Jenn Vojta

Lately, the Presidential election has been a hot top in the Media Center at Optiem. The discussions haven’t been geared towards foreign policy. Instead we have been focusing another platform, social media.

Over 6 million people between the ages of 18 and 29 voted in this year’s Presidential primary. That is double the number of participants in that age group during the 2004 election. A recent poll conducted by NBC.com and The Wall Street Journal also found 55% of voters between 18-34 will vote for Obama, compared to the 38% planning to vote for McCain. Why the large disconnect? Lets look at the level of engagement with supporters online. 

Barack Obama’s profile on The Book has nearly 1.5 million supporters while John McCain has over 200,000 (make your own assumptions about that one). The creation of the social network My.BarackObama.com  has also added to the large margin in poll numbers. Supporters can sign up to volunteer, pledge money and find out about grass root efforts in their area. John McCain does have a Myspace account but this blogger isn’t really a Myspace fan. I say trust in The Book. 

So is social media the answer to victory in ‘08 or will the polls prove to be wrong again? A record number of young voters were anticipated in 2004. Those estimates were not met and the Bush dynasty prevailed for four more years.  Was a younger and more relatable candidate the missing element all along? 

We won’t know the answer to that question until November. But I’m a tad impatient so let’s hear your thoughts on the impact of social media in the upcoming election.  Oh and if you haven’t already, REGISTER TO VOTE!        

By now most of you have heard the news the Jerry Seinfeld will be starring in ads along with Bill Gates to put a comedic twist on the notion of a failing Vista. This news also broke around the same time reports came out that 35% of new PC’s are downgraded from Vista to XP (yikes).

Microsoft also toyed with the idea of using Chris Rock or Will Ferrell for the ad campaign but didn’t want to seem like the were trying to market the hipster crowd. I ask why not Will Ferrell? We all need more cowbell in our lives.

When can you see the Vista sporting Seinfeld ads? The ads are set to air on September 4. In case you are looking for a sneek peak try watching the HP ad starring Seinfeld. He was sporting a Vista packing HP in that ad too.

In the meantime, lets wait and see how effective Microsoft’s “PC vs. Mac” counterattack will be.  Do any of my favorite readers have a prediction? In my opinion, once you go Mac you never go back.

Maybe you can or can’t relate to this thought I am about to share. My mother isn’t much of a pusher. She and my father are all about treating your children like little adults. They focused on teaching my brother, sister and I to make decisions for ourselves and be satisfied with the choices they make in life. This is a great quality to have as a parent. Although, as I sit here and watch the Olympic games I start to wonder what if my mom was a pusher or worse yet a show mom. 

I took gymnastic for a number of years when I was younger. After a few miserable dismounts (stupid uneven bars) I quit; threw a fit, refused to go back and used tears to my advantage. I could have been a Shawn Johnson! Even a Kerri Strug. Although I may have laughed in the face of Bella Karoli when he said “you can do it” if I were Kerri Strug.  

Whenever I see someone like Michael Phelps or Tiger Woods I always wonder, did they choose this? Was Tiger Woods begging to hit a golf ball for countless hours of the day from the age of 3? Or did his father see his inherent gift?

What about all of you? If you could go back and influence your life from a young age, would you have done anything different?

Maybe it was when I purchased my first Mac 2 years ago? Maybe it was when I started having conversations about HTML with developers? I can’t be sure what caused it or when it happened but alas it did. I think I always new I did but the confirmation came when I was out on Friday night.

It was just like any other girls night. Cute boy buys you a drink. You take it. Cute boy makes small talk. You talk back. Cute boy asks if you want to come back to his place. You get uncomfortable and start giving your friend standing behind him the “ask me to go with you to the bathroom look.” Then, the boy that was cute but is now not so cute says he lives with his parents but they are cool about girls coming over. Not so cute boy who lives at home says he doesn’t have a car but his dad could pick us up. You stare in disbelief for a few moments and then finally say “Umm, I have to go to the bathroom.” Like I said, typical girls night out.

After suffering through 3 more conversations with 3 more boys I was more than ready to call it a night. Until I saw it in my peripheral vision. In a sea of Blackberry’s an iPhone emerged. Now not every iPhone user is special. But there was something about this one. He could sense it too. He began showing me the new apps on the 2nd edition iPhone. Oh yeah, you read it right. Second edition iPhone. He even took the day off of work to buy it. I love a rebel. As if this conversation couldn’t get any better, he asked if I had a website. I told him it was .com. He feel in love.

The girls wanted to move to another bar to meet more boys that live with their parents. I had to say goodbye to the Mac using cutie. He took out his phone one more time. I could feel it coming. The awkward “we should get together sometime so I can show you how to render the style sheet on your website” sort of statement. Instead he said, “can I get your website address so I can contact you and we can get together sometime.” Umm, seriously?While I do embrace everything that is so wonderful about this generation of bloggers I don’t embrace being asked out on a date via a comment on a blog post. So maybe I am a neo-luddite and will never accept a marriage proposal via twitter. Or maybe, just maybe this Mac cutie was really a Mac cutie that lives in his parent’s basement.

Today was a very big day for Jenn Vojta! So big Jenn Vojta will be talking in third person…just like Bob Dole.

Today was my first day at Optiem! The only way I can explain my excitement is to use my favorite part from my favorite Dr. Seuss book as a reference…

On and on you will hike
and I know you’ll hike far and face up to your problems whatever they are.

You’ll get mixed up, of course,
as you already know.

You’ll get mixed up
with many strange birds as you go.
 

So be sure when you step.
 

Step with care and great tact
and remember that Life’s a Great Balancing Act. 

Just never forget to be dexterous and deft.
 

And never mix up your right foot with your left.
 

And will you succeed?
 

