I received a pitch from Kelley promoting the new blog of MBA Info.  I am not sure if this is original content, but if it is, then MBAInfo really knows how to write content for us gossip and celebrity-obsessed Internet denizens. I am a total whore for bubble gum pop culture and its icons (you wouldn’t think so and it drives my business partner, Mark, crazy to think that he works with such a lemming). Check out 10 Biggest Celebrity Marketing Comebacks of All Time for yourself — however, since I love to borrow content, here’s the poop:

1. 
   Gwyneth Paltrow: Gwyneth Paltrow was the queen of 90s period pieces, starring in Emma and even winning the Academy Award for Best Actress for Shakespeare in Love. She dated high profile actors like Brad Pitt and Ben Affleck, and continued to act in films like The Royal Tenenbaums and Shallow Hal. In 2003, Paltrow married Chris Martin of Coldplay, and while she acted in smaller budget films, she mostly retreated from public life to have two children, Apple and Moses. In 2008, Paltrow’s big blockbuster Iron Man officiated her comeback into the spotlight, and while she toured with the film, she wowed the public with her new penchant for super high heels and short dresses. Paltrow is still enjoying a higher profile persona, appearing in magazines, at special events, and even marketing her lifestyle website GOOP.
2. 
   Victoria Beckham: Victoria Beckham was better known in the 1990s as Posh Spice, the sleek, fashionable member of The Spice Girls. The British girl band enjoyed huge popularity but ultimately fizzled by 2000. Beckham released a solo album, but her major comeback coincided with husband and mega soccer star David Beckham’s continous rise to fame. In Europe, “Posh and Becks” were super celebrities, and Victoria began to favor a more polished, upscale look that earned her praise from fashion editors and the tabloids in America, too. In 2007, the Beckhams moved to Los Angeles when David Beckham signed a contract with the LA Galaxy. In America, Victoria was often photographed socializing with best friend Katie Holmes, wife of Tom Cruise, and even styled Holmes’ photo shoot for Harper’s Bazaar. Beckham also appeared on an episode of Ugly Betty, judged an episode of Project Runway, and joined a Spice Girls reunion tour in 2008.
3. 
   Katie Holmes: Back in the 1990s and early 2000s, Katie Holmes was a cute Ohio-born TV actress on the controversial and extremely popular Dawson’s Creek. The showed continued long after its buzz faded, and Holmes appeared in a few worthwhile films like Pieces of April and Thank You for Smoking, as well as teen comedies. But in 2005, Katie Holmes began dating Tom Cruise, and that summer, the couple appeared at movie premieres and other red carpet events around the world, creating a media frenzy over the new relationship. Cruise famously jumped on Oprah Winfrey’s couch in excitement over Holmes, and in 2006, the couple had a baby, Suri Cruise and married later that year. Holmes is now photographed around the world and is often praised for her new sophisticated fashion choices and lifestyle, as well as for her more grown up acting career.
4. 
   Rob Lowe: As one of the members of the Brat Pack in the 1980s, Rob Lowe was a pretty boy who starred in films like St. Elmo’s Fire and The Outsiders. But in 1988, his career was nearly ruined when during a sex-tape scandal involving an underage girl. Throughout the 1990s, Lowe continued to act, and appeared in films like Tommy Boy and Contact, but he made his comeback in the 2000s, thanks to his role as Sam Seaborn on The West Wing. Currently, Lowe stars in Brothers and Sisters with Sally Field and Calista Flockhart.
5. 
   Nicole Richie: Nicole Richie is the adopted daughter of Lionel Richie and childhood friend of Paris Hilton. As a teenager, Richie struggled with drugs and ended up in rehab after a damaging episode of her reality show The Simple Life revealed her drug problems. In 2006, Richie was arrested for driving under the influence and spent 82 minutes in jail as a result of her conviction. During her legal problems, Richie publicly reconciled with her father on The Oprah Winfrey Show, reunited with best friend Paris Hilton, and became a new style icon after polishing up her image. After controversy and speculation over an eating disorder, Richie seems to have balanced out and has a baby girl, Harlow, with musician Joel Madden.
6. 
   Drew Barrymore: Drew Barrymore’s wild child phases culminated in her going to rehab when she was just 13 and a suicide attempt at 14. A child star descended from Hollywood royalty–Barrymore’s great grandfather was Maurice Costello, her grandfather was John Barrymore, and her great uncle and aunt were Lionel and Ethel Barrymore– Drew was already famous by the time she was six years old. In the following years, Barrymore hung out at Studio 54, drinking alcohol when she was 11 and doing cocaine when she was 13. After rehab, Barrymore became emancipated and continued to work on successful projects, like Guncrazy, but posed and appeared nude in several magazines and films. In the late 1990s and 2000s, Barrymore seemed to calm down and started her own production company. She continues to act, direct and produce films like Charlie’s Angels, Music and Lyrics, 50 First Dates, and He’s Just Not That Into You.
7. 
   Robert Downey, Jr.: In the 1980s and 90s, Robert Downey Jr. was an up-and-coming actor who won an Academy Award nomination for Chaplin. But as his success grew, Downey’s drug problem also became more serious. He was arrested numerous times over the next decade, and even had to leave his “comeback role” on Ally McBeal to go back to a drug treatment program. In the early 2000s, Downey became sober and enjoyed a steady increase in the roles he was offered. In 2008, his starring role in Iron Man officiated his new comeback.
8. 
   Eddie Murphy: Eddie Murphy was a favorite on Saturday Night Live in the early 1980s, and he followed the sketch comedy show with classic comedies like the Beverly Hills Cop series . During the 1990s, however, Murphy’s films flopped. After 2000, Murphy found his place among more successful projects like the Shrek films and his own creative comedies like Norbit. In 2006, Murphy starred in Dreamgirls, and received high critical praise and several awards, including a Golden Globe, Screen Actors Guild Award, and Academy Award nomination.
9. 
   Teri Hatcher: As Lois Lane on the TV show Lois and Clark: The Adventures of Superman, Teri Hatcher became a household name and a sex symbol during the 1990s. The show lasted four years, and Hatcher went on to star as Bond girl Paris Carver opposite Pierce Brosnan in Tomorrow Never Dies. But after the James Bond film, Hatcher appeared in more forgettable movies and was most visible on the Radio Shack commercials she appeared in with NFL player Howie Long. But in 2004, Hatcher made a huge comeback as Susan Mayer on the new ABC drama Desperate Housewives.
10. 
    Paula Abdul: Paula Abdul is a former LA Laker girl whose rise to fame is credited for her choreography gigs for stars like Janet Jackson and even Tom Hanks in Big. But in 1988, Abdul released her own album, Forever Your Girl, which ultimately spent 10 weeks at the #1 spot on the Billboard 200. In the mid-to-late 1990s, however, Abdul struggled to maintain a popular presence in the music industry, and it wasn’t until 2002 that she was able to join the judging panel of American Idol and regain her role in the entertainment business.

