It takes a village.Posted by Chad on January 20th, 2012

If you haven’t been following me on my social sites: Facebook, Twitter, G+, you may have missed that I’m having a child.  Well… my wife is at least.  She’s having it, I’m getting it.  Things have been CA-RAZY getting ready for my daughter, Avalee Aegis Tallulah Remedy Kay Mahan (Avalee Kay Mahan for short).  We are close, so close that now I’m racking my brain to see what I’m forgetting.  Sort of like when you’re leaving for a long trip and you’re making sure you packed everything type of close.  I’m freaking out.  What do I do? I’ve studied up on the all the websites that have been recommended by friends.  I’ve crowd-sourced opinions about day-cares, doctors, and diapers.  I’ve created digital registries. Downloaded every free e-book. Read the reviews about products.  Followed every twitter, Facebook and RSS feed about recalls.

I couldn’t be where I am without my friends, church, co-workers, and the digital community.

Here’s what I’ve learned over these last few months.

• It takes a village (community) to raise a child.
• It takes a village to prepare for the arrival of a child.
• Baby stuff is social.  Good for sharing.  Good for social media.
• Babies are more social than almost anything other than social media and maybe tech stuff.
• People talk about babies, share baby pictures, ask for advice about babies, laugh at babies, film babies, make jokes about dead babies (I know, not appropriate).
• I’m in over my head.  I’ve drank the baby Kool-aid and I’m breaking down the walls screaming, “Oh Yeah!”
• You’re stupid if you are a baby company not investing in social media.

If you want to see the true value of social media and digital communities.  Look no further than babies.  It takes a village.  The village has gathered.  They’re talking; with or without you.  If you’re just now thinking about speaking up, you may be too late.

Last Man StandingPosted by Chad on October 12th, 2011

I was talking last week, what’s the deal with 80′s and 90′s TV stars starting new shows?  Bob Saget had Surviving Suburbia. Uncle Jesse was on Glee. Rosanne may be coming out with a new show.

But have you seen ABC’s new show, Last Man Standing?  Not gonna lie, I cracked up. I know I’m not the manliest man, but I rarely have to “give up my man card” as they say. I feel like a sissy compared with this guy.  Mike, played by Home Improvement star, Tim Allen, is a manly outdoorsman working for an outdoor catalog (Not a Sears catalog) who lives in a house full of women. A nice surprise, however: Mike is discovering his place in the world while the catalog business is making a move from print to the internet. It’s fun to see the old dog trying to learn the new tricks. And I think it speaks to what’s going on in the real world.  As much as some “old dogs” love to pick on the internet, none can deny that they won’t get by much longer with out it. Yeah sure, everybody has a website, but how are you going to deal with social media, vlogs, viral videos, etc.?

Seriously, this is one of the funniest shows I’ve seen in a while.  I’m excited to see how it plays out.  I grew up watching Tim the tool man, and Tim Allen doesn’t disappoint in his new role.  Despite the a little underlying homophobic satire, the show will still make you laugh no matter where you’re coming from.  As a man about to have my first daughter, I have a feeling I’ll be feeling his pain in a few short years.  Here’s a link to the pilot episode on Hulu. Enjoy, and let me know what you think in the comments box.

Top 10 iPhone 5 HeadlinesPosted by Chad on October 3rd, 2011

I am super excited about the new iPhone 5/4s/4g/whatever releasing tomorrow. I’ve been holding on to my iPhone 3g hoping the 5 would release in June or July.  I didn’t want to buy an iPhone 4 and then the 5 release a few months later.  As you can see my 3g couldn’t be worse for wear. I’m ready. I’ve never been more ready to get a new phone. I’ve been prowling the iPhone rumor sites waiting to hear some news.  Finally last week they made the announcement.

So here’s a list of good articles about what to expect from Apple’s announcement tomorrow.

1. C-net’s translation of a the iPhone invite: http://cnet.co/irumor

2. TechCrunch’s latest Rumor Round-up: http://tcrn.ch/iphonerumors

3. BGR article about Sprint’s potential involvement with the new iPhone (nice picture included): http://bit.ly/irumors

4. Mashable’s post about projected sales (and many links to all of mashable’s iPhone articles): http://on.mash.to/qxSJ4M

5. Snapshot of parts for a 4s?: http://bit.ly/oXnfxA

6. New iPhone 4S, iPhone 5 Apple’s Most Important Product Yet (not sure I agree but here it is anyway): http://read.bi/n6597O

7. WSJ’s analysis of Apple’s stocks leading up to the iPhone launch: http://on.wsj.com/pYLlkV

8. The hype begins for the iPhone: http://bit.ly/q6bDnT

9. 4G pre-pay iPhone 5 pops up on placeholder page (interesting…): http://bit.ly/nKqvUN

10: Rumors DON’T Get Any HOTTER This! Will The iPhone 5 And 4s Obsolete SYNC And ALL Others?: http://bit.ly/qq22mv

There are many good articles/rumors.  These are just the newest and most interesting to me.  Have you heard anything better than I have here? Leave a comment!

*** Update***

Another article from Mashable that tops them all.  If this is true, this will seriously be the most advanced piece of technology available to the public: http://on.mash.to/oYpGcv

Blue Man CommunityPosted by Chad on June 10th, 2011

Last week, Summer and I went to Islands of Adventure in Orlando.  As a student of marketing, Orlando isn’t the best place to go, or maybe it is.  I was in marketing overload all week.  With all of the Twitter feeds, QR codes, four-square deals, signs, banners, lights, and souvenirs, there wasn’t one place I went where I didn’t feel like I was being sold something through every channel.

Summer and I waited for 45 minutes in a line to see a “Wand Demonstration” at Olivanders Wand Shop in The Wizarding World of Harry Potter. It was neat.  They picked a little girl out of the audience and the guy let her practice her wand skills on animatronic features around the room.  Afterwards we were herded into the shop to buy our wands, books and other gadgets to prepare for our trip to Hogwarts.  We rode the ride at Hogwarts Castle and then ended up in the gift shop to buy our broomsticks and Hogwarts gear that we had just seen in the ride.

Truthfully, we went to Orlando just because of Harry Potter Land.  If it hadn’t been for that, we’d have steered clear of Touristville altogether to choose a more secluded locale, away from the crowds and marketing material.  However, we had an unexpected surprise during our stay.  We went to see the Blue Man Group, who I’ve wanted to see for years.  All I can really say is that it was flippin’ amazing.  I have a hard time distinguishing it from a comedy show, a rock concert, or just a piece of live art.  Although, the latter seems more fitting.  While enjoying the show, I experienced something really cool… community.

The Blue Men did an amazing job of bringing the crowd together, just like some of the greatest rock shows of our time.  I really think that if they told us to storm the gates of Universal, next door, we would have… maybe.  Seriously though, audience participation was at the center of almost every part of the show. It was fun and everyone got involved. By the end of it, when a Blue Man walked into the audience, we were all pointing to someone that we wanted them to harass.  My wife got the special privilege of having a Blue Man stand on her chair while dancing and pumping up the crowd, essentially grinding on her head… Awkward. If they’d let us take pictures, you’d definitely see them.

The greatest part of the show was at the end.  The Blue Men grabbed giant rolls of paper (they were pretty much 5,000 ft rolls of toilet paper) from the back of the room.  They handed the end of each roll to audience participants and we all started passing the paper forward.  We’re talking at least a hundred streams of paper making their way over the audience.  After the paper started reaching the front of the room and started piling up, I looked around.  I’ve, honestly, never seen people passing toilet paper enjoy themselves so much (My wife complains when I ask her to bring me a roll). Seriously, it was a breathtaking sight to see these massive waves riding across the audience. It feels like you are a part of this giant organic ocean of glowing parchment (there were black lights) flowing across the sea of enjoyment. We were working together. We were laughing. We were inspired.  We were dancing.  We were passing toilet tissue.

Amazing, isn’t it?  How something so meaningless can provide such entertainment value with a little bit of community thrown in.

Here’s what I think works for them that community leaders can learn from:

1. Make them feel like a part of your show.
2. Make menial, meaningful (pass the toilet paper).
3. Do what you do, with flare.
4. Ask for participation.
5. Participate yourself.
6. Don’t worry about looking stupid (Go ahead and rub blue paint all over yourself and dance around making creepy faces. They’ll love it).
7. Humor, Inspiration, and Rock & Roll… They’re your friends… Use them.
8. Take people’s breath away… or better yet, let them take their own breath away when they are a part of what you have going on.
9. Do your job as if you are creating a piece of art.
10. If possible, give your community a brush and let them slap some paint on it too.

If you are ever in Orlando, Vegas, New York, Boston, or Chicago, go see these guys… er… Men… Mans… Blue Mans? Go see the Blue Man Group.  You’ll love it.  You’ll laugh, you’ll dance and you’ll be inspired.  I know I am.  It’s been 5 days and I’m still getting goose bumps. Here is a sneak peak from their tour: