BLOG: WHAT HAPPENS?

Blog, a word that is well-known and discriminated at the same time

Are you a journalist? Do you write for a newspaper or a magazine? Ok. But what happens if you are a journalist and write for a blog? Everything changes, or to be precise, your professionalism changes. That’s what I feel every day when I attend a press day, an event or a press conference.

When I founded my blog in 2012, I didn’t have a clear idea or a general vision. In that period of my life I was getting closer to writing and to the multimedia world that web proposes. Some specific mechanisms, like SEO and website positioning strategy, were completely unknown for me. I didn’t “see” them, I wasn’t aware of their existence and ignored there are appropriate professional studies. Blissful ignorance? I don’t know…

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ADPOCALYPSE …NOW: FAMOUS BUT POOR. HOW WILL YOUTUBE CHANGE?

Wannabe YouTubers? If you think that it’s time to count on your creativity and your supposed videomaking skills, unfortunately you are running out of time. To make money with YouTube is a good idea like to bet on the victory of the Italian team at the 2018 FIFA World Cup. Have you ever heard about AdPocalypse?

«Have you ever considered any real freedoms? Freedoms from the opinion of others… even the opinions of yourself».

I decided to start the article with a quote from “Apocalypse Now” about freedom. Today I want to clarify what AdPocalypse is since, probably it is destined to revolutionize YouTube.

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BLACK FRIDAY: SALES, SHOPPING…AND GOODBYE DIGNITY!

Are you going through a bad time? The only black day that everybody wait for, is just one: Black Friday. It’s the most known commercial ‘holiday’, is the beginning of Xmas purchases and pushes to empty our wallet. Great deals, guys! Let’s go shopping!

The appeal of the United States strikes back. So, in addition to Halloween, McDonald and the bridesmaids, in Italy we imported even Black Friday. Probably, many people know that it’s a day (the fourth Friday of November) in which especially the big stores organize incredible promotions and super sales. In other words, it’s the occasion in which everybody needs to buy whatever they find on special offer, of course. Because, it isn’t so difficult to exaggerate. At the beginning you buy just a hard disk and an hour later you have become an associate at Microsoft.

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LAST-MINUTE INVITATION: NO THANKS!

How many times did you get a last-minute invitation? It doesn’t matter if it is for a birthday party, a press day or a fashion show, the rule is only one: you must say no. If you are wondering why, the answer is easy: be proud.

Whoever calls you at 7:30pm to attend a party scheduled at 8:00pm, generally doesn’t do it for love. We can say that you are the replacement (maybe) number 1 for a place that unexpectedly became available. The same rule is valid when a last-minute invitation is sent to take part in a press day or in any event that of course has been scheduled months ago.

Do you know how airlines manage the overbooking? It’s the same philosophy: there’s a main list and then there’s the one with the reserves. Nobody likes sitting on the substitutes’ bench, therefore, when your participation is asked with a ridiculous notice, remember to say no. If you are looking for a good reason to refuse, find it in your pride. That place wasn’t yours, someone is kindly proposing you to act as a stopgap.

As everyone knows, last-minute invitation is concealed like a forgetfulness, it could be both an e-mail and a text enriched with cute emoticons, or a phone call introduced by a fake “Daaaaaaaaaaaarling!”.

One of the most classic excuses is that your invitation probably got lost “because you know, there are many mail inefficiencies…” or that the e-mail service had some problems in the latest days “and so, you cannot imagine what a mess!”.

The point is that when you will understand (and it isn’t difficult!) that you weren’t the choice but the alternative, you need to decline. Cordially.

Think about how you would feel if the guy that you like decides to have dinner with you only because another girl gave him a flat refusal. The sensation is being a second-best, a not bad option that in any case could work.

It’s obvious that a last-minute invitation for a fashion show doesn’t have any emotional involvement, but unless you really consider it important or can take some economic and professional advantage from it, saying no will be classy and won’t make you look like a desperate that was anxiously waiting for that call. If it would be too difficult, at least take time and hesitate: pretend to check your planning, to have to reschedule another appointment…in other words, keep in limbo those who behaved in this way with you until the very last moment.

