NCAA and Pay to Play? Here's One Way.

I caught an interesting discussion yesterday on ESPN's PTI. (A great show by the way) It was about some way to pay NCAA players, who through their play generate millions of dollars for college sports programs all over the country.

OK, your argument against is these students are getting valuable scholarships, along with tutoring and you can't beat the travel and national attention which pays off in some big time pro contracts. Fair enough. For some.

But to my original point, the ROI for schools on scholarships is to be envied. So how about this idea? Let's say a star QB for a team generates a lot of money in the sales of his jersey. Or a premier volleyball player generates some significant cash for her school through merchandise sales. Perhaps a percentage of sales from all team merchandise can go into a collective pool for players.

Give them a percentage, akin to what the pros make for merchandising rights and keep the money in escrow in some sort of account that generates a fair rate of interest. When the player graduates or leaves early for the pros, the school cuts them a check. They're not as much getting paid, rather they are being rewarded for generating money for the school.

The NCAA generates billions of dollars in revenue from college sports. I do believe it's time for those responsible for the cash flow to get at least part of the revenue stream.

I'll finish with a fearless prediction. Bye bye Fiesta. The Cotton Bowl joins the BCS at Jerry's World.

I love college sports, especially football. But I also realize it's all about money so let's get real.

Brian Olson
Conversation Starters Public Relations
"We start the conversation about you"

Making the case for Cursive

I recently read in the Denver Post that Cursive could be an endangered species. Some schools are replacing pencil and paper with keyboard and computer screen as the primary skill set for putting letters and words together in a coherent fashion.

When was the last time you wrote anything, other than signing a credit card tab?

My own hand-writing skills, never considered at all graceful, have deteriorated as my use of computers and other devices has increased.

Do kids really need to know how to write with pencil and paper? That's the question being discussed by teachers, students and parents; likely by e-mail or texting.

My wife and I make regular use of Facetime to visit with the grandkids when we can't be with them in person. But we're also starting to write to our grand daughter who is finishing kindergarten. Writing, literally or at least printing using real paper and sending it to her through the mail. (Hopefully she writes back!)

The goal is to help her as she learns to read and write. Both our grandkids are comfortable with computers and devices like the iPad. They've never known a world without this technology.

I was talking, actually e-mailing with a friend yesterday. He said he still likes to send personal hand-written notes to people. He believes there's still a place for a human touch, especially in communication. Hard to disagree with that.

So what's the need for Cursive? The flame isn't out, but certainly starting to flicker. In our digital world, do we need Cursive? Maybe no--unless the power goes out.

Something to ponder.

Brian Olson
Conversation Starters Public Relations
"We start the conversation about you"

How to get TONS of free coverage.

OK, did I get your attention? About the best way I know of to get tons of free coverage is to be Apple or IKEA.

What got me thinking about this is the new sign that just went up at the new IKEA store being built in Centennial, CO. The darn thing is almost a hundred feet high. You can see it from Kansas. IKEA got tons of local and regional coverage just because they put it up!

What made it newsworthy besides being IKEA and HUGE is that Centennial city ordinances prohibit signs taller than about 30 feet. Unless of course, you're IKEA. When you bring a store that big, and employ hundreds of people, the skids get greased quickly at city hall.

We all know all Apple has to do to get gobs of coverage, all of it free, is simply to hint at a new product coming down the pipeline.

Both businesses do buy traditional advertising, but you'd be hard pressed to come up with any others who get the free publicity they get simply for doing what they do.

What they do, and figured out a long time ago, is to provide products and service that are unique, that stand out, that are truly one of a kind. It's what makes them Apple and IKEA and everyone else, "not exactly."

Easier said that done, but it can be done.

So there you have it, all you need to know to get tons of free advertising. If you need extra help, contact us.

Brian Olson
Conversation Starters Public Relations
"We start the conversation about you" (Unless your IKEA or Apple)

Quotes O' the Day

A couple of interesting quotes from the current issue of Businessweek Magazine.

This first is the lead in an article by Brendan Greeley about Nuclear Power in the wake of the earthquake and tsunami in Japan.

"Nuclear accidents like Japan's are scary. So is a future without nuclear power." If that doesn't get you to read on, nothing will. Good journalism. (I just started to follow him on Twitter)

Now this one from rocker Jon Bon Jovi originally published in the Sunday Times of London.

"Steve Jobs is personally responsible for killing the music business."

Say what? If it wasn't for iTunes, I wouldn't have purchased a tenth of the music I own, listen to and subsequently buy more of. And this hurts the music business....how?

The good and the bad this Tuesday.

