Internet Geek Girl

Today marks the Fourth Annual LinkShare Golden Links Awards and my Third Annual Pre-Party to the Golden Links (I don’t know why I missed that first year).

This is a week powered by LinkShare! Tomorrow is the “X” Annual LinkShare Symposium in NYC. I can’t recall exactly how many years ago I began attending, but it was a very long time ago. As LinkShare describes:

For more than ten years, LinkShare merchants and affiliates have convened at the LinkShare Symposium to forge new business relationships and discuss issues facing the industry at large. Experience the power of the LinkShare Network to learn from industry veterans and network with the who’s who of the Internet community. This is the must-attend event for performance marketing professionals!

I couldn’t agree more. I have been part of this community for over 10 years and I value the opportunity to spend time with friends, partners, clients and colleagues. LinkShare has been a catalyst for supporting these connections, and they do so with a huge sense of style and elegance, making this one of the best events I attend each year.

Deb Schultz, my good friend and social media maven, speaks often about the Relationship Economy. We all attend so many conferences every year that it’s easy to forget the important role these events play in fueling our relationships. As Deb points out, it’s important for us to question how we weave in and out of these worlds:

* What is our intention with all these communities?
* How do we interact in a meaningful way with all of these connections?
* What is “meaningful” in this landscape?
* What is the definition of Community when affiliations are so loose and easily coupled/uncoupled?
* How do we build applications to maintain a good flow between clusters?
* What is the role of attention in the Relationship Economy?

I’ll be sure to chew on all this while networking and attending the excellent panels that will address the key issues facing performance marketing today.

I am sorry to be missing SuperNova this week. I still haven’t figured out how to be at two community events at exactly the same time. Big shout out to all my friends on the Left Coast! I’m sure we will be Twittering back and forth all week.

At the next event you attend, think about how you can maximize your time building better relationships and enhancing the quality of how we interact within our communities!

OK. We’re all a bit pissed about the ending. I suppose nothing ever ends well. I for one have never had a good break-up. But alas, all good things must come to an end. And this show was truly a classic!

I will say this…I’m not crying. In fact, I think David Chase gave us an ending that avoided “high sentimentality.” He went for the ambiguous close, as I knew he would. I was right about Holsten’s and Phil dying. Who knows if Tony will flip? We didn’t get that far. We were interrupted by what we thought to be a power outage of our cable provider. [How many millions of Americans said "WTF - The Cable went down!"]

Since I’m obsessed with spreadsheets, I’ll share this Soprano’s Matrix with you. I know it’s late, but it’s still cool.

Well – I don’t have a lot to say in close. There were some really good shots in this last episode (directed by Mr. Chase himself). We didn’t have time for a classic Sopranos sex scene; there was a good bit of build up though. And ending with the family, all together, eating onion rings…well, that made me happy. Like Meadow, I have my issues with parking (ask anyone!). I guess, it could’ve been worse.

Here are a few shots of my favorite scenes from Episode #86:

Alright friends – Sopranos RIP! Keep your eyes open for a blog re-launch. I’ve appreciated getting my sea legs with this topic.

And as always, I appreciate your support. Forgetaboutit!!

xoxo
Stephanie, aka InternetGeekGirl

It’s an hour before the final episode of my favorite show. Probably my favorite show of all time (so far). I’m drinking red wine and watching last week’s episode on demand.

Tony and family have been important to me. I’ve hosted many Sopranos parties (complete with amazing wine, antipast and lasagna). I don’t mess around. I own the calendar, T-Shirts, the coasters, the DVDs, frig magnets, the ringtone, and the Trivia Game. I’m a true-blue fan. And shaking James Gandolfini’s hand earlier this year in Asbury park was seriously fabulous. Who knows why certain movies and TV shows affect us? OK – for this one, it’s easy. I’m 100% Italian from North Jersey and my grandfather, father and brother are all named Anthony. While our family is quite different and otherwise employed, there were plenty of cultural and psychological similarities that cracked me up. Not to mention the mangling of axioms. Those are the best. Tonight’s episode will include a scene in Holsten’s in Bloomfield, NJ. It’s 2 blocks from where I grew up (in Glen Ridge, NJ) and it was the first place I had a real job (not including babysitting). I only worked there for 4 days though. That’s another story. Well….it’s the end of era and I know I will be sad. But alas, I’ve got my DVDs, and I’m sure HBO will find some other entertaining show for me on Sunday nights. God bless HBO.

Let me tell you a couple of few things:

PREDICTION TIME
The internet is overflowing with blogs and sites collecting predictions on how this show will end. I’ve spent a good portion of this week talking to friends and family about what we think will happen. Because I think it’s important to take a stand, I will make a prediction. But, I’ll probably be wrong. I ususally am when it comes to things like this. I never win bets. So – I won’t be risking any $$. The truth is, David Chase has given us a layered, complicated piece of art that could go a variety of ways. My good friend Joe predicted the importance of the gun Bobby gave Tony. My colleague and fab affiliate Mikey rightly pointed out that Tony has nothing left so it’s death or Witness Protection. (He favors witness protection). My Dad doesn’t think Tony will flip and correctly summarized the state of Tony’s crew – “he’s got stugots.” Gerry and Cathy (on their way over for dinner now) favor the death of Tony. We’ll soon find out!

OK – Placing My Bet
Alright – If I must, here is my prediction. I don’t think Tony will die. There’s enough money at stake that perhaps all involved want to keep the option of a movie on the table (cynical I know). I do think the last scene will be in Holsten’s, and I think Carm, Tony and Pauly will be there. I think they will be saying goodbye and I think Tony and Carm will head east and hop on the GSP. I think something bad is going to happen to AJ or Meadow (but not devasting). I think (and hope) that Phil is killed. That .. youknowwhat! I think that Tony flip (but not rat out Pauly) and will end up getting his paper in a robe in his driveway, somewhere in Arizona.. a la Henry Hill. Someone else will take over in Jersey. Someone always does.

Well – I gotta go stir the gravy and put out the olives and mozzarella.

I’ll be back after the show airs. Puffy eyed I’m sure.

Ciao mia amici!

Date: November 8-9, 2007
Time: all day
Venue: Las Vegas Convention Center
More Info: http://www.blogworldexpo.com

Date: September 17-18, 2007
Time: 7:30 am– 8:00 pm
Venue: The Palace Hotel
Location: 2 New Montgomery Street; San Francisco, CA 94105 (Map it)
More Info: http://www.techcrunch20.com