Horsin' Around In Bourbon Country

Graduate Student at University of Louisville, marketing, public relations, writer, social media, horseback rider, avid shopper, and photography lover, 

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HootSuite Certified

So, what’s all the hoot about? Are you looking for a social media monitoring program? Well then look no further, HootSuite is what you want. HootSuite? What’s that you may ask? Well, let me tell you about my experience of becoming a certified professional from HootSuite University.

`This semester in Dr. Karen Freberg’s social media class, I had the opportunity to get certified and become a professional in HootSuite. This program is crazy, if you are a business or industry and not using HootSuite you are missing out on some major benefits. Probably one of the most important features of HootSuite is the fact that it allows you to monitor multiple accounts like Facebook Twitter LinkedIn, schedule posts, and view all of our accounts on one dashboard.

Probably one of the most interesting lessons for myself was the lesson on social media do’s and don’ts . For the majority of the semester we have been talking about social media etiquette and actions that an individuals should do. Well, HootSuite laid it out pretty blatantly with some simple Rules for individuals to follow: be yourself, be transparent, play by the rules, listen frequently, engage, and be respectful.

Interested yet and want to learn more about become certified on how to use this program? Well, do not trend lightly the certification is information overload. I would recommend that anyone who is interested in this program, would not be signing on for a short term training. There are a number of videos that need to be watched with a lot of information. However, all of the information is very informative, but it would be beneficial if they allowed for individuals to practice the lessons being taught.

I would recommend that anyone who is looking to go in the field of social media, they should become certified in HootSuite. It will definitely be a resume booster and a topic of conversation for future employers. 

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Meet Mark Murdock

Although we only physically met on campus for social media this week two days, it has been an exciting week. Today we had the pleasure of meeting the very talented Mark Murdock from Brandy Carroll Hellige. If you are interested in Four Roses Bourbon, McDonalds of Kentuckiana, or Kentucky Kingdom you might want to get to know Mark Murdock and follow him on twitter @ohexcuseme

Mark Murdock was one of the most entertaining and informative speakers that we have had in social media class this semester. Yes, there was a PowerPoint presentation, but this was no ordinary power point presentation. He was engaging with the audience and what do you know? He even made us a Spotify playlist just for our class. Needless to say this was not a boring presentation by any means.

All semester we have talked about platforms like Hootsuite and Tweetdeck that are used to follow interactions. But low and behold today we learned about new one called Sprout Social. This platform allows you to get analytics of those who follow, mention, or like your product. It’s like a whole new level of Hootsuite!  

Words of advice according to Mark Murdock: try to find a job that you wake up and enjoy going to. Well if it is creating content for clients like Four Roses Bourbon, Kentucky Kingdom, or Kentucky One Health I would say I would enjoy that. The take home message of today from the words of wisdom of Mark was "it’s okay to embrace being weird, weirdos don’t care what other people think. Let’s not stop until weird is the new normal.” Well, Mr. Murdock if you are the definition of being weird then I do not want to be normal. 

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Show Season is Fast Approaching

Spring time is here and you know what that means show season for American Saddlebreds is kicking off. I will admit that since I have been in full school mood trying to wrap up my first year as a graduate student, I have been slacking on going to the barn recently. However, last week I made that happen and made the short trip to Versailles to see my babies at Diamond View Farm.

Side note, as many of you know Lexington is very close to Versailles, and being in Lexington on Saturday after a Louisville loss was pure torture. Our assistant trainer is a diehard University of Kentucky fan and he was loving the fact that a U of L fan was in the barn after their win. Let’s just say I was getting hate from all ends.  Oh, and to put the icing on the cake we went out to lunch and it seemed like the whole town was painted blue and spreading hate on Louisville fans.  

Anyways back to the point, spring time marks the beginning of prime time show season for American Saddlebreds.  This year McDaniel Saddlebreds first show will be River Ridge on April 24- 27 in Columbus Ohio.  So, who will be reppin’ the field of McDaniel Saddlebreds at River Ridge you may ask? Well let me present to you, Babble.

