peter.roj.as

I’d like to think that CES was the most interesting thing to happen to me so far this year, but more than a few people have emailed/IM’d/tweeted asking to find out what happened after I posted that pitch Ogilvy sent on behalf of AmEx’s Zync card, so I figured I’d post an update.

It actually didn’t take long for representatives from both Ogilvy and AmEx to call after my post — it was maybe half an hour before my phone started ringing — and over the past week I’ve had some really good conversations with people from both companies. Everyone I spoke with was apologetic and made it clear that this was a deviation from their usual way of doing things, and I accept both their apologies and that this isn’t usually how they operate (in fact the reason I posted this email is because it seemed so out there).

Anyway, I wasn’t looking for an apology, but it was nice to get one and I sincerely hope they understand that my intention wasn’t to cause anyone any grief as much as it was to try in some very small way to reduce the amount of dumb marketing being done these days. It was pretty encouraging to hear from a lot of people working in marketing and PR who told me they agreed with what I’d written and also felt that there were smarter ways to do this stuff.

Yesterday I got an email from a social media marketer at Ogilvy about a new card that American Express is introducing and how they’d like to strike up an “exclusive relationship” with me. I wasn’t sure exactly what that meant by that, but I’d done some work for AmEx in the past — I spoke to some of their executives about the future of mobile a few years ago — and so I figured I’d at least see what was up. I wrote back (and this is all I wrote back), “Could you give me an overview of what you’re describing?”

The email below is what I received in return. If you can get past all the buzzwords (“for 20somethings by 20somethings”, seriously?), basically the deal is that in exchange for the “privilege” of signing up for the Zync card I get to give AmEx free consulting (because paying me would make me lie to them, apparently) and then host a party where I can market the Zync card to my “network”.

So let me get this straight: I get to sign up for a product where they make money (in terms of card fees), where I give them advice and insight that AmEx used to think was worth paying for (but now is not because that would make me dishonest), and then to wrap it all up I get to pimp out all my closest friends? I can’t believe AmEx would be stupid enough to give Ogilvy money for this program, I hope they convinced them to accept payment in Zync card accounts and tweet-ups.

UPDATE: I should make it clear that it’s not about getting paid or not getting paid — I’m happy to contribute to all sorts of things for free, even things for big companies like AmEx — this is about it being a very one-sided arrangement where one side seems be asking for a lot and not delivering any discernible value in return. Value can come in lots of different forms. I’ve beta tested products before and given my honest, unpaid feedback to those companies, but I did so because I felt like I got some value out of being able to use the product and learn more about it. There isn’t much offered here — I already have an AmEx card, so it’s not like I need to gain some experience using. The value only moves one way, from me to them. They’re asking to leverage my usage, my knowledge, and my network.

Hey Peter,

Not a problem! So, here is the deal: If you don’t know Zync…

Zync is the new American Express Charge card for 20somethings. This card is created for 20somethings by 20somethings that is all about customization: consumers can choose packs of benefits. So if you like buying say tech products, you can specifically choose the tech pack tailored to your needs to give you extra membership rewards. It’s all about you and what you want.

Another important thing to know is that the card is currently in beta testing – that is where you come in. As a person who is in the tech world and is out and about in the New York City scene we felt that you would be an awesome person to test out the card and be part of the ongoing discussion with product development team. Since this card is in beta, this truly is a card that is for you by you: you get to choose during beta what works and what doesn’t.

Lastly, since we want this to be genuine, we won’t be paying you for your time to participate because we want the feedback you give to be honest. The benefit is that you have an access to an exclusive relationship with the Zync team, cool events, special committee standing in our Zync Tank and the opportunity to host your own tweet-up, completely paid for by the Zync team. All that is detailed below-

o Zync Immersion Event:

§ To start the relationship, we want to get you to know Zync

§ While we enjoy our PPT presentations, that is not how we want you to get to know Zync

§ For this day, we will be doing fun activities all around New York City so you can really interact with the Zync team

§ This will be a one-and-a-half day experience full of exciting and exclusive events that tie into the Lego Packs (eco, tech, social and green)

§ This will take place sometime in early February

o Zync Tweet Up:

§ While we are looking for feedback we are also celebrating the development of the new card

§ For this, we want to co-host Zync tweet ups for you and your network

§ Will be held in top metro areas (e.g. New York, Chicago, Los Angeles and San Francisco) themed around one or more Lego Packs

§ Events will be for 25 – 50 people at fun locations related to packs such as Brooklyn Boulders

§ This will take place sometime in February/March

o Zync Tank:

§ Since you will be a Cardmember, we want you to get the full experience of the beta testing of the card

§ For this, we have something called Zync Tank. Zync tank is our online community/listening tool that we use to get sentiment of Zync from Cardmembers participating in the beta program

§ With this relationship, you would be able to be part of the “Special Committee” in which you really get to provide feedback to the product development team on ideas for iPhone applications, the next packs and much more

There is a lot that we want to accomplish. With you, we are not asking you to write anything on our behalf or provide us a post. Merely, as a person we value, we want to experience the card with you while we develop it so it’s not just American Express but from a person who really can put a lot of value into the card and perhaps vice versa.

