So What's Next?

So I was poking around on Neatorama, partly because I have 100 things better to do but mostly because Neatorama rocks my socks off, and I came across this Mini Cooper video they posted.



As they point out, it's making fun of viral advertising.

All this got me thinking... I mean, all my textbooks are saying that viral and buzz marketing are pretty much the most cutting edge thing on the advertising market right now. But hey, people are already super aware of it. This makes it far less effective.

So what's next? What's the new wave in advertising?

Would it have something to do with alternate reality games? They're engaging, to be sure, but you have to have pretty high MAO to actually get involved, right? So I'm thinking not.

Would it have something to do with all the shenanigans on Facebook with people becoming socially integrated with different organizations and products? Or would it have something to do with all of the customized, targeted online advertising? I don't know... I mean, at least I really zone that stuff out, plus one has to be a pretty big Facebook user to be really effected by any of it.

Will it be in branded pothole repairs and other privately-funded contributions to national infrastructure? Maybe, but I don't think that'll be great for much more than increasing brand awareness... aside from that, we pretty much ignore everything we see, right?

Well, at any rate I wonder. Advertising has thrown out some fascinating evolutions lately, and I bet the next ten years will see some pretty awesome stuff!

Back from China

Yeah... I'm actually feeling surprisingly adjusted. Just uploaded the rest of my pictures... at least the ones that weren't lost in the most devastating technical mistake I ever made! Here's the Picasa album:

China Adventure, 2009

Zhangjiajie, Part 4: Climb Every Mountain!

Saturday, March 20th, 2009
7:42am
In bed, Changsha Sheraton Hotel, Changsha, Hunan Province, China

UUUUUuuuuuuugh. Cannot get out of bed. Legs sore! Heheheh... super sleepy. Mreeeegh.

Yesterday, got up at 7:00am and joined the Japanese tourists in the restaurant for breakfast. A meal voucher was included in the cost of my room, but MAN, they served me SO MUCH, and I ATE IT ALL!!!

Simone's Marathon Breakfast

• Three glasses of warm soy milk
• Three pieces of toast with jam and butter
• A bowl of rice mush
• A large bowl of noodle soup
• An ear of corn
• A rice bun