Our homebred mare Babble will be showing at River Ridge. She is 7 and a big, flashy mare with a lot of white and will smoothly flat walk and take all her gaits. She has been shown successfully by a junior exhibitor and showed all last season with our trainer Kristen Bagdasian in park pleasure.  She will be making her first 2014 experience in Park Pleasure class at River Ridge.

This is an exciting and busy time of year for Saddlebreds, I encourage anyone who is the least bit interested in horses and learning more about this flashy breed to come out to a show. If you are around Louisville June 3-7, come to Seneca Park and check out the Rock Creek Horse. 

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Guest Lecture with Dennis Yu and Alex Houg

Social media with Dr. Karen Freberg is not your average class. This week we kicked it off learning all about social media analytics. On Monday, via Skype, we had the privilege of welcoming two professionals in analytics @DennisYu and @AlexHoug .

A little background to get us started about these individuals. Dennis Yu is the Chief Architect of Blitzmetrics. He is also an author of InsideFacebook and AllFacebook. If you are the slightest bit curious about Facebook marketing I would recommend picking Dennis’s brain, he probably knows more about the ins and outs of Facebook than the most active Facebook user. If you are interested in anything having to do with Facebook marketing - Dennis is your man.

Which brings us to our second guest lecture of the day, Alex Hough. Alex is the Vice President of Optimization at Blitzmetrics. Alex is not unfamiliar with the internet scene he has been working as an internet marketing since the age of 14. Some of the interests of Alex include Facebook advertising, content marketing, and social analytics. Oh, I almost forgot to mention Alex is the CEO of Blitzmetrics and is 20 years old (CRAZY!)

So as you can from the background of these two individuals Monday was all about analytics. We learned about how Facebook ads can be positioned on your time line or the right side of your feed based on your interests. In other words, yes there are people out there watching you and keeping up with your interests. As stated by Dennis “In the world of social media everything is possible.”

If you have any interest in exploring more about Facebook analytics I would recommend contacting @DennisYu or @AlexHoug . They are currently looking for students who have an interest in this field and want to succeed with Blitzmetrics.

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A Semester in Social Media Class

Here we are approaching the end of this semester, so you know what that means….crunch time. After this semester it is hard to believe that my first year as a graduate student at University of Louisville will be over. I would like to take this time to reflect back on the semester that I have had thus far specifically in social media with Dr. Karen Freberg.

I decided to take social media as one of my electives because the topic has always been something that interested me. At the beginning of the semester we jumped into full coverage mood and found out that we would take over a project for clients around Louisville. I was lucky enough to get paired with Samantha and Kate and be assigned to the Thunder Lounge group. Unlike other projects in the class we were handed over their social media sites and to produce content in real time.  This has been a wonderful experience and a great opportunity to network.

In addition to keeping up with this social media campaign, we keep up with blogs, learn about Google Glass, learn the ins and outs of Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Hootsuite, Vine, and many more. In addition to the plethora of information, you get the ultimate resource Karen Freberg. She will go out of her way to help you and wants you to succeed. I recently received an internship at Churchill Downs and Dr. Freberg offered up her own Google Glass for a behind the scenes look at the training and life at Churchill Downs.  If you are the slightest bit interested in getting social media experience I would recommend this class to anyone at University of Louisville. The lessons that are learned, you will use throughout your career as a communication student or a professional. 

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BlueGrass Rivalry

Guess what day it is…its GAMEDAY! Tonight will put the mad into March Madness. This evening at 9:45 p.m. the Kentucky Wildcats will match up with the Louisville Cardinals at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis, Indiana.