I will let my words speak for themselves, as published in this month’s Atlantic magazine in Lori Gottlieb’s article, Marry Him: The case for settling for Mr. Good Enough (gulp):

“Then there’s my friend Chris, a single 35-year-old marketing consultant who for three years dated someone he calls “the perfect woman”—a kind and beautiful surgeon. She broke off the relationship several times because, she told him with regret, she didn’t think she wanted to spend her life with him. Each time, Chris would persuade her to reconsider, until finally she called it off for good, saying that she just couldn’t marry somebody she wasn’t in love with. Chris was devastated, but now that his ex-girlfriend has reached 35, he’s suddenly hopeful about their future.

“By the time she turns 37,” Chris said confidently, “she’ll come back. And I’ll bet she’ll marry me then. I know she wants to have kids.” I asked Chris why he would want to be with a woman who wasn’t in love with him. Wouldn’t he be settling, too, by marrying someone who would be using him to have a family? Chris didn’t see it that way at all. “She’ll be settling,” Chris said cheerfully. “But not me. I get to marry the woman of my dreams. That’s not settling. That’s the fantasy.”

Chris believes that women are far too picky: everyone knows, he says, that a single middle-aged man still has appealing prospects; a single middle-aged woman likely doesn’t. And he’s right. Single women are painfully aware of this. I hear far more women than men talk about getting married as a goal to be met by a certain deadline.”

Note: the interview was conducted over two years ago.

10 Things You Don’t Know About Women: Jennifer Love Hewitt

1. PMS is not a lame excuse to be able to yell at you. It’s a great excuse.
2. We really can pump our own gas. It’s just that we’ve got this fantasy of you as a ’30s-era full-service station attendant. You’d look so cute in the hat.
3. We’re not complimented when you call your ex a slut. She dated you, too. So what are we?
4. We’re smart enough to know that smell is always the dog.
5. Yes, we can dish it out.
6. No, we can’t take it.
7. We want to raise children. We just don’t want you to be one of them.
8. Women are meant to talk and men to listen. We don’t want to be fixed; we want to be heard.
9. When we ask if you’ve had any work done, it’s because we want to know what our kids will really look like.
10. When we ask you how we look, it’s okay to lie; when we ask you how she looks, you better lie.

Via Oh No They Didn’t & Esquire

I am amazed. I am speechless. I am honored. I am pleased. I am embarrassed. No matter what the rush of feelings I may experience in response to the kindest of words expressed on my behalf by Mr. Dan Hull in Our Wunderkind in Berlin, the most meaningful thing Dan reminded me of was that “under 40″ is still young. Via Chris Abraham Online.

One often forgets that when surrounded by Überwunderkind who are “under 30.” Thank you, Dan, my mentor. All I can say in response is that we really should trade jobs — that was a gorgeous bit of publicity, mate. Are you sure I need to attend Law School? Either way, please check out What About Clients?, Dan’s “blawg” — law blog.

