I remember my first week at APCO a colleague said to me:
“Still having fun?”
My answer, which I hope defines my tenure at APCO, was, “Always.”
If APCO hires people, not positions, then I walk away hopeful that I successfully filled the role of Steve Guttenberg’s Sgt. Mahoney from Police Academy.
For every political landscape overview, grassroots mobilization program, budget request and media kit, there was a Five Guys Friday, a transfer request to a Nyuuk, Greenland office, a hockey goal lighting fixture dubbed “the bad idea light” and a life-sized cardboard cutout of Admiral Akbar from the Star Wars films.
If there’s one thing I’ve learned at APCO, it’s that every one of us is capable of taking the work seriously, without taking ourselves too seriously. This is no doubt due to the amazing group of people assembled here that bring out the best in each of our personalities. People have mentored me and helped me develop professionally so that I am well-equipped for the challenges that lie ahead.
I hope to continue to stay in touch with all of you and have included my info below. I know you are all thinking I’m going to use this opportunity to plug my band, “Bonjour, Ganesh!” and our website www.bonjourganesh.com, but I’m not. I leave “Five Guys Fridays” in the capable hands of Brian McLaughlin, the last remaining founding father from APCO’s “Bullpen Era.” Brian is more than capable in leading the charge to consume artery clogging burgers and fries each Friday and help combat “Health Fruit Tuesdays.”
I arrived as your colleague and leave as your friend. With that in mind, please enjoy this short video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hFyl4GxBzEw&feature=PlayList&p=AADD7BBE3CD48B1B&index=0
Sincerely,
Adam Rosenberg
adam@CDT.org (work email)
Adam.Rosenberg@gmail.com (personal email)
(202) 253-3091 (cell phone)
Tuesday, April 28, 2009
Thursday, April 23, 2009
New band's first show is TONIGHT!
My new band, Bonjour Ganesh, will be making their debut tonight at Velvet Lounge at 10 PM. We're an 8-piece jam band with a horn section. We're also celebrating our singer, Jessica Savage's birthday. Come on out.
915 u Street, NW - Washington, DC
Doors: 9PM, $8, 21+
www.bonjourganesh.com
915 u Street, NW - Washington, DC
Doors: 9PM, $8, 21+
www.bonjourganesh.com
Wednesday, April 8, 2009
Conservatives Losing Gay Marriage Debate
Over the past few weeks, things have changed.
In 2004, the conservative right politicized the gay marriage debate by riding a wave of constitutional referendums in order to try to legislate hate and give people unwarranted reason to fear gays.
"If gays marry, everything you've accomplished with your nuclear family will become worthless!" was the overall slogan of the GOP in the aftermath of San Francisco recognizing gay marriage. After numerous states across the country passed constitutional bans on gay marriage, Republicans seemed to feel safer. As if their concept of marriage was now safe. Then a California Court said that gays could marry and quickly a referendum (Prop 8) was pushed by conservatives to put a stop to this. Overall though, you have to figure conservatives were never THAT worried. I mean, sure CALIFORNIA is going to recognize gay marriage. It's California! It's full of liberals. Though it's the 5th largest economy in the world, it's another planet to conservatives. A lost cause from the beginning. California is a state likely to allow bats to marry dogs, so allowing gays to marry wasn't a shock. They could rest easy after Prop 8 passed, they had constitutional bans on gay marriage in effect in states across the country and now a referendum approved by public vote in arguably the most "liberal" of all those states. If you can stop it in California, you've pretty much stopped it for good, right?
Oh, but that's where things got interesting. A few weeks ago, Vermont's legislature passed legislation recognizing gay marriage. Conservatives must have thought, "Whatever. That's Vermont. It's Howard Dean country. 'Nuff said."
But then came Iowa. Precious Iowa. In the middle of the country. With it's moderate leanings and "heartland" mentality. The Iowa Supreme Court ruled that to not allow gays to marry is unconstitutional. This turned all the conservatives on their asses and should signify the exclamation point to how this country has shifted ideologically. This isn't a liberal state like California making a "liberal" ruling. This is IOWA. If states were baseball players, Iowa would be the Republicans No. 6 hitter. Not always on their side, but decent and can be relied on to not do something crazy.
The ruling showed that conservatives are going to have their hands full in this debate over the next several years. Like whack-a-mole, you'll hit one state down only to see another come up. They're chasing an idea that society has finally caught up with. The seemingly foreign concept that all of us are equal and entitled to the same rights and privileges with our spouses regardless of sexual orientation.
I'm proud of the Hawkeye State and the judges on that court. I'm proud of gay-rights groups that keep fighting this, even in states where even us liberals assume we have no chance. Iowa is just the beginning, I can't wait to see the look on the conservative leaders' faces when we cut them at the jugular and get a decent ruling out of true red state.
In 2004, the conservative right politicized the gay marriage debate by riding a wave of constitutional referendums in order to try to legislate hate and give people unwarranted reason to fear gays.
"If gays marry, everything you've accomplished with your nuclear family will become worthless!" was the overall slogan of the GOP in the aftermath of San Francisco recognizing gay marriage. After numerous states across the country passed constitutional bans on gay marriage, Republicans seemed to feel safer. As if their concept of marriage was now safe. Then a California Court said that gays could marry and quickly a referendum (Prop 8) was pushed by conservatives to put a stop to this. Overall though, you have to figure conservatives were never THAT worried. I mean, sure CALIFORNIA is going to recognize gay marriage. It's California! It's full of liberals. Though it's the 5th largest economy in the world, it's another planet to conservatives. A lost cause from the beginning. California is a state likely to allow bats to marry dogs, so allowing gays to marry wasn't a shock. They could rest easy after Prop 8 passed, they had constitutional bans on gay marriage in effect in states across the country and now a referendum approved by public vote in arguably the most "liberal" of all those states. If you can stop it in California, you've pretty much stopped it for good, right?
Oh, but that's where things got interesting. A few weeks ago, Vermont's legislature passed legislation recognizing gay marriage. Conservatives must have thought, "Whatever. That's Vermont. It's Howard Dean country. 'Nuff said."
But then came Iowa. Precious Iowa. In the middle of the country. With it's moderate leanings and "heartland" mentality. The Iowa Supreme Court ruled that to not allow gays to marry is unconstitutional. This turned all the conservatives on their asses and should signify the exclamation point to how this country has shifted ideologically. This isn't a liberal state like California making a "liberal" ruling. This is IOWA. If states were baseball players, Iowa would be the Republicans No. 6 hitter. Not always on their side, but decent and can be relied on to not do something crazy.
The ruling showed that conservatives are going to have their hands full in this debate over the next several years. Like whack-a-mole, you'll hit one state down only to see another come up. They're chasing an idea that society has finally caught up with. The seemingly foreign concept that all of us are equal and entitled to the same rights and privileges with our spouses regardless of sexual orientation.
I'm proud of the Hawkeye State and the judges on that court. I'm proud of gay-rights groups that keep fighting this, even in states where even us liberals assume we have no chance. Iowa is just the beginning, I can't wait to see the look on the conservative leaders' faces when we cut them at the jugular and get a decent ruling out of true red state.
Thursday, April 2, 2009
DCist Photo of the Day
Veggies
Originally uploaded by Phillyberg
Had another photo of some veggies picked as Photo of the Day by www.dcist.com. The comments are hilarious.
Monday, March 2, 2009
DCist Photo of the Day: March 2, 2009
My photo was named Photo of the Day for DCist! I'm excited because I'm still new to the photography stuff and am still learning. It's a nice feeling to know you at least have somewhat of a good eye!
Check out the original here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/phillyberg/3319195035/
Or click the post title to go straight to DCist.
Check out the original here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/phillyberg/3319195035/
Or click the post title to go straight to DCist.
Dogs picking fights?
20090228_0085
Originally uploaded by Phillyberg
Some shots with the D70 that I took at Eastern Market this past weekend.
Tuesday, February 24, 2009
Eastern Market photo from last weekend
Still getting the hang of the new camera, but snapped this last Saturday and messed around with the coloring a bit to make it "colder".
