Alex Pepperl: The Blog

Old Spice, "Smell is Power" - ESPN.com NFL Scoreboard Takeover

2012-02-06T13:10:00.000-08:00

Very cool, innovative use the gutter panels by W+K. Great campaign overall.

Super Bowl Sunday, 2/5/12
NFL Scoreboard Takeover

Client: Procter & Gamble - Old Spice
Campaign: "Smell is Power"
Agency: W+K

Detroit's Back

2011-02-07T13:39:00.000-08:00

Without a doubt, this year's best Super Bowl commercial goes to Chrysler. Born and raised in Michigan, this really hit home. And of course this was the work of one of the best, Wieden+Kennedy.

Super Bowl Advertising Goes Digital

2011-01-28T14:37:00.001-08:00

Interesting clip in lieu of the Super Bowl next week.

Via Mediaweek TV

The Social Group Buying Market

2011-01-21T11:56:00.000-08:00

LivingSocial hit the jackpot this past week, partnering with Amazon to sell 1.3 million vouchers totaling $13 million in sales. The $10 vouchers worth $20 in goods at the Amazon.com store surpassed the $11 million in sales made by Groupon/Gap in 2010 taking the crown for the most popular group buying deal yet.

It's been a busy week for social group buying. Google just announced they will dabble into the market themselves, after an unsuccessful bid to buy Groupon.

My opinion on social group buying? I believe the entire market is extremely lucrative. You can point to the fact companies like Amazon will lose money on promotions such as this, but when it's all said and done, the marketing received from the promotion will be more successful and cheaper than other marketing alternatives (Amazon also has a $175 million stake in LivingSocial). Think of all the subscribers who will pass the deal along to friends through social media outlets. These sites offer monetary value to these consumers for sharing the deal. Plus do you really think consumers will just purchase $20 of goods on Amazon.com? Realistically they will put their free $10 towards the new $500 TV they have been aching to have, so Amazon is essentially not giving 50% off coupons to everyone. So Amazon will not be hurting too much from this promotion. As for Google, I believe they should have went the route they are taking long ago. Yes, the social buying market is currently packed, but with each site offering only one deal per day, the market can afford to have numerous sites even if they all do the same thing. I subscribe to three daily deal sites: Groupon, Living Social and Tippr. They all provide me the same service, yet give me three different options per day. Until these companies change their strategy and offer numerous deals per day, there is plenty of room in this market. With Google's resources they don't need to make a $6 billion acquisition when they can literally copy the idea for nothing. The bubble is growing though. It will be interesting to see if this market gets more consolidated in the future.

Rewinding: 2010 Digital Ad Innovation

2010-12-27T12:40:00.000-08:00

Great read via Mashable. A lot of cool stuff happened in the digital world this past year. Beyond the Old Spice guy, it is hard to believe the iAd, Location-Based Advertising, Promoted Tweets and Groupon all took off in 2010. It excites me to see what 2011 will have to offer. The digital landscape has a such a bright future ahead. Visit Mashable to read the Top 10 Digital Advertising Innovations of 2010.

http://mashable.com/2010/12/23/tech-advertising-innovations/

Nike and W+K Make People Like LeBron Again

2010-10-25T15:37:00.001-07:00

I am speechless. This is one of the best advertisements you will ever see. Leaves you with chills. Congrats to Nike, Weiden+Kennedy and LBJ for this masterpiece.

Degree Men vs. Wild; Going Viral

2010-10-19T14:24:00.000-07:00

Degree Men is going all out for their new advertising campaign featuring the likes of Kevin Durant, Tony Hawk, Mark Messier, Mark Sanchez and even Bear Grylls. The sports superstars challenge Grylls to adventurous challenges through a series of digital video ads and YouTube clips. The campaign just launched the first challenge for Grylls, and owns the ESPN.com homepage today. The "Chain of Adventure" is a great way for Degree to bring life to their digital ads across the internet and hopefully go viral. Fans of Grylls and the sports stars can now tune in and follow their adventures throughout the campaign, thus making this more than a plain old display ad. This is affective advertising at work.

Integrating Digital and Print Advertising; Will it Work?

2010-10-06T11:59:00.000-07:00

I thought this was way too cool. AXA Insurance created print advertisements showing the scenes of an accident. The ad urged viewers to place their IPhone over the page to discover what had happened. Immediately the video of the accident is streamed to your phone along with details to download AXA's app. Maybe print advertising isn't dead after all. Well no it actually is dead, but integrating digital and print ads could be unique. Imagine if this kind of advertisement became more common? Maybe you could swipe your IPhone over a football game article in your local paper and immediately see streamed highlights... I just wonder if people would have time for this extra step?

A New Way to Advertise in An Overcrowded Digital Market

2010-09-21T15:48:00.000-07:00

It is getting harder and harder for companies to get adequate exposure in the digital world. How many banner ads can viewers possibly view and/or click? This idea by Solve Media makes way too much sense as they are tapping into a particularly quirky market. Captchas are those annoying, jumbled textlines users must periodically type in and submit to prove they are not bots. Solve Media came up with the idea to make these actual sponsored messages that will be monetized. Now the user is forced to interact with sponsored brands whether they like it or not. In terms of brand exposure, this is definitely a win. According to the video over 250 million of these captchas appear each day so there could be some money to be made. Check it out:

Ole Miss Star Wars Commercial

2010-09-08T15:24:00.000-07:00

Only in Mississippi would this happen. And only Ole Miss would lose their home opener to FBS school, Jacksonville State. Nonetheless, very cool commercial by ESPN. Check out the extended version.

What's In Store For Google TV?

2010-08-19T14:26:00.000-07:00

Google TV intrigues me. Traditionalists find it hard to believe anyone would be willing to connect their computer to their TV and then stream content, but I think Google may be the first to simplify this process. Consumers are already connecting to their TV's and streaming as we speak, so why wouldn't an easier process catch on?

By 2012, it is estimated that 65% of TV's will be connected to the internet, and Google TV will be responsible for 15-20% of this market. Consumers will have two options if they opt to go with Google TV. They can buy a separate box, similar to your digital cable box, that will go for sale this fall, or they can purchase a new Sony or Logitech TV, which will already have Google TV installed.

Google's goal is to provide the maximum amount of content possible to a user. Remember, the more content they can offer, the easier they can reach a consumer which leads to higher advertiser rates. Google is in the process of trying to convince media companies to make their content easily accessible to Google. Ideally a consumer could type "Jersey Shore" on their keyboard connected to their LCD TV, which would bring up current and upcoming TV listings for the show as well as links to streaming online episodes and related videos across the web. It would be a one-stop shop for all things video related.

To get to this point is not so easy. First off, media companies may not be so thrilled to give up their content so easily. They are concerned it can get lost in the shuffle of Google TV since pirated content will be easier then ever to watch on your flat-screen. This could lead to many media companies opting to block Google from accessing their content. If Google can only land the small time players, Google TV will just be a glorified YouTube, essentially a cluster of amateur content (along with low CPM rates). Second, TV manufacturers are going to want to see cuts of this money Google will make. They currently have deals with content providers today, and Google TV will very likely cut into the profits of content providers and likewise TV manufacturers. They will want to make this up and demand Google helps them out, otherwise they could potentially block Google TV just like the media companies. Third, Steve Jobbs and Apple will be following close behind Google and will always be a threat. Apple TV failed years ago, but they were way ahead of their time. There has been talks Apple is in the process of developing iTV, which would rival Google TV. Apple already has an advantage through iTunes and the endless demand for iPhones and iPods. They can easily integrate this into your family room TV by creating an iTunes monthly pass for a price that beats your monthly cable bill. This combined with access to Hulu Plus ($9.99 per month premium Hulu service that provides endless content to shows and movies) could hurt Google's plans. Another downfall has to do with broadband access. I don't know much about this, but Google "net neutrality" to learn more. This is an ongoing issue now. Basically, their is not enough infrastructure for everyone to stream content on their Google TV. Cable providers own most of this infrastructure and they will not be willing to part with it.

When it's all said and done, I believe Google TV will have a good ending. There will be many inventions proceeding it that will push it out of the market (maybe even by Google), but it will spark a new and more efficient way of viewing entertainment and catch the eye of the public. Online video advertising will grow around 40% each year for the next five years. It will be a $5 billion market by 2014. Advertisers will flock to services like Google TV and Google knows this. The key is for Google to capture high content programming that bring high CPM rates along with it.

Antoine Walker... What Went Wrong?

2010-08-17T11:21:00.000-07:00

It amazes me how an all-star athlete who made $110 million just in NBA contracts over 13 seasons finds himself bankrupt. Any normal person would be perfectly happy to live off of 1/100th of that. What is even crazier to me is one of the NBA stars of my childhood is now playing for pennies (well, not exactly. He has the chance to make six figures depending on how his team performs) in Puerto Rico. This interview is a few months old, but nonetheless it is worth watching. Meet Antoine Walker...

Advertising With Emotion

2010-08-12T14:50:00.000-07:00

I saw this advertisement while watching TV this week. Subaru does an excellent job of connecting with the consumer by bringing out emotion. When people can relate to what a brand offers they become emotionally attached. This commercial hits home with many parents out there. This demographic is also generally in the market for a car.

The Current State of Digital Advertising and What Lies Ahead (Slideshow)

2010-08-10T15:55:00.000-07:00

I must admit, even after one year in the digital advertising industry, I still occasionally have difficulty untangling the never ending web that encompasses the industry. I stumbled across this slideshow on slideshare.net (a really cool website by the way)that provides some good insight on how the industry actually works and what is ahead. It's chaotic how many steps are taken before an advertiser has their ad published. Being on the publisher side I don't usually see all of this. Interesting to note, online video advertising (what I currently work with for ESPN.com) increased 115% in 2009, and is projected to keep multiplying with great numbers in the near future. Please browse the slideshow so I don't have to explain what I do anymore.

