Vote for Affogato!

Our good friends at Affogato -- home to Dierdre, Tim and Brent on STBD -- are in the running for Pittsburgh's Best Coffeehouse, and they need your vote!

Visit the poll and help them rise in the rankings!

STBD New Year's Wishes, Vol. 2

As I mentioned earlier, it wouldn't be a season of joy and giving if we didn't make a few wishes on behalf of our friends in the new media space. So, in honor of their efforts and contributions -- and generally being very cool people -- here's what we're hoping for them in 2007 (in no particular order):

STBD'S Wish List for FoSTBD 2007

10. May Brian Conley at Alive in Baghdad find the help and money he needs to bring his amazing true stories to a an ever-growing worldwide audience.
9. May Jeff Persch at PodSea and Michael Bailey at MobaSoft have a successful joint venture that pushes each of their start-ups into overdrive.
8. May Dave Mansueto and the rest of the gang at Libsyn find creative ways to capitalize upon their newly-funded growth as the web's top podcasting host - and in Pittsburgh, no less!
7. Eric Olson at Feedburner could use another successful Tech Cocktail...
6. Speaking of cocktails, the folks at Tiki Bar TV can always use more alcohol-fueled inspiration for their zany hijinks.
5. May Video on the Net's Jeff Pulver and Rocketboom's Andrew Baron find shared success as well in their new venture, which promises to make a huge ripple in the web video world.
4. May our friends in Bellevue, who run great businesses like Affogato / 517521 / ThinkTank, finally get the attention they deserve and grow Bellevue into Pittsburgh's newest "scene."
3. May Chris Brogan and David Kowarsky continue to build upon the momentum of Network2.
2. May Justine find continued success now that she's the #2 most popular entertainer on Yahoo!.
1. And, may everyone we didn't mentionn who are nonetheless doing amazing things in this space continue to have the freedom, resources and inspiration to keep changing their world (and ours), one pixel at a time.

Day-After-Christmas List

After a lengthy bit of downtime (which, in STBD parlance, is any stretch of 2 or more days in which I don't access my computer), I am back. The series itself won't be back until next Monday, January 1, but we're back to work behind the scenes on making Something to Be Desired the best web series you've ever seen. There's something about a holiday that recharges us and helps us get perspective, and once the sugar high from all the repackaged sweets wears off, we're ready to work off the chocolate-covered pounds and get back to what matters.

As such, here's our handy Day-After-Christmas Wish List for Ourselves, to be followed by tomorrow's Day-After-Christmas Wish List for Our Friends. 'Tis the season for giving, even after the gift receipts have been exchanged...

The STBD Wish List for 2007

10. A working boom microphone
9. A comment system on our site for each episode
8. A boatload of new t-shirts and other innovative merch in our woefully underpopulated store
7. A solution to The Lloyd Problem (to be explained in a future post)
6. A solution the The WANT Problem (to be explained in a future post)
5. A way to sustainably monetize our series
4. Expansion of STBD into a full-fledged multimedia experience
3. Evolution of STBD.tv into more than a mirror site for our homepage
2. STBD DVDs to satisfy the growing number of email requests we receive
1. The best writing, acting and production values we're capable of achieving

Considering most of these wish list items are completely within our grasp, and require only some extra effort on our part, we look forward to seeing this list pared down and revamped over the coming weeks and months. Perhaps what we need most is the proper motivation / time management approach to generate our own momentum. But that's something to save for another list next weekend...

And now, speaking of momentum: back to work!

The Christmas Non-Rush

Will Guffey (Leo) wishes everyone a Merry Christmas on behalf of Network2
In the hectic holiday season, it's easy to overlook some of the basics in life: spending time with your significant other, doing the things you enjoy doing on a regular basis, and taking the opportunity to actually "vacate" from the regular stress so often visited upon us.

That's why STBD is taking Monday off.

Sure, it's December 25th, which would be reason enough on most calendars. But because we're a Monday update show, I was considering the idea of a Christmas day update all the same. Then I realized that the bulk of the working world allows themselves at least one day to relax and unplug from the daily stresses, so STBD ought to do the same.