It’s a matter of principle, nobody loves a heated-up soup, even less if it’s the one that someone else rejected. Bear in mind that, it doesn’t matter the circumstance, those who want you will seek you, and will do it in advance. In this case, Miranda Priestly is a great example to follow: «I don’t understand why it’s so difficult to confirm an appointment. […] R.S.V.P. Yes to Michael Kors’ party, I want the driver to drop me off at 9:30 and pick me up at 9:45 sharp. Call Natalie at Glorious Foods and tell her no for the fortieth time. No! I don’t want dacquoise. I want tortes filled with warm rhubarb compote […] ». Devil wears Prada, docet.

 

HASHTAGS: RAIN OF # AND OTHER DISTURBANCES

Twitter, Instagram and then Facebook: and it’s hashtags mania. Created to group together the posts related to a specific topic and make easier any social interactions, they became a trend that maybe exploded too quickly.

Fabri Fibra and Thegiornalisti sing “Adults that take selfies are upset, they don’t find the words even for the hashtags ”, and I want to say, FORTUNATELY. Because every day we see too many hash marks that are improperly used.

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BIOLINE JATÒ: WHEN BEAUTY MEETS WELLNESS

What happens if you put together an autumn morning in Trento with the chilly mountain air, a good lunch just in front the cathedral and wellness? That’s the day with Bioline JaTò!

Who said that beauty is pure vanity essence? It’s an oversimplification to consider just the hedonistic side because the real soul of beauty is strictly related to body care. We could define it a travel towards wellness and that’s the main concept of Bioline JaTò philosophy.

As Mrs. Clara Macchiella Corradini – the owner of the brand that nicely greeted us – told us, the company was born almost 40 years ago. It’s was pretty casual. Bioline JaTò arouse from the failure of a project related to the creation of a product line for Comano thermal baths, in Trentino. Why to set everything aside? So, they decided to develop a pure line with natural extracts for beauty centers.

And that’s in this way that the story of Bioline JaTò begins, a family business strongly characterized by the personality of the people who run it. A mix of traditions and values that nowadays are internationally recognized.

 

Variation & Diversification

Two key-words that Bioline JaTò used to build its world. Everyone is different, each body is different too. Seasons change, and so even biorhythms and needs. To offer a standard treatment would be a mistake. For this reason, the company counts on the education of the beauticians, the talent of a professional is in her skills and in the ability to propose different products according the needs of the client, the period, etc. Her job is to lead towards a path that allows to consider the body not only a physical dimension but a mix of emotions and sensations. Who goes to the beauty center, doesn’t look exclusively for a solution to beauty problems, on the contrary she wants to enjoy a wellness experience that satisfies her senses.

Physical and emotional spheres are interconnected and well-balanced but sometimes, to deal with our body could be complicated. So, it’s fundamental that the beautician can understand what the final client asks for: not only a treatment but the will to feel good.

Bioline JaTò constantly pays attention to the skills of professionals that use its lines and opened a school to teach massage techniques, product management, beauty event organization and managerial hints.

 

Feel Good. Look Good.

It’s the mantra of the company and represents even the fundamentals of an innovative method based on VERSATILITY (final clients can be both men and women), PERSONALIZATION (specific treatments), SIMPLICITY (easy product classification), NEW COMPOSITIONS (cosmetology evolution, advanced technologies and more efficacy).

Bioline JaTò works in a dynamic industry that thanks to the research continuously reinvents itself and looks for new goals. More modern functional formulas are developed: they’re purer, essential and concentrated to guarantee higher performances and improve the sensorial side that, of course, makes the product more appealing for the consumer.

Relax

During our day with Bioline, we had the opportunity to try one of the professional treatments. A relaxing moment to totally regenerate our legs. The first product the beautician applied was a scrub (exfo marine) with salt crystals. After dead cells have been removed, drn cell oil was applied to make the skin more elastic and soft. The last product was a body lotion able to immediately soothe the epidermis.

