New Media

Props for Zombies, thoughts on barcodes

Posted on 26. Dec, 2010 by in Boulder Digital Works, New Media | No Comments

Props for Zombies, thoughts on barcodes

I’m pretty stoked that my recent BDW project Zombies Vs. Hippies has been well received by ad critics and the BuddyPress community. Here’s what we actually learned in the process.

2 new releases from BDW

Posted on 01. Dec, 2010 by in Boulder Digital Works, New Media | No Comments

2 new releases from BDW

Three months ago, I came to Boulder Digital Works to learn and collaborate in new ways. This week, my first two experiments in that process were released. Zombies vs. Hippies is a mobile game developed in conjunction with Austin-based Exopolis as a pilot program for Microsoft Tag. DoYouHave5Dollars uses the mechanics of daily-deal and limited-sale websites to make it easy for people learn about issues and contribute to nonprofit organizations.

And the winner of the photo contest is…

Posted on 25. Nov, 2009 by in Bike Racing, New Media | 1 Comment

And the winner of the photo contest is…

With 38% of the votes, Kristof Ramon’s portrait of Jackson Stewart and John Lelangue was the winner of my informal Flickr Cycling Photos of the Year poll. Granted, Kristof’s photo was the one that I used in my blog post and he mentioned the poll on Twitter and Facebook. So that gave him a leg up, for sure. Regardless, here’s what he had to say for himself.

Diggin’ in the crates: War of the Trackers?

Posted on 19. Aug, 2009 by in Bike Racing, New Media | 3 Comments

Diggin’ in the crates: War of the Trackers?

For a few reasons, my blog posts have been getting longer and less frequent. I’m happy with that, but the downside is that I don’t have time to complete every post I start while it’s still relevant. With that in mind, I’ll be adding a few previously unfinished posts now that I have some time.
Here’s [...]

What social media can’t tell you

Posted on 29. Jul, 2009 by in Bike industry, New Media, Sponsors, Sports Business | 4 Comments

What social media can’t tell you

Robert Gourley of Mojave Interactive recently posted this analysis of social media performance during the Tour de France for Trek, Specialized, Cannondale, and Cervélo. What the study fails to address is that Cervélo is a title sponsor of Cervélo TestTeam, whereas Trek, Specialized, and Cannondale are the bike sponsors of Astana, Saxo Bank, and Liquigas. The way I see it, metrics like those used by Mojave are extremely valuable but I think they’re much more useful when tracking single brand’s social media footprint over time.

Tour de France team & sponsor video battle!

Posted on 22. Jul, 2009 by in Bike Racing, Bike industry, New Media, Sponsors | 3 Comments

Tour de France team & sponsor video battle!

Especially during the Tour, teams and sponsors are generating some interesting documentary-style video coverage of pro cycling. But who’s got the best content? Let’s figure it out! I’ve posted sample videos below from five well known teams and brands. Watch them – or better yet, use the links to check out the full series – and complete the poll to give each a rating. Then vote for your favorite. Voting will be open until the end of the Tour and I’ll post the results next week.

An evening at the Bicycle Film Festival

Posted on 19. Jul, 2009 by in Bike industry, New Media, Personal | No Comments

An evening at the Bicycle Film Festival

As of last night, I have broken my unintentional streak of missing the Bicycle Film Festival. Brendt Barbur and Friends try to select film that cover the breadth of the bicycle universe and, over the course of a Saturday evening, I watched more than a dozen ranging from 1 to 75 minutes. Here are my impressions.

On truth, Twitter, and truth on Twitter

Posted on 07. Jul, 2009 by in New Media | 8 Comments

On truth, Twitter, and truth on Twitter

This brief article in from Bicycle Retailer was surprisingly controversial yesterday. It reports VeloNews web editor Steve Frothingham talking to another publication about the difficulties of covering Lance Armstrong in the age of Twitter. Responses to Frothingham’s lament have been mostly along the lines of “he just doesn’t get social media.” I think the opposite it true. Steve understands perfectly well that getting our news from high-profile social media users is more similar to getting it from advertisers than it is to getting it from traditional editorial media.

Universal Sports charging for Giro Race Tracker

Posted on 13. May, 2009 by in Bike Racing, New Media, Sports Business | 4 Comments

Universal Sports charging for Giro Race Tracker

In a recent column for ROAD, I argued that teams and events should more directly serve and monetize the sport’s existing core fan base. One of my suggestions was that AEG charge for the Tour of California’s Tour Tracker website that features multiple live video streams, real-time GPS tracking per rider, photos, chat, etc. And guess what? Universal Sports has done exactly that with its Race Tracker for the Giro coverage that it scooped up from RCS just before the race started. At $3.95 for a stage and $34.95 for the whole race, the Giro Race Tracker is pricier than the $25 I suggested in my column for the Tour de France. But I gave it a shot today, watching side-by-side with Universal Sports’ free live online video. Here’s my analysis…