Digital Advertising Ecosystem 2010

View more presentations from Greg Stuart.

YouTube Made Easy

2010-07-13T12:25:00.000-07:00

Call me lazy, but this looks pretty dang cool. I've said for a while I believe the future of TV will be integrated with the internet. YouTube Leanback brings the future that much closer. Eventually this will be integrated into Google TV, which should make its appearance this fall. As for now, you can only enjoy Leanback from your computer or if you are very tech savvy you can connect your PC or laptop to your home TV.

Craziest Moment In Sports History?

2010-07-09T11:33:00.000-07:00

I don't even know what to think about this. LBJ, Wade and Bosh on one team, and in the best city in America. It should be noted that LeBron's "The Decision" last night on ESPN drew a 7.3 rating, higher than James and his old team the Cav's drew in the Eastern Conference Finals. In Cleveland it drew a 26! This means one in every four households were glued to their sets. In comparison a typical weekday MLB game draws less than a 1 rating.

James is getting a lot of criticism for this. I can't blame him though. Leaving Cleveland for tropical South Beach to have a great shot at winning the title with close friends and superstars Wade and Bosh sounds like a move I would have made myself. Looks like I will be renewing my League Pass package for next year.

Nothing but Net's on NY Post

2010-07-01T10:26:00.000-07:00

Do you think the Net's have a good shot at landing Lebron? This advertisement might not help, but it is notable that they own the entire front page of the New York Post online edition today. This inlcudes the wallpaper, 300x250 and the rich-media expandable pencil top. It looks fresh too. Jay-Z and this Russian billionaire might make me a Net's fan.

How to Invest in ORM

2010-06-07T10:26:00.000-07:00

I came across the business, Empire Avenue while reading Mashable this morning and I have to say I wish I thought of this first. It should be noted, Empire Avenue will start out as a game with no money involved until later in the future.

Basically, after enrolling you have the option to buy or sell shares of people on the internet, essentially treating them like a stock. As a person's online presence gets more or less influential, their stock price will change appropriately.

This reminds me of the part time work I was doing with Coalition Technologies. We were trying to discover ideas of how to make yourself more influential on the web. Empire Avenue provides a platform where you can sell shares of yourself to the public to increase your value online.

Online Reputation Management (ORM) is huge in today's age. Empire Avenue gives the public a way to really see who is important and actually invest (gamble) on them. Also, it will give advertisers an easy reference database that will allow them to directly work with these influential people.

This idea is going to be a huge money maker in the future I believe, and I would not be surprised to see more similar businesses roll out soon after.

Check out the Mashable Post here.

Check out Empire Avenue's YouTube Tour:

Reed Hastings is Smart, Netflix Will Prosper

2010-06-03T12:02:00.000-07:00

I came across this slideshow on Mark Cuban's blog last night. Netflix CEO, Reed Hastings prepared this to describe his vision for the company. Obviously the industry Netflix is in changes everyday, and they need to accommodate. Unless you have been living in a cave, you probably understand by now that DVD's and blue-ray players will become obsolete within the next five years. Hastings has a good grasp on what the entertainment business has in store and how this will effect Netflix. This guy is brilliant and brutally honest. He wants to make money just as much as the next guy. I wish he had a Twitter account. There is a lot to learn from him, and Netflix may be a good investment for the long-term.

Netflix Business Opportunity

View more presentations from reed2002.

Twitter and Sponsored Tweets

2010-06-02T11:01:00.000-07:00

It should be interesting to see what the future is for advertising on Twitter, both for Twitter and it's users. Users are currently allowed to monetize their tweets through programs like ad.ly, Sponsored Tweets and Magpie. However, now that Twitter has recently introduced it's own sponsored tweets initiative, it will want to push these third party advertisers out of it's network. I have not used a third party sponsored tweet provider yet (I believe you must have over 200 followers to be eligible), but the business model is intriguing. Someone with 200 followers could make a buck or two, which is not bad for pasting 140 character's onto your stream. I have heard celebrities with a large following easily make $10,000 or more per sponsored tweet and sometimes in the six figure range. It sounds ridiculous, but it is an easy way for advertisers to reach a mass audience for a relatively cheap price tag while also being a nice incentive for the tweeter. These advertising platforms have to be getting nervous as Twitter begins to lay the law down though. Twitter wants this advertising revenue going in their own pockets.

check out the site with the freshest 1-day deals, LivingSocial... hit it up --> http://bit.ly/dDuJzn RT if you love a fresh deal!! (Ad)less than a minute ago via Ad.ly NetworkChris Brown
chrisbrown

It's About Time Toyota Did Something Right

2010-05-17T14:48:00.000-07:00

It seems as if Toyota can do nothing right as of late. The company's reputation has been murdered throughout the world wide web. I have stuck by my opinion that this is just a minor roadblock for the Japanese auto manufacturer. Toyota produces the best cars in the world for their price range and will continue to be the most dominant force in the industry in the future. The "Swagger Wagon" campaign for their mini-van, the Siena, just launched and is a great step to "fix" the brand's reputation among Americans. What a better way to put their hellish recent past behind them then to create a viral video revolving around American's new favorite word, "Swag?" It seems to be working well for Toyota. They are close to reaching two million views on YouTube, proving that social media can be a huge asset to a large corporation if used right. Congrats Toyota, but I will never buy a mini-van nor should anyone else.

Found this via JoelX's blog

Samsung Sets a World Record; How Fast Can You Text That?

2010-04-22T15:07:00.000-07:00

How often do you text? How often do you actually use your phone to talk? Yes, in this day and age we spend less time speaking and more time writing messages via our mobile devices. It is easier, quicker and more efficient. No mobile device can compete with the IPhone, but it seems Samsung has delivered the most effective campaign. They have proven their new mobile device is the fastest text messaging device in the world. No literally, they have actually set a Guinness World Record to prove this and integrated it into their advertising campaigns. This is a simple, effective way to grab the attention of the masses. They created what the public wants! Will this lead to increased sales? I don't know squat about the mobile device industry so I couldn't tell you. The platform for texting seems very odd, and I would much rather get my hands on an IPhone just like every other person in the world. But what do I know? I have an old fashioned LG EnV2 that pocket dials eight people per day. Check out the commercial though.

#wordaapp Shirt only $23.99

2010-04-01T13:07:00.000-07:00

Check out the article about the shirt I created in the Seattle Weekly and go get one for yourself! Rep Seattle for only $23.99. Click here to purchase.

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Since I was a child, I have always had an entrepreneur mindset. Whether that was cashing in on my own car washing business as a 13 year old or designing shirts, I love the thrill of starting something from scratch. It's a fun side project for me currently as I have much to learn about the business world through a corporate setting. The final goal however is to fulfill my dream of starting my own company (one that actually pays the bills). I would say my shirt venture is my first real (somewhat) successful venture. I learned a lot about how cut throat starting a business can be, and what I need to know for my next project. Click here to read my story in the Seattle Weekly (finally famous!!). Also Click here to buy a shirt.

Guest Posts

2010-04-01T11:07:00.000-07:00

Guest Posts Coming Soon!

March Madness is a Business

2010-03-23T15:12:00.000-07:00

Next time someone tells you the NCAA Tournament is a game, show them the numbers. March Madness is a huge money maker event. Check out its financial impact.

Via Fast Company

Hey Nike, I Need a Purple N98 Track Jacket

2010-03-18T10:43:00.000-07:00

Like usual, Nike's advertising department is right on point. In preparation for March Madness, Nike has been marketing their special edition N98 "Bleed Your Colors" track jackets. Every single male around my age who attended college will most assuredly purchase one of these before the Final Four. These are especially intriguing to a Washington Husky Alum like myself since Brandon Roy, current Blazer and former UW star, graces the advertisements. UW needs all the marketing it can get due to this thing called "East Coast Bias." Anyways, nice job Nike, and let's beat Marquette tonight Huskies. Check out the posters, banner and skyscraper ads.

Buy the N98 Track Jacket here.

Rattlesnake Ridge/Lake Hike - 3.6.10

2010-03-08T16:02:00.000-08:00

This past weekend, my girlfriend and I decided to take advantage of a rare 65 degree Seattle winter day, and headed to Rattlesnake Ridge near North Bend. At 3,500 feet, it is the largest peak in the Issaquah Alps. Upon arriving in the parking lot, you are provided with breathtaking views of Rattlesnake Lake with many beach access areas, and an intimidating Rattlesnake Ridge in the background. I have to be honest, I thought there was no possible way anyone could ascend to the ridge without actually climbing. The peak looks so daunting behind the lake. To my surprise, after a 2 mile hike, all straight up we finally made it to the ridge. The view on top was well worth the sweat and pain. Numerous people were gathered on top enjoying their lunches while taking in the view of Rattlesnake Lake and the Cascades in the distance. Being afraid of heights, I kept my distance from the edge (I could not believe how close some people were getting to the edge of the cliff. It should be noted someone fell of the ledge and died last year.) Overall, this hike was one of my all-time favorites, and it is hard to believe this is only a 25 minute drive from Seattle. I highly recommend it to anyone. Check out the pics.

ESPN Becomes More Social While Others Lag

2010-03-04T14:09:00.000-08:00

Businesses and organizations are starting to realize the necessity of making their brands more social online. This means integrating their material into material that can easily be shared by the viewers and spread across the web. Viral marketing is huge right now and will only keep growing.

What is mind-boggling to me, is witnessing how many companies fail to realize the importance of creating a social environment online. It's quite simple: The more people that are able to share and pass along your content, the more new users, viewers and/or customers you will have. This means increased page views, sales and/or advertising revenues for your organization.

As listed in my previous post about the top 100 most social brands of 2009, it is clear that the list is dominated by sports related companies and news sources, especially at the top. ESPN, the NBA, the NFL, Adidas and Nike are putting a heavy emphasis on developing their brands into social brands.

Recently ESPN has took it a step further by creating a more user-friendly, almost blog-like interface that will encourage users to spread the content across the web. As you can see in the image below, ESPN has integrated features where users can share the content through their Facebook or Twitter, as well as have the option to send via Email or partake in a discussion on the topic of the article.

I have to be honest that this should have happened years ago. Think about how many times you go through the trouble of copying and pasting a link onto your Facebook or Twitter account to share with friends. This provides the same service with the click of a button, which is a whole lot easier for the user and a whole lot more practical for the content provider. I personally added these same features on my small, blogger hosted blog over six months ago. Yet ESPN is one of the few big names out there, who have realized the urgency with this new age marketing. Jocks are more tech-savvy than you would think. The rest of the business world should take some notes.

Chiddy Bang - "Opposite Of Kids" HD Video

2010-02-17T16:23:00.000-08:00

This song/video is truly amazing and makes me look forward to the summer for some reason. Maybe that is just because Seattle has had two days of sunshine in a row now.

Props to Mosk Beats for finding this.

Top 30 Athletes on Facebook: When Will the Rest Get it?

2010-02-16T12:59:00.000-08:00

Social media has becoming a huge outlet for athletes to reach out to their fans in the past two years or so. I can't even fathom why many athletes and teams haven't taken advantage of this to its entirety. Bad management I guess. Seattle based Goodwin Sports Management has done an excellent job integrating its athletes into the social media world, notably with guys like Dwight Howard, Kevin Durant and Demar Derozan. Although Durant and Derozan didn't make Activ8Social's "Top 30 Athletes on Facebook" list, Dwight Howard cracked the top five and was the number one NBA player. Check out the slide show.

Top 30 Athletes On Facebook

View more presentations from Activ8Social.

Via @http://activ8social.com/2010/02/16/top-30-athletes-on-facebook/

Husky Stadium Renovation: Why Everyone in the State Needs This to Happen

2010-02-10T11:46:00.001-08:00

If you have been to Husky Stadium in recent years, you most definitely realized things are worse than just the Dawgs' lack of defense. Husky Stadium, regarded by many, as the one of the top college football venues in the land is.... a dump! The bleachers and stairways are crumbling, there is a lack of big money, press box seating, and worst of all the fans are separated from the game by a hideous track (I mean come on! It's 2010. Who has a track around their football field?) Having the prime locations it has, Husky Stadium sure is an eye sore from the inside sans the breathtaking views, not to mention its safety is beyond questionable.

Yet, the city and state can't seem to convince the public that it is in their best interest to put their taxes to work on this issue. Just yesterday it was announced HB 2912 may keep Husky Stadium out of the tax plan and redirect it towards arts, low-income housing and tourism promotion (Particularly ironic and proves how stupid our local government is. I will get to this later.)

Most of the opponents to Husky Stadium improvements are people living outside the Seattle area (eastern Washington), Washington State Cougar graduates and non-sport fans (or at least those who are not fans of collegiate sports and realize its importance). Many are convinced in this economy, the last thing we need to utilize our tax revenue for is college football facilities. People outside of Seattle believe it won't benefit them or their lives in the least. Cougar graduates desperately try to block it, such as last years proposals when they were successful, because they feel their joke of stadium, Martin Stadium (named after a Husky alum) should receive the same amount of benefits. The thing is all of these people are incorrect, and if you don't realize how important this renovation is, then you are an idiot.

First off, let's face it. Eastern Washington means nothing to this state. The success of our state depends solely on the success of our largest city and hub, Seattle. Well guess what? It turns out our state's best University (obviously the UW) is located in Seattle. A newly renovated Husky Stadium will help out the city of Seattle and in turn benefit the entire state of Washington. Martin Stadium cannot do this, due to its location. Sports can benefit everyone! Sports mean big money! And big money is a good thing for the city and the state!

Husky Stadium brings 72,000 fans to Montlake each home game (Martin fits just over 30,000). Many of the opposing teams travel in packs, especially with the Huskies high caliber opponents. Teams like Boise State, BYU, Oklahoma and Ohio State bring in up to 20,000 fans for a game. Now this does not happen at WSU. First off, out-of-conference teams refuse to play there, because of transportation and the low payout. College football is a business. The lack of size at Martin Stadium means the team visiting gets a lower payout. Therefore, teams refuse to play there unless they are forced to for conference play. And fans have trouble getting from Los Angeles to a farm, almost two hours down a dirt path from Spokane. So understand that WSU. You are not equivalent in terms of revenue. These 20,000 opposing fans attending Husky games are out-of-towners, who have big money that will spend it. This only happens for collegiate games. For example how many fans did the St. Louis Rams bring for the Seahawks home opener? Exactly.

So think about it. You have 20,000 fans who are purchasing a $70 ticket, staying in a $200/night hotel, eating $20 dishes at restaurants, spending $30 bar tabs, and taking $20 cab rides for an extended period of time. And this all happens at the hub of Washington state, not to mention many people may take side trips to Mt. Rainer, Mt. St. Helen's, San Juans, etc. This brings in huge money to the city and the state, and this happens seven times per season! There are not many other events that consistently bring in so much revenue for the city and state. Seattle is lucky to have such a huge university within its city limits. It needs to take advantage of it. Encourage people to come to the brand new, state-of-the art Husky Stadium. A renovated stadium will ensure that the Huskies can continue to bring in high-caliber opponents and provide an atmosphere that convinces fans from Columbus, Ohio or Baton Rouge, Louisiana that they should spend their money to come out to Husky Stadium and Seattle.

Yet the city believes the money from HB 2912 should be used on tourism promotion instead! What better way to promote your city than bring 20,000 people from across the country to stay for a week? What else could this money be used for that would generate better tourism numbers than this? But at the same time I always forget (or try to) that this is the same government that let our beloved Sonics leave for America's dust-hole. The people of Washington and the government need to use their head more and look at the big picture. What's good for the UW is good for you.

McDonald's Remakes Classic Commercial For Super Bowl: Watch the Preview

2010-02-02T11:56:00.000-08:00

This is shaping up to be a very interesting year for Super Bowl campaigns. We have already know we will see controversial campaigns (ie Tim Tebow and abortion disapproval) and we have witnessed one of the Super Bowl's most infamous advertisers, Pepsi, hold back on live commercial slots to instead focus on social media campaigns. The Pepsi situation is another story in itself, and I will probably write a blog entry on it very soon. All I am going to say about that right now is ask you, "how much attention has Pepsi received since they declared this decision?" Yes, my point exactly. This was a great move by Pepsi.

Anyways, NBA fanatics such as myself are beyond excited to see McDonald's tap back in to their basketball geared advertising. As many of you remember, McDonald's previously aired a commercial staring Michael Jordan and Larry Bird. The shooting contest between the two was arguably the best commercial of all time. Now a similar (the same) commercial is set to be aired this Sunday with NBA superstars Dwight Howard and Lebron James. A 12-second clip has just been released today previewing the commercial. We can only hope it is half as cool as the old campaign.

Dwight Howard vs. Lebron James

Michael Jordan vs. Larry Bird

Obama Embraces Social Media, Answers Your Questions Live On YouTube

2010-02-01T11:32:00.001-08:00

Being the huge fan of social media that I am, I was very impressed with the partnership between YouTube and the White House this morning. At 10:45 a.m. PT, the public was able to listen to President Obama answer their questions they previously posted through YouTube's CitizenTube Channel. Nearly 12,000 questions were submitted. While only a fraction were answered by the President, the concept is very intriguing and timely. Social media is being embraced by businesses to reach the public, and the same strategy obviously works for the U.S. government. It was a great tool to reach people like myself, who enjoy listening to programming while at work. Without a doubt it was huge success.

How to Advertise With Prank Calls; Dial Captain Morgan

2010-01-27T12:37:00.000-08:00

This could honestly be one of the most creative marketing/advertising campaigns I have come across, and I am shocked I didn't discover this earlier. Captain Morgan, owned by Diageo who basically own every alcohol brand you've ever heard of, created a website were visitors are able to send out prank voicemails to their friends (or enemies). You have the choice of using the flirtatious girl, the angry boyfriend or the pissed off bartender who didn't receive the tab. From there you can fill out an easy form, that describes characteristics of the person being pranked, enter their phone number and your all done. It actually works surprisingly well. Unfortunately at the end of the voicemail the fake caller admits he or she is not real and it was a prank by yourself and Captain Morgan. I already know for a fact this prank does work, as one of my roommates is incredibly depressed after discovering that the random girl from the bar that thought he was cute, muscular and tan, and managed to get his number from a mutual friend does not actually exist. This is a great idea by Captain Morgan's. Essentially they are allowing people to advertise for them, and it's pretty hard to forget about hilarious prank calls. I think this campaign is a great alternative to the hundreds of thousands of dollars companies spend on placing banners and skyscrapers on websites that may not even get a good click rate. Luckily I have already tested every prank scenario off the website so no one will be able to trick me. Good job Captian Mo! Visit the "Calling All Captains" website.

Top Five NBA Jerseys Known to Man: Part 1

2010-01-26T14:02:00.000-08:00

After my post, "Top Selling NBA Jerseys: What Are Your All-Time Favorites?", and a combination of sheer boredom and lack of posting material, I decided to count down the top five NBA uniforms of all time (in no order) that you want to be seen in. These are strictly my personal opinions, but I doubt anyone would ever have the courage to disagree.

As any NBA fan is aware, anything related to the Golden State Warriors can only mean good things. The thing is, when Chris Mullin played, the Warriors actually were good. One of the most significant spot-up shooters in NBA history, Chris Mullin was an important part of my childhood as well as any other 20-something male out there. Much respect to anyone rocking this jersey in public, in either the retro (left) or home whites (right). Stephen Jackson throwbacks are also approved.

