of privacy? What have those in the industry regulatory agencies done to curb networks from capitalizing on the consumer’s information? What more needs to be done, if anything?

Tomorrow we will take a closer look at these questions and more. Namely we’ll look at what the Federal Trade Commission has said about Behavioral Targeting, the fight one New York Assemblyman is waging against the use of Behavioral Targeting, and what the Internet Advertising Bureau (IAB) is doing to self regulate the industry.

Stay Tuned!

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When will the Microsoft and Yahoo drama end? Is it just me, or are other people getting sick of this buyout/hostile takeover/partnership fiasco?

Yesterday Microsoft announced that it is (again) in talks with Yahoo. To what extent, that is all speculation…but what we do know is that it will NOT be a complete takeover/buyout as originally planned. (or so they say…. for now) Microsoft made clear in a statement released yesterday that the offer “would involve a transaction with Yahoo but not an acquisition of all of Yahoo.” However, the statement continues, “Microsoft is not proposing to make a new bid to acquire all of Yahoo at this time, but reserves the right to reconsider that alternative depending on future developments and discussions that may take place with Yahoo or discussions with shareholders of Yahoo or Microsoft or with other third parties.” (Ah Ha!)

So what options are speculated to be on the table if not an all out takeover?

1. Microsoft buys Yahoo’s search business: some have alluded to Microsoft buying out Yahoo’s Panama technology and rolling into their own search efforts in order to take on Google as the leader in search. My Opinion: Yahoo makes out like a bandit with this option, but overall it’s an awful idea. Their search business is sub par at best. Combine that with Microsoft’s search technology and it is still no where near the likes of Google.
2. Yahoo outsources its search to Microsoft instead of Google (whom they are in talks with currently): The Sillicon Alley Insider reports that “Microsoft has proposed a cooperative pact in which Yahoo would likely display advertisements sold by Microsoft alongside Web search results delivered to Yahoo’s users. The intent, these people say, is to head off talks between Yahoo and Google Inc. over a similar relationship.” My Opinion: Not a bad idea. This deal would ultimately take Google out of the picture for the time being and eliminate the regulatory fight that would likely ensue if Yahoo/Google team up. However - wouldn’t this mean that Microsoft has to outbid Google for this portion of Yahoo’s business? Is the cost/benefit really there for Microsoft to make this sort of bid? I’m not so sure it is.
3. Microsoft resumes complete buyout talks: been there done that. Will round three be the charm?
4. Microsoft walks away…. for good: highly unlikely. Don’t you think?

The answer to this question may be revealed on Wednesday at Advance08, but until then it is all speculation. But by God, I hope they do something soon. I don’t know that i can take one more RSS feed on this topic! (she says as she just adds fuel to the fire.)

What are your thoughts? Anyone else care to weigh in on what tricks Microsoft might have up their sleeves? Or which option Yahoo should concede to?

Advance08 google marketing Microhoo microsoft Panama pepperjam search search engine search engine marketing search engine optimization Sillicon Alley Uncategorized yahooAdvance08 google marketing Microhoo microsoft Panama pepperjam search search engine search engine marketing search engine optimization Sillicon Alley Uncategorized yahoo

The face of social media as we know it is about to change. Within the past week MySpace, Facebook and Google all announced plans to make social media more portable by opening it up to third parties. So what does that mean exactly? Great question Kat! (why thank you)

I had to dig a little deeper myself to find out how each of these giants planned on taking my profile information and share it with the greater world wide web. The underlying theory is this: You use one social network as your “main” Profile, connect this profile to other third party sites, and when you update your “main” profile, it updates the info on the third party sites too. Presumably all profile privacy preferences (say that three times!) will transfer to the third party sites as well. Since I’m a visual person I thought this mockup of a Twitter/MySpace profile (provided by Tech Crunch) would be a useful illustration for you as well.

So what are MySpace, Facebook, and Google offering? Well let’s start with a brief recap of each program and go from there.

