Jeff Cutler – columns, essays and opinions

Sometimes I wonder if other jobs offer the same opportunity for snack adventures, celebrity sightings, wild weather, and marvelous vistas as do the handful of occupations I call my own.

That is, as a writer, journalist, content creator and commentator or columnist I’ve had the chance to see and experience some great things.

What brought this to mind? I was on This is Why You’re Fat – a fantastically heinous site that documents why Americans might be a little overweight. It documents this in photos. And I realized while clicking around tonight, that I’ve eaten one of the most ridiculous items featured on the site.

The Loco Moco.

That’s right. It’s a bed of rice topped with a hamburger patty which is then topped by an egg and then topped with some gravy.

I ate this while covering the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas in January.

And I enjoyed this delightful meal with Steve Garfield, Greg Verdino, Joseph Jaffe and Melissa Pierce at the Planet Hollywood Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas.

Was this type of excess necessary? Hardly.

Was it worth it? Certainly.

See the photo!

If you’ve ever eaten, seen, touched, met or experienced something mere mortals might not have had the chance to try, please share that here in the comments.

Thinking thin…but also pining for another Loco Moco.

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In the past week I went from moderately famous podcaster, journalist and philanthropist to the echelons of household name…at least when it comes to National Public radio reporting.

That’s right, NPR sent me to the Consumer Electronics Show to report on the gadgets that make Americans drool. I came back with lots of audio, many blisters and a great deal of respect for the cab drivers in Las Vegas.

Further, I came back with content. I’ve sent some to MobileMag.com and some to Technology Review. But the bulk of my research and interviews have been used on the air at Boston’s NPR radio station – WBUR.

Here is the first clip that ran last week.

Interview with Anthony Brooks – 1/8/09

And here is the clip that ran earlier today.

Boomer and Kid Tech – 1/14/09

If you’re having trouble listening – because they require Real Player, then just click below for the audio of my clips.

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Please realize that WBUR is public radio and they enjoy support from listeners like you. It’s even more important that you give them money now because I loved working with them on this project and look forward to many more adventures. For that to happen, they need your suport.

WBUR.org is the Website and Here-Now.org is where you can find more great stories any day of the week.

Keep reading….and listening!

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As I look around me, the social media space is developing as the news media space is deconstructing itself. For the first time in many years I’m on the wave instead of behind it.

Don’t believe me? Here are the trends, opportunities and situations I’ve barely missed for one reason or another. Now I feel as if I’ve caught up and dashed ahead of the crowd. Timing IS everything.

1978-81ish – A scrawny and sickly Jeff Cutler is diagnosed with Crohn’s Disease. Had this boy remained healthy for a couple more years he might have more intestines and a slightly better quality of life.

1986 – Jeff Cutler tries out for the college baseball team. Although Cutler runs a 4.8 40-yard dash (that used to be fast in the 80s), the team is already chock full of outfielders. Cutler goes on to star as a cheerleader at the school.

1992 – A fast but undersized Jeff Cutler (see Crohn’s issue above) is invited to a Major League Baseball tryout. He’s demolished in the 60-yard dash by steroid-enhanced 18-year-olds. The Boston Herald devotes an entire Sunday newspaper page to Cutler’s plight.

1997 – Along with two college friends, Jeff starts a Website ‘Rehabilitation’ firm. The company, ConceptClub, flounders for a bit and Cutler accepts a buyout of minimal proportion. ConceptClub morphs into ConceptHost and is providing a nice living these days for one of the founders.

1999 – Cutler enters the dot-com fray only to see it turn into a dot-bomb fiasco. After a quick stint with Fidelity Investments as an Online Editor, he moves to TimeTo.com and is the first one fired as they burn through hundreds of thousands of dollars in beanbag chairs, Sprint PCS cell phones and free breakfasts.

2005 – In the midst of a storied career as a journalist, Jeff ramps up his column-writing efforts and reaches prominence in two short years. Just in time for the papers with whom he’s writing to cancel their Freelance Opinion Column budgets. Hopes for syndication are also diminished as the blogosphere erupts with talking head-esque writing from every corner of the globe.

2007 – After fine-tuning his craft, Cutler matches his writing to the needs of an anxious and hungry editorial base. His features are purchased faster than ever and his work is appearing Internationally…until newsrooms begin to slash staff because of revenue cuts. Cutler gets kill-fee checks like never before and has to begin competing with ‘citizen journalists’ for inches and pay.

2008-09 – The Social Media space welcomes Jeff with open arms. An experienced journalist and writer, Jeff also knows how to connect with people using social media tools and techniques. With the advantage of 20 years in journalism, he brings a unique value to publications anxious to put more content online. These companies are looking for traditionally trained journalists for content and Jeff is poised to assist these firms. Further, every company in the world is now drooling over the possible upside to having a social media presence. Jeff Cutler offers these companies the services of a professional blogger with the skills of a pro reporter and writer.

Stay tuned to see how this chapter turns out. I’ve already been contacted by dozens of companies who are interested in hiring me to write their blogs and report – impartially – on their company. And as you know, I’m covering the Consumer Electronics Show #CES09 in Las Vegas for both traditional and new media outlets.

Got any leads you want to share or stories of your own success? Share them in the comments.

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Attention span.

Mine’s short, but I refuse to refer to it as an ADD or ADHD situation as I believe those are mythical conditions created by a lazy physician and parent base. We’ll explore that opinion in another column…if I have enough where-with-all to remember.

My contention today is that it’s time to simplify. Everything. As soon as possible. There are certainly external factors forcing my hand in this decision, not the least of which are family illnesses, the cohabitation situation at my mansion and my completely frantic workload.

