The Future of Futurology

How do you get to be a futurologist? I want that job. You just make up a lot of bullshit and by the time it doesn't happen you've already cashed the checks.

I read a truly stunning piece of nonsense by a futurologist in a brain dead article* by a Microsoft marketing big shot the other day. The futurologist had this to say: 

'Only companies that prepare for a very different tomorrow will thrive. In short, get ready for the unfamiliar and the unknown.'

Just curious, Mr. Futurologist, how exactly do you prepare for the unknown?

My Rotten Apple
Back in December I wrote a post about the ease of getting my semi-brilliant book 101 Contrarian Ideas About Advertising published at Amazon's Kindle Store and the infuriating obstacles to getting it published in Apple's iBookstore.

I started the process with the iBookstore in early November. It is now almost March and I've gotten nowhere. It took months to get it "approved" for publication. Now I am in a tangled web of insanity with their amazingly unhelpful "iBookstore Team" to get it uploaded.

Lest you think that this is the disgruntled whining of a techno-idiot, I want you to know that an IT guy has been holding my hand every step of the way. Not only can't we get answers, it takes a month to get a useless reply.

Power Trip
Ad Age has something called the Power 150 in which they rank about 1,100 advertising blogs in terms of... I don't know, they just rank them.

Well, I checked yesterday and this thing was ranked number 59 in the whole freakin' world. It's a frightening thought.

Most of the top 59 aren't even about advertising. They're about unpleasant things like search engine optimization and social media and PR and web strategy and colonoscopies and just about every marketing activity except advertising. Just kidding about the colonoscopies.

Anyway, when you take away all the blogs that aren't really about advertising, we're way higher up than we have any right to be. Especially after yesterday's dumb-ass post about politics.

Spring Training
Heading down to Phoenix to do some cactus league shooting next week. Yes, it's work-related. Yes, I have the world's best job.

*Thanks to Vic at Sell! Sell! for this