Tuesday, February 3, 2009
I've converted to Mac
So after 28 years of being a PC guy, I've converted to Mac. Not to sound cliche, but I am never going back. Though getting here was an adventure. Let me explain with a timeline.
Thursday, January 29
7:00 AM - I wake up to find my Dell laptop frozen. Thinking nothing of it, I restart the computer. It freezes on the Dell logo as horror fills my veins. My immediate reaction being, "Ohmygod, am I going to lose all of my Phish mp3s?"
8:00 AM - Despite running in and out of the shower to check on the computer, it still has shown no progress and is dead, dead, dead. Funeral arrangements are made. I call my dad and tell him the computer situation. It is described as the "Kobiashi Maru" of computer crashes. That means "not good."
9:00 AM - 6:00 PM - Work, while thinking, "I'll get home and the laptop will be fine." Midway through the day I am convinced to look at a Mac by a couple friends. By the end of the day, I've already plotted my route to the Apple Store in Bethesda.
6:30 PM - Arrive home and head for Apple Store in Bethesda with the remaining Vegas winnings in hand.
7:30 PM - I purchase my first Macbook. In and out in 10 minutes. It's a thing of beauty. Though on a side note, elderly workers there make me realize that they aren't working at Apple Store because they're bored of retirement. It's because their retirement is almost dried up. Very depressing.
8:30 PM - I am home and turn on my Macbook. Immediately I plug my 500 gig hard drive in and start copying mp3s. I am prompted to do a software update which I do and then reboot.
8:35 PM - A grey screen appears on my Macbook upon reboot. I think nothing of it.
8:37 PM - The grey screen remains and my temperature rises.
8:40 PM - I am in full panic mode again as I've seemingly crashed an uncrashable machine. I unplug the hard drive and get the machine to shut down. Depression sets in.
Friday, January 30
9:00 AM - 4:00 PM - I spend with my dog at the behavioral vet (read: Doggy Therapist) where I learn my dog has anxiety disorder, is afraid of other dogs, and needs to be put on Prozac. Not doggy Prozac, but real people Prozac.
5:00 PM - I come home and find the macbook is working with no hard drives plugged in. I plan on taking it back. Somehow this doesn't happen until....
9:00 PM - I get to the Apple Store in Bethesda and find that it's closed. I am still computerless. For a guy who loves connecting and playing with music and photos (read: nerd) this is awful.
Saturday, January 31
1:00 PM - I take the macbook to the Apple Store in Pentagon City. "Big Tony" hooks me up and gives me an upgraded Macbook for $100 extra instead of charging me for the open box.
1:30 PM - I get home and set up the Mac this time having a theory that the hard drive is causing the problems. I start the unthinkable task of copying ALL my mp3s to my Macbook's internal hard drive. Since the hard drive is being recognized so long as its not on boot up, this seems like a great fix. I'll have all my songs and I can take the baby with me anywhere.
About 40 gigs in I realize that the mp3s going in are going to be greater than the space allowed. I start to do an audit of my mp3s and delete albums to make space as my thinking is that 27 James Brown albums and 18 KISS albums is a little excessive. Anything to save the 56 gigs of live Phish mp3s.
8:00 PM - Operation continues as I delete the excessive number of 10cc albums I seem to have acquired and the 35 Jimmy Smith albums I downloaded over the years.
11:30 PM - Pork-induced sleep caused by Chris and Mary Corcoran.
Sunday, February 1
1:00 PM - Travel to Apple Store in Bethesda AGAIN and get Microsoft office in exchange for iWork. Great trade. I still am copying mp3s all afternoon with no problems.
6:00 PM - I take the laptop to Chris' and watch the Superbowl as I audit my music collection.
10:30 PM - It suddenly hits me to try to restart the computer with my OTHER external hard drive to see if its the hard drives or the computer. My 80 gig hard drive works, my 500 gig causes crashes. Case solved. Only took me 4 days.
Monday, February 2
7:00 PM - I finish copying my mp3s to my computer, store a few in other places and talk to Greg Greene about how I can get this all to work. At last the computer is ready to rock. We agree that I need a new external hard drive and I'll run some mp3s off of it and some on my internal hard drive. Problems solved.
