They say it is PG

Years ago, WWE switched it’s programming from PG-13 to a PG rating….with the thought of attracting more of a family crowd. Lately, it has seemed to be working, although to the disaster of some fans. Cena has turned his promos into running jokes (almost not so much with his run at The Rock again) and having the newly named Tons of Funk (Brodus Clay and Tensai). “At what cost are they willing to go with this”, one would think. Upon arriving at the live taping of WWE Friday Night SmackDown (in Hershey, PA) last night, I noticed that the line going around the Giant Center was filled with families! As I took my seat (before Saturday Morning Slam began taping), I realized I was sitting beside a father with his two daughters and behind me was another family. At first, I was skeptical that this would not work well…however it seems after seeing the show live, it works well! (Although I must say, The Rock carries well and John Cena was not at the show). So….does this PG thing seem to be working? It all depends on who they book to be at the show and whether the promo “shoots” tie the line between risky and serious / funny. Last night, it did….but after WrestleMania….who knows…..

Quick Hitter on the Election

Now that it has sunk in, Donald Trump has stopped stomping around his penthouse and we have had more than 24 hours to digest this, what do we (you) think? From a marketing standpoint, both seemed to be even in a dead heat(financially is a different story); however Romney played to a better strength than Obama did, although he did play to one other strength, and that was shoving his foot in his mouth, just saying. He did in fairness stop doing that towards the middle / end of the campaign trail.  There were aspects about this race than I loved and hated, most of all seeing all of the ads on the TV and not being able to go more than 20 minutes without one.  Another thing that seemed to grind my gears about this was the constant run around in regards to the questions being asked.  It is almost as if they hear a keyword and go off on a tangent about something, sometimes unrelated to the question.  You can tell they are a politician (no offense) when they cannot give a direct answer to a direct question.  They hear something, and then they are off!  How many times throughout the 3 debates did either Gov. Romney or President Obama answer without using all of their allotted time, and you get confused.  We are looking for a simple yes or no or a number and you give us a headache.  How many people took stock out in Aleve during this process?  (I hope you took out that stock yesterday)  Heard a joke on Jay Leno last night that kind of epitomized that stock market “mini melt down”…The stock market crashed because Romney pulled all his money out…..let that sink in.  My thoughts exactly.  Now I am not going to allude to whom I voted for, but it is safe to say now that I am ready to see what the next four years has to bring….heck…the next 45 days or so.  On January 1, 2013…we are slated for one of the biggest financial meltdowns in history if Obama does not do something with the so called “Bush Tax Cuts”, defense and other spending cuts throughout.  It is being billed as a “fiscal cliff”.  Some are saying that the mini crash that the stock market had yesterday will only be a taste of what is to come in January if nothing is settled.  Think about it though…all the money that was spent on this election and the campaign season, billions of dollars…and nothing changed!!  Obama is still our President, the House is controlled by the Republicans and the Senate is still controlled by the Democrats.  Oh yeah and our friendly neighborhood Joe Biden is still the Vice President.  So what do we do about this?  We sit back and watch it seems.  Honestly, there is nothing we can do.  We as a country of people elected Barack Obama back into office for a second term.  For one reason or another, no matter what that is (and there are probably many of them), people more people thought he was better.  In this case, you can actually say that too.  Not only did he win the Electoral College vote but he won the popular vote by 2% as well.  Not many times do you have that happen.  So we will see over the next four years what takes place.  What do you think?  Where do you think we will be January 1, 2013?  Where do you think we will be for #Election2016?  Who do you think will run for that matter…..

~Jason

Memorable London 2012???

With the closing ceremonies almost upon us, what was the most memorable moment of the 30th Olympiad?  Maybe it was the Opening ceremony when you got a chance to see The Queen (A real figure) and Jmes Bond (movie character) interacting right before a jump out of a plane into the ceremonies?  Could it be the track runner from South Africa, Oscar Pistorius, better known as blade runner.  This man set a precedent for upcoming Olympics by being a double amputee.  Did you watch the fastest man on Earth??  He ran three times….and was quicker than a lighting Bolt (Yes, I know what I just did).  Phelps v Lochte…..that happened enough times that you should have accidentally saw something.  This was the final Olympics for Phelps (although many believe he will swim in Rio…thanks to his mom getting on him to do it).  We have an emerging Swim team…Women’s beach volleyball stayed perfect. The women dominated the track team events, and the men did pretty well also.  We have a new “Fab Five” in the Women’s Olympic Team, and the Women’s National Soccer Team exacted revenge from the World Cup in the highly contested “Rematch”. So many memories, so many various things happening at the Olympics over 17 long days.  104 medals, 17 days, 26 sports, and 25 world records set….With all of that…Did anyone notice that the Women’s Basketball team won their 5th straight Gold Medal and 41st straight Olympic win???

