Internet Maker

(via Met Gala 2013 Red Carpet PHOTOS | See Every Look | Styleite)

(via Love Yourself Art Print by ilovedoodle on Etsy)

crookedindifference:

NASA Probe Gets Close Views of Large Saturn Hurricane

nevver:

Larping League

SALUTATIONS! 

After a recent post, I noticed I gained some new followers. Thanks for following! I’ll tell you a little more about myself in hopes to persuade you to stay for the long-haul.

I’m 23 years old and I was born and raised in the South. The internet is both my playground and my work space. I’m a content manager at an advertising agency, so the next time you’re delighted by a well-crafted Facebook post or retweeted a witty tweet, think of me… because I write the internet I do those kinds of things. 

My tumblr blog is a place to scrapbook my interests in design, photography, pop culture and creative ideas. It’s also a place to showcase the wonderfully banal happenings in my life. Like most of the women my age on tumblr will say, “I enjoy pretty things” but I also enjoy stupid, ridiculous things. I like to believe I have a well-curated list of pretty ridiculous things on the web. 

 Find me on Twitter @topheriskris. 

Here’s to all the #chocolate chip chunks that had to die so I can enjoy this wonderful pint of #icecream. Happy National Chocolate Chip Day! (at BFG Communications)

Emily 

Emily has some wise words

(via Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. Television Show Gets a Full-Length Trailer & Will Air This Fall)

graceyu:

The Michael J. Fox Show Official Trailer - NBC (by MichaelJFoxShow)

Heard this was a hit at NBC’s upfronts. Lord knows they need one (or a few). Hilarious stuff. 

Teenage characters are so predictable and boring in family sitcoms. Other than that, I’m excited to see Michael J. Fox again. 

Wow, the things you stumble upon in Spotify…

They had toilet paper guns and everything was one big colorful blur. #bluemangroup #savannah (at Savannah Civic Center)

Mmm coconut AND mint? What a lovely combination. 

(via coconut mint ice cream | Love and Lemons)

Seeing a cartoon Oreo makes me want to eat one. 

(via AD OF THE DAY: Oreo’s New Owl City Ad - Business Insider)

With some dough and a lot of patience, you can make these badass typography cakes.

(via ‘Typography Cake’ Lets You Send A Message In Batter - DesignTAXI.com)

Back in #Savannah and enjoying good company. (at Cha Bella)

manchannel:

Chocolate Doughnut, Nutella, & Coffee Ice Cream Sandwiches

You just stop that right now. 

urhajos:

‘He who is not courageous enough to take risks will accomplish nothing in life.’ - Muhammad Ali

Grace’s party face #latergram (at Kennesaw Gardens)

If you haven’t noticed, Facebook made the single-column change earlier this week with a bunch of other changes that affects the way your personal information is presented. 

With its single-column format, your personal posts/personal feed is to the right on a wider column (the main column) with all of your knick-knacks and not-so-of-the-moment information about you such as music preferences and about information and friends listed on the left. The ‘About’ tab appears to be a more comprehensive look at your interests such as books and moves… basically your pop-culture-self as I like to call it. 

Facebook adopted the very addicting bookmark-esque/archival process of clicking on blocks to further personalize your digital self. Instead of going to a specific Facebook page, books, movies, publication, music, etc. are all listed their for you (ehem me) to organize and have each click and categorization sculpt my digital image on the behemoth social network.

 Looking at all the recent changes makes me realize how much I don’t tend to my Facebook — I still have these embarrassing bands I liked in high school listed and even a journalism paper I wrote and posted on Facebook on my Notes for all to see for some strange reason. As much as I hate Facebook and all of its weird complex advertising buys and how personal content can be published without your knowledge, the new format has me wanting to clean up my profile. I can no longer ignore the social network that has everyone from my old professors to family members on it and not present the best “me” on it.

Facebook is a weird social beast because its much more than what it was when it started and many people think that its time is coming up soon, but no one can argue that the network has made a permanent mental shift of self-identity on the web.   

You know you hit rock bottom when you fall asleep with an empty plate of macaroni and cheese on your bed. I’ve been battling a cold for over week and finally saw the doctor this morning. He said all I needed to do was fall asleep next to some homemade macaroni and cheese and all will be well. 

The past couple of weeks I’ve been slowly (I mean, extremely slowly) updating my website and LinkedIn account to make myself look like my age. My last LinkedIn photo was taken in a comic book store and I looked like I’m a 12-year-old. Though convincing everyone and future employers that I’m a 12-year-old prodigy sounded fun, I realized I would have to explain a number of tattoos and wouldn’t be able to enjoy the rich beverage we call beer at work.  

