Andy Boyer

Blog

  • Phelps, A-Rod and A Sub 8k Stock Market

    A few things collided in my brain this week, and I think it’s time we admitted they probably are inter-related in some way.

    Phelps

    First off, Michael Phelps gets busted for smoking marijuana in October.  The country flies into outrage.  After all, why should a 20-something year old, who just accomplished the greatest feat in Olympic History, in a room full of other 20-somethings who admire him, sit down and do what they do?  The nerve.  And if the guy who has more Olympic Gold Medals than anyone on earth can do so AND smoke marijuana, should it really be illegal?  Is there really someone saying, “Well you know, if he didn’t smoke dope, he’d probably be able to be a brain surgeon as well as Olympic Gold Medalist.”  

    The part that kills me now is that because of the photo, the county sheriff has had to haul in 7 people at the party and the guy who owned the bong, even though that guy wasn’t even there.  You want to talk about a guy born under a black cloud.  A guy who lives at the house DIDN’T get to party when a superstar randomly dropped by.  But someone did grab his bong out of his room so said superstar could smoke from it.  And then when he tried to sell it on eBay for $100k, he got arrested.  

    A-Rod

    On the other side of the spectrum, there’s the guy we just KNEW was up to something, but could never figure out what.  His breakup with Jeter was odd, getting caught with a stripper was odder, and being friends with Madonna was just plain bizarre.  But it turns out all he was doing was taking steroids with 103 other players from 2001-2003.  

    And do you wonder why not one team has sued any players for breech of contract?  Think about it.  A guy has a monster year.  You sign him to a 4 year, $40 Million deal.  Then the Mitchell report comes out and spooks everyone off the juice.  Now your $40 Million guy goes clean, and falls back to 15 HR a year.  Well if you didn’t know he was on roids before you signed him, then found out he was on the list, wouldn’t you sue and renegotiate back to what a 15 HR guy should make?     

    Dow <8K

    So we have illogical drug laws, cheaters playing and reporting about our national pastime and we honestly ask ourselves, “So how did our economy get so bad?”  Obama supporters are already wondering and asking why they haven’t received a blank check in their mailbox to cover all their expenses in 2009.  People think a national bank should be set up where every citizen who asks can get an ATM card to withdraw whatever they want.  Then there are all of these CEO’s who managed to get the government to give them big piles of money, and are now faced with the choice of taking a 80% pay cut and digging their company out of bankruptcy, or taking a 100% pay cut and resting on the beach in Costa Rica.

    Here’s what I don’t get about the $900 BILLION stimulus package.  Obama is out their pounding his fist saying, “We must do this today or our people will be bankrupt.”  The Republicans are out there saying, “Some of this makes sense, but I don’t get how $300M for STD testing stimulates the economy.”  So, why can’t we agree on about $250 Billion that makes the most sense, shoot it into action and then argue about the next chunk?  Any Senator who says they won’t approve a $100 Billion for construction and infrastructure projects unless the raises for Special Ed teachers are approved, is obviously gorging on pork.

    Summary

    So are these unrelated?  I just think it shows a complete lack of logic in the whole structure.  A guy making $25 million a year cheats, affecting 800 other ball players, 75 million fans, the seasons of 29 other teams, and the advertising revenue of several networks.  And we seem to be upset that a guy who at most is putting three of his teammates at risk is able to smoke pot and still shatter Olympic records.  And we’ll continue to drop billions into pretending to fight marijuana, arresting people, running them through trials and then releasing them to probation, instead of spending that money to hire a teacher to explain why you shouldn’t buy a house with zero percent down, especially if you don’t have a job.  There has to be some logic somewhere.

  • Why 30+ Year Olds Have More Fun on Facebook than Our Junior Counterparts

    I just don’t understand when people my age tell me, “Facebook is just for kids.”  I will argue that the best part about Facebook is in fact lost on these newbies, and us more mature folks are getting the best it has to offer.

    To wit: My friend’s daughter is 15.  She has something like 700 friends.  Basically every person she has ever met is on her Facebook page.  There has never been a time in her life in which she was not keenly aware of what her people were up to.

    No consider the 30-something year old who is tip-toeing into Facebook for the first time.  First he finds some work friends and maybe some folks he plays soccer with.  Then a few folks from his last job.  Then a few people from the town he used to live in, then college guys and then back to high school and elementary school.  People he hasn’t talked to or heard from in 20 years are now available.

    I mention this because this has happened to me twice now in the last few weeks.  An old friend from college disappeared off the planet, reappeared on Facebook and it allowed us to have lunch and catch up.  Meanwhile, the next time I’m in New York in June, I will be able to meet up with a friend I last saw in New Orleans circa 1986.  

    Now, today’s 15 year olds won’t get to enjoy this type of reunion.  So I’m sticking with my story – Lil’ Green Patches and SuperPokes may be fun and all, but it’s the reconnecting with long lost friends that makes Facebook as powerful as it is.

  • Just Keeping it Simple Today

    Not sure why I found this so amusing….

     

  • eTrade Baby “Outtakes”

    These guys are doing a nice job of complimenting their Super Bowl buy with some additional Social Media content. Check out these “outtakes” from the eTrade Babies.

