I’m Tired of Grammy Gripes
The 51st Annual Grammy Awards were on last night and, although every knowledgeable music lover I know has had more gripes than praises about the ceremony, I had more fun watching this event than any awards show I can remember (except maybe adolescently swooning over N*Sync at Nickelodeon's Kid's Choice Awards). Sure, The Jonas Brothers should never, ever…
We’re Our Own Tribe
Seth Godin has his own action figure. Why? It may be because he is a superhero. Named the Marketing Guru, Godin has made a career in writing books focused on marketing techniques. However, it is quickly becoming apparent that these techniques are not only applicable to business models. Every day he has at least one…
DEA Slow to Get Memo on New Medical Marijuana Policy
The drug war is now raging inside Washington, as Bush administration holdovers in the DEA are carrying out raids on state-sanctioned medical marijuana facilities in California — raids that President Obama has pledged to halt. The Washington Times quotes an administration official saying “The president believes that federal resources should not be used to circumvent…
Ticketmaster gets Bosscocked
Your television screen wasn't the only thing getting slammed by Bruce Springsteen's crotch this past Superbowl Sunday. The next morning thousands of fans had a nightmare of a time trying to purchase tickets to upcoming Springsteen shows. At this point we are all pretty used to dealing with the ridiculous hurdles thrown at us by Ticketmaster…
Merger Talks Lead to Potential Antitrust Suit
In case you haven't yet heard, the two behemoths of the live music community, Live Nation and Ticketmaster, are discussing a merger. After the epic failure of the Live Nation ticketing service a few days ago, it is not a big surprise that their business executives are searching for options. It is, however, surprising that the…
Neil Young Turning Gas Guzzlers into Tree Huggers
Neil Young is converting a gas guzzling Lincoln into an environmentally-friendly electric car. Making a hobby a statement, ole' Neil has been blogging about it at www.lincvolt.com (where there's also a live video feed). You can also find a complete interview with Young by Richard B. Simon (who wrote the feature on HeadCount in Relix…
Dead Nights in DC
Black-tie Bonnaroo. That’s what the inauguration of Barack Obama became as musicians descended on Washington, DC to play fancy private gigs and pay homage to the new president. In two short days, I managed to catch The Dead, Jay-Z, Kanye West and Kid Rock. And that was just a smidgen of the musicians who came…
HeadCount’s Future
The most frequently asked question I get as the executive director of HeadCount is, “what are you going to do after the election?” My canned response is, “take a nap.” It took us five years to build a national organization and register over 160,000 voters. After Election Day, we almost need to start again from…
20/20 Has Slanted Vision
A privilege that comes with running one of the largest grassroots voter registration campaigns in the U.S. is occasionally being invited to speak for the youth voter movement itself. So when producers from ABC’s 20/20 called and said they were putting together a segment (view or read the segment) that would ask whether attracting new…
20/20, John Stossel to Run Hatchet-Piece on HeadCount Fans
Cross-posted from Future Majority. On Friday at 10pm, 20/20 will run a piece on the youth vote called “Maybe It’s Your Civic Duty Not To Vote,” in which they suggest that uninformed voters – primarily young people – not turn out to the polls. In talking to the youth group,HeadCount, featured in the piece, it…