Dan, I hope you’re attending New Year’s Renaissance Weekend in Charleston. I would love to buy you a car for that amazing testimonial. Or, maybe just a beer — you have a new car.

Michael Bernstein popped me an IM after reading my article, The Culture of “Acting White” Anti-Intellectualism Will Kill America, with a link to Cosby, Race and Escaping The Downside, which reveals America’s dirty secret, “in America, being poor, ignorant, desperate and unable to escape your situation has absolutely nothing to do with the color of your skin. It is universal.”

Gorgeous Marilyn Monroe Abbegirl:

Cat Woman Abbegirl

Win a Date with Abbegirl Results

Abbegirl with her Acoustic Guitar

A Bizarre Abbygirl with Bert and Ernie

Abbe Loves Her Girlfriend

Super-Goofy Midnight Snack for Abbegirl

Here’s a drunk, blonde, Abbegirl

Blogging Basics One-Day Workshop: “Writing for online consumption is much different from writing for the page. Learn how to write for the Internet and the blogosphere in this one-day class focused on the unique and powerful way the blogosphere communicates and how you can best leverage your own personal passion, your own personal artistic voice, and your unique perception of the world into an online organ that could change the world,” via The Writer’s Center

Blogging Basics Course at Bethesda
4/24/2007 Writer’s Center Workshop

Description

Writing for online consumption is much different from writing for the page. Learn how to write for the Internet and the blogosphere in this one-day class focused on the unique and powerful way the blogosphere communicated and how you can best leverage your own personal passion, your own personal artistic voice, and your unique perception of the world into an online organ that very well could change the world!

Instructor

Chris Abraham, Founding Partner, Abraham Harrison LLC
Blogging since 1999 www.chrisabraham.com
cabraham@chrisabraham.com +1 202-657-4063

Blogging defined
A blog (short for web log) is a user-generated website where entries are made in journal style and displayed in a reverse chronological order. A typical blog combines text, images, and links to other blogs, web pages, and other media related to its topic. Most blogs are primarily textual and are part of a wider network of social media

What is a blog?

· An online journal (as in “periodical”)

· A web application (as in “program”)

· Easy to use (as easy as webmail)

· Communicative

o Syndicated (RSS, ATOM)

o Link aware (Trackback)

o Comments

o The “search engine advantage”

· Okay to be subjective and opinionated

· Blogs can influence culture and mainstream media

What isn’t a blog?

· A blog is not “just a website”

· A blog doesn’t require editing or oversight

· A blog does not offer privacy

o True anonymity is a myth

· A blog is not a great American novel

o Be brief and to-the-point

o Keep each post to a single topic

Why is a blog different than a website?

1. Ease of publishing

2. Discoverability (Pings weblogs.com or technorati or another ping server)

3. Conversationality (Trackbacks or as-they-happen referer logs, or now being part of Technorati and other blog search engines)

4. Linkability (All posts should have permalinks)

5. Syndicatability (All content should be available in RSS feeds)

6. Commentability (All posts should welcome comments)

Types of blogging

· Web logs – provide commentary or news on a particular subject, such as food, politics, or local news; some function as more personal online diaries

· Collaborative blogs – A collaborative blog is a type of weblog which publishes posts written by multiple users. The majority of high profile collaborative blogs are based around a single uniting theme

· Corporate blogs – A corporate blog is a weblog published and used by an organization to reach its organizational goals. Although there are many different types of corporate blogs, most can be categorized as either external or internal.

· Political blogs – A political blog is a common type of blog that comments on politics. In liberal democracies the right to criticize the government without interference is considered an important element of free speech

· Flogs – a marketing tool designed by a professional advertisement company to promote a product in a fashion one might find on a fan site or in regular blog entries

· Splogs – artificially created weblog sites which the author uses to promote affiliated websites or to increase the search engine rankings of associated sites

Popular blogging fields

· Political – Daily Kos, Red State, Instapundit, Wonkette, Michelle Malkin

· Gossip – Perez Hilton, Gawker, Wonkette, Defamer, Stereogum, Valleywag, TMZ

· Advocacy – Boing Boing, Lifehacker, Treehugger,

· Fashion – The Superficial, Go Fug Yourself, Manolo Blog

· Tech – Techcrunch, Ars Technica, Scobleizer, Joel on Software, Engadget, Gizmodo

Variations on the blog

· Photoblog – a form of photo sharing and publishing in the format of a blog, but differentiated by the predominant use of and focus on photographs rather than text

· Video blog (vlog or video podcast) – a blog that includes video. Regular entries are typically presented in reverse chronological order and often combine embedded video or a video link with supporting text, images, and other metadata

· Audio blogs (Podcasts) – a digital media file, or a series of such files, that is distributed over the Internet using syndication feeds, for playback on portable media players and personal computers

Where can I blog?