It's hard when you're a workaholic with poor time-management tendencies, but if I don't take that break now, I certainly can't justify doing it anytime else.

So do yourself a favor: spend some time with your family on Monday. Spend some time with your friends. Spend some time alone, walking through your old neighborhood or reading a new book.

Don't worry; we'll be back on January 1st with all-new episodes.

(And if you're going through withdrawal during the holiday week, you can always spend some time in our archives.)

STBD Christmas Special

Click to Play

Leo learns the true meaning of... well, not really. (10:00)

Filmed at Affogato

Chris Brogan Replaced by Satan?

The chaps over at something called Evilvlog have decided that Chris Brogan and Network2 are raping and pillaging the internet and should be stopped at all costs. As someone who's benefitted directly from working with both Chris Brogan and Network2, I'm sure I'm biased toward the positive, but I figured anyone who a) reads this blog and b) knows Chris (or has their work on Network2) might be interested in knowing that Chris is actually an evil, soul-sucking creature from a foul dimension, at least according to those folks.

There's an impressive amount of vulgarity and histrionics on display over there, so anyone wondering how NOT to build relationships online might want to give the post a look-see as well.

In the meantime, I'll continue to enjoy my relationship with Sata... er, Chris and the Network2 pantheon. After all, if I'm going to sell my soul, it might as well be to an Irishman.

STBD Music Video: Kingsfoil "Hey Girl"

Click to Play

The STBD cast create our first music video, this one for York, PA band Kingsfoil's "Hey Girl"

Filmed at Affogato

STBD Season Four: Episode 14 "The Ferret Story"

Click to Play

Leo's past comes back to haunt him during a job interview. (9:40) Theme by ZOX

Blog Tag: I'm (Momentarily) It

Justin Kownacki does not play well with others.
Jeff Pulver was recently the recipient of a Blog Tag request and decided to spread the love in my direction during the second phase of the response.

As you may already know, Blog Tag is a way of getting the people on your blogroll to mention information they might not otherwise divulge in the course of their standard blogdays. Five things, to be specific. So, without further ado:

Five Things You May Not Know About Justin Kownacki:
1. I can neither swim nor ride a bike.

2. I dropped out of high school when I was 16.

3. I self-published a 7-issue comic book miniseries (with my father's money) that was sold nationally and landed me an autographing gig at Mile High Comics in Denver -- all under a pseudonym.

4. I once drove from Pittsburgh to Phoenix in 32 straight hours, with only a 4-hour nap break in the parking lot of an Oklahoma City truck stop.

5. I have survived having my car totalled while being rolled over a full 360 degrees.

Your turn. I'm tagging: Michael Bailey, Chris Brogan, Dave Pollard, Ann Turiano and the gang at Should I Drink That?.

(PS: It helps to email the people you're tagging, so they know they've been tagged and don't appear to be ignoring you.)

The Shirts Have Left the Building

In response to our most recent "STBD Pledge Drive," I'm happy (?) to report that we are now out of t-shirts! Egad! So many people offered us support in such a brief amount of time that we're actually down to the following t-shirts in-stock:

1 SMALL "What Do You Want?" t-shirt
3 XL "STBD Vintage [Season Two]" t-shirts

Now we must re-order, which is a good thing. Plus, we have numerous new styles on the way, so keep your eyes peeled for some shirts that will only be available in our (soon-to-be-updated) store.

Side note: I can now appreciate why some web entertainers rely on a full-time shipping department to box and ship their merchandise. After filling out envelopes and standing in line for over half an hour at our local Post Office branch for a mere handful of packages, I can only imagine the hoops these mega-sites must jump through to keep their customers happy.

But since their customers are the ones paying their mortgages and baby formula bills, keeping them happy makes perfect sense. We here at STBD look forward to embracing that challenge full force. Keep your eyes open for a few bells and whistles in the very near future that will make the phrase "What Do YOU Want?" mean something entirely new at STBD...

