I am Keith Hernandez

Close to the Chest

keith hernandez — Fri, 08 Jan 2010 14:56:14 +0000

It’s not easy keeping secrets. Too often, i am the one chirping at the office about some new move, new opportunity or new venture. I get excited and want to hear what other people think, discuss the possibilities. Usually, in turn for my giving, I get some great info back. It’s the essential basic tenet of sharing: give a little to get a little.
So, when it comes to personal moves, I can’t keep it close to the chest. Some say it’s like poker, you don’t want to show your hand, but I do exactly that and then some. With poker I talk o much, it calms my nerves and keeps me focused. I talk about the mathematical odds on the board, the cards I could have or should have and this seems to work for me. It rattles others that I am so open. They think I am lying or distorting the truth and in actuality I am pouring everything out on the table. This is the same with business decisions. It is not my style to hide my feelings and let my thoughts known. This is not typical and can be seen as weakness, but i know it opens up the conversation so we cn have deeper impact. Going to have one of these conversations today at work. Wish me luck

NY Post Real Winner in Bay Sweepstakes

keith hernandez — Thu, 07 Jan 2010 22:42:12 +0000

Sure, the signing of Jason Bay earlier in the week saw mixed reactions.
Some barked that with his bulky left knee he will be a liability in LF now and for the duration of the 4/5 years. Others complained his power will be sapped by the cavernous wallsbat Citifield, making a power hitting outfielder into a strikeout fly ball hitter. All this negativity. Can we all agree on at least one thing? The NY Post headlines for the Mets this season are going to be sweet. Give those writers even a semblance of a metaphor and they will squeeze it, manipulate it and twist it so it doesn’t make any sense anymore. It really is a beautiful thing. “Bay-watch” and “Bay-rut” have already been done while talks were ongoing, so the Post can’t lean on those. The possiblities for insane disastarous headlines is extreme. Please, please come with the same fervor and creatvity as you did with the “Baerga King” headline 10 years ago. We all know the Mets will be a mess this year, so we look to you NY Post to up the headline ante. And Jason Bay is the Mets gift to you. Enjoy, we wait with bated breath.

Google’s Real Game Changer

keith hernandez — Wed, 06 Jan 2010 16:25:39 +0000

After reading TechCrunch’s post on the marketing push for Google’s Nexus One, my thoughts turned. Maybe the most innovative “disruptive” element about this launch is not the device itself nor the way it sticks it the carriers (barely). The true game-changing move coming from this launch is the way it will be marketed and advertised, almost wholly online.
Think about the Droid and the persistent tv spots you see during primetime. That is not Google pushing it down our throats, it’s Verizon luring us in with the subsidized phone to sign a 2 year contract. The entire Google culture has been adverse to the big tv ad, the wasting of money just to get in front of millions of eyeballs. The billions the company has made is because of the data-driven, hyper-targeted ads coming from adsense. They are the masters of understanding who would want a potential product with their algorithms, not throwing money at a key primetime slot.
This is a big chance for Google, because it is it’s first foray into an actual tangible product not a service, to show that a physical product can be succesfully marketed without the use of print, tv or radio. Google can prove that the online advertising world can fully support and harness the growth of a product and a brand, which if done correctly can cause a paradigm shift in overall advertising spending.
Companies like Aol, Yahoo and Microsoft should be rooting for the Nexus One to succeed if it in fact is only an online push. It would be the greatest case study imaginable if this product sells well for increase in online advertising. The early word is that Google’s marketing pie will be almost entirely online and one can only hope they hold to that. The real game changer coming from this announcement could be the advertising business and finally a strong push to fully realized online campaigns.

Three to Tango?

keith hernandez — Tue, 05 Jan 2010 04:05:24 +0000

With the news that Apple is set to buy Quattro Mobile for $275 million and the already done deal between Google and Ad Mob, the mobile advertising wars are heating up. But, the usual players are missing one of their frenemies. Where is Microsoft during these aquisitions? (Full disclosure: I work for Microsoft) Long ago, Msft was ahead of the curve in the mobile world, offering devices that were ahead of the game with email, internet browser and little things called apps. Now, they are standing on the sidelines watching their two main competitors gobble up two major mobile advertising companies. A lot is riding on Windows Mobile 7 and I have full confidence the product will be great, but I wonder if by missing out on these aquisitions Microsoft will be too late to the mobile ad dance.