Starbucks for Android

So you walk into your nearest Starbucks coffee shop for a latte, mocha, or maybe just a pastry; and you are on your Android Smartphone.  You reach for your wallet when you get to the stand, and the Barista says., “Hold on!!  Do you have our app?”.  You look bewildered….”No, I didn’t realize you guys had an app!”  Short conversation, yes…however the end result is an app that Starbucks has relaunched in an attempt to make it more user friendly.  I have personally used this app in the past and have used it more recently since the update, and I have to say that it is a lot sleeker than the original.  This is definitely something to have if you frequent Starnucks often and have an Android (or iPhone).  The use of it is quite simple in that you can track your rewards and see how close you are to obtaining that free drink everyone loves.  But along with that is something that seems to be a hot commodity, and that is reloading your card from your phone.  Literally on the go.  A great feature about the app is also being able to pay with your phone. Paying with your phone is probably the best feature about having this app.  Instead of fumbling through your wallet (I’ve done it too…) you can load this app when you are next in line, and simply scan it when instructed.  No wallet, no waiting to put the card back in the wallet (Don’t you hate it when the person in front of you doesn’t move when they do that??!?!), and best of all…a constant record of when you scanned and used the app/barcode.(And oh my gosh…you can use PayPal now too!!)  Finally, the Android (Google Play) gets into the act with something that the iPhone has had for a little while now…so we finally have an even playing field in terms of smartphones and Starbucks.

To get the app, simply scan the QR Code to direct to Google Play

Are you sitting down?

When you sit and wonder things….your mind tends to wander off into a space that only a mind can go.  Only in your dreams can you do anything you want, where you want, how you want, and for what ever reason you want.  You don’t need a degree and you don’t need permission.  A persons mind goes as far as someone will allow it to.  If you want to be some place that has 4 feet of a snow…then take a seat in your favorite chair, and doze off for a little…see where it takes you.  If for some reason you want to be a millionaire who is wealthy and not a political figure that comes off as a snide jerk from time to time…grab a seat and see what happens. (Yes I know I just took a jab at Mitt Romney and Donald Trump).  Nothingness is nothing new…It is a way of life, if you choose to live that way from time to time.  It will keep your stress down, and make you possibly feel young again.

BowTie Trip to MIT / Harvard / Yale

On Tuesday, August 16, 2011; at 5:00 AM, it all began. 10 BowTie students and 4 staff members met at the Foundation Headquarters in Lancaster, PA, packed up the vehicles, and were on our way. On our way to Cambridge, MA to visit MIT, better known as the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Everyone knew where we were heading, but little did they know how much of an impact it would have on their lives. We finally arrived at MIT at about 1:30 in the afternoon, and were happy to get out and stretch. But even happier to get on the campus, start asking questions, and seeing what it is like to be at the number 5 school in the world.
While walking around on the campus and taking the tour, we found out various tidbits that were not known, like who built certain buildings, the different facts about the dorms, and that you can be underground and get from your dorms to your classroom without coming above ground. The children found out first hand as well that you never know who you will meet, as they got to speak briefly to the head basketball coach who just happened to be walking past us.
After taking in a lot of information on the first day, it was time for dinner and some interesting team building activities. From the “Indian Run” around a portion of the Charles River, to the “Mine Game”, all the way to a game that involved 5 people to have only their hands on the ground; it took a lot of teamwork and communication to get the job done. This is something that all the boys excelled in, and we could not be prouder of how everyone handled themselves during this, especially after a long day.
The second day was what I believe most people were looking towards, the day we visited Harvard; the number 2 school in the world. We quickly found out that Harvard is probably one of the most secretive schools in the country, but are very catering to freshman, as well as to students that have been accepted. Walking around the campus, I noticed was a bright spot in the trip for a lot of our students, in knowing that they have just as good of a chance to get into this school as anyone. Harvard was a great trip for us, and yet again a lot of information; but later that night, they got a taste of a well prepared meal and a taste of the business life; as we took them to Smith & Wollensky; one of the finest and most upscale restaurants in the Greater Boston Area.
Not many people get to visit MIT and Harvard in two days, let alone Yale the third day; but the BowTie Boys got exactly that. Yale University in New Haven, CT was the final college on our three-day college tour. We had an excellent tour guide who was very knowledgeable and answered just about every question thrown at him but Andrew Williams and the rest of our BowTie Boys. We found out some very interesting information and saw some cool things while on campus, but it wasn’t until we were reminiscing about the whole trip did everyone realize exactly what was at stake and what had happened. Everyone realized the full reason and potential to why we took them to 3 of the top 5 colleges in the world. It is completely possible and for the most part expected that our students attend one of these schools. Setting the bar high is what we do at The Children Deserve a Chance Foundation. It is exactly why we took them to these schools. So next time you see one of them, ask them what school they want to go to; chances are Harvard, MIT, or Yale is on that list; and let them tell you why.

