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Archives For January 2010

Punxsutawney Phil’s on Twitter, just in time for Groundhog Day

January 28, 2010 — 2 Comments

Do you follow @GroundhogPhil on Twitter yet?

Punxsutawney Phil on Twitter @groundhogphil

Last year around this time I realized there was a huge missed opportunity for promoting Groundhog Day in social media.

So I went ahead and set Phil up with a Twitter account. @PunxsutawneyPhil was one character longer than Twitter allows, so I went for @GroundhogPhil.

To be fair, at the end of last year’s Groundhog Day, I wrote, “If you represent Punxsutawney Phil and/or Punxsutawney Groundhog Club, I will glady turn over the Twitter account to you. I’m just having some fun, so please shoot me a note.” But I never heard from anyone.

This year I’d forgotten about the account until I got a new follower e-mail notification indicating Laura Fitton (@pistachio) was following @GroundhogPhil.

This is hilarious for a couple reason: 1) no one had followed Phil for nearly a year; 2) at SXSW a couple years ago, my friend Nathan and I (virtually) stole Laura’s shoe, and she ended up slapping Nathan; 3) Laura is a Twitter expert and who knows what she thinks of character Twitter accounts.

So I busted out the password reset and started tweeting for Phil again this year. Here are some of my favs so far:

Hugo Chavez reportedly accusing US of testing weapon of mass de-sunshine in Punx, PA to mess with my prediction.6:48 PM Jan 22nd from UberTwitter

Mustache guy just stuck a hose in my burrow attached to his jeep’s exhaust pipe. I think the stress is getting to him.3:24 PM Jan 22nd from web

They say we’re young and we don’t know, We won’t find out until we grow… Babe…I got you babe.. #musicmonday
10:18 AM Jan 19th from web

Winter! I just love hats, coats, mittens AND sniffles! Let’s do this the rest of the year.
8:05 AM Jan 19th from UberTwitter

Moustache guy just dropped off a Snuggie and Mad Men on Blu-Ray. I aint coming out for months.
8:35 PM Jan 18th from UberTwitter

And…. still winter. In your face, people.
8:49 AM Jan 18th from UberTwitter

My prediction: Chuck Norris will get sick of winter and roundhouse kick the earth to tilt its axis and make it summer.
8:30 PM Jan 16th from UberTwitter

Saturday night, and I’m about to prognosticate up some pizza rolls.
4:59 PM Jan 16th from mobile web

A week ago, the tourism folks at VisitPA.com have moved Phil into the 21st century with a sweet text campaign:

Sign up to get a text of Punxsutawney Phil’s Febuary 2, 2010 Weather prognostication from Gobblers Knob via your moble device by texting “Groundhog” to 247365 between now and Groundhog Day.

They have a Facebook Page and @visitpa Twitter account, too. However, they’re both overtly tourism focused and don’t follow through on the social character personality promise of the text campaign.

So I’ve continued tweeting as Phil. Yesterday, on the same day as Apple’s iPad announcement, PETA suggested Phil be replaced by a robot.

So Phil had some fun with it:

@PETA The idea that a robot could predict weather better than a rodent living beneath the ground is simply foolish. #iPhil
about 10 hours ago from web

Moustache guy is pretty shook up about this PETA robot thing. I’m getting a burrow makeover, complete with HDTV and a Wii!
5:08 PM Jan 27th from UberTwitter

Instead of a robotic groundhog to replace me, how about PETA sends over naked Pam Anderson from those anti-fur ads?
9:49 AM Jan 27th from web

And it was a surprise to get an @-reply from @peta!

@GroundhogPhil How lovely 2 hear from u Phil. Hope u get that holiday u deserve! http://ow.ly/11r38
about 11 hours ago from HootSuite in reply to GroundhogPhil

There have actually been quite a few interesting people to strike up conversations with Phil this year. See some of the better ones here.


Okay, so I’m in year two of brandjacking Punxsutawney Phil. As I said last year, this is yet another example of why it’s critical companies, brands and individuals proactively stake out their online reputation.

Meanwhile, I’m not clever or entrepreneurial enough to keep this up. I’m hoping someone will respond to the note below and take it from here. Otherwise, who knows? Perhaps Phil will start speaking Spanish next year.

NOTE: If you represent Punxsutawney Phil and/or Punxsutawney Groundhog Club, I will glady turn over the Twitter account to you. I’m just having some fun, so please shoot me a note.

In Digital Reputation Management, Me Being Stupid , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
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Look Mom, I’m on the Downtown Master Plan Task Force

January 27, 2010 — 3 Comments

I’m extremely passionate about downtown Chaska, its businesses and residents. Just last night I got into a 15 minute conversation with Brett, the owner of Tommy’s Malt Shop, about the signage requirements for downtown businesses, the parking issue and lack of riverfront development.

This month I was thrilled to be asked to join Chaska’s Downtown Master Plan Task Force, and I’m happy to report it was approved by the City Council Monday night.

From the Chaska Herald:

Fifteen members of the Downtown Master Plan Task Force were appointed Monday night. The task force will “provide guidance and recommendations to the city as it prepares the downtown master plan.” The group is expected to meet six to eight times over the next eight months.

Following the Dec. 21 kick-off meeting, city staff solicited interest from various stakeholder groups.