Growing up in West Virginia I got to experience our in state rivalry between West Virginia University and Marshall University. However, moving down to Louisville I have seen and experienced another level of the word rivalry. The bluegrass rivalry between University of Louisville and University of Kentucky is much more heated and extreme than West Virginia. Needless to say it has been interesting to see this state rivalry unfold and now be a part of.  Sunday afternoon after a University of Kentucky’s win it was announced that the biggest rivalry in college sports would meet up at the Sweet 16 to spare off for the battle of the bluegrass. Let the battle begin!

The week leading up to today has been filled with hype and anticipation for who will come out on top. Kentuckians broke out their fan gear and have been preparing for tonight. The ambience on campus was pure excitement, most students were rocking their cardinal red while others brave souls wore Kentucky blue. Not only were the students and residents of Kentucky taking part in the hype leading up to today.

Skyline chili made headlines with their campaign by offering red or blue spaghetti and told their customers to pick side. Also, taking part in the hype of the big rivalry, Churchill Downs iconic Twin Spires were shined bright with red and blue lights. The spirit and anticipation leading up to the main event has been indescribable, I can say that I am glad to be a part of this exciting event. Tonight I will be cheering my cards on.

The lines have been drawn, the battle is less than an hour away. Who will you be cheering on tonight? 

Image Credit 

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Saying Goodbye to a Great Horseman

Saying “goodbye” has always been hard for me, and last weekend I had to say goodbye to a friend, mentor, teacher, inspiration, and a great horseman way too early. 

Lewis Meadows came into my life when I was a young, awkward, preteen. My parents had decided to look at a new show horse for my sister and we ended up at El-Dorado Farms. I remember it was a Saturday afternoon. We walked into the barn and saw this bright, cheerful man holding on to a big, chestnut gelding. He began explaining to my parents that the horse was completely safe and calm and would take care of my sister. While most horse trainers might make this statement, Lewis was the kind of person to prove his word and demonstrate how calm the horse was-by crawling underneath the horse’s belly. “Who is this crazy person? I’m pretty sure this is not usual behavior,” I thought.

That was exactly Lewis; he was no regular horse trainer. One of the biggest attributes I admired about Lewis was his love and compassion for his riders. When I first started riding I was very timid and scared. Lewis had a special patience and he taught me how to be a confident rider.

His biggest concern for all his riders was safety. During one of the first shows I was in my horse got very excited and started bucking; I rode past Lewis while he had one foot up on the rail and told me to be calm. It only took another half pass of silliness for Lewis to be in the middle of the ring with me.

 I don’t think the English language yet has words that can describe what Lewis meant to me. I spent the majority of my childhood at El Dorado Farms and felt comfortable and safe under the direction of Lewis. He was the type of person that would do anything for you. I could not leave the barn without a hug or without hearing “be careful and call me to let me know you made it home safe.”

 Lewis, you will never know what you mean to me. You not only made me the rider I am today, but you made me the person I am today. Thank you for all that you have done for me, you will be greatly missed. 

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Real Time and Viral Marketing

We are a society that is surrounded by advertising.  In today’s society it is very rare for an individual to make it through a day without hearing an advertisement. Even if you do not watch television, you are probably in a car where you either see billboards or hear advertisements on the radio. As you can see we are bombarded with advertisements (we can’t get away from them). Since we are being overloaded with messages on a daily basis, advertisers are looking at new ways to engage their audiences. This is where social media becomes a critical piece in this puzzle. Allow me to introduce to you the concepts of real time marketing and viral advertisements.  According to google.com the definitions are as follows:

  Let’s talk a little about real time marketing, probably one of the best events to use real time marketing techniques is during the Super Bowls. This year at the 48th Super Bowl since the game was a little dull at times social media seemed to be fired up. The biggest talk on social media during the Super Bowl was JC Penny’s suspicious tweeting. As I pointed out in an earlier blog brands jumped all of these the tweeting mishaps to promote their own brands.