Let me know if you have any other questions. I’ll touch base with you tomorrow to see if you are still interested or have any questions!

Best,
Priya

…and testing to see if it’s working properly.

Almost forgot to mention that Rhizome, the digital art non-profit I’m on the board of, is having it’s annual benefit event on the 15th. If you’re in NYC you should come, we’re honoring Lynn Hershman Leeson and Josh Schachter (aka Mr. del.icio.us). Tickets are on sale here.

Had a meeting at an office building in Midtown the other day and from the window was able to snap this pic looking down onto the Apple Store on 5th Ave (wish I’d had a better camera with me than my Treo). Funny how impressive the store is from the outside and how collossally drab and boring it is once you get inside.

And I also have a tiny bit of news of my own to report: I’ve joined the board of trustees of Rhizome.org, a non-profit which has been promoting digital art for over ten years now and is affiliated with the New Museum of Contemporary Art (which also happens to have a brand new building going up just a few blocks away from where I live). I’ve been a fan of the site for years and am looking forward to helping them figure out what role a digital arts organization plays in a world where practically everyone’s become a cultural producer.

Forget all those April Fools Day hoaxes that are going around; the real news is that Scripting News reached the ten year mark today. Big ups to Dave for both pioneering the genre and toughing it out for a decade, blogging can be something of a contact sport. I’m just about three-and-a-half years from the ten-year-mark myself — though unlike Dave I’ve jumped around a bit more and have long since abandoned my original blog to the mists of time.

So I know why I was in Orlando earlier this week — to geek out on cellphones at CTIA — but what I can’t figure out is why Salman Rushdie was down there. I spotted him sitting in first class while boarding my flight back to NYC last night (he was on his cellie talking about Steven Pinker) and I’m dying to know what could have possibly brought him down to Florida.

Jean Baudrillard died yesterday. It’d take more than just a few sentences to even come close to summing up the complexity of his writing, but needless to say his work had a massive influence on me and his thinking figured heavily in both my undergraduate thesis (which was about Baudrillard, Debord, and the Situationist International) and my graduate dissertation (which was about Baudrillard, Derrida, Lyotard, and economics).

I swear the jackets were her idea! The whole interview (our first together!) is over at GeekSugar.

Hold up, Kool Keith (AKA Dr. Octagon, AKA Black Elvis, AKA Dr. Dooom, AKA Keith Korg) was on The White Rapper Show? He hasn’t done anything all that hot since Matthew, and he didn’t exactly bring the crazy on the show, but still, you gotta give it up. It’s scary how well Dr. Octagonecologyst holds up.

There was a time when all you had to tell me about a punk record was that it was from Ohio and the mid-Seventies and I would have bought it; fortunately that rule of thumb resulted in me buying lots of Pagans records. Do yourself a favor and put “Not Now No Way” and “Haven’t Got the Time” into heavy rotation.

I’ve been on the West Coast for the past week or so now, here are some highlights:
1. The Inhabitat holiday party, big ups to everyone who showed up.

2. Hanging out with Dave Winer – I’ve been blogging for what feels like an eternity now (five and a half years!), but oddly enough I’d never met Dave or even exchanged emails with him. We fixed that — and chatted a bit about our MP3 player.

3. A 2 hour and 40 minute train ride to Merced that, thanks to Amtrak, descended into a Fellini-esque six and a half hour ordeal seated next to a really sketchy wannabe white gangsta dude with ADHD. Key moment was when he told me he’s an illustrator. “So what do you draw?” I ask. “Drawings of the Grim Reaper smoking a cigarette,” he responds, completely devoid of irony.

4. Watching the second season of Da Ali G Show with my dad.

5. Watching the first season of Extras by myself (no one else was interested). It wasn’t bad, but it’s just the same joke over and over again, innit?

6. Spending the better part of a day dealing with the inane bureaucracy that is AOL trying to resolve a minor issue that should have taken at most fifteen minutes. There are some amazing people there — too bad they’re surrounded by layer upon layer of idiots.
7. Steeling myself for CES + Macworld.
I’ll be back in SF for a couple of days next week before I head to Vegas, if you’re fixing for a pre-CES meeting, drop me a line.

I’m headed out to the West Coast next week, and as soon as I step off the plane I’m headed straight to the big Inhabitat holiday party that’s going down on Wednesday at the Design Within Reach store on Fillmore Street in SF. If you’re in the Bay Area you should swing by and say hi.

I had sort of an unusual day yesterday. Started things off by playing a couple of hours of Gears of War with Major Nelson and the winning bidder of our charity Xbox match, then hauled my ass over to the Meatpacking District to meet up with Ethan Kaplan from Warner Bros. Records. I’d made him promise to let me know the next time he was going to be in town, so he invited me to hang out at the shoot for Jamie Kennedy and Stu Stone’s latest video. Best part was that the video just happened to be a shot-for-shot remake of Wham’s “Wake Me Up Before You Go Go” — complete with all the day glo/blacklight stuff, too. Weirdest part was when Jamie asked me not to blog what he was texting to Paris Hilton.