Q1) Why did you do this?

A.  My boss asked me the same thing.  The Cisco router will connect the royal wedding (the real one for Prince William and Kate) video stream to the TV station for the broadcast, so this video is a fun way to celebrate.

Q2 ) Who is Ms. Fauntleroy?

A.  I’m not sure if you’re asking about the character or the actor.  The character was inspired by the middle name of the wife of one of my best friends from college, Robert Spencer. The actor is Jenn Schatz, who you may have seen recently on 30 Rock “Double-Edged Sword” in a scene with Tina Fey and Matt Damon — neither were in our video.

Q3) Was this filmed at your home?

A. No.  We needed a setting that was more cozy.  The Lockwood-Mathews Mansion, with 62 rooms and 44,000 sq. ft. helped to create the intimate mood.  Special thanks to the mansion’s executive director Shelly Gerarden for his kindness and generosity, and to his staff, especially Brian, Jon and Susie.

Q4) Why didn’t you use a British accent?

A few folks have asked that before you did (Updated – thanks Elyse and David) .  We tried British accents for both Ms. Fauntleroy and the voice-over actor, but it didn’t seem to work as well.   Although I’m now filled with self-doubt.

Q5) The mansion looks familiar.

That’s a statement not a question.  But the mansion hosted scenes from House of Dark Shadows and The Stepford Wives -  both 1975 original film featuring Katharine Ross and the 2004 remake with Nicole Kidman — neither were in our video.

Congrats to David Meerman Scott! His new book has hit the bestseller list in under a fortnight.  He quoted me a few times, and referenced a Cisco comedy video we produced as a case study.

One of my all-time favorite videos that Scott Teems and I worked on is the series we created with David to promote his book Worldwide Rave.  See video #2 in the playlist below.

David’s new book is  filled with excellent examples and practical tips for using social media to connect with your market. Available on Amazon.com

Here’s yesterday’s presentation from the Inbound Marketing Summit.  I’ll follow up in the next few days with posts covering the comedy writing homework assignment, the Hyde Park chapel story, and answer a few questions I received via twitter.  Steve Garfield’s interview provides a little more detail.

It’s nice to be warm again.

My friend Melissa Mines and I presented at the GSMI Social Media Strategies Summit.  As usual, when I visit San Francisco in September, I forgot that the climate can reach Ice Station Zebra conditions.  Melissa, sporting a sleeveless blouse on the way to dinner in Union Square, hypothesized that most tourists also don’t pack appropriately, forgetting about the temp drop and remedying their mistake by purchasing a cheap sweatshirt from the first street vendor they can find.   Which explains the following:

The next day at the conference, when our teeth stopped chattering, we presented a few case studies on Cisco’s work in the B2B social media space.  In the Service Provider Marketing group, we have a relatively small, technical audience.  I love the fact that we strive to balance the engineering content with some of the funny. Our presentation is below.

I could not have asked for a better father, and I feel horrible for never buying him a coffee mug that says exactly how I feel.  This year, Dad’s getting an autographed copy of “Bonhoeffer: Pastor, Martyr, Prophet, Spy” by Eric Metaxas, and if I can negotiate an employee discount, an ASR 9000.

Started my new job today at Cisco as Product Manager for SureMute Technology (and by that I mean social media guy in the Service Provider group).   I’m working in NYC, with a manager in San Jose, and a dotted-line into Jack Donaghy.  Love this product placement scene on 30 Rock.