If I Can Dream (brought to you by American Idol)

0
Posted by morganpolotan on January 1, 2010 – 12:27 pm
Filed under career
Tagged as , , ,

An aspiring actor moves to LA to pursue stardom. He lives in a house with other actors, musicians and models all looking for their big break in Hollywood. They get paired up with the best acting/music/modeling coaches in the biz. This is what happens when they stop being nice, and start being…sound like a bad mash up of The Real World/True Life?

It’s actually a new show called If I Can Dream created by media mogul Simon Fuller (you may have heard of his other show, American Idol). The catch: you won’t find it on your local TV stations – it’s all on the web. The show will be broadcast on Hulu and participants will be able to communicate with viewers via blog posts and social networks. It premieres in 2010.

Bottom line: I want to audition. Alas, a thorough search of the show website and related NY Times article reveals zero information about audition dates and schedules. An email sent to 19 Ent got me the following response: “audition information will be made public on the website, please stay tuned.”

Hey Simon, how ’bout a lil’ love?

A New Purpose

4
Posted by morganpolotan on December 31, 2009 – 9:36 am
Filed under career
Tagged as , ,

It has been over a month since my last post, and much has changed for me.

I have decided not to pursue an apprenticeship with Three Stone Hearth in Berkeley, CA because…

I have decided to move to LA in early February 2010 to pursue an acting career (the most logical choice after getting a business degree, don’t you think?). I still plan to be involved in the Weston A. Price community in LA, and eventually seek to establish a similar WAPF community service kitchen (CSK) in the city (assuming there isn’t one already).

I have also decided to use this blog to track the highs and lows of my journeys in Southern California. My goal is to document the process of a nobody moving to LA and becoming a professional, working actor – the “American Dream” of so many.

I will continue to write various posts on topics that interest me in business, marketing, fitness and nutrition, but my plan is to convert the main topic of this blog to following my acting and other career endeavors.

Weston Price Conference: Day 2

0
Posted by morganpolotan on November 14, 2009 – 11:12 pm
Filed under nutrition

I’m sitting here with AnnMarie Michaels (@cheeseslave), Kelly (@KitchenKop), Jennifer McGruther (@NourishedMama), Alex Lewin (@Lactoferment), Kimberly Hartke (@KimberlyHartke), Kristin Canty (@KristinCanty), and Joanna Runciman (@ActualOrganics) in the lobby of the hotel after watching David Gumpert (@DavidGumpert) give the keynote address on the raw milk battle between activists and federal regulators.

We all listened to a great story from Kristin Canty about her upcoming film Farmageddon, which due to it’s top secret classification, I can’t comment on until a later post.

Today was another exciting day. I listened to Dr. Ted Beals, a raw milk expert who presented lots of graphs and statistics regarding the safety of raw milk. Then I attended a presentation by Chris Masterjohn about the fat soluble activators Vitamin A and Vitamin D. Turns out these vitamins work optimally in conjunction with each other, and their synergy is largely lost when given in isolation or in synthetic form.

Tomorrow I’m attending four seminars on the farm business; everything from how to boost profits and diversify small farm income by selling raw milk, to the operational and financial aspects of setting up a local buying club.

Off to bed now…

Weston Price Conference: Day 1

7
Posted by morganpolotan on November 13, 2009 – 10:37 pm
Filed under nutrition

What a day. I’m exhausted. I woke up at 7 am and its now 9:30 pm as I write this post. To say I am experiencing information overload would be an understatement, but I’m loving every minute of it. Not to mention some of the best tasting, healthiest food I’ve ever tasted in my life (that one’s not an understatement). I don’t think I will be able to attend any other conference without being disappointed with the food quality.

For those who are unsure of what I’m talking about, let me explain. I flew from Boston, where I attend college, to Chicago on Thursday to attend Wise Traditions 2009: Honoring the Sacred Foods, the 10th annual conference of the Weston A. Price Foundation.

Thursday night I met up with some WAPF bloggers I met on social media (thank you Twitter/Facebook!) to have dinner at The Bristol in downtown Chicago. On the menu? Roasted bone marrow with ramp pickle, parsley and shallot jam. The bone marrow was much tastier than I expected – it was warm and gooey and melted in my mouth. I followed this up with a roast half chicken with mustard spatzle and crunchy salad. The chicken was crispy on the outside (just how I like it) and tender and juicy on the inside. I could tell the chef had taken his time with the bird and I tasted the difference.

Today I attended Sally Fallon’s 3 part “Seminar on Traditional Diets.” I took about a million pages of notes. It’s like I had an epiphany every 5 minutes. I will have to dissect what I learned in another post. I also volunteered for today’s lunch and dinner (for any broke college students like myself who want to attend the WAPF Conference, I recommend volunteering to save money on the registration cost).