· Free blogging services

o Blogger www.blogger.com

o WordPress www.wordpress.com

o Friendster www.friendster.com

o MySpace www.myspace.com

o LiveJournal www.livejournal.com

o Vox www.vox.com

· Subscription blogging services

o TypePad www.typepad.com

o iWeb www.apple.com/ilife/iweb/features/blogging.html

· Install your own blog software (requires web host)

o WordPress www.wordpress.org

o Movable Type www.movabletype.org

Who is a blogger?

· Everyone!

Why blog?

· Zero barrier to entry

o Technology is no longer a restriction to entry

o Blogging is often free but is always “cheap.”

o Any type of blog host makes you a blogger

· Participate in global conversation

· “Jump the rails” to mainstream media (MSM)

What is a good blog?

· Short, pithy, entries

· Constantly updated

· Only one long work a week

· Shameless, assertive, opinionated, unapologetic

· Give more than it takes

Reputation as a blogger

· Techniques for building prestige and influence

o Reciprocal links and linking

o Blogroll and blogrolling

o Citations

o Comments

o Pinging ping-servers

o Press releases

o Email requests

Important reading

· Naked Conversations by by Shel Israel & Robert Scoble

o redcouch.typepad.com

· The Cluetrain Manifesto by Chris Locke, Doc Searls, David Weinberger

o redcouch.typepad.com

· Handbook for Bloggers and Cyber-Dissidents by Reporters without Borders

o www.rsf.org/rubrique.php3?id_rubrique=542

· Applied Blogging Workshop is a collaborative blog for all of us

o www.appliedblogging.org

If you want to become a better bloggers, monetize your blog, and create and build your personal brand then I recommend attending the PostieCon ’07 in Orlando, Florida, on June 1 & 2, 2007. Register now because PostieCon ’07 is cheap at $199.95, but only until May 18th. Even without PostieCon ’07, Orlando is cool, inexpensive, warm, sunny, and seriously entertaining. There is no way this Con is going to be either lame or geeky. It’ll be rock star.

PostieCon ’07 promises to be a fun, informative, educational, and important event, and if you register early, you can save money. So, what are you waiting for? A pop-up window?

PostieCon ’07 is a two-day event that will be held from June 1-2, 2007 in Orlando, Florida. By registering, not only will you be getting to take a mini-vacation to one of the world’s most popular tourist destinations, you will receive:

* VIP access to all conference sessions, workshops, and extra-curricular events
* Breakfast (with eggs) Lunch, Drinks and Snacks on Friday and Saturday
* Saturday early evening open bar with hot and cold appetizers
* Sit down dinner with open bar at the award banquet on Saturday evening
* Cool swag to take home

Registration Special: If you register today, you will receive your “backstage pass” for the low, low cost of $199.95. Act soon, because after May 18, 2007, registration costs go up to $249.95.

PostieCon ’07 attendees will get something that no one can put a price on, namely the networking opportunities, blogging tips, business tips, and time spent with some of the best and brightest in the business to bounce ideas around.

I have been blogging since 1999 over at “Because the Medium is the Message“, http://www.chrisabraham.com. Part of what has always been tough for me is figuring out how to take something I am passionate about, blogging and social media, and actually make a bit of a living from it. I have done an appalling job of it and have made all the mistakes. Only now am I finally at the point where my blogging basically pays my car payments. My goal is to help the new kids get their voices out there with fewer and fewer boundaries. I want to make sure my mistakes benefit them.

The second event is called PostieCon ’07 http://www.postiecon.com. It’s a blogger convention down in Orlando, Florida, on June 1 & 2. I want to draw your attention to it in the hopes that maybe you’ll consider speaking at it, or spread just spread the word with your readers

I think PostieCon ’07 is cool because it is for the rest of us bloggers who have yet to ascend to top-200. While TED and SXSW and VON are super-cool, they’re also super PhD-level. PostieCon ’07 is all about the training up the bush league.

As I see it there are three reasons (probably many more) why your readers should know about this Con, and perhaps attend:

a) Let super-serious B-, C-, D-List bloggers meet each other, put a name to a face, conspire on ways to get better, and trade war stories and

b) Let some serious experts and A-Listers, like us, share their experience, hope, and joy as well as leading them by the hand to monetization strategies, how to build brand, how to attract readership and traffic, and all the stuff you need to do (and seems obvious to use) in order to go from D- to C- to B- to A-List!

c) To quote the site: “Why should you attend PostieCon ’07 ’07? Two words: Rock Star.”

That said, I hope you consider speaking at PostieCon. Your voice would be very welcome. If you can’t make it, I was hoping that you might share the love with your readers (as attendees) or other folks who might be really into speaking at PostieCon. And, as you know, I am not asking for any particular coverage. You are free to say or do anything you like with this email and the content herein. That’s the way things work. So, just consider this an official love note.

Why Should I Attend PostieCon ’07?

Why should you attend PostieCon ’07 ? Two words: Rock Star. Bloggers and Internet personalities are the Rock Stars of the information age. Bloggers reach millions of dedicated fans on a day to day basis, it’s easy to see why today’s humble blogger could potentially be tomorrow’s Rock Star. That’s why PostieCon ’07 ‘s theme is “You’re A Rock Star”. We are here to educate bloggers on how to build traffic and readership, and use your notoriety and unique brand to create value and monetize your voice. It’s not all about money and fame, our conference is designed to help you become a better blogger. We have invited some of the world’s biggest bloggers to share their knowledge, perspective and experience with PostieCon ’07 Attendees. We provide the peeps and the knowledge, you use it to better yourself and build your blog.

Want to be a Speaker?

PostieCon ’07 will, have numerous opportunities for speakers. From individual presentations to group discussions, the event is open to speakers who represent the diversity of our bloggers. PostieCon ’07 ‘s theme is You’re A Rock Star, and its goal is to introduce bloggers to methods of making their blogs better, more known, and more profitable. This event is open to all bloggers from anywhere and everywhere, from the most seasoned to the greenest of the greenhorns. (For rookie bloggers, we have a special featured event: Blogger Boot Camp.)

Currently, PostieCon ’07 is searching for the best speakers to share their knowledge with the attendees of this exciting, one-of-a-kind event. So, who are we looking for?

- Does your blog or new media site lead the industry?

- Does your traffic make your friends and competitors frothing-at-the-mouth jealous?

- Does your expertise in this competitive industry earn you a good income?

- Is your format the envy of your friends, peers, and competitors?

- Have you come to the realization that in the new media universe, your content is king?

- Are you the owner of a unique, compelling success story?

- Are you at the forefront of the blogging/new media industry?

- Are you an advertiser looking to reach out to bloggers?

If your answer to any or all of these questions is “yes,” then you’re exactly the kind of person we’re looking for. Our attendees deserve to hear from the best, and sometimes the best person for the job isn’t the most famous or well-known. We need to hear from you, so don’t be shy — we don’t byte.

If you’re an advertiser with a product you feel would be useful to our target audience, and wish to get your product in the hands of tomorrow’s notables of the blogging scene, this is an excellent opportunity for you as well. Please contact us and explain to us what makes your product or service essential for our industry’s niche needs.

For more information or to become a speaker contact our Event Coordinator Britt Gustafson

Robert Scoble

Robert Scoble is an American blogger, technical evangelist, and author. He is number 9 on Forbes Top 25 Web Celebrities. Scoble is best known for his popular blog, Scobleizer, which came to prominence during his tenure as a technical evangelist at Microsoft. He is married to Maryam Ghaemmaghami Scoble, and has a son, Patrick, from a previous marriage. He and his wife currently work at PodTech.net, a video-podcast startup. He is also the co-author of Naked Conversations: How Blogs are Changing the Way Businesses Talk with Customers with Shel Israel.

* Session: Living in a Google World

David Ponce

David Ponce is a 26 year old web entrepreneur who took up blogging as a hobby over three years ago. Quickly realizing the potential of the niche-marketed micro publishing business, he quit his full time job as a computer salesman to devote to full time blogging. His articles, written on OhGizmo.com, have been linked to from a plethora of sites, including Gizmodo, Engadget, Yahoo’s The 9, Slashdot, Digg and BoingBoing. David himself has been interviewed by several mainstream publications, such as PC World Magazine and SmartMoney Magazine. He currently serves as Executive Editor of the site, managing a small team of 5 rotating writers, and has plans for launching several other sites to form a network.

* Session: Turning Visits into Cash

Michelle Madhok

Michelle Madhok is Founder of SheFinds.com and SheFindsMom.com, online publications distributed via e-mail and blogs that help busy women everywhere shop the web for the latest beauty and style finds.

A widely regarded expert in online shopping, Michelle is also the style columnist for and a contributing editor for MSN Shopping, Cotton Incorporated and the American Heart Association. Her style and shopping tips have been featured in numerous newspapers and magazines, radio and television interviews, including Metro newspapers in New York and Boston,Women’s Wear Daily, The Tyra Banks show, NBC, Investor’s Business Daily, The Chicago Tribune, The New York Post, and the Washington Post.

Prior to launching SheFinds, Michelle enjoyed a career in new media. First, she was the Director of Entertainment Marketing for CBS Broadcasting New Media and then she was the Group Director of Editorial Products for women and oversaw all content for women at AOL. Michelle has a BS in Communications from UC Berkeley and a MS in Marketing from Northwestern University. She currently resides in New York City with her husband, Michael Palka.

* Session: Turning Your Passion Into Dollars

Nancy Shenker

Marketing Guru, Blogger, and Former Hippy Girl Nancy A. Shenker is Founder & Principal of theONswitch, a firm specializing in start-ups, business transformations, and non-traditional growth solutions. She frequently consults on “smart” marketing spending, PR, and branding and has written several “how to” guides for business owners. Her “business blog” is “The ONblog” (http://theonswitch.typepad.com/theonblog/) and her newest blog, about the ways in which communication and life have changed (and yet stayed the same) is “Hippy to Wiki” (http://theonswitch.typepad.com/hippytowiki/). “I encourage all PostieCon ’07 attendees to get in touch with me before June and tell me what they want to hear about when I speak!”

