Why I Work In TV Marketing

Thirty years ago when I was a kid in high school I saw this commercial on ABC-TV one night after Barney Miller.



It was then that I knew what I wanted to do with my life. No longer would it be a doctor, lawyer, or automobile engineer. I would make ads that make people want to watch more TV, something I've been doing for Food Network since 1998.

The Week

This week was a mix of a bunch of activities and events. Monday I took the day off and went for a 35 mile bike ride before watching the US Open men's final. Tuesday I interviewed a prospective new member of my condo board. Wednesday I began two days of jury duty.

Wednesday night I went to a party for the launch of a new TV show from Martha Stewart called "Whatever Martha" where Martha's daughter and a friend take a satirical look at past Martha Stewart TV appearances.

On Thursday night I sat out on the balcony and took in the bittersweet 9/11/08 view from downtown.

US Open Tennis 2008

I've been I big tennis fan ever since I was a 10 year old kid in Michigan and I'd hit balls off the brick siding of our duplex, pretending to be Jimmy Connors locked in a battle with Arthur Ashe in the final set at Wimbledon. I played on the tennis team in high school and in college roomed with a player from Stanford's NCAA champion tennis team.

I started going to the US Open when I moved to New York after graduation in 1986 and I went
nearly every year till I moved to LA in 1992. Since returning to NYC I've gone to at least 3 sessions every year since 1999. This year I went to 4 day sessions and 4 night sessions over the two week tournament.

My favorite female player is Venus Williams who made her debut at the US Open in 1997,

the same year the 22,000 seat Arthur Ashe Stadium opened


Prior to that, the main show court was the Louis Armstrong Stadium, which is still in use and is a great place to take in a night match. You can see the Manhattan skyline from the upper level seats.



I saw a lot of my other favorites including 2007 Wimbledon finalist Marion Bartoli


2008 Australian Open finalist Jo Wilfried Tsonga


2008 Wimbledon quarterfinalist Andy Murray


and 2008 French Open semifinalist Gael Monfils

Back to School

I went back to the San Francisco Bay Area this week for press event and took some time out to visit my old school.

First I visited my old dorm, Branner Hall which looks pretty much like it did when I lived there 27 years ago. We used to put a kiddie pool on the 2nd floor balcony and have "hot tub" parties.


Then I went to see Lake Lagunita. Back in the fall of 1979 it was a picture of the lake in the Stanford admissions brochure (and my high school classmate friend Don Nagle) that convinced me to apply to a school 3,000 miles away from home in a part of the country I had never visited.


But today the lake is gone, a victim of too many years of drought.


But the old quad where I took so many classes


and Green library still remain as always.




It seems the further in time I travel from those years, the more I cherish them.

Summer Streets - Car Free Park Avenue

For the past three Saturdays New York City has been experimenting with limiting a 7 mile stretch of Park Avenue to only bike and pedestrian traffic. It's called Summer Streets.



Normally the city streets are a jungle of traffic, noise, and pollution.



But it's amazing how calm and wonderful the city feels when you take away motor traffic.



Without the motor traffic New York feels like a quiet small town, just with a bunch of tall buildings.

Taste of Tennis

It's my favorite time of year in New York city. Late August brings another U.S. Open tennis season. It started for me last night at the annual Taste of Tennis charity food event at the W hotel on Lexington Ave at 49th street.

The proceeds went to the New York Food Bank to fights hunger in the city. The event featured Food Network's Ingrid Hoffman cooking with 2003 US Open champ Andy Roddick.

I won the silent auction for an autographed Roger Federer tennis shoe. I'm not a big sports collectibles kinda guy, but I really love Federer.

and I met Nik Pace, runner up in cycle 5 of America's Next Top Model, my wife's favorite TV show.

Changing Times

Intriguing story in the New York Times today about the decline of Soul Food in Harlem.

Says:

Soul food is dying in Harlem and elsewhere in the city. The reasons can be chalked up to the vagaries of contemporary city life: Changing tastes; health consciousness; the fast-food culture; and an influx of wealthier young adults — including African-Americans, long a customer base for soul food restaurants — who are more comfortable eating Indian or Thai dishes.

At Georgetown University, a white student has been elected to lead the school's chapter of the NAACP.

From the article:

This fall, the sophomore has gained quite the reputation, and anyone who knows a little about her story—and many people on campus do—understands why.
A few highlights from the bio: Gunderson’s from a predominantly black working-class suburb of Detroit; she aspires to be a civil rights lawyer, either at the Southern Poverty Law Center or the NAACP; she never planned to be the group’s president this year, but someone nominated her, and she cared about the issues. She figured, Why not?
One last thing: Gunderson is white. Listen to her speak, and you might never know. Her vocal inflection is unmistakably “urban.”





Finally, a photo of me with the youngest members of our marketing team. Never has assembled a more talented, diverse, and inspiring group.





At least not since I was their age back in 1991 - see photo below.