First up: MySpace Data Availability

Before I begin, what marketing guru thought that the name “Data Availability” was going to be a winner? But I digress. MySpace is essentially making key user data, including (1) Publicly available basic profile information, (2) MySpace photos, (3) MySpaceTV videos, and (4) friend networks, available to partners (Yahoo, Ebay, Twitter and Photobucket, so far) via their (previously internal) RESTful API, along with user authentication via OAuth. See above mock up to make sense of the previous sentence.

Next up: Facebook Connect

Facebook Connect will allow members to use/connect their profile information - including profile pictures, names, photos, friends, groups, events and other information - on external websites and other social networking sites, such as Digg. Additionally, Facebook Connect will let members put feeds from other sites onto their Facebook profiles.

And Lastly: Google Friend Connect

Again – what marketing guru came up with this name?? It is not very “google-ly.” Google Friend Connect is a tool set or application, for lack of a better explanation, that allows a website owner to turn any static page into an interactive or social site by adding simple social features to the
website. For a demo, check out this YouTube video tutorial.

And done… well almost.

What does all this mean for us? Are any of these solutions really going to simplify our social networking? If MySpace is partners with Twitter and Photobucket, but not Digg, won’t I have to simultaneously update both my Facebook and MySpace pages? The only way I can see this working, or at least working well enough to make it worthwhile, is if we can get these social network giants (Facebook, MySpace, Hi5, Bebo, MyYearbook) to play nice. But is that even what we want? Do we want one universal social networking site? Or would we rather compartmentalize our social media footprint – one network for my love of dogs, another for my love of baking, and another to network with other internet marketers, and so on? Isn’t this latter model what Ning is banking on? So many questions, so little time!

That being said, who are you putting your money on? Do you think data portability will one day rule the social media landscape? Or will users keep their profiles private?

API Bebo digg ebay facebook Facebook Connect facebook is better than myspace google Google Friend Connect hi5 kat dempsey katharine dempsey kris jones media myspace MySpace Data Availability myspaceTV Myyearbook Ning OAuth online marketing online media online media buying open source pepperjam pepperjam blog pepperjam social media Photobucket social media social media optimization social network social networking social networks social software social experiments social networking social software social structure TechCrunch Twitter Uncategorized viral marketing viral video viral marketing viral video viral videos youtube youtube viral videoAPI Bebo digg ebay facebook Facebook Connect facebook is better than myspace google Google Friend Connect hi5 kat dempsey katharine dempsey kris jones media myspace MySpace Data Availability myspaceTV Myyearbook Ning OAuth online marketing online media online media buying open source pepperjam pepperjam blog pepperjam social media Photobucket social media social media optimization social network social networking social networks social software social experiments social networking social software social structure TechCrunch Twitter Uncategorized viral marketing viral video viral marketing viral video viral videos youtube youtube viral video

So you’d have to be living under a rock this week if you haven’t heard about Microsoft’s bid to takeover Yahoo!   But just in the off chance that that is the case, allow me to give you a brief synopsis… and by brief, I mean bare bones.

 Last Friday, February 1^st, Microsoft made an unsolicited $44.6 billion bid for Yahoo.  If the sale goes through, it would combine the second and third largest web search providers. Whew!  That took a lot out of me.

Well being the full service internet marketing agency that we are, and having search as one of our core competencies, it shouldn’t surprise you that people around here had some things to say about the potential takeover of Yahoo.  

Weighing in first is pepperjam’s heavy weight contender, CEO Kris Jones.  When asked about Microsoft’s bid to but Yahoo, here’s what Kris had to say:

“On its face, Microsoft’s hostile bid of Yahoo seems nothing more than a desperate attempt by Microsoft to compete with Google’s dominance as the world’s leading search-engine. However, there is a problem here - the Yahoo search-engine isn’t that good and neither is MSN. Both of these firms have had quite some time to differentiate, but failed. On the paid search front Yahoo’s Panama seems to be a big failure and Microsoft’s AdCenter is small. Will the combined MSFT / YHOO entity be something Google should be worried about? No, not really. Google’s search-engine is just that much better. Take the best search features of MSN and add it to the best of Yahoo and nothing really changes.”

Wow, Kris.  Why don’t you tell us how you really feel?  But he does make some excellent points! (no surprise there)  Even if Microsoft and Yahoo combine, taking the best of both companies, does it still stack up to Google?  If I were a magic 8 ball, my reading would say “all signs point to no.”    Neither MSN nor Yahoo have a big enough market share, even combined, that could challenge or persuade others to leave Google.