* Session: Hippy to Wiki: How Blogs and “Traditional” Communication Can Live in Peace (and make $$)

Sherry Heyl

Recently nominated for Women in Technology “Woman of the Year” Sherry Heyl is the CEO and Idealist for What a Concept! Her responsibilities include business development and inspiring ideas and communication strategies. Sherry has been involved in the technology industry since 1998 when she developed her own curriculum at FSU to study ecommerce. Currently she creates strategic plans for integrating streaming video, blogs, podcasts, RSS, and virtual worlds into communication plans for B2B, B2C, Non-profit and Higher Education organizations. Sherry has been a guest speaker and keynote speaker for the Project Management Institute (PMI), a panelist for the 400 Technology Connector, TechLINKS, and Customer Relationship Management Association (CRMA), and is on the board of directors for the Atlanta Electronic Commerce Forum (AECF) as the programs director and has participated in putting programs together for the Atlanta Media Bloggers Group and AeA and is a member of the Technology Association of Georgia (TAG) and the Atlanta Interactive Marketing Association. Sherry is a graduate of Florida State University with undergraduate degrees in Marketing and Creative Writing.

* Session: Why Live Life Online?

Jim Kukral

Jim is a veteran online marketing expert and award-winning blogger who focuses on helping businesses, or bloggers, make money or find publicity online through creative marketing ideas and strategies. Jim has been blogging since 2001 and has participated and worked on over 30 blogs since that time and has written thousands of blog entries. He is the publisher of ReveNews.com, the leading online revenue group blog that focuses on the billion dollar industry of Internet revenue. Jim is also the founder of BlogKits, a blog advertising network that focuses on helping bloggers find creative ways to generate revenue.

* Session: The Secrets To Long-Term Blog Success & Profitability

Lena West

Lena L. West is the CEO & Chief Strategist at xynoMedia Technology. Affectionately known as the “geek with speak”, Lena understands complex technology concepts and distills them into easy-to- understand strategies. xynoMedia helps mid-market companies make sense of their place in the online world by developing customized, progressive Internet strategies that consistently increase thought leadership, online revenues and visibility. West communicates her expertise about social media, web 2.0 and online technologies through regular writing for Jupitermedia, her InfoWorld.com blog and her Entrepreneur.com column and blog. She is also on the BlogHer Business Advisory Board and a member of the Women’s Presidents’ Organization, TENG-NY and the Downtown Women’s Club. Currently, West is conducting research for a book she’s authoring about the role of women in technology. xynoMedia’s mission is to help 10,000 mid-sized businesses grow 25-50% by 2010.

* Session: Building Blog Value

Shirley Frazier

Shirley George Frazier is an excavator who digs up smart marketing solutions for individuals and business owners looking to increase their revenue through effective promotions and collaborations on and off the Web. She’s president of Sweet Survival®, owner of three popular blogs, and author of two best-selling niche industry books. Shirley has more than 16 years of experience conducting seminars on business topics and consulting with a range of clients from home-based professionals to Macy’s. She has appeared on CNBC, The Food Network, and The Discovery Channel, and her expert opinion and articles have been featured in Entrepreneur, Business Start-Ups, Black Enterprise, and Opportunity Magazine.

* Session: Building Your Niche Blog

Kristie Tamsevicius

Kristie Tamsevicius turns authors and speakers into the lavishly paid in-demand experts in their field. She is the host of Speaker Success Talk Radio, the founder of Webmomz.com, a community for work at home moms, president of Branding on the Net and author of several books including, I Love My Life: A Mom’s Guide to Working from Home. A sought-after branding expert, Kristie creates branded websites that position you as a mini celebrity so you increase sales, book more presentations and become headline news.

* Session: Building Your Niche Blog

Dan Rua

Dan is an experienced early-stage venture capital investor with a technology foundation and product design, development and management experience. Inflexion Fund is his third early-stage venture capital fund. Prior to Inflexion, Dan was a Partner with Draper Atlantic, the east coast fund of Silicon Valley’s highly successful early-stage venture firm Draper Fisher Jurvetson. Dan has participated in funding and building thirty-two companies and managed funds totaling over $140 million.

* Session: Blogging for Business

The Blog Squad

Known as The Blog Squad, Denise Wakeman and Patsi Krakoff, Psy.D., are authorities in helping independent professionals and small businesses to grow and prosper through optimizing their blogs. Between them, they have 10 blogs they post to on a regular basis covering topics like Internet marketing, business blogging, ezine marketing, writing and marketing books with a blog, plus several private blogs for clients and programs they teach. The Blog Squad are co-authors of “Build a Better Blog: The Ultimate Guide to Boosting Your Business with a Professional Blog” and “Confessions of a Reluctant Blogger: From Boring to Brilliant in 30 Days”, and keepers of the blog site “Build a Better Blog.” They also host a weekly Internet radio show, “Blogging and Beyond.”

