Life's A Pitch

I think all marketing copy should read like the e mail my friend (and Strings Magazine coverboy!) Rob Moose sent to his list this morning:admit it- you like bach.  i can feel it.  and you also like drinking.  that much is obvious.  soi'm not a mathematician, but i'm willing to wager that if you like the two elements separately, an additive process will only heighten your overall appreciation.behold, then:Bach Reformed (folky, danceable duo arrangements of Bach's unaccompanied string music) + Barbes (lovely room, nice beer, … [Read more...]

Don't you love when bloggers refer to their own blog entries? I sure do. My self-annoyance at self-quoting, however, is surpassed by my would-be (will-be?) self-annoyance at becoming one of those people who just writes the same blog entry over and over with different opening paragraphs. So travel back with me now to Christmas Time 2008, when I was being the Awesome New York Gal that I am, sitting on the couch at my dad's house in Connecticut watching Batman with the fam:On Christmas, my dad, sister and I were watching The Dark Knight. I was … [Read more...]

Blogger's Note: A few of my past blog entries were deleted, so I'm going to repost them this week. If you already read them, apologies for the tedious sameness. This lost post was e mailed back to me by a Valiant Reader, who had cut and pasted it and sent it to a friend last week!____________________________ I was thinking about trying two things that might be Huge Mistakes. Lemme know your thoughts.First, I received an e mail from a too-cool-for-school-indie-rock-publicist last week and quite enjoyed her auto signature:NameTitleAddressE … [Read more...]

File Under: Completely Insane But Maybe Awesome, my sister reports that a Gap store in Vancouver has been completely flipped upside-down to promote their new "Sprize" customer loyalty program, the logic (?) being that Sprize's motto is "shopping turned on its head."Via Jezebel: The good news is that it's finally time to feature this video, which Aliza and I would try to recreate as kids. Quite Unsuccessfully, I might add. And by "as kids" I actually mean "last night." … [Read more...]

There's a list of the top 30 things that Won't Save Classical Music over on the blog Proper Discord. While the idea of "saving" anything (from itself, basically) is of course ridiculous (hence the list), I have to disagree with the naming of specific writers and artists. That said, composer Lowell Liebermann, whose music I don't know, is at the top of the list, and I'm glad for this since I'm now totally obsessed with his homepage. The rest of the site is pretty basic, but I love that nice lemon background and cut-out photo (with shadows) right … [Read more...]

Anyone who works in marketing has had to deal with print deadlines. Inevitably, some overworked publicist like myself will forget to send an updated bio when you're trying to print a program, or your executive director will loose the ad she was supposed to approve two weeks ago under a pile of coffee-stained papers. Thank goodness, then, for YouSendIt, rush fees, and overnight delivery. Not since Gutenberg invented the printing press in 1440, however, has there been a greater Materials Miracle than the one found in this new venture from US … [Read more...]

In addition to the Lady Gaga comparisons over at OperaChic, here are a few of my own thoughts on Angela Gheorghi's new press photos.The Elvira:The Mamma Mia:The Bjork: The Anna Wintour:And last but not least, The Chocolate Factory:Most commenters over at OperaChic are Not Pleased, adding thoughts like, "Nobody is teaching these donnas how to age gracefully and with dignity," "Good God, whatever was the poor woman THINKING of?" and "Sometimes after a breakup women go through a phase of trying too hard!" to the post.  Others were thrilled, … [Read more...]

My Entourage is corrupted, and since I Am My Own Geek Squad, I am --->freaking out<---. The only logical thing to do while the database rebuilds is Google Image Mad Men. Fortunately, I have an actual reason to be doing this, not that only having a perceived reason has stopped me in the past. This just came in, from that place everyone knows how to get to on 57th street:Carnegie Hall will host a vintage attire contest for ticket holders of the Max Raabe and the Palast Orchester concert on Thursday, March 4 at 8:00 p.m. Elegance is back, so … [Read more...]

Update, 3/2: This entry appears to have been cut off by the editing program, Moveable Type. Since I don't have a copy anywhere, I'd have to rewrite it, which I probably won't do on account of my "real job." But basically I go on to talk about W Magazine and Brad Pitt leaving his wife for Angelina Jolie, and then friends taking artists' photographs, complete with a hilarious joke about writing "breast" a few times on ArtsJournal and how that's maybe not allowed. Perhaps it is, in fact, not allowed, and that's why the post mysteriously … [Read more...]

Just got off the phone with Gary from the 92nd Street Y. He was the most pleasant salesman I've ever spoken to, and should get some kind of raise or promotion, if anyone from the organization is reading. The conversation went something like this: Amanda [sees "92nd Street Y" on Caller ID, figures it's telemarketing, considers screening, picks up anyway because she's procrastinating pestering a photographer today.]: This is Amanda?Gary: Hi Amanda, this is Gary calling from the 92nd Street Y - I hope this is a good time?Amanda: Good a time as … [Read more...]

I think the last and only time I heard the word "French" used as a non-adjective and non-language reference was something to do with Emily Ainsworth and Scott Simon allegedly "frenching" in the New Canaan movie theater in 8th grade. It was probably also used at one point or another in Grease, but when I first watched the movie version, I was too young to know what any of the Bad Teenage Kid words meant. Since February seems to be Use Perfectly Fine Words in Extremely Weird Ways Month, though, I guess this makes sense. From the New York City … [Read more...]

Or, There's An Audience For EverythingVia my friend Joe: … [Read more...]

It has come to my attention via Twitter that The Metropolitan Opera is allowing publicists on stage. OK, OK - so it's just one really, really important and fancy publicist who actually handles The Met's press, but if you think that's stopping me from yearning/lobbying for a La Bohème walk-on townsperson, working girl, or shopkeeper role, you, sir or madam, are sorely mistaken. Naturally, his appearance made it into the press. From Page Six of the New York Post:Public relations legend Howard Rubenstein made his Metropolitan Opera debut Saturday … [Read more...]

Good morning, starshines. Here are some miscellaneous marketing matters for a Monday. Just as I'm sure journalists are frustrated when publicists pitch them a feature on an artist who was written up in their publication less than a year ago (etc.), publicists want to, in turn, tear their hair out when journalists request interviews with artists to preview concerts and have done zero-to-no research. "Research" is actually a bit strong, here: they have neither looked at the provided press materials nor spent three minutes on this little thing I, … [Read more...]