If you want to know more, I suggest you visit Bioline JaTò website and follow the company on social networks with the hashtags #ungiornoconbioline, #bioline, #biolinejato and #blubeauty.

AUTUMN AND MELANCHOLY: END-SUMMER STORIES, MEMORIES AND DAILY ROUTINE

Summer, it’s a nice memory that slowly fades among the warm autumn colors. Days shorten, temperatures drop and melancholy could easily affect us.

Sea, beach, travels, summer loves, sunsets with friends…everything seems to be faraway and to come back to ordinary life appears difficult, almost impossible. Depression? Technically speaking it’s called Holiday Blues. And even if in autumn this pathology generally arises in a light and temporary way, sometimes it can degenerate.

Long-lasting holiday? To put bikini and sandals away could make you cry! You collected expectations, desires, need to relax and now you have no more than dissatisfaction and delusion.

Leaves turn yellow and your hormones go crazy: almost one week in which the autumn reveals itself in the form of loss of concentration, anxiety, sleepiness and nervousness. So, it’s the #NeverAjoy Fall/Winter Edition. Can we avoid this blue syndrome? Almost everybody is affected when it’s time to start again the routine and the stress of daily life arises.

And what happens when it gets dark early in the afternoon? The situation is about to deteriorate! In fact, it has been scientifically proved that lack of solar light negatively influences the mood. It’s enough to look at you to read a clear message in your eyes: Keep away from me, today – and maybe even tomorrow! – I could kill you. Or probably I’m gonna cry!

Our psyche flips out, how to survive? Here 3 basic rules:

  1. Take some days of transition between holidays and routine, so avoid coming back home just before the last day of vacation!
  2. Don’t give up good summer habits: go to the gym, eat healthy, reset the sleep-wake rhythm and reduce the number of cocktails. Goodbye Spritz!
  3. Have short and frequent breaks during the day, and don’t study or work in the weekend.

What’s the secret of happiness? Any magic formula, it’s enough to stay focused on positive thoughts and follow your own aims. In the end, if we were always on holiday, we wouldn’t really appreciate it.

So, when during the autumn we’ll look at the pics taken in the previous months, we probably will be nostalgic but at the same time will feel the need to leave again, to think about a new trip. Summer is inside us. Summer is a state of mind.

 

 

 

T-SHIRTS TELL STORIES: HOW AND WHY A TEE CAN SAY A LOT ABOUT US

Outfit and personality go hand in hand. In spite of what a well-known proverb says, sometimes you can judge a book by its cover and our clothes say a lot about us. T-shirts are the items that in a way mainly describe our character and make visible our thoughts.

Open your closet and count how many t-shirts are there. At least twenty, some of them are in the bottom drawer and belongs to the past. Do you remember when you were used to pile up the tees with the name of the cities you visited? I have at least five t-shirts from Paris.

Garments for the gym, to stay at home, basic, with colored patterns, with famous characters from cartoons, large or fitted. A very long list that can tell who we are. Except the easy wear items we bought just because they’re practical, the ones we carefully choose can deliver a specific message.

Many times we are attracted by a statement or a picture because they work as a mirror. It’s a mirror that interprets our forma mentis or maybe something that we’d like to shout out.

A t-shirt with Snow White means a back to the childhood, if you put on a tee that says I’m friendly, I can’t be also slim it’s a way to be ironic about your body. And when you go to the Hard Rock Café and buy another tee for your collection, it’s a way to keep with you a memory.

T-shirts speak, there’s no much to say about it. They tell a story. Also the most eccentric ones, the tees from the ‘90s that your mother has partially turned into dust cloth. Yes, also those ones have a past. I scrupulously keep them in my closet. Even the t-shirts I wore when I was a child, the first ones by Disney that someone distractedly ruined ironing.

Nowadays, vintage is fashionable again and in the stores it isn’t difficult to find t-shirts with names and logos belonging to celebrity bands like Iron Maiden and Metallica. The funniest side is that you see them in the hands (and then also dressed!) of callow guys that maybe are used to listen to One Direction. But in the end, this is a way to express themselves. Aspirational maybe.

One tee, one story. For this reason, I can’t throw them away. Today I have been in a department store and a nice lady asked me to translate the statement printed on a t-shirt «I mean, it’s a present and I don’t know if these ones are bad words…». It was in English of course. Live now. Good choice!

Gym and Fitness: 5 kinds of people you will inevitably meet

The gym is the place for bringing up great expectations, good intentions and unkept promises.

Be honest, it’s easy to take out a membership! Some people buy expensive yearly subscriptions to force themselves to go there regularly. Unfortunately, many times the aim is losing weight but in the end only the wallet looks slimmer. In the meantime, there are also people who live at the gym, you meet them from Monday to Sunday and, who knows, maybe they sleep between the bike and the treadmill.

The fauna at the gym is varied, but if we want to be scientific and dare to do a classification, it is possible to identify 5 categories:

The dreamers:

The dreamers are those ones that are used to call workout activities as bench fit, aqua gym and stretching. So, I think that is fair to add to Olympic sports also fork lifting, vaulting on the bed and sloth on the couch.

The gossipers:

The gossipers go to the gym to train just a muscle: the tongue. They don’t sweat, spend time chatting and badmouthing. They know everything about all members of the club and inexplicably are always close to you. Don’t care about their questions, you risk to be…on the front page!

The seducers:

The seducers are always around the sexiest trainers. They generally attend zumba or pilates class and wear slinky leggings that draw attention to the unavoidable G-string. Of course, it peeps out at each squat. Crazed.

The know-it-all:

Also if you don’t know him, are lost in your thoughts and don’t care about the rest of the world, the know-it-all comes close to you and lists all the mistakes you are doing during the training. His ego is limitless, and so he seizes the opportunity to show off his culture about gym and workout. Try to play dead, it’s the only way to make him silent.

The lady-killer:

He considers himself the playboy of the gym and wearing a snug vest is sure to look as a Greek God. The lady-killer is very muscular, forever bronzed and foul-smelling because of a mix of perfume and sweat. According to him, the gym is a marriage agency. Between a deltoid and a pectoral tries to talk endlessly to you and, using the excuse to teach you how to do an exercise, puts his hand on your butt. There’s only one repellent: the Zumba class.

Everybody sing Sanremo: The Festival lights up the city of flowers

Everybody sing Sanremo, everybody talk about Sanremo. We can’t deny that the event of the week is Sanremo Music Festival.

Every year February brings the music to the so-called city of flowers causing polemics, transforming each of us into skilled musicians or into esthetes ready to judge the outfits of the protagonists. Sanremo is democratic because is a topic that interests many people both who like it and who don’t. Everybody want to be informed about the Festival but then no one watches it on TV (or at least, they say so!), but five days a year, everything in Italy concerns Sanremo.

The most beautiful experience in my career as a journalist is linked to this wonderful ritual that is loved and hated. Living the Festival in the press room and in those holy locations like Teatro Ariston is exciting, stressful, amazing and mainly slimming. Rhythm of these days is a no-stop and is both a benefit for the silhouette and a mess for a nervous system.

The final is scheduled on Saturday 11th but also the first days gave us adrenaline and panic. Here what happened:

BOMB THREAT

What happens if while you are in the press room and are working someone asks you to escape and be fast as Bolt at the Olympics? Panic! Bomb threat. And so, you understand that this edition of the Festival will be…explosive!

TUESDAY NIGHT FEVER

Maria De Filippi is the best of this year. Carlo Conti decided to not have the classic assistants (or co-presenters to be politically correct) but wanted a queen at his side. In the end, thanks to both, Maria & Carlo continue the tradition to have the couple blonde & brunette on the stage. Just a glitch: on Tuesday Maria was sick. She didn’t attend the press conference and put her hope in the hands of paracetamol. God bless fever reducer!

OOOOOPS

During the opening of the Festival there were few blunders! And I’m not talking about Maria’s half-fall due to the high-heeled shoes, but also and mainly about the crime against elegance. The female singers, except Fiorella Mannoia, moved up the Carnival and showed off some outfits that made us to regret the ‘80s. Girls, remember: you are not Lady Gaga!