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Domed Stadiums Do Not Equal Success

Given that responding to a politician’s tweets is a trendy way to make headlines these days, I’ll try my hand. No, not by yelling into the void at @RealDonaldTrump.

Instead let’s take a look at former Washington, DC Councilmember Vincent Orange, who went to last Saturday’s Atlanta Falcons playoff game and hollered at some DC politicos:

If Dan Snyder wants to pay for a roof I’m sure Washington fans would be all for it, but does the simple act of having a dome allow a team to “compete in the NFL”?

Continue reading “Domed Stadiums Do Not Equal Success”

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Do College Bowl Sponsorships Impact Google Searches for Brands?

Do College Bowl Sponsorships Impact Google Searches for Brands?

In the short term, yes; In the long term, not so much.

In 2015 there were 41 College Football Bowl games, the most ever. There were so many games that three teams with losing records got to play. In 2016 there will be 40 bowls, meaning that 63% of FBS teams will get to play in the postseason.

One notable – and seemingly ever-changing – element of the bowls are the game’s title sponsors. Often paired with the title of the bowl, sponsor names have created some memorable games. Who can forget the Poulan Weed Eater Independence Bowl or the Beef ‘O’ Brady’s St. Petersburg Bowl.

Bowl organizers themselves admit that these sponsors are crucial. The director of what is now called the Foster Farms Bowl told the Associated Press that “It’s critical, you can’t survive without a sponsor.” In 2013 they did without … and lost more than $100,000. IEG Research notes that for the 2012-13 bowl season, title
sponsors coughed up $99 million.

So the 99 Million Dollar Question remains: Is it worth it? Continue reading “Do College Bowl Sponsorships Impact Google Searches for Brands?”

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There’s a Redskins Enthusiasm Gap

Mind the Gap
Courtesy of Flickr user soroll

Dan Steinberg’s article in today’s Post – ‘There is nothing to talk about’: Media members adjust to the weirdly boring Redskins – echoes the same sentiments I’ve heard recently from friends.

But is enthusiasm truly “tepid” as one radio host told Steinberg, or are there really fewer people talking about the ‘Skins?

Google says there’s something to it. Compare searches for “redskins” from previous Augusts to this year: Continue reading “There’s a Redskins Enthusiasm Gap”

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Medium Posts with the Most Social Shares

There are plenty of metrics people like to use to determine the effectiveness of content. One of my quick and easy go-tos is number of social shares. Sure there’s plenty of nuance that goes into parsing the results (paid vs. organic for one), but a quick glance at the type of content being shared can give you a good idea as to what people are finding interesting.

Here’s a look at social shares off of articles published on Medium in the last year according to BuzzSumo (English language only):

Continue reading “Medium Posts with the Most Social Shares”

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52 Things You Didn’t Know About BuzzFeed

The reasons why (and how) BuzzFeed stands head and shoulders above all other digital publishers is not easily answered in a sentence or two.

With 150 million unique monthly visitors, BuzzFeed has skyrocketed in popularity since Jonah Peretti left The Huffington Post in 2011 to dedicate himself full-time to an idea that started brewing in his head years earlier.

Continue reading “52 Things You Didn’t Know About BuzzFeed”

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How to Mark a Book

Mortimer Adler was an American philosopher best known for his work compiling the Great Books of the Western World, a 54-volume set of the best works ever written. During his life he also taught at the University of Chicago, wrote numerous books, and helped launch the version of the Encyclopædia Britannica that we all grew up with. The man knew how to classify and organize information.

One essay of his stood out in particular as we started NoteShow in 2012. An excerpt from Adler’s “How to Read a Book” was published in July 1940 and his ideas are simple, easy to understand and have held true over the years. Continue reading “How to Mark a Book”