My 15 minutes of fame...

So perhaps you were recently sitting on your sofa watching The Office or the baseball playoffs (GO YANKEES!) and suddenly you asked yourself "Did I just see Chris on TV???" Well, yes you did. I've officially made my acting debut in the Collaboration ad for the launch of Windows 7 by Microsoft. Have I given up recruiting for acting? Not exactly. More like pure dumb luck. I came across an ad on Craigslist offering to pay people to participate in a focus group and offer their opinions on the computer's operating system. It seemed like an easy way to make some quick cash. A few weeks later they called half of us back in and asked us for our opinions on Windows 7. At the end they asked half of this group if we'd like to be in an ad for Microsoft. At first, my inclination was to say no but fortunately I instead asked "Does it pay?" Next thing you know I'm in Pioneer Square at 7:00am on a Saturday. I have to say that acting is quite possibly the biggest cake job out there. For my 8 hour day I spent 20 minutes talking in front of a camera and another 20 minutes getting my photo taken for use in print/web ads. The rest of the time was spent in hurry up and wait mode. Since I had a speaking role in the ad I also now qualify to become a member of the Screen Actors Guild. Yes, I am sending them dues if for no other reason than to enjoy the bragging rights of having a SAG card. On top of all that I also received a free copy of Windows 7 Ultimate edition along with a nice letter of thanks from the Corp VP of Windows Marketing. Windows 7 is by the way the best computer operating system I've ever used (yes, that includes the current Mac OS!) and I'm not just saying that because they paid me.