WELCOME ABOARD the Neverending Ocean Cruise!

Welcome to the deep end,
Glad To Have You Here
...where we find shorter spaces between us.
-- Bobby Ocean

Saturday, November 26, 2011

DRUGMAKER MERCK CHALLENGES POP SOCIAL SITE

Wants To Know Why Rival Has A Facebook Page They Thought Was Theirs
It's an enormous world. Although we may continue watching in earnest, everyone is bound to miss something. Maybe that's why there are so many of us.

You know how you start noticing specific names, things, and trends only after they are brought to your attention? You may have gone a lifetime without discovering the value of Acid Stained Concrete Floors, or Pomegranate Jelly, but once someone you know raves about it, you give it a try, you begin to notice it wherever it is. And it has been there in the open all along.

That happens to me all the time, especially since I enjoy reading. After Victor Hugo, I have a whole new POV regarding Napoleon's defeat at Waterloo. Before, it was only a lyric in a pop tune.

And so it is with my Attention Span falling upon the Merck Chemical Companies of Germany and the U.S.

Never heard of them, or really payed any attention, until I read the rock autobiography of Rolling Stones co-founder, Keith Richards, The book is simply entitled "Life," and contains the surprisingly well documented recollections of the guitarist, songwriter, performer and conciousness alterer, Richards, among which include mention of this distinctive drug maker's honorific monitor.
  Now I seem to notice that name more often, and when I do, a flicker of recognition lights up inside whenever I see it.

‘If you wanna get down, down on the ground, cocaine..."

Piracy On The High Seize 
The webpage, www.facebook.com/merck, was established over a year and a half ago by Merck KGaA in Germany, but, inexplicably, is has been seized and is being utilized by it's US rival, Merck & Co. in New Jersey, and now proclaims, "...This site is intended ONLY for residents of the United States and its territories..."

The German drug making firm, Merck KGaA, established nearly three-and-a-half centuries hence by a pharmacy owner in the city of Darmstad, in 1668, has begun legal action against social networking site, Facebook, after discovering the apparent takeover of its Business Page by American rival of the same name and origin, Merck and Company of Whitehouse Station, New Jersey. The Germans believe the Facebook page is owned by them and that the American-based chemical manufacturer is, in fact, poaching.

The two drug makers both originated from the one commercial enterprise set up by a pharmacy owner in the German city of Darmstadt in 1668. After World War I, as part of the Reparations Package imposed on Germany, the business was split into two separate entities.

Lack Of Either Understanding Or Fair Play 
Merck KGaA's lawyer, reportedly stated that he had sent a letter and a series of emails to various Facebook staff asking to discuss what had happened to the webpage.

Simple enough: "please explain to your customer what happened to our web page." I understand that last sentence and I think you do, too. But, Merck KGaA  says the Facebook crowd "either did not understand the problem... [or were] intentionally giving unresponsive answers".

Merck's attorney said that when he had requested a telephone conversation, one of Facebook's staff "incredibly replied that 'no-one is available for a call at this time....' Later, Facebook limply recited, "We are looking into it."

I don't think this could EVER make a good reality TV movie with overused lines like that, long since cooked lifeless and limp.

"Don't forget this fact, you can't get it back, Cocaine..."

Are Legal Steps Taken Even On The Path Of Justice? 
Merck KGaA has documentation: these materials prove it had entered into an agreement with Facebook for the exclusive rights to www.facebook.com/merck in March of 2010. The German firm added that a number of its employees had been subsequently assigned administrative rights to the page, something that can only take place during the originating process, not afterward.

However, Merck KGaA said that when it had checked the site on 11 October this year it had discovered it had lost control of the page, and that content on the site now belonged to the American Merck. Of course they were surprised. A petition was filed immediately with the Supreme Court of the State of New York by Merck KGaA for the purpose of obtaining information as to why a website believed in good faith to be owned by the German firm suddenly is not anymore.

Covering Their Assets And Eating Them, Too 
Merck KGaA filed in New York rather than courts in California because that is Facebook’s headquarters state, and doesn’t allow pre-action disclosure to identify defendants.

"We are just trying to learn what happened,"a spokesman for Merck KGaA, Dr Gangolf Schrimpf, told the BBC.“We took action against Facebook and not against Merck & Co.

Someone's In Trouble
However, while Merck KGaA stressed that it had not taken any further action than requesting information, against its US counterpart at this stage, the court filing states that: "Merck is considering causes of action for breach of conduct, tortious interference with contract, tortious interference with prospective business advantage, and/or conversion."

Merck KGaA said Facebook “had not been cooperative” in attempts to seek information about the change. E-mails to Palo Alto, California-based Facebook’s press department didn’t receive a response. Facebook was unwilling to make a comment beyond saying that it was looking into the case.

Check That Cloud Lining: 

The good new for online marketers is found in between the lines. The "asides," comments seemingly thrown away or used in garnishing these statements, present a bright belief that, for commerce, Social Networks offer a much better way.

Branding experts say the Merck vs Merck Case reflects a growing realization that Social Networks can offer firms a better way of reaching their customers than through their own websites.

"Company communication departments have realised that many of the people they want to reach and influence are already on Facebook," said Simon Myers, speaking for the consultancy Figtree Network.

"As corporate content becomes more tailored and engaging, social media sites such as Facebook represent a brighter future of greater customer dialogue and interaction than the current corporate website with static content and pictures of people shaking hands."

That's an A-plus for Social Media marketing overall, and lesser grades all around for a few of it's manifold, confused players and users.

This is still a story with more questions than answers. 
Is Facebook playing favorites, being purchased under the table like a polititian or just plain stumbling through stupid missteps on its Way? Is Merck USA cutting a line?

None of the above? All of the above? Let's keep watching.
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Wednesday, November 16, 2011

On Becoming Better At It All



IF POOR RICHARD HAD A BLOG
                        by Bobby Ocean

[first posted on Obtuse Angles just a few days ago)

The fastest way to accomplishing any goal is to first realize that aim inside. Once you take the time to know your idea's design well, your deeper, intuitive, creative mental facilities have a blueprint with which to undulge in Mysterious Ways.

That's a nice little piece of knowledge there. Just those words alone at the begining of a project can eliminate a lot of mis-steps, save a huge chunk of money.

As we all travel along through Life, many Common Sensical Sayings cross our attention span to remind us our priorities, pass along valuable insights, help us more surely achieve our goals. When it so happens that certain adages continue to apply, decade after decade, we know we have a Truism, what I call a Universal. Universals cross almost all barriers, work as currency Here as well as Over There, as Down Yonder, everywhere.

UNIVERSALS, A HYPER DRIVE STARTER SET:
There are some real gems in this marble bag:

ON LOOKING FORWARD
• Looking Forward means ALWAYS looking forward, into infinity, where anything can happen and the One Looking had better always be ready. There's only one way to always be ready and that is to Look Forward, Expecting Anything. This leaves no time for looking back or measuring sideways.

TWO POWERFUL FORCES
• Circumstances never turn out the way that you expected. Also, they continue turning. Because you know these Two Invaluable Insights they may act on your behalf. These are powerful forces you got going for you here.

THINK POSITIVE, ATTRACT POSITIVE •
Take care of yourself and maintain a sense of humor. If you are not well, don't come to work and infect the staff, stay in bed and recuperate at least until it's worked its way through your throat. If you have a bad cough go to the theater.

EACH TURN PRECARIUS
• The experience of yearning for that which is "out there" springs from one large false notion we call Desire. The choice to covet bears a Terrible Price. It leaves a Blind Spot. Similarly, one is frustrated with fighting such negative influences toward longing; go against them and you not only spend energy, you surrender the sum of it to the very thing you resist. Choose carefully.

STAY FAMISHED
• It is not supposed to be comfortable taking the time with eager business partners to define how you will share expenses or the division of labor until the terms have been agreed to afterward.

BE STILL = RESIST NOT
• Concerning negative thoughts and emotions: just be completely aware of them. For Each One, Bring Into Your Acceptance.
    -The current frame in which these impolses exist,
    -The feelings experienced,
    -The connections beneath the surface,
    -Your opinions, feelings, views of the entire picture,
    -Everything, and purely witnessing, just really be there.

GETTING CLEAR.01
• Bringing your completely non-judgmental understanding to each negative thought thread, past failure or unhappiness only seems difficult; it's not. those ghosts are not even here. Only the chemicals you call emotion and the images you call thoughts are here, at your beckoning. You can bear it. Bear witness.

GETTING CLEAR.02
• Novice executive samaraii and very green disciples who are seen getting rid of personal belongings, are not only practicing a protocol of non-attachment, but are also dis-attaching from poor grammer, such is redundant language. How, for example, can a belonging be other than personal?

GETTING CLEAR.03
• Being more concerned with how the other sees you than with the other, is a typical example of how and why the magicians' tool, Misdirection, works, this time as always with Thought being the Deceiver and the One Concerned, the Deluded.

EVEN SHORTER:

• A mind filled with fear is the melting pot of failure, a devout mind the portal to unlimited success.

• Dashed expectations may be only the surge or crest of the wave whose ocean of possibilities is still in motion.

• A disappointing income appies to the future, a disappointing outcome to the past. Neither addresses the present moment.

• Humor travels a twisted way to here, but usually brings a friend and makes more.

• It's hard to go against cravings that seem to come from the heart. If it helps, they don't come from it but at it, attacking. Resist not. Instead, watch the watcher.

• Pay less dues; pay more attention.

•  Cease desires,
    Still the heart,
    Regain your sight,
    Then re-start.

• Often you can recognize your true direction by the simple observation that it's not going the way you expected.

• It's often just a case of crossed wires. Pull back, take a breath. Next time you come together see where things stand from a WiFi POV.

• Anchor yourself in the present moment and prevent yourself from becoming swept away in thought and emotion.

• Boy have I got problems,"- epitaph, math teacher; "Boy. have I got Projects," - joyful exclamation of Someone Playing In The Infinite.

• It's play if you like what you do. It's work when you MUST play. It's art when you do your best soley because you can.

• Get it down. Lift it up. Pay it forward.

• Be willing to allow Higher Design to speak through you.

• Today is far too immense for just one word and yet it IS both the tomorrow you helped create yesterday, and the only game in town right now.

• Every time you remove a label, look deeper, the world around you  feels more alive, fresh and new, and grateful. You broaden the dimension of space.

• Perceiving without interference is the 'looking deeper,' beyond name tags and brand names, without engaging in concepts.

• Being open means not blocking new information trying to reach you with a shield of having all the answers. The seeming contradiction, "Be less so that you may be more," insists on continued inclusion.

• Leave the audience wanting.

--Hoping for that effect, I'll stop here.

In the ideas, special tips and enlightenments expressed above, that worked for countless others, self included, please find inclusive tools, no-strings helping hands, honest contributions - from a gradient sampling of souls, bakers through candlestick makers, the lofty, the lowly, enlightened, even lost, all intending us well. Ponder in good heart,

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Tuesday, November 8, 2011

Notes On Radio:

What It Was Like To Be On The Air
YOU HAD TO BE THERE

I get a lot of requests which I suppose is normal for a person who played at being a disc jockey while playing the hits.

Readers of this space ask for my reflections on the wonder of what it was like to be square in the middle of that magical time when radio was really in service to its listeners, respected them and actually liked them. It was very transparent. You can hear when someone's smiling while talking to you on the phone. Same deal for someone on the radio.

Once, not very long ago, Radio was the most fun in the whole wide world
. It had no world wide web sites, no way to Tweet about itself and rather than streaming online was making waves freely in the air outside.

"Look Ma! No wires! I'm just modulating the atmosphere!"

For many of us it was, at first, the entire world, and then later, our personal doorway, opened just for us, to the inside power knowledge of The Real Deal outside. Radio was power.

Radio just a few yesterdays hence was way ahead of merely being listenable, it was compelling in the sense that a magnet is to steel. Compelling all across the dial, not by force, coercion or constraint but by being so alive and entertaining as to necessitate listening.

One didn't want to miss a thing; this was one of a kind and all ours, these songs, fashions and events. It was the first time the largest slice of the demographic had even been recognized by the rest of society and it intoxicated us with the satisfaction that can only come from an audience wanting more. These things we couldn't miss were all so much bigger than life and fit into each one's imagination like it was cut to their lifestyle by an excellent tailor.

The dream became surreal and hyper enjoyable if you were the one on the radio, playing the records, the disc jockey!

Disc Jockys, that amalgem of the savage and the sacred, were the ones holding open that new doorway, our personal portal. They inspired wonder. Who were these guys? The very association with show business was for them like a Harvard diploma, elevating the headphone wearer to either the head of the table or very near the power players there seated by power of their sheepskins or relatives.

The era was one of the Top-40 radioman as much as it was of the chart topping songs and artists of the day in the same way hand-held wax cartons were a part of drinking milk then. The DJ's adulation was unfair in comparison and performance with hard driving, well rehearsed troubadours but it was popular vote. It was pure pop, non-stop and all part of the show.

We worked six days a week and there was no recorded DJ shows. You had to be there. Yes we were professionals and yes we deserved our paychecks. and yet, if you were to look a little deeper into each DJ, certainly the ones I have known, broadcasting was not so much our vocation as it was our obsession, a hobby-gone-wild more than a career. When the music grooved, when our scripts were clearly written, when the mic switch cracked open and the studio muted, we were at play.

WHAT HAPPENED
It was play because we wanted to do it. Play ceases to be play and becomes work only when we MUST do it.

It was play to execute our play better then the other station in contention. it also stops being much of a game when there are no competitors, no adversaries.

Once, not very long ago, entertainers and broadcasters owned all the radio stations all across the land. Then, laws written to protect people from any one owner posessing too many broadcast facilities, radio and TV - too much influence in any one market - were re-written, blotted out, the protection afforded your ears terminated, ethics quashed and careers dashed. Radio stations all across the land were made offers they could not refuse. They sold their heritage business to corporations that gobbled up radio stations like guitar players on pot gobble munchies, or brass sections down boilermakers.

For too many radio folks, the corporate environment, through cost-cutting, removed too many of the people we need to play WITH, but worse, eliminated our opponents, and thus the game itself.

I wonder how many stories there are from Broadcast Owners who, having heard what happened, now regret having sold out. We never hear from them.
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