Brian Olson
Conversation Starters Public Relations
"We start the conversation about you"

It's going to cost you more to poop!

Have you heard the cost of toilet paper and diapers is going up? Kimberly Clark, which makes both products cites the rising cost of raw materials, and of course those costs are passed on to you and me. Totally understandable, it's the way of the world. It's not like they can corner the market can they?

Well, they can when you think about it. Not a free trade issue, but our need for tissue.

When prices for things like gasoline or steak go up, we deal with it by cutting back. We can drive less, or eat hamburger instead of steak.

But we can't cut back on pooping.

It's a tough world sometimes.

Brian Olson
Conversation Starters Public Relations
"We start the conversation about you"

Beware of "ClickJackers"

Americans are generous to a fault. Something not lost on those who prey upon kind-hearted people in times of disaster. The news had barely broken last week of the catastrophic events in Japan when on-line disaster relief efforts began.

Some are legit. Sadly, many are not. I came across a new term today called "Clickjacking." Pretty sneaky stuff. Crooks create faux relief agencies, often hijacking, make that clickjacking the good names of reputable relief groups.

Add some video lifted off of Internet news sites and the scam is on.

The message is clear. Beware of e-mails, social media pleas and the like asking for your money. Better to go direct to the agency you'd like to give to. Many national and local news outlets are providing lists of places where your donation will actually help victims instead of crooks.

Want to double check? I recommend going to CharityNavigator. They rate the efficiency of how charitable agencies use the money you give. I don't know about you, but I prefer my money going to people who need it, and not bureaucrats or worse yet, crooks who prey on our generosity then disappear into the digital night.

Brian Olson
Conversation Starters Public Relations
"We start the conversation about you"

That one image...

When major events, good or bad happen, there's always one powerful image that seems to tell the story. It's the classic "One picture is worth a thousand words" to the power of 10. This picture to the left of a house floating miles out in the ocean is the one so far, that has brought the enormity of what happened in Japan home to me.

One house, miles out to sea, anywhere than where it should be. I don't know who lived there, but someone did. It was a place for family gatherings and parties. A place to come home to after work or school. Home.

Not anymore. An earthquake followed by a Tsunami changed all that. So this one house, part of a once likely peaceful and happy neighborhood, now floats miles away in a huge ocean surrounded by nothing. One small symbol of an event that there are simply no adjectives to fully describe.

One image. One event.

Brian Olson
Conversation Starters Public Relations
"We start the conversation about you"

I miss the squirrel

This morning's heavy dose of very heavy news including Japan, the Middle East, budget impasses and very shaky financial markets have me missing that water skiing squirrel. Remember that cute little critter? It was the classic "kicker," a light story that most newscasts used to squeeze in at the end of the broadcast.

Kickers aren't in vogue anymore, or at best rarely seen.

Yes we depend on newscasts both local and national to keep us informed. But my goodness there sure is a lot we need to be informed about and most of it not good.

I sure miss that squirrel. Hope he's OK.

Brian Olson
Conversation Starters Public Relations

Japan Earthquake: Power of the Info Pipelines

A generation ago coverage of a story like today's earthquake in Japan was anything but on-demand. Other than a network cut-in, we'd have to wait for the evening paper or Uncle Walter to bring us the latest.

Then came the moment when Ted Turner threw the switch at a 24 hours news service out of Atlanta called CNN. As long as we were near a TV, we could be informed.

This morning I first got the news via digital device. Soon as I turned on the screen there was an alert with the news of the 8.9 earthquake. The news outlets I follow in Twitter provide a Tsunami of content about the resulting Tsunami. Many of those news outlets are reaching out to us, asking us if we have family or friends in the impacted areas of Japan or Hawaii and to share any news we have from them.

A tap on the link to my Disaster Alert App instantly shows me a global map of impacted areas and alerts. Need to drill down for more specific and scientific information? There's an app for that.

Video is available from multiple streams, in real time, direct to your device or computer.

Oh yes, it's also on TV.

As I've posted so often, all this means empowerment for us as consumers of news and information. We are now our own newscast producers.

Brian Olson
Conversation Starters Public Relations
"We start the conversation about you"

Are we so connected we're alone?

Sherry Turkle writes in her new book, "Alone Together," that technology may be changing our lives for the worst. The MIT Prof and clinical psychologist writes "Our networked life allows us to hide from each other."

In a review of the book by Michael Rosenwald in Bloomberg Businessweek, he has this great quote: "Face-to-face connections have been reduced to 140 character tweets."

