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Gone But Not Forgotten

Wow. What a difference 5 months makes.

I've gotten emails off and on from people asking if I'm still alive,why I don't blog,why there's some guy that looks like me on Mike's hard Lemonade commercials, what's going on... you know.

I'm alive and kicking, working for two hot rod and motorcycle magazines as an online editor which has also turned into DVD producer. That guy that looked like me working in the Mike's factory ( only wider ) was indeed me and what have I been doing? Well I just got back from a bike trip around Lake Superior. This time over the course of a week with a bunch of guys instead of in 36 hours by myself. I've got the videos to prove it.



The ride was for the Motorcycle Riders Club of America, one of the groups and magazines I am an editor for. I slapped together a few videos of the trip as daily travel logs and haven't made time to finish the rest. You can find them here:

Click here to watch some of the Circle Tour Videos

I love my job, it's been insanely busy getting to work @ 7:00 AM, working until 6,7,8 PM and in the last couple months staying later and working on weekends. I was recruited to do a couple 100 minute thematic DVD's on Corvettes and Mustangs. Disk 1 is in the can and I'm wrapping up shooting and editing disk 2 right now. Being Mr. Director / Producer man got me press pass access to the Corvette Museum and assembly plant in Bowling Green, KY and all kinds of groovy places the normal Wes wouldn't be able to go. I've gotten to hang out with car and bike guys, learn some tech stuff and get back into writing.



It's weird to think of myself as a professional writer in some capacity, particularly when the web world I work in is changing so fast. The company I work for was acquired by some key players in the internet world that are hot and bothered over subscription emails which in many ways are like opt-in spam. In between writing scripts for video and web articles I've been writing email articles that are supposed to entice subscribers into opening, reading and ( if a home run is hit ) actually forwarding them.

Almost every day I get 150 words, 2-3 links and a picture to highlight something new in the hot rod car industry. Controversy, suggestive tone and cocky are highly encouraged. I still don't know what to think. Thankfully I'm not paid to think. I hit a button and bam they're sent off to between 20,000 and 50,000+ people ( depending on the cycle ) who've signed up and are too lazy to unsubscribe.

The spooky thing is that the owners of my company had bought, built and sold a company that exclusively does these email nuggets for $125 million dollars. yes, that's with an "M" and yes, that's all they did was just send out emails.

So what have you been up to?

posted by wes @ 8:08 PM 8 comments