Because this is a food conference, I have to mention what I was fortunate enough to eat for lunch and dinner:

LUNCH “A Taste of Little Italy”

  • Antipasto Platter with US Wellness Meats Organ Sausages and Artisanal Cheeses
  • Tuscan White Bean Soup with Basil, Sun-Dried Tomatoes, Artichoke Hearts and Black Olives
  • Chicken Cacciatore
  • Organic Valley Family of Farms Parmesan Cheese on the Side
  • Bob’s Red Mill Natural Foods Herbed Corn Polenta Triangles
  • Arugula Salad with Rosemary Fennel Ranch and ZUKAY Sweet Onion Basil Dressing
  • Caldwell’s Lactofermented Spiced Sliced Carrots
  • Garlic Toast with Berkshire Mountain Bakery Peasant French Sourdough Baguettes
  • Warm Apple Crisp with Earth First Organic Apples and Canal Junction Farmstead Cheese Whipped Cream

DINNER “Home Cookin’ From America’s Heartland”

  • Meatloaf with Wisconsin Meadows Organ Meat
  • Roasted Garlic Rosemary Mash Potatoes
  • Wisconsin Meadows Bone Broth Gravy
  • Green Beans with Lucky Pig Berkshire Pork Bacon
  • Nourishing Traditional Cook Fermented Ketchup
  • Caldwell’s Lacto-Fermented Red Cabbage
  • Pumpkin Squares with Canal Junction Farmstead Cheese Whipped Cream

Tomorrow comes Day 2…

Auto DM’s: Are they Evil?

0
Posted by morganpolotan on October 29, 2009 – 10:12 am
Filed under Uncategorized

There has been a lot of talk recently about whether Twitter users should send automated Direct Messages (DM’s) to people who follow them. Some say that auto DM’s are a great way to connect with your followers and direct them to your website, Facebook page or blog. Others say that they are nothing more than spam that people have learned to ignore. There is even a petition started by Kyle Lacy to ban auto DM’s. Phil Baumman also wrote a sarcastic post on 17 Inspirational and Creative Ways to spam someone using the auto DM feature.

For the most part, I agree with Kyle and Phil. Currently auto DM’s are used in much the same way spam email was used in the early 90’s. And just like email in the 90’s, people have started to figure out ways to block auto DM’s. Who knows, there may soon be a law against them :P

However, the auto DM tool is neutral – it can be used for good or evil. It can be used to spam, or it can be used to nurture prospects into leads via an opt-in process. What do I mean? Say you are a SEO consultant on Twitter. You would like to get prospects from Twitter who might pay for your services. When someone follows you, you can send an automatic DM to that person with a link to a Twitalyzer or Twitter Grader report customized for that person’s Twitter handle. I’m not sure exactly how to program this, but I’m sure it’s possible. Your message could read, “Here is a link to your Twitter Grader score. Want to know how to improve it? DM me and I’ll do my best to help you out.”

Why is this different than spam? It’s personalized. The way I see it, when someone follows you on Twitter, it is like signing up for an email newsletter (remember, Twitter is essentially a microblogging service). You give that person permission to send you Tweets and DM’s. A personalized auto DM customized to you has more value than mass auto DM’ing. And you can always opt-out easily (block DM’s, unfollow).

Thoughts? Is this a viable alternative or just a twist on traditional spamming? Do you have any creative ideas on how to use the auto DM feature for good? Would love hear reader feedback.

Who is Your Friend?

6
Posted by morganpolotan on October 22, 2009 – 2:41 pm
Filed under social media
Tagged as , , ,

I choose my friends differently for each social network I belong to.

Facebook: real life personal and professional friends that I have met face to face and would like to stay in touch with over the long term. I am not friends with people I met once, or who I used to hang out/go to school with but have no interest in seeing in the future.

LinkedIn: anyone I have met in real life that is on LinkedIn. You never know who that guy you met at that networking event might know.

Twitter: personal friends and targeted users who I would like to connect with in real life (for business reasons). Don’t be a Twitter stalker!

Social Media = Financial Performance

0
Posted by morganpolotan on October 22, 2009 – 1:13 pm
Filed under social media
Tagged as , , ,

Today I came across a study by the Altimeter Group titled “ENGAGEMENTdb: Deep Brand Engagement Correlates with Financial Performance.” The study looked at how the 100 most valuable brands — as identified by the 2008 BusinessWeek/Interbrand Best Global Brands ranking — engaged in 11 different online social media channels. They ranked the top 10 companies based on their social media engagement with their customers, and came up with this list:

  1. Starbucks (127)
  2. Dell (123)
  3. eBay (115)
  4. Google (105)
  5. Microsoft (103)
  6. Thomson Reuters (101)
  7. Nike (100)
  8. Amazon (88)
  9. SAP (86)
  10. Tie – Yahoo!/Intel (85)

The study focused not only on the breadth of the social media channels they were engaged in, but also the depth to which they interacted with their audience. The most amazing statistic in the report is the following:

“The above companies on average grew 18% in revenues over the last 12 months, compared to the least engaged companies who on average saw a decline of 6% in revenue during the same period. The same holds true for two other financial metrics, gross margin and net profit.”

