July 12, 2008
That’s right folks.
Black Warrior Technology has become an official member of the Microsoft Small Business Racing Team.
Which means The Arrowhead of Awesomeness can officially appear on the #00 Toyota Camry driven by Michael McDowell for Michael Waltrip Racing.
Why?
Because there is no type of sport that does more for its sponsors than racing/motorsports. And the motorsport that does more for its sponsors than anyone else?
NASCAR, without question.
Every NASCAR driver receives special media training, and is fully briefed on sponsors. Which totally rocks. Think about other professional sports. How many times have you heard any kind of ball/hockey/soccer/what-have-you player talk about a sponsor before, during, or after the event? Not at all. But NASCAR drivers, owners, and crew members constantly thank their primary sponsors by name whenever the cameras are running.
Why?
Because the teams know that without sponsorship, they have no rides. Without rides, they basically have no team. Which is why having your logo riding around right beside the numbers on a car during a NASCAR race totally rocks.
Not only that, but NASCAR fans are some of the most rabid fans anywhere. They are fiercely loyal to drivers, teams, manufacturers, and sponsors.
Why?
Because everything that goes into the creation of the grand carnival that is NASCAR matters to them. They’re no different in that regard than superfans of any sport anywhere. But the loyalty that fans of other sports have is pretty much limited to teams and players. OK…sure, there are bat, ball, glove and sportswear manufacturers who benefit in other sports. But only because they are directly associated with the activity of that given sport.
NASCAR is different in that they offer nearly any company from nearly any industry the ability to sponsor a team.
Why?
Because NASCAR also knows that sponsors also bring their own fans, typically greenfield type of fans, who have never been to or watched a race before in their life.
And, to be honest…
The attitude of NASCAR appeals to me. NASCAR races are preceded with a prayer, a singing of our national anthem and presentation of our flag, replete with a flyover of some kind of military aircraft normally timed to roughly coincide with the “la-and of the Freeeee!” crescendo.
Not only does the respect for God and country mean something to me, but the fact that NASCAR works hard to be a family-friendly sports matters VERY MUCH to me. It’s important to me that The Arrowhead of Awesomeness won’t be shown next to the Playboy, Penthouse or some other porn empire’s logo. Let alone plastered on the backside of some Vivid Video starlet.
Thanks to Microsoft and its amazingly awesome Small Business Specialist sponsorship program they entered into with MWR, the price point for all this is an astonishingly low price. $4K? That’s chickenfeed for the kind of exposure you are getting.
So the question you should be asking yourself shouldn’t be…
Why?
The question you should ask yourself should be…
Why Not?
And the only question I still have for myself is…
Why Didn’t I Do This Sooner?
|| posted by chris under biz, hardware, media, more cowbell, motorsports, thumbs up || comments (8) ||
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July 9, 2008
The first of my speaking engagements at Worldwide Partner Conference went smashingly well yesterday. That was the Windows Mobile keynote in room 372 BCEF talking about Mobility in Small and Medium Sized Businesses.
The room was full, and I don’t remember anyone leaving during the session at all. Despite the fact that my own Awesome Per Minute ratio was through the roof.
Of course, the reason the keynote went so well was totally thanks to the amazingly kickass job that Laura Johnson and Steve Doe did laying out the case for Mobility in small and medium-businesses.
I’m very grateful to have had the opportunity to share Black Warrior Technology’s approach to Mobility and Windows Mobile in particular.
The second of my speaking engagements at Worldwide Partner Conference happens Thursday, July 10th, which is tomorrow, at 1:30p. It’ll be in room 382 ABC, which is the room across from the Green (Mobility) Lounge.
I’ll be speaking about specific examples of Black Warrior Technology’s approach to Mobility and Windows Mobile that have turned into huge wins for both our customers and our company.
Which, like the hokey-pokey, is REALLY what it’s all about!
|| posted by chris under biz, hardware, mobility, nostalgia, opinion, rx, thumbs up, travel || comments (0) ||
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July 4, 2008
There have been plenty of great female action stars on the big screen over the years…
Marion Ravenwood
Lara Croft
Every character played by Michelle Yeoh
and even…
Dora The Explorer
Pixar just gave us another one…
A long long time ago, in a lifetime far far away (20 years to be exact)…
I was in a session at a writer’s conference where a very well-known author basically told me I was full of it because…
Cartoons cannot, and will not, ever be able to adequately express emotion.
So all I can say now is…
Suck it OSC!
Best of all…
Emotion-expressing animation or not…
I got to see Wall-E with Cute as a Button right beside me.
And that’s always a good time!
|| posted by chris under epiphany, hardware, media, robot, rx, thumbs up, time || comments (0) ||
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June 6, 2008
My next phone…
No kidding, I’m drooling as I type this…
Damn, that is hot. HTC Touch Pro.
|| posted by chris under hardware, mobility, thumbs up || comments (5) ||
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May 28, 2008
Thanks to everyone who was in New Orleans earlier this month, and who took the time to fill out the mobility survey. Some awesome info there.
Erick “Pimp Mastah” Simpson happened to uncover a weird little something today. Prolly having to do with the curious interaction of permissions that allows the SharePoint survey to work with totally anonymous logins.
Erick found that if he submitted the survey without filling something in the comment section, it dumped his responses with nary a squawk.
So if you filled it out the survey, but didn’t put something in each section…yours might have hit The Great Bit Bucket In The Sky.
Feel free to fill it out again, if you’d like:
http://wss.blackwarriortech.com/nola08/Lists/Mobility%20Survey/overview.aspx
Best way to know if it took your response? See if the response count increments by 1 after you submit yours.
And just so ya know…the only reason I ask for an e-mail address?
Well, there are really 2 reasons…
- To say “Hey thanks!”
- To get the mailing info for folks who requested discs.
But if you don’t want either, then feel free to put something bogus for your e-mail address. No one else will ever see it.
You can also sound off about the pirate ROM issue. Which is really an issue with the way official ROM updates are distributed now. Here’s the pirate ROM survey:
http://wss.blackwarriortech.com/nola08/Lists/Pirate%20ROM%20Survey%20and%20Pledge/overview.aspx
Let it all hang out. The responses to the pirate survey have been VERY interesting.
|| posted by chris under biz, hardware, mobility, more cowbell, shoutout, thumbs up || comments (0) ||
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