I’m rewriting and rewriting the details of my professional life to fit in LinkedIn forms which is all challenging for me because I’m not good at finding words like “galvanize” and “assessed”, and I look up at the bold text sitting under my name “Assistant Content Manager” and feel empty. I feel like it’s a title that covers one facet of my job, and I start to really wonder “what should I call myself?” 

The weird problem of working in social media is that there are number of names to call oneself: social media manager, community manager, content creator or content curator. It is true that I create content, but it’s not the only thing I do and certainly isn’t the only thing I want to do for the rest of my life. What in the hell should I call myself?

I’ve seen people say Social Media Guru, which is absolutely revolting, and Social Media Consultant, which sounds boring, but I’m beginning to feel there isn’t a concise way to sum up what I do and what I really want to do. 

This could be the antibiotics, numerous allergy medications and ibuprofen in my body talking, but summing up your professional career in a byline is a scary thing, especially when you’re not sure what  exactly what you want to do with your life.

I might just chalk it up to Digital Batman and Content Creator. 

Earlier today, Kit-Kat’s Twitter provoked the Oreo Twitter handle with a cheeky game of tic-tac-toe, and though it was a quick game, it has the internet abuzz. 

Lauren Ellen tweeted that she follows both @Oreo and @KitKat to which Kit-Kat responds with a graphic of a tic-tac-toe game and @mentions Oreo for a playful digital battle for Lauren’s heart. 

Oreo cleverly responds with the following image:

Boom and #micdrop. 

I can only imagine the amount of fun the community manager/content manager has when he or she creates content for this brand. Oreo has built a tongue-in-cheek brand voice without getting overly annoying. While some Twitter handles’ shticks become a bit stale and trite, Oreo has been rolling with the punches and content feels like reactions in conversations. The brand kind of built this persona of the cute, witty guy at parties who always has something funny to say about last night’s episode of whatever or current event — it doesn’t always feel like a team of marketers behind every tweet. 

Again, the internet is applauding Oreo’s real-time marketing charm. Ugh, this brand is like the Jennifer Lawrence of brands on social media. Somebody gag me with Oreos. 

(via AdAge) 

BootyLog is a mobile app that allows users to anonymously post their sexual conquests.

The free app  allows regular folks who are “sexually active” and the feeds are divided by Everyone, Nearby, Following and Followers. Users can post everything from how the sex was, relationships, flirting, breakups, etc. — anything to your heart’s content because it can all be posted anonymously. Users can also categorize by Intense, Sweet, Hot, Adventurous, Bad, Forgettable and my personal favorite tag, Drunk. 

At first I was appalled by something as pointless and deviant as an app based on sex, then I found that the app was created by Bedsider, an online birth control support network for women between the ages 18-29. (Where my ladies at?! ) The app was created to normalize talking about all the dirty, wonderful and dangerous things about sex. Framed in this matter, I totally understand it. 

With some of my close girlfriends, we would drink sangria eat cheesecake all Golden Girls-like and talk about our relationships and sex. It’s one of our favorite things to do. One of our talks actually pushed me to finally visiting the gynecologist. 

Using social media as an outlet to talk about uncomfortable topics is one of the more helpful ventures about this brave new world of digital communication. Username or not, there is still a shroud of mystery behind the computer screen. As much as it turns people into trolls, the anonymity can help normalize taboo topics such as sex.

(via PSFK)

One of the main tasks of a content manager or community manager or whatever you call yourself is that you write content in the brand’s voice. It’s like task numero uno for community managers. Sometimes I get a flash of brilliance and think “Yes, what a great idea! Our fans will resonate with this post! Hahaha I’m so clever!” and other most days I’m rummaging through blogs and social media networks trying to think like my brand voice.

This is where character sketches come in handy. A character sketch is the voice of the brand. It helps edit yourself and also becomes a face to your audience. In a weird Gothika kind of way, you are the person you are speaking to. Also, it’s much easier to write for one person in mind versus a whole demographic. I think about my character sketch when I try to think of something new to post and it’s a glorious relationship.

Then after a while, I start to really think about our my character sketch. I’m supposed to embody her — my words are her, my point of view is hers, and I start to get carried away.” How can I let myself do that?! I could have finished college if I had just continued instead of taking that second job for him,” I would begin to think. “If I can spend two more hours in this tub before I fix dinner, I’ll be golden.” I honestly think I start to believe that she is just a walking e-card.

