Those clear insulated tumblers that Starbucks is selling are called “To-Go Cold Cup Tumblers.” These are now available online at the StarbucksStore at the same in-store price.
But… these cups aren’t regionally personalized like the Aloha from Hawaii versions.
The first ever Next Level Hawaii conference happened last week with great speakers talking all things social media. The caliber of speakers was top notch, and while the emphasis was aimed at social media for business, general social media usage and tips flowed throughout the day.
So what did I learn from Next Level Hawaii?
Chris Pirillo kicked off the first session and provided a good backdrop for branding via social media. He reiterated how social media is a long term investment and takes time to build your community and following. You need to find your business niche, be passionate, and uniquely own the mindshare of your market . And Chris being Chris, flitted from subject to subject offering his personal, entertaining commentary.
Next up was Geoff Livingston whose highlight was a comparison of Madonna and Lady Gaga. This was an excellent lesson of branding and social media and illustrated how the landscape has drastically changed over the years. While only in her early 20’s, Lady Gaga’s network empowered by social media is definitively impacting the entertainment scene, previously dominated by the diva Madonna. What’s taken Madonna decades to build is being quickly eclipsed by Gaga.
Technosailor, Aaron Brazell, the author of WordPress Bible
Andrew Hyde was a last minute replacement and talked about the startup market. He mentioned “Ignite” events which sound like a variation of pecha kucha. But Andrew’s most sobering point was asking if anyone cared about your site/service/business. If it shutdown tomorrow, would anyone care or notice? Side note: check out balsamiq for quickly designing site mockups.
After Andrew, Jesse Stay took the stage to talk Facebook. As the author of Facebook books (yes, real books), Jesse showed the crowds the new Facebook social plugins. By the way, Jesse rocked his presentation using Apple’s Keynote and iPhone app that allowed remote control of his presentation. Sorry, my pics of Jesse were all blurry.
Lastly, local video blogger, Roxanne Darling made a compelling case to start using videos for business branding. Video consumption is growing, it’s getting easier to do, and companies can further their customer engagement with video.
Whew! That was a full day of social media! One interesting point was the “forgotten blog.” Many conference go-ers wanted to know if the key to social media success was Facebook or Twitter or YouTube. Several speakers said the same thing which was that your blog should be your central hub of social media activities.
And I almost forgot! One more thing I learned from Next Level Hawaii is watch your tweets when a live tweet stream is involved. You (and everyone else) might see something embarrassing. 😉
Thanks to HawaiiRealty for coordinating and hosting Next Level Hawaii.
Whatever the reason Steve Consalvi had for running out on the field during a Phillies game and whether or not the use of a taser was excessive, I’m not judging. But to remember this event, I designed a Frappuccino that looks like this.
I started with a Green Tea Frappuccino base to match the grassy outfield of Citizens Bank Park where Steve made his run. Then I adorned the image with thoughts, reactions, emotions, and feelings of the fans as Steve was tased into submission.
Did you have flashbacks to “Don’t tase me, bro!” when hearing about Phillies fan, Steve Consalvi? Young Steve left the ballpark stands and ran around the field, stopping play while security took him down with a taser.
Roll the vid!
Why would any fan take the field is beyond me, but I never had a thing for the baseball diamond. Let’s ask the opinion of resident baseball expert, the Tabasco Man. Would you run the field and risk getting tased?
It’s official. Starbucks has announced their customizable Frappuccino blended drinks where you can get one however you want it. To see what customizable options there are, go to Frappuccino.com and design your dream drink. You can then share your creation with the Frap community. Even better, you can sample your custom drink for half price during Happy Hour which goes from May 7-16 from 3 to 5 pm.
After an average Week 6 of Dancing with the Stars, Week 7 was maglorious (magnificent and glorious). Every couple crushed it with the lowest individual score of 8 and no 7’s in the bunch.
Erin Andrews and Maks set the tone early with a near pant-less quickstep earning them a 27. Chad Ochocinco and Cheryl Burke danced to a Coldplay song? I didn’t even notice, but more telling was their score of 9 from Len Goodman. That got a smile on the face of #85.
The DWTS judges ultimately did Nicole Scherzinger a favor. They got hostess Brooke Burke off of Nicole’s case. The judges flat out told Nicole that she’s the best dancer ever to participate in DWTS, so no more comparisons please Brooke Burke. 🙂 And way to rock the Aloha spirit with all the leis, Ms. Scherzinger. Looked like local kine graduation!
Pamela Anderson received the lowest score of the night with 24 and is in elimination danger. Pam’s entertaining, but she isn’t progressing as much as the others. She held her own in the Lady Gaga dance troupe but barely. Niecy Nash is the other one in elimination jeopardy, but she’s actually showing more progression.
Week 7 belonged to the maglorious Evan Lysacek and Anna Trebunskaya. Maybe they were aided by the crescendo of the solid performances before them, but this couple’s Argentine Tango electrified the audience and soothed Anna’s hubby.
Ok if @evanlysacek & @atrebunskaya don’t get 10s ima kill the judges
jonathan roberts
JonatRoberts
What was the fuss about? Check out their performance.
Watch tonight to see which five couples dance on.
So Twitter’s mechanism for quotable tweets went live today (but is feeling a little stressed right now). With Blackbird Pie, you can enter in the link of a tweet, and you’ll be given an embed code which generates something like this.
@geewhy I see you’re rubbing elbows with the Social Media elite at #nextlevelhi 🙂
Adrian Bagayas
abaggy
Whoa, looks like I overlooked my weekly Dancing with the Stars review for Week 6. Well, that week was just average. Look at Len Goodman’s scores of 7 for all performances except a single 8 for Chad and Cheryl’s Argentine Tango. See, average.
If I had to pick my favorites for Week 6, it would be the Argentine Tango by Niecy and Louis. Niecy’s improving, and I chuckled at the inclusion of food into their routine.
But the fan favorite for the week would have to be Erin and Maks’ sassy samba where Maks goes shirtless. Sure, it was a familiar gimmick for Maks that drew ire from Len but the fans went wild.
Nicole Scherzinger and Derek Hough led the otherwise average week with a score of 26 while Jake Pavelka had a disastrous turnaround, going from third place in Week 5 to eliminated in Week 6.
So Lebron James wins his second (and back-to-back) NBA MVP award, and Nike commemorates this accomplishment of their marquee star with a special shirt. Much respect.
But check out the suggested “You might also like…” section further down the page. Kobe Bryant in the house!
How about suggesting some Lebron kicks or clothing Nike? Where’s the respect? But then again 24 > 23.
This upcoming feature from Twitter would definitely help with twestimonials. Sure would make it easier to maintain Pulpconnection’s twestimonials page.
Hawaii startup Peer News is online and poised to revolutionize the changing landscape of journalism with Civil Beat. May 4th is the official launch date, but Civil Beat is currently open for business in a soft launch mode. I joined as an early subscriber (and at a reduced cost) to see what the potential future of journalism could be. Here are some observations.
Civil Beat feels blog-like with posts and articles that allow comments from paid subscribers. Non-members can consume content but not contribue to the conversations. Currently, Civil Beat focuses on the five beats of: Honolulu, Hawaii, education, land, and money.
Yes, the subscription cost for Civil Beat draws the most attention. A monthly subscription goes for $20, but there is an early subscriber cost of $5 for the first month. So, we’re talking $200+ a year, and what does that get you?
How about no advertisements littering pages of content and contributions. How about reporters aka guides who interact with its online communities. How about an ever-evolving look at topics, not one-and-done articles. How about a walled garden of engaged community members who reflect the Beat’s unofficial tagline of “Be you. Be cool. Be civil.” Is $240 a year too much to pay for the new civic square? Time will tell.
I do wonder if other pricing options will be available after the official launch. How about subscribing to a specific beat at a reduced cost. How about defraying costs for active community members. Since Civil Beat emphasizes conversations, why not reward members for their contributions?
To subscribe to Civil Beat, you need to pay using the popular PayPal. PayPal then acts as the sign in mechanism for Civil Beat. Leveraging the payment service of PayPal is understandable, but in the day of Facebook Connect and Twitter @anywhere, perceptually, PayPal feels out of place. But maybe that’s also a subtext of Peer News and Civil Beat, to challenge your perceptions and redefine them for a better future.
During the soft opening of Civil Beat, one glaring omission is the lack of a notification system letting users know when new posts and discussions are available. You’d expect RSS feeds since the site feels bloggy-ish. Civil Beat is on Twitter so even tweets of new content might suffice. Notifications need to be there on May 4.
A mobile application, not just a mobile-friendly format, would help sustain the engagement of the community. This app could then show new posts and discussions for those on the go.
And lastly, during my short time on Civil Beat, there’s been countless tweaks and changes, mostly at the recommendation of its community. Don’t like or want to see something, simply speak up, and Civil Beat will be listening. Of course, it’s their discretion how they’ll handle your request, but you know you’ll be heard. That is refreshing.
The new civic square is coming, and I’ll see you there.