The Matress King Presents.... Chris "Birdman" Andersen?

2010-01-21T12:52:00.000-08:00

After coming across this video, I feel obliged to post this and attempt to make this as viral as possible. What we are seeing here, is a Matress King commercial out of Colorado being endorsed by none other than Chris "Birdman" Andersen, one of the most unique (I think that's the word) athletes you will ever come across. For those of you that aren't aware of Andersen's past, let's just keep it simple and say he may not be the role model you need to sell your product. But bedding may be a different story. For some reason I am hesitant to purchase one of the advertised mattresses. Great sales pitch though. Biiiiiirdmaaannnn!

Top Selling NBA Jerseys: What Are Your All-Time Favorites?

2010-01-20T11:49:00.000-08:00

The NBA's most popular jersey's list has been released, and no surprises at the top with Kobe leading and Lebron taking second. Needless to say, I do feel sorry for the kids that are rocking Pau Gasol (#10) and David Lee (#13) uni's. Here's the full list:

1) Kobe Bryant
2) LeBron James
3) Dwight Howard
4) Derrick Rose
5) Dwyane Wade
6) Kevin Garnett
7) Chris Paul
8) Paul Pierce
9) Shaquille O'Neal
10) Pau Gasol
11) Carmelo Anthony
12) Steve Nash
13) David Lee
14) Allen Iverson
15) Kevin Durant

Read more: http://www.insidehoops.com/jerseys.shtml#ixzz0dBTOhMAP

What got me particularly excited was looking back six years at the most popular jerseys of that time. I know many men that would murder for a Latrell Sprewell or Allen Houston jersey. I refuse to believe anyone wanted to get their hands on anything to do with Mike Bibby however.

MOST POPULAR NBA JERSEYS FOR 2003-04 | Dec. 3, 2003
1. LeBron James
2. Carmelo Anthony
3. Tracy McGrady
4. Allen Iverson
5. Kobe Bryant
6. Jason Kidd
7. Shaquille O’Neal
8. Paul Pierce
9. Allan Houston
10. Tim Duncan
11. Vince Carter
12. Kevin Garnett
13. Latrell Sprewell
14. Rasheed Wallace
15. Gary Payton
16. Scottie Pippen
17. Chris Webber
18. Yao Ming
19. Jalen Rose (Chicago)
20. Dirk Nowitzki
21. Michael Finley
22. Jermaine O’Neal
23. Mike Bibby
24. Amare Stoudemire
25. Steve Nash

This got me thinking. What truly are the best NBA jerseys of all time. Just because Chinese kids and bandwagon markets flock to get their hands on Kobe or Wade jerseys does not mean they are cool! Sir Charles, Tom Gugliotta and Greg Ostertag. Now these are jerseys any teen to twenty something year-old loves to walk around their city or college campus with. Young men have a fascination with rare, NBA uni's sort of similar to women and expensive shoes. They try to one up the next guy. In the next week or so, I will reserve posts just for the top five NBA jerseys of all time (in no particular order). Help or comments are greatly appreciated.

2010 NBA Dunk Contest a Disappointment? Not So Sure

2010-01-19T13:00:00.000-08:00

So Lebron promises to enroll in the 2010 NBA Dunk Contest this All-Star Weekend in Dallas and then of course backs out at the last minute. Quite frustrating for NBA fans, but this years lineup, although lacking some huge names, will prove to be exciting. However, I do find it disappointing more guys didn't jump at the opportunity. I think if you have these monstrous talents, you owe it to the NBA and their fan-base to showcase it once per year on All-Star Weekend. Of course I have to pull with the hometown guy, and former UW baller, Nate Robinson of the Knicks. He is looking to grab his third dunk title in a row. I'm also looking forward to Shannon Brown, who really wanted the opportunity to take part in this. I had the opportunity to see him play a few times while living in Michigan when he played for the Spartans. And I have to be honest, I didn't even know Eric Gordon knew how to dunk. Everyone gets lost once they sign a contract with the Clips' so it's not my fault right? Here are some YouTube clips I found of this years contestants. Props to all those who put the effort in to make these dunk mixes. Enjoy!

Who is Making Money From the Haiti Tragedy?

2010-01-14T14:10:00.001-08:00

Yup, you guessed it. Credit card companies couldn't be any happier as they are siphoning donation money heading to the western hemisphere's poorest country. Capital One is the only credit card company that agrees to wave their fee during situations like this. The rest are pocketing a 2-3% cut of the donations. Yes it is a screwed up world, but at the same time without credit cards, donation totals would be much lower to begin with. It is the most convenient and popular way to make a quick transaction. It is still sad that someone is profiting off of a disaster and other people's good deeds. Here is an interesting article on this from MSN.

Twitter and Sports Gone Wrong: The story of Brandon Jennings

2010-01-13T13:13:00.000-08:00

Twitter provides me with an excellent tool to keep up with my favorite sport teams and players. I can read the details and tidbits that fail to make it to the press, most of the time because they are not newsworthy, or find information out before it becomes news. I can read Kevin Durant's reaction to his latest performance or read what Dwight Howard is having for lunch. Everything is there for me in real-time. This is great for the athletes, as it gives them an easy way to promote themselves and reach out to their fans. However, this can also be disastrous for the athlete and quite amusing to the public. Yes of course I am speaking of Brandon Jennings, the Milwaukee Bucks rookie PG. After their recent loss to the Lakers he got into a "Tweet fight" with Lakers PG Jordan Farmar. Only thing was, it wasn't actually Farmer, just an imposter. Jennings fell for the trick and probably said some things he shouldn't have laid out there. Now Jennings has deleted his Twitter account and claims he will quit Tweeting all together. I really do beg him to change his mind. His twitter account has provided me with endless entertainment on all the ridiculous things he has to say around the clock. Quite frankly I am not surprised he got himself in this mess. What is the solution to this problem? Agents need to be more proactive with their clients and make sure they are following a specific guideline when using social media. Athletes need to realize anything negative they say can and will come back to bite them. Kevin Durant and Dwight Howard, both represented by Goodwin Sports Management here in Seattle, are fortunate to have representation that understands the importance of this. Read the Yahoo! Sports story here:

Jennings gets baited into 'twash twalk' with fake Farmar

By J.E. Skeets

Brandon Jennings (notes) and Jordan Farmar (notes) have exchanged some heated tweets on their respective Twitter accounts.

Sorry, let's try that again.

Brandon Jennings and some miscellaneous recluse pretending to be Jordan Farmar have exchanged some heated tweets on their respective Twitter accounts.

There, that's better.

The Lakers beat the Bucks 95-77 on Sunday night and Jennings — the real Bucks rookie, high-top fade and all — posted on Twitter to one of his contacts: "hit my phone I'll tell you the real on that Farmar thing."

Fake Farmar quickly replied, "What you gonna say Buck? Heard there is some ish talking on here ..."

From there, the conversation started to escalate. Punctuation and true identities be damned!

Jennings (@YUNGBUCK3) tweeted: "nah i was just telling the homie how thirsty you are. That's all. But I'm not going to make this a big thing."

Fake Farmar (@JFarmar1) tweeted: "Am not here to start nothing. You were talking smack on here wanted to clear some air. Look at the bling, done proved myself"

Fake Farmar: "You started with the smack talking, and I ended it with the 2 threes. We even? Cool."

Back to Jennings: "but I'm not going to beef with you. See you should be worried about your spot. Shannon Brown (notes)??? That's all imma say."

Shannon Brown scored 19 points against Milwaukee on 8 of 12 shooting. Farmar posted 17 points in 22 minutes on 5 of 8 shooting. Fake Farmar or not, I don't see the "zing," Brandon. That's all imma say.

As you might recall, Jennings was fined $7,500 earlier in the season by the NBA for using his Twitter account in the team's locker room following a game. Kid should've stuck to MySpace. Or ICQ.

The Worst Commercial of All Time

2010-01-07T11:44:00.000-08:00

This commercial by the Foundation For A Better Life is literally the worst commercial I have ever come across. Basically, it's the state championship for a high school basketball game, and the game is coming down to the wire. The ball gets hit out of bounds, and the official makes the wrong call. As the teams' head to the bench, the player that really did touch it last admits to his coach he hit it last. His players plead to him not to tell the ref, but he feels obliged to. His coach tells him he is proud of his moral decision and orders the team not to intentionally foul and just let the other team win.

This is so ridiculous. First off, no referee would ever change his decision after a player admits to something. Second, even if the call was reversed, what coach in their right mind would order the team not to foul? There's nothing immoral about trying to extend the game and make the other team drain their free throws. And last, if this was actually true, the kid that admits to hitting the ball last would get a couple black eyes from his teammates and classmates, not to mention he would must assuredly be cut from next years' team. Oh, and I think it's safe to say the coach would get fired for throwing the game away and essentially forfeiting.

This commercial literally put me in a horrible mood today. The Foundation For A Better life is a complete joke of an organization. There are numerous other PSA's they run on TV that are just as horrible that receive the same reaction that I had from the rest of the American public. They are not making a difference, but rather humiliating themselves and their organization on a national level. My advice to them is quit their day job and go donate some money to a charity of their choice. Or at least put their material on Comedy Central and have Will Ferrell commentate on it's stupidity. For a quick laugh, check out their website "here." Check out the video too:

Disney, ESPN, ABC Make List of Top 100 Social Brands of 2009

2010-01-06T13:16:00.000-08:00

Recently revealed was the 100 most social brands for 2009. For those of you that are slow, this means brands that utilized social media outlets. Disney brands Disney (#2), ESPN (#23) and ABC (#33) all placed very high. Read the article "here."