I emptied my room, checked out, and was off to the park, with a REALLY full stomach. I needed the energy though, because I was determined to walk to HuangShi Village, which is at the highest point of Zangjiajie National Forest Park. The villiage is at the end of seven kilometers of stairs, and it took me about an hour and a half to get there.
It was a crazy walk! Unfortunately, it was super cloudy, so the amazing views I was hoping to see were out of the question, but it was fun to walk past the occasional food vendors, and the tourists were hilarious! Everyone was super friendly. I walked past tons of tourist groups and friends and families, and everyone said "Hallo! Hallo!!" Again, many wanted me to pose for pictures with them, and one couple even bought me a fresh cucumber to munch on, which was v. delicious.
All the attention I got was surreal. I mean, how does one adjust to being stared at everywhere she goes? I guess I have an idea of what it's like to be a celebrity now. I'll admit that it's super flattering to be asked to pose for pictures and to be noticed by people, but it's super tiring, too. My heart goes out to you, famous people! I'm kind of excited about going back to America, where I'll be invisible again. Hehee.
I'm afraid that HuangShi villiage was rather anti-climactic. It was so misty up there, you could wave your hand in front of you and see the clouds swirl around your hands. It was super dreamy and cool, but we might as well have been standing in a parking lot, because nobody could see a thing.
Nevertheless, I decided to walk the loop trail around the peak, and since it was pretty much empty, I sang all the way around! It was fun.
By this point, my boots had really started to chafe, so I was ready to end the hike. I took a gondola off the peak, and walked back to the hotel. The manager told me that it would cost me around 150 yuan to take a taxi back into Zangjiajie City, but that it would only cost me 10 yuan to go by bus, so obviously I opted for that! I'm glad I did. The bus snaked through residentail areas and smaller villages, so I got a really good idea of what the surrounding area was like. There were lots of farms and chickens, and broken-down looking houses with people squatting around the front. Part of me wanted to get out and hang out- to see more of what rural life in China was like- but I was also really tired and ready to catch a bus back to Changsha.
Timing was perfect. My bus arrived at the Zangjiajie bus station at 2:25, and I got a 2:30 bus back to Changsha. The bus ride was mostly uneventful, aside from the fact that something large hit the windshiled, putting a basketball-sized indentation in the center of the glass and extending cracks all the way to the rim.
Oh, but MAN, I was glad to get off that bus. Everyone kept lighting up cigarettes! I DESPISE BReATHING SECOND HAND SMOKE!!! Honestly, I'm a cheery, positive, compassionate girl, but if someone lights up next to me and either makes me breathe his exhaust or gets my clothes stinky, I become a hateful, violent individual. I sure was in a sorry state for most of that ride- I tied a wadded up shirt around my face to get over the awful stink, but that only made it hard to breathe, so not only was I pissed, I was deprived of oxygen and pissed. Bad combo.
The taxi cab ride was pretty interesting! At the Changsha bus station, I showed the hotel's card to several drivers on the street, and they all turned me down. I decided then to approached the group of parked drivers, and I found one who would be willing to take me. When he led me over to his car, I found that the back seat was occupied by two limp teenagers, bodies entwined like those of Romeo and Juliet, with the girl reclining on the boy's lap and the boy's arm laconically hanging from the window, a cigarette hanging between two fingers. I got into the front, wondering how normal it was to have extra riders like this, but ultimately I was glad they were there! Five minutes into the ride, the girl woke up, and spoke with me a bit, and at the ened of the ride, she even gave me a picture of her and another with her posing with her boyfriend. They were too cute!
As soon as I made it to the Sheraton lobby, I met Steve and Nathan, who were chatting over drinks in the lounge. I showered and joined them, where we were soon met by a bunch of other business associates, including Lynn, who is getting a masters in medical English and is just about the coolest girl ever. We all went for dinner together, and it was lovely to chat with everyone.
I went for a walk alone after dinner and found a park on the roof of a Carrefour. It was super cool! All the couples and kids and youth in the area gravitated there, so it made for excellent people watching. By then it was rather late, though, so I headed back to the hotel and basically passed out in my comfy Sheraton bed until Steve turned on CNN at 6:45 this morning for reasons I cannot yet comprehend.
Ah well, I suppose I should try out my legs to see if they work and pull on my suit. I'm off to the conference today! Hopefully I'll get to hang out with Lynn. Good times!

Zhangjiajie, Part 3: Dinner AND a Show!

Back at the hotel, I decided to wander around. If I understand correctly, this hotel was created as a sort of government-sponsored thing... it's a partnership between different tourism bureaus. It also has a crapload of features: a barber shop, a western restaurant, a Chinese restaurant, a spa, shops, and office center... here's the thing though, I wandered around, and found all those things, but they were all empty. Some of them were even open- it's just that nobody was there! I felt like I was wandering through a ghost hotel! Obviously it's off season. When I asked at the front desk about dinner, I was lead to a large, dark restaurant, where about 10 staffmembers were sitting around a table. Once they saw me, they all sprang into action, turning on lights and setting the table; before I knew it, I had an entire restaurant staff at my beck and call. It was SO weird! I felt like a princess. To make things even mroe surreal, a group of "ethnic minority" girls came in, wearing full costume, and sat down at a table across the restaurant. They were all giggling and chatting... it was lovely to watch them, but for the life of me, I didn't know why they were there! Just a bit later though, a 17-person tour group came in (they're the only others occupying the hotel now), and I learned that the girls were here to perform for them. I also quickly learned that they were Japanese, which is AWESOME!!
You know what else was awesome? My dinner! I had stewed vegetables, Hunan-style tofu, and rice. SO GOOOOOOD!!!
The performance was great too. The girls sang and danced, and they were so graceful! The folk songs they sang were witty and funny and full of spunk and spirit, and their voices were heavenly!
I loved watching the Japanese tourists. I know it's funny, but with them present, I really felt at home. Their speach and manerisms took me right back to Japan, and made me feel infinitely content. I ran to get my camera at one point, and when I asked if it was OK to join in on the picture taking in Japanese, all the tourists were like "Whaaaaaaaa???? She speaks JAPANESE???" It was great!!
Now I'm curled into my bed, watching Chinese soaps and feeling luxuriously drousy. The friendly staff and lovely Japanese tourists have made me feel very at home, and I will rest easy tonight. Ah, speaking of which, I had better get to bed! It's already 11:30 and breakfast is served at 7:30! I want to be there right on time, so I can see all I can see in the park and still catch my bus back to Changsha.
Aaaaah, lovely day!!! Fantastic adventure!

