National Urban League Day and Night

Our company is a big supporter of the National Urban League.  In March 2012 we hosted some young students in our kitchens to expose them to potential career opportunities in food media.

 Later that day I went to a fundraising banquet with surprisingly good food

and some cool guests like the Rev. Al Sharpton and National Urban League head Marc Morial (background speaking to woman).

 Plus a performance by the fantastic Corinne Bailey Rae

South Beach Wine and Food 2012

I've been coming to the South Beach Wine and Food Festival since 2005.  This years was really nice because so many people are becoming aware of Cooking Channel

 and it's stars like the cast of Bitchin Kitchen

lots of hanging out with my Cooking Channel teammates

 more time on the beach 

 interacting with our fans

and sampling great food and drink

Disney Imagineering Visit

I haven't posted for a while, so I'm going to catch up on some things I've been doing over the past several months.

Last October I visited Disney Imagineering in Burbank to share ideas on creativity.  It was a cool homecoming - I worded at Disney from 1990 to 1998.

I was joined by Aarti Sequerra (2nd from left) who hosts shows on Cooking Channel.

MIPCOM

I recently went to Cannes France



for the first time to attend the Mipcom


Television conference.




It's like having a conference in Miami, with beaches



and lots of cool shopping



with a French Twist


.

Hurricane Irene

NYC feared the worst as


the wind created waves on the Hudson


and stores prepared for the storm.



But except for a few downed trees.



All was quiet in my East River neighborhood.

Atlanic City Wine and Food Festival

Had a fun couple of days in Atlantic City.



Enjoyed the boardwalk



and partying with contestant Jeff from Food Network Star and his fans.

PROMAX Panel

I participated in a panel



at the Promax conference last month



and was quoted in Adweek


"Still, as Cooking Channel general manager Michael Smith pointed out, not everyone in the television industry is moving in the right direction on branding. “One of the good things about cable is that we got good at branding networks,” Smith said. “But now everyone is trying to become general entertainment again . . . I can’t tell whether that pregnant teenager is on TLC or MTV . . . It all kind of blends together.”

and there's a video sound bite on Youtube

Cooking Channel Birthday

This May marks the one year birthday of Cooking Channel.



Today the marketing and creative services team



celebrated with a dim sum breakfast.

Charlie Sheen on Tour

Got talked into checking out Charlie Sheen's New York tour stop



He was in full form, telling stories



showing of his tattoos



mugging with celebrity guests including ex-NY Met star Daryl Strawberry



The audience loved him and he was funny more often than not.

I was pleasantly surprised and actually enjoyed the show

Return to Berkeley

I went to UC Berkeley for my MBA back in 1984-86. So it's been a real treat to participate in a current course in branded entertainment.



Last week I went back to Cal



to worked with the b-school students and their outstanding professor Krystal Thomas (yellow top in center)



I also mixed in two really great meals, lunch at the Ironwood BBQ, a really great light and healthy California style BBQ place.



And dinner at Camino, a fantastic new american place.

BCA Dinner

The Black Culinary Alliance is a very special organization that works to recruit, train, and place more people of color in the food industry.



I recently attended their annual fund raising dinner which featured fantastic food cooked by students in the program.



Founder Alex Askew (far right) is an amazing guy, who almost single-handedly runs the entire organization.



During my remarks on stage I quoted the Buddha

“Thousands of candles can be lit from a single candle, and the life of the candle will not be shortened. Happiness never decreases by being shared."

Alex is the living embodiment of this.

South Beach Wine and Food 2011

I've fortunate enough to attend the South Beach Wine and Food Festival every February since 2006.

The 2011 edition featured all the great food and drink


from celebrity chefs like Bobby Flay.


But this year was extra special since it was the first festival for the Cooking Channel brand



and it's new star chefs like Leanne Wong from Unique Eats

Week in Vegas

This past week I was in Las Vegas



for 2011 edition of the Consumer Electronics Show.



The big themes were:

1) 3D television, especially some new sets that do not require glasses.



The 3D effect on the glasses-free sets isn't as dramatic as it is on the sets with glasses, but it's pretty noticeable compared to today's typical 2D sets.

I think in a few years glasses-free 3D will become mainstream choice, while 3D with glasses will be for the higher end videophile.

2) Internet connected TVs.



Within a few years there will be little difference between the flat screens on your wall, the tablet screens in your hand, and the smartphone screens in your pocket. All three screen platforms will let you watch tv, surf the web, make video calls, and send e-mails.

3) Table computers, over 70 iPad killers were on display including one from Toshiba that runs full Windows 7 and does everything you regular desktop or laptop computer does.



I was a panelist on a discussion of how to generate revenue from all the media platforms.



In my view, in the end there will be one single media platform, just available on wide variety of different screen sizes to fit when and where the consumer wants to engage with their media.