After speaking with Kris about this, I decided to ask Brian Watkins, our Director of PPC Account Management, what he thought of both the take over and Kris’ comments.  Brian said, “  I agree with Kris.  But on top of that, why would Microsoft even want to take over Yahoo?  Why would they invest money in Yahoo’s subpar technology when they could be using that money to reinvest in their own technology and internal ventures?  Doesn’t really make sense if you ask me.”

Brian’s comments echo something I read earlier today in the International Herald Tribune.  Mark Mowrey, editor of The TechValue Report, a newsletter, was commenting on the bid.  He expressed his frustrations of “Gates’s pursuit of his white whale when Microsoft has bigger fish to fry, like parrying the challenge from free operating systems like Linux; adapting to the migration of computing from the desktop to the cloud, and competing with Apple as it insinuates its hardware and software into people’s living rooms, cars and telephones.  An acquisition of Yahoo has the potential to force management’s eyeballs away from what are keys to the company’s future. I would much rather see Microsoft focusing on breadwinners, as well as the ancillary businesses.”   The Windows operating system and Office productivity software make up the first category; the second includes devices like the Xbox game console and Zune media player.

 Both Brian and Mark Mowrey make excellent points though – why risk a $44.8 BILLION gamble on technology that isn’t even on par with your own, when you could be using that capital to reinvest in your own company’s core competencies?  Right now Apple really is one of the biggest, if not THE biggest competitors for Microsoft right now.  While their search and online portal space is no doubt important, Microsoft is at least still in the ball game with its Xbox console (especially with the success of its Halo3 release), the Zune, which is going head to head with the ipod, and its Microsoft Office Suite which, whether you like or not is in every corporate office, college campus, and home across the globe.   What does a takeover of Yahoo really add to what Microsoft already has, beside a slew of headaches?  (I mean, have you thought about how Microhoo! is going to choose among two e-mail systems, two ad platforms, two instant-messaging systems, and two search platforms, just to name just a few)

Who knows how all of this is going to turn out… but it sure does look likely that Microsoft’s bid will be accepted by Yahoo’s board of directors.  I guess we’ll just have to tune in next week to see the outcome…

Till then, have a great weekend!

KAT

apple blog bloggers blogging blogs buzz marketing cell phone technology cell phones google google adsense google adwords google buyout google maps googling Halo3 International Herald Tribune iphone ipod kat dempsey kris jones Mark Mowrey marketing marketing news marketing industry marketing web media microsoft Microsoft Office msn pepperjam search search engine marketing search engine optimization search engine strategies search marketing Search Marketing Standard Uncategorized Xbox yahoo yahoo panama yahoo publisher network yahoo search engine marketing yahoo search marketing ZUNEapple blog bloggers blogging blogs buzz marketing cell phone technology cell phones google google adsense google adwords google buyout google maps googling Halo3 International Herald Tribune iphone ipod kat dempsey kris jones Mark Mowrey marketing marketing news marketing industry marketing web media microsoft Microsoft Office msn pepperjam search search engine marketing search engine optimization search engine strategies search marketing Search Marketing Standard Uncategorized Xbox yahoo yahoo panama yahoo publisher network yahoo search engine marketing yahoo search marketing ZUNE

Hello again pepperjamBLOG readers! It’s me, Kat, director of online media planning and management here at Pepperjam. As one of my several resolutions for 2008 (others include not falling asleep on the couch, going to the gym, and drinking more water), I have challenged myself to become a more active PPJ blogger. Ok let’s not lie – Kris Jones (our CEO) urged my participation – but I’m more than happy to oblige. Media really took off in 2007, transforming the internet space with video, social media, and open source ads. And 2008 is predicted to outpace ‘07 by double digits. According to a TNS Media Intelligence report, Online ad spending is likely to rise 14% this year – making it the only media outlet hitting double digit growth in ‘08 (outpacing TV, Radio, newspaper and outdoor).

