In March, 1997, I received an e-mail from the WEBTV Marketing Department. The e-mail congratulated me on being one of the first WEBTV users (which I really was), and asked for my help in promoting the WEBTV product. Apparently, they wanted some humorous stories, benefits, etc. that I had experienced since owning my WEBTV.
I responded with a VERY lengthy letter, describing what experiences I'd had. It mainly consisted of the friendships that I had made, my "World of Soose" site, and my being "discovered" by IACTA (a Los Angeles based software company). Of course, I thanked them for having such a wonderful product (it really IS, too!) for such a modest price.
A few days later, another e-mail arrived. It was from a WEBTV Representative, who was VERY interested in my e-mail that contained my experiences. To quote a part of the e-mail:
"We would like to talk to you about your experiences using WebTV, and about the possibility of appearing in our television commercial. If you are interested....."
and"I will contact you to arrange a time to be interviewed next Saturday, April 5 or Sunday April 6, 1997."
Were they crazy? Of course I was interested! When I saw THIS, I immediately e-mailed Linda, who promptly replied very "calmly",
"Go for it! Go for it! yaaaahhhhhyyyyyy!!!!!!".
I wrote back to the WEBTV Representative, stating that I was "honored and delighted to participate in a commercial about WEBTV", and that I would be waiting for the details of the interview.
A few days later, I received a phone call from the Representative. We discussed my appointment for the interview, which was also going to be a screen test for the commercial! My appointment was for 9:45 the morning of April 5th (Saturday) in Santa Monica, California. I e-mailed Laura at IACTA of the phone call, and she e-mailed back with:
"Keep your hand over your wallet. Give me a call when you get done--(if I don't hear from you, I'll come looking...)."
Below, are excerpts from a letter I wrote that day after I got home from the interview/screen test":
"When I entered, there was another WEBTVian there, also, who was waiting to be interviewed. I had to read and sign a form that basically said that I was doing this for free (just my luck!). It was in pretty understandable "layman" English--so it was quite clear. They wanted enthusiastic people to promote the product, and do it for free.
At 9:40, the other WEBTVian went in to be "tested/interviewed". I tell you, I thought my heart was going to leap right through my chest--it was beating SO hard! That WEBTVian wasn't in there very long--maybe 10 minutes at the most.
Next, it was MY turn! Joe [the Representative] came out and shook hands with me (he didn't do that with the previous person), and we walked into the next room. There were recording engineers there, spot lights, a camera, a stage-like setting with a background and 3 monitors behind the chair I sat in with the WEBTV logo appearing on them.
Joe asked me to sit in the chair where the spot lights were aimed. Then one of the engineers came over and "wired" me for sound--with one of those micro microphones that clip onto a person's shirt. I was still nervous, but once Joe got me talking, the nerves went away. I could see myself in a monitor behind Joe.
It didn't take much prompting from Joe to get me to talk! And that enthusiasm that they wanted was oozing out of me like syrup! My "interview-screen-test" lasted over 30 minutes! I think both of you read my initial reply to WEBTV about my experiences
with it. We covered EVERYTHING that was in that letter I wrote!
Again, Joe shook my hand, and gave me a T-shirt with the WEBTV logo all over it (probably a consolation prize). Every one who participates gets a free WEBTV T-shirt.
They said that they would let me know if I'm one of the ones they choose (there's 40 of us to choose from!). If I don't go any farther than this, I have no complaints. It has been a wonderful experience--a little rough on the nervous system--but wonderful! And it was something that I'd never done before. Of course, it also ended up being a lot of fun, too!
So, that's it! I left them at about 10:30. I probably was one of the longer interviews! So, who knows? Maybe I impressed them a little!"
Well, I never heard from them again after that interview. But it WAS alot of fun and a VERY memorable experience. Funny, I have never seen the commercial that I "auditioned" for, either. Maybe it was "shelved".....