This article came to my attention today:

Microsoft ads aim to erase ‘huge’ image

Microsoft Corp., the world’s biggest software maker, will spend $120 million a year on an advertising campaign to fight its image as “a huge American company.”

The campaign, using television, print and the Internet, highlights Microsoft’s education and economic development projects in 32 countries, including France and Taiwan, according to group advertising manager Mike Lucero. Actor William Macy of the movie “Fargo” narrates the ads.

“We are often perceived as a huge American company,” Lucero said Friday in an interview.

“We wanted to be very specific about what we are doing in each country in education, innovation, economic opportunity and security,” he said.

I forwarded this on to Scoble, who had a good reply – I’ll let him post it.

My take – is this really a good investment? I mean, sure, positive exposure is always a good thing. But unlike blogs and CES, this doesn’t seem very… well… personal.

It seems to me that this $120 million might be better spent offering some great free service to potential customers around the word, and to rely on word of mouth instead.

I haven’t seen the ad campaign yet – so I guess I’ll have to wait and see how this turns out.

Avoid Doubletree Bellevue Hotel room 530 (A review)

I kind of sensed that there was a lot of road noise when I was getting ready for bed, but once I actually got into bed, the noise was horrible! In particular, the truck traffic really picks up at night!

So after getting my complaint feedback, the hotel sent me a letter to apologize. They also gave me a voucher for a 1 night free stay. Thanks Doubletree Bellevue! I’ll take them up on it – and ask for a room on the West side!

Heather’s “Marketing at Microsoft” Blog : If Someone at Alaska Airlines Likes Your “Butt”, They Might Just Let You Know

She came back with a pink ticket for me and we joked about how nice it would be to have my bag waiting outside the plane when we got to Las Vegas, instead of at the baggage claim. Uneventful flight otherwise, arrived in Vegas and my bag was waiting for me right outside the plane, headed to my hotel, etc., etc. I go up to my room and one of my coworkers is with me. I unzip my bag so I can hang some of my clothes and I notice something in my bag that I didn’t put there. It looks like a little piece of paper with writing on it. I picked it up. On one side, there’s some kind of Alaska Airlines form with a paw print on it (I’d later find out, it was part of a tag that goes on a pet carrier when it’s checked). On the other side (I kid you not), is a hand written note: ” Ill like to Have sex with you U. Have a Nice Butt” and a phone number. Appears to be the same ink as the writing in the pink ticket (blue felt tip).

Whoa… just when I thought I had heard it all. Click the link for the full story – click this link for the follow up.

This article I saw today documents a lot of the wackiness I’ve seen in the Bay Area. Here are some snippets that I found interesting:

Betting on a boom

The yin and yang of life here explain why 87 percent of residents say they are satisfied with the Bay Area as a place to live while 41 percent would pack up and leave if they could find a comparable job elsewhere.

[snip]

For all their differences, Bay Area residents are increasingly defined by and obsessed with their work.

About 49 percent of non-retired residents say nothing matters more to them than work — that’s where they draw their most satisfaction in life. That’s up from 39 percent of Santa Clara County workers in 1985 and 41 percent of workers in Santa Clara, San Mateo and Alameda counties in 1999.

Work isn’t what everyone lives for, but 74 percent say it helps define who they are, and 64 percent say what they do for work is more important than the paycheck.

Against such a backdrop, it’s understandable that most people say it’s a mark of disgrace to be out of work. Among the unemployed or “underemployed” — those in a job below their skill level or salary history because it was the best they could find — seven out of 10 say they feel there is a stigma attached to being unemployed.

As the balance between work and life has tipped toward work, frustration has mounted. Nearly six out of 10 workers complain that job-related stress pollutes their home life. About 33 percent say they’re staying longer at work than they did five years ago — nearly double the number who are working less. And 25 percent of all residents are less satisfied with the amount of time they spend with family and friends.

Put it all together and you have a big chunk of the labor force looking for change. Aside from the 41 percent who would leave the Bay Area if they could find a comparable job elsewhere, more than one-third are more willing to consider changing careers than they were five years ago.

[snip]

Nearly 60 percent are confident the Bay Area will enjoy another dot-com-sized economic boom — with most expecting the good times to roll within five to 10 years.

[snip]

That kind of optimism helps explain why 54 percent of residents are confident their household finances will be in better shape by 2010, while only 7 percent expect they’ll be in worse shape — a nearly 8-to-1 ratio of optimists.

Some experts say optimism is underpinned by the fact that many residents have suffered so mightily during the ground-shaking economic bust that they’re convinced things can only get better.

It seems to me that this would be an ideal place for more casinos

This is a graph of the unemployment rate in Santa Clara County – where most of “Silicon Valley” is.

SFBAY.png (PNG Image, 800×450 pixels)

Pretty interesting.

I was watching last night’s SNL this afternoon, and I wondered – Is Saturday NIght Live marginally funnier because I’m from NY?

There’s a lot of NY, or East Coast references in every episode. Last night, a character’s speech was compared to “Channel 13″ – the famed mega-PBS channel in the NY metro area. In another sketch, someone quipped that it was ‘time to make the donuts‘. – a reference to the long standing and memorable Dunkin Donuts commercial. Other times, they’ve had random things like Leonard’s of Great Neck. And I wonder how many people in this country actually know what a bar mitzvah is, since that tends to show up a lot too.

SNL isn’t funny all the time, but I would guess that its even less funnier to many outside of NY.

A colleague of mine in Redmond had this to say earlier this week:

sanaz’s space: and why am I feeling blah…

ready to start my week on an energetic note but feeling kinda blah… well maybe it’s because it’s been raining for 29 consecutive days in seattle!

Seattle sure is beautiful in the summer – but it sure is dreary in the fall/winter/spring.

However, there are certain positive tradeoffs to living in Redmond. For example, you probably won’t find an ad like this:

First, it should be clarified is that this house is actually in East Palo Alto, and not Palo Alto. Very important distinction.

Next, the best deal on the SF Peninsula.” is actually a pretty reasonable price. Just look at some of the other photos from this listing. It has a pretty big yard! And all the windows seem to come with free bars! Woot!

Just last october, a place down the street sold for $700k! (2362 Poplar Ave. $700,000, 1,010 SF, ) I’m surprised this is still on the market at that amazing price!

So… Rain or this?

Just when you thought nothing could be simpler than the iPod…

iPod survival lessons – Yahoo! News UK

Help will soon be at hand for technophobes who don’t have a clue how to use their iPods – but at a price.

New tutorials costing ?65 for 40 minutes are to be offered at Selfridges’ flagship London department store.

The scheme comes in response to queries from customers who are baffled by the best-selling MP3 music players, a spokeswoman said. The one-to-one “iPod Survival” sessions will aim to teach clients everything there is to know about the trendy Apple device. Subjects covered will include general use of the iPod, using iTunes, installing and deleting videos, creating playlists and downloading Podcasts.

Ouch! $114USD for a 40 minute class on using the iPod? I’m quite curious as to how many customers they will have!