So it really begs the question: what is your online marketing strategy for ‘08? Banners, expandables, pre-roll, video, social media, contextual ads, behavioral targeting, retargeting, email? The possibilities on the internet are endless! Why try to hash through all the ins and outs of media yourself? (trust me – it would take a very, very long time…) Let the media buying professionals here at pepperjamMEDIA do it for you. We have the experience, the knowledge and the technology to make any campaign successful. I know, I know - this is sounding a lot like an ad for teamMEDIA isn’t? Well it certainly is not meant to be. Think of it more as a plug for teamMedia….my baby here at Pepperjam. With Media exploding the way it is, can you really blame me for wanting to share all the new types of ad placements and technologies that exist out there? I think not!

Speaking of technology – did any of you read the Media Post Article Monday about DoubleClick’s DFA Spotlight technology?? Well if not, you can find it here. If you recall, pepperjam and DoubleClick partnered up last year to create one of the biggest powerhouses in online marketing. We have used this technology with some of the largest advertisers out there – Nordstrom and Old Spice – and have had tremendous successes with their rich media campaigns. If you are an advertiser with Rich Media ads – you need not look any further for an agency to negotiate media buys on your behalf. Allow pepperjam to place your media buy and utilize DFA’s cutting edge technology to optimize your rich media campaigns. With DFA’s Spotlight tool we will not only be able to calculate how many times your ad was served and clicked on, but we will also be able to measure conversion rates for various actions taken within rich media ads, including rollovers, ad expansions, multiple click-throughs and video plays. Accountability is key – we want our advertisers to be able to create the most effective ad campaigns out there, and with the help of Spotlight, that’s exactly what pepperjamMEDIA can help you do.

So come on… give pepperjamMEDIA a try. You know you want to.

banners behavioral advertising behavioral targeting blog click through contextual ads conversion rates DFA doubleclick DoubleClick DART email expanables google internet marketing kris jones marketing media buying new marketing technology new year resolutions new years Old Spice online media pepperjam pre roll retargeting Rich Media rollovers social media social media optimization Spotlight TNS Media Uncategorized Video Blogsbanners behavioral advertising behavioral targeting blog click through contextual ads conversion rates DFA doubleclick DoubleClick DART email expanables google internet marketing kris jones marketing media buying new marketing technology new year resolutions new years Old Spice online media pepperjam pre roll retargeting Rich Media rollovers social media social media optimization Spotlight TNS Media Uncategorized Video Blogs

It looks like Robyn
isn’t the only one here at the pepperplex losing her tagging virginity!
 With the help of my friend Kat Dempsey (Seen here in photo), I have now
lost not only my tagging virginity, but also my pepperjamblog virginity. That’s
right - Kat got me twice! I am very excited about being able to share a little
bit about myself and I will do my best to keep this short and sweet…not exactly
my strong suit, but we will see how this goes.

1-    I have one tattoo that I love. I get happy
every time I look at it. It is on my foot, even though I happen to think feet
are gross. Can anyone say walking contradiction?

2-    I really did graduate college magna cum laude.
And I almost dropped out my sophomore year.

3-    I am in the process of changing departments
at Pepperjam.  After a brief stint in affiliate and a longer one in
Search, I am heading over to another Pepperjam department. I am thrilled about the move and
I plan on being the biggest cheerleader for my new team (any questions about my new top secret project feel free to shoot me an email or give me a call - you’ll just have to sign an NDA before we talk!).

4-    Music and Food have the ability to make me
happier than I could possibly express in words. One day I would love to open a
restaurant with my Mom and Sisters where I could plan the menu and name dishes
after some of my favorite tunes and artists. (A Don’t Drink The Water Martini,
Bens Fold Five Dollar Friday, G-Love’s Special Sauce Chicken Sandwich,
Taste(Phish) Seafood Gumbo, a Jimmy Buffett’s Last Mango In Paris for
Desert…)

5-    I am one of 5 children- I loved growing
up in a big family.

6-    I met Dave Matthews while he was on a jog
in Wilkes-Barre
before a show.  And while we spoke for several minutes, I was so star
struck I honestly hardly remember any of it.

7-    My guilty pleasure is The Girls Next Door on
E!, My favorite episode is where Hef gets peacocks and names them Casa and
Blanca, romance is alive and well my friends!

