Media

Achieving Social Media ROI For The Hospitality Industry

by Ron Callari

The buzz surrounding social media marketing hasn’t gone unnoticed by the hotel industry and hoteliers are seeking to make inroads by engaging with the leading social networks in new and innovative ways. Choice Hotels however has indicated that "hotels have been slow or very conservative in the adaptation of social media."

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With IPOs & Bankruptcy In The Air, Zynga Soars, American Airlines Zags & Alec Baldwin Zings

With IPOs & Bankruptcy In The Air, Zynga Soars, American Airlines Zags & Alec Balwin Zings

by Ron Callari

There's seems to be a glint of irony taking to the not-so-friendly skies, or so one popular TV-star would like the world to believe. While online gaming giant Zynga hopes to reap between $850 million and $1.15 billion with its impending IPO offering on the Nasdaq Stock Exchange, the venerable American Airlines files Chapter 11 to reorganize its massive debt. So what's the connection between the two companies where one's on an uptick and the other is in dire straits financially? Well… Alec Baldwin, oddly, it seems!

New Year, Next Dimension: China's First 3D Television Channel Rings In 2012

by China.new

A dozen years into the 21st century and just over 50 years after citizens watched their first nationally broadcast programs, China boasts over 3,000 TV stations. Now Chinese television is about to enter the third dimension with the country's first 3D TV channel set to hit the airwaves on January 1st, 2012.

Katy Perry's AMA Dress: Wearable Propaganda or Fashion Foible?

by China.new

Is Katy Perry moonlighting for China's government or merely modeling a dress from designer Vivienne Westwood's Spring/Summer 2012 Gold Label collection? Maybe both: the Chinese calligraphy on her form-fitting AMA frock spells out “Green Economy”, a popular catchphrase oft-spouted by China's official media.

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Portrait Of 60s Protester Adds Perspective To Occupy Movement In Song

by Ron Callari

Where have all the protest songs gone? Are they still blowing in the wind, or have new ones surfaced to chronicle life's current strife? While it seems like only yesterday, it's actually been over 40 years since Americans felt angry and disenfranchised enough to assemble in solidarity and protest against injustice and greed.

Leg Hair Font Adds Kick to Your Cursive

by Steve Levenstein

Desktop publishers rejoice! If you thought every possible typeface theme had already been explored, you haven't seen Leg Hair Font. Created by 20-year-old Japanese art student Mayuko Kanazawa, Leg Hair Font is a kinky, curly, shag-adelic cursive that comes in both upper and lower case.

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Advertising's For The Dogs Says Beneful Dog Food

by Lady Bee

What input does your dog have on your choice of dog food? Absolutely none, if you ask me. But Nestlé, maker of Beneful Dog Foods, has other ideas. Beneful ads are now being aimed directly at European canines. U.S. dogs are next, you wait....

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Winklevii Bust A Nut While Crackin' Joke About Arch Nemesis Zuckerberg

by Ron Callari

The not-so-dynamic duo who continually fall short in bringing down the one man who stood between them and a billion dollar social network are seeking alternate means for remuneration. That's right, the Winklevoss twins have taken to the TV airwaves to zing their arch nemesis Mark Zuckerberg in a Roll Global commercial for pistachios.

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Flip.to Identifies Net Promoters & Streamlines Reviews On Hotel Websites

by Ron Callari

While hundreds of CRM metric systems have evolved over the years, guests have been inundated with hotel survey requests that are lengthy and antiquated. Recently, with the extensive research conducted by loyalty expert Fred Reichheld, it has been found that brands are best served when they distill the whole process down to one simple question: "Would you recommend this hotel to a friend?"

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Jersey City Ignites Innovation & Waterfront Development In Reality & Fiction

by Ron Callari

The octagonal 50-foot clock remaining on the shore of the Hudson River facing Manhattan is a historical reminder of Jersey City's tenaciousness and its prominence during the 1940s & 1950s. By the 1970s, the city experienced a period of urban decline clouded by corruption held over from the Mayor "Boss" Hague reign of backroom deals and political cronyism .

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A Very Smart Do-It-Yourself iPhone 4 Tripod Mount (Video)

by Must Love Gadgets

Only the steadiest of hands can handle the photographic capabilities of their cellular or smart phones well - and that speaks for still photography. But when it comes to video photography, you have to ask your viewers to bring their own sick bags to the show....

Social Media Blogger Crunching Start-Ups & Conflicts Of Interest

by Ron Callari

Traditional media has longed categorized bloggers as an unruly lot who choose to work outside of legitimate journalistic guidelines. Our editorial contributions have sometimes been dismissed as pay-for-play fodder and at its worse - content farms - or "black hat" websites compiled for the sole purpose of stimulating Internet traffic versus publishing quality social discourse.

George W. Bush's Autobiography is Published in Chinese

by China.new

The newly released Chinese language edition of former U.S. President George W. Bush's autobiography features a unique introduction intended to appeal to readers in China.

Turning (Pages) Japanese: The USA's Top Ten Best-Selling Manga

by Steve Levenstein

One Piece? Yu-Gi-Oh!? Oh no, those and other manga titles may be loved in Japan, but they're not among the top ten in ICv2's ranking of American manga sales for the first half of 2011.

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Social Media Makes Strange Bedfellows As MSN & Renren Begin An Affair

by Ron Callari

While China is the country everyone wants to get a piece of these days - the two major Internet giants in the world - namely, Google and Facebook - face major hurdles with the government's insidious "firewall" and its strict censorship regulations.

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Ghost Of Guy Fawkes Evoked To Destroy Facebook?

Ghost of Guy Fawkes Resurrected To Destroy Facebook?

by Ron Callari

While the blogoshere is cyberventilating once again about the imminent demise of Facebook (anybody remember the "We're Quitting Facebook Day" scheduled for May 31, 2010?), the ghost of Guy Fawkes has been evoked to stir the conspiracy pot. Five hundred years to the day, the Hacker activist group known as Anonymous is claiming they will coincide their destruction of Facebook with Fawkes attempt to blow up the House of Parliament on November 5, 1605.

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China Or Facebook Loser Or Winner In Debt Ceiling Resolution?

by Ron Callari

During the recent Debt Ceiling debate, U.S. diplomats were vigilant in trying to convince China they had nothing to worry about: the debt ceiling will be raised and America will not default on its foreign-held loans. This should have been reassuring news for the Chinese, which by some estimates hold hundreds of billions, if not trillions in U.S. loans. But was it, and how could Facebook possibliy fit into this equation?

Debt Ceiling Debate May Have Been Won Or Lost In Twitterville

by Ron Callari

In a town of 200 million folks, Twitterville is more than twice the size of Canada and two-thirds the size of the U.S. The difference being, members of the the microblogging site speak their minds daily to a global audience, while American citizens can only grumble amongst a handful of friends and family, at best.

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China's Xinhua News Agency to Shine Out from Times Square Sign

by China.new

Call it a sign of the times: China's Xinhua news agency has leased a 60 by 40 ft space at 2 Times Square, the most prominent advertising spot in New York City. Landing the prestigious LED-lit block, called a “spectacular”, signifies China's arrival at the crossroads of the world.

Internet of Things Exceeds The Internet of People [Infographic]

by Ron Callari

While we were asleep at the switch learning to "plus one" on Google, the Internet of Things (IOT) just exceeded the number of people that reside on the planet. Beyond just smartphones and tablets, that number of "things" that connect to the Internet will only continue to scale as the growing number of connected gizmos, appliances - and even cows - are coded and catalogued to send messages to the Web.