Michael B. Duff

michaelduff: @peggyolson is crouched in a stairwell at the #shorty awards, so we’re gonna get started. Peggy, feel free to use more than one tweet.

peggyolson: Will do. Unfortunately, the music is so loud here at the hall where they held the Shorty Awards, I can’t hear myself think.

michaelduff: First off, congratulations, on your big night. How does it feel to be getting an award?

peggyolson: It feels amazing. There were so many people here at the awards show that wanted to meet me, I was surprised.

michaelduff: Were you nervous on stage?

peggyolson: No, I wasn’t nervous at all. But was surprised that the crowd hushed when I walked on stage. Didn’t expect that.

michaelduff: I have to ask, what did Peggy Olson think of MC Hammer?

michaelduff: (Ha, that one made her think!)

peggyolson: A reporter asked to take my picture with that musician and later said that I was more popular tonight than the musician was.

michaelduff: Any advice for other ad “girls” out there, aiming to win an award?

peggyolson: Being a copywriter is fun, but creating something from nothing is harder than it looks. Sometimes a lot is riding on your words

michaelduff: I know things haven’t always been easy for you at Sterling Cooper. Do you feel like they’ve accepted you?

peggyolson: I have to prove myself over again every day. It’s still a man’s world. But it keeps me on my toes. I don’t mind working harder.

michaelduff: How do your co-workers feel about the award?

peggyolson: My coworkers are thrilled. We look at the #Shorty Award as an award for all of us. We all worked together to make it happen.

michaelduff: Definitely a team effort. And now may I speak to the woman behind the curtain?

peggyolson: Sure. You know what they say, advertising is all smoke and mirrors – and they’re half right. Thx for the interview. Means a lot

CarriBugbee: That’s right, folks. If you haven’t heard, I’m the voice behind @PeggyOlson. Doing a live post-award Twitter interview now w/ @MichaelDuff.

michaelduff: @CarriBugbee Welcome Carri Bugbee. So you really are in #advertising. You’re not just a crazed fan?

michaelduff: A gentleman would have put “crazed fan” in quotes.

CarriBugbee: Ha! Who called us “crazed fans?” Oh, yeah. Virtually all the bloggers & journalists who covered the saga of Mad Men on Twitter.

CarriBugbee: Oops. Missed the first question. No, I’m not a crazed fan. More like a crazed marketer. Wanted to push the envelope of twitter.

michaelduff: But you do come from an advertising background. Is that what drew you to Peggy?

CarriBugbee: Absolutely. I worked at a well-known ad shop when I was young. Wanted to be a copywriter. But it was all about the boys club.

michaelduff: What year was this?

michaelduff: (Approximately. Wasn’t trying to make you do math.)

CarriBugbee: Gosh, a lady never tells her age. I was just a year out of college at the time. But quickly saw there was no future for females

CarriBugbee: It was in 1988. Knew it was auspicious. I started work on 8/8/88. No lie. I knew it was going to great or awful. Was the latter

michaelduff: Are you saying things haven’t changed much since 1962?

CarriBugbee: Oh, I think they’ve changed a lot in the past 20 years. But hadn’t changed much in the 80s. At least not where I was working.

michaelduff: So, how much of you is in @peggyolson?

CarriBugbee: A LOT of me is in @PeggyOlson. If I were 22 living in 1962, it’s quite possible I would be that earnest. And a go-getter.

michaelduff: So this attitude toward women, is this what drove you to start your own company?

CarriBugbee: What drove me to start my own company was recession of 1992-93. Got sick of looking for a job. Wanted people to find me instead

CarriBugbee: I also liked idea of creating my own opportunities. When I worked at the ad agency, I KNEW I would be self-employed someday.

michaelduff: Sounds like the ultimate destiny for @peggyolson, if they make it through enough seasons.

CarriBugbee: Yes, I think @PeggyOlson is destined to be a creative director. Can’t WAIT for that episode. I’ll be cheering! 🙂

michaelduff: Were you the first Mad Men Twitter character?

CarriBugbee: No, I was the 3rd Mad Men character. First was @Don_Draper & then @Joan_Holloway – both of whom have dropped out now I guess.

michaelduff: (Notice, she has time to tweet other people in between questions. And I thought I typed fast.)

michaelduff: So what were your intentions, when you started @peggyolson?

CarriBugbee: My original intention was just to have fun. That lasted for maybe 2 hours. Once I saw how interested people were, that shifted.

CarriBugbee: Then my intention was to treat it like a job and gather data. Was all about the case study or white paper in the first 2 months

michaelduff: What were you trying to prove?

CarriBugbee: I didn’t want to prove anything. I just wanted to pioneer ways to use Twitter as a marketing medium. Knew it could be done.

michaelduff: I didn’t really think of Twitter as a marketing medium until tonight. But seeing these awards, you’d think that was primary.

