Tuesday, June 23, 2009

Happy 50th Ilene!

In honor of Ilene's (impending) 50th birthday on Friday, I asked the InLine crew to help me come up with 50 reasons that Ilene is fabulous and what makes her a STAR! Not only does this list give our readers' insight to Ilene's personality, but probably also what a day in the life of a member of the ILM crew entails. Hope you enjoy!

1) She is the best office mom!
2)
Ilene has been a true inspiration and mentor- she is how we all aspire to be with clients, co-workers, and everyone in her life!
3)
Ilene is InLine’s very own ‘Queen’, reigns with a quiet brilliance.
4)
No matter how busy she is, she always makes time to listen.
5)
She says it like it is.
6)
You always know where you stand with her.
7)
She stays calm in a crisis.
8)
She always figures out a way to make a bad situation better!
9)
She helps out around the office in any way that she can.
10)
She successfully juggles career and family.
11)
She travels well- even calls in from the shower!
12)
Ilene always makes you feel like you are the most important person she’s talked to all day!
13)
She is humble and has a great sense of humor about herself!
14)
I love the jokes and pranks she plays on all of us.
15)
No matter how bad her day is going, she always finds something to laugh at, or make a joke about.
16)
Her laughter can be heard from California Street!
17)
I love her smile and her good mornings to everyone.
18)
Ilene’s smile often lights up the room, in both Spanish & English.
19)
She is fair in business and tries to see things from both sides of the desk.
20)
She has three teenagers and all are still alive!
21)
She has the sweet spirit of encouragement!
22)
Because of how clean her car is.
23)
Her frustrations with riding public transportation! (Ask her about her run-in with the RTD person checking passes on the light rail!)
24)
She always has pretzels at her desk.
25)
Her diet coke addiction.
26)
Her hair after a stressful day.
27)
How she ALWAYS loses her glasses (sometimes on top of her head!)
28)
How she thinks it’s totally acceptable for her youngest daughter to spend afternoons alone at Starbucks.
29)
She’s the only person who drives to work and manages to lose her keys between parking and the office.
30)
How her desk is normally about as organized as a child’s finger painting.
31)
She refers to her parents as Judy & Harvey, even to her children.
32)
I love how she treats us all like family.
33)
I love how Ilene talks to each client- She sounds like she is talking to her best friend and makes them feel like they are the only client!
34)
I love her intercom system… she talks to Ann & Scott in the back offices like they are sitting next to her.
35)
She prefers to holler down the hallway rather than use her intercom.
36)
She is old enough to remember some cheesy TV commercials: ‘Love that Bobcat’ for instance for the Mercury Cougar.
37)
The way she interjects Yiddish terms into every form of conversation!
38)
She has saved the day more times than Nancy cares to admit!
39)
She willingly shared an office with Steve Sander and outlasted him.
40)
Nancy will forever be grateful that she went from InLine’s first Go To Freelancer to Lieutenant General and often takes on 5-Star General!
41)
Her college stories and how they sound more like dreams than actual events.
42)
Her candy jar that is always full!
43)
Her obvious love for firemen and young men at Sports Column.
44)
The misspelled flier for the firemen auction on her office door.
45)
The fact that she puts up with us teasing about her being a cougar! (Her kids would probably be SO embarrassed if they knew.)
46)
She is a very accommodating hotel room roommate and a great travel companion.
47)
Her rule that she is only allowed to drive and NEVER allowed to provide directions/navigation.
48)
How silly she gets after ONE gin and tonic!
49)
Her undying love for her dog, Jake (she always says he’s the only one who listens to her!)
50)
Last but certainly not least, she honestly makes 50 look like the new 40!

Tuesday, June 9, 2009

Inbound Marketing University

Next week Scott and I are participating in IMU (Inbound Marketing University)- we are hoping to learn even more about online marketing and advertising options. From June 15-19, we attend two hour long webinars a day, followed by a certification exam on June 22nd. Classes include:
* How to Blog Effectively for Business
* Social Media & Building Community
* Successful Business Uses for Facebook & LinkedIn
* Advanced SEO Tactics: Beyond Keyword Research

Hopefully we will be learning tons upon what we already know! Can't wait!
- AB

Attending IMU

Thursday, May 28, 2009

The NBA Playoffs

As an advocate fan of professional sports, the NBA has come full circle in 2009 not only for myself, but seemingly for everyone around me. With stars like Lebron James and Kobe Bryant leading the pack, people from coast to coast are curious on what the buzz is all about. Not only am I glued to my television screen every night, but my girlfriend, my parents, and even aunts and uncles are emailing me about the special entertainment the NBA is displaying.

