How many people can cram into News-Talk 92.3 studios? We’re going to find out! KTAR will be raising money for The ALS Association and the “Walk to Defeat ALS” with the help of Mac & Gaydos on Thursday, October 21st, 2010. KTAR afternoon hosts Mac Watson and Larry Gaydos will be joining in the effort to raise money for ALS through their inaugural Stuff the Studio event.
Facebook has always been something of a digital mosh pit; an amorphous sphere where friends, family and cyber acquaintances from all corners of our lives converge. Simply browsing through a News Feed, to a certain extent, is like leafing through the pages of a living scrapbook. One minute, you’re carefully deciphering your ex’s passive-aggressive status update. The next, you’re clicking through a bevy of vaction photos recently posted by that quiet guy who sat behind you in chemistry class.
With Facebook’s new Groups feature, however, that could all change.
With more than 500 million users, Facebook has become a global phenomenon, a vast cyber neighborhood where friends meet to share photos, news and gossip. But when those relationships sour, another phenomenon often occurs – unfriending.
In what may be the first comprehensive study of its kind, a University of Colorado Denver Business School student has revealed the top reasons for Facebook unfriending, who is unfriended and how they react to being unfriended.
GreenStreet Environmental Education, a service of Phoenix-based GreenStreet Development, was honored by Valley Forward Association at its 30th Annual Environmental Excellence Awards on Saturday with the first-place Crescordia award in the Environmental Education/Communication, Private Sector category, recognizing the company’s green remodel workshop series. GreenStreet was named a finalist in three award categories for the program recognizing contributions to the sustainability of our region since 1981. Known as the “Academy Awards” of the local environmental community, the Valley Forward awards focus on the balance between economic development and environmental quality.
Philip Beere accepting the first-place Crescordia award from Valley Forward
News-Talk 92.3 KTAR and Sports 620 KTAR are holding their 2nd annual Radiothon benefiting Phoenix Children’s Hospital this Monday and Tuesday.
KTAR set a new record for on-air fundraising during its 2009 Radiothon, raising more than $867,000. Now in its 10th year, Radiothon is one of the hospital’s largest annual fundraisers.
You’ve probably heard of Groupon. A recent PR campaign for the Chicago-based company has generated tremendous national coverage, including a Forbes cover story with photo of 29-year-old CEO Andrew Mason, sporting the headline “Meet the Fastest Growing Company Ever.” The company’s website boasts positive news coverage in coveted media outlets like CNN, USA Today, Business Week, Fast Company and the Wall Street Journal. I was impressed when I saw a six minute feature story about Groupon on ABC’s Nightline just last week.
Groupon is getting lots of media attention, but is it good for business?
The primetime TV wars are back with new shows on every network and returning favorites like Glee, Modern Family, NCIS and Dancing With The Stars. Here’s a look at the top ten national ratings for last week (adults 18-49):
| Rank | Shows | R=Repeat S=Special P=Premiere | Net | Rating |
| 1 | NBC SUNDAY NIGHT FOOTBALL | NBC | 7.3 | |
| 2 | GLEE | P | FOX | 5.6 |
| 3 | GREY’S ANATOMY | P | ABC | 5.4 |
| 4 | SUNDAY NIGHT NFL PRE-KICK | NBC | 5.2 | |
| 5 | MODERN FAMILY | P | ABC | 5.1 |
| 6 | DANCING WITH THE STARS | P | ABC | 5.1 |
| 7 | TWO AND A HALF MEN | P | CBS | 4.9 |
| 8 | BIG BANG THEORY, THE | P | CBS | 4.9 |
| 9 | FAMILY GUY | P | FOX | 4.5 |
| 10 | OFFICE | P | NBC | 4.4 |
Continuing its upward ratings climb, Bravo recorded its best quarter in the network’s history with double-digit growth among all key demos in primetime, according to Nielsen Media Research. Averaging 950,000 total viewers and 583,000 adults18-49 in primetime, the network enjoyed double-digit increases, up 12 percent (vs. 846,000) and 10 percent (vs. 532,000), respectively versus third quarter 2009. On pace to mark its best year ever among all key demos, Bravo continues to rank as the No. 1 most upscale and educated cable entertainment network among adults 18-49 in primetime. In addition, 2010 Primetime Emmy-award winning “Top Chef” skewers the competition as the No. 1 food show on cable.
October marks the 25th annual National Breast Cancer Awareness Month and Botanicare, the makers of Grobal® will be participating by honoring breast cancer survivors from across the country. The company is now accepting nominations for women who have survived breast cancer and want their story to be heard.
Every day during the month of October, a breast cancer survivor will be profiled on the Grobal Facebook page (http://facebook.com/grobalworld) and those profiled will get a gift of pink Grobals. To nominate yourself or a breast cancer survivor that you know, simply send us an email at survivor.nominations@gmail.com and provide basic information about the nominee including their age and location, along with a brief description about why you are nominating her (self-nominations are accepted). Nominations will be accepted through October 15.
For animal lovers, looking over a furry, wagging, purring, yipping, meowing collection of adorable, ready-to-be adopted pets – all brushed, bathed and ready to go home with new owners – is an irresistible temptation. And that’s just what the Arizona Humane Society is banking on this Saturday, September 25th, when they open Petopia: a brand new adoption and retail center located in Desert Sky Mall.
Being nice is so last season. My patience is hanging by a thread. Holy Sweet Bamboozles, it’s hot here. Humid doesn’t even begin to cover it. The guy next to me on the plane is so fat the armrest won’t even go down and he smells like rotten bacon. There are about 500 crying babies on this airplane and we are still sitting on the runway for a second hour. All of these screaming brats are really good birth control reminders.
Wondering: what color does a smurf turn if you choke it?
Every now and again I encounter those who subtly remind me why I drink. But I don’t get drunk, I get awesome. There are no absolutes in life – only vodka. If you want to get technical, vodka is practically a health drink if you just call it potato juice… which it really is, anyway.
Dear Annie Lennox: Would I lie to you??
Crap, I realized I left my phone charger at home! Don’t try to reach me by phone today. Speaking of phones… I really want a new iPhone, but think I’m going to wait. Let’s be honest the new iPhone v4 is incredible and it won’t have a worthy competitor for years. However, AT&T is still crappy.
Flight landed safely, now rushing to get rental car so I can make the big meeting. OMG that flight took FOREVER and in-flight movie with Steven Segal was torture. He’s such a one-trick pony, and boring trick at that. He’s almost as bad as Shannon Elizabeth; she is just painful to watch! It just goes to show that all you have to do to become “famous” is show your boobies in a movie.
OMG Hertz lost my reservation and they are sold out of decent cars – going to have to drive a damned Kia. ARGH! Guy at the counter was sooo patronizing. Ass! Save the patronizing for someone like Miley Cyrus or Spidey Heidi whatever her face is. I really hate having to travel on Monday.
You know, Monday is an awful way to spend 1/7th of your life!
Maybe some Starbucks will cheer me up? Nope. Being at a Starbucks running low on milk is definitely like a day without sunshine. And, I just spilled coffee all over my damn shirt – will have to stop and buy a new one before the big meeting!
Nothing is more important than what’s most important today. NAILED it in this meeting today in spite of being groggy from my flight! Checking in at my hotel. Darn…had to be upgraded to a king master suite due to no availability! The guy in front of me wears a nice suit but I sure hope he has it together because the TicTacs are pretty audible in his back pocket.
This hotel is like heaven! Actually I have to imagine Heaven is something close to Elton John, Lady Gaga, Sting, and Bruce Springsteen singing “Don’t Stop Believing.” Saying a little prayer before bed; will be happy to be home tomorrow. God grant me the senility to forget the people I never liked anyway, the good fortune to run into the ones I do, and the eyesight to tell the difference!
Woke up late because the damn hotel alarm didn’t go off! Please let me make that flight home! At the airport, WHEW! I saw a really big-nosed clown who was much more frightening than funny. He was asking “Does anyone have ‘Native Son’ by U2? It’s the original version of Vertigo, also known as Bono’s assault on the Spanish language.” That’s so ghetto fabulous. Oh crap, flight delayed. WHY ME?!?!
Ok, finally back home! Buckets of rain, tornadoes, and 70mph winds. Mother nature is not happy with California! Sat next to Jane Lynch on my flight. She’s charming…not at all like Coach Sue on Glee. She said if you wear Uggs, drive a PT Cruiser or are a vegetarian, we just don’t have anything worthwhile in common. Happy to be home!
Ugh it is a truth universally acknowledged that when one part of your life starts going okay, another falls spectacularly to pieces. I’ve been dumped by text message. Text message! Not even a post-it note?!?! I just don’t get some people. Insecurity is not a good color on anyone. And some people are only alive because it is illegal to shoot them.
I hope life isn’t a joke, because I don’t get it. Time to start drinking. Heavily.
Some say the glass is half full; some say the glass is half empty. I say “Are you gonna drink that?” Alas I have found bliss at my favorite bar. I love a place that understands addictions – all of my vices are being met!
I smell like a wet horse. And hay. And liniment. And sweat. Sometimes, it’s a very good thing indeed that I live alone. Now sitting here with a cat on my stomach.
I’m so much more interesting on Twitter.
There are many more ways to get the news these days, and as a consequence Americans are spending more time with the news than over much of the past decade. Digital platforms are playing a larger role in news consumption, and they seem to be more than making up for modest declines in the audience for traditional platforms according to new research from the Pew Research Center. As a result, the average time Americans spend with the news on a given day is as high as it was in the mid-1990s, when audiences for traditional news sources were much larger.
A unique new publication launched this month and the debut issue can be found on shelves across Arizona; Green Living AZ Magazine is a monthly, eco-conscious lifestyle magazine whose mission is “To educate our readership through a positive lens about simple green solutions and options for our daily lives and our ability to decrease our environmental impact.” With modern content that is focused under three disctinct sections (Live Green, Work Green and Play Green) the magazine showcases the latest in green news, sustainable business practices, products, art, beauty, wellness and home trends. Green Living AZ is a green publication printed on recycled, post-consumer-waste paper, using soy-based inks and no UV-coating. The magazine’s debut issue is available at a variety of locations throughout the state, including popular stores Whole Foods, AJ’s Fine Foods, Fresh & Easy and Sunflower Farmer’s Market. Monthly subscriptions are available for just $39.00 per year and proceeds from each subscription will be given back to the community (visit www.greenlivingaz.com for more information).
This week ABC News announced an addition to the ABC News on Campus program, now in its third year, with Howard University joining as a college bureau. The program is a partnership with top journalism schools designed to educate and mentor talented college students. In 2008, ABC News created the bureaus to help guide student journalists and provide opportunities for them to report on stories in their area. Each campus bureau is equipped with the latest digital newsgathering technology, including new DV cameras and laptop edit stations. The program also pairs student journalists with some of the network’s most seasoned producers. The students work on original stories, some of which are featured across ABC News platforms. Many of the student-generated stories can be viewed at: ABCNewsOnCampus.com.
Phoenix’s ABC15 (KNXV-TV) is launching a new show called Now@9, an “innovative local news talk program,” weekdays at 9AM beginning Monday, August 30. “Now@9 is a show like no other in the Phoenix television viewing area,” station promotion director Jim Hart told me.
With Now@9 and the soon-to-debut “Smart Families,” which will air weekdays from 3:30 – 4:00PM, ABC15 is adding 90 minutes of daily local programming to its airwaves.
Sunnyslope High School is competing with schools across the country to be one of twenty recipients of a $500,000 grant from Kohl’s Department Store. Kohl’s is donating a total of $10 million dollars to twenty schools next month by sponsoring a contest through Facebook.com, and Sunnyslope is asking people in the community to participate by voting for them – it is the only Arizona school among the top vote-getting schools in the contest. To vote, simply log in to your Facebook account and go to the Kohl’s Care page at http://www.facebook.com/kohls and select Sunnyslope High School, which is part of the Glendale Union High School District in Phoenix.
comScore, Inc. (NASDAQ: SCOR) today released July 2010 data from the comScore Video Metrix service showing that 178 million U.S. Internet users watched online video content during the month for an average of 14.7 hours per viewer.
Responding to the widespread dissatisfaction with traditional college rankings and the growing demand for universities to refocus on undergraduate education and value, the American Council of Trustees and Alumni unveiled today its 2011 college evaluations on WhatWillTheyLearn.com, a day before the release of U.S. News & World Report’s college rankings.
The free website evaluates more than 700 colleges and universities based on their general education curricula: the core courses aimed at providing a strong foundation of knowledge. Mel Elfin, founding editor of USNWR’s college rankings, praised the website as “an invaluable and unique additional resource for parents” and The Wall Street Journal called its focus on education “admirable.”
A new American Red Cross survey shows many Americans who are online would turn to social media to seek help for themselves or others during emergencies—and they expect first responders to be listening.
The online survey asked 1,058 adults about their use of social media sites in emergency situations. It found that if they needed help and couldn’t reach 9-1-1, one in five would try to contact responders through a digital means such as e-mail, websites or social media. If web users knew of someone else who needed help, 44 percent would ask other people in their social network to contact authorities, 35 percent would post a request for help directly on a response agency’s Facebook page and 28 percent would send a direct Twitter message to responders.
The latest from Nielsen research shows that Americans devote six hours of online time every month to social networking sites and blogs. That’s almost a quarter of the time they spend on the Internet, up from 16 percent just a year ago.
“Despite the almost unlimited nature of what you can do on the web, 40 percent of U.S. online time is spent on just three activities – social networking, playing games and emailing leaving a whole lot of other sectors fighting for a declining share of the online pie,” said Nielsen analyst Dave Martin in a press release.
Meet Pavel, a two-year-old Pit Bull who somehow found his way into my back yard last week. He was covered in ticks and emaciated – it was obvious he was a stray who had been roaming in the extreme heat for some time. Being the dog lover I am, I took Pavel in, tended to some of his wounds, gave him fresh water and food. He is a very sweet and docile dog who was clearly a great pet, but there was no way to identify his owners – he had no collar and no microchip. I posted photos of him on Pets911 and put up a public posting on Facebook. I checked with neighbors to see if any of them recognize the dog, to no avail.
As much as I wanted to keep him around, we already have three dogs and Pavel needed medical attention, so I called Maricopa County Animal Control. Pavel was taken to the County shelter on 27th Avenue in Phoenix. That evening, my friend Jordan Sperko asked me what would happen to the dog. He saw my posting on Facebook and was interested in taking Pavel in; he wanted to adopt a dog and was specifically looking for a Pit Bull.
Thrilled at this news, we contacted the shelter to see if anybody had claimed him. They said no, and we learned that he had been scheduled for euthanasia. Maricopa County takes in some 150 – 200 stray dogs every day and simply does not have the facilities to keep them all for adoption. In addition, Pavel’s physical condition would probably deter potential adopters.
Jordan immediately went to the shelter to see Pavel and it was love at first sight. He pleaded with the shelter manager to release the dog to him for adoption. This morning, I joined Jordan as he “officially” adopted Pavel! After some minor medical procedures, Pavel will be going to his new forever home on Thursday afternoon. I am beyond thrilled that this story has a happy ending! Please join me in applauding Jordan Sperko for being a hero – he has saved Pavel’s life… all thanks to Facebook! We look forward to seeing Pavel for doggie play dates soon!