Foursquare Ignites the Geo-location Era

keith hernandez — Sat, 02 Jan 2010 18:08:02 +0000

In 2010, it will not be enough to know what people are doing via their Facebook and Twitter updates, we will want to know where they are doing it. With smartphones on the brink of ubiquity, geo-location apps are taking off, entering us into the next realm of social networking, where with the tap of our phone we can announce the exact location where we are enjoying our frittata. Is it vanity overload? Would others really give a crap that we are playing skeeball at a bar on Monday night? The answer to both is probably. We have entered a social landscape where sharing everything via the internet is like brushing your teeth. For some, its closer to tapping your foot incessantly. We have grown accustomed to posting any and everything, with the thought that somebody might care to engage with us if given the opportunity. The problem being that we are still sitting in front of our computers, interacting with pixels instead of people. How do we take this valuable networking ecosystem and bring it into the wild, meet our mates face to face?

Enter Foursquare. Definitely not the only geo-location app out there, (Brighkite, Gowalla and Loopt all are in the geo-battle) Foursquare nevertheless is leading the charge in innovating ways to bring its users together. I experimented in August with the service, using it to check into a few bars, restaurants and occasionally Prospect park while i was taking a nap under a tree. It was interesting, but with hardly any friends on it yet and the only incentive to checking in being earning a “badge”, I stopped a couple months later. So what’s changed? Foursquare is now signing deals with bars, restaurants, music venues and galleries across the country to offer up discounts and special promotions for people who check in frequently. Techcrunch highlighted a restaurant in North Carolina that offers a free lunch to the mayor (person who checks in most frequently during a given time period) and 25% to those who have earned the “Gym Rat” badge. Deals like this can turn a pedestrian online game into a dynamic marketing and branding tool for local businesses while leading to social interaction amongst its customers. Imagine the competition you and your friends will have to get the glory of the free meal or free drink at your favorite watering hole. Imagine finding out you are not their most loyal customer, that dude at the end of the bar is. Would you strike up a conversation, set out to dethrone him? Granted, it is a gimmick right now, but as apoption rates increase, the service will continue to increase power and will make for a new marketing dynamic. 2010 could begin a new era of local business marketing, where the app on your phone becomes the power broker.

The Hulu Business Model

keith hernandez — Sun, 18 Oct 2009 15:28:40 +0000

In this months issue of Fast Company, a profile on Hulu CEO Jason Kilar highlights the rapid sucess of the premium content video platform, fiscally and critically, while also examining the struggles it will face as cable companies, movie studios and content aggregators vie for their piece of the advertising pie.
It’s a suprising story of a joint venture that many thought was dooemd from the beginning. The common thought was two bloated media companies coming together in a field they know nothing about and hiring a guy who had nothing to do with media was a recipe for failure. It’s another prime example of the old business model butting heads with a new dynamic that really hasn’t been fully defined.
The negativity before Hulu was released by the industry experts reminded me of Google about 10 years ago. Business anaylysts were quick to dismiss both, saying the revenue model was unsustainabl, yet Google now owns 4 out of every 10 online advertising dollars and Hulu is bringin in $120 million in its second year of existence. Kilar points to his prior experience at Amazon,

I was there when people were calling it Amazon.bomb, and everyone was saying that when Barnes & Noble goes online, the game is over.

Are we right now seeing the growth of the next big media behemoth? With Hulu’s focus on the consumer and its understanding of our desire for media consumption on our terms, the dynamic is shifting in their favor.

Fast Company: Can Hulu Save Traditional TV?

And here is one of my favorite clips on Hulu:

Get these posts going…

keith hernandez — Fri, 03 Apr 2009 13:49:32 +0000

Alright, so I decided on my next 30 day habit and it’s going to be writing at least one post on this here website. I’ve tried multiple times to get this rolling on a daily basis and failed. What makes me think that this time will be different is the success of this little 30 day habit thing that I started in mid-January.
In january, I read a blog posting on Tim Ferriss’ website talking about another blogger who had a simple way to add productive habits to his life. After reading it, I decided that I wanted to be healthier and running would be a good option. The initial goal was simple: run at least 10 minutes a day, everyday. When I told people about it, most thought that was too easy and I wouldn’t see any advances. They were right about it being easy, that was the point, to make the goal manageable. At first, the dilemma was getting to the gym, once there I would usually push to 15 to 20 minutes, but there were times when I thought of skipping it and heading home. What kept me on track? Mant times it was the negotiation in ny head that 10 minutes was nothing, little over a mile and that if I did it the wine or beer I had later would taste that much better. Often, these days were my best runs. Now, maybe my experience is different, as I took to running and started running longer distances. The 10 minutes became 10K and eventually,over time a half marathon. The two things that kept me moving were not wanting to break the streak and the attainable goal of only 10 minutes. With this as my routine, I have gone from 204lbs to 180lbs in about 12 weeks. Running is now a happy part of my daily routine, like taking a shower or brushing my teeth. And that’s the key; it is now a habit, something that arrives naturally during the day. I find time for it, enjoy it and welcome its inclusion in the day.
Hot off the heels of that success, I decided that writing would be the next thing that I wanted to include in my life. With a couple of co-workers, I am reading The Artist Way, a book that helps one release their creativity. One of the activities is the book is to write three pages of thoughts, notes or whatever first thing in the morning, everyday. This aligned with exactly the same time that I was thinking about starting a new habit. Or what the book calls syncronocity. It was easy for me to jump in, I would usually write whatever came into my head while on the subway, commuting to work everyday. Sure it looks a bit silly writing in a journal on a train,but I am used to it now and love it. The writing is a great exercise in free thought, scrambling down whatever comes to mind. Its a great way to air out things that are aggravating and just flow. Now, I want to step it up a notch. Looking for this next habit to kick into high gear the formal writing that I used to love. The idea will be to post at least one original, creative story a day. Video, quick links and two sentence blurbs don’t count. The story should have some beneficial aspect. Besides that, I am free to write. Excited to add this to my list of habits, the 30 days begins now…

