Media

The Flip.to social media marketing platform just launched direct integration with the Hotel Concept's RezExchange channel management and distribution system for hotels. The service is a new means for the hospitality industry to convert guests and website visitors into engaged advocates while extending a brand's reach exponentially and finally providing hotels with a means to push past basic social media engagement, to a definable ROI.

With a movie project that has virtually taken years to "wrap," Twittamentary, is a film about communities that is now available for communities around the world. Having received numerous request from folks and organizations across the globe, the film's producer is thrilled to announce an "open call" for community screenings to take place between February 1 and May 1, 2012. That's right, if you have a suitable venue and meet the screening requirements, all you need is 20 of your closest friends or fans to put on a show - for free!

Whenever a new movement consumes the hearts and minds of a large percentage of the populace, its time to take stock in what really moves these folks to act? The zeitgeist that emanated from Facebook and Occupy Wall Street couldn't be any more different from each other, yet there is an undercurrent that threads the two together. Both attract those that have an overwhelming desire to band together within loosely-knit organizations that welcome all.

One dog barking isn't enough for this year's Volkswagen Super Bowl spot.  Deutsch, LA, which produced the winning commercial for the 2011 Super Bowl, The Dark Side, featuring a mini Darth Vader and his dog, decided to make this year's stars a dozen barking dogs, moving its energy from The Dark Side to The Bark Side.

Toward the end of 2011, the American Censorship Org took action against SOPA (Stop Online Piracy Act), a U.S. bill racing through Congress that threatens "prosperity, online security and freedom of expression." On January 18, thousands of websites like Wikipedia have pledged to go dark online in protest. To show its solidarity, Google has blocked out their iconic logo on their search engine.

The buzz surrounding social media marketing hasn’t gone unnoticed by the hospitality industry and many hotel brands seek to make inroads by engaging more effectively with leading social networks.

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."

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!

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.

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.

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.

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.

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....

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.

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?"

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 .

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....

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.

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.