Ear Candy Charity and Glendale Pawn & Jewelry have partnered to gather greatly-needed musical instruments for Valley children. From July 22 to July 25, Glendale Pawn & Jewelry will be hosting an Instrument Drive® with the hopes of collecting in excess of 100 instruments to be used by school children across the Valley.
The YMCA made numerous national headlines this week; the iconic organization announced that the nonprofit will simply be called “the Y,” marking the first branding change in more than 40 years. I’ve followed the coverage with curiosity because serving the YMCA of Metropolitan Milwaukee as public relations manager was my first PR gig after making the switch from a career in media. (more…)
Spartan Boot Camps will hold a fitness boot camp on Saturday, June 26 to raise funds for Hope for Friends, a grassroots non-profit organization that raises funds to help support women and families financially when they need it most. The hour long event will take place at 10:00 a.m. at the Athletic Republic Scottsdale located at Bell Road and the Loop 101.
The popular “Biggest Looser” show on NBC, along with corporate sponsors, has put together a national contest to help local communities fight hunger. It’s called “Pound For Pound,” where you pledge to loose weight as part of a local team. For every pound you pledge to lose, the Pound For Pound Challenge will donate 14¢ to Feeding America®—enough to deliver one pound of groceries to a local family.
According to a Nielson report released Tuesday, three of the world’s most popular brands online are social-media related (Facebook, YouTube and Wikipedia) and people in the world now spend over 110 billion minutes on social networks and blog sites. This equates to 22 percent of all time online or one in every four and half minutes.
For the first time ever, social network or blog sites are visited by three quarters of global consumers who go online, after the numbers of people visiting these sites increased by 24% over last year. The average visitor spends 66% more time on these sites than a year ago, almost 6 hours in April 2010 versus 3 hours, 31 minutes last year. (more…)
One of the cool things about having a night club as a client? An awesome place to throw a huge party, of course! The wonderful folks at Disco Scottsdale have graciously agreed to open their doors for a private media / industry party Thursday, June 24, 9:00 p.m. to 1:00 a.m. (HOSTED BAR!).
So if you are a local media type or work in the hospitality industry, come and check out Scottsdale’s fabulous new night club and have a drink or two with Joe PR Guy! Disco is a must-see venue that features a custom, interactive LED dance floor that responds to your feet when you dance. We call it a post modern interpretation of the classic discothèque. Did I mention there will be an open bar?
Potential Entertainment, a company that specializes in the development and operation of unique entertainment concepts throughout the world, has unveiled details of its latest project; Disco Scottsdale will open to the public on Friday, June 4 at 10:00 p.m. The company has renovated the space located at 4301 N. Civic Center Plaza to create a stunning, world-class venue. In addition to a total overhaul of the building, Disco Scottsdale features a custom 10’ by 20’ interactive LED dance floor, state-of-the-art digital audio visual systems, custom seating, dance poles, balcony, two bars, huge patios and a massive disco ball.
The National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) named Philip Beere of Green Street Development as the “Green Building Remodeler Advocate of the Year,” and named one of his company’s residential remodel projects, 150 West Elm in Phoenix, as “Remodel Project of the Year.” The association honored Beere with these two prestigious awards at the 12th Annual NAHB National Green Building Conference in Raleigh, N.C on earlier this month.
“It is truly an honor to be recognized by NAHB with these awards,” Beere said. “It was a privilege to be nominated along side many national leaders in green building and sustainability; together, we all make an impact through our work, both in our communities and for the greater good of the entire nation.” (more…)
GlobalTranz, a Phoenix-based logistics management firm which specializes in carrier, supply chain and warehouse management has seen tremendous growth since its inception; the company announced expansion plans that will almost double its Arizona workforce with some 35 new positions at its Phoenix headquarters and more than 75 positions in Prescott, where the company’s customer service call center is located. These new positions include call center management, customer service, sales, accounting and freight brokerage with average starting salaries from $50-75,000 per year. GlobalTranz is also hiring at its regional offices in Dallas, Chicago and Los Angeles. (more…)