The question I get most often about these is “how did you get these approved at a big corporation?’
By starting small. The first comedy I produced at IBM was at the end of 2004, and it was internal only — for a sales meeting — which kept the risk very low. I kept the cost low by asking one of my best friends, Scott Teems, a director, to help me for $400. The video was a hit, I was asked to create a sequel, and was able to pay Scott a nice tip.
Our proposed panel has made it through the first round of the SXSW Interactive selections, and now we need your vote to make it to the show. Scott Teems, SXSW Film Festival winning director for THAT EVENING SUN and I (contributor to SNL, Letterman, Conan, The Onion) will discuss a few of our corporate YouTube video hits that earned recognition from The New York Times and Comedy Central, as well as lessons learned from near “fireable offenses.” Bestselling author David Meerman Scott (New Rules of Marketing & PR, Marketing Lessons from the Grateful Dead) will join us.
We’d appreciate your vote for our panel (voting ends 11:59 CDT Friday, August 27.) It takes a minute to register for an account, then click here [note: the panelpicker page doesn't allow for listing of all panelists, hence the above post]
When you’re at Harvard, you have to make smart decisions, and mine was to never again order a cheeseburger with barbecue sauce. I arrived at that decision after eating at Mr. Bartley’s, a venue the Boston Herald describes as “Boston’s best burger, in cheerfully, post-hippie dorm surroundings.” I got into the barbecue sauce-on-cheeseburger habit back in my high school days, ordering the Rojo Burger at Chili’s. I thought it was a classy move, but not everyone agreed, including my prom date. (btw, “Rojo” is the Spanish word for “impossible to get out of Taffeta”).
This place has a fun student vibe, and I kept thinking I’d see Will Hunting sitting in the corner solving word problems.
I was on campus to speak about using comedy in social media to help put a face on the corporation. Below is a short clip of my PowerPoint disaster. And check our this review of Bartley’s from Billy Idol:
