I just wanted to take a moment for Mr. Bicep and me at CES. I love this dude.

(this post is dedicated to Travis, who I found out this weekend is a subscriber)

Posted by lindsey at 01:34 PM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

Challenger, Gray & Christmas is at it again. The Chicago-based consulting firm, famous for its productivity studies (usually around the NCAA Tournament), has just released a study about lost productivity around the Super Bowl. They estimate that American employers will lose about $820 million in productivity from their workers, the biggest losses obviously in Indianapolis and Chicago. $820 Million?! Amazing to think that a mere football game can cause such a loss of productivity, yet it is the biggest sporting event of the year and I know where I will be watching the game and what I will be doing.

One area company is answering the bell for all football fans in the U.S – Monarch Beverage, a local spirits distributor, has announced that their employees will receive the Monday after the Super Bowl off as a paid holiday. WOW – if you work at Monarch, for god sakes make your Sunday night revelry worth it. A gift like this comes but once a lifetime! And, as if to prove that grown ups aren’t the only ones who might be a bit distracted from the big game, a local school has also announced they will be closed “in support” of the Colts on Monday. I grew up in Wisconsin – home of Lambeau Field, Brett Favre and Brats - and this NEVER happened, even when they went to the Super Bowl in ’97 and ’98. So I ask you, is this a good idea? Are companies getting a little out of hand or is this a great way to build company moral and support your home town team?

Posted by chris at 03:36 PM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

Whew! We’re back from a very crazy week in Las Vegas for the 2007 CES. While most people we talked to were fairly underwhelmed by this year’s CES, we here at BLASTmedia beg to differ. This year we had 8 clients at CES and to say that our clients knocked it out of the park is an understatement! You think I’m kidding? Consider the following:

4: The number of clients who appeared on CNN during that week
3: The number of BLAST clients who were selected as ZDNet’s “Little Gadgets With Big Potential”
2: The number of BLAST clients who were part of Dave Graveline’s “Top Ten Picks”
2: The number of awards won at CES by BLAST clients
56: The number of media hits that just ONE of our clients received during CES

Turns out we’re not the only ones who think our clients are kind of a big deal.

Posted by sabrina at 04:08 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Man, the iPhone is really cool. Even looking at it through the glass box at Macworld, one can see it is going be a killer phone. Lots have been said about it in the Blogosphere, so I'm not going to add to the madness. However, I will say this: I'll be pre-ordering mine as soon as Cingular will allow!!

The Wall Street Journal has posted a cool interview, which was taped at MacWorld.

Posted by kelly at 07:58 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Well, it’s that time of year again. No, not Christmas or New Years Eve, I’m talking CES! We’ve been logging some serious hours over the past months here at BLASTmedia preparing for media appointments and press conferences at CES -to say the least we’re ready for the show to begin.

At last count we have 8 clients, 9 BLASTmedia reps attending the show, and over 100 face-to-face media appointments scheduled.

I thought I’d give you a glimpse into a typical day at CES for a Media Relations Specialist here at BLASTmedia:

Monday January 8th: 1st day of show

Up at 4am.
Arrive at the Convention center at 5am to meet client in prep for taping of the Today show (which airs at 7:30 est).
Wrap up Today Show shoot and go grab a quick bite with client
8:00 am – Show doors open
8:30 am – 1st press appointment of the day
9:30 am – 2nd press appointment of the day
10:00am -3rd press appointment of the day
11:30am – 4th press appointment of the day
12:00pm – run to press room to fill press kits and meet with an editor for lunch
1:30pm -5th press appointment of the day
3:00pm – Press conference
5:00pm – show ends
5:00 – 6:00pm – gather up product and press kits and head over to The Wynn in prep for Showstoppers.
6:00pm – 10:00pm – Showstoppers (meeting with over 150 press people)
10:00 – 10:30 – help breakdown table and gather product
10:30 – head to nearest restaurant for food and a beer.
12:00am – wrapping up a 20-hour day in search of hotel room in hope to fall into bed -ready to hit the show in the morning.

And that is the life of a BLASTmedia rep at CES…long hours, on your feet all day, at the ready for a product demo, always on the lookout for press AND always smiling!

To add to the confusion, Steve Jobs decided to keep MacWorld running simultaneous to CES this year. On Wednesday of CES, a number of us are flying to SanFran to support our clients at MacWorld.

–Oh my, is it February yet?

Posted by kelly at 12:34 PM | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBacks (0)