I’m writing a test post using the PodCamp Boston 2 tag.
Manual tag: podcampboston2007
Blog
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At the Last Minute: Relay for Life Online
I got the call this morning – “Second Life Relay For Life has almost no buzz or PR – and it’s tomorrow!”So here’s the instant marketing plan to help this group get donations up and running.
- Get the donations page set up.
- Realize the donations page has an AWFUL URL to promote.
- Use the word-of-mouth friendly name TodayIsave.com/alife
- Get some artwork because there isn’t really all that much. Mashup SL and RFL logos.
- Facebook group. Get it set up, point it to the donations page.
- Look at the marketing collateral and realize it’s all depressing. People are dying, etc.
- Look at the research and spin from it – donations led to the HPV vaccine, a major contributor to cervical cancer.
- The long blurb: “Donations in the past led to the HPV vaccine which will lead to the prevention of cervical cancer. $20 today could save the life of your mother, child, or best friend tomorrow.”
- The short blurb: “$20 today could save a life tomorrow.”
- Promote the hell out of it on Twitter, blogs, Facebook, etc. and launch this baby like crazy.
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A taste of things to come – stolen milk crates and peak oil
Let’s talk briefly about polyethylene – specifically, high density polyethylene. It’s a dense plastic that is extremely strong and resistant to a bunch of things. Things like Tupperware are made from it. It in turn is made from petroleum – oil – in a lossy process that consumes 1.75 units of petroleum to produce 1.0 units of polyethylene.
Why is this important? Well, it seems that milk crates – those super-high density crates that virtually every college student has at some point – are vanishing at a rate far beyond the usual theft rates. The dairy industry investigated and found that the price for recycled polyethylene jumped from about 7 cents per pound to 22 cents per pound over the last two years. Recyclers were accepted stolen milk crates in bulk, chopping them up, and shipping them to China to be used to make consumer goods.
Think about that for a second. China, already one of the world’s largest consumers of petroleum, has companies paying 22 cents per pound for used polyethylene instead of refining petroleum to create new polyethylene. That means that in their manufacturing processes, it’s cheaper to recycle (or use recycled materials) than it is to manufacture new – which is not usually the case.
What does this mean? To me, it hints that the cost of petroleum and relatively limited supply is causing one of the world’s largest consumer goods manufacturing economies to choose recycled materials over new, and that means that the supply of oil is probably tighter than we think.
Peak oil, anyone? A harbinger of things to come?
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A last thought before bed
Another reason new media folks may not like to leave the fishbowl?
When you market outside your community, the rejection rate gets a LOT higher, and the rejections themselves can be a lot more vicious.
If you’re a nice, kind, easy-going person, as many in new media are, dealing with skyrocketing rejection rates can really sting.
As Clarence says, let it marinate.
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New PDF guide to support your favorite blog or podcast
I just posted up on the Financial Aid Podcast a PDF guide, one page, 5 power promoter tips. If you as an audience member of a new media outlet like blogs, podcasts, or social networks want to help your favorites grow, grab this guide and share it.
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A moment of bliss
Too often I forget that paradise is never far away, no matter where you are. Tonight on the deck, just relaxing and sitting in the armchair, the temperature was just right, the breeze just right, and someone in the neighborhood here has a wood fire in an outdoor fire pit burning. It’s not close by, because it’s not overly smoky, but it’s got just enough of that campfire smell to be absolutely wonderful.The temperature is probably about 65 degrees or so (Fahrenheit, for my international friends it’s 19 C) which is to me one of the best temperatures in the world for relaxing at night. 65 plus a decent breeze is just heavenly.
To sit down in a rocking chair, enjoying the breeze and a bowl of ice cream – that’s a little slice of paradise that doesn’t require any kind of investment other than just sitting down to relax.
Hope you have a great evening, too.
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Happy Birthday, Julien Smith
To the man who coined the phrase: “Your podcast is not a f***ing toaster!”
Happy birthday, Julien Smith.
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Block Harry Potter and the Deathly Hollows Spoilers on Twitter with Pipes
A few friends have expressed concern that some spoilers from Harry Potter 7 would find their way to Twitter. After all, the book is already available (illegally) for download online, and lots of spoilers are floating around everywhere. For fans who want to remain unspoiled, a media blackout may seem like the only option, even on “friend” networks like Twitter. Happily, you don’t have to go dark on Twitter entirely – just use Yahoo Pipes to filter out spoilers.
If you want to remain unspoiled, switch to reading Twitter only on Google Reader, but filter it through Yahoo Pipes first with these settings:
This will eliminate most of the keywords that would be used in a spoiler. Obviously, tweak and add your own.
- Copy your Twitter RSS feed URL (it’s at the bottom of your twitter list)
- Paste into Yahoo Pipes Feed Source.
- Add a filter.
- Block any items containing the terms you specify. I recommend a list of characters like Voldemort, Hermione, Severus Snape, Harry Potter, etc. as well as terms like spoiler, spoilers, preview, plot summary, etc.
- Copy the exported RSS feed to your Google Reader.
- Use an applet like TwitterPost or Twitter from the command line to send Tweets without having to read the Twitterstream.
Good luck, and good reading!
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Starry Night in Second Life
Hat tip to Mitch Joel and CC Chapman for this wonder.
[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LxVDVggLqsA[/youtube]
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Truth hurts.
Close your eyes when you don’t want to see
Stay at home when you don’t want to go
Only speak to those who will agree
Yeah, and close your mind when you don’t want to know– Billy Joel, “Everybody Loves You Now”
This is a picture of the Lower 9th Ward of New Orleans, captured by Europa in 2007. Despite nearly 2 years since Katrina devastated the Gulf Coast, little progress is being made in fairly large sections of New Orleans.
For perspective, how large is this region of the city? About 1.6 miles by 1.2 miles, or just under two square miles. If it were Manhattan, it’d be the same area from West 53rd to 19th and from 10th Avenue to Lexington Avenue – or most of midtown. If it were Boston, it’d be from Government Center to Kenmore Square and from the Charles River to Jamaica Plain – most of the western part of the city. Know San Francisco? The Lower 9th Ward of New Orleans is almost identical in size to all of Golden Gate National Park. Know DC? It’s the same area as the Lincoln Memorial to the Smithsonian by the Lincoln to Dupont Circle. Been to Disney World? The Lower 9th is the same size as the Magic Kingdom – plus Epcot, MGM, and the Animal Kingdom.
This is a large chunk of a major American city that has not been rebuilt.
Think about it.
