Mediaboss Marketing

16-05-2012 12:02 Your Digital Business Card is Your Internet Version of Your Business Card. You even get your own Web Address, which is your Domain Name. Only $99 a year. It includes your Logo, Business Name, Name, Address, Phone Number, Email Address, Website Address, One Photo and a Brief Description of Your Business. You may send your link in an Email or a Text Message to Advertise Your Business. Only $99.00 for 1 Year

Read more:
Digital Business Card USA - Promote Your Business by Text or Email - Video

-By Andreas Fuchs

Christie lights up the Big Sky Drive-In in Texas.

With the ozoner season in full bloom across the countryand in Canada, of courseFilm Journal International got into the passenger seat with some key players who are driving the digital conversion of what Vincent rightly calls a uniquely American institution and outstanding value in family entertainment.

As the owner and operator of a soft- and hardtop theatre combination in Wellfleet, Massachusetts, Vincent is in the process of converting to digital projection. Located in a tourist area of Cape Cod, the Wellfleet Cinemas are busy seven nights a week, so that shutting down for installation is not an option for him during the peak summer season. In general, financing the transition is probably the biggest challenge for any independent theatre owner, he feels. Technically, however, of every conversion that I know of in the drive-in spaceand there have been about 40 to 50 screensnot one has reported back that they have a worse picture than with 35mm film. Everyone says that the image has been substantially better.

Cases in point are Harold Spears, proprietor of the Silver Moon, Lakeland and Joy-Lan, Dade City drive-ins in sunny Florida; and John M. Cumins, district manager at B&B Theatres. I am very happy that we switched and very satisfied with the whole situation, Spears confirms. Since November 2011, both screens at the Silver Moon have been running on Christie, producing the desired results in picture quality.

Spears credits preliminary site surveys and the resulting equipment specs to have assured the transition. I had the capital available for the conversion, he humbly responds when asked about the financial implications. Even though hes enrolled in Christies virtual-print-fee reimbursement program, Spears will have to see about the Joy-Lan, he admits. Its a very marginal situation of a single-screen drive-in in a small community. Im just not sure if it justifies the expense at this time. Well make that decision down the road. For now, at least, we havent had any problem getting 35mm there.

Film prints are no longer needed at any of the 29 locations of the 88-year-old B&B circuit, Cumins reports. The L-shaped booth at their Moberly Five & Drive in Moberly, Missouri, serves patrons on plush seats inside and in their cars outside at the same time. Using Christie digital projectors for some six months has been amazing, he says. The picture quality and brightness are beyond anybodys expectations. It is such a long, long throw to get it out there on the drive-in screen. We are actually able now to start pictures a little bit earlier, closer to dusk, because the image is so much brighter. There are no regrets whatsoever! In both locations the public has noticed the difference as well. Weve had some very good feedback, Cumins confirms. If youve been to the drive-in before and you are coming back, you will really notice the difference in our digital presentation.

Another happy digital driver is Walt Effinger, Terri Westhafer, director of digital-cinema business development at Barco, assures us about the April installation at his Skyview Drive-In in Lancaster, Ohio. Going back some seven years, Westhafer and the former UDITOA president and numerous association members have been driving digital hard. By her own admission, Westhafer is a big fan. I fondly recall my own days as a customer at the local passion pits, she laughs. Im sure I am dating myself even using that term. Having frequented drive-ins well into the last few decades, when they became very difficult to find, Westhafer saw an opportunity to resuscitate them when she joined the theatrical business. As much as I enjoyed drive-ins, she confesses, I never recalled them having the most outstanding presentations.

As for the reasons, film was simply inadequate to meet the large-screen requirements of drive-ins, she believes. Hot spots and poor illumination, plus jump-and-weave inherent in sprocket-driven film projectors, made for many blights on the screens. In addition to extraordinary screen sizesmany in excess of 90 feet in width [27 m], they are dealing with throw distances of 300-plus feet [90 m], frequently twice that. They had antiquated equipment ensconced in old, often ramshackle boxes that barely qualified as projection booths situated in dirt fields and had to deal with all sorts of weather conditions, including grim ambient light problems.

So when Effinger told her that the drive-ins were in danger of going the way of the eight-track player if they werent able to understand, afford and walk the path toward digital projection, it became her call to action. I put together a presentation for them that explained the essential differences between film and digital, feeling that my Kodak background, coupled with my decision tofully embrace digital, qualified me to do so. The response was overwhelming, Westhafer says, and subsequently led to the first-ever digital projection demo at a drive-in with NEC and Strong Digital, which were the brightest projectors at the time.

