Ruminations on superior blogger outreach, and Nicolas Cage in a bear suit.

In the past year, I’ve seen an increasing number of discussions about poor marketing towards bloggers. Some of what I saw was constructive, and some of it was—-let’s be honest-- a pile-on. What struck me was that when I started thinking about it, I had a really hard time coming up with shining examples of people going on and on about good marketing. I'm as guilty of that as anyone else. While I think that good outreach should feel seamless and not ham-fisted, that doesn't mean that I can't take a minute and acknowledge the hard work that made it so.

The point of all of this is to commend Huggies (and Edelman, the PR agency through which they are represented) for their blogger outreach. I went to an event yesterday, and—wait. WAIT. Before you roll your eyes at me and this post in general, and before you tune out, thinking this is going to be a fluffy puff piece, just know this: I took off work yesterday to attend the event, went to the supermarket afterward…and then worked until 11:30 last night playing catch-up. I was in my office at 7 this morning doing the same. It's now a little after 1 a.m, and...well, here I am, writing the post that I wanted to write all day, but had no time to compose. I say this not because you need or want an accounting of my days and nights, but just to point out that, well, if I’m taking time out to write something here, it means something to me. Because I’m exhausted, and honestly, all I want to do right now is watch Glee and eat Chocolate Chex, and SLEEP, but–and no one hinted, requested or begged that I write this— good service deserves to be commended.

The email that I got inviting me to the event was targeted towards me, and contained a few relevant details which showed me that the sender had recently read my blog. I cannot tell you how that little bit of detail made me appreciate the time she took to do so. Every logistical aspect of the event was taken care of, and when I say every last detail, I mean “clean, safe carseat in the car that came to pick us up, crib waiting in hotel room, and all activities taking place in walking distance of hotel.” (Lo was invited to the event as well, which was to promote Little Movers diapers). Everything was genuinely kid-friendly, which made for a truly enjoyable experience, all around.The other bloggers were lovely, and Lo and I both had a great time with them. As an added bonus, we got to meet the gorgeous and incredibly sweet Angie Harmon, her baby Emery, and her husband (former NY Giants cornerback, HOLLA!), Jason Sehorn.

There was no hard sell here. We happen to be a family that bought Huggies before anyway (COSTCOOOO), but there was no obligation, direct or implied, set forth for the bloggers, to use, write about, or endorse the brand in any way. (My words, not theirs.) Again, I think quality outreach should be highlighted, and I appreciate all that went into creating this event, as well as the invitation that was extended to me and Lo to participate in it.

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I, uh, feel like such a namedropping douche right now, especially after mentioning Angie Harmon and Jason Sehorn, but the Fashion Week post where I talked to January Jones (OKAY, it was only for two minutes, BUT STILL.) can be found here.

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Speaking of January Jones, can we talk about Mad Men for a moment? Specifically, THE RIDING MOWER? OMG, what the HELL? I mean, I...wha? WHAT?

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I've kind of...had this years-long hatred of Nicolas Cage's acting skills. I can't recall if I've ever mentioned it here, but believe me, it's intense. Anyway, one of my friends who knows this about me sent me the following two clips. I have seen the movie in question, and I swear to you, IT IS REALLY LIKE THIS. I showed these to J earlier this evening and we laughed so loudly that we woke up T. Which, really, is just one more reason to hate Nicolas Cage. I'm crossing my fingers that it isn't one of those things that's only funny if you've seen the movie. (You'll tell me one way or the other, right?)

Watch this first to get a general sense of the unintentional hilarity. I call it "NOT THE BEEEEES!":



And then this:



I cannot begin to describe to you the immeasurable glee these videos bring me.