(FanChatter's sorta-weekly letter to its registered users. Sign up here to receive via email and Call 'Em Like You See 'Em.)
Hey sports fans, I have a big favor to ask...
Tonight I'll be demonstrating FanChatter at MinneDemo, Minnesota's foremost technology showcase event. This is a big chance to show off the site, and the more chatter, the better.
My demonstration (7:45pm CDT) is scheduled to start just minutes after the first pitch of the Rockies-Diamondbacks NLCS Game 1 on TBS (7:37pm CDT).
That means if everybody started chattering at the beginning of the game in the Major League Baseball group (also on the homepage) and kept chattering until at least 8:00pm CDT (about 20 minutes in total), then the site would appear to be... well, the place to be for sports fans, and that's what we want. That's the favor.
So please remember, when the game starts, start your chatter. Join in with predictions or color commentary or whatever, from your computer or from your phone or email, and who knows? You might just find your way into next week's...
THIS WEEK IN CHATTER
This was the first full week of mobile photo uploads at FanChatter, and pjmori91 made the most of it by posting this amazing shot of Waveland Avenue outside Wrigley before the Cubs' Game 3 against the Dbacks and this one of "Mr. Cub" Ernie Banks throwing out the first pitch in the Major League Baseball group. But several Dbacks runs later, Brendan wondered if sales of Old Style were skyrocketing just as pj confirmed he was ordering... and that was about three innings before he finally, reluctantly admitted "I've lost hope" (not pictured).
I contemplated that one for a moment until chowdahead chattered "i smell something" in the Fight On Trojans group. Good nose, chowd. It was Stanford staging an unlikely upset of USC, but I didn't want to hear about it from a Boston fan (i.e. Pats, Sox, Celts, even BC!) so I told him to go help Belichick log his secret videos. Ultimately, it was badmonkey who summed up the loss for all Trojans fans: "wow, guess i need to cancel my hotel for the sugar bowl."
In the U of Mn football group (are they any worse than Stanford?), Dastro wasn't sure if Coach Brewster has any choice but to keep starting redshirt QB Adam Weber.
If the NHL season started, and nobody was around to chatter, does it matter?
JJDacotah reminded everybody in the Logos and Jerseys group that the orange and... orange pirate who long ago graced the sides of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers helmets was named "Bruce". Hmm. Okay.
As the Yankees faded away, Bistro24 wondered if we've seen the last of Roger Clemens and Homesig predicted that A-Rod would be playing shortstop for the Cubs next year. Would that give you any hope pj ?
Speaking of predictions, statman picked the Dbacks and Tribe for the Series while cyclones is thinking Rox and Sox...
And then there's Nemo, who poetically asked of Colorado's 17-1 streak, "will the momentum die or can they continue to ride their Rocky mountain high?"
Tune in tonight at 7:37pm CDT to find out, and don't forget to chatter until at least 8pm. Not going to be home? No problem. Just activate your mobile phone for chatter via text message OR email. And FanChatter is better with friends, so recruit yours, add them to your Lineup, and talk sports from anywhere, anytime, all at once.
Happy Championship Series,
Marty
PS - Look for my MinneDemo post-game at THE BLOG TO BE NAMED LATER...
Thursday, October 11, 2007
Saturday, October 6, 2007
Photo=Real
Some quickies...
My buddy from work is going to the Cubs playoff Game 3 at Wrigley tonight and he's activated his mobile phone -- a Blackberry Pearl -- at FanChatter. Blackberry Pearls have cameras built-in, so he's going to try and post some pics from my favorite place on earth... DURING THE PLAYOFFS, NO LESS!
If only my Cubbies weren't already facing elimination down 0-2. I hope he's not preoccupied while chattering and somehow interferes with a ball in play. We don't need another Stevie.
All I can really hope is that he doesn't drop his phone in his beer early and call it a day. So check out the MLB group tonight (the game starts at 6pm Eastern, 5pm Central) to (hopefully) see what he sees.
The site is really humming now, with the photo uploading and the improvements in our mobile tools. "Call 'Em Like You See 'Em" finally means everything it's supposed to mean.
It doesn't hurt that the baseball playoffs are getting good, and we've had some great live chatters during games that feel a lot like great game-viewing parties (but without the smell of the dude sitting next to you).
Lastly, something big is brewing for us over at the U (of Minnesota). We'll know more after their big rematch against NDSU October 20th -- both about the Gophers' football integrity and our own ability to prove our worth.
Stay tuned...
My buddy from work is going to the Cubs playoff Game 3 at Wrigley tonight and he's activated his mobile phone -- a Blackberry Pearl -- at FanChatter. Blackberry Pearls have cameras built-in, so he's going to try and post some pics from my favorite place on earth... DURING THE PLAYOFFS, NO LESS!
If only my Cubbies weren't already facing elimination down 0-2. I hope he's not preoccupied while chattering and somehow interferes with a ball in play. We don't need another Stevie.
All I can really hope is that he doesn't drop his phone in his beer early and call it a day. So check out the MLB group tonight (the game starts at 6pm Eastern, 5pm Central) to (hopefully) see what he sees.
The site is really humming now, with the photo uploading and the improvements in our mobile tools. "Call 'Em Like You See 'Em" finally means everything it's supposed to mean.
It doesn't hurt that the baseball playoffs are getting good, and we've had some great live chatters during games that feel a lot like great game-viewing parties (but without the smell of the dude sitting next to you).
Lastly, something big is brewing for us over at the U (of Minnesota). We'll know more after their big rematch against NDSU October 20th -- both about the Gophers' football integrity and our own ability to prove our worth.
Stay tuned...
Thursday, October 4, 2007
THIS WEEK IN CHATTER (10/4/07)
(FanChatter's sorta-weekly letter to its registered users. Sign up here to receive via email and Call 'Em Like You See 'Em.)
Here it is sports fans, your second-ever, sorta-weekly...
THIS WEEK IN CHATTER
I'll start with one of the greatest nights in FanChatter's brief history (second only to Home Run Derby Monday). Four of us -- myself, Tommy_Trojan, Damon, and JoeyD -- all chattered live in the Fight On Trojans group while watching USC beat up on Nebraska. It was like we were all in the same room, even though we watched from Minneapolis, Eagan (MN), San Francisco, and LA, respectively. I even had to pick up my mother-in-law from the airport during the second quarter, but I was able to follow along on my phone with mobile chatter alerts and chatter myself from a couple of red lights.
Speaking of college football, Nemo was talking Bison in the NDSU Football group, and look wondered in the U of Mn Football group if the Gophers should be dropped to Division III, just like Michigan was after losing to Appalachian State (or so said the link he posted from The Onion Sports).
But Bistro24 offered chatter so big he made like Ernie Banks and played two:
"Attn Gopher football players: there's a new rule on campus. no walking around thinking you're all that. also, no using football to get girls...
...until you are no longer an embarassment, i don't want to see any of you chucks at the bar or anywhere besides practice or the weightroom."
With more on his mind, and possibly in anticipation of the Philadelphia Eagles' god-awful canary yellow and robin's egg blue throwbacks, Bistro24 later created the Logos and Jerseys group and touched off a string of posts about everybody's all-time favorites and least favorites. Whalers vs. North Stars... Discuss.
Of course, one of the most chattered-about stories was Marc Ecko putting the fate of the Bonds 756 ball to a public vote. Many weighed in at the Bonds & Selig group, including gaulstone who praised Ecko's marketing brilliance; while cyclones cautioned that the Hall of Fame "is for telling the story of baseball. Good and Evil. None of Big Mac's items have * by it."
cyclones also chattered up some Johan Santana trade rumors in the Go Twins group, prompting jon to wonder if the Luis Castillo trade would end up cursing the Twins for years to come (or maybe he cursed the Mets). And sarah spoke for many Twins fans in saying that management would be "nuts" not to re-sign Torii Hunter.
JJDacotah tried to explain the Trenton Hassell-for-Greg Buckner trade in the Twolves group.
Then, out of nowhere, Dastro chattered in a language I could barely understand about something called the Carling Cup in the English Premier League group.
Maybe he was inspired by RamDon's equally confusing analysis of the US Women's World Cup team's choice of wardrobe. Soccer, was it?
Back to football, KPK inquired in the Purple Pride group about the "Kelly Holcomb era so far". Interesting, but not as interesting as the tailgate photos of Viking superfan Syd Davy, a.k.a. "Cheese-Free", that I posted there on behalf of cell phone photographer dond107.
Funny how quiet the Packer Fans group has become, with only sschroed confidently (and correctly) predicting a Packer victory in Minnesota and their resulting 4-0 start.
And we end this list as we began, with a memorable game viewing experience made possible by FanChatter, and this time chronicled in the MLB group. It started with statman accusing the TBS broadcast team of "(sucking) the soul out of the game I love" and ended with me chattering late into the night as Matt Holliday scored (or didn't) in the bottom of the 13th inning to win that thrilling one-game playoff for the Rockies. But I wondered...
