Lady Gaga's Alejandro

Lady Gaga's Alejandro...by the numbers:

Length of video = 8m 43s

Portion of video w/ lyrics = 6m 22s

Time we hear "Alejandro" = 5m 23s

So that means that over 85% of the words we hear during the video are "Alejandro" - probably more, since she says it several times during refrains.

I only watched twice, and I can't be bothered to go through it again.

Below are my timings/comments:

First 2.02 = no lyrics
2.15 - 2.31 = no words
2.32 - 3.21 = 1st verse
3.22 - 3.41 = 1st Alejandro refrain
3.42 -4.39 = 2nd verse
4.40 -4.58 = 2nd Alejandro refrain
4.59 - 5.37 = refrain
5.38 - 8.24 = 3rd Alejandro refrain (w/ refrain sung over it)
8.25 - 8.43 = silence

49s = v1
57s = v2
38s = refrain

144s = 2m 24s of hearing anything other than "Alejandro" during 8.43 song
1m 19s = 1st Alejandro refrain.
1m 18s = 2nd Alejandro refrain
2m 46s =3rd Alejandro refrain

Total 5m 23s out of 6m 22s of lyrics.

Chamber Session part 2

Liker Building Methods

#1 -- Buttons & Badges & Widgets (see http://developers.facebook.com/plugins)

#2 -- Tag, Tag, Tag
-- use the @ sign on Wall posts but doesn't work in comments (only in Facebook - won't work if linking posts from Twitter to Facebook)
-- tag friends in photos, videos, and notes when relevant

#3 -- Facebook Social Ads (price is similar to Google Adwords & very, very targeted)

#4 -- Link to Twitter (used SNHU as an example) -- doing it from Facebook automatically shortens post that goes on Twitter

#5 -- Personal Profile
Example of Denise Wakeman (who is 1 of the "firestarters")

#6 -- The Share Link (photos, videos, links, notes -- not wall post)

#7 -- Custom Landing Tabs (using FBML)

#8 -- Invite Fan Interaction (example was Monarchs) b/c people can tag themselves and then friends of those people see it in News Feed but have to go to the Fanpage to see it.

#9 -- Fan-Only Content (use static FBML to restrict things only to Fans)

#10 -- Outsource It!
-- paid services, social media assistants (Turbo Social Media?), Check: oversight, policies/procedures, relevance

Twitter -- Follower Building Method

#1 -- Hashtag Happiness
- thematic conversations (#SMSS10)
- traditions like Follow Friday (#FF)
- interests like #ski
- locaion like #NH

#2 -- Re-tweet (& be re-tweeted)
- add personal note, if room
- show's you're paying attention
- appears in people's mentions


#3 -- Get Listed
- Twitr.org, TwitDir, local tweeps, etc

#4 -- Use Services
- Refollow, Twiangulate, Twibes, Twubs, Mr. Tweet, Twitterholic, Retweet Radar

#5 -- Meet Offline
- Tweet-ups, Networking events, workshops/seminars, trade shows, conferences

#6 -- Monitor & Engage
- Tweetdeck, Google alerts, Social Mention, Jitter Jam

#7 -- Mine Media & Center of Influence Lists
-- MSM or trade groups, industry analysts, etc

#8 -- Mine the Competition
- they'll find you on Twitter anyway, won't know that you're following the same people, they've done legwork already, in the end could be doing both a favor (getting people the right info, not wrong (2 nearby colleges, with very different target markets)

#9 -- missed

#10 -- Outsource It
- Social media assistants,

Get Help if you Need it!

1. Ramp up your learning curve
2. Find a success partner
3. Turn it over to an expert

Outsourcing is going to be a big trend for 2010 -- 10-25% are already doing it

Montaigne Communications is doing social media for NH Travel & Tourism

Become a Liker at http://facebook.com/AhaYourself
Write on wall w/ comments & pics

Administrative panel -- control where fans vs. non-fans land when they first come to our page. Make customized welcome page,

Manchester Chamber Social Media Session

Kicking off with a book from Seth Godin's _Tribes_ -- how to get true, loyal fans!

