The Boys

When you wear 10 hats and have a magazine to put out, you hardly ever get to talk to readers in real time and with real voices (read: not email). In fact, I am actually quite sheltered from direct reader contact, due to the nature of our setup and in the interest of time management. But recently, I started answering our main line and had the chance to talk to a couple readers firsthand: Neha and Sarah in particular. No messages, no emails from our editorial assistants transcribing the message, it was a real reader conversation.

And I must say, I enjoyed it!

It is was fun and interesting. One thing I picked up on from doing this this week was that our Face of East West contest is a phenomena in itself. We get more inquiries about this than anything else and readers are quite thoughtful in their questions. How to enter, what it takes, who decides, what if I live out of the country, etc, etc.

(All those questions can be answered with one thought: come back in January for details on the Face of East West 2008 and how/when to enter. )

In the meantime, I was left wondering if we should finally tip our hats to our male readers with a similar contest specifically targeted toward them. We've pondered it for years. In fact all four years of the Face contest. And while the current competition doesn't exclude anyone from entering, we know that most men feel it is a woman's game. So, you decide. Call us, email us, post here or simply take our poll. Should we start a men's competition, and if yes, how should it differ?

Oh and before I leave, go go John Cho on "Ugly Betty" last night. While it might be argued that his role is somewhat stereotypical (i.e. accountant), his character has other elements which help to break him out of that, and most importantly, he was darn funny! Hmm. Maybe John Cho equals cover? Either way, we will definitely catch up with him soon to discuss the role and also with his Harold and Kumar cohort Kal Penn who's landed on "House."

Have a great weekend!