* Session: Blogging for Business

Jim Turner

Jim Turner began blogging in early 2004, and began posting about life as a father and husband. He became one of the top Daddy bloggers, and used his expertise to found One By One Media, LLC, a social media consulting firm. While consulting companies on using the new social media for their marketing and advertising needs, Jim then founded Bloggers For Hire, a company that provides professional bloggers to companies. Jim continues to be a well respected professional blogger and has mentored many bloggers to become professionals, and has lead companies to be successful in their online campaigns. Jim is a contributor to Business Blog Consulting, and also writes his personal blog at Genuineblog.com, and is the founder of the The Best of Blog Awards. When he is not blogging, Jim is busy being a husband and father of 4 kids 7 years old and younger.

* Session: Blogging for Business

Paul Lewis

With more than 20 years experience in marketing and information technology, Paul Lewis has gained recognition as a leading visionary and author in the field of modern marketing strategy. Through his expertise, Paul has served on the Advisory Board for the Direct Marketing Association and spoken at numerous marketing conferences worldwide such as DM Days, the Power of eMarketing and UFI Open Summer Seminar in Finland, presenting on topics including Generation Y and the digital generation, cross-media campaigning and relationship marketing. He is currently the co-author of the upcoming publication Y: Outside the Polls and Inside the Minds of the Millennials and is the President/CEO of Interactive Agency MindComet.

* Session: Connecting with Advertisers

Who is the super-agent, Ari Gold, and what’s in it for me?

I caught The Constant Gardener tonight thanks to NetFlix and am besotted by Rachel Weisz, and not just for the obvious beauty, intelligence, passion, and sexiness. She was compelling and believable. Rachel Weisz is a star to watch. And she is a rare 35-year-old who easily passes as the 24-year-old she plays in the film.

From the Rachel Weisz article in Wikipedia

Rachel Weisz (born March 7, 1971) is an Academy Award, Golden Globe-winning, BAFTA-nominated British actress.

Biography

Early life

Weisz (surname pronounced [va?s] or “vice”; it is a variant spelling of the German word weiss, “white”) was born in London, England and grew up in Hampstead. Her father, George Weisz, is a Hungarian-born inventor whose family fled to England to escape Nazi persecution. Her mother, Edith, is a Vienna-born Austrian psychoanalyst and aspiring actress. Weisz’s father is Jewish and her mother has been referred to as either Catholic, Jewish, or having Jewish ancestry. Weisz has referred to herself as Jewish.

Weisz was educated at North London Collegiate School, from which she was expelled. She was then sent to Benenden School and eventually settled when she was about 13 in St Paul’s Girls’ School. She then entered Trinity Hall, Cambridge, where she graduated with a 2:1 in English. During her university years she appeared in various student productions, co-founding a student drama group called Cambridge Talking Tongues, which went on to win a Guardian Student Drama Award at the Edinburgh Festival for an improvised piece called Slight Possession.

Career

Her breakthrough role was that of Gilda in Welsh director Sean Mathias’s 1995 West End revival of Noël Coward’s 1933 play Design for Living at the Gielgud Theatre. Having already worked for television, with strong parts in major UK series such as Inspector Morse (1993), Weisz started her cinema career in 1995 with Chain Reaction and then appeared Bernardo Bertolucci’s Stealing Beauty. She followed this work with more English films including My Summer with Des, Swept from the Sea, The Land Girls, and Michael Winterbottom’s I Want You. Since then she has starred in a number of films including The Mummy (1999) and its sequel The Mummy Returns (2001), Enemy at the Gates (2001), About a Boy (2002), Runaway Jury (2003) and Constantine (2005). Her stage work includes the role of Catherine in a London production of Tennessee Williams’ Suddenly Last Summer and Evelyn in Neil LaBute’s The Shape of Things at the Almeida Theatre (also film).

In 2005, Weisz starred in The Constant Gardener, a film adaptation of a John le Carré thriller of the same title set in the slums of Kibera and Loiyangalani, Kenya. For this role, Weisz won the 2006 Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress, the 2006 Golden Globe for Best Supporting Actress and the 2006 Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Supporting Role. In her home country, she was recognized as a leading role for the film according to the nomination from the BAFTA Film Awards and winnings from the London Critics Circle Film Awards and British Independent Film Awards. In 2006, she starred in The Fountain and also provided the voice for Saphira in Eragon.