As far as I know, this is the first study directly linking social media engagement to financial performance. It is well known that social media can drive traffic and increase leads – but the connection between social media and more traditional financial measurements such as revenues, gross margin and net profit were previously unclear.

It is important to note that the study is not claiming a causal relationship; merely a correlation and connection. What this means is that the authors do not claim that social media is the SOLE reason for the companies’ financial performance; simply that those companies who are highly engaged in social media ALSO have superior financial performance when compared to their peers.

A link to the study, as well as recommendations by the authors, can be found at the link below.

http://www.altimetergroup.com/2009/07/engagementdb.html

Social Media: 5 Steps to a Winning Strategy

0
Posted by morganpolotan on October 5, 2009 – 7:04 am
Filed under social media
Tagged as , , , , , , ,

You know that you should be using social media for business reasons, but you feel overwhelmed. Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn – where do I start? How will I find the time? Here are 5 steps to follow for a successful social media strategy.

1. Get Educated. Create accounts on all the popular platforms you are considering. Read the terms of service. Check out Hubspot’s Marketing Resources and the Mashable Twitter Guidebook. Don’t make rookie mistakes because you’ve neglected to learn the rules of the game.

2. Clarify your Goal. Are you trying to increase traffic to your website? Create an online brand presence? Establish yourself as a thought leader? Drive sales? All of the above? Your choice of tactics and platforms depends on your goal, so stay focused.

3. Systematize. Allocate a certain number of hours per week to social media. Once you’ve met the quota, stay off.

4. Measure (Track ROI). This is the tricky part. Most organizations don’t know how to measure their social media ROI. And yes, it is an investment – if not in money, in time. You don’t know what to measure until you’ve established a goal (see rule #2). If your goal is to drive traffic, check to see how many referrals you are getting from social media sites. If your goal is to become a thought leader, you can use tools like Twitalyzer and Twitter Grader to measure your influence.

5. Evaluate (The 80/20 rule). What is working? What isn’t? Focus on the 20% of efforts that account for 80% of your results. Most of your traffic coming from Facebook and Twitter? Allocate more time there and minimize your time spent on LinkedIn, or vice versa.

Top 5 Reasons to Eat Sprouted Grains

3
Posted by morganpolotan on September 24, 2009 – 4:48 pm
Filed under nutrition
Tagged as , , , , , , , ,

Why do I recommend sprouted grain breads, pasta, tortillas and wraps from companies like Food for Life? (see Resources)

Here are the top 4 reasons why:

1. Sprouting grain activates food enzymes.

2. Sprouting grain increases vitamin content by 2 – 4 times.

3. Sprouting grain neutralizes anti-nutrients like phytic acid that bind to minerals and prevent your body from absorbing them

4. Sprouted grain has more protein, less starch and is lower on the Glycemic Index (GI) than un-sprouted grain.

5. Sprouted grain has more fiber.

If you can’t buy the Food for Life brand sprouted grains and want to sprout your own grains, watch this video., f

Are You Using Proper Form in the Weight Room?

0
Posted by morganpolotan on September 24, 2009 – 4:47 pm
Filed under fitness
Tagged as , , , , , , , , ,

I see so many guys in the gym using absolutely horrible form when lifting weights. Most of it comes down to ego – they want to impress themselves or others by lifting weights that are too heavy for them and require them to use momentum to complete the exercise.

There is a lot of discussion around which rep cadence is best, whether it is 2 / 2, 5 / 5, 6 / 3, etc. I have experimented with different variations, and what I have found is this: go slow on the eccentric (or extending), fast on the concentric (or contracting), and pause to eliminate momentum.

It doesn’t so much matter exactly how many seconds a person lifts and lowers a weight. Specific rep cadences like 5 / 5 or 6 / 2 are just an easy way for someone to communicate in writing to “lift slow” or “lift explosively.” In reality, it is unrealistic to count seconds while you are lifting weights, because if you are working hard enough, you won’t be able to keep track of your rep cadence AND your number of reps.

For some practical examples of what I mean, let’s take the bench press. You lift the weight off the bar, and lower it in a slow, controlled movement down to your chest. If someone else was counting, this might take 4 – 6 seconds, but again, don’t worry about counting yourself. Just make sure your muscles are controlling the weight, not gravity. Once the bar hits your chest, you pause for a moment, and push upward in an explosive, controlled manner. If the weight is heavy enough, this should take around 1 – 2 seconds, because you can only push a heavy weight so fast. You pause again without locking out your elbows at the top of the movement. You have just completed one rep.

The pauses are used to eliminate the momentum most trainees use to help them lift the weight. Many people bounce the bar off their chest after the eccentric, or lowering portion of the movement, which takes tension off of their muscles.

Here is a good video showing proper bench press form.