8-    My Claim to fame in the Pepperplex is
that very soon after getting my job here I drank three redbulls and one mt. dew
in fifteen minutes for a crisp $100.00 bill from Kris Jones. And I would do it
again without hesitation.

 

 

I now tag

 Ken Mohn

Ryan Campbell

Jesse Cooper 

affiliate marketing search engine marketing search engine optimization seoaffiliate marketing search engine marketing search engine optimization seo

So I’ve been tagged by Dean Karasinski. I never much cared for the game of tag - I find it to be a game heavily skewed towards fit, quick little kids - thus making all the little chunks of the world be eternally “It”. I swear I’m not bitter….
1. My favorite movie of all time is Dirty Dancing. “Nobody Puts Baby in a Corner”
2. I was an accident. After having 5 kids already, my mom cried for 2 hours when she heard another little dempsey was on the way.
3. I only Karaoke to Mr. Big’s “To be with you.” And, I will only Karaoke this song if my sister MF is w/ me. Our stage name is Lead Foot.
4. I am only 2 degrees of separation away from Kevin Bacon. (my sister dated Jason Patrick’s brother. Jason Patrick starred in the movie “Sleepers” along side of Kevin Bacon.) Beat that suckers!
5. I have an obsession with TV - I’m not ashamed of it; it is something i live with. I would not survive without my DVR.
6. I once out ate a 250 lb dude at Rivellos Pizza. 13 pieces of pizza to his poor performance of 11. yesssss! [fist pump]
7. I was pile driven into a keg, got up, and went right back to my game of flip cup - concussion and all. I’m so hard core.
8. I lived in London for 8 months and fully expected to have an English romance with some handsome bloke who had a hot accent. Instead I dated an American Marine… Men in Uniform! Can you blame me?
I now tag:

Tara Lynn
Jeff Moisey
Matt Bradley

Here are the tag rules:

* Each player must post these rules first.
* Each player starts with eight random facts/habits about themselves.
* People who are tagged need to write about their eight facts on their blog.
* At the end of your blog post, choose eight people to get tagged, list their names, and link to them.
* Don’t forget to contact them telling them they’re tagged. Also, point them to your blog post so they know what to do.

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Pepperjam’s mission statement of “work hard, play hard” is infamous both locally and throughout the entire internet space. In typical PJ fashion, happy hour this past Friday night started promptly at 5:01pm. However, two of pepperjam’s finest - Kat and Tara Lynn (a.k.a. TL) - bucked the system, said adios to Wilkes Barre, and ventured into unknown territory….Scranton. (side bar: ok, it’s not really unknown territory since I, Kat, live there…. but we thought it was funnier this way)

Perhaps some of you have heard of this little town from the hit NBC comedy “The Office” - or maybe you recall Kevin’s mother in “Home Alone” meeting John Candy in the Avoca airport just outside of Scranton - either way this city is famous. There were rumors of two other “scrantonians” coming “home” this weekend, and TL and myself were on the hunt. Perched high above the ground in my Ford Explorer, cameras in tow - TL and I set out with an undeniable sense of purpose - “pepperjam and the Office will UNITE!” And Unite, we did.

After hours of painstaking stalking, we eventually got word that “scrantonians” would be hitting up their favorite local watering hole, Poor Richards. (Please note all Office Fans, this pub is actually located in a bowling alley… no joke.) Without hesitation, TL and I booked it to the bar! (not the first time we’ve hightailed it to a bar… but i digress.) So what, you may ask, does a bar in a bowling lane in the great city of Scranton look like? Well allow us to give you a visual:

Picture if you will a lovely, plump woman in florescent pink stretch pants, a denim mini skirt, and an ill fitting white wife beater standing guard at the front door… and by standing guard, we mean “working.” Inside, the clientele didn’t disappoint. Take for instance a charming (smelly) old gentleman, drunk, and propositioning me to sing karaoke for him - namely , Poison’s “Every Rose Has Its Thorn.” Yes, I did oblige. When in rome, as they say….or Scranton. (the buck fifty drafts didn’t hurt).

