Class Note 1992
I enjoy having my own little class of ’92 reunions because it is always great to see great friends and it also allows me to use them for Class Notes! That said, these notes come on the heels of a couple of visits—one to me, and one by me. The visit to me came from Sarah Pettus, who is in the States from New Zealand for a few months with her husband, Troy Baisden ’93, and their daughter Sage. Great to have her in Philly for about 24 hours!
Two days later I was in Ridgefield, Connecticut, meeting up with a few college roommates in John Davi, Tom Brodie and Ben Crawford. It was a great time, and those of you who make these reunions a habit are probably not surprised to hear that it was dominated by the eight rug-rats who had the run of the place. We ate some hot dogs and burgers, threw a few carrots and celery sticks in the mix to balance the meal and ended a fantastic visit with roasted marshmallows over the fire pit. (I, like the kids, was jonesing for s’mores, but alas ’twas not to be.) And of course, I can’t leave out the youngsters putting together a well-choreographed performance to “Party in the U-S-A” for us! All in all, a great day.
Anyone else got visits like that to report on? Bring it! Summer, winter, fall…and yes, spring too. I’ll take any and all get-togethers!
Got a press release from Innerscope Researchers literally a day or two after my last set of notes went in, so this is a little old as news goes. But it’s still cool, so I wanted to get some love to Lisa Haverty, who joined Innerscope in July. So what does Innerscope do? “Innerscope is dedicated to solving difficult market research questions by measuring and analyzing unconscious emotional responses to media and marketing stimuli. It accurately predicts consumer behaviors, providing Fortune 100 and media companies with an unprecedented level of consumer insight. Innerscope leverages the latest advances in biomedics, neuroscience and eye tracking to measure moment-to-moment emotional engagement, the primary driver of behavior and choice.” Wow. Crazy technology! Lisa is considered a pioneer in the application of neuroscience to advertising and an expert on advertising brand recall and consumer learning. You could do what I did…google “CogScore” and see what comes up. Amazing stuff, Lisa! Congratulations!
Noah Sprafkin wrote in to tell me he and his family have gone from the “Backwaters of Bihar” in India to “Chaos in Karachi” in Pakistan: “My wife, 2-year-old daughter and I have been living in Karachi since November 2008 due to my work helping manage a large reproductive health service delivery program.” On a more serious note, he wrote, “Frankly, Pakistan in general but especially the majority of the people get a bad rap—although there are some people involved in terrorism, the reality on the ground is that most people are just trying to live their lives like anyone else in the world. The humanitarian crisis caused by the flooding has been devastating and will likely continue to cause the people of Pakistan to suffer for a long time. I think there is an excellent opportunity and critical need for our class to act to alleviate some of the suffering caused by this immediate crisis and to also help change perceptions of Pakistan on a broader level. The big question is, ‘What to do?’ ”
What do you think, classmates? Ideas?
—Mike Mahoney, Penn Athletic Communications, 235 S. 33rd St., Philadelphia, PA 19104; (215) 898-9232; mahoneyw@upenn.edu