Personal life

Weisz is engaged to American filmmaker Darren Aronofsky. They have a son, Henry Chance, born on May 31, 2006.[7] The couple resides in Brooklyn. Weisz previously dated actor Alessandro Nivola, actor Neil Morrissey, and director Sam Mendes.[8]

Awards

2006 London Critics Circle Film Award for British Actress of the Year The Constant Gardener
2006 British Independent Film Award for Best Actress The Constant Gardener
2006 Golden Globe for Best Supporting Actress – Motion Picture The Constant Gardener
2006 Screen Actors Guild Award for Performance by a Female Actor in a Supporting Role The Constant Gardener
2006 Academy Award for Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role The Constant Gardener

Nominations

2006 BAFTA Film Award for Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role The Constant Gardener
2006 Online Film Critics Society Award for Best Supporting Actress The Constant Gardener

Selected filmography

1996 Chain Reaction Dr. Lily Sinclair
1998 Swept from the Sea Amy Foster
1999 The Mummy Evelyn Carnahan
1999 Sunshine Greta
2001 Beautiful Creatures Petula
2001 Enemy at the Gates Tania Chernova
2001 The Mummy Returns Evelyn Carnahan O’Connell/Princess Nefertiri
2002 About a Boy Rachel
2003 Confidence Lily
2003 The Shape of Things Evelyn Ann Thompson
2003 Runaway Jury Marlee
2004 Envy Debbie Dingman
2005 Constantine Angela Dodson/Isabel Dodson
2005 The Constant Gardener Tessa Quayle
2006 The Fountain Izzi
2006 Eragon Saphira (voice)
2008 The Lady from Shanghai

Proving that we Internet denizens are a moronic bunch, “Paris Hilton” is the top Google search in 2006.

I love this picture of Dr. Sadie Allison, Pleasure Doctor. Dr. Sadie is a lot of fun to ogle. Dr. Sadie will be beautiful, inspirational, educational, and live this Sunday on Talk Sex with Sue Johanson on the Oxygen at 11PM Eastern.

Here is the love note I received from the sexy, beautiful, brilliant, and charming Dr. Sadie just now:

SUBJECT: O Baby! See Your Doctor On TV
FROM: Dr. Sadie Allison, Tickle Kitty

Hi Again Tickle Fan!

How can you revive the heights of passion—without waking the baby?

Come find out this Sunday evening when your Pleasure Doctor appears LIVE on “Talk Sex with Sue Johanson” at 11E/10C/9P on the Oxygen Network

The topic? “The Baby Came—Now It’s YOUR Turn!??? Get my advice on sex after the baby and see the toys, techniques and turn-ons guaranteed to reenergize your lovelife.

Or come right now to Tickle Kitty and get those toys at 15% off with FREE lube and your own Tickle Kitty Magnet, too! At checkout, use coupon code: “AfterTheBaby15???

Set your TiVo now, or tune in Sunday, Dec. 3rd. See you there!

- Dr. Sadie Allison
Your Pleasure Doctor
http://www.ticklekitty.com

P.S. Forward this email now to all your friends with new babies so they can discover (and save!) too.

“I think everybody should get rich and famous and do everything they ever dreamed of so they can see that it’s not the answer.” Via KChristieH

Bla bla bla bla Rocketboom bla bla bla Amanda Congdon bla bla bla Andrew Baron bla bla bla 49% bla bla bla. At the end of the day, Amanda Congdon is “not just the face of Rocketboom, but the face of video blogging as a medium.” Andrew Baron is a damn fool. Via ZDnet via an IM from David

Story here

How dare Gawker accuse us Amanda Congdon fans of being superficial and only loving her for her looks.

There are plenty of lookers out there — a dime-a-dozen. A veritable smorgesboard of hot babes if you have access to the sort of broadband (wow, there is the word “broad” in broadband — never noticed that before) Internet required to make a habit of Rocketboom.

Honestly, she is cute I will not deny, but it is her farce and the fact that she is a fellow geek that makes her so compelling.

Amanda Congdon is many times more than the sum or her — ahem — parts.

The UnBooming of Amanda Congdon via Amanda UnBoomed, Valleywag and the Washington Post

]]> http://chrisabraham.com/2006/07/06/i-love-juggy-mcjuggerson-for-her-wit-and-humor/feed/ 2 http://chrisabraham.com/2006/07/06/which-world-leader-said-this/ http://chrisabraham.com/2006/07/06/which-world-leader-said-this/#comments Thu, 06 Jul 2006 16:20:57 +0000 Chris Abraham http://chrisabraham.com/?p=2859

“People came up and I began talking to them, among them this little boy. He seemed to me very independent, sure of himself and at the same time defenseless so to speak, an innocent boy and a very nice little boy. I tell you honestly, I just wanted to touch him like a kitten and that desire of mine ended in that act.”

The answer is here.

]]> http://chrisabraham.com/2006/07/06/which-world-leader-said-this/feed/ 0 http://chrisabraham.com/2006/07/06/ken-lay-lives/ http://chrisabraham.com/2006/07/06/ken-lay-lives/#comments Thu, 06 Jul 2006 16:18:19 +0000 Chris Abraham http://chrisabraham.com/?p=2858

I knew it! Ken Lay lives!

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