At least one wireless service provider has picked up on the theme with one commercial showing a girl breaking up with her boyfriend via mobile device while sitting across the table from him. Another spot has a mother breaking the news that grandma and grandpa are moving in via text, with all of them sitting together at the dining table.

OK, a bit of a stretch. But are we becoming addicted to social media to the point of being anti-social? comScore reports 30% of us check in on Facebook while in the bathroom. Getting an info dump while-uh-taking a....never mind.

Last night four of us were gathered together watching American Idol. Sort of. Between us there was an iPad, iPod Touch, Laptop and iPhone all in use at the same time.

Tap Tap Tap. A whole new cottage industry may evolve dealing with Carpel Tunnel Thumb Syndrome. Way, way back in the day a singer named Gilbert O'Sullivan sang a song called "Alone again, Naturally."

He might revive his career with a reprise entitled, "Alone again, Digitally."

A real thumb tapper for sure.

Brian Olson
Conversation Starters Public Relations
"We start the conversation about you"

Amazon has its head in the Cloud.

Someone asked me recently what the heck "Cloud Computing" is. I told them it's like throwing a huge party, at someone else's house. All the fun without the mess and very little cost.

BusinessWeek has a great article about Cloud Computing by Ashlee Vance. Vance makes the point that Cloud Computing is now living up to all the hype.

It wasn't that long ago if you has a project that needed huge amounts of computing power you'd have to invest millions of dollars in infrastructure, staff, servers and power for it all. Now, as Vance points out, all you need is an Amazon gift card.

Companies like Amazon now rent out their own enormous computer capacity to businesses that only need it once in awhile, often at pennies per hour. Companies like Google and Microsoft are getting into what is going to be a very competitive business.

Where there's competition, there's value for consumers both big and small. Even if you're not a Zynga or Northrop Grumman, you can still use the cloud. It can be something as outsourcing your ever growing data storage needs. Got the next great idea? As long as you have a computer and access to the cloud, all the computer processing power in the world, literally, is just a few key strokes away. You use as much or as little as you need.

So in this case, instead of getting your head out of the clouds, it's best to do just the opposite.

Brian Olson
Conversation Starters Public Relations
"We start the conversation about you"

McDonald's Fruit 'n Yogurt just Yogurt.

The incredible, shrinking Fruit 'n Yogurt at McDonald's. It just got smaller. Today at DIA I ordered one for breakfast and got just....yogurt. Even though it was labeled FRUIT 'n Yogurt. No berries. Also gone was the granola. Instead of a spoon, I got a knife and fork.

Knives are handy for eating yogurt.

This all has been happening for quite a while. Not that long ago the Fruit 'n Yogurt was almost a breakfast in itself. But it started to get smaller and smaller. Now the fruit is gone. I guess the next step is the yogurt without the cup. Hold out your hand please.

One thing that hasn't changed is the price of course.

Brian Olson
Conversation Starters Public Relations
"We start the conversation about you" (We do it better on a full stomach though)

Never on a Sunday. Almost.

Those of a certain age may recall the film, "Never on a Sunday." No it wasn't about the Broncos recent record but the story of a lady practicing the world's oldest profession, who drew the line at conducting business on Sundays.

Immersed as I am with social media during the week, and often Saturdays I'm trying to take a break from it all on Sundays. One can sit in front of a computer screen, iPad or PDA just so much. This past Saturday I was shopping with my family and checked my PDA at least 3-4 times.

Why? Habit.

So yesterday I began the process of weaning myself from the constant barrage of information available to me each and every second. Other than a morning check of online news on my laptop, that was about it. The hardest part was not checking my PDA, which I did several times. Again, habit. But I'll work on that more moving forward. If someone truly wants to get a hold of me they can always call. If I'm traveling some place on Monday, I'll check the weather.

Never on a Sunday, well almost. It's kind of a nice break. Just one day from being "connected." I survived just fine.

Brian Olson
Conversation Starters Public Relations
"We start the conversation about you"

What's that Square Doo-Hickey?

So what the heck is that square, blotchy thing? They're popping up everywhere.

It's called a "QR Code." QR stands for "Quick Response" and in this digital world quick is cool, make that mandatory.

Here's how they work: You basically download an app to your smart phone, then use your camera function to scan the QR Code and you are provided information about any number of products or services.

As Don Reisinger writes in CNET News, the technology has been around for quite some time in Japan, but relatively new here. But it's here and here to stay. Reisinger offers up some of the best apps to help you use QR codes.

They're worth a try because you'll be seeing more and more of these at trade shows, places where you shop etc. Scan, learn, connect. Pretty cool.

