Flip the Script

I often observe various things in the arenas of life, sports, social media branding + marketing. This is my shtick.

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"Look, we've got oysters rockefeller! Beef Wellington! Napoleons! We leave this lunch alone, it'll take over Europe."

Roger Sterling

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Some words are so true... (Taken with instagram)

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This is my friend from Scotland. His name is @The_Macallan & he goes with Everything. (Taken with instagram)

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Strange beerfellows. (Taken with instagram)

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Just to be clear, this is Rodin's Thinker, not #tebowing version 1.0. Education is good. (Taken with instagram)

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While the influx of red robes makes me feel like I'm at a Stonecutter's meeting, my city never let's me down (Taken with instagram)

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The Global Influencer Returns at Social Media Week

This one is a bit long. However, as with many things, the best part is at the end:

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Social Media Week 2012: The I Have A Tweet Speech

Please allow me to make you realize--my rant is NOT in any way against Social Media Week. As a matter of fact, it is my belief that I was stating points of the weeklong conference with which the good folks at Crowdcentric would agree. I soon found out that many of the people that attended agreed too.

Today is an interesting day for me at #SMWNYC & may I preface the following series of comments by noting the opinions expressed are my own

— The Gary J. Nix® (@mr_mcfly) February 14, 2012

Post-gamification, my Tuesday #SMWNYC session has appeared to be a lot agenda pushing and selling.

— The Gary J. Nix® (@mr_mcfly) February 14, 2012

There are more panels, but it seems to me, while I did get some interesting metrics, a couple of panels have missed the pt. of #SMWNYC

— The Gary J. Nix® (@mr_mcfly) February 14, 2012

My understanding of #SMWNYC is to share info, metrics and ideas & THEN tie in the success stories if applicable

— The Gary J. Nix® (@mr_mcfly) February 14, 2012

In the spirit of #disruption, I do feel the need to express these thoughts to the #SMWNYC community as we have a very important duty

— The Gary J. Nix® (@mr_mcfly) February 14, 2012

It is our duty to help explain as many facets of #soMe possible and how & why they are important to business & society today. #SMWNYC

— The Gary J. Nix® (@mr_mcfly) February 14, 2012

#SMWNYC and I'm sure #SMW12 for that matter is comprised of early adopters, experts, those looking to learn & everything in between

— The Gary J. Nix® (@mr_mcfly) February 14, 2012

While sales is part of the business life-cycle, one wherein #soMe is involved, #SMWNYC is not a sales expo in its dissemination of info

— The Gary J. Nix® (@mr_mcfly) February 14, 2012

I think I'm done right now with my #SMWNYC Tuesday soliloquy (for now), you may now all go forth and socialize. Thank you. *drops the mic*

— The Gary J. Nix® (@mr_mcfly) February 14, 2012

As I mentioned earlier, the tweets listed above were spurred by significant portions of two   ONLY TWO   panel discussions. Being that there were hundreds of Social Media Week driven discussions, I'd say their percentage of good would make anybody proud.

I can't wait for next year!

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The Most Stunning Social Media Metric I've Ever Seen

The information was presented by Beverly Jackson in here explanation of how the GRAMMY®s used and rocked their social media campaign.

Every one who attended found this amazing...

When @IAMJHUD hit the stage for the tribute -- generally speaking Twitter traffic stopped. #socialmediamomentofsilence #SMWNYC #smwhearst

— The Gary J. Nix® (@mr_mcfly) February 15, 2012

What do you think?

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Twitter must do better...

We've all seen this before--the infamous failwhale. It often shows up at inopportune times. In recent history, you see it less and less, which is good. The only problem is now, as recent as this past weekend, we've been seeing this more often which is MUCH worse.

When something in pop culture takes place a considerate percentage of the masses flock to Twitter to comment, voice opinions and perform various forms of verbal shenanigry. However, this past Sunday, during NFL Championship Week, many people, including your favorite neighborhood firestarter here, had quite a few issues when Twitter was broken.

For an hour, many tweeps had issues tweeting and keep in mind, this was ONLY Championship week. The big game, Super Bowl XLVI, can expect a decided increase in blue bird traffic. People are sure to be tweeting about the game, hashtagging #SBXLVI (NFL, feel free to use this as the Official Hashtag of the Super Bowl and don't forget to display it on the screen for all the viewers to see), @-ing players and more so advertisers in order to talk about their commercials resulting in a much larger number of people interacting with the blue bird. Combine this with the host city of Indianapolis looking to communicate and help attendees communicate better through popular social media channels and the rate by which Twitter ran last Sunday will not be sufficient.

I hope the good folks at Twitter have thought about this, but I would gladly like to reinforce the idea that this weekend that contains the NFL Pro Bowl, Screen Actors' Guild Awards and WWE Royal Rumble, all events that major but separate segments of society will be paying attention to around the same time, would be a perfect time to test their parameters of capacity. The cleaner they get through this weekend, the more they'll be prepared for Super Bowl Sunday where a broken Twitter can be a break from which it would be very hard to recover.

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What Your Internet Could Look Like

Please Take Action -- for your OWN sake.

STOP SOPA & PIPA

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Restaurant Week: My Latest Rant

So, my latest (sort of) rant has been completed about restaurants participating in New York Restaurant Week [#NYRW] without a decent social media presence.

The genesis of the semi-rant is the fact that there's a bunch of us from the online world getting together to document our #NYRW experiences and we'd like our documentation to be conversational in nature. Since it's hard to converse (NOT CONVERSATE) with air nor a brick wall, I decided to talk about it on Twitter. Additionally, since it's not always easy to follow a veritable soliloquy in sub-140 character segments I am enlisting, for the first time, the help of Twitter's embedded tweets to make more sense of my general ramblings thoughts.

Ok y'all... The time has come for a semi-rant... #notaboutRIMthough

— The Gary J. Nix® (@mr_mcfly) January 13, 2012

So, I'm trying to get this #GlobalInfluencer dinner together for #NYRW with the following pre rewa: #semirant

— The Gary J. Nix® (@mr_mcfly) January 13, 2012

By the way, “rewa” is supposed to be “reqs”. Damn you touchscreen auto-correct. Anyhoo, let's resume...

Pre req #1 everyone can make it. Almost done *crossing fingers* #semirant

— The Gary J. Nix® (@mr_mcfly) January 13, 2012

Pre req #2 the restaurant must be in midtown or further downtown... Easy enough thanks to @nycgo #semirant

— The Gary J. Nix® (@mr_mcfly) January 13, 2012

Pre req #3 the restaurant must have a full #soMe presence... #monkeywrench #semirant

— The Gary J. Nix® (@mr_mcfly) January 13, 2012

Why are there restaurants out there that are NOT getting they're total proverbial social media on? #semirant

— The Gary J. Nix® (@mr_mcfly) January 13, 2012

There are approximately 64857363849 restaurants in the area I'm looking that are participating in #NYRW #semirant

— The Gary J. Nix® (@mr_mcfly) January 13, 2012

And how many have I found with an at least decent #soMe presence thus far? 8! Yes, 8. #semirant

— The Gary J. Nix® (@mr_mcfly) January 13, 2012

See, the #GlobalInfluencers are heavy in online marketing and #soMe and we are going to talk about the experience to the millions...

— The Gary J. Nix® (@mr_mcfly) January 13, 2012

...and millions of the #GlobalInfluencers' fans for #NYRW but we can't talk to the restaurant? #semirant

— The Gary J. Nix® (@mr_mcfly) January 13, 2012

On a regular day I can hit up @TaoNY or @BBQNYC for example and have a CONVERSATION about the experience #semirant

— The Gary J. Nix® (@mr_mcfly) January 13, 2012

Why are there still restaurants and other businesses for that matter on their own #brandwagon? #semirant

— The Gary J. Nix® (@mr_mcfly) January 13, 2012

Are they in need of some assistance? Do they not understand the importance? I know people & places that will help #semirant

— The Gary J. Nix® (@mr_mcfly) January 13, 2012

Shouts to the spots doin it well #semirant #LLreference Ok, I think I'm done #fornow

— The Gary J. Nix® (@mr_mcfly) January 13, 2012

Do you have any thoughts on this?

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The New Vintage

So many things in today’s society seem as if they are being rebranded. There are so many “new” ways to refer to concepts that have been around for years and years—mostly in the name of putting a positive spin on that concept. This post will explore a rebrand of a term and I shall proclaim it as such: pawn is the new vintage.

Pawning has, in the past, received a bad rap so to speak. As recent as two years ago, if you asked anyone about pawn shops they would likely make references to seedy neighborhoods, seedier characters and visions of pawn brokers getting over on customers in a manner similar to this.

All references to Gstaad notwithstanding, the aforementioned scene brings forth a pertinent reality: it is possible to find some incredible, vintage pieces at pawn shops. Although this may not be the norm, a pawn broker may be able to show you that proverbial diamond in the rough. Let’s look at a couple of facts…

vin·tage [vin-tij] adjective – representing the high quality of a past time: vintage cars; vintage movies; vintage jewelry.

In many ways, people often look back to “the good ol’ days” when making references to higher levels of quality. Time and detail were certainly paramount in the past and when looking at items of luxury and those that have stood the test of time, they are often carefully crafted, sometimes by hand and thus, more valuable. Add to that, the potential emotional attachment—whether direct or indirect—you have a potential branding bonanza for the industry of pawn.

The influx of “reality television” has brought many aspects of society to light. In doing so, this form of programming has also created many niche markets, one which, if you look at it from a certain angle, pawn can be considered. Shows like Pawn Stars have showed the general public that pawn shops can truly have incredible pieces of art, history and jewelry within the confines of their walls. However, for the most part, what is shown to the public is the pawning or selling side: loaning or selling something of value to the establishment in exchange for cash. It is important to remember that these shops also sell some of that “pawned” merchandise and they do so, more often than not, at a fraction of the item’s worth. Think about how consignment shops became vintage stores and ask yourself, “Self, why can’t this happen with pawn?”

To further reinforce why rebranding for the pawn industry may not only be necessary, but imminent, take notice of Lauren Kaminsky. Known as the Gold Girl, Lauren is making her own impact in the pawn industry as Vice President of EZ Pawn Corp. Her influence is now heavily felt due to her curator duties at the pawn shop at Beauty & Essex, a popular New York City hotspot known for its celebrity clientele, champagne served in the ladies room and, of course, the pawn shop wherein you can purchase amazing items that you never thought you’d find. Ever.

Finally, because “pawn” can sound like such a dirty word to many (and I’m not referring to the obvious audible misconception), perhaps we should rethink how we feel about this four-letter word when concerning items such as these:

or

Screenshot and video clip from Trading Places All rights reserved by Paramount Pictures.

Pawn Stars logo and likenesses are owned by and property of The History Channel and A&E Television Networks, LLC.

Photograph of Lauren Kaminsky courtesy of Avenueinsider.com, A Manhattan Media Production

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2 no 6 no 12 Baker's Dozen! (Taken with picplz.)

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The 21st Century Point of Reference

Photo courtesy of Wikimedia Commons

Granted, due to the introduction, you could have easily thought my reference point would have been one that stopped hunger or cured another one of our world’s ills, but right now it seems much more apropos to analyze a lighter aspect of our society—isn’t that why we’re here?

Let’s face it. The majority of people's introduction to La Société Stella Artois was through some social media channel and much of people's involvement in La Société is through these online social media channels as well. Furthermore, since this organization is social in nature, it makes sense that we use all of the tools available to today’s society in order to get together and share our ideas.

I’m sure that we all remember (it wasn’t that long ago), when in the presence of company and making a reference to something specific, famous or otherwise topical in nature, we would use air quotation marks. The online extension of our social lives on the Internet has created plenty of additions to our points of reference and perhaps the most popular one is the one started on Twitter: the hashtag. Hashtags, such as our own #LaSocieteNY, let people know what you’re referring to in your statement and add a little extra substance to your statement. Nonetheless, the hashtag’s fame quickly grew beyond the site of the big blue bird.

Sharing capabilities through online media quickly extended the hashtag’s reach to the even more popular Facebook and hashtag usage has not stopped there. In numerous conversations, sometimes over a chalice of a certain brewed beverage with roots in Belgium, I’ve noticed people begin eschewing the “air quote” for the hashtag. To illustrate this further, picture a new Austin Powers movie—one in which Dr. Evil instead of making reference to a “laser” with air quotes, he would say, “hashtag laser.” This is an observation that I have detected more and more and one that has further fueled my Bespoke Hashtaggery movement.

Image courtesy of Mississippi State University

Once again, this is something I see as an interesting new facet of our society both within my cozy Stella Artois membership circle and that of our 21st century culture. And, at times, noticing things like this allow a group to further lead the social order, which we all here in our respective & collective Sociétés do in our own way. It would have been interesting to know what Mathieu Van de Velde’s thoughts on this subject were. It also will be interesting to know your thoughts about this observation. This is another social media channel, isn’t it? Let’s discuss.

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What's better than @kanonvodka? @kanonvodka on ice, of course #vodka #branding #BlueHeaven (Taken with picplz.)

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It's my favorite not so clear spirit pleasure and if most of you try it, it's sure to be yours too... #kanonvodka