  The key to making both of these concepts successful is to think about who your audience is and what content they like to see. Sometimes videos or concepts that go viral on the internet, happen without elaborate planning behind them. However, Forbes.com offers viral marketing tips for individuals who are trying to get their campaign or idea to take off with their audiences. Probably one of the better examples recently of viral marketing happened during the Oscars with famous “selfie”. Host Ellen DeGeneres’ selfie has gone viral and has over 2 million retweets on twitter. Not only was the selfie a popular retweet, but there have been remakes of the selfie ranging from nostalgic 90's to balloon art.

I will leave you with this, sometimes the best laid plans do not always follow through. Sometimes it can lead to something much bigger (go viral).

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Marketing and Saddlebreds

If I were to ask 100 random individuals if they know what an American Saddlebred horse is, I would be surprised if more than 25 knew about the breed. Due to this predicament, American Saddlebred Horse Association has started thinking of new ways to market the saddlebred industry and spread the word about the breed.  

In order to try to promote saddlebreds, ASHA reached out to their Facebook followers and asked for help. They wanted to create a new exciting logo and brand for the American Saddlebred. The marketing goals included the following:

Increase memberships in ASHA

Increase the registration of American Saddlebred Foals

Increase the number of American Saddlebred Lesson Programs & Riding Instructors and the use of American Saddlebreds as lesson horses in every discipline and the knowledge of Saddle Seat as a whole.

Effectively position the American Saddlebred so that we consistently represent the breed to key audiences.

A fun and exciting marketing tactic that has emerged from the goals was #ASBDREAMS. Facebook and Twitter followers were asked to post pictures of how the breed has changed their lives and how have they accomplished their goals and dreams since being involved with saddlebreds. Some example of how their followers have gotten engaged are the following:

  Another way that they have been trying to promote the breed is through the Young Adult Committee. Members of the committee have been around the breed from a young age and familiar with how to promote the breed. The focus of the Young Adult Committee is to get members and new comers involved at a crucial age where you have aged out of junior exhibitor and are struggling with establishing a career on your own without maybe even having a horse of your own to ride. The committee is also reaching out to junior exhibitors and encouraging them to be good sports both in and out of the ring and to stand up against bullying. Everyone knows a little friendly competition is good, but sometimes it could get out of hand.

These are just a few ways that ASHA has implemented a new marketing plan. For more updates as to what is going on with marketing and saddlebreds, I would direct you to Twitter and Facebook. As we all know social media can help shape your brand and allows you to reach new markets.

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Exploring New Opportunities

“And They’re Off!” the famous starting words that we hear at the Kentucky Derby every year. It has always been a dream of mine to go to the Derby and or possibly work for Churchill Downs. Coming from a horse background, sports communication has always been an interest of mine which made me want to learn more about the trade.

Today I was able to attend the Sports Administration (SPAD) Summit Speakers with @Samanthamhughey. We were interested in hearing the panel discussion relating to sports communication. As many of you know I have a slight obsession with horses. So, I was very pleased to find out that one of the members of the panel discussion was going to be Billy Reed. Reed is currently the Executive Editor at Catholic Sports network, but is also teaching classes at U of L.  Coincidentally, Reed was brought up in our pedagogy class the previous night. Our professor was talking about special topics courses that were offered, and shared that in the past Reed has taught Kentucky Derby in the Media.  Needless to say that is all it took for me to be interested and was excited for discussion the following day.

The panel discussion started off with sharing of bios and previous work of each individual. Although, at the speaking summit today Reed did not talk about his Kentucky Derby in the Media class he still had wonderful stories to share and helpful insight about the industry. One thing that really stuck out to me during this discussion was how he was disappointed that creative writing had diminished from journalism.  He talked about how he loved reading stories that shared different perspectives on events and you really got a feel for the writer’s voice, he hates that the craft is gone behind the stories. Reed also stated that in order to make your stories stand out today you need to focus on creative leads, and look at things that other people have not covered. Make each story your own and sell it.

