This blog I thaw today

It's been 159 days since my last post. That's 5 months and 7 days. Embarrassing.

So what did it take for me to post again? An Irish holiday? Longer days? The spring thaw? March Madness?

I like the thaw idea, especially since I can finally see patches of my lawn again, but there are really two main reasons why I'm writing again today...

MOVE OVER FAN CAM

Reason #1: Today FanChatter officially made money, so now every year when I wear green on St. Patrick's Day it will commemorate cash and not shamrocks. Thank you Minnesota Twins!



Yes, the Twins, my favorite team with the best logo in baseball (above), has partnered with FanChatter to offer our Big Screen Mobile Photo Sharing feature at all 81 of their home games this season at the Metrodome.

REWIND to last fall, when I needed a way to promote FanChatter.com and our new mobile photo sharing feature. I figured one of the best ways to reach sports fans was through the Jumbotron at the games and I bet that photos from your phone would look as good up there on the big screen as they did on our site.

My friend at the University of Minnesota sports office thought it was a cool idea, so he let me try it out at some Gopher football games. Fans sent in their photos, we put them on the big screen -- "powered by FanChatter.com", of course -- and I was right. The photos looked awesome. In an instant, the roving video Fan Cam was old school, and the new school was us. The fans had taken the cameras into their own hands. Me Media had hit the stadium circuit and there was no looking back.











The best part was how creative the photos were. The other best part was how quickly we realized the sponsorship potential of my little marketing idea.

FAST FORWARD back to today, where FanChatter Stadium offers an entire suite of in-arena mobile interactivity features led by Big Screen Photo Sharing. Every fan that sends a photo receives a reply message that can be branded with anything from product messaging to coupons to access codes for special offers and the list goes on. If you're a sports-minded advertiser and you're looking for a way to get into mobile marketing, this is it.

So I was busy even though I wasn't writing. Then tonight something else happened to help me break out of my slump...

THANK YOU MATT DICKMAN



Reason #2: Matt Dickman is the Director of Digital Marketing at Fleishman-Hillard in Cleveland and the blogger behind Techno//Marketer. He's also the guy who spoke tonight at the Future of Advertising gathering in downtown Minneapolis, which I attended.

Matt gave a solid presentation on trends in advertising and he showed me a lot of things I hadn't seen, like Hurricane Kohls. He focused on MicroMedia and told of how Twitter was buzzing about the Minneapolis bridge disaster last summer a full hour before any news sites had published a report. Absolutely amazing.

(Speaking of MicroMedia, I told him about FanChatter in hopes that he'll give me an honest review of the site and advice on where we can improve -- and I welcome the same from all of you out there, too.)

But it was his discussion of blogging that reminded me of who I need to be. How can I hope to build a successful web startup without the support of the blogosphere? And how can the blogosphere respect a guy who lets his blog hibernate all winter?!

He also talked about the strong relationships he's built through blogging and Twittering, and after I got home I helped him prove his point.

Watching by beloved Timberwolves finish off the sorry Clippers, I chattered via SMS in the Twolves group at FanChatter about reaching win number "SWEET 16". A short while later I received a mobile chatter alert on my phone. It was JJDacotah, a Wolves fan from North Dakota who I've never met in person, chattering back:

"sweet! didn't realize they played tonight. Off topic, my wife game birth to our second girl yesterday! Another baby wolf fan!"

I was amazed at how happy that made me feel to learn about this other fan's good news. The kind of news that makes you forget about basketball for a little while (and not mind it at all). I chattered back from my phone congratulating him, one Fan/Dad to another.

So I'm back. There will be lots more to tell about the Twins and Big Screen Photo Sharing with the Season Opener just two weeks away (exactly). And I look forward to reading Matt's blog as I commit myself to writing more in mine.

Thank you for reading. I promise the writing will improve as soon as I'm fully thawed.

THIS WEEK IN CHATTER (10/11/07)

(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...

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...

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.

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...

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.

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!