- Everything's integrated
- Tactics for any online channel
- Facebook
- Twitter

1. Strategy - why doing this? Needs to be for "interaction" for the sake of driving enrollment not just "being there" or putting out news

2. Measurement
- traffic, revenue/cost, earned media, likers/followers, interactions
Google Analytics for tracking inbound traffic and look at "Insights" in Facebook. Do a baseline and then at regular time intervals

3. Content Creation
- Content is information you share with your audience in any form, which (ideally) provides a value/specific benefit to them.
Example = Franklin Savings Bank. Way ahead of what any other bank/credit union in New England is doing. 1,000 fans.
- Editorial planning! What does the audience want to see?

4. Broadcast
- automate broadcasting with HootSuite, Ping.fm (to 40 sites), Social Oomph (schedule Tweets, and Facebook [w/ professional level]), Seesmic

5. Engagement
- Chris Brogan clip from Web 2.0 expo in November 2009 - example about Roger Smith hotel and Blogger's special. Key was that they were there, and involved with people.
- Conversations -- 1) to whom will you talk? 2) who will do the talking/listening? 3) where will you draw the line?

6. Audience Building

One Size Fits All

Method #1 -- email signature & give reasons why people should follow link

Method #2 -- Cross Promotion. Put it out there on all existing materials, email lists, etc -- announce presence in Facebook, etc and give incentives/reasons to join. Constantly hammer in everything (provided you're ready and have the content)

Method #3 -- Promos/Coupons/Freebies. Easy on Twitter, but limited on Facebook (by "Promotion Guidelines". Wildfireapp.com as cheap external vendor to do contests, within the guidelines.

Method #4 -- find your Elite Fans (ones who care most about your brand). Tap into these folks, give exclusive content, etc -- and they will help get message out.

Method #5 -- Tribe Syndication
See: 2010 Social Media Marketing Industry Report (April 2010)

End of part 1 (first hour)

Continue to Part 2

New/improved stores in downtown Manchester!

Saturday was a beautiful, sunny afternoon in Manchester. So, I took a walk downtown to "stroll". With the winter weather/temperatures over the past few months, I hadn't taken time to just see what had changed -- I'd just been going where I needed to go as quickly as possible.

On a recent trip, I had noticed a new used records/CDs store that popped up in one of the buildings just south of the old Post Office Fruit Luncheonette (424 Chestnut?). So, I popped in for a few minutes. I'm a big Fleetwood Mac fan, so I was happy to see some of their albums, plus solo albums from people in the group. I didn't have time for a lot of chit-chat but they guy running the place said he used to have a store over by Central High school.

There was 1 other customer in the store at the time and he even bought something! Amazing!

Close to this store is a sports cards/collectibles shop that just seems to be getting around to open. Or maybe they're open but didn't look open. There were people working inside, but it didn't seem like they were quite ready for customers.

On this same trip, I stopped into "Corey's" which is a (variety?) store just to the north of Copy Express on Elm Street. In the time that I've lived in Manchester, it was first vacant, then became the "Step It Up" campaign office, then vacant again, and now Corey's for maybe the past year.

Based on observation and comparing my previous visit to yesterday's experience, and talking with Corey herself, the place is changing. My first impression was that it was a store for cheap tools and home decor, so it seemed like an odd type of thing to have downtown. But it's evolved based on customer requests to include art supplies for the New Hampshire Institute of Art students and very recently, they added a section with groceries. Now you can get canned veggies, soups, microwave popcorn, oatmeal, etc.

Corey told me that about 80% of the items are in the store based on cusomer requests/suggestions. She really seems to be into the "community" aspects of downtown, and she even mentioned this in our conversation.

If I had the time, I'd love to do a more in-depth post and some more investigation into all this. But right now, my priorities are on other things (as listed at UnitedManchester.org). So hopefully someone can take things from here. Maybe our friend at FortressManchester.com?

Always Sunny in Manchester?

Well, it seems like that's the way things are going these days...and it's improving my mood.

I seem to have a bit more "clarity" these days, on many things.

Procrastination seems to be an issue for me. Somehow, I've gotten into the habit of waiting much longer to do things than I used to. For example, I have a 2-page paper and presentation due for my graduate Marketing class tomorrow. It's not _quite_ finished yet. But, I'm planning to take a couple of hours this morning to work on things and then some time tonight -- so I should be fine. Now for my end-of-term paper, I need to work more steadily on that b/c procrastination will not be enjoyable in that situation.

Saw some good Manchester Monarchs hockey last night and am going again today. And then I have tickets for Wednesday. Why does it always work out this way? Feast, then famine!