Top 100:
1. iPhone
2. Disney
3. CNN
4. MTV
5. NBA
6. iTunes
7. Wii
8. Apple
9. Xbox
10. Nike
11. Starbucks
12. NFL
13. PlayStation
14. Adidas
15. BlackBerry
16. Sony
17. Mercedes
18. Microsoft
19. Samsung
20. BMW
21. Nintendo
22. Best Buy
23. ESPN
24. Ford
25. Honda
26. Ferrari
27. Gucci
28. Nokia
29. Major League Baseball
30. Dell
31. Coca-Cola
32. CBS
33. ABC
34. iPod
35. Mac
36. Turner
37. Nissan
38. Toyota
39. eBay
40. Amazon
41. Victoria’s Secret
42. Nutella
43. NASCAR
44. Disneyland
45. Audi
46. NHL
47. Red Bull
48. Verizon
49. Intel
50. Subway
51. Hewlett-Packard
52. Puma
53. Kia
54. Fox News
55. Porsche
56. Jeep
57. Dodge
58. Pandora
59. Walmart
60. Zappos
61. Suzuki
62. McDonald’s
63. Krystal
64. T-Mobile
65. Skittles
66. KFC
67. Volkswagen
68. NBC
69. Sprint
70. Pixar
71. Motorola
72. IKEA
73. Pepsi
74. Cisco
75. REI
76. LG
77. AT&T
78. Converse
79. The Gap
80. Chevrolet
81. Luis Vuitton
82. Toys”R”Us
83. H&M
84. Philips
85. General Motors
86. Pringles
87. Visa
88. Prada
89. Panasonic
90. IBM
91. VH1
92. Hulu
93. Oracle
94. Burberry
95. SEGA
96. Sears
97. Avon
98. Jet Blue
99. Lacoste
100. Comcast

National Geographic's "Border Wars" Premieres this Sunday

2010-01-05T13:43:00.001-08:00

Today at work I came across an advertisement for a new show, Border Wars, premiering on the National Geographic Channel on Sunday. It immediately caught my eye and looks like a great idea for a show. They will take a weekly look at an inside perspective of what is going on the drug wars down south that are already out of control. It is terribly sad that such a naturally beautiful country right next to the United States has become what it is. My opinion on the drug war? Sit back and let it happen. The only reason violence has skyrocketed in the last few years has been because of the arrest and prison sentences of the top gangs. Once these guys are out of the scenario, new gangs rival it out on the old gangs' turf, leading to the bloodshed of each other and the innocent. It is impossible to completely get rid of drugs. Let the trafficking happen under close supervision from the Feds. The strongest gangs will take control, and the violence will dramatically drop. It is a business just like anything else. The top gangs will prevail (survival of the fittest) and the entire situation will police itself. This may sound horrible, but it is the best solution that requires the least amount of lives. This one of the rare things I did learn while in college, thanks to the UW Economic Dept. Anyways, I am looking forward to the show. I'm hoping it is the real-life, TV equivelent of Traffic, one of my favorite movies. Check out this clip and "click here" to visit the website.

Gatorade Campaign on ESPN homepage - 1/4/10

2010-01-04T09:31:00.000-08:00

I grabbed this animated shot for Gatorade this morning on the ESPN homepage. It is very cool how they integrated their advertisement on the site. Companies like Gatorade and Apple, both with excellent at advertising, have done some amazing projects on the ESPN homepage. Check it out:

Celebrating the Decade at the EMP = Great View of Fireworks

2010-01-03T22:49:00.000-08:00

Me, my girlfriend and some friends welcomed 2010 at the EMP, which was located conveniently to the fireworks at the Space Needle. It was expensive, but I guess it's just once a year right? Check out the pictures:

Resume

2010-01-01T16:36:00.000-08:00

Resume

Also, check out my portfolio by clicking here.

For more information please view my LinkedIn account.

About Me

2010-01-01T15:12:00.000-08:00

Thank you for stopping by and visiting my blog. I like to use this area as a creative outlet to express my interests, opinions and learnings as I make my path through the professional world.

I currently work as an Advertising Account Manager for ESPN.com. Somehow many people are convinced I appear regularly on SportsCenter, but in reality I work with the Customer Marketing & Sales (CMS) team ensuring the post-sale management of our clients' advertising campaigns' run smoothly on the .com and mobile sites. We work with digital agencies and internal teams to coordinate the execution of our client's campaigns across the ESPN digital platform. Before my role as an AAM, I was an Associate AAM with ESPN.com, where a lot of my attention is focused on managing our high-growth, video advertising content.

Before, working at ESPN.com, I worked for Disney Interactive Media Group (DIMG) as an Advertising Media Coordinator, providing advertising documentation support to all Disney online brands, including ESPN.com, ABC.com., ABCNews.com, Disney.com, Family.com and FamilyFun.com.

I graduated with a double degree in Communications and Economics from the University of Washington in Seattle in 2009, and it is still hard for me to believe that chapter of life is already complete. During my undergrad years I interned for the UW Sports Marketing Department where I assisted with the marketing and promotions of all Husky sports. I also interned at Colehour+Cohen, a public relations and social marketing firm where I had the opportunity to work on programs such as the EPA's "Change A Light Bus Tour" and "WaterSense" programs, the Washington State Department of Ecology's "Litter and it Will Hurt" campaign and King County's "Waste Free Holidays" annual program.

I sort of fell into the world of digital advertising out of college. I did not know much of anything about it before accepting my job offer with DIMG. However, I quickly have fallen in love. I enjoy being a part of an emerging industry with high growth potential, and it never ceases to amaze me the new technologies I come across each day that more effectively connect advertisers to their consumers. I also hope to dabble more in entrepreneurship in the near future. Outside of work, I enjoy venturing outdoors in the Great Pacific Northwest and taking advantage of what the wonderful city of Seattle has to offer. I would also rather be shot in the head then miss a Husky basketball or football game. Go Dawgs!

If you would like to know more, don't hesitate to contact me. I love meeting new people, hearing new things and chatting about the advertising industry and sports.

About Me

2010-01-01T11:58:00.000-08:00

Alex has a passion for digital media, advertising, marketing and social media as well as the sports and entertainment world. He resides in Seattle, Washington and recently received his double degree from the University of Washington in Economics and Communications. Alex currently works for ESPN as an Advertising Account Manager.

Highlights:

->A professional and intern background in the Digital Advertising, Marketing, Public Relations and Customer Service industries.

->Recently promoted from Disney Interactive Media Group to ESPN.com.

->Experience in large corporate, boutique firm, and public university settings.

->Mentored by some of the top marketing, advertising, and PR professionals in the Seattle area and west coast.

->Excellent writing, oral, technical and entrepreneurial skills.

->Passionate about integrating social media outlets into the work environment to create brand awareness and viral marketing.

No More FOX for Time Warner Subscribers? WHO CARES?!?!

2009-12-30T12:56:00.000-08:00

I had a great laugh today when reading an LA Times article on the fallout between FOX and Time Warner. News Corp. (owner of FOX) COO Chase Carey tried to defend FOX on their decision to opt out of Time Warners' cable distribution, blaming Time Warner for not agreeing to a "fair" compensation for FOX's material. The following excerpt is where it gets down right hilarious:

Carey went on to say that Fox's "requested compensation is about equal to what Time Warner Cable pays TNT, a network with a fraction of the ratings and original programming of Fox, or about a quarter of what they pay ESPN, a network we again dwarf in ratings. Time Warner Cable will claim they cannot afford the rates we are requesting and try to blame us for rate increases to their customers."

Carey is out of his mind if he thinks the dismal sports production FOX attempts to create even comes close to the caliber of ESPN. They don't dwarf ESPN in ratings! They don't even come close, so it is unclear of what he is actually trying to compare. Everyone and their mother knows the inferiority of FOX Sports. The only reason I even deal with FSN is because of the PAC-10's poor decision to sign with the joke of a network. And I know every single person out there will agree with me on this. Football and basketball games, that look beautiful on ESPN or ABC (both owned by Disney) look like they are filmed with my cell phone on FSN. Of course Carey didn't back up his claim. So in the end, what will happen to all the Time Warner viewers that are deprived of FOX television? Nothing! Guess what FOX? No one even cares.

Read the full article from LA Times here.

Book Review: "This Business Has Legs"

2009-12-29T13:12:00.000-08:00

I just finished reading the success story of Peter Bieler in This Business Has Legs a recommended book by Timothy Ferris, the author of The 4-Hour Workweek. Bieler is the man behind the infamous "Thighmaster" and it's infomercial marketing campaign. He took infomercials to a another level and utilized them as a new tool for marketing. His belief was that infomercials could be used as a cheap form of marketing (they are a lot cheaper than TV commercial space), where people would begin to recognize the brand and demand that retailers stock up on it. His strategy worked, with the exception of a few legal hiccups along the way, and before he knew it the "Thighmaster" made it's way into the Wal-Marts and K-Marts of the world, which is where he made the big money. It's an interesting way to think of marketing, and at the time it was a brilliant alternative to the more expensive marketing methods. Obviously this strategy is out of date. Infomercials, although still relevant, in no way are as successful as they were in the 1990's. The introduction of Tivo, DVR, streaming online TV, etc. has decreased the amount of channel surfing consumers partake in, which was the main source of traffic for infomercials. Also, why would anyone bother to call a 1-800 number when they can purchase anything they wish on their computer with a click? Nonetheless, the book was very interesting and easy to read. Marketers need to stay on the top of their toes for the next savvy way to reach consumers, something Bieler was able to do.