 It’s beginning to scare me that I’m seeing her as a real person and I’m giving her these life decisions. I don’t know… Call that crazy or call it devotion.

Our office prides itself in being a creative and chill place to work and play. Though that may sometimes be true, there are dogs always lounging around the office. With their little paws patting against the office floor and and the jingle of their collars echo throughout the hallways, it’s adorable. It’s really adorable watching dogs scamper behind account execs who scare the shit out of you.

Despite all this cuteness going around the office, I still manage to make myself uncomfortable. It’s quite a trek from my desk to the kitchen — it’s one that spans many desks and offices. Sometimes there may be a few furry critters sprawled across my pathway which leads me to a weird pivot and shuffle. It feels stupid scooting around a damn dog, but I’m not going to just walk over a dog or kick it out of my way. 

There are also those times where I am trying to get to a meeting (or the kitchen again) and a dog is happily bouncing up and down playing with tired copywriters who would rather not work on their second round of copy. I pass by with papers in hand thinking, “I rarely get to go to meetings, so bitch you ain’t going to make me late for this one!” and carry on my merry way. Then I feel like an asshole who doesn’t play the office pooch. 

Dogs are like fuggin’ babies to some people and I never want to offend a person by openly patting a dog… unless I don’t see the owner, then it’s a free for all… I may possibly pick it up just to see if I can. But I don’t like messing with dogs unless I’m broskis with the owner. Also, like a child, they can just be like “fuck you” and trot off while you’re trying to pet one. And that’s just kind of embarrassing. 

“What’s your name little fella?” 

“Do you wanna play?”

These friendly questions that people ask dogs are weird because it’s not like the dog can reply. “My human calls me Butch, but I much rather prefer Bond like James Bond.” 

So ad agencies, dogs are kind of weird. I’m kind of weird. Why not save us the hassle and just get a beer tap? Fat Tire, pleeasse.

I took a documentary class my sophomore year of college. I skipped over the prerequisite because my advisor was boss and the documentary class fit my schedule better. Being one of the few females in the class and the rest of the class were broskis from a fraternity (they made a hilarious old-timey how-to video for bocci ball.), I was more introverted than usual. I kept to myself and my ideas kind of bubbled in my head until I couldn’t handle it anymore and blurted out an idea.

Our first project was due in a couple of hours and I had a good amount of raw footage needed to be edited. I must confess, I spaced out when my professor was teaching us how to navigate old, clunky PCs in the editing room, so I was screwed. I was clueless and stressed out because I was going to make my first zero in college and I was too chicken shit to do anything about it.

My bag was stuffed with papers, my tiny Panasonic camcorder, and a package of Dungaroos. Slowly typing the code into the padlocked door, I prayed for someone to be in the editing room using the second computer. To my luck, the nicest and cutest of the frat broskis was tapping his foot diligently working on his video.

“Excuse me, I have a pack of Dungaroos and some raw footage I need help uploading in the computer. I’ll hand you these very nostalgic and sugary cookies if you help me figure out how to do this,” I said to cute broski.

He gladly helped me. He was surprised by the proposition but quickly settled into his chair and snacked on the cookies while he gave me step by step directions. I never really talked to him too much after that class, but according to Facebook he lives in Hawaii.

Not many people know this about me, but I like to dance. Mostly when they’re playing a song I like just in case I get tired two minutes and forty-two seconds in I can sway side to side and sing along to the song. Being prepared is important for lazy people such as myself. I love dancing but sometimes it’s hard to find a nice spot on the dance floor. Here are my steps to stealing the dance floor:

1. Befriend a trusted DJ.
2. Coordinate with DJ to have a Michael Jackson and Lady Gaga night — a Michael Gaga night. Everyone dresses up and we listen to the king of pop and crazy mama monster all night.
3. Show up in strange outfit with at least three other pastel colors or find a unicorn-like dress. Better yet, find a unicorn dress.
4. In the middle of the night, cue the DJ to play a Katy Perry or Robyn song. Everyone will be puzzled and pissed that it’s not a Jackson Lady song and will immediately stop dancing. That’s when you swooped in with your lazy glory and start dancing!

Everyone will watch because everyone was thrown off except for you — instant dance floor! No shuffling or scooting around girls packed in their too tight sausage dresses! The floor will be yours! Let’s just hope you don’t tired at two minutes and forty-two seconds into the song.