After the panel discussion, I had the opportunity to meet with Mr. Reed personally and talk to him about the possibility of teaching the derby class again. I know that this would help me get one step closer to accomplishing my dream job of working for Churchill Downs one day. So, I write to you Mr. Reed please consider teaching Kentucky Derby in the Media again so eager learners, like myself, can explore the Kentucky Derby possibilities. 

Image Credit

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Social Media Monitoring

So you’re on twitter all the time and use hashtags over and over. Are you a victim of hashtag addiction? Can you relate to Jimmy Fallon and Justin Timberlake with their hashtag overload? Have you ever really thought about what the purpose of hashtags are? Does anyone actually track them or use them? Well the answer is yes! This is where social media monitoring comes into play.  Social Media Monitoring is a great tool for business. Let’s look at this further.

When you google social media monitoring it gives you a very generic definition as follows:

  Social media monitoring can be used in a number of different forms, some examples that have been talked about so far in class are HootSuite, Topsy, and Keyhole. All of these sites are free and great for businesses.

Many businesses set up their Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram accounts and  simply post content over and over and might interact with consumers a little bit. However, you need to pay attention to what your customers are saying. Social media monitoring allows you to grow as a business and helps establish trust and engagement with your customers and fellow social media users. By using social media monitoring businesses can gain insight into what their customers want.

An important thing for businesses to remember when using analytics and social media monitoring is that they need to respond to their customers. By providing real time feedback businesses are able to tackle issues head on and try to find out if there is anything that can be done to make them happy.

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Visuals and The Horse Industry

A saying that we use in the horse industry is “seeing is believing”. When it comes to the breeding industry visuals are essential. As I pointed out last week, McDaniel Saddlebred’s Mooncracker was featured in the All American Stallion Cup Tour in January. At this event while the horses were showing there was a slide show of featuring each horse’s advertisement so you were able to get more information if needed.

Here's an example of our advertisement that was featured in the slide show.

That event was only one example of how visuals are used to promote horses in the industry. Magazines like National Horseman, Saddle and Bridle, Saddlehorse Report, and Bluegrass Horseman run advertisements for customers in the industry who want to promote their horses. Most often as it gets closer to prime show season (summer) there are multiple advertisements that promote top competitors in each division.  The five main divisions in the Saddlebred industry are fine harness, five gaited, three gaited, park and pleasure. Each of those divisions gets broken down even further and has a number of different classes. If you are interested in finding out more I will direction you to this site.

Typically after each show each magazine will do a write about the show and include candids of winning horse to include in the write ups. Just another way visuals are key!

As you can see from the picture above visuals can be imperative for promotion of horses. It is easier to have a picture to show someone rather than trying to explain the way that show and how they behave in the show ring. Also many times if someone is interested in purchasing a horse the seller will sent out a video link to the perspective customer so that they can view it and make their decision a little easier.

I have always had an interest in advertising and although I may be biased I think that the horse industry and some of the Saddlebred magazines that I have seen have put out awesome ads. I will leave you some of examples of ads that McDaniel Saddlebreds has put out and also some ads that I felt worked really well. 

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Local Boutique Shopping

Aside from horses, one of my passions is shopping. I will say that shopping has turned into somewhat of an obsession for me. I will be the first to say that if I have free time I will probably spend it doing online shopping/cruising. I have two personals emails set up, so that I can have one to give out to receive all the deals for some of my favorite stores. My friends have also encouraged this addiction and introduced me to shopping websites like Zulilly, Wanelo, Groopdealz, and JustFab, which only make my hurt my bank account further.

