Santa Got His Emmy

Okay, don't laugh. I won an Emmy on Saturday. Was I in L.A. partying with Don Draper and the cast of Mad Men? No, I was at the National Television Academy's Upper Midwest Chapter Awards Gala. That's a regional outlet of the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences, which does the Emmys.

Every year, the NTA gives away about 100 awards for excellence in television journalism (the 35W Bridge collapse had several of its own categories, to give you a sense of the scope). My friend and video collaborator, Tyler Richter, found an obscure non-TV category called "Online Marketing Initiative, Independent" (that's 41D), and entered "Santa Lost His Mojo," our campy music video/short film/website developed as a holiday promotion for my former agency last year.

When the magic moment came, what seemed like 9 hours into the ceremony, it was announced that we had, indeed, defeated "Experience Eagan" and "Sutherland, the Killer Next Door." And so, yes, we won an Emmy. A regional Emmy. Literally, one Emmy. Which, since Tyler did the application, he gets to keep.

Me, I have to figure out how to order one for myself... and pay for it. Watch your back, Steve Carell!

P.S. Special thanks to Tyler "Attack Ad" Richter, Brian Tard Larson, pfoser, Shaniqua Manogue, Pat Whiteboard Rosenstiel, "Ted for the Border" Wright, Stephen Ambrose Johnson, and Kevin Shrink Sawyer. And now, the best worst song I've ever written: