TJB Fieldtrip: WNBC NYC Bloggers’ Summit
As a warning, if you are looking for Jets’ content, move along, nothing to see here..
What’s this a picture of? It’s me (middle) talking with WNBC-4′s Dan Rice (right), you know Dan, he’s the WNBC Chopper-4 guy! If you don’t know Chopper 4, God save your soul, it’s probably the only rotorcraft with a comedy bit written specifically about it. Why am I in a picture with the the Chopper 4 guy? Hopefully this post will provide an answer to that, along with a picture with me and SNL’s Seth Myers due to a happenstance meeting after the event.
Last night was WNBC’s first Bloggers’ Summit, where NBC brought over a 100 bloggers who blog about some aspect of New York together with a large number of WNBC’s staff to create some common ground to help build relationships and a stronger community of newsgathers and opinionmakers together. If you want a good recap of the event, here’s a link, which saves me some typing. What seemed the most odd to me, is that some of the biggest names (in NYC sports at least) weren’t present. Our friends over at metsblog.com weren’t invited, and neither was runaway favorite Deadspin, which reported today that Stuart Scott was chasing some talent by two-way last night in South Beach. What gives?
It seems to us that WNBC is trying to find themselves, and I have to appreciate that, with that I will give them some time and grace. It’s clear that there are skeptics on both sides, with some visionary people who work for WNBC caught in between at present. I don’t want to really go into a long diatribe about the Information Age and blah blah blah, but it’s clear that an organization like WNBC should be lauded for their progressive approach to reporting, news, the Internet and “what it all means” to them.
As for my impressions of the event, I was a bit overwhelmed in a “what the hell am I doing here” way. Yesterday afternoon, I was at my desk slugging through contracts up in Massachusetts, but after a long drive down to the city, at 8PM I was talking with Bruce Beck about my disdain for Dan Leberfeld, with which he didn’t exactly disagree. Although I was honored to be there and get some pub from WNBC, I need to digest this more and figure out how, if at all, this convergence effects me personally.
With all those thoughts about the convergence of media, onto some thoughts / moments from the event.
Gossip blogs is where it’s at! Here’s a tip, if you want to start a blog about popular stuff that can make money, stick to Lindsay Lohan’s sexual conquests, rather than intelligent discussion about the Jets, there’s a bigger audience for what they do versus what I do. Here are some cool blogs of some cool people I met who are into gossip if you (or your wife) are culture vultures: eastvillageidiot.com, justjared.com, imnotobsessed.com and culturebot.org.
There was a woman there who works for VH1′s Best Week Ever, who I didn’t get to meet, which made me sad, as I had actually met the wicked funny Chris Finnegan last fall.
After the event finished, a bunch of folks made their way across the street to the Channel 4 Bar for a drink. Once I heard there was someone there from Gawker, I had to pay obeisance. After bowing and declaring Deadspin’s Will Leitch as a god and AJ Daulerio’s SuperBowl sojourns some of the best writing ever Heather Snodgrass allowed me to buy her a Captain Morgan and soda. She told me she did “background work” but that as a member of Gawker, she has had some funny stories. As a Deadspin fan, she suggested that I stay tuned for a funny post tomorrow. I am not exactly sure what it is, but when I see it, I will link over to the site.
The night came to a screeching halt for me, when as the bar was thinning out, two guys come into the bar, one with his hoodie’s hood up and they do a quick lap of the place. The hood caught my attention, I mean, what white guy walks around indoors with his hood up? (Note: This morning my mom suggested that it could have been “Snoop Daddy”) I looked over, upon closer inspection, it was clear it was Seth Myers from SNL fame. I told the guy I was talking to at that moment that I thought it was SNLs Seth Myers, to which he responded that he didn’t watch TV, but said it probably wasn’t him. Huh?
I insisted it was him, and then next the one thing happened that I could never prepare for. The guy I was talking to walked over to Hoodie, and said something I couldn’t hear. The next thing I know, Seth Myers is walking towards me with his hood down and arms outstretched in a mock “what’s up with that?” manner.
As a note, meeting celebrities is not my forte, and this run-in was no exception, which is why I never would have said anything in the first place. I pride myself on NOT being that guy, but that guy quickly made an appearance in the presence of comedic genius. Like a soldier in a warzone, I don’t have direct recollections of all the events that transpired, so here’s my best cobbling together of the actual events.
Inner Me: Play it cool, douche!
Me: Hello … dude I am so sorry …
Seth: No! Not a problem at all, it’s totally cool.
Inner Me: Don’t say anything stupid!
Me: You are hilarious, I have a blog about football (NOOO!!!) and I posted your Really?! clip, that s#!t was f###ing hilarious!
Inner Me: Keep it cool, man, you’re eyes are like saucers, slow down and take some deep breaths …
Seth: Oh yeah? Thanks man, thanks a lot, glad you liked it. (Noting my hat) Chicago huh? So you like the Cubs?
Inner Me: Mention that’s a pretty good catch since it’s the 1917 hat or whatever! Maybe he did Second City or something, talk about Chicago you dolt!
Me: Ah, I love the Cubs, but really I am a Yankees fan.
Inner Me: You retard! He’s a Sox fan, remember?!?!?
Seth: Oh yeah? Cool, that’s cool.
Me: So did you just get off work?
Seth: Yeah, yeah just looking to to grab a beer …
Inner Me: Don’t even think about what I think you are thinking about!
Me: Hey, do you mind if I get a picture? All I have is my camera phone…
Inner Me: At this point, you are SO on your own.
Seth: Sure no problem, that’s cool.
Me: OK, great thank you.
(Seconds tick away like hours of awkward fumbling to educate a third party on how to use my stupid camera phone)
Me: Thanks again, again, great job with the show.
Seth: Thanks man, have a good night.
Inner Me: Jackass…
After that, it wasn’t long before he and his buddy left probably looking for a place he could not be bother by idiots like me, but after checking Gawker Stalker, it looks like he might have been trying to find Adam Samberg who had been there a little earlier that night which made me feel better, since I felt like a total idiot for scaring off a guy that was just looking to get a beer after work.
So without further ado, the proof that I met Seth Myers.
If you look close, you can see his tell-tale dimples. And with that, enough said, back to football.
9 Responses to TJB Fieldtrip: WNBC NYC Bloggers’ Summit
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Damn, I should have stayed. Being a [cough] Red Sox fan, I would’ve had something to talk about with Seth.
Uh, not that I should be saying that stuff on a Jets blog.
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Hi Chris! Your site isn’t exactly gossip, but I did want to work in the “link love.”
Keep up the good work, see you on Deadspin.
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Bent says: Umm…who?
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Hi Brian, it was great to meet you Wednesday, even if I do prefer the Dolphins. TJB is great, and I’ll definitely pass the URL on to my Jets-fan fiancee.
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BB –
This is brilliant beyond words, even better than finding out that there is an Evil Dead: The Musical (which I learned about just yesterday). Seriously, you just put a smile on my face that rivals the smirk I had pasted on all week after the Jets topped the Pats this year. Great stuff!
So when do we start the “Who’s Sleeping With the Jets?” feature?
[Starts looking for Toni Braxton images. . .]