Yes! You will, indeed!
(98 and 3/4 percent guaranteed.)
 

KID, YOU’LL MOVE MOUNTAINS! 

So…
be your name Buxbaum or Bixby or Bray
or Mordecai Ali Van Allen O’Shea,
you’re off to Great Places!
 

Today is your day!
 

Your mountain is waiting.
 

So…get on your way! 

Grady, Garko, Gutierrez (3 points for use of alliteration)! My favorite men are back! I went to the home opener at the newly named Progressive Field yesterday (ask the White-Collar Redneck why the name change is such a positive thing). Originally when the White-Collar Redneck asked me to go I was going to be the only girl. While my knowledge of stats and up to bat theme songs is not on their level, I was confident I would be able to keep up. My biggest concern was not having a someone to go to the bathroom with and/or take pictures with while making a kissy-face and throwing up the peace sign.  Although I did see many girls taking pictures like that (most of them were wearing jean skirts, leggings and uggs or flip flops).  Lucky for me…the baseball god’s smiled on me and the Redneck gave an extra ticket to my best friend Sue. 

If you didn’t see the game yesterday (which would mean you didn’t get out of bed for about 48 hours since there was no other way to avoid Tribe fever) let me sum up for you why I think this will be yet another record breaking season. The last time I went to a home opener that didn’t get postponed because of snow we went to the world series. “But Jenn, we didn’t win the pennant.” Yes I know…minor details. Here is why I think this is our year. 3 is my lucky number. This makes no sense right? Mkay, I will explain. 3 is my lucky number some have even said 3 is the magic number. I am going to 3 games in the opening week. Coincidence? I think not. I am superstitious and Catholic so go get your own theory. But until then…GO TRIBE!

P.S. Love the new throwback uniforms  

While gearing up for St. Patricks day I realized just how much I love green. It is the signature color of the best holiday, as well as, my favorite color. But most importantly it is the symbol of a changing America. Given how “in” it is to be green (and since tomorrow I will be participating in the celebration of one of the greatest men to come out of Ireland, besides Bono) I felt like this is the perfect time to discuss the green trend sweeping across America. 

While everyone is drinking green beer and using lines like “Kiss Me I’m Irish” (and some other not so appropriate ones) I will be hearing my favorite line: “Do you have to plug in your car?” Since purchasing my Honda Civic Hybrid in December, I am asked this question at least once a day. Don’t get me wrong, I am glad I get asked this. It is great to know that people are taking an interest in our environment, even if it is only because the price of gasoline is taking a toll on their finances. Today this question was asked by an environmentally challenged person that drives a full size sedan averaging about 21 MPG.

 He will be out in full force tomorrow celebrating what he calls “The Day of My People.” That celebration will be followed by his “I drank so much I am going to cut back on my drinking so I will look good for the ladies this summer diet.” This happens pretty much every year. Normally he gives up on his looking good for the ladies diet and resorts to using his humor and charm to win them over. (DISCLAIMER: I know a certain male friend thinks I am writing about him, I assure you it isn’t you. You really aren’t that funny…just kidding!)Given that I know his routine oh so well, I have come up with a new diet for him this year. One that will trim his waist line and also educate him on the importance of going “green.” This year my friend is going on a low carbon diet. No not low carb, he is pretty broke so he eats a lot of pasta, low carbON. For every beer my Irish friend drinks tomorrow he has to put a low carbon practice into his daily routine for 30 days. 

How long will this diet last? His longest relationship averaged about 12 days so I wouldn’t hold your breath. But I am optimistic that with a little adjusting my commitment phobic friend will put some of these practices into habits. More importantly, the next time I visit, he won’t ask me if I need a special adapter to plug in my car. 

So now I challenge all of you fellow green beer drinkers to practice what you preach, err drink, and do the same as my Irish friend. Oh come on, Lent is almost over and you know as well as I do we didn’t keep our lenten promises. We were Friday meat eating, Palm Sunday skipping heathens. The least you can do is try to be a little greener for a week.

This past Tuesday marked the first (and hopefully annual) Google Client Summit in Ann Arbor. While I would love to tell you all the exciting things Google will be debuting this year, a little NDA is keeping me from divulging any exciting information. Here are some highlights that I am privileged to share…  

Monday night was the welcome session and meet and greet at the Ann Arbor offices. I wasn’t sure what to expect considering everything you hear about the Mountain View offices. It was like a mini Mountain View in Ann Arbor! The most exciting part of the tour was a stop in one of the private massage rooms. It is like having your own personal spa at work! Maybe this helps a 12 hour day move along a little quicker. 

After the tour of the offices there was an informal cocktail reception where, as you can guess from my title, we sipped on Google-tinis garnished with a giant Google cube of ice. Not ice as in melt and dilute my drink. I am talking rhinestone, bling bling ice. And of course the color of the ice matched whichever Google-tini you ordered. I am a sucker for packaging so needless to say this alone won me over. If Google-tini’s aren’t enough to make you attend next year’s Client Summit there is always swag!

I am already planning on using my Google stadium fleece blanket at this year’s Indian’s home opener. This isn’t just any stadium fleece, people. It actually has pockets for your feet! YOUR FEET! This way your feet stay extra toasty and now I won’t have to worry about a little snow and freezing temperatures keeping me from watching my favorite Indians first baseman.So if you are an AdWords advertiser you must attend next year and soak up all the wonderful products Google will be coming out with. The Google-tinis and swag are a pretty nice perk too. Best part of all…the entire event was free. 

This is where all of you experienced bloggers say “Hi Jenn.” So by now you know my name and that this is my first time blogging. Always wanted to but never tried it. Not sure what you can expect to find here in the future. Mostly information on SEO/SEM but I will surely switch it up with fun events and occasionally some celebrity gossip (sorry, it is a vice).  So welcome and happy reading!