The BLASTmedia Beavers played their first softball game of the season last night. The first inning was a bit rough -- we gave up 8 runs to the defending league champions (who have been playing together for 15 years). The Beavers regrouped and scored three runs, but it wasn't enough to pull out the victory. The final score: 3 - 15. But, we definitely won the spirit award and got props from the other team for being so energetic. It's a good thing we haven't quit our day jobs to enter the world of professional softball! We do have one injury to report – Brad Kroft is on the mend with a sprained wrist from sliding into third, but he is expected to make a full recovery in time for our next game in two weeks.

Our next game will be July 13 at 6:30 -- we need all of the support we can get!

Posted by heidi at 04:10 PM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

You can read the Saatchi piece here. (I still haven't had time to find the audio.)

Upon reading the full op-ed piece, I'll say this: I like the supporting information for his theory, but I don't like the theory itself. No matter how well-articulated it is, "one-word equity" remains a concept rooted in top-down communications. As I understand it, you're still talking at people instead of with people.

So, unless your one word of equity is "conversation," you just might find yourself being ignored -- right along with the 30-second TV spots.

Maybe the Saatchi clients who drank the lovemark Kool-Ade will buy it, but one-word equity is not the key to breaking through to digital natives.

Instead, focus on finding points of engagement in their native digital environment.

Posted by cmh at 03:16 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

I listened to an interesting BBC News report this morning. Lord (Maurice) Saatchi is giving a talk later today discussing the “death” of television advertising.

A few key points from the news report (to be expounded upon in today’s talk):

Television advertising is unsuccessful in reaching what he calls “digital natives” -- the group of people under the age of 25 who have grown up with digital technologies. (At 32, according to Saatchi, I am a “digital immigrant.”)

The reason TV advertising is unsuccessful with digital natives is because they are in what he refers to as a state of “constant partial attention” (CPA).

Sounds like multi(media)tasking to me, but “constant partial attention” will work for now.

Saatchi explains that in the span of a 30-second ad, a digital native might check email, send a text message, download a song, etc. -- all while not watching the TV commercial.

Lastly, Saatchi concludes that brands need to focus on “one word equity” – a concept that distills a brand’s essence down to one word. The examples he gave were:

Google = Search
Apple = Innovation

I wonder where that leaves Saatchi’s lovemarks concept?

I’m going to try and track down a podcast of the talk and will post it later with a little more commentary.

Posted by cmh at 10:23 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (1)

Kelly, Lindsey, and I took a brief fieldtrip to DreamAuthentics’ new digs on Thursday. DreamAuthentics has recently moved into a bigger facility so that they can keep up with demand. Rick at DreamAuthentics gave us a full tour and we got to meet some of the very talented engineers who put these monster machines together!

Here’s a picture of one of the rooms where the machines are put together for each individual customer. By the end of the tour Lindsey and I had to drag Kelly away from all of the arcades.

The very next day, Rick was featured on MTV.com! MTV’s Web site has a feature about people who are obsessed with videogames and Rick was a logical choice for this feature as he has successfully taken his video arcade obsession from a hobby to a profession. I don’t know about you, but I want my MTV (and a good game of Pac-Man)!

Posted by sabrina at 02:36 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

We extend our congratulations to Bob WIlliamson, CEO of Horizon Software in Loganville, GA. Bob was named the 2006 Gwinnett Small Business Person of the Year by the Gwinnett Chamber of Commerce in Georgia. Horizon Software, a global leader in software, services and technologies for food service operations, has been working with BLAST for over a year as an enterprise technology client.

Thirty-five years ago, Bob hitchiked to Atlanta -- penniless,without a college education and without any family or friends. He sold a pint of blood for $7 on Lucky St. the day he got there - $5 of which went towards a room at the YMCA and $2 left for living. He then got a job cleaning bricks for $15 a week. Bob turned to God, met his wife and turned his life around.

Williamson had started seven companies before he began Horizon Software 12 years ago. He has grown Horizon from his basement to the 138 employees it has today. Under Bob's leadership, Horizon has also recevied recognition as one of Georgia's fastest growing technology companies. Horizon is a major supporter of numerous charities including Relay for Life, Atlanta's Families First Organization, Children's Restoration Network, Eagle Ranch Children's home, Everett Public Schools Foundation and Hurricane Katrina relief.