CarriBugbee: Twitter as a marketing medium was obviously not the original intention of the platform, but hey, marketers are resourceful! 😉

michaelduff: @peggyolson has a very authentic voice and I see a lot of attention to detail. What kind of preparations have you made?

CarriBugbee: I’ve done a HUGE amount of research. I transcribed all @PeggyOlson’s dialogue from Mad Men, make notes on background stuff…

CarriBugbee: …all the Mad Men characters on Twitter do a lot of fact-checking. Always to make sure it’s authentic to 1962.

michaelduff: Have the fans ever caught a mistake?

CarriBugbee: Yes, once I referenced the wrong Brooklyn neighborhood for Peggy. But a good & loyal fan caught that mistake & gave me heads up

michaelduff: I heard you actually caught the show in a mistake…

CarriBugbee: Yes, there was a continuity problem in the show w/ Paul Kinsey’s character going to the Mississippi riots in 1962.

CarriBugbee: One day, it’s seemingly August, but he’s only gone two weeks and when he comes back, it’s late Sept. Screwed up my tweets!

michaelduff: So, about the awards themselves. Are you happy with your big reveal?

CarriBugbee: Oh, crap! We closed down the bar and now they want us to go! I probably have to wrap up. Or tweet outdoors. Which I can do. 😉

michaelduff: Hang with me if you can. We’re almost done.

CarriBugbee: Yes, the big reveal has been more fun than I ever expected. I have to go outside now. One moment…then I’ll resume.

CarriBugbee: Argh!!! Who said NYC is the city that never sleeps? Sinatra was wrong…

michaelduff: Apparently New York is now closed. Is Jersey open?

michaelduff: (Brief pause while @CarriBugbee is ejected from the building… Or flees with laptop in hand.)

CarriBugbee: Sorry to end abruptly, but they kicked us out of venue & it’s raining outside in NYC. my keyboard is getting wet. More later?

michaelduff: @CarriBugbee Is going to take a cab to somewhere safe and dry and we’ll resume. Probably 30 or 40 minutes.

peggyolson: Hey, I’m back! I still have raindrops on my keyboard. Tried to tweet in the rain outside the venue for the Shorty Awards.

CarriBugbee: Back now. Indoors. Still have raindrops on my keyboard from trying to tweet outside in the rain. Trackpad doesn’t work when wet

michaelduff: Welcome back! Aside from the rain and getting kicked out of the building, how are you enjoying your big night?

CarriBugbee: Yowsa. The evening was surreal. Saw a press release w/ my name on it written by a big PR firm that’s not me. How crazy is that?

michaelduff: And AMC brass actually showed up to give you the award. Did they apologize for shutting you down?

CarriBugbee: No, AMC guy is online writer and said how much they love Mad Men characters on Twitter. But he might be hipper than top brass.

michaelduff: But no hard feelings either way?

CarriBugbee: So, no apologies for shutting us down. Water under the bridge at this point. And frankly, it was good publicity for the effort.

michaelduff: So, now that you’re “out” are you going to keep doing @peggyolson?

CarriBugbee: I think I’ll keep tweeting as @PeggyOlson. I assume mostly social media geeks and ad types will know. Rest of audience won’t.

michaelduff: And what does the future hold for Carri Bugbee? What’s your next stop on the Social Media train?

michaelduff: (That’s interview speak for “What projects would you like to plug now?”)

CarriBugbee: Had so much fun (& learned so much) doing the Mad Men twitter “campaign” I thought (about a zillion times) we should be doing this for $$. And I should be working with these other crazy Mad Men tweeters. So, that’s what we’re doing!

michaelduff: What’s the plan?

CarriBugbee: I assembled a “cast” of characters to form social media coalition. The info and backstory is at www.supportingcharacters.com.

CarriBugbee: All of us are immersed in social media, but are steeped in marketing disciplines: writing, art direction, strategy, technology.

michaelduff: Any nibbles yet?

CarriBugbee: No, it’s all been clandestine. We just launched two sites tonite. Just went live w/ Mad Men twitter backstory & info about us.

CarriBugbee: It’s an idea I’ve had for months, but decided to ramp it up FAST when I won the Shorty. Put the sites together in a week. Whew!

michaelduff: So how would this work? I hire you to promote a video game and you do what? Play the characters on Twitter?

CarriBugbee: Would depend on the target audience & the product & objective – just like an marketing project. No cookie-cutter approach.

michaelduff: But it COULD include assuming characters on Twitter? Is that on the table for other movie and TV projects?

CarriBugbee: Yes, of course. I would LOVE if we could play another cast on Twitter. We’re dialed in for that approach, of course!

michaelduff: I’m curious to see how many other shows will try this, now that it’s on the map.

CarriBugbee: I am SHOCKED that every show isn’t at least trying it. Kinda bizarre that they’re not. Guess they’re in old school bubble?

michaelduff: Or paralyzed by trademark lawyers.

CarriBugbee: BTW, I gotta mention, I am staying w/ @BettyDraper (aka @AdBroad) while in NYC. It’s fantastic! And we met playing Mad Men!

michaelduff: Was this your first real life meeting?

CarriBugbee: And now we’re BOTH part of www.supportingcharacters.com. How crazy, virtual, space age is that?! Cracks me up!

CarriBugbee: And yes, this was my first real-life meeting w/ @BettyDraper. Never even knew her real name until last week.

CarriBugbee: We’re living in Internet time now. Moving at breakneck speed: Meet. Launch a consortium. Put up a Web site. Get a client!

michaelduff: Well I’ve enjoyed both of you as characters and I’m delighted to get to know you as people. Thanks for sharing your night.

CarriBugbee: Ha, ha! Well, if shows would do their OWN campaigns, no trademark worries there. I’m THRILLED to do the first Twitter interview that I know of. You were an EARLY follower of @PeggyOlson & wrote a great article WAY back when in August ’08. 😉

CarriBugbee: It’s crazy how fast stuff happens. Can’t believe 6 mos ago I never dreamt of all this. Now I’ve got Shorty Award for tweeting.

michaelduff: I love the idea of “grownup” roleplaying in this medium. And was blown away by the quality of these performances. ALL of them.

CarriBugbee: I love the idea too. I’d never even heard of “fan fiction” before tweeting as @PeggyOlson. It’s a whole genre! Who knew?!

CarriBugbee: Thanks so much for having the fantastic idea of doing a post awards-show interview on Twitter. I’ve loved every minute of it.

michaelduff: I’m glad it worked! Transcript should be available late tonight.

michaelduff: I want to make sure I acknowledge your Mad Men partners here. Who’s still going?

CarriBugbee: Our group, SupportingCharacters.com, encompasses 17 Mad Men characters on Twitter: http://cli.gs/Wh548q

CarriBugbee: There are many more. When you count other 60s characters who joined in like @DavidOvily & @DickNixon, there R nearly 80 in all.

CarriBugbee: Oops! I meant @David_Ogilvy & @dick_nixon. Sorry! I assume new Mad Men season starts in July as before.

michaelduff: Do you know when they’re starting the new season?

michaelduff: I’m afraid you’ll need to start writing your own scripts to keep the action going.

CarriBugbee: I have no inside knowledge. 😦 We’ve certainly talked about scripting new plot lines, but what if we’re wrong about direction?

CarriBugbee: I thought it would get old to not move in new directions, but what I realized is many people are new to Twitter & to Mad Men.

CarriBugbee: Just tonight at the Shortys some guy said “I can’t follow you ’cause I’m still on Season 1!” Ha! People so worry about spoilers

michaelduff: That may be the best quote of the night. “I can’t follow you ’cause I’m still on Season 1!”

michaelduff: Very tricky. I’ll be interested to see your performance change as Peggy develops. I think this will be a big season for her.

CarriBugbee: I think it will be a big season for Peggy too. Even tho seaon 2 spent a LOT of time on the Draper family home life, (cont)

CarriBugbee: Peggy’s character arc was huge. When she walked in to bail Don outta jail I just about jumped outta my chair. Now she has power

CarriBugbee: But whatever Peggy does, I’ll try to follow her closely and stay in her voice. Would LOVE to see her in mod sixties!

michaelduff: That leads me to one I should have asked earlier. Some say Mad Men glorifies disrespect for women. What do you say to that?

CarriBugbee: I don’t think it glorifies it, I think it represents the truth of the era. I’ve thought a LOT about what it was like for my mom

CarriBugbee: My mom always had a job. She was very attractive. Never occurred to me until Mad Men how much she was probably hassled by men.

CarriBugbee: In fact, I feel like I’ve learned SO MUCH about the era — all inspired by Mad Men. I’ve done a lot of research, fact-checking.

michaelduff: But by enjoying Mad Men are we enjoying a bad thing? Celebrating rather than condemning this time?

CarriBugbee: Don’t see a reason to condemn it. It’s history. We learn from the past. I think it’s GREAT for women to see what it was like.

CarriBugbee: It’s easy to forget how far we’ve all come in such a short time. But, of course, our recent election was a great reminder. 🙂

michaelduff: And I think that would be a great note to end on. Thanks so much for your time.

CarriBugbee: Thank you and good night! Now, for some dinner. Will forage for food…