The task force members are: Rick Ford (representing the City Council and the Downtown Business Council), Mike Huang (Planning Commission and Commitment to Community), Debbie Boe (Heritage Preservation Committee), Dave Roan (Parks, Arts and Recreation Board), Kevin Norby (Commitment to Community and Downtown Business Council), Dan Keyport (Downtown Business Council and Planning Commission), Adella Pollack (Human Rights Commission and downtown resident), Greg Swan (downtown resident), Brian Betlock (resident), Stacey Harding (resident), Jim Hornecker (development community), John Prodzinski (Chaska business – Ridgeview Medical), Mike Senden (downtown institutions – Auburn Manor), Gary Van Eyll (faith-based community – Guardian Angels), Bob Roepke (faith-based community – St. John’s).

Let the fun begin!

p.s. If you’re interested in what we’ll be working on, here’s a 19 page concept brief on Chaska’s Downtown Revitalization Goals (pdf)

In Chaska, In the News , , ,
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5 Better Must-Have Free Social Apps for BlackBerry

January 25, 2010 — 2 Comments

Mashable published their 5 must-have free social apps for Blackberry today (including well-duh apps like Facebook and Blackberry Messenger). I can do better.

Here are my five must-have free social apps for Blackberry:

  1. BuzzMe: enables your Blackberry to ring and vibrate at the same time (what a novel concept!). You can also set your LED indicator light to “disco” mode, which is always a plus. Paid version has even more features.
  2. FlashLight: turns your phone into a flashlight, which is great for finding your keys, getting dressed or emergency signaling in the dark. Choose from 8 colors and three levels of brightness.
  3. YouVersion Bible: pulls down your requested book or scripture from a server, which means the app isn’t very big. Also has daily reading program, sharing tools and a local live feature.
  4. QuickPull: allows you to reset your Blackberry without physically pulling the battery out. Since I like to run a ton of apps at once and rarely turn off my phone, a manual reboot seems to be about a once a week occurrence. This app is great for that.
  5. SocialScope Lite: blends the best in for reading/updating Twitter (multiple accounts), Facebook, FourSquare and Flickr. Plus, it has manual refresh – my favorite.

What are your must-haves?

In Social Media , , ,
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I was 19th person to vote for Chaska mayor today

January 19, 2010 — 2 Comments

Polls opened at 7 a.m., and City Hall was still eerily quiet at 7:30. This is a special election to replace Chaska’s former mayor, who resigned to take a job with the U.S. Census. There are four names on the ballot, but I get the feeling the race is really between two – Jay Rohe and Mark Windschitl.

Since we are downtown Chaska residents — living in a 120 year-old ouse just outside the historic district but only a half block off mainstreet — the candidate’s plan for downtown was my key voting criteria. Just prior to our move to Chaska, Rohe and the city council pushed a longtime business out with eminent domain — a lot that 3 years later is still an empty field. So there’s little question that my particular concern is the use of eminent domain to turn my neighbors’ homes into parking lots. In fact, it’s already been proposed as part of the Downtown Business Council’s recent recommendation.

I had the opportunity to email some questions back and forth with Windschitl, who explained his view on eminent domain (a necessary tool for city’s to have in their toolbox, but not one to use lightly). It’s not a promise not to bulldoze my house, but spoke louder than a prior ED fail by his competitor. So he got my vote, and I got my first front yard campaign sign and my first chance to coerce my Chaskan coworkers about a local race I care a lot about.

Just hope more folks turn out today. It took less than 4 minutes to be part of democracy today, if that’s any consideration. :)

In Chaska
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Line outside BWW one hour before Vikings game

January 17, 2010 — Leave a comment

Skol Vikings?

In Chaska
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Equip and empower your social media manager

January 8, 2010 — Leave a comment

I thought this was a very compelling take on the dilemma of social media gurus holding all the keys to/responsibility for social media and the mentality of relying on one person to own a specific communication tool.

Conversation Marketing: Fire your social media manager

Social media is another way to talk to current and potential customers. Like the phone on your desk, or e-mail.

Do you have a single ‘phone manager’ at your office? Probably not (I hope).

Do you have an ‘e-mail manager’ who handles all sending and receiving of e-mail? Again, no.

Everyone uses these tools to do their jobs. It’s part of the routine.

Social media is rapidly becoming the same thing: A tool, not a technique. Your social media manager’s job is not to take the job of online communications away from everyone else. Her job is to help everyone else use it to better help customers and build the business.

It’s so critical to have a wide base of stakeholders involved in the online community for a brand. The hurdles are shorter than our brains think sometimes, which is why it’s great to have one or two social media experts in an organization who can train, lead and fire that starting pistol.

Beyond the person(s) in your organization who has the responsibility, I talk to a lot of clients/organizations about this in the realm of access to social media tools at work, too (e.g., blocking Facebook, YouTube).

Building on this metaphor, we all have telephones at our desks, and we all have e-mail on our computers. As long as your work is getting done, your boss is probably not worried about a personal phone call or a personal e-mail or two. In fact, s/he’s probably counting on you to understand how to use the phone and e-mail system, so a little personal time figuring them out isn’t bad.

The same goes with social media — particularly when your company has online stakeholders. And these days, that’s just about everybody.

In Social Media ,
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There is cold, and then there is -14 cold

January 1, 2010 — Leave a comment

In From the Road
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