Andy Boyer

Blog

  • If the Snow Didn’t Convince You…

    Widespread economic panic, destruction of everyone’s retirement accounts, home prices through the floor, a holiday snowstorm paralyzing the country, and David Hasselhoff singing the national anthem at a bowl game.  If this wasn’t enough to convince you that the world is off its rocker, I bring you the Shorty Awards.

    Thankfully, this is not a reference to the Hip Hop community’s favorite groupies.  But it is a ceremony for the best “Twitterers.”  Yes, if you can constantly come up with 140 characters of witty banter, you can be nominated.

    So far I see Darth Vader and Peggy Olsen (pretending to be the Peggy Olsen from Mad Men) are nominated, along with many of the old Web 2.0 stand-bys that you’d expect to see nominating each other.  If you’ve never used Twitter, this might be a place to see what all the short-form hubbub is about.

  • Reporters vs PR Firms vs Blogs – The Battle Heats Up

    I’ll make a few updates to this post as I think more clearly about it.  But aninteresting debate has erupted over at Techcrunch, where Michael Arrington has declared he will no longer adhere to embargoes (except from a few people he likes.) Furthermore, he has called out a 43 year PR executive in a follow up article, calling her an excessive spammer.

    This argument is funny on a few different levels.  First of all, it’s pretty amazing to think that a blog no one had heard of 4 years ago now has the guts to tell the entir PR community that they will no longer play by the rules that the New York Times, Time Magazine, WSJ, and People Magazine have played by for the last 60-70 years.  

    Second, for all of Arrington’s vitriol toward PR firms, there’s irony that he will only review companies that are on his own PR “A” List.  Techcrunch started as a blog that promoted new start-ups.  Over the years, as they began getting more invites to more high class events, their focus shifted to Apple, MSFT, Google and companies that are one degree away from the top rung of Silicon Valley VC’s and power brokers.  A few years ago, I did some work for a start-up whose CEO worked tirelessly to get Arrington’s attention. Understanding how the Techcrunch ego worked, he actually underwent a 12 month PR campaign to build the right connnections to get one degree away from Arrington’s circle.  The plan worked, and now he has access to him.  Same guy, same intelligence, same social circle, but now that Arrington sees him as a connected influencer, now he’ll open his emails.

    I’m not saying that’s a bad thing.  It’s the way the world works – you naturally stop dealing with small fish when big fish are jumping on your hook.  But when you are working with the big fish, you shouldn’t start screaming and yelling at both big and small fish about which way they should attach themselves to your hook.

    But on to anoher point.  The reason we are in this mess now, is that at some point reporters stopped being “reporters” and started being “relayers.”  years ago, a few PR firms figured out that a reporter could spend more time in a bar if the PR firm did the research, wrote the aricle, provided the photos and listed contact information if the reporter wnated to add his or her own sentence to the piece.  These PR firms started getting companies placed.  Pretty soon, all the PR firms started doing this, and reporters stopped looking for stories, and hired assistants to sort through the pitches.  Now comes the internet, and while it used to take a bunch of $.32 stamps to send out a pitch, one email can blast out to 10,000 reporters.  The reporters have created this mess where you have to send your relase to everyone, because everyone is sending everyone the release.  And no reporter is actively doing any research themselves.

    So my synopsis is that PR firms should keep spamming the heck out of reporters until reporters start chasing stories themselves.  if they are just going to sit back and regurgitate releases, they should expect to get 1000’s of pitches.

    (I’ll think about htis more and see if I still agree with it later…)  

  • Defending the Bowl System – To a Point

    This post may sound blasphemous, but I’ve slightly re-thought my views on the College Bowl system.  I like the Bowls. Now, I still think the BCS is insane, but I’m going to defend the other 74 or 75 bowl games.

    What was the catalyst?  Simply, Arizona was good this year.  Now I know Arizona will never win the national championship in football.  I’m not greedy – I’ll take the 25 straight trips to March Madness and sacrifice a chance to compete with Oklahoma, Texas, LSU and USC for football’s top prize.  

    But this year, when Arizona was 6-3 with 3 games to play, I was hooked trying to figure out which game they would go to.  I prayed not the Sun Bowl or Hawaii.  But San Francisco, San Diego and Las Vegas all seemed like a great place to spend a weekend.

    So now a number of my friends who can get a hall pass for a bowl game, but not a regular weekend, will all meet up in Las Vegas 5 days before Xmas.  If college football had a 32 team playoff, I wouldn’t care about the game. I certainly wouldn’t travel to Vegas to see them get stomped by Alabama.  But I’m excited about the chance that they could end the year with a win over BYU in one of the lesser Bowls.

