Check In
Posted by dlakstins in social networking on June 24, 2011
I remembered FourSquare this week. That makes 5 apps I must check in on via iphone every time I go to eat. Yes I said must. Yelp, Facebook Places, Gowalla, FourSquare & Twitter. I must because I can’t miss the opportunity to network. Maybe my review on Yelp will bring you into Trifecta on 3rd (my favorite bourbon bar in the world.) Or perhaps being mayor of Whole Foods on FourSquare will make you want to read my blog. It could happen. Maybe it just did. But seriously why isn’t there an app that combines all of these GPS check ins into one simple press and click button? I barely check in before my appetizer comes and my beer is cold. There must be a simpler way. And no I will not just eat without checking it. That would be preposterous!
Are We Giving Away Great Blog Content?
Today I’m having a hard time coming up with relevant content for this blog. Then I remembered that this week I uploaded pictures and reviews to both Gowalla and Yelp, complained and commended on Twitter, and replied on Facebook. Is social networking encouraging us to give away our great content? I love interacting with people on all forms of social media because it brings new perspectives. But I can’t help but wonder if its beginning to steal precious content from my brain. I used to BLOG about restaurants, airlines, hotels, and other service oriented businesses both good and bad. But now I just tweet and yelp about them. Is this the end of blogging as we know it? Or is it really just separating out boring blog posts like what I had for dinner last night and how much I love Alamo Drafthouse?
Tumblr
After hearing about Tumblr this week on NPR I thought I’d give it a try. The only problem is they don’t support incoming blogs. So if I wanted to move my blog there I’d lose all of my data back to 2006! Not going to happen. So instead I decided to use Tumblr for the random links and videos that I love to post of here and keep this site for my blogging. Hopefully it will be a great way to connect with more people! Check out the site and let me know what you think: http://daniellakstins.tumblr.com/ I’ve also added a link to the pages at the top of the site.
Bahamas Pilot Challenge
Posted by dlakstins in Entrepreneur on June 6, 2011
Last weekend we took off with our friends Ken Kelly of Naples’ Kelly Roofing, Jennifer Jebrock & little Romeo Kelly as Ken made his entry into the Bahamas Pilot Challenge. This entailed visiting 12 entry airports in one weekend! We stayed at the Normans Cay Beach Club made famous by Johnny Depp in the movie Blow. Check out the video of our trip.
Unicycle Football
These guys were awesome and dangerous! Be sure to check out their website for action next spring.
Cancelled Series “Lone Star”
Part of the Austin Film Festival year round calender this year included a special showing of the cancelled Fox series Lone Star at the Alamo Ritz. The story of a Texas con man with 2 wives was actually really interesting. Although if I didn’t live in Texas and know the scenery of Midland so well I may not have been as interested. We got to see 4 unaired episodes and chat with series creator Kyle Killen. Kyle was a really likable guy who gave a lot of insight into the world of network television including the pressures put on a creator. Did Fox make a mistake? Who’s to say. But the acting talent was terrific and I expect to see many of them in other roles soon.
A-Ha
I’m totally on an A-Ha kick tonight. Can anyone tell me that the video for Take On Me is not the most awesome thing every for the 80s?
I would embed it here but they’ve disabled that feature on the youtube official vid. That will be an entirely different blog post concerning why you would ever not want people to share your videos and reach a larger audience. Anyway click the link and enjoy.
Does Social Networking Really Work? Part 2
Posted by dlakstins in Marketing, social networking on May 5, 2011
So a few months ago I made a blog post about networking with @technicktips on twitter. All adding proof to my point that social networking is not just a time waster but it really works. This week I had 2 great meetings with 2 other people I met on LinkedIn and Twitter. Real people making real connections. So why is it workign so well for me? I think it’s because I don’t care if it works or not. Meaning if I make a customer through social networking thats great but my intent is to share knowledge so that it will hopefully help someone else and in turn I can find knowledge that will help me. Taking that approach to social networking will help you to avoid turning off prospective customers by coming across as a hard seller. Secondly I believe social networking helps a person look like a professional. When I’m vetting a company that I want to use I want to see their Facebook & Twitter links to know what others think of them and define their identity. If someone isn’t at least on Twitter it starts to make me wonder. Lastly the best resource out there for business owners are sites like yelp. Don’t be afraid of a bad review! This is an opportunity to get honest opinions about what real people are thinking. Take the criticism and add it to your future planning. Most sites even give you the ability to comment back to the person who had a bed experience. To sum it up, I believe Yelp is saving capitalism because it allows us to get real time data on if a company sucks or not. So start planning your online identity and make real connections!
“The Greatest Movie Ever Sold” Review
Yes it was a gimmicky. Yes the plot was weak. Yes I should have hated it. But somehow I loved it. And yes I did buy a bottle of POM Wonderful 100% pomegranate juice right after the show!
Morgan Spurlock has done it again. Part documentary, part comedy, yet filled with moments of drama, this movie had it all. I’m seriously considering writing off the tickets as a business expense because of the lessons in marketing it held. Real prices being disclosed for real ads in movies. Social networking, viral media, video and magazine all being shown and explained.
In the end I feel it was good for all the brands involved, though Pom definitely won the image battle. And getting Mane&Tail Shampoo on twitter must have been a fun feat. This movie is worth the admission for educational purposes alone. But in that classic Spurlock style he also makes it fun along the way. I say 5 stars and bravo.