Zhangjiejie, Part 2: An Afternoon in the Park

After dropping my things off in my room, I headed straight out to the park. My hotel is actually in the National Forest Park- nestled into the hillside next to a stream- but it's a ten minute walk to the main gate of the park's entrance gate. I bought my ticket, went through the odd process of being fingerprinted before entering the park, and finally found myself THERE! I decided to take the Golden Whip Stream route, as I had spent the morning sitting down and was ready to walk. It was a lovely trail. All around, the amazing sandstone formations rose majestically into the sky, and the sound of the stream and the breeze rustling through the trees and foliage was divine. It felt wonderful to be out in nature again, and I felt I had all the comforts of modernity with a very well kept path and full cell phone coverage, which allowed me to text with Steve a couple of times and even receive a call about my hotel reservation! Lovely nature walk aside, there were several distinguishing things about the Golden Whip Stream trail. One aspect of the trail was that there were places along the way where small stalls had been set up.
Yes, they were touristy, but they were run by locals, so they had a cool feel. Aside from artisanal trinkets, they sold food, fortunes, and even pictures with traditionally dressed "ethnic minorities." I don't know why they decided to translate their supposed title as "ethnic minorities," but they were basically girls in beautiful clothes and they made the forest and the little checkpoints feel oddly magical. Another feature of the trail was that it was populated by litter runners that could be hired to carry hikers to the end of the trail.
It was great fun to watch them run by, and even greater fun to see groups of them resting by the path, smoking and playing cards or some other game. The third interesting aspect of the trail was that parts of it were visited by an indigenous monkey, which tourists seemed to adore feeding, desptie ALL of the signs advising otherwise.
I thoroughly enjoyed my walk. I really felt far away from it all, because I hadn't seen a foreigner all day, and nobody spoke English. I loved snapping photos of the jutting formations, monkeys, tourists, vendors, and streams, and the fresh air was a godsend after Beijing. I stopped at one of the rest points and bought fried potato balls and marinated tofu (INSANELY DELICIOUS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!) from a group of friendly girls, and chatted with them for a while.

I posed for pictures with tourists, and waved back when people said "Hello!" I enjoyed the scenergy immensely.
In fact, I was enjoying the whole experience so much that I didn't realize that I was almost to the end of the path, and that I would have to walk all the way back to make it back to my hotel!
I was worried that I wouldn't get back to the entrance before dark, so when a pair of litter carriers passed me, I asked them how much it would cost for me to ride with them for a bit. At first, they said 250 RMB, which I didn't have. They then brought it down to 150, which I still didn't have. Then, they brought it down to 100. I still didn't have that, and I wanted to use my money for dinner (I showed them this with that convenient eating sign that all the food vendors used when trying to sell things to me), and that they should go on without me. I waved goodbye and let them pass, but further down the trail, they waited for me and sat me down and said they'd be willing to carry me back for 60 RMB, which I DEFINITELY had!
Oh boy, it was fun riding in that chair! It was just such an odd experience, sitting in this little chair with its canopy, going BOING BOING BOING between these two men, and tracing this beautiful creekside trail surrounded by woods and incredible sandstone towers. Really, I had a blast.
Every now and then, the men would set me down and take a rest, which was great, because it allowed me to say hello to my friends at the rest stop and stretch my legs. After a while, though, I started feeling super bad about being an extra weight to these guys! I could see how hard they were working, and the front man's shoulders were so red from being worked all day!!! After the next rest stop, I stood up, grabbed the handles of the chair, and said I wanted to help carry it! The shopkeepers and carrier dudes probably thought I was a real whack job, but it was great. For most of the home stretch, I carried the front end, giving one man a break and lightening the load for the second. I really enjoyed the experience! I wanted to know what it was like to carry those things around all day, and tourists and locals alike cracked up whenever they saw me. It must have looked pretty funny- this caucasian girl with a bow in her hair and polka dot rain boots carrying the front end of a litter down the path...
Right before the end, the first man tapped my shoulder and signed that I should ride again. Hahaa, I'll admit I was happy to oblige! That thing was HEAVY! My hat's off to these men- they are VERY strong! At the end of the ride, I gave the men a big fat tip (because 60RMB for hauling my ass along that trail just ain't gonna cut it) and left the park a seriously happy camper.

Zhangjiajie, Part 1: A Bunpy Start

Disclaimer: Much of what transpired this morning involved me overreacting to super inconsequential stuff, but bare wih me- it's not easy to go native with transport when you cannot speak, comprehend, read, or write. Hahaa...

