Daniel Secareanu has tagged me with a wonderful meme that definitely suits a Sunday evening. A random artist is created using random creativity, and here’s what band I’d be in and the name of our very first album!

Do you want to play? Here’s how to decide on your band name, your album name and the artwork to be used on the cover. If you like it too much, well, you can actually use it and start writing songs

1. Go to Wikipedia. Use the “random” search option or click here. The name of the first article you find will be your band’s name.
2. Next, go to “Random quotations” or click this link. The last three-four words of the last quote on the page will be your album’s name.
3. Then, go to Flicker and access the photos posted in the last seven days, or click here. The third photo displayed, no matter what it is, will be your album’s cover. As my friend Loredana noticed, you should also check if there’s any copyright or creative commons for that photo and make sure you can a. use it and b. modify it. You should keep going from one photo to the next till you reach you can use. In my case, it took checking out the entire first page, reloading and then checking a few more. Original photo here.
4. Lastly, use your preferred photo editing software or online tool to put everything together.

If you read this and you’re inspired to see what your first album would look and sound like, consider yourself tagged!

If you’re looking for a great PR idea that is both low budget, interesting and efficient, here’s one: the Gift Meme organized by Kdo.ro, an online gift shop that promotes special, unique gifts, and PRwave, the first online PR community and news site in Romania, managed by my friend Loredana Pascal.

The meme is simple: Loredana started by buying gifts for three of her friends, myself included. With the gift, we received a nice envelope describing the campaign and encouraging us to buy a gift for our friends and get a 10% discount for it. We could of course choose to write about the campaign or not, join it or not. From there on, you can consider yourself tagged when you receive the gift. Sounds simple, the budget is not big and it does not imply spending something to get the bloggers to write, it just entails a small discount.

Why exactly does this campaign work? And it does work, all three of the initial bloggers plus others have already joined. Here are a few reasons:

• Most of us love surprises! Although we knew of the campaign, no one knew what he/she was getting, and the Loredana made inspired choices.
• Once you experience something nice, you want to share it with those close to you. So imagine a day in the office, lots of work, and then a call from the front desk saying: “Alina, you’ve got a gift waiting for you over here!” Such a lovely change in your daily routine. I got a very pink Bathing Belle set Good hint I should stop and relax once in a while
• We all give presents to friends, sometimes because it’s a special occasion, other times because we just want to surprise them. So if we can have it ordered with a few clicks, delivered to their home or office and also get a discount for as many presents as we want, why not take the opportunity. The need or desire already exists, Kdo is just building the campaign around it.

The only downturn I can think of is that the Gift Meme is only limited to Romania. But I’m definitelly joining! I was planning on buying some cool gifts in March anyway. I won’t tell who the gifts will go to, simply because I want them to be completely taken by surprise. I don’t think I’ll be around them when they get the prizes, but I do hope they’ll have a smile on their face as big as the one I’ve had when receiving my pink surprise. Loredana, thank you again for such a wonderful choice!

Joanna Young has tagged me with this cool meme that I’ve been following around the blogosphere and secretelly wished to take part in. So lucky me, I got officially tagged!

1. My dog, Kayla, gets anything she wants from me if she gives me a certain sad look. Having her in our house changed everything I thought about me as a parent. It will take a lot of work for me not to spoil my children and not to cry like crazy everytime they fall or hurt.

2. When I think I need to start planning my wedding in February 2009, I get really, really scared. Not of the wedding, but of the whole planning thing. I sometimes feel my friend Oana’s idea to get married in Vegas would be a lot easier. And I’d have everything at once: wedding + honeymoon trip.

3. I have recently discovered I still like to go dancing, although I haven’t been in a club in over 16 months. Axigen’s Chrsistmas party helped me realize it.

4. I have recently become addicted to mineral makeup. Thank you, Robyn! That is why I now put make up on every day. This led to my second discovery: I like dresses and skirts more now that I am older and wiser. My boyish days are long gone.

5. You do not want to be in the same car with me if I’m driving! I drive extremely safe, but I swear a lot. If you don’t speak Romanian, you might not mind as much. It’s still pretty loud

6. I’m a bigger geek than actually given credit for. My geek friends recognize that in me The weird thing is that I love it! And I love outranking a hard core geek, even if it’s only in what WordPress settings and plugins are concerned!

7. As some of you know, I have a big announcement planned for the end of the year. Not exactly the end, but sometime between December 29 and 31. It changed my life, I am so happy this is happening to me and no, I could not keep the secret. Some of those closest to me, online and offline, already know what’s going on. I’ll try harder next time.

So, time for the official rules of this meme:

1. Link to the person who tagged you.

2. Post the rules on your blog

3. Share seven things about yourself – some random, some weird.

4. Tag seven people at the end of your post and link to them.

5. Let each person know they’ve been tagged and leave a comment on their blog and/or Twitter.

If these rules are not enough, have no fear, Joanna and Jeanne Dininni added to the game:

1. Give yourself permission not to complete it if you lack the interest, inclination or inspiration to do so (that way you’ll only write it if you do)

2. Allow yourself to ignore the hurry element

We need to give ourselves the freedom to take as long as we need to discover whether there is in fact any spark of inspiration buried within us that would allow us to approach the meme with enthusiasm, curiosity, and enjoyment–rather than forcing ourselves into the drudgery of a dreaded task.

3. Focus on the meme and shape it the way you want, make it your own

I know the rules say I should, but I won’t tag anyone in particular. If you feel like sharing something about you with the class and are reading it, consider yourself taged!