BLAST is honored to work with Bob and the Horizon team - congratulations!

Posted by heidi at 09:51 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

BLAST is not all about baseball games, burger challenges and great tech clients…well maybe we are, but we also jump on opportunities to help companies who have a goal of improving the world in which we live. We welcome a new non-profit partner, TheRenewablePlanet.com. The Renewable Planet is an interactive educational resource that helps promote the benefits of renewable energy with the ultimate goal of increasing self sufficiency and slowing global warming. The site focuses on renewable energy projects around the world including projects in Biomass, Solar Energy and Wind. Users can add projects to the site as well as get resources on how they can help save our planet from global warming.

We have teamed up with The Renewable Planet on a pro bono basis to help spread the message on renewable energy and aid The Renewable Planet in becoming one of the world’s top resources on renewable energy projects. Take a look at the site in the upcoming weeks (official launch is June 20) and look for new features like a user forum and a growing list of projects as more people visit the site and help it grow.

Posted by chris at 11:12 AM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

An inner office rivalry landed a few members of BLASTmedia at the Great American Ballpark in Cincinnati, Ohio for the Cubs vs. Reds matchup this weekend. The BLAST crew braved the cold and rain - it was about 50 degrees at game time Saturday night. Mike Harmon - THE biggest Cubs fan in Indy - was cheering on his team. Heidi Monroe Kroft - former celebrity Reds' batgirl - was rooting for her Reds. And, Lindsey Groepper was the mediator -- growing up in Cincinnati and living in Chicago for a few years, she was happy with either outcome.

After nine innings, the Cubs snapped the Reds' eight-game winning streak in front of 41,064 -- the majority of which were Cubs fans. The Cubs won the series 3 - 1. This little guy summed it up for all us Reds fans…

Posted by heidi at 12:52 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

We’re Growing!

BLASTmedia is growing and recently hired three new employees. As the most recent addition, I was charged with introducing all the “newbies” to the world.

Matt Clay is one of our summer interns, working on the consumer technology team. He is a junior at Ball State University, studying Telecommunications, Marketing and Public Relations. He has been at BLAST for a month now and says he could not have asked for a better experience. Matt thinks that everyone’s energy, friendship and skills here at BLAST are “awesome.”

Piyamas Gomolvilas is working on her second degree in Visual Communications at Herron School of Art and Design at IUPUI. She is a BLAST summer intern in graphic design and sales/marketing. She will be working on design projects such as e-newsletters, the Web site, company brochure, etc. as well as sales data entry and research. She has been working at BLAST for almost a month, and has enjoyed learning about the PR industry. Piyamas thinks BLASTmedia is a very cool place to work; very casual and laid-back “but everyone works hard and cares about their job.”

I just graduated from the University of Dayton, and I am very excited to have joined BLASTmedia as a full-time part of the team. This is my first “grown-up” job and working here has made this an easy transition into the real world. I am excited to come to work everyday because the people here are so great! I will be working with the consumer team, and I am looking forward to learning as much as possible.

Posted by at 11:51 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

It was reported yesterday that BLASTmedia client Silverwire has been acquired by Hewlett-Packard and will become part of HP’s imaging and printing business. More details can be found here.

BLASTmedia handled Silverwire’s media relations for the past year up until the acquisition, and we are excited to see them align with a major player in the digital imaging industry.

Posted by chris at 09:44 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

A few days ago, Seth Godin wrote about ways to get traffic to your blog. While many of his recommendations are offered with his tongue firmly planted in his cheek, the overall message is worth considering.

http://sethgodin.typepad.com/seths_blog/2006/06/how_to_get_traf.html

BLASTmedia can vouch for Seth’s recommendation about using photos (“the more salacious, the better,” he jokes). We saw a significant boost in traffic last night when someone discovered our recent post and pic of Heidi with actor Jason Thompson (he plays Dr. Patrick Drake on ABC’s General Hospital.)

While we’re happy to have the extra exposure, it goes to show just how effectively the web brings together people with similar interests. Who knew that Dr. Patrick Drake could cause such a stir?

Posted by cmh at 10:40 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)