Just recently, I was assigned to a brand with a very active following. I would receive daily comments about where you can find the product or how much they love the product or simply writing the product’s name on our wall to show their support, which is amazing. Love it. Support us. Love us. Tell us your hopes and secrets. But along with all the lovely comments, we get the not so lovely comments.

It terrified me. You would read stories on Mashable or Business Insider (by the way, they publish the weirdest articles sometimes) about how a social media manager thought this post would be brilliant, but the shit just hit the fan and got smeared all over his computer screen. Always fearing that it would escalate to some social media fiasco, it took me forever to write responses.

Just imagine me sitting at a table with the entire cast (current and old) of the Real Housewives of Atlanta. I would then have to address their problems nicest and most constructive way I could without Nene blowing up at me or without Kenya crying about how we were supposed to be engaged by now. Wait. What?

You have to choose your words carefully and you have to make sure it doesn’t sound like you’re talking down to them. Give them all the information you can give and let them know you really on their side. Then hopefully, at the one hour special reunion episode, I get to sit on the couch sipping on some alcoholic beverage in a bottle that has Andy Cohen’s face etched on it. 

After some time, I learned to not stress about it as much. I don’t feel the need to reply as soon as they write something to us. I don’t spend 20 minutes crafting a response punctuated with happy faces. I offer what I can, but I can’t move mountains for these people. My weird stress bubble of trying to please every dissatisfied fan quickly disappeared. I still try to give everyone the best help that I can, but if I just uploaded an episode of The Hour, that comment is just going to have to wait.

I renamed my blog to Burgers and Advertising because I so enjoyed the blog post title. I haphazardly changed it before I collapsed on my bed in fear that if I don’t snag the title, someone else will. Much like Frye boot sales, you must act fast if you want to grab those black ankle boots with the right amount of weird and sass (what an excellent find).

Hopefully the name change will better remind me of the purpose of this blog, which is to talk about the banal details of my life (the burger) and social media advertising (the advertising).

If I try to sum up 2012 in a couple of words, it would be burgers, advertising, and tumblr.

I completed my first year in advertising and because of that I consumed a lot of burgers and beer. Nothing makes me feel better than a quiet bar and good food. When I doubted my future in advertising, which I’ll probably end up doing in my weakest moments of the coming year, I turn to my burgers and beer.

It’s been an interesting ride and I still struggle to find the words that best encapsulate it. I kind of wish I had some perks-of-being-a-wallflower moment where I meet my pixie dream girl, accidentally get high, and feel infinite, but really I just moved back to my hometown, learned a new set of buzzwords, and learned how to assimilate in an ad office. I’m not every sure if I fully mastered that last part yet.

I kind of feel like a chump because I remember my hairdresser reminiscing about how her 23rd year of life was amazing. When I look back on mine, I think, “I could have stolen that last bagel in the office kitchen and no one would have noticed.”

I spent hours, probably weeks if you count up the hours, on Tumblr. Watching and reading and laughing as the seasons change outside the office window. I’m a happy little hermit, but I have no thoughtful nuggets of info to offer. I feel like if you’re a hermit or introvert, you better be thoughtful as fuck or you’re no use to your quiet and calm brethren.

So my little New Year’s Eve ritual is to write down some things I would like to accomplish for the upcoming year. I call them resolutions — New Year’s Resolutions is an even better name.

My New Year’s Resolutions:
Focus better - actually follow through with a blog post and don’t sit on it until you think it sounds stupid and throw it away. Do what you said you were going to do. Finish a goddamn book.

Take care of myself - go to the doctor and eat more than snack foods unless I’m really busy and I have to… ain’t nobody got time for that. Surround myself with cool people, so I can latch on and steal their coolness. Go somewhere new.

Eat more hamburgers

As shallow as this sounds, but I am a bit paranoid at my random Facebook ‘likes’. I always think what people would say that I liked this certain brand, or what my family think of my sudden interest in hardware stores or parenting blogs. 

It’s one of those task that just comes with the job of being a social media manager. It’s not even the worse thing, but it’s one of the annoyances I never really thought about until I was actually one. 

Ever since I became a community manager, I’ve become a lot more conscious of my actions and my likes on the web. How does this ‘like’ or this comment contribute to my digital portrait. There’s always an audience, and I’m not talking about the the BIG MAN or government. I’m talking about your peers, friends, and potential employers. Perhaps even your future self. 

But stop it! Stop worrying about what everyone else thinks! It’s social media! 