On Running

keith hernandez — Sat, 14 Mar 2009 22:08:28 +0000

At this point, I pretty much have a 10K on lock down. Running at a decent clip, this is now my norm for a weekend run, which is cool but I want to step up the pace a bit. What I love about running is that you can take it a couple of ways: 1) run further or 2) run faster. Right now, my body can barely handle getting to the half marathon mark and I am thinking that maybe its time to step up the pace rather than coninuing the longest run steez that I have been working with for the past few months. That is the beauty of running, there are always ways to improve, always new goals to conquer. You can never master running. There is no high score or ultimate distance that you can run. Someone (maybe even you) can go out there the next day and beat it. It’s a beautiful struggle, an enduring battle within yourself to see how far you can go.

Today was a rather shabby 10K, my stomach ached and my time wasn’t anything to be proud of. But it is the strength that I gain from plodding through the crappy runs that will eventually lead me to a new best time. Even after the worst of runs, the sense of accomplishment is gratifying and the yearning to push harder grows.

Clay Shirkey is Thinking the Unthinkable

keith hernandez — Sat, 14 Mar 2009 16:28:46 +0000

Clay’s Shirkey’s blog post “Newspapers and Thinking the Unthinkable” was linked to by a few different people I follow on Twitter, so I was compelled to give it a go and check out what he was saying. The piece is probably the most thoughtful and put together assessment of what went wrong with the newspaper industry during the internet revolution. He argues that they did see the coming change come, but attempted tired models that would continue to the old thinking and that new ideas were shunned. Its a great read on the revolution that we are in right now. Here is an excerpt:

And so it is today. When someone demands to know how we are going to replace newspapers, they are really demanding to be told that we are not living through a revolution. They are demanding to be told that old systems won’t break before new systems are in place. They are demanding to be told that ancient social bargains aren’t in peril, that core institutions will be spared, that new methods of spreading information will improve previous practice rather than upending it. They are demanding to be lied to.

There are fewer and fewer people who can convincingly tell such a lie.

For the full post: Newspapers and Thinking the Unthinkable

The Artist’s Way Begins

keith hernandez — Sat, 07 Mar 2009 14:52:19 +0000

This week, along with a few co-workers, I have embarked on the challenge of reading and following the activities in the seminal book “The Artist’s Way” by Julia Cameron. The intentions for all of us are to open up our creative spirits and allow ourselves to discover aspects of us that we did not realize exist.
Our first meeting took place in the training room on the 4th floor, we talked about the basics of the book, how it can be difficult to stay with it and how parts of your life will change because of doing it. I will not divulge much else we talked about, as we decided it was best to keep it in the circle of trust that we created. My hopes are that the creative energy realized in the course we are doing will help spark this website and I can make it a thoughtful and creative place to post my thoughts.
The first action in the book, after all the basics are layed out about how we are in fact all artists, we just need to allow it come be present, is to create a morning pages. The morning pages is a notebook intended to be a stream of conciousness activity conducted each morning, right when you wake up. Three pages of hand-written notes, on whatever the fuck comes to mind, is to be completed before anything else, every day. I must say, I started doing the morning pages about a week ago and it has added a sense of clarity to the day. Getting out some of the emotions, some of the crap that lingers in the back of your mind has lead to days where I want to write at the end, where I feel like doing more and creating more. I am only at the beginning stages of this, so let’s see if there is a “dark” period, but right now, I am pumped to see where this activity takes me.
Will keep the website posted on my progress and hopefully will see a difference in the amount and quality that I write on here. The experiment begins…now.