    Then next year, who knows?  Do they get better and get to San Diego?  Or worse and fall out of the system again.  But the chance for a Bowl certainly kept me watching college football this year, and will probably keep me interested in next year too.

  • Spring Creek Group Profiled in Smart Money Magazine

    I apologize for the blatant self promotion here.  But Spring Creek Group CEO Clay McDaniel was recently profiled in Smart Money Magazine’s Small Business site.  I think it’s a nice achievement for our little team of 15 social mediaholics.   Here’s the link to the story. 

  • Emerald City Curse?

    I know, I said no NBA coverage. But when a video about the 2-21 OKC Thunder references a potential Emerald City curse, then it’s worth watching.

  • Worst Band in the World

    I’m not necessarily personally against Creed, but apparently Google has spoken.  If you don’t believe the screenshot, go to Google and type in ‘worst band in the world.’

     

  • Heat Marketing

    It’s rare that a press release about marketing can leave me without a single thing to add.  But, then I find something like this and remember why I read the Drudge Report so often.  Since this is a press release from Yahoo, I’m just going to copy and paste the whole thing.

    In National Advertising First, Stove Top Stuffing Warms Up Chicago Streets This Winter

    Tuesday December 2, 8:07 am ET

    Stove Top Campaign Takes the ‘Bah-Humbug’ Out of Holiday Shopping with Heated Bus Shelters and Delicious Stuffing Samples

    GLENVIEW, Ill., Dec. 2 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ — In a national advertising first, Stove Top Stuffing is warming up Chicagoans this December by heating 10 bus shelters throughout the Windy City’s high-traffic commuter and shopping areas to help busy consumers keep cozy throughout the hustle and bustle of the holiday season.

    The month-long campaign represents the first time that heat has been used in bus shelter advertising, and is part of a larger integrated Stove Top campaign to warm up Chicagoans that also includes print ads in more than 50 bus shelters and street sampling of new Stove Top Quick Cups instant stuffing.

    “Stove Top Stuffing is all about warming up families with hot, delicious meals when the temperatures drop, and we wanted a stand-out way to demonstrate this to consumers this holiday season,” said Stove Top Brand Manager Ellen Thompson.

    Warm Up Your Senses

    Now through the end of the month, Chicago residents can enjoy a break from the cold under one of 10 bus shelter locations throughout Chicago, including:

     -- 16 S. Clark Street (Clark Street & Madison Street) -- 197 N. State Street (State Street & Lake Street) -- 300 N. Michigan Avenue (Michigan Avenue & Wacker Place) -- 431 N. Michigan Avenue (Michigan Avenue & Hubbard Street)* -- 757 N. Michigan Avenue (Michigan Avenue & Chicago Street)* -- 538 W. Madison Street (Madison Street & Clinton Street)* -- 1 E. Washington Avenue (Washington Avenue & State Street)* -- 5 N. Michigan Avenue (Michigan Avenue & Madison Street)* -- 221 N. LaSalle Drive (LaSalle Drive & Haddock Place) -- 533 N. Dearborn Street (Dearborn Street & Grand Street) *Stove Top Quick Cups sampling locations

    Spreading the Warmth

    To give on-the-go Chicagoans a taste of a home-cooked family favorite, Stove Top will hand out samples of its new Quick Cups instant stuffing at select heated bus shelters during the first three weeks of December, including Dec. 4-7, Dec. 12-14 and Dec. 19-21. Whether you’re noshing on holiday leftovers or grabbing a quick lunch at the office, each two-serving Quick Cups provides a warm, flavorful addition to any meal. Just add hot water and heat for up to 60 seconds in the microwave.

    To learn more about Stove Top Quick Cups, leftover ideas and quick dinnertime solutions, visithttp://www.stovetop.com.

  • 1st Hand Account From Mumbai

    Last week, you probably heard about the events in Mumbai, but glossed over them due to the hoilday weekend.  On Saturday, I discovered a friend of mine from Manchester Business School is now living in Mumbai.  I asked him to write a little about what happened out there.  Here is his email, unedited:

    Re: Mumbai

    well i am the worst when it comes to writing. i could relate some of the events to you to make up the script:

    around 10.30pm we heard from the news that a place called Leobold cafe & bar had a gang war in which some people were shot. i actually had a friend just opposite that place curious about what had happened and could not figure out much. i heard stories of someone having their bachelor party there before the wedding.

    it was only by 11pm  or so that we started getting news about 3 places and then 5 places that were hit by terrorist attacks. these included this bar, followed by a busy train station, and then these three locations that were under cross fire for 3 days, i.e. Taj Mahal Hotel, Trident Oberoi (two of the most upmarket hotels in the city which is a who’s who regular) and a predominiatly Jewish occupied building.

