There's a unique newspaper published in my hometown called The Happy Herald. Its underlying concept is noble as can be: give South Florida all the news that's fit to print, as long as it's positive and perky. The result is a weekly, fourteen-page digest that includes everything from human interest pieces, to human interest pieces about pets. To boot, it's also known for celebrity interviews, and other hallmarks of an optimistic entertainment section (I infer there are no in-house movie critics.) It's easy for the cynicism-seeking reader to take stabs at optimistic journalism, but I shouldn't be complaining; distributed for free at local restaurants, The Happy Herald is meant to supplement rather than deprive its readers of the grisly stuff.

But I still can't respect the journalists behind Herald like I do staffs of other publications. They just have it so much easier when it comes to prioritizing articles! See, normally, the editorial task is two-fold: a New York Times desk editor might first rank the day's articles by "importance" and "relevance," then decide-of those deemed equally important-which type of story deserves the top headline spot. You know, sniff out whether readers want the tragic articles or the uplifting ones with their morning coffee. There are a host of other emotions that articles can evoke from readers, and deciding which tonal genre deserves page prominence is as subjective a task as any. The job is infinitely simpler when all news is good news, though-so Happy Herald offers one solution.

This reconciling of a mixed audience's favorite emotions has always been a problem for news services. It's only worth bringing up now because DailyMe found a better way to make it work! It's called Meme It, a feature that just went live on the site this past month. Like "Digg It" and "Stumble It," it's a way for readers to mark the online news articles that they think other people should see. Only this time, users must also indicate how the article makes them feel. The available emoticons include "uplifting," "tragic," "enlightening," and even "weird," but the choice is all yours. And I bet you can guess what happens when enough users submit their opinions: you'll will be able to reorganize recent articles by emoticon! Great for all the Grumpy Gus's and Negative Nancy's seeking the most tragic stories atop their online digest. I dare say, a great editorial obstacle overcome.

For the frigid, emotionless type who won't be able to take advantage of our new feature - I'm sorry.

Peace, Love, and Personalized Media,
- John the Intern

Since I've been banned from DailyMe's Launch Party for being underaged, a party which I HELPED PLAN (not bitter or anything), I've decided to have my own competing throwdown, same night, same time.

So hey - Show your support for the Intern!




Peace, Love & Personalized Media,

- John, the Intern

If I could do it all over again, I wouldn’t have had more than five birthday parties throughout childhood. That’s about how many it takes before the responsibility starts to outweigh the honor. Now don’t get me wrong, the first couple times were great—the birthday boy’s only duty was to celebrate good times--and leave the rest to Mom. But that’s before I learned how to talk. And write. All of a sudden I was turning six, and realizing that my annual celebration of life had become a burden. The decisions to make were now many ( the theme? invitees? goodie bag contents? the thank-you notes—wearying; and the trick candles?) No longer surprising.

Having abstained from birthday hosting for the past decade, I was noticeably ambivalent when Mrs. Boss asked me to assist in planning DailyMe’s Launch party. She offered to share some of the responsibilities once she saw the look on my face, but it didn’t really matter. Because it was me who placed the first phone calls to the venue, the caterer, the cupcake store, cameraman, and virtually everyone else involved. If you have ever planned a party before, you know how this works: the guy who places the initial call to a party service becomes the “contact,” and it’s very difficult to transfer the role.

Now a couple weeks into the planning, the event is almost there. Not that the process hasn’t been without its headaches. To name one, the cupcake people! I don’t know about you, but I would have thought cupcake-makers formed a humble industry. But I guess that doesn’t hold for stores that deem themselves “cupcake designers;” they can be downright arrogant. Needless to say, I expect their product to be delicious.

Other than that, the party is coming along nicely, and I don’t really have any more complaints. Well, besides the fact that I wasn’t invited. Ironic, I know. I was so angry when I found out that I cursed the person who made the guest list…until I remembered that it was me. Turns out I would have been invited, only the venue is a club on South Beach that does not allow guests under 21 years of age. Very sad turn of events.