Back in the groove

I feel like I've been in an "Internet Funk" for awhile. For the past 6 months, I haven't been having much "fun" with doing things on the web. Recently, a number of factors have me happier and more motivated...

So, I can't promise to update here very often, since I'm being pulled in lots of directions right now.

• I'm helping out with planning/marketing for the Manchester Food Co-Op
• Trying to find a good use for UnitedManchester.org
• Dreaming about doing some independent web/social media work
• Keeping my ahead above water with the first class for my M.S. in Marketing

Mixing business with pleasure.

I hate to bring work into this Blog, but I need to test what happens when I link from an external website to a form on http://www.snhu.edu so let's see what happens: http://www.snhu.edu/5829.asp

Fleetwood Mac in Manchester

I've been to a decent number of concerts in my life. Some had pyrotechnics, others had dancers/choreography, one even had a huge inflatable pig. I once was working on a list of all the shows I've gone to, but it looks like I never posted that list...

In any event, none of them can compare to the Fleetwood Mac show this past Tuesday in Manchester, NH! I wish I had seen Fleetwood Mac shows over the years to compare one to another, but this was powerful!

I had read various reviews so I knew what to expect (nice Lindsay/Stevie moments, McVie being a somber bass player, Mick going nuts on his solo and speaking unintelligibly at times). But, my expectations were far exceeded by the actual performance!

It's probably that I'm such a huge fan, and I have been since the 60s. *laugh* Well, I've been a fan since 1997 but I enjoy the various types of music put out by Fleetwood Mac starting in the 60s (long before Buckingham Nicks ever came on the scene). As a short history lesson, Fleetwood Mac was originally a British blues band, and a very good/popular one at that. At one point they were promoted as "Peter Green's Fleetwood Mac".

So, I had been waiting for years to see Fleetwood Mac in concert. I missed their late 90s tour, was in Egypt for the one in 2005 (?) and then I finally got my chance on Tuesday.

None of the songs by themselves were fantastic, though the arrangement of a couple of them was surprisingly different from what I expected. The best thing about the show is that they don't have a new album to promote (yet), so it was a "best of" performance. I think almost everyone in the audience knew the words to all the songs.

Stevie is still beautiful, but she seemed tired/worn out. She's allowed...and still gave a good performance.

McVie is a bass player. A good one, but still a bass player. Not much energy from him.

Mick really rocked, especially on his long drum solo. The only thing missing was something that used to be attached to one of the drum heads years ago which would flop around while he played.

Lindsey Buckingham IS the driver of Fleetwood Mac. Maybe it's been that way all along more than I wanted to admit. I always thought he was soft and that he took them in directions I didn't like. But these days, he makes the shows. He's stomping his feet, jumping around, firing up the crowd. He's also the only one who shakes hands with fans, signs autographs, and lets his guitar be touched.

Well done, all!

I'm a "Social Media Apprentice"

This just came to me... Not quite in a flash -- more like a forehead slapping sort of moment.

I've seen people calling themselves "Experts", "Gurus", etc in Social Media. My ego won't allow me to get anywhere near using those words to describe myself.

We're all still experimenting with Social Media. Don't try to convince yourself or anyone else that you've got it all figured out.

I found similar thoughts at: http://arnteriksen.com/are-you-a-social-media-expert

7 Things

Tagged by @yorkd so it's time to write my first Blog entry in a long time!

Tagging:
@odoketa
@MichaelSprunger
@bhachez
@br80
@ricpratte
@ShoGrrl2
@lyssarose

Making this list seems fairly easy b/c most people I'm tagging don't really know much about me!!

1. I don't know how to ride a bike. Really. No joke. It's not inconvenient, except when it is. *laugh* One of my goals for this spring is to learn to ride. Convenient that I own 2 bikes.

2. Until moving to ManchVegas in the summer of 2007, Michigan was the only state that I had lived in. Up until that time, I had lived in more foreign countries (2 -- Scotland and Egypt) than states. Now it's a tie. I really need to fix that sometime by living abroad again!

3. I'm convinced that I'm naturally left-handed but was taught to do most things right-handed. I think this b/c when I first picked up a pool cue, I started playing left-handed on my own and only later learned to play right-handed. In things I do right-handed, it also feels natural to do it left-handed and I'm sure I could get decent with enough practice.

4. Before 2007, I had only been to NYC once. Now I've been there maybe a half dozen times. Great to have friends there to visit while exploring... Still need to do more in Boston, too.