NSCS Convention 2011: My #NSCSinPR Experience

From a “tech geek” point of view, a trip to San Juan, Puerto Rico is not necessarily the biggest thing on your list. You might be more interested in sitting around playing video games or on your laptop or playing with your iPod. But when asked to contribute to something in a major way, you may look at things a little differently. Now, I am not saying that I sit around playing video games all the time, ’cause I don’t, but what I am saying is that when I was asked to “live tweet” the 2011 NSCS National Convention, my outlook on “tech” was drastically changed. By the time I flew back home six days later, my world was turned upside down.

Live tweeting… what does that mean? If you were at the Sheraton Puerto Rico Hotel during the 2011 NSCS National Convention and you were following the hashtag #NSCSinPR, you quickly found out exactly what “live tweeting” was. Thousands of #NSCSinPR mentions popped up throughout the 4 days of the convention with many different meanings. Most had to do with the various speakers we had (Byron Pitts from CBS & 60 Minutes, “Motivational Ninja” Josh Shipp….and a Goat, The Intern Queen, Lauren Berger & Ryan Kahn from MTV) or one of the many various workshops we were in ranging from Personal Branding to creating and perfecting your “elevator pitch” to perfecting your resume. #NSCSinPR was used so much that trying to count them mad your head became dizzy and it was concluded that we as a group more than doubled the amount of Convention tweets from past years.

But what does this have to do with a tech geek’s point of view? Walking around with an iPad in my hand (now you know who is writing this…) you quickly understand what this society has turned into and how technology has evolved to match the world in which we live. All you need to do is refer back to a blog posting by NSCS Manager of Member Engagement, Richard Failia, entitled ‘Note Taking in the 21st Century.” It has just become a way of life and a way of living. Now, yes I did walk around with a pen and notepad taking down notes and writing down various quotes and stuff that I will be using with my chapter, but the majority of my notes went to Twitter and the iPad. Try taking down notes using 140 characters….

Going from the registration where I tweeted, “Made it safely, here is a behind the scenes photo of registration getting set up!” to meeting a bunch of new friends on the roof of the Sheraton for the VIP Kickoff (and tweeting some more!), I quickly realized that tweeting was the way to let everyone know in the outside world that couldn’t make it to San Juan what was really taking place and what was really happening. So, what would I tweet about? What did people at home want to know? “Yum…here’s my breakfast!” Okay, so maybe a few of them were about food. But mainly I just tweeted things I wanted to remember, because most likely, that’s what others would be interested in, as well.

I definitely met some challenges while tweeting at Convention… some were fun and I got the chance to win prizes by participating in Twitter contests through @NSCS. The biggest challenge of all, though, was on Saturday night. I was given the task to “life-tweet” the Honor Gala! Yeah, so uh, #InsaneRapidTweeting! It was a lot of fun though; and if you were at home, you got a chance to be in the room with us and got a chance to know when the awards were being announced and (for the most part) what schools were getting them. And luckily I had an awesome partner in crime, Hillary Foss.

Twitter and social networking can be a huge game changer; it certainly was for me. I walked into the National Society of Collegiate Scholars 2011 National Convention as a Finance Major and thought I was set on what I wanted to do in life; but I walked out as a Communications Major with a specialization in Public Relations and Social Media. Running around and seeing what everything was about and the seminars that were being held, with the thought in my head of what hashtag I could use became a way of life. Now I often find myself on HootSuite or TweetDeck talking to friends I made while in San Juan, and wondering… if I had not been at Convention, just what would I be doing right now? I do know one thing… well, two things… geek is chic!… and a goat!