I woke up this morning around 4:00am with pretty awful stomach pain. Total bummer! I didn't really go back to sleep, but the good news is that I was definitely up and ready to go at 5:45am. I got dressed, said goodbye to Steve, and went down to the lobby where I asked the concierge to help me call a taxi. The concierge kindly explained to the cab driver what I was doing, we negotiated a price, and off I was!
Riding in the taxi cab through the pre-dawn morning was a trip. The Minnie Mouse tied to the cage separating the driver and I, the early commuters flowing past on scooters, and the Chairman Mao charm hanging from the driver's rearview mirror reminded me that I was not in America anymore.
I'll admit that I was kind of freaked out when the driver pulled over at the bus station. I had NO idea what to do. I think my driver realized that, though. He helped me out of the car, walked me into the station, helped me buy my ticket, and sat me down in front of the appropriate door. I then had about 90 minutes to wait for my bus, which seemed a pretty daunting task. The OCD in me was SO not ready for the puddles on the ground, the smoke, the cracked windows, the unusual smell, and the fact that all conscious persons present were staring straight at me. I decided to munch on almonds and an apple I had packed, and did my best to look nonchalant, despite the fact that from time to time, a group of five men would stand in a circle very close and loom over me. Yeah, you read that right- they would just LOOM!! Who DOES that?
Anyway, as time passed, the going got easier. The sun rose, for one thing, which made the station look infinitely less freaky, and more women and youngsters came into the station, which was also a great comfort, because once I had some ladies sitting back-to-back with me, the Loomers stopped comming around. Hurrah for that, eh?
I was still pretty nervous about my ticket, though, since up to that point, I had no idea if it was actually going to take me where I wanted to go, but my worries were dispelled when I met a woman who taught English at a Changsha middle school. She sat down next to me, introduced herself, and was kind enough to check my ticket for me. She was going to visit her uncle, who had been in a car accident, but apparently the doctors said his injury wasn't serious, which is good! We talked until her bus had to leave. She was so kind to me! At one point, a beggar came up to me and wouldn't leave, and she protected me and said "You are our guest! People should leave you alone!" which made me happy, just because I was kind of traumatized by all the attention that morning. I know it's trivial, but those loomers really whacked me out!
With confidence restored, I got onto my bus for Zangjiajie all set and ready to go. There was so much going on all around me! A woman was directing a fleet of deaf kids selling fluffy keychains, a man was smoking in the back of the bus, people were loading and unloading themselves from different vehicles... Oh man, and our bus!!! Talk about character. That thing was grooooooooody! There were puddles in the aisle! The upolstery was coming apart! The curtains smelled like... DEATH! OBJECTS WERE FALLING FROM THE CEILING!! I could handle all that... unfortunately, there was one thing from the start that I COULDN'T handle: the Michelin Man toy stuck to the dashboard. Ever since I read Pattern Recognition, I can't take that thing. He's the second most horrific icon after Betty Boop in my book, and seeing him REALLY sets me off! Oh god, I shudder just thinking about it.
Let's just say I did my best during that four hour bus ride to NOT pay attention to the aesthetic travesty on the dashboard. Not to worry though, there was PLENTY else to keep me busy. Take the man sitting next to me for example. The guy was really something- I knew it from the moment he started whisteling "Amazing Grace" five minutes into the bus ride. For one thing, he was OBSESSED with Christmas songs. He whisteled them continuously! Even his cell phone ring was of a childrens' chorus singing "O Holy Night!" WTF? When he wasn't whisteling, he was chewing this stuff that I'm sure most people think smells fine, but I found to smell vile. Oh man, every time he started chewing a new one, I'd start gagging, then trying like mad to make it seem as though I were NOT gagging... ah man... Yeah... it was a long bus ride.
When I arrived in Zangjiajie City, I had yet another moment of feeling totally lost. We pulled into the bus station, everyone loaded off, and as soon as I was out of the bus, I was again the subject of everyone's attention. Yikes! I tried to sneak in between the various parked busses on my way to the street to keep a low profile. (Oh, and speaking of busses, they've got some crazy cool ones in these parts! Some of them are set up like sleeper cars, with bunk beds instead of seats! If the beds weren't super grimy, I'd be SO STOKED to ride in one!) Eventually, though, I made it to the street, and there was no hiding there. I thought I might look less... er... NOT Asian if I wore my large sunglasses, but that made me look like a movie star in cognito. Aiyah! As I walked down the street, I worked my way through dozens of men on parked mopeds, all smoking cigarettes and staring STRAIGHT at me. Yikes! I couldn't flag down a taxi soon enough.
I shot into the first cab that pulled up like a bat out off hell. Hahaa! It was super nice to be in a puddle, loomer, staring-person, smelly chewy stuff, and Christmas song-free zone. The driver and I negotiated a price (which basically meant he waved the desired bills in front of me and I sayd "uh" and bobbed my head) we were off to the National Forest Park, and I was a happy camper!
Alas, things couldn't the THAT easy, now could they? My driver first dropped me off at the wrong hotel, and since I couldn't read the signs, I didn't realize it! There was this big to-do in the first hotel when I walked in, claiming to have a reservation, when obviously I didn't. Thank goodness for Steve's business associate, King! I called him on my cell and he helped me through it all, working as a cell-phone translator through the whole debacle. What a saint!
My hat's off to the cab driver too, actually. Even though I had already paid him and walked away, he waited at the hotel, and even drove me to the right hotel once everything was figured out. Once there, he waited with me during the entire check in process, and didn't leave until I was being shown off to my room. How nice is that??
To sum things up, ten hours after waking up, I was finally at my destination, and very glad to be done with all that travel!!

Zhangjiajie: Like, Whoah.

Thursday, March 19th, 2009
9:51pm
Room 3525, Hotel Pipaxi, Zangjiajie National Forest Park, Hunan, China..EARTH!

What an adventure!!! GAAAAH!!! Overwhelmed with sense of awesomeness of it all! Gah! Gah!! AWESOME OVERLOAD!!! Well, I CANNOT remember this day. Got to get it all down. I'll break it into smaller pieces.