Cooksey Connects

Archive for the ‘Social Media’ Category

Well, nobody thought that the penultimate, uber-diva of rock, Axl Rose and his bunch (a/k/a Guns-n-Roses) would EVER get this album released, but keeping true to their word, the folks at Dr. Pepper are honoring their promise to give a FREE DR PEPPER to everyone, if this album released by the end of 2008.

CLICK HERE FOR THE STORY AS REPORTED BY THE Associated Press. (You’re welcome, MSNBC, for the traffic I’m pointing your way!)

The coupon is only available for 24 hours, beginning Sunday at midnight only at DrPepper.com

The album is streaming on MySpace—enjoy! [UPDATE: Wow!...GnR's sound has truly matured. I must say it was unexpected.]

THE REAL QUESTION: Will the album be released at 10, 2, or 4?

Open message to the popular media: Please STOP adding such sensationalism to EVERYTHING. Seriously, we’ve all seen video of some idiot driving off with the gas pump still hanging out of the car. It’s happened before. It will happen again.

“Wall Street bracing for a dismal start!” – Seriously? The reporter I’m watching AS I WRITE THIS is saying, effectively, “WE’RE ALL GOING TO DIE!” Look, the financial situation of late is dicey, but let us not all lose our minds.

Ms. Talking Head, you’re (most likely) someone who is pleasing to the eye when on a television screen . [Come on, I know I'm not the only person to have noticed this phenomenon. ] I was a financial professional for over 12 years. So here’s the real story: If it all goes to hell, we’re all in it together, and we’ll find a way out. Don’t believe me? Call your grandfather. Mine remembers the Great Depression, and he is STILL ALIVE (at 92, thank you very much)! It’s though every news outlet is now trying to predict the future, so they can lay claim to being the source who “brought it to you first”–even if it wasn’t true yet when it was reported. I’m SO over it!

As a society literally BOMBARDED each day with such overblown sensationalism over what MIGHT happen….no wonder we live amongst people who have lost all hope when all they need to do is pull up their big boy pants and take some accountability for their own well-being. Haven’t you people ever heard of Chicken Little?

p.s. By the time I could get this posted online, the market (measured by the Dow Jones Industrial Average) had closed…Down 215.05 from Thursday’s close at 8476.20. Hardly the “worst financial day ever”.

A special “Thank You ‘tini” to @urbanwallflower, @chimchim237 and @steve_hurst for the info on TwitterFeed. In addition to THAT tidbit, I finally am catching up by learning about OpenID logins. Check Out Vidoop for more on that.

The more I link my various sites together, the easier it is to syndicate everything and stay uber-connected to my fans. Okay, so I may have but a handful of you, but THANKS!

You may now return to your regularly scheduled Tweets!

There’s an effort to elect an unknown random person as President… and it’s someone you already know!

Watch this recent news report, HERE.

Post your feedback HERE as a comment!

In high school, my old Scoutmaster gave me a modem for my computer. When I asked “what is this for?”, he replied with “So your computer can talk to mine.” My response, “Why would I want to do that?”

Fast forward about 20 years and now we all live in a world awash with terms like “viral marketing” and “YouTube” (often used as both a noun AND a verb). Loosely, these ideas stem from unusual attempts of ordinary people (or savvy marketers posing as ordinary people) who post home-made video to the internet for the world to see. Sometimes, it’s a short film, sometimes it’s just plain bizarre and other times, it’s a more serious message. Enter Adam Bahner a/k/a Tay Zonday creator of “Chocolate Rain“, one of the internet’s most famous stories of viral marketing success. See his appearance at the 2008 Consumer Electronics Show here:

Why did this video become such a “success”? Well, that’s to be determined. What it DID do, however, was slingshot this grad-school student into international fame and demand by a media hungry audience. All he did was follow his creativity to play up a goofy video and highlight his unusually low voice. What happened next was unpredictable. I just hope in a few years, we don’t find out he’s in a crisis state or rehab due to not being able to handle the end of his 15-minutes of fame and “celebrity” status.

So, the next time you have a corny idea for a video post. Say to yourself: “Self, let’s shoot some video and see if by some random happenstance of events I might wind up getting paid for corporate and media appearances.” Why not!