I was watching an episode of Glee (ugh God, please don’t judge) and in mid-song, Blaine decided to Facebook “poke” someone. My first thought was “Holy shit! Someone who knows how to appropriately use the poke feature” and then Blaine CHEATED ON KURT. (Wtf, Blaine?) 

Poking is essentially just checking out someone’s profile who isn’t your friend. It was good ol’ fashioned Facebook stalker fun. I wonder if other people picked up on that. A fucking Glee character, a B-rated character no less, knew how to use a feature on Facebook correctly… and in mid-song! It still makes me giggle in delight when social media is seamlessly incorporated into television. 

Speaking of the Facebook Poke, Facebook recently released an app that allows you to send messages with expiration dates to your friends. It’s similar to the Snapchat app, but probably less cooler because anything Facebook touches turns into questionable poop. Ehem… Instagram. 

Yesterday, I lost a client. Fear not, I also got a new a client, but I was surprised at how saddened I was over losing client. With social media management, you end up living and breathing that brand every day. I’m constantly thinking of different things to post, monitoring what is being said, and taking pictures for my brand, and after these past couple of months, I’ve grown to be really proud of my brand. I wanted to be the voice when that brand picked up. 

So with that in the bag and other problems floating around in my noggin, I convinced my friend to drink with me. We drank expensive beer, I did various impressions…loudly…whilst a Bingo game was happening, and we stole peanuts from a bar. 

It may be because this was the first brand that I took care of or maybe because I really believed in the brand, but it’s kind of hard to let it go. Especially, if the brand is being traded off to another community manager in the agency. I know she’ll manage the account beautifully which makes me even more worried. It’s so funny how we can become so connected to a brand and its community. 

Rooster was recently featured on Adweek’s ‘New Model Agency’ because they blur the lines between production company and advertising agency. 

Now with the sharp suits and Karen O. cooing the background, I feel like Rooster can be a place where I would love to just peek around. Not only for the men in dapper suits, but mostly because of the hope of stumbling upon random animals like that bearded fellow holds throughout the interview.  As eccentric as they seem, I can only hope that those eccentricities echo throughout their office. And do we get to take the turtle home if we want? 

I know that advertising is a really exciting place and digital is probably one of the best fields to work in, so I feel stupid wanting to be in film production. But Rooster, and agencies like Rooster, makes it all work and it all makes sense. They’re not just an ad agency, they’re just a motherfucking creative agency. 

When I saw that they produced the cat infomercial, I became giddy. I’d love to be part of a team that does kooky shit like that. But then I realize, before you get to be knee deep in awesome creative shit, you have to be neck deep in business and knowledge shit… which is something that I’m lacking right now. 

How disheartening? I’d love to jump in and create content that’s just as fun to make as it fun to watch, but behind all that glitter is research and the know-how. I feel I’ll be in the industry for a long time before I get to that kind of kookiness. But then I wonder, will I even want to stay in advertising once I get to that awesome-smart caliber?

Whenever I get to that point, all I know for sure is that I’m going to be in a video petting a goddamn turtle. 

I was so exhausted when I came home from my first day at the office. I had the worst case of the nerves which left me so tired by the end of the day that I quickly collapsed onto my bed when I returned home. 

The first day of work was much like my first day of high school, but probably worse because I was the only freshman in a school full of seniors. However, as days past, then months, and now finally a whole year, I feel less like a noob. 

I know that most of my posts revolve around me experiencing things for the first time at an ad agency because that’s basically that’s all on my mind. A lot of people follow the saying “Fake it until you make it”, which you should, but for me, it’s easier to just evaluate and evaluate and evaluate. So I may fake it, but I will surely ponder about it silently far away from the conference rooms and brainstorms. 

My first year in advertising is very much like riding a bike with training wheels (yes, I love similes), which should be expected. I’ve had very little experience when I started, so I slowly pedaled along my superiors listening and learning as much as I can. I learned a lot of lingo, a lot of what to do, a lot of what not to do, how an agency works, and enough inside jokes to enjoy This Advertising Life. I’ve observed the agency and every working cog in the giant creative machine. 

I’ve been working in advertising for an entire year next week, and I wonder if I get to shake off my training wheels or if I am ready. 

There’s probably nothing scarier than going to a brainstorm. It used to be a treat of mine, but now I cringe when I know that I’m heading to one. 

It’s not because I despise creative thinking and everything that deals with innovation and technology! It’s very hard for me to keep up. It’s like watching the juniors in high school play dodge ball, while your scrawny freshman ass desperately stumbling and flailing your arms around. 