Read the original:
The great digital outdoors: Drive-ins see the light by upgrading technology

By John Consoli -- Broadcasting & Cable, 5/16/2012 2:25:50 PM One of Turner's messages to marketers and their media agencies at its Wednesday upfront presentation was that spending ad dollars across the company's assorted digital platforms, which offer proven entertainment and news content, will be a better bet than putting promotional dollars into neophyte video-streamed content being offered by myriad social networks and former search engines wanting to become programmers.

Greg D'Alba, president, CNN and Turner Digital Sales, and Walker Jacobs, executive VP, Turner Digital Sales, spoke with MBPT prior to the presentation about the media company's strategy, offering an overview of how they plan to market digital in the upfront.

What is the main message you want advertisers to take with them regarding Turner's digital offerings?Greg D'Alba: The notion that content is king exists, and we have moved our content to where, when and how the consumer wants to watch it. There are so many new video options coming into the marketplace, but premium content is the best place for marketers to surround their ad messages. It's going to be the best brand of video content that draws the most dollars. Some platforms selling only digital video have touted their ability to offer specific audience targeting and have said content is less important than reaching the target audience. They will find out that content and trusted media brands are really the most important. The best content is going to be the driver of digital sales in this upfront. We are looking forward to having buyers compare our content to these digital video-only companies.

Walker Jacobs: There has been so much talk in the past month about the digital NewFront and the emerging digital marketplace. We've watched it unfold and we haven't seen any robust demand by marketers to buy any new digital video content from online companies through a NewFront marketplace. But we have seen demand to buy television across multiplatforms and multiscreens and that is what we offer. We feel this is the way the market will buy video, through traditional TV companies that are offering their quality content across all screens. I believe the leadership in digital spending will come from traditional TV buyers who will want to buy more across all screens in one buy and in doing so, will move some TV dollars into digital.

How do you view this upfront in terms of potential digital ad spending? D'Alba: We anticipate this upfront will be strong and there will be significant growth in video ad spending outside of traditional television. There is no doubt about it; our intention is to grow our digital ad revenue substantially in this upfront. We have made the infrastructure changes to make it easier to buy and easier for us to assist the buyers. On top of our entertainment sales, the presidential election year will make our digital sales even stronger on the news side.

How has the Turner's digital operation evolved?Jacobs: About five years ago, the Turner entertainment, news and sports businesses each had a few digital people who worked with their ad sellers. But we recognized the need to develop more scale when selling digital, so we combined Turner Entertainment and Turner Sports to sell digital together. Then we recently restructured again, adding CNN Digital to Turner Sports and Entertainment Digital to create Turner Digital Sales.

D'Alba: We have reorganized ourselves to make it easier for clients who work with us, and to be able to respond to what they are asking us for. We have attached our digital unit to the hip of our entertainment, news and sports divisions.

Jacobs: We are being more collaborative with our clients about where they spend their money and how they plan their campaigns.

D'Alba: When Turner brought Donna Speciale in to head up sales of our entertainment inventory, and put me in charge of news and digital, that specialization brought our units closer together. We are not selling by screen but by content opportunity and we are cooperating across all of our divisions.

What are some examples of the synergy across digital platforms?Jacobs: There's a TeamCoco.com, the Conan show, TBS synergy. The Team Coco tablet app, presented by launch sponsor AT&T, allows advertisers to connect with fans of Conan O'Brien's show on TBS. The app provides synchronized content delivered in real-time, while Conan's hyper-connected fans watch the show. Conan has about 7.7 million followers across social media and we have opportunities that tap into that audience. Each episode of Conan on TBS features up to 25 different pieces of bonus content delivered through the Team Coco app and synchronized with elements with the show.

Read more:
Turner's Digital Execs Bet Their Content Will Draw Big Upfront Dollars

NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--

Until now, the digital advertising field has lacked professional benchmarks such as the legal worlds Bar Exam and Wall Streets Series 7. That situation changes with todays announcement by the Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) establishing the first-ever educational standard for digital media sales forces with the launch of the IAB Digital Media Sales Certification.