As a part of me trying to explore more of Louisville, I spent the weekend with @K8Vance exploring consignment shops. Our first stop was at a local boutique in St. Matthews called Rochelle Rochelle. The store is located at 145 Chenoweth Lane. We first walked into the boutique and were informed that all boots and clothes were 40% off. We made our way into the boot room, and spent the majority of our time there. This boutique has a large selection of designer boots such as Michael Kors, Hunter, Kenneth Cole, and many more. Kate and I spent close to 30 minutes in the boot area before venturing out to look at clothes. Each of us left the boot room planning on buying two pairs each (40% off was too good of a deal to pass up). We finally ventured into the main show room where the clothes are located. Rochelle Rochelle has a wide variety of clothing from vintage wedding gowns, derby hats, athletic wear, designer dresses, and casual outerwear. If you are looking for unique clothes at a great price you can find them here.

  In case one of you is ever looking for a vintage wedding dress. 

After we made it out of Rochelle Rochelle with multiple purchases we walked across the street to Sassy Fox, an upscale boutique located at 150 Chenoweth Lane.  We walked in and immediately noticed that the floor was full of bright, spring colors. The associates explained to us that the first floor was full of new spring arrivals, a portion of the second floor was dedicated to formal wear, but majority of it housed their winter clearance which was 50 - 75 % off. I enjoyed browsing around their selection of spring time clothes. They had designer brands like Lilly Pulitzer, Tory Burch, and Jack Rogers at a great discounted price. I made it out of the store without making any purchases, but Kate was unable to pass on some of the good deals.

I recommend anyone visiting the Louisville area to check out Rochelle Rochelle and Sassy Fox on Chenoweth Lane for great finds.

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Carrying On The Name

Last week I talked about how McDaniel Saddlebreds got into the breeding business. Breeding is great way to see babies grow up and carry on the homegrown name. Currently McDaniel Saddlebreds has show horses, prospects, broodmares, and a stallion.

As a member of the business I get the privilege to watch our babies grow up and become show horses. This brings me to our homegrown stallion…Mooncracker. Mooncracker is by a highly recognized stallion named “Undalatas Nutcracker” and out of “Harlems Half Moon”.Mooncracker was born September 27, 2007. The first time I saw this baby in the stall I knew he was going to be something special. Even at such a young age he was friendly for a stallion (which is not very common). He would come over to stall and want you to fed him. As he grew up he knew that he was a ham and could play it up. One day he was turned out in the field and our trainer got a call saying that neighborhood kids were feeding him all kinds of food and asked if it was alright. He has always been the type of horse that loves to get attention (which is a good thing especially in the Saddlebred industry).

Here's baby Mooncracker.

  Speaking of attention, a couple weeks ago Mooncracker was featured in the All American Cup Stallion Tour in Shelbyville Kentucky. The All American Cup is a chance for stallions to be showcased to an audience that would be interested in buying their services. Following the showing there is an auction where individuals can bid to buy the services of the stallions featured earlier in the afternoon. By showcasing Mooncracker in events such as this one it opens up opportunities for the business and allows others to view the potential that Mooncracker has as a stallion.

   I will leave you with a pic of the baby boy all grown up.

  Just a little more horse talk for ya in case you did not get enough last week.

[katiemac1390]

Visuals and Sochi Olympics

The Sochi Olympics have been a hot topic on social media this week. Pictures, videos, and tweets all pertaining to updates on events. Everyone has heard the saying a picture is worth a 1000 words. Yes, this is true but I feel like Sochi Olympics has taken this to a whole new level.

Last night I was watching the Men’s half pipe finals and was hoping to see Shaun White at the top of the leader board. There was a lot of speculation that White was going to dominate this competition and take home the gold for USA. If done, he would be the first U.S male athlete to win three consecutive gold medals in one Winter Olympic sport.

As with such events like Sochi Olympics each athlete gets a lot of news coverage. I was enticed by the story of White and was interested to see if he would live up to the expectations. I have always liked watching him performing and he puts on a great show for the audience. So, like any normal person I went to twitter to creep. I went to White’s twitter and found this video:

A very cool way to reach out to fans! (I approve)

With my laptop still opened, I watched the broadcast to see White enter the half pipe. He started his run off nicely and things were looking good and I was getting really excited. Still watching you could tell he was leading up for something big. He burst into the air to rock out with his famous YOLO flip but, falls short on the landing. I looked away from the TV to my computer and find this tweet from Mashable that pretty much sums up everyone’s feelings on the event.

