Politics

Mackinac Notebook: 'A Regular Jo,' A Parody Tumblr, A Brewery's Tweet

May 26, 2015, 10:02 PM by  Alan Stamm

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Deadline keeps eyes and ears on the Mackinac Policy Conference from 300 miles away by monitoring news coverage, social media and Detroit Public TV livestreaming that starts Wednesday afternoon.

A self-described "suburban wife . . . a regular Jo" is among the dozens of print, broadcast and digital journalists who rode Shepler's Ferry across the foggy (of course) Straits of Mackinac on Tuesday. Karen Dybis, a Detroit News business freelancer and former Time blogger, is posting several times a day for the Detroit Regional News Hub at Detroit Unspun.

I’m there to be the eyes and ears of so-called normal people. I’m going to try to attend every session, be there for every roundtable discussion. And I’ll listen with my BS meter at full volume.

I want to screen what’s said from a different perspective – that of a Mom, a woman, a small-business owner (of a sort; I’m my only employee), of a city booster, of a Detroit advocate, of a suburban wife, of a regular Jo. . . .

I’ll keep an eye out for any fancy-pants discussions. Maybe I’ll try to interrupt and add some reality. Maybe I won’t get a seat next to the Big Shooters, but I sure can write faster than they can, and I’ve got this here blog space to tell my version of each story.


Karen Dybis: " Then there are also schmucks like me." (Facebook photo)

A Birmingham participant's tweet got Dybis' "blood boiling" Tuesday morning by referring to the conference of "Michigan elite."

Is it truly elite? Yes, in one sense. It is an elite group of individuals who will come together: Business owners. Government stars. Incredible nonprofit leaders. But then there are also schmucks like me, who got a sponsorship to go.

There are young bucks like Rachel Lutz of the Peacock Room and Andy Didorosi of the Detroit Bus Company, who also received scholarships to get to the Island and bring their small-business agenda to the forefront. 

Dybis is too polite and discrete to say who dropped the e-word, though we're not:

So easy it's almost cruel


Freepsters Tom Walsh, left, and Matt Helms head to Mackinac Island in a jolly mood.

Spoofing self-referential tweets by those playing working on the resort island is as easy as swiping candy from a baby. That doesn't stop an anonymous wag from poking at the privileged via a Tumblr launched Wednesday.

It's called Mackinac Selfie Conference, displays liquor bottles across the top and presents comments on photos tweeted and Instagramed by journalists. There'll be no shortage of material to mock, it's clear on Day 1.

"The key to taking a #mackinacselfie is to have your mouth open as wide as possible to represent all the free liquor being consumed during the week," says a caption under the shot at right of two wild and crazy guys from the Freep.

When WDIV's Devin Scillian and Stephen Henderson of the Freep missed a ferry "by five minutes," as the TV anchor put it, they passed the waiting time over a beer -- and posted "a selfie of it to let everyone back in Detroit you’re one of the cool kids," according to the unidentified Tumblr author. 

Not all annotations bring the funny, but we hope the prospect of parody doesn't curb the social media enthusiasm of media men and women.    

A branding pause that refreshes 

Tuesday afternoon wasn't an hour old before the digital content specialist at Bell's Brewery tweeted a message from his employer:

This just goes to show that even attendees who don't consider themselves part of Michigan's elite can drink an exclusive brew these next three days.



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