that ring of confidence

Remembering Conan on NBC

Conan O'Brian's last show on NBC was on Friday night.  Unfortunately due to a bout of insomnia the night before I couldn't stay awake for the whole thing.  However I do remember seeing Beck at one point, but that may have just been a fever dream. Now all we have left are YouTube clips of O'Brian during his time on NBC, whether it be the short lived Tonight Show or Late Night.

Hopefully he'll turn up eventually, once the period he's not allowed to host a show expires.  The rumours still is that he might land on Fox where he once worked as a writer for The Simpsons and wrote one of the all time best episodes, the one featuring the monorail.

Jeffery Simpson at #Nash72: the sessions recapped

From January 14th through to the 18th the Canadian University Press (CUP) held their 72nd annual national conference [cup] bringing university and college newspapers from around Canada together.  After a few years away I returned to the conference, this time as a guest speaker.  Here are the sessions I gave and what you may have missed either by not attending or because you were hung over from the night before.

 

Title: Managing PR in Tech Writing
Speakers: Matthew Atwood (Senior PR Manager for Bioware), Jeffery Simpson (freelance tech writer for IGN.com, The Georgia Straight)

Summary: This session had started off just being about tech writing, and I had a talk which I'd previously given twice at regional conferences in Vancouver prepared to give.  The main focus of what I was going to say is that tech writing is one of the more stable fields in writing, and that it's not as difficult as it might appear from the outside.  You don't need to know the coding behind Twitter to write about it, and just because you can't build an iPod doesn't mean you can't cover its development.  I was also going to talk about how tech writing can be done really well by focusing less on the technology and more on the impact to its users, and how it can be done badly such as when writers focus rumours or pundits above reputable sources.

However since the conference was being hosted by The Gateway which is the student paper at the University of Alberta, and because the conference was actually hosted in a hotel connected to Bioware's headquarters and because Gateway alum Dan Lazin works for Bioware as a producer, CUP managed to get MattAtwood to join.  That transformed the tech speech into a talk on how to deal with press relations department when working on tech stories.  Having written stories involving Google [tgs] and Mozilla [tgs] I've some experience dealing with pr departments, and Matt was able to offer a view of the other side.  

Take aways:

• be honest when dealing with PR firms
• don't be a dick and remember that pr people are people too
• be able to articulate what you're looking for and how working with you is in the company's best interests
• look at dealing with a pr department as a relationship that could and should extend past just one article

Title: New Media Panel Discussion
Speakers: Bryan Murley, Jacques Poitras, Mathew Ingram, Matt Frehner, Jeffery Simpson

Summary:  Even before the new media panel started we were trying to pin down exactly what new media meant.  Does having a blog make me a new media outlet?  If The National Post has a Twitter account are they now new media?  With so many people on the panel there was no real preparation beyond the initial discussion.  I also don't know if we accomplished much during the session apart from pointing out that most "old media" still doesn't understand the internet though we did not really have any specific ideas for how to make money from being online.  I think my role on the panel was to argue that as exciting, and useful, as tools like Twitter and Facebook can be they're not exactly reinventing the wheel.  The standard rules of how to conduct yourself still apply.

Take aways:

• build your own personal brand so that you can bring your Twitter, Facebook followers with you to where ever your work is
• don't Tweet drunk
• ummm...

Update: Bryan Murley provides a much better re-cap of this panel on his own blog [iicm] that is not coloured by my own views on new media nor my stage fright.

 Title: Freelancing and finding a job panel
Speakers: Karen Unland, Erin Millar, Nick Taylor-Vaisey, McMillan Elizabeth, Iain Ilich, Jeffery Simpson

Summary: I think at some point this was a panel on freelancing and then it turned into how to parlay a freelancing gig into a job.  That worked for people like Iain Ilich who parlayed a freelancing career into a full time post with The Edmonton Journal, but it wasn't a particularly good fit for me who has parlayed a side-career in freelancing into a side-career in freelancing.  Apart from a few jokes about selling organs on the black market and working in my kitchen, I actually learned more about freelancing than I think I taught.  

Take aways:

• file on time
• check a publication's articles against its masthead to see how much of the content is written by freelancers versus staff writers
• network
• be reliable and easy to work with for the editors
• proof read your own work

The Onion knows us former CUP types too well #Nash72

 

Seriously though, Don Iveson mentioned this article [on] last night and it hits far too close to home.  It reminds me of how I felt talking with Christopher Poon [tgs] about CUP conferences at The Georgia Straight's Christmas party this year.  Titled "Former Editor Can't Believe Shit College Newspaper Is Printing" it hits far too close to home for a lot of I think.

Bartell's fears of a decline in journalistic integrity were further augmented by a profile of the new dining-services director, which failed to include information about the recent increase in meal-plan fees and the new two-pieces-of-fruit-per-student policy. 

"[New Editor-In-Chief] Casey [Aclin] has been a real disappointment," Bartell said. "In a story last Monday, instead of saying 'Dean of Students Charles Baker,' it just said 'Dean Baker.' That's a blatant disregard of Free Press style rules that never would have flown on my watch." 

"Never," he continued.

Returning to my halcyon days in the student press

My two sessions at the Canadian University Press' 72nd annual national conference went pretty well.  

In the afternoon I met up with Matt Atwood who works in media relations for Bioware [wp].  After I signed a non-disclosure agreement he showed me around their Edmonton office, which is conveniently connected to the Radisson hotel that the conference is being hosted in, and then we went over the game plan for the first session.  The session had morphed from me doing a solo thing on tech writing to a talk about tech writing and dealing with corporate PR firms as a part of that.  

It was a really good seminar I think and I even learned a few things that will help me further down the road.  Matt was really friendly, had some cool Mass Effect 2 swag to give away to people who asked questions and I think that everyone in the session kind of wanted his job by the end of it.  

The next session was right on the heels of that, in the same room, so I missed the first bit as I was talking to Matt afterwards.  It was a four person panel though, so my absence probably just helped keep everything coherent for the first few questions until I returned.  We had not really prepared anything, though I think it went all right.  

The subject was "New Media" and I was glad that we all seemed to agree that there's a false distinction between "new" and "old" media that gets in the way of actually talking about it.  Since it was four people talking instead of just one or two there was not much to do, and since most everyone else had achieved more in both old and new media I tried not to talk too much.

That night while the delegates went to a bar in Edmonton, I headed off with some former Gateway types Dan Lazin, Matt Frehner (who was also on the New Media panel) and Don Iveson and went to a pizza / coffee /gelato place for dinner.  It was good to see both Dan and Don again, and to get out into the city as opposed to stay trapped in the Radisson.  Afterwards Dan and I came back and went to Bioware for another tour of the studio and so Dan could do some work that I'll just assume is covered under the NDA I signed earlier in the day.

Then to bed and up early to claim the free bacon I was told that there would be.  There was none, just eggs and sausages.  

I'm with CoCo

A little bit behind the meme, but I greatly enjoy this graphic. It is currently gracing my iPhone as wallpaper.

Blog posted here.

And I arrive in Edmonton

It was a typical Vancouver day when I left.  Walking from my apartment to Waterfront station to catch the Canada Line up to the airport I was soaked to the bone.  Thankfully my Timbuk2 bags tend to stand up to the rain pretty well, and by the time I found the proper place to catch the new Skytrain line and actually arrived at the airport I was dry for the most part.  The flight itself was uneventful, I slept through take-off and read through the rest of the flight, and I arrived in Edmonton at nine.

Edmonton is cold.  It's been awhile since I've experienced a real winter.  As much as Vancouver is wet and kind of miserable during these months, it's not actually that cold.  Sure you never feel dry, but there's a definite lack of biting cold that I noticed the minute I stepped out of the airport in Edmonton to flag down a taxi to take me to the Radisson where I'm staying.

Once I'd gotten a room I was about to go out to get some food.  Being cheap however I wanted to avoid cab fare, and yet it was late and I wanted to catch Late Night with Conan O'Brian at 12:30 so I did not want to set off walking anywhere.  At first I tried to go to the pub in the hotel, though walking in I realized that I had forgotten that I was here to speak at a Canadian University Press (CUP) National Conference (Nash).  A CUP Nash is a quick way to jump start the economies of any nearby pubs or bars, and the hotel's bar was packed with students.  Not feeling social I retreated to my room where I ended up ordering Boston Pizza delivery.  

The internet in the hotel is hit and miss, apparently having a student journalist conference hosted there is overwhelming their ability to provide access to the web.  So while I had thought to be blogging as much as I can, I might not be able to as much as I had hoped.  

Now it is late, by either Vancouver or Edmonton's standards, and I have to go to Bioware in the morning to work out what exactly I'm going to be saying at the first panel.  Still there is a made for television movie on the CBC about the 1972 Summit Series where professional hockey players from Canada and Russia met for the first time [wp].  That is tempting.  So very tempting.

Conan O'Brian's lifelong dream

"Hosting The Tonight Show has been the fulfillment of a lifelong dream to me. And I want to say to the kids out there watching, you can do anything you want in life unless Jay Leno wants to do it, too." 

— Conan O'Brian

Conan O'Brian's statement on the NBC, Leno scheduling snafu

Having entered, as of this afternoon, a some what similiar period of uncertain continued employment I sort of know what O'Brian's going through, though I'm not a beloved comedian and probably less capable of weathering an extended period unemployed.  Conan's show is the most enjoyable The Tonight Show has been in my memory.  I was too young to stay up to watch Johnny Carson's version, and Leno has been dreadful. 