To receive the certification, digital sales professionals must complete an examination, which will be administered through Pearson Testing Centers. Registration for the certification exam kicks off today, with applications available at http://www.iab.net/certification. The inaugural exams are scheduled for Monday, June 11, 2012 and will be held at Pearsons Test Centers worldwide.

The certification program will help raise the level of professionalism in the digital field by allowing salespeople to demonstrate their knowledge of the complex interactive environment, said Michael Theodore, Vice President, Member Services, IAB. Much like examinations in other fields, this test will give current job holders and job seekers a score card to prove their understanding of the most important concepts, guidelines, and best practices in digital advertising. Businesses also benefit by ensuring that they have the most competent sales teams possible.

"The IAB's program to create new educational standards for the interactive industry is an exciting step forward for advancing the field of digital advertising sales," said Patrick Dolan, Executive Vice President & COO, IAB. "Once the digital media sales certification program is launched, we will develop similar training and certification programs for other related professions in the industry, which will both teach and recognize the knowledge and skills needed for success."

There is no formal coursework required for the IAB Digital Media Sales Certification examination. Designed for salespeople with 2-5 years of experience in the digital industry, it is recommended that candidates have a strong command of current industry issues, players, and operations, as well as a broad understanding of every major digital platform. The test costs $350 for IAB members and $450 for non-members.

Before creating the certification program, IAB conducted extensive research into the knowledge gaps in the field, including the IAB Interactive Ad IQ Industry Survey with Ernst & Young, and a series of in-depth interviews with sales professionals.

The findings showed that many professionals on both the sell-side and buy-side are struggling to keep up with the rapid evolution of interactive advertising platforms, technologies and capabilities. Yet, they agree that a deep understanding of these areas is critical to their success and the growth of the industry.

As a result, the certification exam will cover general comprehension of the digital advertising ecosystem, selling digital media and analyzing campaign performance. Specific topics will include:

The IAB worked with the fully accredited test development company Professional Testing, Inc. to create the content of the exam, alongside subject matter experts from IAB member companies:

See more here:
IAB Launches Digital Media Sales Certification to Set New Professional Benchmark for the Interactive Advertising ...

The NHL Playoff Recap gives you THN's take of what happened in each game of the night and what the consequences will be for the rest of the series.

We also provide our Three Stars of the night, which will be tabulated after each round. First Star is three points, Second Star is two points and Third Star is one point. Be sure to vote on who you think the first star was as well.

Of course there's the other side of the coin: The Black Hole is a piece of the lineup that just couldn't get it going on a given night and contributed to a difficult evening for the team.

THNs Take: The question is no longer whether or not the Los Angeles Kings will advance to the Stanley Cup final. The only thing to determine now is whether or not theyll actually break a sweat getting there.

With their seventh straight road victory of this years playoffs, the Kings are on the verge of becoming the team to play the fewest games to get to the final since the 1988 Edmonton Oilers. The fact they are doing it in such a dominant fashion is a testament to how incredibly well they are playing, combined with the realization that the feel-good Phoenix Coyotes have hit a brick wall.

And by all accounts Phoenix isnt the least bit happy about it. The Coyotes are simply becoming unglued playing against a superior opponent. Well give Shane Doan a mulligan on his hit from behind on Trevor Lewis, but Martin Hanzals hit from behind on Dustin Brown and Derek Morris kneeing infraction on Rob Scuderi were inexcusable. All three will undoubtedly be reviewed, as will the offsetting minors on Brown and Coyotes goalie Mike Smith when Smith whacked Brown on the back of the legs on what might have been the worst call of the playoffs.

Like the Kings needed it. They finally got some production from the missing Jeff Carter, who scored a hat trick and was a menace in front of the Phoenix net all night. This is the team that couldnt score goals during the regular season, right? In a season when the post-season has defied all sense of logic, the Kings have scored an average of 3.18 goals per game in 11 games. During the regular season, they were the second worst offensive team in the league with 2.29 per game.

But thats what happens when a team is too big and too strong and too good for its opponent and is able to put everything together. When the Kings play the way they did in Game 2, combined with the goaltending of Jonathan Quick, theyre all but impossible to beat. Particularly for a team that knows it is hopelessly overmatched.

The Kings best players, unlike for long stretches during the regular season, have emerged to play enormous roles. The Coyotes best players are either invisible or conspicuous by their errors in judgment.

Continued here:
Kings outmatch Coyotes, poised for Stanley Cup final