When I moved to Munich, Germany more than eight years ago, I quickly realized after an outing with my husband's friends and family that I wanted to learn the language.

Technology has changed the world of marketing and advertising—from how we create it, to how we communicate it. I am sure that if I asked around, I could get a bunch of different stories of how things used to get done back in the "old days."

In 2010, we have to make the resolution to discipline ourselves to always take that step back and give sound advice, or social media can be just another way to throw away good marketing dollars.

I don't want pink. I want thought. I want understanding and efficiency. Please.

Perhaps the most common error I see in proofreading is the choice of the wrong dash. Frequently, a hyphen or suspended hyphen—once known as the "secretary's friend"—is substituted.

The work acts as a gauge by which we measure ourselves, and the more we surround ourselves with great work, the greater our work will be.

Here is a novel idea. It's pretty complex, and it seems like no one is willing to tackle this concept. True, it can come across as showing that you care and that you have your act together as a professional, but is it really worth all that effort?

Yes, we have repeatedly been told not to do so for the sake of our mental and spiritual well-being, but in the advertising world, it's our job to dot every "i" and cross every "t." It's our responsibility to make it right, whether it's our own copy or provided by the client.

I have seen and heard many people try to sell sponsorship for motorsports teams, drivers and series over the years. Some methods I would call a science, and others I would call a shot in the dark, but I don't know that anyone would argue that there aren't a myriad of ways to go about it.

One morning, I'm driving my six-year-old to school and for some reason he asked me what I do at work. I thought: How can I make this sound on-par cool with the police detective that lives next door, a rock star like Hannah Montana or the cashier at Target?

The dumbing down of America is all around us. Foul language, sloppy dress, lewd and/or mischievous behavior, lack of etiquette...the list goes on and on.

This just goes to show that, much like a chainsaw, Photoshop is a time-saving, useful tool in the right hands and a hideous, bloody massacre in the wrong ones.

I have never actually seen a client lop off anyone’s head in a meeting for presenting an idea that was a little different from the usual stuff they see.

I'm often asked "What is the function of an account person in an agency?"

People's attention spans are short, and they're continuing to shrink. Yes, it is extremely unfortunate. The number of hours in a day hasn't changed, but we're trying to squeeze more into them than ever before.

THE BLAHG TM

THE BLAGH (New and Improved)

It's high noon in Greenville, S.C. Cars, trucks, pickups, vans, you name it, have once again clogged Woodruff Rd, one of the most dreaded thoroughfares in the city. When you're on this stretch of road it's a whole lot more stop than go.

Opinions. Everybody's got one and we know what they're worth. Although at times they can be very insightful. But that's not what I'm talking about.

It's often been said that the best and worst form of advertising is word-of-mouth. Certainly the same can be said for advertising stories. Fact is certainly stranger and infinitely more interesting than fiction.

In the agency world today, we are all becoming more dependent on technology. Of course, the obvious upside has been huge increases in efficiencies and speed, plus a vast wealth of information right at our fingertips.

It's amazing when you have a message that just breaks through the clutter – it takes a message that is both engaging and persuading to the audience.