enThrall Promotions

Pump Up The Volume has arrived.

This 1990 classic starred Christian Slater and a then-unknown Samantha Mathis, as a pair of improbably elderly high school students engaged in ham radio anti-authoritarian hijinks. I loved it. Don't judge me. Slater broadcast sedition on the FM band to an increasing number of listeners among the student body and faculty - which included the brass-balled principal (Annie Ross) and the slacker (Seth Green).

The flick ended with Slater led to a paddy wagon and the eternal words, "Talk hard!" Over the credits run several pirate radio broadcasts from imitators across the country.

I don't recall if there was a sudden outbreak of ham radio purchases after the release of the film, but few people I mentioned it to over the ensuing twenty years remembered the movie very well.

It turns out that the film's creators got the message right, but backed the wrong medium. The Web has become the great equalizer in the fight for freedom of information - be it accurate, misinformed or misleading - as well as communication. I love the unregulated nature of the medium, which allows for anything from mindless rants to corporate messaging without judgment: all can be seen, and all can be  evaluated by the seer. It is art, it is technology, and it is beautifully human.

A blog or wiki can connect all the right people from the same block or around the world. I can find out what Ashton Kutcher had for breakfast by following his Twitter, and share the same info with my followers. Marketing guru Seth Godin posts insights and observations daily, which I read to adapt to my own efforts. This is synergy beyond what was envisioned by any but the craziest sci fi writers of old, and it continues to grow.

Need help navigating the seas? Drop me a note.

Talk hard.