With all of this said, I ventured into how these special times for the NBA are affecting markets throughout the country. From national sports radio to local television networks, it seems that the NBA playoffs have been clogging up the marketplace. Did you know that the NHL championship will be decided in the next couple of weeks? (yawn) Exactly.

The USA TODAY reports that “Sunday's Game 3 (Cleveland vs. Orlando) drew an overnight rating that was up 65% from a San Antonio-Lakers playoff game in the time slot last year” Furthermore, “ESPN, after the first two Denver-Lakers games became ESPN's most-watched basketball games ever, [and] had overall NBA playoff ratings running 3% ahead of last year.”

Most watched basketball games ever?

TNT reported that “Game 7 of the epic first round battle between the Boston Celtics and Chicago Bulls…was watched by 6.9 million total viewers on TNT. That audience total makes it the most-watched round one game in cable television history.”

In cable television history?


Shocked? Surprised? Stunned? I am not. The NBA has all the players in place and all of the advertising it needs to fuel the league for many years into the future. Looking back on it now, I should have known that when my girlfriend wanted to tune in every week that the NBA was headed in the right direction.


GO NUGGETS!

-RF

Thursday, May 7, 2009

David vs. Goliath

In a move that could be ground-breaking for the TV measurement industry, WSVN (Fox affiliate in Miami) has filed a lawsuit against Nielsen, claiming that Nielsen is a monopoly and that they publish incorrect data.

For those of you unfamiliar, Nielsen uses 3 different methodologies to first measure TV viewership and then to provide agencies, stations, and any other interested party with ratings:
- Diary Only which asks viewers to write down what they watched;
- Household Meter/Demo Diary Combo which is a mix of meters attached to the TV measuring viewership on a household level, combined with demographic information from the diaries; and
- People Meters which is the same as the household meter, but requires all viewers to enter their demographics as well, so the household viewing is measured along with individual demographic viewing.

Ideally, the methodolgies shouldn't report vastly different ratings. In WSVN's case, though, when they shifted from diaries to people meters in October 2008 (the same month the Denver TV market also switched!), the station lost almost 50% of their young adult audience (they point to American Idol's ratings in their market as an example and proof). This of course lowers the value of the station and reduces ad revenue dramatically. (Imagine you were paying $1,000 for a spot in A.I. before... why would I want to continue to pay the same rate, if Nielsen is telling me I'm only getting half the viewers in my A 18-49 demographic I thought I was!? I would want that same spot for $500 or LESS!).

Nielsen is unbelievable protective of their methodology and ratings rationale and this lawsuit could force them into a VERY uncomfortable situation. Which measurement is correct? Or are they both wrong? Hopefully this lawsuit will help us learn. Stay tuned!!

Here is the article from the station's website describing the suit in more detail (yes, it may be a bit biased, but still provides some good information!):
http://www.wsvn.com/news/articles/local/MI119585/

Tuesday, May 5, 2009

Interested in Twitter?

So we know social media is all the rage lately. Even though Twitter seems to be a passing fad (according to an article I read about 'Twitter Quitters'- the site only has a 40% retention rate, MUCH lower than most other social networking sites), I came across this article which I found to be very insightful about creating a Twitter profile for anyone who is interested. The highlights and my personal progress...

1) Use your real name (and don't underscore!). NOTE: I've already messed this up (oopsie!), as I used Brems10 (yes, this is a shameless plug to follow me on twitter!). Hopefully, though, this isn't so bad as this is my personal email address and many people who know me know I go by this all the time.

2) Use a real picture. DONE!

3) Treat your bio like SEO copy. Somewhat done. After reading a 'perfect' bio copy, I'm motivated to change mine up a bit. Keep in mind, though, like everything in the Twitter world you're limited to a certain number of characters (160 in this case)!

4) Include a URL. DONE! (My profile links to this site- I know, I know. I'm so clever!)

5) Consider a custom background. I do have a cute background that is offered by Twitter, but again, I may be motivated enough by this article to make it a little more personalized.

6) Don't Protect Your Updates. I have found this to be very true, because it really helps people find you and follow you- if your updates are protected, only your followers are going to see them and it's going to be hard for people to find you!

7) Take it Slow. This basically means to try and keep your following-to-follower ratio as close to 1:1 as possible. I'm trying, but I'm honestly loving this Twitter thing and can't wait to learn more! Enjoy!

http://www.convinceandconvert.com/social-media-marketing/7-ingredients-in-the-perfect-twitter-profile/

- Ann

Thursday, April 30, 2009

One of our Proud Leaders


All I can say is.... wow. The InLine crew is known to pull some pranks on each other. Payback's a you-know-what!

WOW!!! LOVE IT!!!

Tuesday, April 21, 2009

What is your favorite Papa Murphy's pizza?

video

Click on the video above to see what kind of pizza Robbie likes!

video

And here's Scott's thoughts.