I recently been in two brainstorms where I felt like that little freshman. How do they do it? In one meeting, all of them danced around the numbers and logistics and the partnerships before delving into how these things can pan out creatively. While I scribble notes down, the only way I feel like I could ever catch up is with experience. 

They’re all playing off their experience and know what works and what doesn’t, when they have a good idea or one that’s a toss away.  feel like I have to get in the face with a dodge ball a couple of times to really get it. It’s a gut instinct mixed with experience and a healthy dose of confidence that makes ideas into campaigns. And I feel like it’s something way beyond my years. 

Holy crap, and the second brainstorm? It was horrendous. Should I even be thinking about brainstorms this way? How it’s a fail or pass kind of thing? Either way, I’m envious of those who can pull from their library of past campaigns and get ideas from there. Some thing sparks inside of them and they dig through all the bullshit in their brain and remember how a similar idea was conveyed by a completely different brand. So envious!

However, I did my best with my best friend in the office. We threw ideas around this project and it was fairly a success… how ever you can determine that. Perhaps it’s my near death experience whenever I enter a conference room that shakes any shred of creativity out of my brain.  The big table. The eight pairs of eyes looking at me. The absolute terror that I have no idea who these people are and they don’t know me. Maybe we should just start brainstorming in the dark? 

I’m attending my first interactive conference this weekend and so far so good. I have a strange love/hate relationship with networking — it’s almost essential but unfortunately, for me, it’s a physical and mental effort to appear somewhat interesting offline.

I devised a plan for these situations. Because I am not a social butterfly, I hung out on the sidelines picking off the people who were having a great conversation with their beer. My plan has introduced me to several students who are delightfully as awkward as I am, hence chillin’ out on the edge of the crowd. I gather my contacts where I can and picked up a handful of twitter handles.

That’s right, I’m all about those Twitter followers. Twitter has never been my favored social network, so it feels very odd being a social media manager with a low number of followers. It’s a social network that I’m still wrapping my head around for personal use. I haven’t found a voice that I’m comfortable with, but I digress.

One of the best things about interactive conferences is that most of everyone is there to network so it’s a lot like a freshmen orientation plus alcohol. We’re all in it together, so let’s make friends and hope that we can find the building where we get our free lunch.

So if you’re reading this and you’re into social media, design, technology, and/or pop culture, find me elsewhere on the interwebz at @topheriskris

For those die-hard Food Network fans, the long-time television network updated their mobile apps, In The Kitchen’ and ‘Food Network On TV’, and introduced a new one, ‘On The Road’, this summer.  One of the first cooking networks on television, their mobile apps are a great idea for extending their brand presence beyond the television screen.

Each app helps incorporate the network in viewers’ daily lives in their own unique way. ‘Food Network On TV’ offers popular full-length episodes, schedules, and exclusive video clips. The ‘In The Kitchen’ app organizes recipes from favorite television programs or chefs, and ‘On The Road’ is a travel aid app that organizes restaurant recommendations from the various television shows on the network.

The ‘Food Network On TV’ differentiates itself from the other apps by being more of a television supplement and works hand in hand for when you’re watching their programs. It’s great that Food Network is jumping into the mobile world because if anything, cooking shows are no strangers to the interactive entertainment that many other shows are now adopting. Cooking is naturally a social experience, which may be a reason why the earliest shows had live audiences. Now, the audience doesn’t have to physically be in the same room as the entertainer, they just need to have a mobile device. 

Food Network’s other two apps – ‘On The Road’ and ‘In The Kitchen’ are more intriguing because it takes interactive entertainment one-step further. These two apps bring the television network beyond the magic box that sits in your living room and into your daily lives.  You can look up restaurant recommendations when you’re traveling in the ‘On The Road’ app, or you can use ‘In The Kitchen’ and bring your favorite recipes with you to the grocery store. These apps are helping you finally complete the experience that has been missing with cooking networks.

What was once entertainment can be put to action and become useful information. From recipes to shows that list the best of [insert awesome food here], the network has a plethora of content that, after the episode premiere, idly sits by and collects dust. Now all of this valuable content can live in a place that can be easily accessed when the user needs it (not when the episode reruns at 2 am) and the apps can become a source of information for fans. 

Though these apps may never win foodie app of the year, that’s not the point. Food Network created these apps to enrich the experience of their fans. They’re organized in a way for fans to quickly connect to their favorite shows or entertainer all at the ease of their smartphone. It’s a smart move by the network and hope to see more of their digital endeavors.

(originally posted on BFG blog)