The tally in four days:
2 Macbooks
45,231 MP3s to start
39,951 MP3s to end
56 gigs of Phish
1 busted Dell Inspiron E1705
Excited about this.
Thursday, January 29
7:00 AM - I wake up to find my Dell laptop frozen. Thinking nothing of it, I restart the computer. It freezes on the Dell logo as horror fills my veins. My immediate reaction being, "Ohmygod, am I going to lose all of my Phish mp3s?"
8:00 AM - Despite running in and out of the shower to check on the computer, it still has shown no progress and is dead, dead, dead. Funeral arrangements are made. I call my dad and tell him the computer situation. It is described as the "Kobiashi Maru" of computer crashes. That means "not good."
9:00 AM - 6:00 PM - Work, while thinking, "I'll get home and the laptop will be fine." Midway through the day I am convinced to look at a Mac by a couple friends. By the end of the day, I've already plotted my route to the Apple Store in Bethesda.
6:30 PM - Arrive home and head for Apple Store in Bethesda with the remaining Vegas winnings in hand.
7:30 PM - I purchase my first Macbook. In and out in 10 minutes. It's a thing of beauty. Though on a side note, elderly workers there make me realize that they aren't working at Apple Store because they're bored of retirement. It's because their retirement is almost dried up. Very depressing.
8:30 PM - I am home and turn on my Macbook. Immediately I plug my 500 gig hard drive in and start copying mp3s. I am prompted to do a software update which I do and then reboot.
8:35 PM - A grey screen appears on my Macbook upon reboot. I think nothing of it.
8:37 PM - The grey screen remains and my temperature rises.
8:40 PM - I am in full panic mode again as I've seemingly crashed an uncrashable machine. I unplug the hard drive and get the machine to shut down. Depression sets in.
Friday, January 30
9:00 AM - 4:00 PM - I spend with my dog at the behavioral vet (read: Doggy Therapist) where I learn my dog has anxiety disorder, is afraid of other dogs, and needs to be put on Prozac. Not doggy Prozac, but real people Prozac.
5:00 PM - I come home and find the macbook is working with no hard drives plugged in. I plan on taking it back. Somehow this doesn't happen until....
9:00 PM - I get to the Apple Store in Bethesda and find that it's closed. I am still computerless. For a guy who loves connecting and playing with music and photos (read: nerd) this is awful.
Saturday, January 31
1:00 PM - I take the macbook to the Apple Store in Pentagon City. "Big Tony" hooks me up and gives me an upgraded Macbook for $100 extra instead of charging me for the open box.
1:30 PM - I get home and set up the Mac this time having a theory that the hard drive is causing the problems. I start the unthinkable task of copying ALL my mp3s to my Macbook's internal hard drive. Since the hard drive is being recognized so long as its not on boot up, this seems like a great fix. I'll have all my songs and I can take the baby with me anywhere.
About 40 gigs in I realize that the mp3s going in are going to be greater than the space allowed. I start to do an audit of my mp3s and delete albums to make space as my thinking is that 27 James Brown albums and 18 KISS albums is a little excessive. Anything to save the 56 gigs of live Phish mp3s.
8:00 PM - Operation continues as I delete the excessive number of 10cc albums I seem to have acquired and the 35 Jimmy Smith albums I downloaded over the years.
11:30 PM - Pork-induced sleep caused by Chris and Mary Corcoran.
Sunday, February 1
1:00 PM - Travel to Apple Store in Bethesda AGAIN and get Microsoft office in exchange for iWork. Great trade. I still am copying mp3s all afternoon with no problems.
6:00 PM - I take the laptop to Chris' and watch the Superbowl as I audit my music collection.
10:30 PM - It suddenly hits me to try to restart the computer with my OTHER external hard drive to see if its the hard drives or the computer. My 80 gig hard drive works, my 500 gig causes crashes. Case solved. Only took me 4 days.
Monday, February 2
7:00 PM - I finish copying my mp3s to my computer, store a few in other places and talk to Greg Greene about how I can get this all to work. At last the computer is ready to rock. We agree that I need a new external hard drive and I'll run some mp3s off of it and some on my internal hard drive. Problems solved.
The tally in four days:
2 Macbooks
45,231 MP3s to start
39,951 MP3s to end
56 gigs of Phish
1 busted Dell Inspiron E1705
Excited about this.
Sunday, January 25, 2009
Monday, December 15, 2008
I've been tagged!
Ok so my friend and colleague, James "Jaywalk" Walker, tagged me so here is the game plan:
1. I have a tattoo and want another. When I was a sophomore at Syracuse, I went to the Village Star II at the corner of McDougal and Bleecker Streets in New York City and got a late-night tattoo. I wanted to get a bass clef on my ankle because it was one of the first instruments I played. I got it on my ankle in hopes that my parents wouldn't see that the Jewish boy "destroyed" his body (yeah, that didn't really work out). When I got the tattoo, the guy said it was the 2nd most creative tattoo he'd ever done. I asked him what was the most creative tattoo he did and he said, "Some guy wanted me to make it look like there was a panther jumping out of his ass!" My good friend, Jenny P, was there for it all.
2. I played hockey in high school. While the Mainline Philadelphia kids (read: Jews) did tennis lessons and basketball, I lived with all the Irish catholic kids and played ice and roller hockey. I loved it. There are now five NHL fans still alive. I'm happy to be one of them.
3. I worked at both Blockbuster and Ruby Tuesday's one summer while living in Syracuse. I did nothing but worked and took two classes that later never even applied to my major. I made over $3000 that summer. I am pretty sure I spent all of the money on candy and DVDs.
4. I am really good at remembering names and faces. Part of this is because I used to be a fundraiser; part of this is a natural skill developed by those with ADD. People ask me, "Berg - how do you have 1800 friends on Facebook?" and I say, "I just remember names and faces really well." It's weird because my dad went through a 5 year period where he called all my friends that were girls either "Amy" or "Jen" because those were the girls I hung out with. He's much better now and remembers everyone. The part of my brain that was supposed to store knowledge of literature and academics, was clearly used to remember the random hippie I met at a Phish show in 2000.
5. I have been to over 40+ Phish shows. That's right, I saw the quintessential jam band more times than I can count. I'm estimating about 45, but I have no idea really. I just know I did a lot of dancing, missed a lot of class and ate a lot of grilled cheese.
6. I am a total fan boy Ever since I was two and my father took me to see "Return of the Jedi" I have been into science fiction, fan boy-type movies and being a nerd. I'm a big "Star Trek" geek too and would put "Star Trek: The Next Generation" among my top 5 shows of all time. I have a light saber application on my Iphone and a life size cardboard cutout of Admiral Ackbar in my office. I am also now regretting this post, but whatever.
7. I love to network and meet new people. I have never been really shy. It's a blessing and a curse. I feel comfortable with crowds to the point where if you ask a lot of my friends how we met, more than half will probably say randomly on a street or at a Phillies game or in a parking lot. When I was at grad school at GW in 2003, there were evidently "two" Adam Rosenbergs at the school. Go Figure! One (me) was in grad school, the other in undergrad. Somehow I received an email containing a beta-test version of the original Facebook (back when it still had text on the page that read "Too close for missiles, I'm switching to guns.") and I started using it to connect to new people and old friends. I love that social media has made random meetings and friendships a more acceptable occurrence in society. Friends can now be officially friends and trust each other simply by knowing they have "over 50 mutual friends." It's the networking aspect to building relationships that drives me and fascinates me about social marketing. My friends Adam, Jason and Matt are good examples of this idea in effect. I was never formally introduced to either of them, but eventually hit such a high number of common friends, that we just accepted that we were friends and left it at that. It's a lot like starting a friendship on the 15th time you hang out versus from scratch.
So the special folks who have been tagged:
Adam Conner
Jenny Piston
Matt Ortega
Jason Rosenberg
Craig "Tiger" Smith
Brendon Fleming
Brendan Lilly
To those tagged, your mission is:
-link your original tagger in your post
-share seven facts about yourself in the post
-tag seven people at the end with their names and links to their blogs
-let them know they've been tagged
Good Luck!
- link your original tagger(s), and list these rules on your blog.
- share seven facts about yourself in the post - some random, some weird.
- tag seven people at the end of your post by leaving their names and the links to their blogs.
- let them know they’ve been tagged by leaving a comment on their blogs and/or twitter
1. I have a tattoo and want another. When I was a sophomore at Syracuse, I went to the Village Star II at the corner of McDougal and Bleecker Streets in New York City and got a late-night tattoo. I wanted to get a bass clef on my ankle because it was one of the first instruments I played. I got it on my ankle in hopes that my parents wouldn't see that the Jewish boy "destroyed" his body (yeah, that didn't really work out). When I got the tattoo, the guy said it was the 2nd most creative tattoo he'd ever done. I asked him what was the most creative tattoo he did and he said, "Some guy wanted me to make it look like there was a panther jumping out of his ass!" My good friend, Jenny P, was there for it all.
2. I played hockey in high school. While the Mainline Philadelphia kids (read: Jews) did tennis lessons and basketball, I lived with all the Irish catholic kids and played ice and roller hockey. I loved it. There are now five NHL fans still alive. I'm happy to be one of them.
3. I worked at both Blockbuster and Ruby Tuesday's one summer while living in Syracuse. I did nothing but worked and took two classes that later never even applied to my major. I made over $3000 that summer. I am pretty sure I spent all of the money on candy and DVDs.
4. I am really good at remembering names and faces. Part of this is because I used to be a fundraiser; part of this is a natural skill developed by those with ADD. People ask me, "Berg - how do you have 1800 friends on Facebook?" and I say, "I just remember names and faces really well." It's weird because my dad went through a 5 year period where he called all my friends that were girls either "Amy" or "Jen" because those were the girls I hung out with. He's much better now and remembers everyone. The part of my brain that was supposed to store knowledge of literature and academics, was clearly used to remember the random hippie I met at a Phish show in 2000.
5. I have been to over 40+ Phish shows. That's right, I saw the quintessential jam band more times than I can count. I'm estimating about 45, but I have no idea really. I just know I did a lot of dancing, missed a lot of class and ate a lot of grilled cheese.
6. I am a total fan boy Ever since I was two and my father took me to see "Return of the Jedi" I have been into science fiction, fan boy-type movies and being a nerd. I'm a big "Star Trek" geek too and would put "Star Trek: The Next Generation" among my top 5 shows of all time. I have a light saber application on my Iphone and a life size cardboard cutout of Admiral Ackbar in my office. I am also now regretting this post, but whatever.
7. I love to network and meet new people. I have never been really shy. It's a blessing and a curse. I feel comfortable with crowds to the point where if you ask a lot of my friends how we met, more than half will probably say randomly on a street or at a Phillies game or in a parking lot. When I was at grad school at GW in 2003, there were evidently "two" Adam Rosenbergs at the school. Go Figure! One (me) was in grad school, the other in undergrad. Somehow I received an email containing a beta-test version of the original Facebook (back when it still had text on the page that read "Too close for missiles, I'm switching to guns.") and I started using it to connect to new people and old friends. I love that social media has made random meetings and friendships a more acceptable occurrence in society. Friends can now be officially friends and trust each other simply by knowing they have "over 50 mutual friends." It's the networking aspect to building relationships that drives me and fascinates me about social marketing. My friends Adam, Jason and Matt are good examples of this idea in effect. I was never formally introduced to either of them, but eventually hit such a high number of common friends, that we just accepted that we were friends and left it at that. It's a lot like starting a friendship on the 15th time you hang out versus from scratch.
So the special folks who have been tagged:
Adam Conner
Jenny Piston
Matt Ortega
Jason Rosenberg
Craig "Tiger" Smith
Brendon Fleming
Brendan Lilly
To those tagged, your mission is:
-link your original tagger in your post
-share seven facts about yourself in the post
-tag seven people at the end with their names and links to their blogs
-let them know they've been tagged
Good Luck!
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