I take the blame for these items – except the health issues – because I’ve spent the last month working on my first novel. I finished it and have been quietly gloating the past few days. But now it’s time to get to work.

In order of importance, I must…

Write blog entries for the majority of my neglected 14 blogs;

Organize the Grampys.org site so that we can take registrations online and put up fantastic auctions;

Edit the aforementioned novel. I expect it will go through two rounds before I’m even ready to share it with my yet-to-be-named agent*;

Write a feature article for Gatehouse on holiday entertainment gift options – CDs, DVDs, and other gifts;

Finish my meeting schedule for vendor interactions while at CES in January;

Get fitted for a suit for sitboaf’s wedding;

Shop for holiday gifts – Channukah and Christmas;

Find and gobble some pumpkin pie (as nobody thought to bring any to Thanksgiving.

If you have suggestions for any of these tasks, *or are an agent looking for a literary novel – the fictional memoir of a boy whose life was shaped by the influence of his seven sisters, please contact me in the comments here.

If you’re an editor still looking for a reporter on the floor of CES in Las Vegas in January, let’s talk. My dance card is pretty full now, but I might be able to assist you before or after the event with research I’ve already completed or planned meetings.

Talk to you all soon. Head down now, gotta work.

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ILLUSTRATING my complete lack of attention span…the main reason I wrote this was because I have just been looking at the plethora of bookmarks and links to other sites in each of my browsers. I’m headed to clean those up – BEFORE ANY OF THE OTHER TASKS. Wow. Talk about ADD – or don’t!

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I’m currently on a Fung Wah bus (bad judgement) from the Consumer Electronics Show Press Briefing (good judgement) and I’m trying to sort out the stuff I learned about this afternoon.

Everything I saw, save two items, was just an improvement on existing technology. If that’s what the world is about, that’s fine, but my editors are asking me to find the next great thing.

Perhaps that’s how all newsrooms operate. And I know that’s how it is after 20 years in the business. But in a down economy that’s seeing venture capital evaporate and layoffs come back at a greater pace than when F&*^%$Company.com was around, I don’t think miracles are going to show up on the CES Exhibit Floor.

Maybe I’m mistaken. Maybe the people like Motorola, with dual touchscreen technology will wow consumers and the media. Maybe miniature projectors will become the rage as kids decide to host parties where they can show YouTube videos on gym walls, and maybe headphone technology has taken another leap forward with advances in materials and sound limiter tech. But I’m not sure.

The event tonight promised to give us things to think about, and it did. It was totally worth the bus trip (barring a horrible, skin-scalding, shield your child’s eyes implosion) and the expense of $42 for transportation, $2 for a pretzel and $12 for a meal in Chinatown.

I think I have five solid stories. I have a new contact at Popular Science. I still have a shot at getting Diana Ross tickets. And I’m poised to make CES 2009 a masterpiece of journalistic perfection.

That being said, I am certainly glad I didn’t fly out here from California or even from another country. The paltry hall featuring 50 or so exhibitors was hardly worth a cross-country or international journey. Nor was the weak press conference.

The best info I got from being there early was that the coat check room was free and that CEA did a ton of great research that I’m gonna use for article background in January.

Other than that, the live filming of Jeopardy, the Diana Ross concert, the Silver Summit (seniors need apply), all was info that I could have gotten online from the comfort of my living room.

I’m not faulting the event, but am saying that in a time of fiscal conservativism, maybe this isn’t the way new media will be conducted. The open bar, great food and freebies from exhibitors may dry up again like they did in 2000. So doesn’t it make sense to pull in the reins a little bit now and save the industry than to go out with a monstrous bang?

I’m just asking becuase that seems to be my destiny as I hurtle homeward on Fung Wah.

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Part of being a professional writer is taking on the challenges presented by various forms of media. One such form that I’ve been having a lot of success and fun with is microblogging.

If you’re not familiar with microblogging, it’s ‘quick-hit’ missives that are broadcast to lots of people at once in forms that are easy to digest.

Take Tumblr or Twitter for example.

Well, the other amazing thing about this type of writing is the prevelance of face-to-face community.

In 20+ years of newswriting and journalism, I have seldom been able to find communities where I can learn from smart people, interact with like-minded individuals and just relax with other writers. That’s all gone now because these microblogging communities offer up a regular menu of events where people can talk shop and relax.

Just this week there are three events I’ll be attending in an effort to remain connected with a group of smart Boston-area bloggers, podcasters and media makers. I feel that I have something to offer the others who attend and I’m sure that I’ll learn something at each of these events.

*The three events are a Blog Marketing session tonight. A pizza luncheon tomorrow with Jeff Pulver. And a social media gathering at WBUR on Thursday.

But as with any big event you can’t tell the players without a program. Or at least without nametags. That’s where Tweetup Badges comes in. This little badge company in the middle of the country is now specializing in stamping out plastic ‘Tweet-up’ badges for people just like me who want to see and be seen at social media events.

And they only cost $2.10 per badge.

The badges can be personalized with a hash tag (the #xxx designation that allows people to search for a topic on Twitter or elsewhere on the Internet) and your name and Twitter id. Mine all say @jeffcutler and I’ve left the hash area blank so I can use the badges at multiple events.

**Hash tags for recent events I’ve attended include #miw, #nms08, #pcb3, #bmm100508 and #smb9.

As I go out to cover conferences like Podcamp, Mobile Internet World, Blogtoberfest and even the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, I’ll be recognizable as Jeff and people can follow my articles, columns and blog posts at any of my sites with announcements of each submission on my Twitter feed.

Now isn’t that better than being a nameless, badgeless writer wandering around an exhibit hall or conference room?

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