    In the these three locations, the terrorists entered shooting at random. this followed with taking american, british and irish passport holders as hostage. many visitors from these nations also died in the attack. all these three locations were random killing grounds and under fire.

    A hotel like to Taj could easily accomodate over a 1000 people. We hear from those inside that there were scores of dead bodies left in the hotel and many of them having bombs below them as booby traps. So we really do not know the actual death count but believe it is far above what the media portrays.

    The following day we were hit by some rumours of terrorists in other parts of the city. We do fear though that there may be some of these terrorists that managed to escape and are busy planning something or finding an escape route. It is hard to say what is safe anymore here.

    The government was quite unprepared considering the news shows a lot of the intelligence being made available to the state. the army did play a great role in stopping the series of sad events. it was quite late though. three days of anxiety has for the first time killed the spirit of a city that is known for rebounding back the next day from calamities and terrorism in the past. there is a great sense of unrest in the people now seeking strong action against the culprits and demanding a fair and committed government that really is concerned about its people and not to unkept promises to win their vote banks. most politicians that have tried to politicise this event have been come down hard upon by the media and public alike. 

  • Here’s a Fun Blog

    The Stanwood bureau of AndyBoyer.com once again shows it is worth every dime we are pouring into it.  Garrett and his team bring us “Bend it Like Bennett” a blog written by a fake Clay Bennett. Funny stuff.  And as Garrett reports:

    This cannot be written by an OKC resident.  It has to be a disgruntled Seattle fan.  However, the comments indicate that the people reading it believe it is an OKC fan.  
     
    http://benditlikebennett.blogspot.com/

  • Happy Thanksgiving

    Well Happy Thanksgiving, aka “Shopping Season Eve”.  I thought it was a good time to remember the early days of Thanksgiving, as described by my Grand Papa Ernest.  Grandpapa swore that his Grandpapa’s Grandpapa was there.  With a giant glass of Wild Turkey in one hand, he would gather the kids and happily relive the tale of the first Thanksgiving….  

    You see, one day word came to Plymouth Rock that a Macy’s had opened in New York.  None of the men knew what a Macy’s was, but the women swore that they simply could not be caught at New Year’s in a gown that was not from this glorious place.  Tales of lavish rooms filled with every kind of merchandise imaginable excited the oldest and youngest women in the town.   And all their freshest inventory arrived the 4th week of November.

    Now the trip from Plymouth to New York was at least a day in each direction.  So for a full day of shopping on Saturday, the women had to leave on Friday.  At first the men saw no problem with this, and they approved the plan that the town women had come up with.  

    But on Saturday, after a full day of no one fixing them a meal, the men were singing a different tune.  They were hungry, then hungrier on Sunday, and when the women returned, the men were drunk on wine and whiskey, with no food in their bellies.

    So the next year, the town elders decreed the women would not be allowed to travel to Macy’s.  One of Macy’s marketing people read the Plymouth blog in which this was discussed, and checked with other towns.  Plymouth was not the only town in which the women were flocking to Macy’s, and what seemed like sure success seemed in peril.  The marketing guy realized something must be done.

    Being a man of the world, the marketing man knew quite a few Native Americans.  He quickly struck a deal with one of the chiefs.  The chief had been working with the Macy’s buyers for months to get their hand crafted moccasins and shawls into the fall season, but to no awail.  In return for Macy’s carrying the merchandise, the tribes would reach out to their pilgrim friends.

    The tribes would invite the men and women of each town to a giant feast, to be held the 4th Thursday of November.  There would be way way way too much food.  And so in an act of kindness, the tribes allowed – almost forced – the pilgrims to take the leftovers home with them.  

    With a house full of leftovers, and tons of extra ale and wine, the men pilgrims suddenly realized an exciting three day weekend might be had.  However, their wives, who were now stuck in town, had given them a long list of demands and chores.  

    The men were not pleased, and quickly convened a meeting to discuss options.  With all the food and drink, they certainly could allow the ladies to go to New York.  But they might not make it in time.  

    A few of the unmarried men said they would be happy to see this Macy’s and lead the group.  Thus they quickly organized a giant horse and buggy-pool.  They left at the break of dawn, combining the buggies together to make colorful super buggies, and played their musical instruments to pass the time.  They did not stop until they reached New York, where they saw many other caravans and combined them together.  They quickly ended up in a long line, where they proceeded straight to Macy’s.

    The men were home and happy.  The women were shopping amidst a mass of chaos and frivolity.  The Native Americans had goods in the store.  And Macy’s never looked back.

    My Grandpapa swears his Grandpapa’s Grandpapa was that marketing guy from Macy’s.  I suppose we’ll never know for sure.