It’s 2008

It’s 2008. I spent the holidays in Texas and it turned out to be a very American, and maybe even more Texan experience, including barbeque in Lockhart, outlet malls in San Marcos, and walking out of a church in protest against a horribly inappropriate homily that rambled about the homosexual threat against families (clearly a sign it’s election season).

Looking back on 2007, it was a good year for me: I became a first-time homeowner, a godfather and an uncle. Professionally, I entered my second year at my job and kept learning and developing: announcing a new season; another mariachi concert; working on the Web portion of the radio broadcasts; and seeing Silk Road Chicago come to a spectacular culmination. And most importantly, I still love what I do.

Many media already published their annual “best of…” lists in December and time picked its Person of the Year (Russian president Putin, which was a fascinating read). Somewhat randomly, I wanted to add the best performances, best books and best Web sites in 2007 from my perspective. Starting with three performances: Dr. Atomic at the Lyric Opera; Ayre in MusicNOW at the Harris Theater; and Mariachi Vargas at Symphony Center. My best reads in 2007 were The Rest is Noise by Alex Ross; The Creators by Daniel Boorstin; and Hoera! Een nieuwe president by Charles Groenhuijsen. And best Web sites of 2007, according to my usage, were LinkedIn, Facebook and BarackObama.com.

Looking to this coming year, an election year if there ever was one, we’re in for an exciting one. Performance-wise I’m looking forward to Ainadamar in February and, even though we’re only halfway done through this season, all the groundwork for announcing the 2008-2009 season has got me energized for the coming season. Regarding books, I’ll read plenty and report back. On the Internet, I’m keeping a close eye on the growth of Inside The Arts, but also how the election, especially after the primaries, will seize social media and the Internet as a whole. In one example, I have “thrown” Mike Huckabee to a friend on Facebook, using the “superpoke” application.

All this nonsensical “superpoke” stuff aside, it’s going to be an interesting election cycle for communicators and Web experts. But, as I was reminded in Charles Groenhuijsen’s book, “there are still more viewers than surfers.” Every candidate’s focus, first and foremost, is television.

Let’s see if 2008 will indeed be the year of change, already the year’s most popular word.

9 January 2008 | Across the board, All things Chicago, Cultural Affairs, New Media and Blogosphere, Stories from the Road | Comments