They say the best things in life are free, and I’ve never been one to disagree. After all, aren’t amenities like oxygen, public-access radio, and Happy Meal toys what keep us going each day? Nonetheless, I didn’t fully comprehend the value of freebies until joining DailyMe. In modern-day media, EVERYONE has something to give away, and our company is far from exempt. But let me tell you—these employers of mine really put the “pro” back in “promotional give-away items”.

Just look back to the media convention where we first featured our goodies: we didn’t cater to Mr.“Walk-into-a-hotel-convention-en-route-to-the-continental-breakfast-only-to-get-a-pen-
sponsored-by-some-random-pharma-product-that-may-or-may-not-cause-dry-mouth”…because we also sought to bring class to our table.

At DailyMe, we’ve strategically planned for both in-office promotion (perfectly-weighted, gel-gripped pens), as well as some items for the great outdoors (5-panel, collapsible, twill, black baseball caps); we even provided some tote bags for every occasion in-between! The strategy behind this last promo has unclear origins, but remains logical: if dozens of unmemorable companies are going to provide their visitors with the generic coffee mug, then why not outfit convention nomads with something to carry their cumulative coffee mugs? Don’t answer that question, it was rhetorical.

Many long-term readers may wonder why we didn’t add any time-keepers to our promotional laundry list. After all, this is an office that boasts three atomic clocks, seven Gregorian calendars, and even a view of the sun. We, unfortunately, could not come to consensus in time for the convention, but have received a shipment since. I was lobbying for an analog design that featured faces of DailyMe staffers at each hour, but we instead went with a conservatively hip digital look. This was just as well, because I was unwilling to arm wrestle the CEO for face-placement under the 12:00 spot.

At the end of the day, I think freebies are important for capturing the essence of a company like DailyMe…or at least for getting some quality face-time with all of those advertising types. Plus, everyone looks good in the colors we chose.

-John the Intern

People involved with startup companies tend to be very high-energy, but no harnessing of human vigor could have prevented yesterday’s office power-outage. It may have been bad weather, or perhaps just a brush with the ninth plague; only one thing is for certain, though--it really hurt my Wednesday afternoon efficiency.

Without an opportunity to do my usual interactive media intern thang, I was quickly relegated to an afternoon of pen, paper, and physical interaction. Looking over important papers by lantern was fine for my colleagues (P.C. for “superiors”), but my work strictly involves competitive research and analysis…on the computer…on the computer that needs electricity.

I suppose I could have lightened up my dark afternoon by leaving work early, but somebody wise once warned me about “idle hands”. Plus, I wanted to stick around to see if anyone would start telling ghost stories. To my amazement, though, the DailyMe staff sustained its bright intensity on a day when most businesspeople would have simply taken a mulligan.

With a restored power supply, I hope next week’s events will provide some more substantial fodder for those interested in small-company life. For now, however, all I can give you is advice: don’t take electricity for granted. It may be hard to appreciate something that’s (literally) everywhere, but Benjamin Franklin’s second biggest discovery (behind the glass harmonica) definitely fills a void. Without it, how would we ever read online news?* These answers and more—tomorrow, on the blog.

-John the Intern

I was excited to graduate from high school, because it marked the end of what many liken to a “four-year popularity contest”. My parents seconded my relief, stating that most adult life situations discourage the “seemingly arbitrary social ranking” famous of the teenage years. Evidently, they’ve never managed a search engine before.

At DailyMe, I was quickly introduced to the process behind making one’s company a high priority on sites like Google, Yahoo, and AskJeeves. What I’ve realized: nabbing the #1 spot for various keyword searches is no easier than winning prom king (but at least it’s not a black tie event). Much of an online company’s fortune is determined by its site’s use of particular words and how they compare with, say, a Google-user’s search terms. Such random relevancy determines a site’s position on what is referred to as an “organic” search. There, search result rankings are entirely content-and-programming based (not paid for), and Silicon Valley executives have denied that it has anything to do with the California’s granola tendencies.

Not unlike prep school, though, search engines make it possible for the proverbial rich kid with the beach house to ensure his popularity…even if it doesn’t come naturally. You may at some point have noticed the paid search results at screen-right entitled “Sponsored Links”, and this is what I’m talking about. This short-cut isn’t as easy as it sounds for sought-after terms, however, and bidding wars over keyword-ranking have been known to consume the lives of many (including this writer’s boss).

It’s probably not a subject that concerns the pure consumers out there, but it’s interesting to know that such method exists behind the perceived madness. And even though DailyMe has landed some excellent real estate on both paid and organic searches, the company’s experience has taught me a valuable lesson: popularity contests will continue to prevail in the busy digital age.

Peace, Love, and Personalized Media.

-John the Intern

In nature, there lives a crustacean called the hermit crab; each year, this creature amicably leaves its insulating seashell in search of a larger home. In business, there exist hundreds of thousands of burgeoning technology firms; periodically, these legal entities must leave their four-story building in search of larger office space (…because you know what they say about large office space…). At sea, the delicate crabs do not return to old shells, for the vastness of the ocean makes that unfeasible. On land, executives do not attempt to visit old offices because its quasi-awkward and downtown traffic sucks.

Which is why DailyMe volunteered the intern to pick up any un-forwarded mail. I didn’t mind, because it was a great opportunity to see just how much our company has blossomed since last September. Back then, DailyMe, Inc. was no more than a twinkle in the eyes of its first two employees: the CEO, and the Vice-President in charge of Sales and Marketing (previously known as Mrs. Boss, or Belated Birthday Boss). A secretary at the old office told me about a three-month period when my two employers shared one 8 x 8 office—with a desk arrangement that left them facing each other for the eight-hour workday.

We have progressed by leaps and bounds in the six months since we moved (it’s our new office’s half-birthday). And you should know—I’ve described our current joint in enough detail via past posts. But DailyMe is ALWAYS going to be a work-in-progress until our estimated launch deadline in late July. We are ready to go full-throttle towards the home stretch on the business side, but are currently waiting for our creative agency to return our updated site design. From what we’ve seen, however, the outsourced creative flow is of superb quality…and we’d hate to disrupt that with a harsh deadline. And who cares about harsh deadlines on the creative side? Everyone knows that punctuality is a graduation requirement solely for MBAs, MDs, and JDs…they and their fancy atomic clocks.

So be sure to keep your eyes peeled for our new look and feel in coming weeks. And to any readers that are from our creative agency: the new design would be a great Fathers’ Day present (wink, wink). Have a nice weekend!

-John the Intern

Good afternoon, readers! I hope everyone is enjoying their Thursday. No pressure, but I really think it's a day-of-the-week that deserves some extra affection (how would you feel if your name started with the same letter as Tuesday? Plus, Saturday hasn't been returning his calls).

My Thursday began well enough. I owe this in part to last week’s home remodeling (placed my bed in the corner of room to avoid waking up on the wrong side of it), but also have to credit the weekend’s proximity. As Friday approaches, my only concern regards the legendary casualness with which offices across the country approach the particular day (“Oh boy, Hawaiian shirts and jeans every Friday? Best corporation ever!”). A startup like DailyMe, on the other hand, attempts to create a casual environment everyday, leaving little room for us to de-formalize. But this begs the question,—how do I observe Casual Friday in an already-casual office while remaining decently unexposed? I think I’ll just be safe and wear Daisy Dukes.

I half-expected to run out of office stories by this point in the week, but the entrepreneurial world never ceases to amaze me. Today, for instance, marked the belated birthday celebration for my direct boss, the VP of Sales and Marketing. Our lunch-break party included all the bells, whistles, piñatas, and ponies of a typical office fiesta, except that she got TWO CAKES! I’ve always taught my non-existent kids the benefit of value appreciation, and this make-up celebration was a perfect case-in-point. Had we remembered my boss’s (that’s Mrs. Boss to me) birthday on time, I feel she would have been entitled to only one cake. The only downside to our “Dueling Pastries” idea is that it left one cake candle-less. I sorely missed the faint taste of wax and flame as I bit into Cake #2, but accepted the cake-to-candle ratio with silent disapproval.

At any rate, I’m going to take advantage of this beautifully overcast afternoon and make shapes out of the clouds outside. I pretend to do this for pleasure, but I’m really just concerned for my lack of imagination. All I ever see are white blobs, the Michelin Man, and Marlon Brando’s ghost! See you tomorrow, gang.

-John the Intern