After “wowing” the stunned crowd, TL and I took it down a notch and staked out a prime location to pounce on the elusive “scrantonians.” We found ourselves in between a group of Office fans and few disgruntled regulars who were pissed that we took their seats at the bar. Amid flashing bulbs and blinding lights, two lone figures stood…one half the size of the other…Angela and Brian (a.k.a. Kevin). Hand in hand, TL and I ambushed The Office castmates! Were they overwhelmed…yes. (have you met the two of us?) However, were they enthralled, enchanted, entertained? Obvi. It was at this moment that TL and I knew that this would be the beginning of beautiful friendship…. or at least one hell of a night.

And without further ado, Here are some pics from the fateful night with some witty (?) commentary by me:

TL, Kat, Angela and Brain (Kevin) — The pepperjammers look a little strung out in this pic. I think it has to do with all the hunting that we did in order to capture this awesome pic…. or maybe we are a little star struck. whatever.

TL and KAT wooing Kevin with their mesmerizing ways….. case in point, Kevin’s sh*t eating grin. He hearts us…. or at least me, the one that doesn’t look like she belongs in an insane asylum. (love you TL)

For those of you who have ever been out with any pepperjammer, there are certain truths. The first one being, “The night is not complete without a jagerbomb shot.” In true pepperjam style I asked Kevin if he would partake in a shot with me. The conversation went a little something like this:

KAT: “Brian, do a shot with me!”

KEV: “What Shot?”

KAT: “A JagerBomb”

KEV: “What’s a jagerbomb?”

KAT: “Seriously? You’ve never had a jagerbomb? It’s jager and red bull!”

KEV: “ummmm…i don’t know about that.”

KAT: “Come on….. do it!”

KEV: “alright…”

This is me peer pressuring Kevin into taking a jagerbomb shot. In this picture, he is saying:

KEV: “This is a shot?!? It’s in a half pint glass!”

KAT: “That’s the way we roll.”

KEV: “Is this what they call a shot in Scranton?”

KAT: “Sure is!”

 

This pic is Kevin showing Angela a Scranton jagerbomb shot, half pint glass and all….she doesn’t seem impressed, does she?

 

But give this girl a $1.50 draft….and it is an entirely different story.

 

TL, exhausted from the hunt, tapped out and headed back down to the WB…but not before she got this last pic in w/ Kevin.

 

I, however, couldn’t get enough of Angela and Kevin (as is evidenced by this pic). After losing TL to the lure of Luzerne county, I jumped in the Limo (what? like you never crashed a celeb’s limo before?) and headed off with the rest of the crew to do a little bar crawl of Scranton. Up next - COOPERS!

This is a little photo of Angela and Kevin (in character) at Cooper’s American Seafood house. Kevin’s favorite part of Coopers? The Mariachi Band, of course! Because what AMERICAN style seafood house doesn’t have a MARIACHI band?? After Coopers we made a quick stop at Farley’s and then ended the night at The BOG. I think it is fair to say that this was probably Angela and Kevin’s favorite stop that night. Here they got the royal treatment — they got to tend bar all night! The bar was packed and Angela and Kevin soaked up the scene. Without hesitation, I’m gonna say that they both had a killer time that night, and one that they will not soon forget! (if they can remember….)

 

And just one more picture of me and Tess. Tess is Angela and Kevin’s personal PR guru. She is a rockstar in her own right and an amazing chick. The blog just wouldn’t have been complete without a little shout out to her since she made the whole weekend possible.

 

 

angela from the office angela kinsey angela martin azoogle ads Brian Baumgartner coopers electric city Entertainment farleys internet marketing kat dempsey katharine dempsey kevin from the office kevin malone lackawanna county luzerne county marketing media nbc NBCs The Office pepperjam poor richards scranton South Side Bowling Lanes steve carell tara lynn Tess Finkle the Bog the office Uncategorizedangela from the office angela kinsey angela martin azoogle ads Brian Baumgartner coopers electric city Entertainment farleys internet marketing kat dempsey katharine dempsey kevin from the office kevin malone lackawanna county luzerne county marketing media nbc NBCs The Office pepperjam poor richards scranton South Side Bowling Lanes steve carell tara lynn Tess Finkle the Bog the office Uncategorized