Hey everyone! Jack's now out of the office for a few days attending a conference in Texas. As I'm sure you dedicated readers know, when Jack takes off then usually the marketing manager Joel hops in to write about something clever. However, Joel is basking in the warm sun of Jamaica as we speak on a well-deserved vacation.

So, you may think another logical person to help write the blog in Jack and Joel's absence would be Amy from the VegCooking blog or Mylie who helps out with KP's Dog Blog … but hey, they're all at that same darn conference with Jack! So, there you have it. Time to pull out all the stops! I may be 5th in line to do this job (just call me PETA Marketing's Secretary of State), but hey, I rock just as hard as those 4 fancy "experienced" blog writers.

When I'm not covering for my 7 co-workers who are out of the office (yes, you read that right), my typical job is PETA's E-Mail Marketing Assistant. Therefore, it's time for some shameless plugs ...

Are you signed up for PETA's E-News?? If you dig animals enough to read this blog, then you absolutely must be sure to sign up for our bi-weekly newsletter coordinated by yours truly. Click here to sign up if you haven't already.

Another big part of my job is coordinating PETA's Action Alerts. Be sure to check out this page frequently to get the latest updates and most current action alerts where your voice can be heard and you can take action. We've got everything from speaking out against the ridiculous game of donkey basketball , all the way up to speaking out against horrors witnessed by our undercover investigators at slaughterhouses and other places.

I’m at South by Southwest in Austin this week with some other folks from PETA’s Marketing Department, for the Interactive Media portion of their little festival. ‘Cuz I like to nerd out like that. The idea is that I’ll return an even more cutting-edge and, like, connected blogger than ever before. It’s my intention to learn how to use obnoxious Internet-speak more effectively and maybe spend more time dropping references to XHTML or whatever’s going on with my Twitter page—so you all have that to look forward to if I’m able to make the most of SXSW this week.

Anyway, the point is that my friend Christine will be running the PETA Files in my absence. Unlike some of the other folks who have been filling in for me in recent weeks, Christine is smarter, cooler, and generally more fabulous than I am. She’s like Jack 2.0. So, um, don’t get too attached. I’ll be back Wednesday.