In the meantime, if you have a clever idea for some STBD merch, leave us a comment or email us!

TalkShoe "Monetization" Audio is Up!

Thanks to everyone who participated in last night's podcast monetization discussion on TalkShoe, moderated by John C. Havens of About.com. I believe there were at least 11 audible participants in the hour we were online, and who knows how many more listeners and texters that I wasn't aware of? (I wasn't near my computer at the time, which is another perk of TalkShoe: being able to call in via traditional cell phones.)

That audio is now online, so those of you who'd like to hear what we had to say can catch up now. John will be posting a transcript of the conversation in the near future as well.

Next week: John will be discussing PodCamp. I'll do my best to take part, though we at STBD have a big shoot planned for that night, so my interaction may be limited.

Speaking of Finances...

Fans and friends of STBD:

Have you ever gotten a kick out of Something to Be Desired? A chuckle? Have you ever said, "Man, that's a good show those kids have there," and then returned to the mundane real world, filled with day jobs and bad cafeteria food?

Well, now's your chance to help us out AND get some cool stuff in the process!

WE NEED YOUR DONATIONS!

Producing a weekly web series is a bit taxing on the nerves (and the finances), and we here at STBD could use a hand this holiday season. So, we've instituted a new and improved donations system, in which supporters of STBD can get some perks in return.

Hotlinks back to your site, t-shirts, and a chance to appear on (or go behind the scenes of) STBD can all be yours, simply by sending us a little financial love.

You'll do it for your family this holiday season. You'll do it for your friends. You'll even do it for your boss, your roommates, the cousins you never see and the mailman who crumples your copy of MAXIM "by accident;" why not do it for those crazy kids in Pittsburgh who make you laugh every Monday?

Our web server will greatly appreciate your generosity...

Sincerely,

The STBD Crew

Monetization Conversation: Reminder

Remember the whole "To Monetize or Not to Monetize" discussion from PodCamp Pittsburgh? Tonight, I'll be part of the follow-up conversation taking place on TalkShoe, hosted by John C. Havens of About.com's guide to podcasting.

Guests will include me (Justin Kownacki, creator of Something to Be Desired), Chris Brogan (PodCamp co-founder and Community Developer for Network2.tv), Luke Ferdinand (Digital Citizen, 54 Hour Movie Project) and Drew Olanoff (Scriggity, Best Damn Tech Show, Pluggd).

To listen to or join in on the conversation, learn more here.

Ask Tim 2!

Every Tuesday, we update our STBD homepage with a new installment of "Ask Tim." Tim himself sifts through the questions and provides the answers -- we couldn't make it up if we tried. Mostly because we're too busy.

Got a question? Need advice? Ask Tim via email!

This week: the words "Wolverine" and "cage match" appear for the first (and likely last) time on the STBD site!

STBD Season Four: Episode 13 "If the Shoe Fits"

Click to Play

Caroline, Liz and Lloyd get complicated. Chloe gets a job. Almost. (8:40)

FIlmed on location at Pavement Shoes and Affoagto

Music by The Popravinas and ZOX

These Boots Were Made for Blogging

Ann Turiano (Caroline) has started a new blog all her own -- a shoe blog. If you're a fashionista like Ann (or a woman in general), we suspect you'll want to check in early and often as the Shoetique takes form. And if you're neither of the above, it's still a chance to read Ann's verbosity and wit on a daily basis, and that should be lure enough indeed.

Dell Cannot Be Responsible...

On a complete tangent, I was reading through a copy of Business 2.0 just now and noticed an ad for new Dell computers. In the fine print, the first sentence read, "Dell cannot be responsible for errors in typography or photography."

"Cannot be responsible?"

How can Dell NOT be responsible for the complete content of their own ads?

Granted, we're not talking about injury or theft here, but is a company not responsible for the finished work of the contractors it hires (in this case, an ad agency) to distribute its message? If I hired someone to work for me, and that work wound up being shoddy, and went out the door with my name on it, you can be certain that I'd be held responsible for it by my clients.

Evidently, Dell cannot be responsible in that fashion.