I don’t want to be a complete party pooper though; this party is going to be awesome. It’s on Saturday, August 2nd at 7:00 p.m. and everyone should come. Fun guaranteed. Plus, you never know who’s going to hide inside the DailyMe cake to sneak past the bouncers…

Happy 4th of July Everyone - Be Safe!

Peace, Love, and Personalized Media,

- John the Intern

Greetings from Florida! I arrived here but a week ago, and can't help but feel that my summer is off to a late start. There I was Friday, finally on the transcontinental flight home, so antsy to arrive that I couldn't even watch the in-flight episode of Two and a Half Men. And by the time I did reunite with my friends and acquaintances later that night, the conversations were way off; my “catch-up” questions were just too May. By mid-June, “how did finals go?” is passé.

Work-wise, though, I came home just in the knick of time. DailyMe had earlier agreed to take me back for another round of interning, and it wasn't until early June that they cleared me office space. Turned out to be worth the wait: by the time I got back, they had cleared me a whole suite’s worth of space. Well, not me personally. More precisely, Sales and Marketing--the two groups I work with--recently moved to a different set of offices within our building. This was partly to help accommodate the burgeoning company's staff increase, but also to give the Sales and Marketing a little space as they matured into teenage departments. The CEO even let them get bunkbeds in their new pad.

So I've been relegated to the new suite with another recent hire and Mrs. Boss--but the function goes hand in hand with the new features on DailyMe's site. DM just incorporated some news organization tools meant to help readers find the most important news at a given time. Users can still prioritize DailyMe’s articles based on their personal preference survey, but now they can also see what headlines our editorial board thought worthy of attention along with the most popular news of the day, DailyWe, as determined by what fellow DM’ers are reading.

I don't mean to wax nostalgic, but it felt funny to experience another DailyMe launch so soon after returning. It was more than 7 months ago, but I remember the original service's initial Beta launch like it was yesterday. I had just finished my first summer internship, and watched the old site go live on a laptop screen not unlike the one I'm viewing now. Reliving that excitement all over again last week was great, and I hope we continue the trend of one grand unveiling per summer. Pretty soon, I'll have seen more launches than an astronaut's wife and the mayor of Cape Canaveral combined.

Until then, though, I’m just happy to be back and be bloggin’.

Peace, Love, and Personalized Media,

- John the Intern

I just finished my freshman year of college, but—I must say—the occasion felt less momentous than anticipated. This is probably because, unlike other years, it wasn’t really defined by a discreet, culminating moment. You know, the one you come to expect after the first twelve transitions from academic year to summer: a bell rings, papers start flying, kids start rejoicing, and—although it’s optional—the song “School’s Out Forever” should begin playing somewhere in the background.

By those standards, 13th grade ended in somewhat disappointing fashion. Everyone finished their exams at different points in the week, and I was one of the stragglers. And even once all the academic obligations were out of the way, it was still no occasion to deck the halls with reams of loose-leaf. Quite the opposite, actually: dorm rooms had to be spic, span, and thoroughly emptied of our possessions by move-out day. The worst part is that I couldn’t even play “School’s Out Forever” because I had already sent my speakers to storage. Somewhere, Alice Cooper was wincing.

But “all’s well that ends well” isn’t a saying I always ascribe to. On the whole, freshman year was good to me. Maybe it was me who wasn’t good enough to it. I could have flossed more, slept less, checked my mailbox more, spent fewer monies. But what am I saying? “Self-improvement” is something to think about at the end of the real year, not the academic one. I’m just happy to be back within 30 miles of DailyMe’s Florida office again.

I'll be working part-time for my favorite personalized news service this summer, and can't wait to be back. Expect to read about some intern adventures that are twice as funny, twice as wacky, and twice as office-y as last year's.


As Always - Peace, Love & Personalized Media,
- John the Intern