De-incentivizing socialization among children

"One of the things I've seen over the last decade is that we've become so successful at creating incentives for online socialization that I think we have unintentionally de-incentivized face-to-face socialization for kids."

Wow. Did he just say that? Yes. In today's Seattle Times. Meet Jordan Weisman, CEO and founder of Smith & Tinker, creator of the interactive Nanovor game primarily targeted to young boys which includes the accompanying offline Nanoscope(tm).

Weisman goes onto say "kids are still human so they still desperately want to be in the room with the other 10 year-old. They just don't know what to do when they get there."

Excuse me? Are you trying to tell us that 10 year old children don't know how to interact with each other? And that your products are part of that solution? Apparently so. This is what the Smith & Tinker homepage has to say:

Reinventing play for the connected generation

We see a future in which unconnected products like toys, games, books and movies will not be able to compete with the dynamic and exciting world of the internet.

Maybe I'm the only one raising her eyebrows at this. Maybe I'm the only one who thinks that an offline children's brand is still a thing to behold and that online brands depend upon offline marketing and distribution channels just as much as offline brands need online marketing.

It also begs the question: whether you have an offline brand or an online brand or something that falls somewhere in between, what are you doing to promote face-to-face socialization among children?

Haiti donations pour in from Gen Y

As of yesterday, $27 million has been donated to Haiti relief efforts via text donations. (CBS News). The Red Cross mobile campaign - texting the word "Haiti" to 90999 is simple and ingenious. According to Peter Dunn in a recent MediaPost article, The Red Cross has "cracked the code to Gen Y giving."

What made the campaign all the more successful was how quickly the viral and PR efforts took off. Facebook certainly did their part. As have the major news networks. There hasn't been a day that's gone by that I haven't seen the "Text Haiti to 90999" on multiple TV stations. Talk about free advertising!

The Red Cross isn't the only organization that has seen an major influx of donations of course. But they definitely have the best campaign and I'm sure marketers all over the globe are taking note. Or getting on the bandwagon. I Heart Daily posted today that Gaia Online, an anime-themed site for tweens and teens, will match Red Cross Donations submitted by members.

What is your brand doing to support relief efforts?

A brief history of cartoon animation

Happy Birthday Popeye! (80) Scooby-Doo! (40), The Simpsons! (20), Wile E. Coyote and Road Runner! (60). You all look terrific, you haven’t aged at all. You’ve got what they call... timeless beauty. And a good story to tell.

Yesterday’s Seattle Times picked up the Toledo Blade’s recent retrospective of classic cartoons (and their 2009 birthdays) and I couldn’t help but smile. Regarding ancient classics like Felix the cat (90!) when cartoon shorts were just getting their start in the silent film era, Andrew Farago, curator of the Cartoon Art Museum in San Francisco, said “I don’t think the Disney empire could have happened without him.” (Was it a game of cat and mouse? Sorry—couldn’t resist that one.)

It reminded me of an Animation exhibit I attended earlier this winter at the Pacific Science Center where kids got to experience first hand the art of animation, including drawing, video and special effects.

One thing always leads to another. Yet as we go into 2010 and view new animated films – like the Princess and the Frog, getting back to the Disney magic minus all the bells and whistles or Avatar, and its breakthrough special 3D effects – I wonder what the next decades will reveal.