5. Thought I was going to be a HS science teacher after college. Decided I didn't like Chemistry. Switched to English/history. Liked those and then found that being around middle school kids was going to drive me mad. Shifted to journalism and wound up doing lots of webpages. Jobs directly using my English degree were few and far between, so I became a web geek.

6. Never liked beer until after college. I think that's b/c I never had good beer until after college. *laugh* Fortunately, I have Strange Brew and Milly's in Manchester to help with trying new things.

7. I still don't know what I want to be when I grow up, where I want to live, etc. I think it's one of those "all of the above" things -- I want to do a variety of things and live in all sorts of places.

Back from the Big Easy

Made it home to NH yesterday afternoon -- after a day or so of traveling! But...at least I got a free round-trip ticket out of it! *smile* Now, I just have to figure out where to go in the next year or so.

From New Orleans!

Oops...I forgot to mention that I'm in the Big Easy this week on a service trip with my church. Challenging and rewarding -- that's the short description so far...but I didn't expect anything less!

Stories to come...

Lunchtime reading -- complex mobile phones in Japan

From Wired:

In Japan, Cellphones Have Become Too Complex to Use

Plus 2 other iPhone-related items:

Speculation on value of old iPhones, including how many will pay for the mandatory 3G package, but will be unable to use it b/c of where they live

and

Refurbished iPhones are an excellent source of previous users' data

I'm still happy with mine and I use it for so many things! Gone are the days of being in a conversation and not being able to answer a question. For example, "What's with the big metal grasshopper on top of Faneuil Hall?" (in Boston)

Housing prices... *sigh*

So I'm realizing that my condo purchase may have been a mistake for various reasons. Until recently, I'd seen that prices in my building were holding steady but then this morning I came across a listing for a unit that's very similar to mine, but for $25,000 less than what I paid. *frown* I also have high condo fees, so if I had looked more carefully at things in the beginning I would have seen how bad that was. If I had waited last summer, rented for a bit, and then done my shopping/buying now I could have gotten a really good house in a better location for a nicer price.

I'm a bit sad about this now. I like my place and the redeeming quality is that there are few places in the country where I could get a cool-looking place for the price that I did... Here's hoping that we can improve things and increase values over the next few years!

Even if nobody is reading this, at least I got to vent...

We Can Solve It!

Have you heard of the We Can Solve It campaign? If not, then you have now! ("It" = the Climate Crisis)

Well, I'm writing about it b/c their newest ad features Tonya Kay, a funky actress who grew up in a small town in Michigan near the tiny town where I grew up. *grin* (we have never met, but we email periodically and had mutual acquaintances during school) In the ad, she holds up the "Tofu" sign at the beginning -- in her personal life, she promotes eating raw foods, drives a car that runs on veggie oil, etc.

Here's the direct link to a page with the ad that she's in (at least as I post this, it could change):
http://www.wecansolveit.org/page/s/millions

Dreary Morning

I went to Boston yesterday for the first time. What took me so long? *sigh* Why didn't anyone tell me how cool it is? I loved it! How many days over the past few months have I wasted "relaxing" when I could have been in Boston? Sad!

Of course...

David mentioned that I mentioned Blogging again and then I didn't write at all over the weekend! *laugh*

I blame the heat. *sigh* This morning on TV they said we're in a "Heat Wave" and gave a definition of what that means. Their definition had to do with

There are various definitions from all sorts of different groups. My summary of the Wikipedia entry on "Heat Wave" is that temperatures during a heat wave are so extreme that little guys in orange robes may burst into flames.

T-Mobile and CouchSurfing

I'm pretty sure that we can say that CouchSurfing has gone mainstream!

Why do I say this?

Well, because T-Mobile recently started airing an ad which features a CouchSurfer who relies on his phone to stay connected as he is traveling around. (this is only part of the ad and quality is poor but I haven't been able to find anything better)

Kozmo.com?

I never lived in any of the cities where Kozmo.com did business, but I remember having the opportunity to buy one of their messenger bags when the Bubble popped. I wish I had b/c now they go for at least $80.

I'm not quite sure how I got to this subject, but it seems that just a few days ago the Industry Standard did a "Where are they now" piece on Kozmo.

If you need a quotation

I came across the ThinkExist.com site today while looking for a quotation having to do with "possibilities". Good stuff!

The quotation:

“The possibilities are numerous once we decide to act and not react."
- George Bernard Shaw