Don't be square, check out the square.

Brian Olson
Conversation Starters Public Relations
"We start the conversation about you"

Cancer devastating physically and financially.

March is Colorectal Awareness month. I'm sharing a story this morning about a friend, who is a colorectal cancer survivor.

When 58-year-old Erika Brown knew something wasn't right with her body, she went to a doctor, and then a second and third doctor. After 2 years of examinations, the best they could come up with was that she had IBS (Irritable Bowel Syndrome). When she was finally diagnosed correctly, it turns out she had final-stage colon cancer. In a matter of days she had surgery, followed by 6 months of intense chemotherapy and a full-year of recovery.

Today, she's healthy. Unfortunately, she can't say the same about her finances. Choices she made in her treatment cost her financial well-being, sending her into bankruptcy. In hindsight and with the information she now knows about chemotherapy, she would have done it differently.

Erika is the Mayor of "ColonTown," a vibrant community of colon cancer survivors active on both Facebook and Linkedin.

Erika's story is all too common, says Kristin Gustafson of Chemo101.com. More than 1.5 million people are diagnosed with cancer annually; of those who undergo chemotherapy treatment, nearly 40% wind up bankrupt. Unfortunately, when they need it most, patients who are diagnosed with cancer rarely have easy access to information about their treatment options and costs.

While the focus is on colorectal cancer this month, it's really about awareness of all types of cancers and the impact they have on patients, caregivers and health care providers.

A key element in the fight is information. Do yourself a favor and conduct a health insurance checkup of just what your benefits are, what's covered and not covered. Attend open enrollment meetings where you work, or check with your HR department. Ask questions, be prepared-- just in case.

Brian Olson
Conversation Starters Public Relations
"We start the conversation about you"

News is what's new. Sheen isn't news.

I don't know about you, but the sheen is rapidly coming off this whole Charlie Sheen thing. Frankly I don't care about how he lives his life. It's his business.

What's becoming very annoying is not being able to escape the incessant coverage of how he lives his life. I'm an early riser and within in moments of tuning in the local news at 5:30am I learned that Charlie now has 670-thousand followers on Twitter. Despite switching from channel to channel, local and national, it was all Charlie all the time.

I thought that's what TMZ.com was for? You know, if you're interested in this sort of thing, you have a place to go to. But the media has taken that choice away from me.

Having made the news sausage at one time in my career, I understand at least partly why. NBC and ABC are all over it because it's a chance for them to slam CBS which airs "Two and a Half Men" under the guise of news. Pretty sneaky huh?

Local stations struggle to fill gigantic multi-hour news blocks and Charlie coverage is easy. Cut, paste and air. Plus you also fill air time when the anchors giggle or shake their heads.

Impactful stuff. Meaningful on Main Street.

My news writing mentor Merv Block, who used to write for Uncle Walter taught me "News is what's new." Hollywood "celebs" self-destructing isn't news. So please, can at least one news outlet NOT cover the life and times of Charlie Sheen? I'd like to tune in for...uh...news.

Thank you.

Brian Olson
Conversation Starters Public Relations
"We start the conversation about you"

Are you aware of Colorectal Cancer Awareness Month?

Today starts Colorectal Cancer Awareness Month. Yes, there are many different kinds of cancer, but focusing on just one actually makes us focus on them all.

The best thing you can do to fight colorectal cancer is early detection. The best way is scheduling a Colonoscopy. I'll be the first to admit it's not the most fun thing to do but it sure beats dying. The Center for Disease Control reports the risk of developing colorectal cancer increases with advancing age. More than 90% of cases occur in people aged 50 or older.

A good friend of ours, Erika Hanson Brown is a Colon Cancer Survivor and talks about it in this news letter. She's also Mayor of "ColonTown," a vibrant community of "COLONists." Their Facebook Page is a great resource.

Cancer of any kind impacts you, your family and your friends in ways you cannot imagine. We've lived it at our house. It's not only the emotional and physical impact, but it can mean financial disaster if you're not prepared. Being sick shouldn't result in bankruptcy. Yet so many people simply aren't aware of what is, and what isn't, covered in their health care plans. I know, open enrollment meetings at work can be boring. Go anyways.

Another great resource, and we're proud to have them as a client, is Chemo101.com. Designed as a one-stop information source, it's not only for cancer patients, but their caregivers and health care providers too. It takes a team to win this fight. An informed team.

So be aware this month, and every month. In this case even an ounce of awareness can be worth tons of cure. Schedule a check-up. Immediately if not sooner.

Brian Olson
Conversation Starters Public Relations
"We start the conversation about you"