Hangova in Hawaii
Check out who’s been hanging in Hawaii recently! Could that be Justin Chon, aka Eric from the Twilight movie series?
Could that be Jennifer Fairbank, former Miss Hawaii USA 2005?
Could this be filmed at Club 939?
hawaii
Holiday Gift Guide: APEC Aloha Shirts
What do you get that Hawaii businessman who only wears “Aloha crisp” attire? This Holiday season, you need to find one of these rare (and unworn) Tori Richard aloha shirts. Only 21 of these were hand made, specifically given to the 21 heads of state who attended APEC 2011.
The shirt design features elements unique to Hawaii like the hibiscus, honu, and a tapa pattern, and President Barack Obama’s signature adorns the shirt’s tag.
Designer Tori Richard, Ltd has stated that they will not be making this shirt available for sale, guaranteeing the specialness of this aloha shirt.
All Clear on the H1
As President Barack Obama got ready to leave the islands, the H1 freeway was shutdown for the Presidential motorcade. I’ve never seen the freeway that empty ever! There was some traffic headed towards Pearl City, but absolutely no traffic head towards Hickam.
Sam’s Club New Old Gas Pumps
The Sam’s Club Gas Station in Pearl City had some work done over the past month with gas pumps changed out for these new ones.
But if you look closely, the facades of the gas pumps are new, but the hoses and actual dispensers look like the former ones. Still good I guess. No matter since this gas station is the best one to go to. No lines, fast pumps, affordable prices, and a Starbucks across the way.
Double Rainbow
With the recent morning showers, seeing a rainbow is commonplace, but seeing a double rainbow is something to admire.
Starbucks Gold Card Discount on Holiday Drinks?
Maybe I never noticed this before, but was I always getting a discount on my Holiday-themed Peppermint Mocha when paying with my Rewards Program Gold Card? I never thought so but this receipt shows otherwise.
Can anyone else confirm this?
The House of Hoops is a Welcomed Addition
I had heard of the House of Hoops designation for select Foot Locker retail locations. The Ala Moana Foot Locker recently became a new member of the House of Hoops (and probably the only one for Hawaii). So what does that mean? It means more kicks!
We’re talking more basketball shoes, colorways, and baller gear that’s limited to House of Hoops locations. The back of the Ala Moana store has been carved out and transformed into the House of Hoops. If you’re walking on the court floor, you’re in the right place.
In the House of Hoops, you’ll find crazy colorways of Nike shoes. And of course, for all you pickup ballers, you know the advantage of colorful kicks and apparel right? That’s right, your ad hoc teammates will notice your flash and pass you the rock more. It’s true. You can’t pass to a teammate you don’t see. So when your PG see these colors in the corner of his eye, you know the rock is coming your way.
When you talk hoops, His Airness must be represented.
Off the court, you still need to come proper so the AF1 must be part of your shoe rotation.
For the out-of-state visitors, a must have are these 808 tees.
The Honolulu House of Hoops is definitely a welcomed addition to the Islands.
Who Is Scott Kaneshiro?
No, Scott Kaneshiro is not the next coming of Glenn Miyashiro. The common sounding Scott Kaneshiro is a designer from Mililani who’s the winner of the Hawaii SPAM design contest with his SPAM Shaka.
For his design, Scott wins $1000, a year supply of SPAM, and his name printed on every can of SPAM sold in Hawaii – that’s pretty cool.
Yes, Apple Stores Are Overcrowded
Both you and I know the Hawaii retail Apple Stores are crowded, especially the Ala Moana location. I mean where else in the mall are kids going to take PhotoBooth pictures of themselves?
This past Saturday, the crowds were so much that the fire marshall decreed a limit on number of shoppers inside the Ala Moana Apple Store. Employees had to maintain a queue for shoppers just to enter the store, similar to what you see on the first day of product releases.
So here I was wanting to make a return but faced with a 15-minute wait, I’ll try again another day.
See the Heart?
I was actually taking a “blind” picture of the sun and noticed the heart shape created by the clouds. Completely lucky.
The Secret of Social Media Success
I attended the Social Media Summit Hawaii 2011 and gleaned the secret of social media success. Do you want to know what the secret is? Do you? Are you ready for it?
Okay, here goes. The secret of social media success is hard work.
What?! That’s it? That’s what you learned from a day-long seminar with social media elite you ask? Well, yes, but not in those exact words.
In this post, I am not going to recap topic sessions. You can harvest the power of Twitter for that by searching for the hashtag of #SMSHI (or #HISMS). Mari Smith taught the audience How to Build a Large, Loyal, and Profitable Network, Erin Blaskie explained how companies can outsource their social media, NEENZ provided her insights about building communities, Mike Prasad presented self-experienced case studies, and Yancy Unequivocally Jim convinced the audience to create viral presentations. These sessions I attended were filled with tips and insights, but one underlying lesson resonated from each speaker and each topic – you have to invest hard work to realize success.
Hard work includes discipline. Do you reach out to your social media communities every day, every week, every month? NEENZ does.
Hard work includes consistency. Are you consistently listening to your clients, customers, and audience and consistently using their feedback? Mari Smith implores you to do so.
Hard work includes organization. Do you use a project management system such as Basecamp to organize your social media replies and conversations? Erin Blaskie recommends it.
Hard work includes dedication of time. Do you spend 60-80 hours of work and research to create a one-hour presentation slide deck? Yancey Unequivocally Jim of Empowered Presentations does.
Hard work includes being methodical. Do you dissect your target audience into focused seed groups? That’s what Mike Prasad did for Kogi BBQ and sold over $2M of $2 fusion tacos.
So success doesn’t hinge upon the social media tools, tips, or resources. The differentiator is the hard work you bring, and that my friends is the secret of social media success.
Thanks to the Social Media Club Hawaii for organizing a great event!
Bonus
About the tools and resources mentioned during the Summit? Here are a few I jotted down:
- kurrently.com – a real-time search engine for Facebook and Twitter
- twellow.com – a directory for Twitter
- noteandpoint.com – a gallery of killer slide decks
- fotolia.com – low cost online images
- Apple Keynote – you too can create the World’s Best Presentation for 2010 🙂
- arkli.com – manage a social campaign
Double Bonus
Here are just a few random shots taken from the event and venue.
Tasha Kobashigawa Is Still Flying
A chance encounter. Standing in line at the Honolulu International Airport, waiting to depart to LAX. I turn around and see a face, a familiar face. Same but different. Then it hits me:
It’s none other than former-KITV-news-anchor-turned-pilot Tasha Kobashigawa. Although she wasn’t piloting this United flight, it appeared she was on her way to meet up with another flight. Yes, Tasha Kobashigawa is still flying.
