Fighting The Puerto Ricans And 3 Ways to Vote For Me

This is a post about three things going on right now that I'd like to ask for your vote for. The first two are panel sessions that I quietly proposed for next year's SXSW conference which are now online and ready for voting. For those of you who were there this year, you might remember my "10 Easy Ways To Piss Off A Blogger" session that was a great group discussion and lots of fun. My ideas for this year will hopefully be similarly engaging and I have cut and pasted the full descriptions from the panel picker for both below:

Why Austin Stays Wierd And You Should Too (click to visit page and vote)
In an age of faceless corporations, consumers are demanding more authenticity. Join the award winning author of the fun new marketing book Personality Not Included for this eye opening panel of local Austin heroes talking about what makes Austin so special and what marketers can learn from its example.

Curiosity Marketing: Using Secrets To Create Engagement (click to visit page and vote)
Secrets are irresistible and using them in your marketing can offer the ultimate hook for customers to share. From a restaurant with a secret menu item to the origin of the fabled Konami Code, this session will share examples and practical advice on how to put secrets to work in your marketing.

If one or both look interesting to you, I'd love your vote in the panel picker interface on the SXSW site. The last place I'm asking for your vote is in the ongoing saga that is the PRWeek Blog Competition. Though I initially found it ironic that my blog was even included since I usually focus much more on marketing than PR specifically, I do work for a PR agency and I suppose that qualifies me as much as anything. I've made it from the original 32 blogs to be among the top 8 left standing, but I'm currently far behind my opponent this week, the brilliantly titled blog "Glass House" authored by Frank Shaw from Waggoner Edstrom. Voting closes later today, and I'd love to at least give Frank a run for his money. Vote for me here >>

In return for your support, I pledge that if I make it to the next round, I will work hard to ensure that every baby in America has a pacifier, that there is finally peace in Tasmania and that the PR industry mobilizes against the severe threat from Puerto Rico against our acronym. PR stands for Public Relations, and it always will under my watch.

PS - I don't feel bad about doing this post as I already did a "real" post today as well, so you can't call me out for pandering or rampant self promotion. Or maybe you can - but at least I'll have something to say in my defense ...