3/5

"The Book of Eli" Looks Like a Good One

2009-12-28T15:45:00.000-08:00

I'm looking forward to seeing The Book of Eli starring Denzel Washington. His movies never disappoint (although my expectations were too high for Pelham 123), and this particular plot seems interesting. Check out the trailer:

Christmas Hike: The Wenatchee Confluence Park

2009-12-27T00:16:00.000-08:00

My family and I went for a Christmas day walk after over-eating. The Wenatchee Confluence trail is a breathtaking trail right inside the city and only about two miles from our house. It is home to many bald eagles throughout the winter months, which we unfortunately did not see on this trip. Beautiful nonetheless. Here are some shots I took:

2009/10 College Bowl Picks: Do Not Use These Unless You Enjoy Losing Money

2009-12-23T12:29:00.000-08:00

College football bowl season is already underway, and as usual I'm off to a horrid start. I'm 1-3 thus far, and I picked the same Cal team that got embarrassed by the not-so-good Huskies to beat a good Utah team tonight so it may very well get worse. For as knowledgeable as I am at sports, a career in sports betting would not be a wise career move for me. I can't even begin to count the number of years in a row I have recorded a below .500 record on these pools. In fact, I could pick the exact opposite most years and still be in contention to win the pool. Maybe I am over-analyzing the picks. Either way it is fun to throw away $10 and take part in this each year. Below are my picks, but I don't recommend heading to Vegas with these. Saturday, December 19
Wyoming (7-6) 35	vs.	Fresno St. (8-5) 28 (-10.5)	L
Central Florida (8-5) 24	vs.	Rutgers (9-4) 45 (-2.5)	L
Sunday, December 20
Middle Tenn (10-3) 42	vs.	Southern Miss (7-6) 32 (-3.5)	W
Tuesday, December 22
#15 BYU (10-2) 44	vs.	#16 Oregon St. (8-4) 20 (-1.5)	L
Wednesday, December 23
#23 Utah (9-3)	vs.	California (8-4) (-2.5)
Thursday, December 24
SMU (7-5)	vs.	Nevada (8-4) (-14.5)
Saturday, December 26
Ohio (9-4)	vs.	Marshall (6-6) (+1.5)
North Carolina (8-4)	vs.	#17 Pittsburgh (9-3) (-2.5)
Boston College (8-4)	vs.	USC (8-4) (-8.5)
Sunday, December 27
Kentucky (7-5)	vs.	Clemson (8-5) (-7.5)
Monday, December 28
Texas A&M (6-6)	vs.	Georgia (7-5) (-6.5)
Tuesday, December 29
#24 Wisconsin (9-3)	vs.	#14 Miami Fla (9-3) (-3.5)
Wednesday, December 30
Bowling Green (7-5)	vs.	Idaho (7-5) (+0.5)
#20 Nebraska (9-4)	vs.	#22 Arizona (8-4) (-0.5)
Thursday, December 31
Air Force (7-5)	vs.	Houston (10-3) (-5.5)
#19 Stanford (8-4)	vs.	Oklahoma (7-5) (-9.5)
Navy (9-4)	vs.	Missouri (8-4) (-0.5)
Iowa St. (6-6)	vs.	Minnesota (6-6) (-2.5)
Tennessee (7-5)	vs.	#12 Virginia Tech (9-3) (-4.5)
Friday, January 01
Northwestern (8-4)	vs.	Auburn (7-5) (-7.5)
#13 LSU (9-3)	vs.	#11 Penn St. (10-2) (-2.5)
Florida St. (6-6)	vs.	#18 West Virginia (9-3) (-2.5)
#8 Ohio St. (10-2)	vs.	#7 Oregon (10-2) (-3.5)
#4 Cincinnati (12-0)	vs.	#5 Florida (12-1) (-10.5)
Saturday, January 02
Northern Ill (7-5)	vs.	S. Florida (7-5) (-6.5)
Connecticut (7-5)	vs.	South Carolina (7-5) (-4.5)
Mississippi (8-4)	vs.	#21 Oklahoma St. (9-3) (+2.5)
Arkansas (7-5)	vs.	East Carolina (9-4) (+7.5)
Michigan St. (6-6)	vs.	Texas Tech (8-4) (-7.5)
Monday, January 04
#6 Boise St. (13-0)	vs.	#3 TCU (12-0) (-6.5)
Tuesday, January 05
#10 Iowa (10-2)	vs.	#9 Georgia Tech (11-2) (-3.5)
Wednesday, January 06
Troy State (9-3)	vs.	#25 Central Mich (11-2) (-3.5)
Thursday, January 07
#2 Texas (13-0)	vs.	#1 Alabama (13-0) (-4.5)

How Small Businesses Can Generate Traffic Through Social Bookmarking

2009-12-22T12:52:00.000-08:00

I recently did some part-time, voluntary social media and marketing consulting for a small, internet startup in Seattle. The company, expected to launch in early 2010, provides relationship consulting videos on a variety of topics through their website. Their goal is to make their videos as viral as possible in order to reach new visitors. I helped them create a marketing campaign focused around social bookmarking tools (ie Digg, Delicious, etc.) to increase their site traffic. These are all free marketing tools that can generate major traffic without much work. Below is my guide for the company, which can be used by any other small business online.

1) Stick with the more popular bookmarking sites. The extra time spent utilizing the smaller ones isn’t worth it.

a. Digg, Delicious, Redd-itt

2) Add a catchy title and provide the link as well as a short description and a few tags (ie relationships, stress, etc.)

3) The key to drive these links to the top of social bookmarking pages is to get as many votes as possible ASAP

a. Try to get 25 votes within 2 hours
b. This should be easy if everyone in your company sets up an account and votes on the link you submitted. It should take them no more than a couple minutes per day.
c. Managing fewer sites and sticking to the popular social bookmarking sites will make this easy and keep everyone organized.

I hope my consulting here helps out a bit. As I mentioned I would stick to the main sites (Digg, Delicious and Redditt) at first and maybe add to the list depending on how the progress and maintenance routine is going. The last thing you want to do is waste valuable time on sites that are not going to make much of a difference. Focus on the popular sites. If everyone in the company takes part in this by signing up for these 3 accounts and everyone votes for each link you post, that is an incredible start. Figure out a system where everyone votes within 2 hours of your post. You will be surprised how many additional votes you will receive through viral spreading. Also take a look at this article on how to use Social Bookmarking to market your small business. It has some very useful tips: http://homebusiness.about.com/od/internetmarketing/a/social_bookmark.htm

With the Help of a UW Grad, USC Athletics May Be Breaking Rules Again

2009-12-21T10:35:00.000-08:00

USC looks like they may be in some deep water again in what seems like the millionth time in the past two years. This time it involves tailback, Joe McKnight and former UW grad and current LA businessman, Scott Schenter. The claim is that he helped purchase a Range Rover for McKnight, which wouldn't be surprising at all considering USC's past (ie Reggie Bush and OJ Mayo). Schenter insists the car is owned in his name because he is helping a family friend who couldn't get a loan. The family friend happens to be McKinight's girlfriend, who apparently makes all the payments on the car. Schenter wasn't all to happy with how the LA Times handled the situation in their article and sent a response out to numerous publications including Bob Condotta at the Seattle Times. I'm not sure what to think of this issue. It does seem fishy, but I would like to give a Husky grad the benefit of the doubt, plus I have never been fond of the LA Times and their sports reporting. This Schenter guy seems like he has a pretty interesting background also. Here is his formal response he sent out. Decide for yourselves what is actually going on here.

I hope that my responses can be published in its entirety, this is why it is being sent to the Daily News and Seattle Times. I will be back from South Africa on Tuesday and my comments are self explanatory.

Mr. Pugmire (LA Times journalist):

I was very insulted in that you co-authored an article titled, "USC investigating tailback Joe McKnight's use of vehicle" and "rushed" to publish it without comments from myself. My personal life was put in the open without the opportunity to comment (I had to disclose to my wife of the other cars I have purchased or helped buy for other women). I will make a few comments and will also be forwarding my comments to Bob Condotta of The Seattle Times, and other news organizations that I feel should hear from me so they may publish or have it for their records.

I am in Johannesburg, South Africa finalizing a major business deal (more on this later) but the internet is very expensive to use and I had meetings scheduled all week with no time to check the internet. You sent me a list of questions to answer at December 17, 2009 at 10:25 PM and on December 18, 2009 at 6:03 PM you sent me an email saying, " The Times will publish the story regarding your connection to USC running back Joe McKnight in a few hours". I had no chance to respond. In the article you said, "Reached by e-mail this week, Schenter was sent a list of questions regarding his businesses, McKnight and the Land Rover. Since then, he has not responded to multiple requests for answers."

I also want to put on record that I have a strong negative bias toward your paper as I have never forgot the "hatchet job" your staff did in the early 1990's on the Washington Huskies football program and the horrendous journalism your staff did back then. I still have one of my pride possessions parked at Santa Monica Beach, (you didn't see it when you visited my home), my Washington Husky Marching Band Van. There aren't too many of those parked at Santa Monica Beach? I used to have season tickets to the Washington Huskies for more than 15 years. I have never had USC season tickets or have never received tickets from any players or coaches from USC. I lost a bet from a girl from USC and have a "W" permanent tattoo on my ankle because of it. "W" stands for Washington and the Washington Huskies are my passion.

More information,
Johanna Michelle Beltran is a long time family friend and is an employee of Smart Bullets Inc. Smart Bullets Inc. has a patent to turn nuclear wastes into valuable metals, eliminating nuclear wastes and actually turning it into usable materials. The company also, called Smart Bullets because a protein (monoclonal antibody) attaches to a medical isotope (radiation) and attaches itself to the cancer cell and shoots off the radiation only attacking the cancer cell without hurting the healthy cells (this being a smart bullet)! My father, Dr. Robert Schenter, ex-director of National Association of Cancer Patients is the chief scientist and world authority on medical isotope production. We are looking to use this technology for AIDS/HIV, arthritis, cancer, and other diseases. Also, did you see my patent on Actinium-225?

I am the owner of the Land Rover because Michelle's parents couldn't qualify for the loan. It is her car. She makes the payments and she is responsible for insurance. The payments are a little over $500/month (not a big amount).

What is my job? This one really showed your research capabilities! I am an entrepreneur that has his hands in numerous businesses and investment opportunities. My background is in Finance and Marketing. I am in South Africa closing a deal with major corporate sponsorship for the use of my "motion media" signage for Busivision (www.busivision.com). We just signed two huge contracts to distribute the signs in South Africa. The companies you mentioned in the article are two companies that I registered in May 2008, USC Marketing (United States China Marketing) and Brighter. What about Lumabright? I have not done anything with them. Teslavision also was a past partnership. These businesses are in the marketing business but I have nothing to do with agents, marketing players, or representing athletes. I have no experience in this business. What is my real job? I currently work for the Los Angeles County Assessor's office for over 21 years real estate appraising high value properties. You couldn't find that on the internet. I would rather be known for my expertise in my marketing and finance ventures (there are more) but my current job is working for Los Angeles County, I don't like to admit it but it is.

I own so many website domains that I only purchased www.4joemcknight.com (didn't renew) because I thought it was clever along with the many other ones I own/owned. Michelle Beltran knew nothing of this website. I also have uscmarketing.com, uclalove.com (where's the Kevin Love article), stanfordindians.com, 24kobe.com, airkobe.com, trumpcancer.com, shaqcancer.com, caltechbeavers.com, uscromeo.com, and for Scott Wolf, amandapflugrad.com.

I feel this is a start in communication and I hope someone will print my response in its whole. I get back on Tuesday and hope a decision on Joe McKnight is not rushed to judgment until everything is heard. Please respect my personal life and everyone involved.

Scott Schenter

Stocks > Bonds

2009-12-18T12:04:00.000-08:00

Jim Cramer may be wrong a little too often for a stock guru, but I completely agree with his opinion regarding bonds. Investors have been flocking to low yield bonds in fear of the unsteady stock market. This is absurd! Large cap, safe-and-steady stocks such as Pepsi (PEP) have higher yields on their dividends than these low-risk bonds. Not to mention Pepsi is an excellent company that will show you impressive returns in the long-term. Heck, two years ago it was almost at $80/share (it is at $59.28 currently) and it most definitely will see those numbers in the close future. If you can afford to wait 2-3 years, why wouldn't you invest in safe, high yield, blue-chip stocks over bonds? It's a simple decision.

Cramer also says "buy the heck out of Citigroup" a company I own. I have owned this stock for a little under a year and have seen great results with the exception of the past couple months due to its TARP negotiations. Don't get me wrong C is a horrible company with bad management (similar to most banks), but this company is too large too fail, and the price tag on it is absolutely ridiculous. This was flirting with $60/share two years ago and around $8/share in the past 52 weeks! Luckily I am young and can afford to dump my money in places without needing it immediately. This short-term hit on the stock makes it even more attractive for me to put more money into which I will. So for all 8 readers I have out there, you will know right now I am very bullish on C and XOM. You won't be disappointed!

Create Your Own SportsCenter Remix On ESPN.com

2009-12-17T16:43:00.000-08:00

One cool thing on ESPN's website that hardly anyone knows about is the ability for users to generate their own content and create video clips strikingly similar to SportsCenter segments. It is actually a very neat and addicting tool. Of course I had to create a segment for the Huskies. Unfortunately, not many UW scenes were available to choose from, and those provided were all football. I did manage to make our 19-43 loss at home to Oregon look good on SportsCenter! Check out my Husky Gameday video below and visit the SportsCenter Remix page to create your own.

Book Review: "The 4-Hour Workweek"

2009-12-17T11:40:00.000-08:00

Every aspiring entrepreneur absolutely has to read the 4-Hour Workweek. This literally is one of the best business books I have ever read, and everyone, entrepreneur or not, has something to learn from this. Timothy Ferriss describes from first-hand experience what people need to do to live the lifestyle they have always dreamed of. Achieving this goal is actually not as difficult as it may seem. One of his main key points was efficiency, which has been a theme in the books I have been reading (see my post on the Toyota Production System). He managed to literally cut his work down to one or two days per week, no more than a couple hours per day, while still increasing his revenues. While this may be a little out of reach for most, many of the lessons and tips Ferris gives can help you become more efficient at the office and home leaving you with some extra time to focus on whatever you please. Also, he discusses the 80/20 Rule. This means many businesses and entrepreneurs receive 80% of their revenue from 20% of their customers, yet keep attempting to cater to the other 80% that show them minimal results. He says forget that 80%. If you focus on the customers that actually matter, not only will you save an incredible amount of time, but you may actually see you revenues increase from the preferential treatment to your important clients. As an Economic major, I completely agree that time is such a huge factor that sometimes money cannot beat. Enough rambling! Grab this book ASAP. I guarantee it will give you the motivation you need to live a more efficient and productive lifestyle and wake up the entrepreneur side in you.

5/5

XOM Buys XTO... Now You Need to Buy XOM

2009-12-15T13:36:00.000-08:00

I'm not an expert by any means when it comes to the oil industry, but Exxon Mobil (XOM) is a great company with an even better future. It has been hit the last two days after its purchase of XTO Energy (this normally happens as soon as a company performs a buyout), and now is the perfect time to buy during this dip. The purchase is great news for XOM, as XTO is a big player in the natural gas industry. And yes, I do own XOM and plan to buy much more when I can so hopefully all 4 or 5 readers of this blog will do the same and get rich with me. Read more here: http://www.marketwatch.com/story/exxon-mobil-to-buy-xto-energy-in-41-billion-deal-2009-12-14?pagenumber=1

Jake Locker, Spencer Hawes and One More Point

2009-12-14T14:57:00.000-08:00

It's official Jake Locker is back, and what should be the Huskies first bowl appearance in what seems like over 100 years. If anyone doubts a bowl game next season check this out:

If you do the math you will realize the Huskies were one point from going to a bowl game. Yes UCLA, the horrible one we saw beat the Huskies, will face the powerhouse of Temple in the EagleBank Bowl in Washington D.C. Hey whatever. It sure would have been nice to play in something and have an extra 15 practices for next year. Rose Bowl next year?

So who thinks Jake should have just taken the money? Surprise surprise. Yours truly, former Husky (if you can even call him that) one-and-doner, Spencer Hawes makes his opinion clear:

This gives Husky fans even more of a reason to hate Hawes. To be honest, I would probably have to get paid more than $2.5 million to live in Sacramento and play for the Kings. That will be pocket change for Jake in a year.

Washington Huskies vs. Georgetown Hoyas Preview

2009-12-11T15:17:00.000-08:00

The Huskies have their work cut out for them tomorrow. Quite frankly the Pac-10 is a joke and the Huskies will be as well if they manage to blow another one on the road. Texas Tech is not a legitimate NCAA tournament team, no matter what people like to tell themselves. Pat Knight was on the hot seat all off-season. A win tomorrow morning in Anaheim against the Hoyas of Georgetown can quickly fix the reputation of the Pac-10 and turn UW back into a final four contender. But overall, it is hard to find a worst conference then the Pac-10 this season, as ESPN's Andy Katz mentions below. It's an understatement to say Cal has been disappointing thus far. The Dawgs need to capitalize on this down season and steal another conference title. First up is some national recognition, hopefully tomorrow. Tune in at 11 a.m. on Fox Sports National (ie the worst sports broadcasting service of all time). At least it's on TV right?

Book Review: Toyota Production System

2009-12-10T15:04:00.000-08:00

I finished reading Toyota Production System a couple weeks ago. Might sound like a long, boring read at first, but it was actually an easy, interesting topic, not to mention a short book. Taiichi Ohno, part of the Toyoda family goes into detail about how Toyota has been so successful in the automobile industry. It all comes down to efficiency and worker productivity. Toyota chose to stay away from the mass production model Ford had so much luck with years before and created a "lean" model where everything was created "just in time" leaving minimum amounts of inventory. Many companies use this production method today (ie Dell), but it started in Japan with Toyota. This is a great book to read for anyone interested in business models. Even if you are not in the automobile industry, anyone can learn from this book as it applies to all business models, and can boost the efficiency in your own life. Thank you Scott Porad for introducing me to this book!

Rating:
4/5

Support Seattle Music: Diggz Dime & Larue

2009-12-09T16:17:00.000-08:00

The Seattle rap scene for the most part goes unnoticed. Most of this is due to the lack of large scale marketing efforts by the rappers and their promoters as well the lack of big money in the niche Seattle industry. However, there are many hidden gems in the Emerald City, most of which I have just been introduced to. Larue, whom I personally know, and his buddy Diggz Dime have recently released stellar albums that can compete with many of the mainstream guys out there. Take a listen:

&amp;amp;lt;a href="http://diggzdime.bandcamp.com/album/diggz-dime-iz-da-illest-da-mixtape"&amp;amp;gt;Intro by DIGGZ DIME&amp;amp;lt;/a&amp;amp;gt;

Home Depot - ESPN College Gameday Campaign

2009-12-07T11:18:00.000-08:00

Part of my job at Disney/ESPN is to take animated video shots of our clients' advertisement campaigns so they can see how it is utilized on our pages. The Home Depot integrated their campaign with the ESPN College Gameday section, providing viewers with endless tools on the site. There are videos, articles, polls and many user-interactive features that provide the perfect environment for the viewer. Many companies could learn from a campaign such as this. Also, notice how I pick Texas to beat Alabama for the BCS Championship towards the end of the clip. Take it to the bank. Check it out:

Measuring Workers' Utility: How Many DVD's Would That Be?

2009-12-03T10:39:00.000-08:00

Believe it or not, DVDs are a great way to measure a workers' utility, that is a measure of the relative satisfaction from, or desirability of, consumption of various goods and services. One of my favorite publications, The Economist, wrote an article on this today discovering that Mexico is by far the worse off when it comes to buying DVDs. Even though the price of a DVD costs much more in Japan than Mexico, Mexican workers must work much longer to be able to purchase a DVD. I am just wishing I could get DVDs at the Chinese prices. Take a look at the article: http://ow.ly/166m9Z

Apple Cup Fast Forward

2009-12-02T14:24:00.000-08:00

Kind of a cool video I found from the UW Athletic Department. Using a time lapse technique they recorded the entire Apple Cup weekend in just over five minutes. I bet the Cougars wished it went by that quickly.

ROI: Pirates and the Stock Market

2009-12-01T15:52:00.000-08:00

Somalian pirates have created a stock exchange? Yes, it is true and quite scary. The shares are open to all and everyone willing to help these pirates out. Shares can be bought with cash, weapons or any other useful materials. Turns out the Somalian pirates are smarter than we thought. I still don't get how hard it could be to stop them though. Have the government come give them the ransom money, then proceed to blow them and their ship up. Quickly dive in the water and rescue the cash and head home. Sounds about right. Well with the way my stock portfolio has performed in recent years, maybe I should look into an alternative investment. Just kidding. Read more here:

http://articles.moneycentral.msn.com/Investing/Dispatch/market-dispatches.aspx?post=1407799

Rednecks Lose! 30-0

2009-11-30T11:07:00.000-08:00

It was not a pretty shut out by any means, but no one was expecting anything pretty with these two teams. My Huskies are showing quite an improvement from last year, although questionable coaching and play calling have prevented a bowl appearance that was easily possible. I'm sure Sark would do anything to have another shot against Notre Dame, Arizona State and UCLA, all games that were inexcusable losses. That would put us at 7-4 (as opposed to 4-7) heading into the Cal game on Saturday. Oh well! A lot of what ifs. Next year will be the year for Sark to prove the Huskies are back in business. Please stay Jake Locker!

Album Review: Birdman - "Pricele$$"

2009-11-24T10:03:00.000-08:00

As we all know, this album has been highly anticipated and in my opinion it doesn't disappoint. How could anyone not like Birdman and the Cash Money crew? Unless for some reason you hate money there are no excuses to sleep on this.

5/5

Take a listen:

Pricele$$

Finally Good News for the Lions

2009-11-23T10:10:00.000-08:00

What a miraculous Sunday for the Detroit Lions. It's about time something good happened in my home state that doesn't start with Michigan State basketball. Check out these highlights:

Album Review: Tyga - "Black Thoughts"

2009-11-19T10:36:00.000-08:00

Not much of a Tyga fan, but his new mixtape, "Black Thoughts" is impressive. I know we are all looking forward to the Young Money collaboration album next month.

Rating: 4/5

Download Mixtape | Provided by DatPiff.com

How Advertisers' Can Stimulate the Viewer: Tools!

2009-11-11T13:10:00.000-08:00

There are too many digital advertising campaigns out there that fail to do anything to stimulate the viewer aka potential customer. Do these brands actually think people are willing to go out of there way, click on their banner or skyscraper ad and get redirected away from the page they are viewing? Maybe, but there are better ways to attract the viewer in my opinion. One campaign that caught my eye is GM’s Fantasy Football campaign on ESPN. The banner serves two purposes: Display/advertise their brand (in this case the GMC Sierra) and act as a tool for viewers use incorporate with what they are currently reading (Fantasy Football fans/users). In this instance GM partnered with AccuScore to provide ESPN viewers a tool to analyze their potential Fantasy trades. Nice job GM! I might buy myself a truck now…

Book Review: "Spam Kings" by Brian S McWilliams

2009-11-04T14:46:00.001-08:00

Now that I no longer have to stress about homework each night of the week, I finally have more time to dedicate to reading. I just wrapped up reading Spam Kings by Brian S. McWilliams. It was a great read and really opens the mind up to how profitable the spam business truly is. The funny part is, the business model is relatively easy to get down with the exception of a few technological mishaps hurdles that are bound to happen along the way (i.e. getting kicked off ISP’s, being registered on an official spammer list, etc.) With some good, well thought out tactics, it is scary how much money an entrepreneur can make spamming. Some “famous” spammers mentioned in the book were pulling down $15,000 per day, and that only included a four or five hours tops per day! The ethical part of this is something to be pondered. Personally that doesn’t concern me much. I can easily hit delete, no matter how annoying it is. I just enjoyed reading about the business model and revenue stream of one of the largest underground businesses. I strongly suggest anyone interested in marketing and advertising read this book. Pretty crazy stuff! Next up, is Toyota Production System by Taiichi Ohno.

The Business of User-Generated Content

2009-11-02T16:05:00.001-08:00

I have started to become fascinated with the world of User-Generated Content. It has always been a unique business model in my mind, but I am now truly beginning to see the upside. Essentially you are freelancing authors, and in many cases for free. Some blog services such as Associated Content, which I have written for, do compensate the author. Although the compensation is small (under $3 for a 400 word post) both sides win. The blog receives content for a small charge, which in turn attracts viewers, which equate to hits and means big advertising revenue is earned far exceeding their publishing costs. Some blog sites such as the Cheezeburger enterprise receive all their content for free. They are just required to sort out what should go on the site. It’s an interesting model of business that is quite profitable, and produces some of the funniest websites on the web. More on UGC to come.

How To Influence Mark Cuban

2009-09-30T12:40:00.000-07:00

Check out my recently published content on AC:

How to Influence Mark Cuban on IceRocket.com

Not Unemployed Anymore!!! YES!

2009-07-09T13:55:00.001-07:00

Well it's official. I have finally conquered this horrendous job market in more ways than one. I will be working in the Disney Interactive Media Group's downtown Seattle offices as an Advertising Media Coordinator. I am definitely thrilled to have the opportunity to be a part of a media conglomerate like Disney, and I am particularly excited about being able to work with their ESPN accounts being the sports fanatic I am.

I am also doing some part time work as a Social Media Brand Management Coordinator for a tech startup company called Coalition Technologies. The company is backed by some Social Media/SEO geniuses in the Seattle are and the future looks promising. We are at a day and age where everyone, individuals and companies, need to market themselves adequately online. At Coalition Technologies, we are able to do this for individuals and companies, leaving them with the time to run their business.

More to be posted later. Also, great article on college coaches using social media, which is posted below. He is not mentioned, but new UW football coach Steve Sarkisian is very active through Twitter and blogging something that is so vital in reeling in new recruits these days.

Watson: Coaches and colleges explore new frontier o

2009-07-09T11:47:00.001-07:00

Watson: Coaches and colleges explore new frontier o

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Coalition Technologies

2009-06-25T11:57:00.000-07:00

As I stress so often I believe social media is the future of marketing as we know it. So I was happy to receive a call from Joel of Coalition Technologies this morning who also happens to agree with this statement. Essentially, the startup company seeks to provide brand management via social media tools for companies that do not have the time and/or resources to handle it themselves. They are looking for an intern to be involved with the startup process. I think this is a great opportunity for the company and myself as this sector is still revolutionary (but not for long).

Baseloop.com

2009-06-23T14:31:00.000-07:00

Here is a great new social media networking site I came across today http://baseloop.com/. I am hoping I get selected for their two month internship program in downtown Seattle. Here is some background about the site:

Baseloop effectively has found its own niche in the world of social networking. Of course we can stay up to date on the happenings and whereabouts of our friends, co-workers and classmates via Twitter or Facebook, but what is neglected is the ability to incorporate their lives into your daily, weekly and monthly schedules. With Baseloop you can seamlessly browse through your contacts’ agendas and visually compare them to your own. Likewise, your contacts are able to view the social activities you posted on your own calendar. You can now learn what your contacts are doing and better yet, when and where they are doing it at. Baseloop makes it easy to get together with your friends more often and discover new things to do with them. You will never be out of the loop again.

With Baseloop it is easy to visualize your schedule by day, week, month or weekends. From there you can compare your schedule with the schedules your contacts shared with you and allocate times and places to meet up and socialize. Baseloop not only allows you to coordinate schedules, but also helps you and your contacts discover what to do and find out what is going on. Reviews and recommendations can be found on various places around your current area such as restaurants or bars your contacts have recently visited. You are also able to write your own review on your recent activities as well. A night out on the town is now a breeze to plan. All of the information you need is easily accessible to you. In addition to exploring locations, Baseloop provides extensive social networking capabilities that allow you to execute the activities you have planned with your contacts. You can post your status on the whiteboard feature and browse through inbound notices from your contacts including whiteboard posts, profile changes and calendar updates. You are also able to create and view photo albums to provide visual imagery of recent social activities as well as create favorite tabs (i.e. restaurants or bars) for your network to view. All in all, Baseloop provides the ideal tools to help people organize their lives and get together more often.

Sports and Social Media

2009-06-06T12:24:00.000-07:00

Great article from Mashable detailing how far social media has come within the sports industry in particular. Prominent stars like Shaq and Dwight Howard battle it out for millions to see in real, live time. http://mashable.com/2009/06/06/shaq-twitter-dwight-howard/

Alex Pepperl

2009-05-07T16:47:00.000-07:00

Hello all! The Alex Pepperl blog is up and running now, and I am sure no one out there is actually reading this yet. I might mention "Alex Pepperl" or "Alex" or "Pepperl" quite a bit here at the start. I'm just trying my SEO numbers up so Google likes Alex Pepperl. I just had a Marketing Club meeting with a social media company called Spring Creek Group who emphasized the importance of marketing your name (Alex Pepperl) on Google through outlets such as personal blogs. Employers love it, especially for an aspiring social media marketer such as myself. As soon as I find work (hopefully by next week) the blog will be updated more regularly with what is going on in the marketing/pr world in relation to the life of Alex Pepperl. Thanks for reading. Keep it classy Seattle.... Alex Pepperl. Alex Pepperl. Alex Pepperl...haha

Check my out on:

Tumblr: http://www.alexpepperl.tumblr.com
Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/apepperl
LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/alexpepperl
Del.icio.us: http://www.delicious.com/apepperl