  So I reiterate a picture is worth 1000 words! This pretty much says it all! Just a couple examples of how visuals can be influential in social media.

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Horses, Horses, and More Horses

If you follow me on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, or Pinterest you can tell that horses have been a part of my life for a long time.  I left off talking last week about how the decision to make McDaniel Saddlebreds a family business started. So, that is right where I will pick up.

 In 2002 my family made the decision to move to El Dorado Farms and start turning a hobby into a family business. At this point we had bought another show horse named Kingdom Heir aka “Heiress”. Kerri (my sister) was showing Heiress for a year, and the horse started having complications with her leg. We then made the decision that Heiress could no longer compete, so decided to turn her into a broodmare.

For those of you who are not familiar with the breeding industry, I will give you a quick overview. A horse that is called a broodmare is always a female horse that typically has bloodlines that are historically known to produce future champions. In our case, one of the decisions to turn Heiress into a broodmare was not only because of her health, but also because she came from strong bloodlines. (If you are interested in finding more out about breeding I would recommend visiting this site) By having our first mare this was a chance for us to get a feel at what the breeding process is like.

Typically when you are breeding a mare you want to look at the bloodlines of the mare and also of the potential stallion to see what a good match would be. This is where my family started to do research on how we cross our mare with stallions. My father took over this process and became fascinated by it sending many hours researching potential crosses.

While we were starting out fresh in the breeding business, I was getting antsy and wanted to have a horse of my own. My sister’s equestrian career had skyrocketed and she had won her first World Championship with a new show horse -- Harlem’s Half Moon.  Soon after my sister’s win, my parents decided that I should get my own show horse and through trial and error I ended up with MountainView’s Mr. York in 2004.  This bundle of joy came all the way from Texas (formally nicknamed Tex, but was changed to Mikey due to the fact that he liked everything we gave him as the boy in the old Life cereal commercial did) and taught me how to show and grow in the show ring.

Meet Mikey (my boy is currently loving life with his new owner in Naples, Florida -- teaching another little girl how to show) 

  In 2012, we decided that in order for our business to grow and to promote our horses we needed to head to horse country…Kentucky! McDaniel Saddlebreds is currently growing and thriving in Versailles, Kentucky at Diamond View Farm under the training of Kristen Bagdasarian. I love that the horses are close to me now and when I have a break from school and work, I try to sneak away. 

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Super Bowl Drama Off the Field

Well, I will come right out and say it. This year I found Super Bowl XLVIII to be somewhat on the boring side (the football game at least). However, social media during the game was a different story. If you were not active on Twitter during the game you were missing out on some real action. Last week in my blog I mentioned that you should be careful and what you say online and present to viewers. The old standby of think before you speak can be transformed into think before you tweet. I feel like the social media manager for JC Penney should have paid a little closer attention to that statement. If you are not up to speed on what happen, I will fill you.  JC Penny was being active on social media and talking about the lack of entertainment during the game (fine…right?)Well, not exactly they were tweeting what appeared to drunken messages such as follows:

  This created frenzy and brands such as Snickers, KIA, and Coors Light used this as an opportunity to call them out and also promote their own brands.

  This banter went on for about an hour until JC Penney responded putting out the following tweet saying that they were #TweetingWithMittens

Turns out they were trying to promote the mittens they are selling to support Team USA in the Sochi Olympics. The plan seemed to backfire, instead of perceiving the tweets as a mistake because of the mittens many brands jumped all over the mistake and made it seem like this person was intoxicated.  An interesting tactic? I am not sure if it worked out in the best interest of JC Penney.

I will leave you with this interesting article to think about. But please remember: Think before you Tweet!