Raising Citizens' Income

If you watch enough city, county and state meetings you start to hear a term used over and over. The term is revenue and it is used by elected and oppointed officials alike as well as numerous government employees.

The problem I have with that is unlike a private sector business, it is not "revenue" in the sence some of our business minded officals would like to think.

The that term should be removed from government completely. It is “citizens’ income” and should be stated that way each time it is used so people our government learns to respect where the money comes from.

The proper way to say it would then be, "we need to raise/aquire more 'citizens’ income' to help offset shortfalls through addional user fees".

The Rally in Tally & Public Service Ad Campaigns

American Advertising Federation – Fourth District Legislative Rally

This week Tampa Bay Advertising Federation and Ad 2 Tampa Bay members (myself included) will head to Tallahassee to join with the other 20+ AAF chapters around the state to visit our local state legislators for the Rally in Tally.

Each year we make this visit on behalf of the advertising industry to talk with our elected officials about the various pro-bono public service advertising initiatives we take on each year.

Each year countless hours and immeasurable creativity is donated to the promotion of non profits around the state by individuals and advertising agencies.

These pro bono campaigns allow non profits to reach more people and assist in raising more private dollars for support.Ad 2 Tampa Bay this year is working with Wheels of Success and the TBAF is working with Hillsborough County’s Cyber Safe initiative.

Pirates... of Silicon Valley

Found the Pirates of Silicon Valley on Google Video and wanted to share it. Its the whole movie in one shot if you want to check it out.


http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-1552555273778978142

Microsoft and Crispin... this ought to be fun

As this headline, In an Effort to Get 'Cool,' Microsoft Finally Calls in Crispin, came across my screen I had to saw "wow" as the Window's Vista campaign had previously exclaimed. Now that the Sprint & Goodby saga has ended, this might be a good relationship to watch.

Don't get me wrong unlike Burger King, Miller Lite and Sprint, I actually really like Microsoft and the software that they have produced. Bill Gates, love him of hate him is a master mind to be respected.

That said... Apple is so much cooler, right? Steve Jobs vs. Bill Gates? You can watch a head to head panel discussion here on YouTube and decide for youself.

Seriously though, I really want to see what comes of this relationship. I think if Microsoft continues to work on innovating and allows Crispin to be creative that something really cool and valuable just might be delivered.

AdCast in Febuary with Media Talk

Co-hosting AdCast this month with Media Talk I was able to see myself on the big screen of the Tampa Theatre during the kick of of the Gasparilla Film Festival. If you have not seen Ad 2 Tampa Bay's monthly web cast you can always check out the archives online at YouTube.

I have had the opportunity to play co-host the last two months with Ad 2 Tampa Bay board member Cris Vatalaro and Tampa Bay Film Commission Manager Lindsey Norris.

It was a great opportunity and I look forward to working with them on future projects.

Update: Hillsborough County CAC - February 29, 2008

Our first speakers were the county’s Community Liaisons; Tony Morejon (Hispanic Liaison), Joyce Russell (African American Liaison), Kimi Springsteen (Asian American Liaison), Sandra Sroka (ADA Liaison). Each of them provided very informative updates on what they do to help the citizens of Hillsborough County.

Our second speaker was Tammy Peralta, Station Manager for Hillsborough Television who spoke about the Value Initiative PSA’s that the county is rolling utilizing the $150 thousand advertising credit provided from Bright House Networks after moving HTV to channel 622.

Eric Johnson, Manager, Office of Management and Budget then provided a budget update.
Hillsborough County Citizens Advisory CommitteeAppointed by Commissioner Brian Blair

Hillsborough County Citizens Advisory Committee
Appointed by Commissioner Brian Blair

Involvement increases income options

The following entry is a quote of my comment on a recent Creative Tampa Bay column, The Sunshine Factor...

As the Chairman of National Ad 2 with 25+ young professional chapters around the country I can tell from first hand experience that it is not simply sunshine that depresses local salaries.

More importantly it is the lack of involvement by individuals in community and industry groups and associations. By being active one learns more about the market they live in and are able to better capitalize by choosing better employment and business opportunities.

When the Forbes article Cloudy Skies For Tampa’s Young Professionals screamed through town last year I was amazed by the names I saw on a list of email forwards. At least half the people forwarding the email in agreement were people I have spoken with who claim to be too busy to get involved with local organizations.

We cannot blame outside forces like the weather for our income levels. Where would Miami be if it counted the sunshine factor?