People of Earth:

In the last few days, I’ve been getting a lot of sympathy calls, and I want to start by making it clear that no one should waste a second feeling sorry for me. For 17 years, I’ve been getting paid to do what I love most and, in a world with real problems, I’ve been absurdly lucky. That said, I’ve been suddenly put in a very public predicament and my bosses are demanding an immediate decision.

Six years ago, I signed a contract with NBC to take over “The Tonight Show” in June of 2009. Like a lot of us, I grew up watching Johnny Carson every night and the chance to one day sit in that chair has meant everything to me. I worked long and hard to get that opportunity, passed up far more lucrative offers, and since 2004, I have spent literally hundreds of hours thinking of ways to extend the franchise long into the future. It was my mistaken belief that, like my predecessor, I would have the benefit of some time and, just as important, some degree of ratings support from the prime-time schedule. Building a lasting audience at 11:30 is impossible without both.

But sadly, we were never given that chance. After only seven months, with my “Tonight Show” in its infancy, NBC has decided to react to their terrible difficulties in prime time by making a change in their long-established late night schedule.

Last Thursday, NBC executives told me they intended to move the “Tonight Show” to 12:05 to accommodate the “Jay Leno Show” at 11:35. For 60 years, the “Tonight Show” has aired immediately following the late local news. I sincerely believe that delaying the “Tonight Show” into the next day to accommodate another comedy program will seriously damage what I consider to be the greatest franchise in the history of broadcasting. The “Tonight Show” at 12:05 simply isn’t the “Tonight Show.” Also, if I accept this move I will be knocking the “Late Night” show, which I inherited from David Letterman and passed on to Jimmy Fallon, out of its long-held time slot. That would hurt the other NBC franchise that I love, and it would be unfair to Jimmy.

So it has come to this: I cannot express in words how much I enjoy hosting this program and what an enormous personal disappointment it is for me to consider losing it. My staff and I have worked unbelievably hard, and we are very proud of our contribution to the legacy of “The Tonight Show.” But I cannot participate in what I honestly believe is its destruction. Some people will make the argument that with DVRs and the Internet, a time slot doesn’t matter. But with the “Tonight Show,” I believe nothing could matter more.

There has been speculation about my going to another network but, to set the record straight, I currently have no other offer and honestly have no idea what happens next. My hope is that NBC and I can resolve this quickly so that my staff, crew, and I can do a show we can be proud of, for a company that values our work.

Have a great day and, for the record, I am truly sorry about my hair; it’s always been that way.

Yours,

Conan

Link via Daring Fireball [df] and the New York Times [nyt].

David Letterman on NBC, Leno and Conan O'Brian

I feel sorry for Conan O'Brian in all of this.

The Jeffery Simpson World Tour 2010: Whereby the world is defined as Edmonton

     

ive and on stage you can see me doing the public speaking thing that I used to win awards for back when I was in grade four and five.  Granted my voice has broken and I've gone through puberty since then so I will warn you that it's not quite as melodious as it once was nor will I have a graphic of the human heart to refer you to.  However I will probably have had my hair cut before then, at least if Lydia has her way.  So that should add some kind of fashion flash to the proceedings.  No graphs though.  Sorry.

What will I be talking about?  How much are tickets?  Will there be punch and pie?  Are there any audience participation chants or songs that will be needed?

To go you'll need to register at a Canadian college or university and quickly get a job at the student newspaper before this weekend because I'll be talking at the Canadian University Press's 72nd annual conference this year titled Natural Selection [cup].  I'm actually doing a few sessions, to help justify the cost of them flying me out there.  The first one, and main one, I'll be talking with Matt Attwood who works in Bioware's [wp] media relations department on tech writing and how to work with PR departments of tech companies.  Next I'll be on a panel discussing new media with Matt Frehner, Matthew Ingram, Bryan Murley and hosted by CUP's Chris Berube.

This is the panel that a fist fight is most likely to break out in, since I tend to be a bit crotchety about the term "new media" and the idea that "old media" is dying.  Newspapers might be dying, but I don't think that's what people mean by "old media". 

The next day I'll be a part of a panel discussing freelance writing with Iain Ilich, Erin Millar, Elizabeth McMillan, Karen Unland hosted by Nick Taylor-Vaisey.

These are all names that I'm going to have to Google in the next day or so. 

Meanwhile I've come down with the sort of head cold that used to kill people back in the middle ages.  It essentially feels as though someone has stuffed my head full of phlegm and at night it starts leaking out my nose.  It's quite a mess.  Of course given that I'll be exposed to CUP Conference SARS this weekend probably means that I should work on my will.  A combination of head cold and whatever ailments a few hundred university students fighting their livers with weapons of mass intoxication are carrying will be a most interesting experience.

Now if you'll excuse me, my face is leaking.