WHERE'S EVERYBODY ELSE?
There's no way all of you are watching all of these great playoff games will all of your buddies at some big endless party. Well that's exactly what FanChatter offers, only the party is on your computer and you can access it using your phone.
The same goes for college football Saturday and NFL (or should I say Fantasy Football ) Sunday-Monday. And where's thewagontrain ? Doesn't the NHL season start tonight?
Also, if anyone is actually going to any of these games -- especially the baseball playoff games and ESPECIALLY at Wrigley (hint hint) -- be sure to activate your camera phone and post lots of photos and other chatter. That way, we can all feel like we're there, too.
So thank you for growing with us, please recruit more friends, enable your mobile alerts (so you don't miss anything good), and always Call 'Em Like You See 'Em... from anywhere, anytime.
Marty
Learn more about building a mobile sports fan chat utility at THE BLOG TO BE NAMED LATER...
...and yes, that was way more than a week.
Here it is sports fans, your second-ever, sorta-weekly...
THIS WEEK IN CHATTER
I'll start with one of the greatest nights in FanChatter's brief history (second only to Home Run Derby Monday). Four of us -- myself, Tommy_Trojan, Damon, and JoeyD -- all chattered live in the Fight On Trojans group while watching USC beat up on Nebraska. It was like we were all in the same room, even though we watched from Minneapolis, Eagan (MN), San Francisco, and LA, respectively. I even had to pick up my mother-in-law from the airport during the second quarter, but I was able to follow along on my phone with mobile chatter alerts and chatter myself from a couple of red lights.
Speaking of college football, Nemo was talking Bison in the NDSU Football group, and look wondered in the U of Mn Football group if the Gophers should be dropped to Division III, just like Michigan was after losing to Appalachian State (or so said the link he posted from The Onion Sports).
But Bistro24 offered chatter so big he made like Ernie Banks and played two:
"Attn Gopher football players: there's a new rule on campus. no walking around thinking you're all that. also, no using football to get girls...
...until you are no longer an embarassment, i don't want to see any of you chucks at the bar or anywhere besides practice or the weightroom."
With more on his mind, and possibly in anticipation of the Philadelphia Eagles' god-awful canary yellow and robin's egg blue throwbacks, Bistro24 later created the Logos and Jerseys group and touched off a string of posts about everybody's all-time favorites and least favorites. Whalers vs. North Stars... Discuss.
Of course, one of the most chattered-about stories was Marc Ecko putting the fate of the Bonds 756 ball to a public vote. Many weighed in at the Bonds & Selig group, including gaulstone who praised Ecko's marketing brilliance; while cyclones cautioned that the Hall of Fame "is for telling the story of baseball. Good and Evil. None of Big Mac's items have * by it."
cyclones also chattered up some Johan Santana trade rumors in the Go Twins group, prompting jon to wonder if the Luis Castillo trade would end up cursing the Twins for years to come (or maybe he cursed the Mets). And sarah spoke for many Twins fans in saying that management would be "nuts" not to re-sign Torii Hunter.
JJDacotah tried to explain the Trenton Hassell-for-Greg Buckner trade in the Twolves group.
Then, out of nowhere, Dastro chattered in a language I could barely understand about something called the Carling Cup in the English Premier League group.
Maybe he was inspired by RamDon's equally confusing analysis of the US Women's World Cup team's choice of wardrobe. Soccer, was it?
Back to football, KPK inquired in the Purple Pride group about the "Kelly Holcomb era so far". Interesting, but not as interesting as the tailgate photos of Viking superfan Syd Davy, a.k.a. "Cheese-Free", that I posted there on behalf of cell phone photographer dond107.
Funny how quiet the Packer Fans group has become, with only sschroed confidently (and correctly) predicting a Packer victory in Minnesota and their resulting 4-0 start.
And we end this list as we began, with a memorable game viewing experience made possible by FanChatter, and this time chronicled in the MLB group. It started with statman accusing the TBS broadcast team of "(sucking) the soul out of the game I love" and ended with me chattering late into the night as Matt Holliday scored (or didn't) in the bottom of the 13th inning to win that thrilling one-game playoff for the Rockies. But I wondered...
WHERE'S EVERYBODY ELSE?
There's no way all of you are watching all of these great playoff games will all of your buddies at some big endless party. Well that's exactly what FanChatter offers, only the party is on your computer and you can access it using your phone.
The same goes for college football Saturday and NFL (or should I say Fantasy Football ) Sunday-Monday. And where's thewagontrain ? Doesn't the NHL season start tonight?
Also, if anyone is actually going to any of these games -- especially the baseball playoff games and ESPECIALLY at Wrigley (hint hint) -- be sure to activate your camera phone and post lots of photos and other chatter. That way, we can all feel like we're there, too.
So thank you for growing with us, please recruit more friends, enable your mobile alerts (so you don't miss anything good), and always Call 'Em Like You See 'Em... from anywhere, anytime.
Marty
Learn more about building a mobile sports fan chat utility at THE BLOG TO BE NAMED LATER...
...and yes, that was way more than a week.
EASIER PHOTO TOOLS AND NOW PHOTO UPLOADS
(This was an email sent to FanChatter users -- all 100 of us! -- on 10/4/07. Sign up here to be included on future emails and Call 'Em Like You See 'Em.)
Get ready Sports Fans,
Not only is football heating up and the MLB playoffs are here, but Dane Cook has been fired... we wish. No, but FanChatter did just get a whole lot better. Here's how...
MOBILE INSTRUCTIONS
First, many of you were confused by our mobile instructions, so we made them easier. Basically, FanChatter uses email addresses instead of numeric short codes for posting chatter via text message or email. You may not have known you can send text messages to an email address, but you can (unless you have a "smart phone" that only allows texting to numeric addresses, in which case you should mobile chatter via your email account on that so-called "smart phone" of yours).
Why do we do it this way? Because it allows us to assign each group its own mobile address. For example, to enter mobile chatter in the Broadcast Sports group, text or email from your activated phone or email address to "media@fanchatter.com". Every group page displays its own mobile address, and you create the mobile address when you create a group.
Using FanChatter without using FanChatter's mobile tools is like man using only 10% of his brain. Let me tell you a story...
Late last Saturday night I was torn over who to start in my fantasy football leagues. I chattered in the Fantasy Football group about my choices and asked for help, but it was late and I didn't expect to get any feedback until morning (if I was lucky), so I shut down my computer and went to bed.
Suddenly my phone buzzed. I had a text message. Turns out it was a chatter alert from the Fantasy Football group (which I'm subscribed to). JJDacotah had seen my chatter and posted his advice. Chances are he wasn't on the FanChatter site at the moment I posted, so he must have received a chatter alert on his phone or email and answered me right away, also probably from his phone or email. I chattered back from my phone thanking him, and his advice turned out to be right on, including starting Marshawn Lynch over Lamont "You Big Dummy" Jordan.
Just remember to manage who you're subscribed to. Like me, for instance. I chatter A LOT, especially during the big games, so remove me from your Lineup if your phone starts buzzing too much. Subscribing to groups (instead of- or in addition to other fans) is another good way to go if you're only interested in receiving chatter alerts about certain sports or topics.
So mobile instructions getting easier is the first thing, which makes the second thing really cool...
PHOTOS! YES PHOTOS!
You can now post photos to FanChatter from your phone or email. Take a picture from the game or the bar using your camera phone and send it in to your page or to a group for everyone to see. Show us what your face looks like when your team wins or loses, or when Brad Childress fails to use Adrian Peterson in the second half, except on frickin' kick-off returns. Yeah, I'd like to see that picture.
Easier mobile instructions. Photo chatter (with- or without captions -- here's one of my dog the USC fan). Enjoy.
Marty
Learn more about building a mobile sports fan chat utility at THE BLOG TO BE NAMED LATER...
PS - This letter was getting long, so I'm breaking out our latest This Week in Chatter -- or "TWiCh" -- highlights into a second email. Thanks to everyone for using the site, and chatter back soon...
Get ready Sports Fans,
Not only is football heating up and the MLB playoffs are here, but Dane Cook has been fired... we wish. No, but FanChatter did just get a whole lot better. Here's how...
MOBILE INSTRUCTIONS
First, many of you were confused by our mobile instructions, so we made them easier. Basically, FanChatter uses email addresses instead of numeric short codes for posting chatter via text message or email. You may not have known you can send text messages to an email address, but you can (unless you have a "smart phone" that only allows texting to numeric addresses, in which case you should mobile chatter via your email account on that so-called "smart phone" of yours).
Why do we do it this way? Because it allows us to assign each group its own mobile address. For example, to enter mobile chatter in the Broadcast Sports group, text or email from your activated phone or email address to "media@fanchatter.com". Every group page displays its own mobile address, and you create the mobile address when you create a group.
Using FanChatter without using FanChatter's mobile tools is like man using only 10% of his brain. Let me tell you a story...
Late last Saturday night I was torn over who to start in my fantasy football leagues. I chattered in the Fantasy Football group about my choices and asked for help, but it was late and I didn't expect to get any feedback until morning (if I was lucky), so I shut down my computer and went to bed.
Suddenly my phone buzzed. I had a text message. Turns out it was a chatter alert from the Fantasy Football group (which I'm subscribed to). JJDacotah had seen my chatter and posted his advice. Chances are he wasn't on the FanChatter site at the moment I posted, so he must have received a chatter alert on his phone or email and answered me right away, also probably from his phone or email. I chattered back from my phone thanking him, and his advice turned out to be right on, including starting Marshawn Lynch over Lamont "You Big Dummy" Jordan.
Just remember to manage who you're subscribed to. Like me, for instance. I chatter A LOT, especially during the big games, so remove me from your Lineup if your phone starts buzzing too much. Subscribing to groups (instead of- or in addition to other fans) is another good way to go if you're only interested in receiving chatter alerts about certain sports or topics.
So mobile instructions getting easier is the first thing, which makes the second thing really cool...
PHOTOS! YES PHOTOS!
You can now post photos to FanChatter from your phone or email. Take a picture from the game or the bar using your camera phone and send it in to your page or to a group for everyone to see. Show us what your face looks like when your team wins or loses, or when Brad Childress fails to use Adrian Peterson in the second half, except on frickin' kick-off returns. Yeah, I'd like to see that picture.
Easier mobile instructions. Photo chatter (with- or without captions -- here's one of my dog the USC fan). Enjoy.
Marty
Learn more about building a mobile sports fan chat utility at THE BLOG TO BE NAMED LATER...
PS - This letter was getting long, so I'm breaking out our latest This Week in Chatter -- or "TWiCh" -- highlights into a second email. Thanks to everyone for using the site, and chatter back soon...
Monday, October 1, 2007
We talking about practice, man. What are we talking about? Practice?
Any excuse I get...
Well, tonight I practiced over at Slantwise for my big FanChatter presentation at MinneDemo.
MinneDemo is where Minnesota's most interesting tech minds get together to share what's new and cool. I'm lucky enough to occupy one of the six demo slots and I'm determined to make the most of it. (You can check out the rest of my fellow demo-ers, as well as the long wait list to demo, here.)
It's all going down on Thursday, October 11 at O'Garas Bar & Grill in St. Paul. Drinks at 6:30pm. Demos start at 7:30pm. My turn starts at 7:45pm and lasts only 15 minutes.
That's the tough part. I really need to get my script down because I was winging it tonight and it was messy.
(You should know that MinneDemo is made possible by Luke at Slantwise, and it was at MinneBar in April where I first met Jon from Slantwise, and it's because of him and his team that FanChatter exists, so I can't thank them all enough. But more on MinneDemo later...)
Here's tonight's big news:
You can now upload photos to FanChatter from your camera phone!
Yes, this is HUGE! And no, that's not a picture of me.
I've uploaded two so far -- one of a painted-up Vikings fan from Winnepeg named Syd Davy taken at last Sunday's tailgate party and one of my dog Lula Mae wearing her USC windbreaker.
Much, much more to come on this, too. I really need to practice now. See you at MinneDemo.
Well, tonight I practiced over at Slantwise for my big FanChatter presentation at MinneDemo.
MinneDemo is where Minnesota's most interesting tech minds get together to share what's new and cool. I'm lucky enough to occupy one of the six demo slots and I'm determined to make the most of it. (You can check out the rest of my fellow demo-ers, as well as the long wait list to demo, here.)
It's all going down on Thursday, October 11 at O'Garas Bar & Grill in St. Paul. Drinks at 6:30pm. Demos start at 7:30pm. My turn starts at 7:45pm and lasts only 15 minutes.
That's the tough part. I really need to get my script down because I was winging it tonight and it was messy.
(You should know that MinneDemo is made possible by Luke at Slantwise, and it was at MinneBar in April where I first met Jon from Slantwise, and it's because of him and his team that FanChatter exists, so I can't thank them all enough. But more on MinneDemo later...)
Here's tonight's big news:
You can now upload photos to FanChatter from your camera phone!
Yes, this is HUGE! And no, that's not a picture of me.
I've uploaded two so far -- one of a painted-up Vikings fan from Winnepeg named Syd Davy taken at last Sunday's tailgate party and one of my dog Lula Mae wearing her USC windbreaker.
Much, much more to come on this, too. I really need to practice now. See you at MinneDemo.
Saturday, September 29, 2007
Where do I begin again?
One month later...
Yes, it's been exactly one month since I last posted, which means I need to alter my style and post more often. Period.
It's been so long that I've even added a feed from my Chatter Lineup to this blog (see top right column). This is a precursor to our FanChatter widget for bloggers, coming soon.
So where do I begin again? Here goes, in no particular order...
-I have a great idea for building the FanChatter user base in bunches, but it depends on getting some help from my many friends who work for Minnesota's major sports teams. More on this later, lots more, but know that I'm working on it.
-The site is improving. After a development timeout that lasted a few weeks, we've made the mobile tools much easier to use and we've added PHOTO UPLOADS!! Yes, you will now be able to take sports fan photos with your phone and upload them directly to FanChatter...
...but wait, we're still testing the photo uploads, so be patient. It's gonna be really great when we get it working, though, and I'll let you know about it here...
...And as for mobile, our site copy needs updating to catch up with the new easier tools, but that's all ready to go. I'll dedicate another full entry to mobile soon (before another month passes) to explain how a FanChatter user not using FanChatter Mobile is like human beings using only 10% of their brains.
-Then there's Facebook, valued this week at $10 billion (and they thought Zuckerberg was crazy when he turned down Yahoo!'s $1 billion offer). We think we understand Facebook -- at least as well as anyone else who started their profile after they opened it up to old peopl... I mean... non-.edu email addresses -- and we know that FanChatter needs a Facebook app like yesterday. Let's just say we're trying to raise some money to Turn (That) Mutha Out, and if I lost you at non-.edu, then step off because u probably Can't Touch This.
-Also this month, Marc Ecko became my hero (again), this time by buying the Bonds 756 ball, putting it to a vote, and ideating his way into sports history immortality.
Not only that, but I work in advertising by day, and this guy is showing all of us glorified spammers that anyone who's still marketing like it's 1999 is going to be oops, outta time.
See my Ecko post at the Fallon Planning Blog (proof that at least I was blogging elsewhere... for work, no less).
-And finally, way back on August 30 we sent out the first ever TWiCh (This Week in Chatter) e-letter to all of our registered users. If you missed it, I've posted it in this blog (back-dated to the 30th). The second one is coming this week to announce the photo uploads and new mobile tools, and from now on I'll double-publish each new TWiCh e-letter here at TBTBNL...
That wasn't so hard. Like riding a bike. More like running. The trick is just going out and doing it every day. Come to think of it, I haven't run for a while either.
CUBS IN! CUBS IN! CUBS IN! CUBS IN!
Thursday, August 30, 2007
THIS WEEK IN CHATTER (8/30/07)
(FanChatter's sorta-weekly letter to its registered users. Sign up here to receive via email and Call 'Em Like You See 'Em.)
What's up Sports Fans,
Welcome to FanChatter's first ever THIS WEEK IN CHATTER (imagine Mel Allen saying that) report. This is where we highlight all of the best Chatter from the week in sports, but before we get to that...
THANK YOU
We mean it. Thanks for signing up and giving this site a try. We've only been up for a couple of months and we truly appreciate all the activity and feedback we've seen so far. We're also working our butts off to make FanChatter an indispensable utility in every sports fan's life. How so? By allowing you to talk sports with your friends from anywhere, anytime, all at once.
That means (1) recruiting your sports fan friends to sign up, (2) adding them to your Lineup, and (3) activating mobile alerts (via text message or email) so you'll never miss it when your buddy has something to say. Imagine the possibilities...
FANTASY FOOTBALL
The NFL season is one week away, the trash talking in your fantasy league has only just begun, and a flurry of trade requests can't be far behind. It's time to go mobile and start a FanChatter group for your league. If your commissioner chatters in your group on Sundays and Monday nights, and everyone else activates group mobile alerts, then your league updates can follow you, not the other way around. Going to the game? No problem. In a business meeting when a big mid-week trade offer is made? No problem. Wanna rub in that big win over your hated nemesis/best friend?... over and over no matter where you are or what you're busy doing? No problem. FanChatter.com is here, just in time for Fantasy Football 2007.
THIS WEEK IN CHATTER
-In the ever popular Go Twins group, I was lucky enough to chatter from a luxury suite at the Dome and unlucky enough to chronicle Matt Garza serving up four bombs to the Mariners in 2 1/3 innings (but he did get Ichiro out twice). Later, KPK (who was in the suite with me) described his own luxurious experience before switching to the MLB group to pimp his beloved Cubbies
-thewagontrain joined up and promptly started two groups -- NHL ("everything NHL") and The Stitch Nation ("everything hockey"). What's the difference? We'll wait and see, just like we're still waiting for a link to his scathing take on the Little League World Series. (A tip, you might want to add this guy to your Lineup.)
-Back in the always-interesting Minnesota Nice group, the ever-prolific statman and our newest Chatter-er Rusty are keeping track of the St. Paul Saints current American Association playoff run. Rusty is actually a big deal down in the Tampa-St. Pete area, so we're glad to have him.
-Michael Vick's guilty plea touched off some good chatter over in the NFL group, including thewagontrain's point that Vick would have been better off had he killed a human and gaulstone's reaction to Stephon Marbury's "dogfighting is a sport" gem.
-RamDon wondered if anyone was interested in Latrell Sprewell's recently repossessed yacht. It's called Milwaukee's Best, and charlieiq posted a photo link in the tumultuous Twolves group.
-KPK, always good for a quote of his own, added some of his favorites to psid's popular-but-underused Best Quotes of All Time group.
-Let's not forget to mention the valuable Chatter of MattThomasFan (who hates Billy Martin) and JJDacotah (who chattered first about the KG deal being back on). Since I'm subscribed to him and I had my mobile alerts activated, I heard about the biggest trade in my lifetime as soon as it was going down, right there on my phone. Thanks JJ, whoever you are.
-Did I mention that Bistro24 broke the news about the Luis Castillo trade at FanChatter before most of the news outlets had it?
-And just when you thought it was safe to ignore the Packer Fans group, packerette snuck in her takes on Titletown's offensive outlook at the skill positions. Offensive is right. Haastyle or sschroed, either of you care to chime in here?
NOW IT'S YOUR TURN
Who's got what it takes to make it into the next TWiCh report? Can't you just smell that football in the air? I'll be working the Fight On Trojans group this Saturday for sure, and there's even an NDSU Football group. Remember those guys who almost beat the Gophers? And what about baseball's divisional races? It's a great time of year.
Thanks again for trying us out, remember to recruit your friends, create those fantasy league groups, and always Call 'Em Like You See 'Em.
Marty
PS - To learn more about what we're doing at FanChatter (including my adventures at the NBA Draft and floating in a kayak in McCovey Cove during the Home Run Derby), check out THE BLOG TO BE NAMED LATER... for occasionally frequent insight into what it's like to build a mobile sports fan chat utility.
R.I.P. Eddie Griffin
What's up Sports Fans,
Welcome to FanChatter's first ever THIS WEEK IN CHATTER (imagine Mel Allen saying that) report. This is where we highlight all of the best Chatter from the week in sports, but before we get to that...
THANK YOU
We mean it. Thanks for signing up and giving this site a try. We've only been up for a couple of months and we truly appreciate all the activity and feedback we've seen so far. We're also working our butts off to make FanChatter an indispensable utility in every sports fan's life. How so? By allowing you to talk sports with your friends from anywhere, anytime, all at once.
That means (1) recruiting your sports fan friends to sign up, (2) adding them to your Lineup, and (3) activating mobile alerts (via text message or email) so you'll never miss it when your buddy has something to say. Imagine the possibilities...
FANTASY FOOTBALL
The NFL season is one week away, the trash talking in your fantasy league has only just begun, and a flurry of trade requests can't be far behind. It's time to go mobile and start a FanChatter group for your league. If your commissioner chatters in your group on Sundays and Monday nights, and everyone else activates group mobile alerts, then your league updates can follow you, not the other way around. Going to the game? No problem. In a business meeting when a big mid-week trade offer is made? No problem. Wanna rub in that big win over your hated nemesis/best friend?... over and over no matter where you are or what you're busy doing? No problem. FanChatter.com is here, just in time for Fantasy Football 2007.
THIS WEEK IN CHATTER
-In the ever popular Go Twins group, I was lucky enough to chatter from a luxury suite at the Dome and unlucky enough to chronicle Matt Garza serving up four bombs to the Mariners in 2 1/3 innings (but he did get Ichiro out twice). Later, KPK (who was in the suite with me) described his own luxurious experience before switching to the MLB group to pimp his beloved Cubbies
-thewagontrain joined up and promptly started two groups -- NHL ("everything NHL") and The Stitch Nation ("everything hockey"). What's the difference? We'll wait and see, just like we're still waiting for a link to his scathing take on the Little League World Series. (A tip, you might want to add this guy to your Lineup.)
-Back in the always-interesting Minnesota Nice group, the ever-prolific statman and our newest Chatter-er Rusty are keeping track of the St. Paul Saints current American Association playoff run. Rusty is actually a big deal down in the Tampa-St. Pete area, so we're glad to have him.
-Michael Vick's guilty plea touched off some good chatter over in the NFL group, including thewagontrain's point that Vick would have been better off had he killed a human and gaulstone's reaction to Stephon Marbury's "dogfighting is a sport" gem.
-RamDon wondered if anyone was interested in Latrell Sprewell's recently repossessed yacht. It's called Milwaukee's Best, and charlieiq posted a photo link in the tumultuous Twolves group.
-KPK, always good for a quote of his own, added some of his favorites to psid's popular-but-underused Best Quotes of All Time group.
-Let's not forget to mention the valuable Chatter of MattThomasFan (who hates Billy Martin) and JJDacotah (who chattered first about the KG deal being back on). Since I'm subscribed to him and I had my mobile alerts activated, I heard about the biggest trade in my lifetime as soon as it was going down, right there on my phone. Thanks JJ, whoever you are.
-Did I mention that Bistro24 broke the news about the Luis Castillo trade at FanChatter before most of the news outlets had it?
-And just when you thought it was safe to ignore the Packer Fans group, packerette snuck in her takes on Titletown's offensive outlook at the skill positions. Offensive is right. Haastyle or sschroed, either of you care to chime in here?
NOW IT'S YOUR TURN
Who's got what it takes to make it into the next TWiCh report? Can't you just smell that football in the air? I'll be working the Fight On Trojans group this Saturday for sure, and there's even an NDSU Football group. Remember those guys who almost beat the Gophers? And what about baseball's divisional races? It's a great time of year.
Thanks again for trying us out, remember to recruit your friends, create those fantasy league groups, and always Call 'Em Like You See 'Em.
Marty
PS - To learn more about what we're doing at FanChatter (including my adventures at the NBA Draft and floating in a kayak in McCovey Cove during the Home Run Derby), check out THE BLOG TO BE NAMED LATER... for occasionally frequent insight into what it's like to build a mobile sports fan chat utility.
R.I.P. Eddie Griffin
Wednesday, August 29, 2007
R.I.P. Eddie Griffin
Here's a video I made for Timberwolves.com back in February 2005. I'm posting it because this was the only time we had a chance to interview former Wolves forward Eddie Griffin, who died in a tragic car accident last week. Sad news.
Tuesday, August 7, 2007
Nothing Lasts Forever
A week ago my favorite player was traded away from my favorite team.
The next day a bridge I had crossed many times fell into the Mississippi River, killing at least five people including a guy I had played baseball against named Patrick Holmes.
I'm lucky I wasn't on that bridge. I'm lucky I get to feel sad about KG leaving for Boston and I'm lucky (if not crazy) to feel hopeful about the future of my Timberpups.
Two years ago, when I was still doing my sports fan TV show THE SHOW TO BE NAMED LATER..., we had an idea to have an 11-year-old Wolves fan interview Wally Szczerbiak after the final game of the season. Rumors were rampant that Wally would be traded that off-season, so we figured this might be her last chance to interview her all time favorite player.
So we got permission from the team, (show host) Jonny Voss came along to help out, I operated the camera, and here's what happened...
We learned later that KG left without talking to the media that night, but he went out of his way to talk to us.
As Jonny expressed in our lead out to commercial, we really did believe that the Big Ticket would be a Timberwolf for the rest of his career, just like those people on that bridge believed they would make it home safely last Wednesday.
Nothing lasts forever. Not home run records (Bonds hit #756 tonight). Not TV shows (no matter how much your local superstar athlete loves the one you created). And certainly not KG in Minnesota.
But we'll always have our memories (and thanks to DeROK, we have this heartfelt video tribute)...
And there's always hope. I snuck into the Wolves press conference today where they introduced the five players they received in the KG trade.
I chattered about everything I saw in the Go Wolves group at FanChatter.com, and my fellow Wolves fans followed along, responding to my chatter and challenging me to speak up and ask a question. I didn't.
But the back and forth on the site was great, and the new guys looked good (except for Gerald Green who looked tired/bored/sedated), and mobile sports fan chat once again proved to be pretty cool.
Even with no guarantees, life is good, isn't it?
Monday, July 30, 2007
Rock and Rollover
Wanna know what happens when you don't post for a while? Sooner or later, all hell breaks loose.
Today the dam gave way when it was announced that Kevin Garnett would be traded to the Celtics. Then the water rose higher when the Luis Castillo trade to the Mets was made official, all of which led me to chatter my afternoon away.
But more on that later. Let's go forward by going back, starting with July 19th (my birthday)...
On the day I turned 34, with my mom and dad and wife and daughter Audrey all there to see it (the first and only time that group has ever been assembled), I knocked in my baseball team's winning run (I play on a town ball team in the Park National League called the Minneapolis Lakers) with my first ever walk off hit. It was certainly a birthday to remember, especially since I was able to chatter about it from the parking lot while the crack of the bat was still ringing in my ears.
A couple days later, on our way back from a weekend away in Galena, Illinois, I stopped at the Field of Dreams in Dyersville, Iowa.
All around me were fans that had brought their own bats and balls and gloves to please the gods of baseball with games of catch and rounds of batting practice.
As I walked with my dog Lula Mae out from the corn and into left center field, all I could ask was "Is this heaven?", because it sure did feel like it.
Then I held Audrey as we ran the bases. Reaching third, we waited for the batter to step aside before we headed for home. It was Audrey who scored as I set her bare feet on the plate. What a wonderful place it is, that field where dreams come true.
My Mother in Law Daphne and I discussed FanChatter in the car later that day, driving through Iowa, and her questions helped lead me to another important revelation about the site...
"Mobile Sports Fan Chat" isn't just about posting from your mobile phone via SMS, because someday all phones will have browsers and all chat sites will be accessible by phone.
When we say "Mobile", we also mean "Updates". No other sports fan chat site notifies you by SMS or email when your friend has posted an entry. That means no other sports fan chat site can compare to FanChatter when it comes to breaking news or even just breaking commentary.
Thanks to my Mother in Law, I figured that out somewhere in southeastern Iowa.
Intermission:
Those were the days, weren't they?
So about those updates. Today I received a email from FanChatter (I've opted to use my Gmail account as my mobile "updater" for now because I can access it from my Blackberry and I prefer to chatter with a full QWERTY keyboard) that read...
(JJDacotah) KG to Celts? For a package of Ratliff, Jefferson, Telfair, Green and a pick? It better be for the one the Wolves gave Boston!
What was this? The Celtics deal was back on the table? Even though it hit me out of the blue, it made sense because Boston had picked up Ray Allen on draft day, meaning now KG could consider teaming with both Allen and Paul Pierce on a squad that would most certainly contend in the NBA's Eastern Conference.
The thing is, I found out about it because JJDacotah chattered and I received the update. Thanks JJ, whoever you are.
So history was made twice today, once by a couple of old teammates (McHale and Ainge, above) and once by a crazed Timberwolves superfan learning about the imminent trade of his favorite player... not on TV, not from a guy on the street, not even from a visit to ESPN.com... but from a new sports fan chat site offering mobile updates.
(Oh, and all the Twins got for Castillo were two minor league scrubs who can't hit their weight.)
Now that's a day to remember AND forget.
So why did I call this post "Rock and Rollover"? Well, I intended to mention that Audrey, who turned 4 months old today, completed her first full rollover this morning (followed immediately by her second, and third, and almost fourth before I stopped her from rolling off the bed). Then I was going to liken that (somehow) to FanChatter's 1-month anniversary (July 28, 2007) and how it was time for us to take it to the next level, just like my daughter. Time to rock, if you will, like Kiss on their Rock and Rollover album.
But this post was getting too long, and I'm only making it longer, so props to Audrey for learning to roll, and congrats to us for one month of chatter beginning with the NBA Draft and ending with my all time favorite baller being shipped to Boston.
Who said sports are boring in the summer?
Monday, July 16, 2007
Explaining What We're Doing (in Six Easy Steps)
Yesterday I was interviewed live on the air by KFAN's Henry Lake during "The Lake Show", his weekly Sunday solo gig. The interview lasted about twelve minutes but it felt like two. I did, however, succeed in repeating the name "FanChatter.com" at least a half dozen times.
I'm not sure how well I did beyond simple name repetition, but I'm hoping to get a copy of the segment soon. Others gave me good reviews, although my wife said I talked "pretty fast"...
...but here's what hit me this morning:
The more I talk to people about FanChatter, the more I learn what elements of my pitch are resonating. Interestingly enough, by observing the reactions of others I get a much better idea of where we should be aiming.
Or maybe it's by using the site in its current form that I discover more of what we have to offer. For example, FanChatter is currently populated by myself and several people that I know, and we've been talking sports for a few days now using only the site. I get mobile alerts when the people and groups I'm subscribed to post new chatter, and I presume others have figured out how to receive alerts when I chatter.
All of this led me to compose a new Google Ad Words-style ad this morning in the shower:
Mobile Sports Fan Chat
Talk sports with your friends from
anywhere, anytime, all at once!
FanChatter.com
Sitting around talking with your friends about sports... Isn't that exactly how many of us would rather spend our days, like we were in the 6th grade again? If only we could hang out with our friends all the time -- like we did in the 6th grade -- so each of us could hear all at once what all of us think about each passing sports headline.
Well, now we can, thanks to FanChatter.com.
Here's how I would suggest the average sports fan use the site, in SIX EASY STEPS:
1. Sign up and quickly fill our your sports fan profile (this takes about 2 minutes)
2. Recruit your friends to sign up, too, and ask them to tell you their usernames so you can easily find them on the site.
3. Once they sign up, add your friends to your Lineup (kinda like YouTube's "Subscriptions") and make sure they join your Crowd ("Subscribers").
4. Next, enable your mobile phone to send and receive chatter from your Lineup. Once enabled, you can start and stop mobile chatter notifications anytime by texting #start or #stop to the address "m@fanchatter.com" from your phone.
NOTE: After completing steps 1-4, you and your friends will be able to talk sports ALL DAY LONG from wherever you are, DISCREETLY via your computer, email, or text messaging, and all of you will see what everyone else is saying, and none of you will need to enter and re-enter everyone's email addresses or phone numbers over and over again (unless you don't use FanChatter). Now, on to the equally simple steps 5 and 6...
5. If you decide to explore a little bit and/or search by tags, you may find and subscribe to other users you don't know personally but who share your sports fan views.
6. Another way to find like-minded fans, or to keep track of a particular sports subject, is to follow and participate in a group that interests you. You can even start and stop group chatter notifications to your phone by texting #start
I hope that sounded easy, because it is. I also hope is sounded useful, because it is.
And as I was typing this I just got a huge bit of news (Thanks Kev). 10,000Takes.com, a Minnesota Sports Blog I highly respect, just mentioned us in their daily "Morning Hangover" entry. Maybe it was the radio appearance. Maybe it's because I added them to the blogroll (at right). Whatever it was, thanks guys.
And thanks again to Henry for having us on. This is getting good. Go Twins.
Saturday, July 14, 2007
After and Before
It's been a few days since the Home Run Derby and I'm haunted by my missed opportunity.
After watching the broadcast on my DVR, I noticed that there were in fact several random shots of the boats in McCovey Cove, some from rather close up, but they were impossible to predict.
Next time I'll have a hands free earpiece (preferably Bluetooth) connecting me to an accomplice watching TV and providing cues. That way, when Kenny Mayne chickens out and fails to rub elbows with the fans, I can still be ready for the cutaways, i.e., the "this is where Kenny wishes he was but he's too afraid to face his public for fear that they'll tell him how tired his shtick is" shots.
But I keep thinking, if that blast by Morneau would have cleared the media platform and landed near us, not only would our outstretched FanChatter.com banner have appeared live on ESPN, but the highlight would have been re-aired on every local sportscast across the country (not to mention Morneau's native Canada) as the only splash landing mustered by a disappointing field. Imagine the number of brand impressions just one water bomb would have produced. Okay, that's the last time I'll mention it.
In happier news...
The Derby and my paddling inspired our heaviest day of chatter traffic yet. Reading along from the kayak via my mobile alerts, it was gratifying to see fans who had never met in person congregating around a single event and sharing their views on everything from how annoying Chris Berman has become to how incredible Vlad's 503 ft. shot off the big glove was. Not that this is unusual on existing chat boards, but it was big for us and I was participating from McCovey Cove via SMS and other fans were trying to give me tips on getting on TV, and THAT is new and cool and only available at FanChatter.com.
Elsewhere on the network, users created more new groups, but the most activity continues to go on in the Go Twins group where fans of the team chatter together before, during, and after their games.
And TOMORROW, I get my first chance to promote the site to a radio audience. Henry Lake of KFAN had us on back in the day to promote THE SHOW TO BE NAMED LATER... and now he's nice enough to bring me back to discuss...
- What's happened since THE SHOW... went off the air.
- How FanChatter.com continues my efforts in support of the creative and connective potential of sports fans.
- Mobile and how it will revolutionize sports chat as we know it.
- My trips to McCovey Cove and the NBA Draft, as well as trading seats with Wolves first round pick Corey Brewer, all as demonstrations of ideal/once-in-a-million mobile chatter opportunities.
- And how we've only just scratched the surface of the network's potential...
My dad, a veteran of PR and promotional interviews, reminds me to (1) map out my talking points, and (2) hit them no matter what the questions are. We'll see how I do.
I'm hoping for a big boost in traffic. I'm also excited to unveil our new homepage (soon) and new features (as soon as we fine tune where we are).
And before I forget, HUGE thanks to a good friend and talented filmmaker Kevin Myers for pimping my Brewer story and FanChatter to all his boys and even a rival message board. For a good time and a lot of laughs, check out his rec league hoops mockumentary series Intramural Glory (and see if you can pick me out in the pilot episode).
After the launch, before the boom, can't wait for tomorrow.
After watching the broadcast on my DVR, I noticed that there were in fact several random shots of the boats in McCovey Cove, some from rather close up, but they were impossible to predict.
Next time I'll have a hands free earpiece (preferably Bluetooth) connecting me to an accomplice watching TV and providing cues. That way, when Kenny Mayne chickens out and fails to rub elbows with the fans, I can still be ready for the cutaways, i.e., the "this is where Kenny wishes he was but he's too afraid to face his public for fear that they'll tell him how tired his shtick is" shots.
But I keep thinking, if that blast by Morneau would have cleared the media platform and landed near us, not only would our outstretched FanChatter.com banner have appeared live on ESPN, but the highlight would have been re-aired on every local sportscast across the country (not to mention Morneau's native Canada) as the only splash landing mustered by a disappointing field. Imagine the number of brand impressions just one water bomb would have produced. Okay, that's the last time I'll mention it.
In happier news...
The Derby and my paddling inspired our heaviest day of chatter traffic yet. Reading along from the kayak via my mobile alerts, it was gratifying to see fans who had never met in person congregating around a single event and sharing their views on everything from how annoying Chris Berman has become to how incredible Vlad's 503 ft. shot off the big glove was. Not that this is unusual on existing chat boards, but it was big for us and I was participating from McCovey Cove via SMS and other fans were trying to give me tips on getting on TV, and THAT is new and cool and only available at FanChatter.com.
Elsewhere on the network, users created more new groups, but the most activity continues to go on in the Go Twins group where fans of the team chatter together before, during, and after their games.
And TOMORROW, I get my first chance to promote the site to a radio audience. Henry Lake of KFAN had us on back in the day to promote THE SHOW TO BE NAMED LATER... and now he's nice enough to bring me back to discuss...
- What's happened since THE SHOW... went off the air.
- How FanChatter.com continues my efforts in support of the creative and connective potential of sports fans.
- Mobile and how it will revolutionize sports chat as we know it.
- My trips to McCovey Cove and the NBA Draft, as well as trading seats with Wolves first round pick Corey Brewer, all as demonstrations of ideal/once-in-a-million mobile chatter opportunities.
- And how we've only just scratched the surface of the network's potential...
My dad, a veteran of PR and promotional interviews, reminds me to (1) map out my talking points, and (2) hit them no matter what the questions are. We'll see how I do.
I'm hoping for a big boost in traffic. I'm also excited to unveil our new homepage (soon) and new features (as soon as we fine tune where we are).
And before I forget, HUGE thanks to a good friend and talented filmmaker Kevin Myers for pimping my Brewer story and FanChatter to all his boys and even a rival message board. For a good time and a lot of laughs, check out his rec league hoops mockumentary series Intramural Glory (and see if you can pick me out in the pilot episode).
After the launch, before the boom, can't wait for tomorrow.
Tuesday, July 10, 2007
Getting Gone
What’s that they say about the best-laid plans?
Yesterday, as planned, my buddy Damon and I rented a kayak and paddled into San Francisco’s McCovey Cove to join the flotilla of fans assembled for Major League Baseball’s Home Run Derby.
Our mission: to clearly display the FanChatter.com logo banner from our boat every time ESPN’s cameras followed a home run ball out of AT&T Park and into the bay below.
With a little luck, viewers of what ESPN considers its highest-rated broadcast event each summer would see our logo multiple times, generating literally millions of valuable impressions.
Well, we had no luck, but I never had more fun being that unlucky in my life.
We had wondered if our plan would upset some of the paying sponsors of the event (Chevy and MasterCard both scattered giant inflatable baseballs with their logos throughout the Cove). We thought ESPN might try to avoid showing our sign (although the genius of the scheme was that they had to follow any ball out of the park no matter where it landed, kinda like the John 3:16 guy positioning himself behind the goalposts at football games). We imagined being arrested by the Coast Guard for smuggling in illegal advertising.
But despite concealing our rolled-up banner in a foldable chair bag (who would bring a chair along on a kayak trip?) and, when we explained that we had a sign in there, receiving a warning from Ted at City Kayak that we’d be kicked out if we “displayed any commercial logos or anything that would make ESPN upset”, we were allowed to shove off in our blue kayak packed tightly with food, gear, and ambition.
Note: We didn't end up taking the orange kayak pictured because it was determined that we needed a deeper boat to house our stuff (you can see the blue boat we eventually took at left). Also, steering a single-person kayak is MUCH easier than steering a two-seater, just so you know.
Zigzagging closer to the Coast Guard checkpoint I couldn’t help but notice the giant machine gun bolted to its bow and I wondered if our sign would make a suitable target.
The inspecting officer glanced at our cargo and opened our cooler bag, remarking “Hmm, bunch of snacks and stuff.” Looking at the long bag at my feet he said, “Got a chair in there. Okay.” (Again, why would anyone pack a chair on a kayak trip? That cracked us up). And that was it. No guns fired. No prisoners taken. We were on our way.
On our way in, I stopped “steering” long enough to grab this shot of the ballpark.
Pac Bell, er, SBC, er, AT&T Park is up there with Wrigley Field as my co-favorite of all the parks I’ve been to (I attended a Giants-A’s spring exhibition game there in 2001, the year Barry went on to hit 73), mainly because of the great city it calls home and the romantic allure of a long enough home run to right landing in the ocean. THE OCEAN!
Speaking of the ocean, we were on it all day, from the time we floated in amongst the early birds around 1:30pm until we zigzagged away after Vlad Guerrero hit his third and decisive final round home run (to left, all to left) a little past 8:00pm to take the title.
Worth noting…
-When we first arrived, fans standing along the railing behind the park were throwing tennis balls, allowing the boaters to practice (A) catching with their fishing nets, or (B) ducking to get out of the way, whichever floated your, um, kayak. From the water you could try to throw the ball back all the way up to the bleachers level above (my throw landed just short), but before long the Wave Runner Cop killed the game of group catch, I guess because too many fans passing by on foot were getting hit. Thankfully, that didn’t stop the MLB promo people from tossing hundreds of fun-size Baby Ruth bars our way, and taking one off the water I soon remembered how good the occasional Baby Ruth bar tastes, especially seasoned lightly with the saltwater on my fingertips.
-We met a lot of great people, from Hawaii Rob on his surfboard (with his PBR sign) to the two dudes in the huge green party tube (that let us buy some of their beer and hang on against the tide) to the bearded Navy vet guy, the girls from San Diego, Batman and Superman, and everyone else. It was simply one of those great parties you’ll always remember.
-The only home run balls that made it out of the park and in the water were hit during the All Star batting practice sessions from 2:30-4:30pm, although there was no live TV coverage at that time so we chose to wait on our sign until the Derby (per the warning from Ted the Kayak guy, if we were going to get kicked out, we wanted to get kicked out after being seen on live TV). Overall I’ll bet about a dozen balls made it out, with the bats of Junior Griffey, Big Papi, and Bonds being the most notable launch points.
-The guy in the boat immediately to our left – and I mean we were rubbing elbows – had a ball lodge right next to his left hip when he wasn’t looking. Normally the fans on the top rail would point and yell when a ball was on its way out, but this ball came after a foul that nearly found water, so no one was watching. I happened to see it as it cleared the wall and once I realized what was happening it was in my neighbor’s boat. It didn’t hit him, and it didn’t even bounce. It couldn’t have landed in a more perfect place. That’s as close as I got to getting a ball all day.
-Both Damon and I were chattering from the boat (demonstrating FanChatter’s unique mobile sports fan chat features) but we soon realized the importance of keeping our heads up and our cargo secure. Not long before the aforementioned ball nearly landed in my boat, a kayak was capsized by the melee sparked by another splash landing. Not wanting to drown my phone, my camera, or especially my sign, when I chattered I chattered quickly.
-In case you’re wondering, yes, I did have to pee, and no, there were no floating restrooms. Aquafina water bottles have a larger mouth than most. Enough said.
-Once the Derby started we readied our banner for action. It suddenly became much harder to stay in one place, and breaking away from the pack meant drifting with the tide into (and under) the stadium. The Wave Runner Cops were literally pushing the flotilla back away from the building, but that only caused more movement. Holding what you felt was a good spot at a good angle was difficult-to-impossible as no one was anchored and everyone was jockeying for position. I would not be chattering or taking photos during the Derby itself for it became all I could do to stay in place and raise our sign.
-When the sign was up, it was glorious. The plan of sewing two banners together back to back leaving the bottom edge open for ends of paddles to be inserted into each corner worked to perfection. When raised and pulled tight the 8 foot long banner must have been about 7 or 8 feet in the air (the length of the paddles). It actually acted like a sail at times, moving not just us but all the boats around us, too. But moving wasn’t a good thing. We knew where the ESPN cameras were positioned (the main one sitting high above on a platform beyond the foul pole in right) so we fought to keep our sign at a good angle, but doing so meant taking the sign down and regaining our position. Up and down, over and over, lessening our chances of being seen on TV.
-Regardless of positioning, however, we made sure to fly the sign when the three lefties were up. But Morneau, Howard, and Fielder all failed to advance beyond the first round, and NONE OF THEM GOT ANY BALLS FAIR AND WET (though I saw in the highlights that Morneau came the closest). So with only righties left in the competition the boats started to clear out early, leaving us even more prone to drifting away. I called my dad to ask his advice (he was watching on our behalf to coach us on positioning for TV) and he said there were occasional cutaways to the Cove in- and out of commercial breaks so there was still a chance of being seen. Inbetween paddle strokes I tried to read the latest Chatter on the site to see if anyone else had advice for where we might be spotted. We learned that the floating putting green was being featured only after they began to take it down. But we stuck it out, flying the sign as high and as often as we could and praying for opposite field power.
Alas, no Home Run Derby balls were destined for the sea that day. The papers called it a disappointment. I agree.
Our day ended as it began, this time waving goodbye to the Coast Guard officer and his machine gun. As it turned out, no one cared that we were displaying our FanChatter sign. Some floaters-by tried to rip Corporate America for planting brand names in the water until I explained that I was the small businessman spending his own sweat equity to promote my own passion project, and for that I got props. But the thought of kicking us out never seemed cross anyone’s mind.
Additional Props…
-Slantwise, for jamming to fine tune the site in time for a long day of failsafe Chatter. Great work guys. Now on to more feature improvements, changes, and additions….
-Nobl (the girl who helped pick me up from the airport) and Meaghan (the girl who rescued us shivering on the side of the Embarcadero after we found land again). Both of you were much nicer to look at across a dinner table than…
-Damon, without whom, this trip wouldn’t have happened. Thanks for letting me stay at your place, for rides to- and from the airport, and for hoisting that sign when you would have rather talked to girls. We argued about navigation and whether a sign can be seen when there are no TV cameras are around to see it, but in the end we had a time worthy of hanging on your wall of memories. I hate UCLA, but I’m reminded of Coach John Wooden saying “make each day your masterpiece.” That’s what we did (even though Bonds vs. Griffey in the Derby Final would have made the day a whole lot more interesting).
To read how we chattered about the day as it was happening, visit our FanChatter pages here and here.
---
On the ride to the airport this morning Damon reminded me that marketing is repetition. A lot of people saw our sign (in person) yesterday, and while few if any may have gone home and typed “FanChatter.com” into their browsers right away, most will likely remember the crazy guys in the boat when they see our name again. Maybe then they’ll pay us a visit. The same thing goes for the NBA fans I met in New York at the draft.
My job now is to make sure they do see us again… and again… and again.
SPECIAL REQUEST: We’ve already seen ourselves in a bunch of McCovey Cove photos from the Derby posted at Flickr today (here, here, here, and here), and to see all of my photos visit the Home Run Derby Photo Set on our FanChatter Flickr Page, but if anyone reading this happened to take a picture with our sign in it, please let me know by entering a reply below. You can understand why I didn’t get any of my own, and I’d really love to show everyone what it looked like from afar… myself included.
Yesterday, as planned, my buddy Damon and I rented a kayak and paddled into San Francisco’s McCovey Cove to join the flotilla of fans assembled for Major League Baseball’s Home Run Derby.
Our mission: to clearly display the FanChatter.com logo banner from our boat every time ESPN’s cameras followed a home run ball out of AT&T Park and into the bay below.
With a little luck, viewers of what ESPN considers its highest-rated broadcast event each summer would see our logo multiple times, generating literally millions of valuable impressions.
Well, we had no luck, but I never had more fun being that unlucky in my life.
We had wondered if our plan would upset some of the paying sponsors of the event (Chevy and MasterCard both scattered giant inflatable baseballs with their logos throughout the Cove). We thought ESPN might try to avoid showing our sign (although the genius of the scheme was that they had to follow any ball out of the park no matter where it landed, kinda like the John 3:16 guy positioning himself behind the goalposts at football games). We imagined being arrested by the Coast Guard for smuggling in illegal advertising.
But despite concealing our rolled-up banner in a foldable chair bag (who would bring a chair along on a kayak trip?) and, when we explained that we had a sign in there, receiving a warning from Ted at City Kayak that we’d be kicked out if we “displayed any commercial logos or anything that would make ESPN upset”, we were allowed to shove off in our blue kayak packed tightly with food, gear, and ambition.
Note: We didn't end up taking the orange kayak pictured because it was determined that we needed a deeper boat to house our stuff (you can see the blue boat we eventually took at left). Also, steering a single-person kayak is MUCH easier than steering a two-seater, just so you know.
Zigzagging closer to the Coast Guard checkpoint I couldn’t help but notice the giant machine gun bolted to its bow and I wondered if our sign would make a suitable target.
The inspecting officer glanced at our cargo and opened our cooler bag, remarking “Hmm, bunch of snacks and stuff.” Looking at the long bag at my feet he said, “Got a chair in there. Okay.” (Again, why would anyone pack a chair on a kayak trip? That cracked us up). And that was it. No guns fired. No prisoners taken. We were on our way.
On our way in, I stopped “steering” long enough to grab this shot of the ballpark.
Pac Bell, er, SBC, er, AT&T Park is up there with Wrigley Field as my co-favorite of all the parks I’ve been to (I attended a Giants-A’s spring exhibition game there in 2001, the year Barry went on to hit 73), mainly because of the great city it calls home and the romantic allure of a long enough home run to right landing in the ocean. THE OCEAN!
Speaking of the ocean, we were on it all day, from the time we floated in amongst the early birds around 1:30pm until we zigzagged away after Vlad Guerrero hit his third and decisive final round home run (to left, all to left) a little past 8:00pm to take the title.
Worth noting…
-When we first arrived, fans standing along the railing behind the park were throwing tennis balls, allowing the boaters to practice (A) catching with their fishing nets, or (B) ducking to get out of the way, whichever floated your, um, kayak. From the water you could try to throw the ball back all the way up to the bleachers level above (my throw landed just short), but before long the Wave Runner Cop killed the game of group catch, I guess because too many fans passing by on foot were getting hit. Thankfully, that didn’t stop the MLB promo people from tossing hundreds of fun-size Baby Ruth bars our way, and taking one off the water I soon remembered how good the occasional Baby Ruth bar tastes, especially seasoned lightly with the saltwater on my fingertips.
-We met a lot of great people, from Hawaii Rob on his surfboard (with his PBR sign) to the two dudes in the huge green party tube (that let us buy some of their beer and hang on against the tide) to the bearded Navy vet guy, the girls from San Diego, Batman and Superman, and everyone else. It was simply one of those great parties you’ll always remember.
-The only home run balls that made it out of the park and in the water were hit during the All Star batting practice sessions from 2:30-4:30pm, although there was no live TV coverage at that time so we chose to wait on our sign until the Derby (per the warning from Ted the Kayak guy, if we were going to get kicked out, we wanted to get kicked out after being seen on live TV). Overall I’ll bet about a dozen balls made it out, with the bats of Junior Griffey, Big Papi, and Bonds being the most notable launch points.
-The guy in the boat immediately to our left – and I mean we were rubbing elbows – had a ball lodge right next to his left hip when he wasn’t looking. Normally the fans on the top rail would point and yell when a ball was on its way out, but this ball came after a foul that nearly found water, so no one was watching. I happened to see it as it cleared the wall and once I realized what was happening it was in my neighbor’s boat. It didn’t hit him, and it didn’t even bounce. It couldn’t have landed in a more perfect place. That’s as close as I got to getting a ball all day.
-Both Damon and I were chattering from the boat (demonstrating FanChatter’s unique mobile sports fan chat features) but we soon realized the importance of keeping our heads up and our cargo secure. Not long before the aforementioned ball nearly landed in my boat, a kayak was capsized by the melee sparked by another splash landing. Not wanting to drown my phone, my camera, or especially my sign, when I chattered I chattered quickly.
-In case you’re wondering, yes, I did have to pee, and no, there were no floating restrooms. Aquafina water bottles have a larger mouth than most. Enough said.
-Once the Derby started we readied our banner for action. It suddenly became much harder to stay in one place, and breaking away from the pack meant drifting with the tide into (and under) the stadium. The Wave Runner Cops were literally pushing the flotilla back away from the building, but that only caused more movement. Holding what you felt was a good spot at a good angle was difficult-to-impossible as no one was anchored and everyone was jockeying for position. I would not be chattering or taking photos during the Derby itself for it became all I could do to stay in place and raise our sign.
-When the sign was up, it was glorious. The plan of sewing two banners together back to back leaving the bottom edge open for ends of paddles to be inserted into each corner worked to perfection. When raised and pulled tight the 8 foot long banner must have been about 7 or 8 feet in the air (the length of the paddles). It actually acted like a sail at times, moving not just us but all the boats around us, too. But moving wasn’t a good thing. We knew where the ESPN cameras were positioned (the main one sitting high above on a platform beyond the foul pole in right) so we fought to keep our sign at a good angle, but doing so meant taking the sign down and regaining our position. Up and down, over and over, lessening our chances of being seen on TV.
-Regardless of positioning, however, we made sure to fly the sign when the three lefties were up. But Morneau, Howard, and Fielder all failed to advance beyond the first round, and NONE OF THEM GOT ANY BALLS FAIR AND WET (though I saw in the highlights that Morneau came the closest). So with only righties left in the competition the boats started to clear out early, leaving us even more prone to drifting away. I called my dad to ask his advice (he was watching on our behalf to coach us on positioning for TV) and he said there were occasional cutaways to the Cove in- and out of commercial breaks so there was still a chance of being seen. Inbetween paddle strokes I tried to read the latest Chatter on the site to see if anyone else had advice for where we might be spotted. We learned that the floating putting green was being featured only after they began to take it down. But we stuck it out, flying the sign as high and as often as we could and praying for opposite field power.
Alas, no Home Run Derby balls were destined for the sea that day. The papers called it a disappointment. I agree.
Our day ended as it began, this time waving goodbye to the Coast Guard officer and his machine gun. As it turned out, no one cared that we were displaying our FanChatter sign. Some floaters-by tried to rip Corporate America for planting brand names in the water until I explained that I was the small businessman spending his own sweat equity to promote my own passion project, and for that I got props. But the thought of kicking us out never seemed cross anyone’s mind.
Additional Props…
-Slantwise, for jamming to fine tune the site in time for a long day of failsafe Chatter. Great work guys. Now on to more feature improvements, changes, and additions….
-Nobl (the girl who helped pick me up from the airport) and Meaghan (the girl who rescued us shivering on the side of the Embarcadero after we found land again). Both of you were much nicer to look at across a dinner table than…
-Damon, without whom, this trip wouldn’t have happened. Thanks for letting me stay at your place, for rides to- and from the airport, and for hoisting that sign when you would have rather talked to girls. We argued about navigation and whether a sign can be seen when there are no TV cameras are around to see it, but in the end we had a time worthy of hanging on your wall of memories. I hate UCLA, but I’m reminded of Coach John Wooden saying “make each day your masterpiece.” That’s what we did (even though Bonds vs. Griffey in the Derby Final would have made the day a whole lot more interesting).
To read how we chattered about the day as it was happening, visit our FanChatter pages here and here.
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On the ride to the airport this morning Damon reminded me that marketing is repetition. A lot of people saw our sign (in person) yesterday, and while few if any may have gone home and typed “FanChatter.com” into their browsers right away, most will likely remember the crazy guys in the boat when they see our name again. Maybe then they’ll pay us a visit. The same thing goes for the NBA fans I met in New York at the draft.
My job now is to make sure they do see us again… and again… and again.
SPECIAL REQUEST: We’ve already seen ourselves in a bunch of McCovey Cove photos from the Derby posted at Flickr today (here, here, here, and here), and to see all of my photos visit the Home Run Derby Photo Set on our FanChatter Flickr Page, but if anyone reading this happened to take a picture with our sign in it, please let me know by entering a reply below. You can understand why I didn’t get any of my own, and I’d really love to show everyone what it looked like from afar… myself included.
Monday, July 9, 2007
Bonds and McEnroe
Quick thought from watching yesterday's Men's Wimbledon final, called brilliantly on NBC as always by former champion John McEnroe...
Mac commented how Nadal hit a shot that would have been impossible with the wood rackets they used back in the day. No question about it. Those sticks couldn't handle that torque.
As I packed for San Francisco, I thought of Barry Bonds (allegedly) juicing in the 90s and wondered if that wasn't just like Mac switching from wood to graphite in the 80s.
Technology had improved, both practices were well within the rules (back then, in the case of baseball), and everyone was doing it to keep up with the competition.
Of course, one was visible and the other was not. At least Jason "Sorry" Giambi (mostly) came out and called it like he saw it.
We're all waiting for Selig to come clean, too.
---
Meanwhile, I'm in full morning prep mode for the big McCovey Cove marketing stunt today. Wish me luck.
Unofficial FanChatter member count as of this morning (before our sign is seen by the world tonight on ESPN): 41
Sunday, July 8, 2007
Pitching from McCovey Cove
I answered my phone this morning and the voice on the other end said, simply and directly:
“Tom says you can’t advertise your site in McCovey Cove without permission from the National Baseball League or whatever!”
It was my mom, and Tom is my cousin’s husband. They’re probably right, but I’m gonna try it anyway. As I explained to my mom, “It’s called ‘Guerrilla Marketing'.”
The following is how I ended up typing this on a flight from Minneapolis to San Francisco carrying a 96’ x 30’ vinyl banner that reads, simply and directly… well, here’s what it looks like…
Several weeks back during the early stages of FanChatter.com I was sitting in a planning meeting at Slantwise Design when one of the guys said:
“Where’s the All Star Game this year? San Francisco? We should rent a boat and wave a FanChatter banner in McCovey Cove during the Home Run Derby or something.”
I can’t remember who had the idea, all I know is that I instantly loved it. You see, the Slantwise guys are building the FanChatter site and my job is to promote it, and what better way to promote a mobile sports fan chat network than to get some “free” name exposure on ESPN... all while demonstrating the site's functionality by chattering live about one of the great sports fan experiences?
More than any other time in the seven-year history of that oft-renamed Ballpark by the Bay, the Home Run Derby is sure to induce a flurry of home run balls (and TV cameras following those home run balls) destined for drink beyond the right field bleachers.
A big enough sign on a boat would surely be visible each time a bomb landed among the ball chasers, right? All I needed was a sign, a boat, and a friend who could paddle.
For the sign, I went on the recommendation of my trusted graphic designer (and almost brother-in-law) Cody and hired the pros at FastSigns in downtown Minneapolis. Amy helped me troubleshoot the construction of it and we ended up with a two-sided, double-layered vinyl banner sewn together on the top and sides with the lower end open. Cost: $460
We sized it according to the length of a kayak paddle (230 cm, according to my sources) so that a paddle could be placed inside the sign’s pocket-like structure to act as a supporting spine. The other idea is to insert the flat end of a paddle into each corner of the sign, enabling the elevation of the sign as high as the length of the paddles (again, 230 cm). For this to work, I needed a two-man boat with two paddles…
A little online research easily led me to City Kayak, the only kayak rental place located within a 10-minute paddle from McCovey Cove. Dot-com bubble alum Ken Choi saw an opportunity when the ballpark opened (the only other rental places were miles away in Palo Alto and Berkeley) and as you can probably imagine, he’s completely booked out for Monday. Cost for a day’s rental of a two-man kayak plus two paddles plus two wetsuits/pairs of booties: approx $150-170
Note: Not wanting to be away from my wife and baby daughter more than two nights and knowing the lesser likelihood of one or more bombs into the Bay during Tuesday’s All Star Game, I decided to target the Home Run Derby only for my stunt. Had I gone for both, I probably would have bought an inflatable boat rather than rented for two nights, but there’s no guarantee I would have been let back into the Bay with my sign on the second night, either.
Lastly, I needed a partner in... um, crime (or was it marketing). My fraternity brother Damon, resident of San Francisco, not only answered the call (despite his fear of hypothermia), but he’s letting me stay at his place as well. Nice Bro. Cost: Priceless (plus beer and probably a sushi dinner)
Assorted other supplies like a dry bag ($17) for my digital camera (borrowed) and clear duct tape (around $4) for whatever and some beef jerky and energy bars for sustenance (about $25) rounded out my Minnesota prep. I’ll buy waters when I get there and I’m going to borrow Damon’s box cutter (couldn’t pack that in the carry-on).
A shout out goes to my dad for wisely suggesting that I bring our old collapsible/bendable tent poles, veterans of many a trip to the Boundary Waters (where I honed my paddling expertise… in canoes), as additional supports for the sign if needed. Thanks Dad.
And props to my mom for gifting me the miles I needed to secure my free flight. I hope I'll make her proud even though I didn't get permission from the league office.
The laptop battery is failing, and that’s the plan. We may get shut down. We may not appear on camera. We may very well freeze. But no matter what happens, whether we make it onto ESPN or not, and we will make it onto ESPN…
Like I told Damon, come what may, save the ($460) sign.
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