  • TweetCongress

    2 Twitter posts in one day….must mean something, right?  Anyway, proof of concept – I saw this on Twitter, posted by John Batelle.

    http://tweetcongress.org/

    Silly, but really why *shouldn’t* Congress be updating us in real time?

  • Suck it up Haters – Twitter is here for good

    I know – it still makes no sense.  And it still sounds dumb to say you “Tweeted” something.

    But there are times when you have to admit things.  Like when you realized the DVD was replacing the VCR, that EVERYONE would eventually have a mobile phone, blogging was going to be here forever, and you would never again buy music that didn’t come as an .mp3.

    Twitter has reached that stage.  It is here to stay.  It has enough users now that business models are being built around it, even while it doesn’t have one of its own.  And here’s the thing – it doesn’t need one.  Someone will buy it.  If you won’t listen to me, read the charts below – the ones that show 800% growth YoY.  So go get your Twitter account and stop resisting.  It’s free, it’s easy and it’s fun.  Quit making fun of it and use it.

     

     

  • I Become an iLemming

    Well, I finally succumbed to the pressure.

    Since it launched, I’ve seen proud and cheerful owners of the iPhone gleefully show off thier little toy.  In bars, in meetings, in lines at Starbucks, they tauntingly stick it into your face, showing you all the magical things it can do.

    I resisted.  

    I stayed true to my core Blackberry.  I like the Blackberry.  It’s easy to use.  I don’t need real time stock ticket updates or the best way to walk from the Space Needle to Palace Kitchen.  I need a phone and text, and maybe some Internet.

    Saturday, something snapped.  

    Suddenly I realized that the phone had changed.  I knew it before, but I finally admitted to the analogy that we’re in the mobile version of the shift from VCR to DVD, and I still owned a VCR.  And there is no reason to buy another souped up VCR.  It is no longer an issue of iPhone vs Blackberry.  It’s become an issue of mobile devices in 2009 and beyond, vs mobile devices in 2008 and prior.  I knew all of this already, but some light piece of straw finally made that camel’s back break.  And the camel asked for an iPhone.

    Now I’m simply a junior member of the cult.  I look for and will listen to the teachings of those original iPhone disciples.  And I have to admit to myself that I’m more than a little excited to play with all the toys and gimmicks.  

    Now, I haven’t yet stood in line and condescendingly scoffed at those simple “iNots” walking around with their pedestrian devices.  But I’m sure one day, as I breeze through Google Maps or order a video before boarding a plane, I’ll have that smug look of a full fledged cult member.  

    If you are an iPhone Davidian and have a favorite “must-have” application, please let me know.

  • All Hail the Blogger In Chief

    Inauguration day – Tears of joy, hope renewed and a feeling that we will all succeed.

    Well, maybe that sentiment was felt by the general public as well, but anyone running a Social Media Marketing agency was even more pleased when the President of the United States proclaimed transparency was king and announced the White House would have a blog, communicating directly with its consumers/constituents in a conversational manner.

    The news made waves around the Seattle Social Media community as well.  “Will he Twitter?”  “Will there be a White House YouTube Channel?”  “What new platforms will the White House use for Social Media?”

    Any marketing effort that is being undertaken by the leader of the free world basically trumps every argument from any CEO rejecting Social Media as a valuable part of the marketing mix.  So thank you Mr. President.  You have already provided stimulus to one industry.

     

  • When Does Something Stop Being A Start-up

    TechFlash details the latest version of Marcelo Calbucci’s Seattle Startup Index.  The index tracks the Web traffic of Seattle based startups.  TechFlash trumpets that once again, Zillow.com is at the top of the ist.

    Now, I’m not trying to be ornery, but there’s something about being at the top of a list of “Start-ups” for multiple years, that feels akin to winning Rookie of the Year 3 times.  I see a lot of names on the Start-up list besides Zillow that have been around for quite awhile.  Names like Payscale, WetPaint, Jobster and Widgetbucks (formerly mpire.com).  

    You might ask, “Who cares?”

    Well if you are a start-up that launched in 2008, you certainly care that your traffic numbers are being compared to those of a companies that are reaching their 4th birthday.  Especially if some of them have geenrated serious rounds of funding already.  One would assume that a senior in his 4th year playing basketball would have more cumulative points than a freshman, no matter how exciting that freshman is.  

    It all just makes me wonder how a “Start-up” is defined these days.

  • AOL Splits

    We know that a number of companies are going to have to radically change their practices to survive this year.  In what could be the first “re-invention” of 2009, AOL appears to have split itself in two, blowing up the AOL brand in the process.

    The new divisions are called MediaGlow and PeopleNetworks.  According to AdWeek, “MediaGlow encompasses a collection of 70 niche content sites launched in recent years, ranging from AOL Health to nonbranded properties like TMZ.com.”  it appears to be similar to Federated Media, a collection of web sites all served by a single ad network.

    Meanwhile, “People Networks focuses on social media properties like Bebo and AOL Instant Messenger.”

    The AOL portal is effectively gone, an acknowldgement that people are using search to land in their destination of choice, rather than having a single home page they visit every day.  

    There are a number of other features that you can read about in the article.  Basically though, the old AOL is finally done.  It will be interesting to see if the new AOL properties become leaders in their new markets.